IDKFA (video game)

The opening level of IDKFA.

IDKFA is a fan made game by Aleksander Trojanowski, that heavily features Doom assets with original level design and a custom engine, based on QuickBASIC.

History

IDKFA was the first shooter Trojanowski undertook after releasing a clone of Arkanoid in January 2001. The game is relatively short and includes four levels. Enemies from Doom are ripped and used, along with the face and various other sprites and textures. The final release version was 2.1, dated June 2001.

After finishing up IDKFA, Trojanowski started a more ambitious project. This was to be called ATTE.

Engine

Aleksander Trojanowski's first released 3D engine, The IDKFA engine is a true 3D polygonal engine enabling features like a sky and static light sources, but lacks floor or ceiling textures, giving the game a similar look to raycasters like Wolfenstein 3D. It makes use of several libraries in assembly language, namely DirectQB and Dash, which are used as modules in QuickBASIC to provide a 320x200 VGA screen with 256 colors. They are also used to help speed up rendering as well as providing sound functionality.

The engine has data references in Trojanowski's last QuickBASIC game, ATTE3.

Limitations

Because of its underlying QuickBASIC codebase and inclusion of several routines in assembly, the game carries a significant performance deficit requiring a rather fast computer to function properly in DOS, far beyond what usual titles on this platform require. The engine is also capped at 30 FPS. The following requirements are taken from the IDKFA readme:

System requirements:
		
500KB EMS, 1MB XMS, 470KB Conventional Memory
Pentium 160 MHZ
VGA Video Adapter
		
Recommended:
		
2,5MB EMS (2MB for Sound), 1MB XMS, 470KB Conventional Memory
Pentium 233 MHZ 
VGA Video Adapter
Music card compatible with Sound Blaster

It is about playable in DOSBox with increased CPU cycles.

Engine source code

The IDKFA engine source code is provided with the released binary and may be used in other titles. However, the author demands that he is credited through the following text:

If you decide to use this engine in your games, remember to mention that you used ''AlexSoft 3Dengine by Aleksander Trojanowski'' in your credits. Also, Mention my e-mail address in the credits when you finish the program.

His e-mail address can be found on his homepage (found below) and has remained the same for nearly two decades.

External links

• IDKFA binary and engine source code, hosted at Archive.org
• AlexSoft homepage