Doom Has Been Ported to a PDF File

Summary

• A high school student has successfully ported the classic game Doom (1993) to a PDF file, resulting in a playable, albeit slow, experience.
• Doom's compact size has consistently enabled its execution on unconventional devices, including the Nintendo Alarmo and even within other video games.
• The ongoing exploration of Doom's portability across diverse platforms underscores its enduring legacy and remarkable relevance.

One dedicated high school student has achieved the remarkable feat of porting the influential game Doom (1993) to a PDF file. This surprising accomplishment adds another chapter to the long and storied history of Doom being played on unexpected platforms.

Developed by id Software, Doom is widely recognized as one of the most influential video games ever created, particularly within the first-person shooter (FPS) genre. The game's impact is so significant that it essentially coined the term "FPS," with many early games in the genre often described as "Doom clones." In recent years, a trend has emerged among programmers and gaming enthusiasts to run Doom on the most unconventional of devices – from refrigerators and alarm clocks to car stereos and beyond. This humorous yet impressive trend has now reached a new level of ingenuity.

High school student and GitHub user ading2210 has successfully ported the classic Doom game into a PDF file. Leveraging the fact that PDFs support JavaScript, enabling functionalities such as 3D rendering, HTTP requests, and monitor detection, ading2210 overcame the challenge of Doom's 320x200 resolution. Instead of using the impractical number of text boxes required for a pixel-by-pixel representation, the port utilizes a single text box per screen row, resulting in a playable, albeit slow, experience. A video showcasing the port reveals the absence of color, sound, and text, along with an 80ms per-frame response time.

High School Student Ports Doom (1993) to a PDF

Doom's compact size (2.39 megabytes) is a key factor enabling this remarkable feat. Just last November, a programmer successfully made Doom playable on the Nintendo Alarmo, using its dials for movement and side buttons for menu navigation. However, the creativity doesn't stop at physical devices; another player cleverly managed to run Doom within the game Balandro, albeit with performance limitations similar to the PDF version.

The objective of these projects isn't necessarily to achieve optimal performance on these unconventional platforms. Instead, they highlight the boundless creativity of players and the enduring possibilities for running Doom. The fact that Doom, over 30 years after its release, continues to inspire such innovative projects serves as a testament to its lasting legacy. As players continue to experiment, it's likely that Doom will find its way onto even more unusual platforms in the future.