Summary
- A high school student has successfully ported Doom (1993) to a PDF file, resulting in a slow but playable experience.
- Doom's small file size enables it to be run on unconventional devices, such as the Nintendo Alarmo and within other video games like Balandro.
- The continuous efforts to run Doom on various platforms underscore its lasting legacy and relevance in the gaming community.
A high school student and GitHub user, ading2210, has achieved a remarkable feat by porting the iconic game Doom (1993) to a PDF file. This innovative project showcases the versatility of Doom, which has been played on numerous unexpected devices over the years.
Developed by id Software, Doom is celebrated as one of the most influential video games, particularly within the first-person shooter (FPS) genre. The game's impact was so significant that it inspired the term "FPS," with many subsequent games often referred to as "Doom clones." The trend of running Doom on unconventional devices has gained momentum, with enthusiasts successfully playing it on everything from fridges and alarm clocks to car stereos.
ading2210's port to a PDF leverages the format's ability to support JavaScript, which facilitates functions such as 3D rendering, HTTP requests, and monitor detection. Typically, interactive PDFs use small text boxes as pixels, but Doom's resolution of 320x200 requires thousands of boxes per frame, which is impractical. Instead, ading2210 uses one text box per screen row, resulting in a slow but functional game. A video shared by the creator shows the game running without color, sound, or text, with a response time of 80ms per frame.
High School Student Ports Doom (1993) to a PDF
The compact size of Doom, at just 2.39 megabytes, makes such innovative ports possible. For instance, a programmer recently made Doom playable on the Nintendo Alarmo, using the device's dials and buttons for navigation. Similarly, another creative enthusiast managed to run Doom within Balandro, allowing players to experience the classic FPS across the game's spread cards, albeit with performance limitations similar to the PDF version.
These projects are less about playing Doom smoothly on unconventional platforms and more about demonstrating the endless creative possibilities that the game offers. More than three decades after its release, Doom's enduring legacy continues to inspire, and it is likely that enthusiasts will keep finding new and unusual ways to run this iconic game in the future.
