Doom Has Been Ported to a PDF File

Summary

• A high school student has successfully ported Doom (1993) to a PDF file, providing a slow yet playable experience.
• Doom's small file size enables it to be run on a variety of unconventional devices, including the Nintendo Alarmo and within other video games.
• The continuous efforts to run Doom on different platforms showcase its lasting legacy and ongoing relevance in the gaming community.

A high school student, known as GitHub user ading2210, has achieved the remarkable feat of porting the iconic game Doom (1993) to a PDF file. This innovative project adds to the list of unconventional devices on which Doom has been played, reflecting the game's significant influence and adaptability.

Developed by id Software, Doom is celebrated as a pioneering title in the first-person shooter (FPS) genre. The game's impact was so profound that it not only inspired the term "FPS" but also led to numerous games being dubbed "Doom clones" for years. The trend of running Doom on unexpected devices has grown in recent years, with enthusiasts porting the game to everything from fridges and alarm clocks to car stereos, showcasing the game's versatility and the community's creativity.

ading2210's port of Doom to a PDF file leverages the format's support for JavaScript, which allows for functions such as 3D rendering and HTTP requests. While most interactive PDFs use small text boxes as pixels, Doom's 320x200 resolution necessitates thousands of text boxes per frame, making this approach impractical. Instead, ading2210 opted to use one text box per screen row, resulting in a slower but still functional game. The video demonstration by the creator shows the game running without color, sound, or text, and with a response time of 80ms per frame.

High School Student Ports Doom (1993) to a PDF

One of the key factors enabling such creative ports is Doom's compact size of just 2.39 megabytes. This small footprint allowed a programmer to run Doom on the Nintendo Alarmo in November, using the device's dials for movement and side buttons for menu navigation. Moreover, fans have ventured beyond physical devices, with one player successfully integrating Doom into Balandro, where players can navigate the classic FPS across the game's spread cards, albeit with performance limitations similar to those in the PDF version.

These projects underscore not just the potential for running Doom on unconventional platforms but also the boundless creativity of its community. More than three decades after its release, Doom remains a testament to its enduring legacy. As enthusiasts continue to experiment, it's exciting to anticipate where Doom might be played next.