Doom's been ported to everything from toasters to refrigerators, seemingly pushing the boundaries of what's possible. However, a high school student has achieved the seemingly impossible: porting Doom to a PDF file, playable within a browser.
While lacking sound and text (minor details, right?), you can now play E1M1 while procrastinating on those taxes.
Github user ading2210, inspired by the TetrisPDF project, leveraged Javascript within a browser's PDF reader to accomplish this feat. Browser security limitations restrict the full potential of PDF scripting, but it was sufficient for a Doom port.
Using a six-color ASCII grid for visuals, the result is surprisingly playable, though expect a frame rate of around 80ms. It might not replace your PS5, but the achievement of running Doom within a PDF is undeniably impressive.
TetrisPDF's creator, Thomas Rinsma, commented on Hacker News, praising ading2210's cleaner implementation of a similar project.
While not ideal for a first-time Doom experience, the continued porting of Doom to unusual platforms, files, and even bacteria remains endlessly entertaining.
