Doom Ported to PDF: A Gaming First

Summary

• A high school student has successfully ported Doom (1993) to a PDF file, offering a unique but slow gameplay experience.
• Doom's small file size enables it to be run on a variety of unconventional devices, from the Nintendo Alarmo to within other video games.
• The ongoing efforts to port Doom to new platforms underscore its lasting legacy and continued relevance in the gaming community.

A dedicated high school student, known on GitHub as ading2210, has achieved an impressive feat by porting the iconic game Doom (1993) to a PDF file. This innovative project adds to the growing list of unexpected devices on which Doom has been successfully played.

Developed by id Software, Doom is recognized as a cornerstone of the first-person shooter (FPS) genre. Its influence is so profound that it inspired the term "FPS," with many subsequent games being referred to as "Doom clones." In recent years, a trend has emerged where programmers and gaming enthusiasts have taken up the challenge of running Doom on the most unconventional devices imaginable, from refrigerators and alarm clocks to car stereos.

The high school student's port of Doom to a PDF file leverages the format's support for JavaScript, which enables 3D rendering, HTTP requests, and monitor detection. While most interactive PDFs use small text boxes as pixels, Doom's 320x200 resolution requires thousands of boxes per frame, which is impractical. To overcome this, ading2210 uses one text box per screen row, resulting in a slow but playable version of the game. As demonstrated in a video shared by the creator, this version of Doom lacks color, sound, and 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 it feasible to run on a wide range of devices. Just recently, in November, a programmer managed to make Doom playable on the Nintendo Alarmo, using the device's dials and buttons for navigation. Additionally, another creative player has integrated Doom into Balandro, allowing players to experience the classic FPS across the game's spread cards, albeit with some performance limitations similar to the PDF version.

These projects are not primarily about playing Doom smoothly on these unconventional platforms but rather about showcasing the boundless creativity and ingenuity of the gaming community. More than 30 years after its release, Doom's continued relevance is a testament to its enduring legacy. As enthusiasts continue to experiment, it is likely that Doom will be adapted to even more unusual devices in the future.