Doom, Now Playable Within a PDF

Doom's Unlikely PDF Port: A Testament to its Enduring Legacy

A high school student has achieved the seemingly impossible: porting the iconic 1993 first-person shooter, Doom, to a PDF file. While performance is understandably sluggish, the game remains playable, adding another bizarre entry to the long list of unconventional platforms that have hosted this legendary title.

Doom's compact size (a mere 2.39 megabytes) is a key factor enabling such feats. Its inherent portability has fueled a trend of inventive ports, previously seen on devices like the Nintendo Alarmo (using its dials and buttons for control) and even within other games, such as Balandro (though with expected performance limitations).

This latest PDF port, created by GitHub user ading2210, leverages the PDF format's JavaScript capabilities for 3D rendering and other functions. However, the limitations of representing the 320x200 resolution within a PDF necessitated a compromise: using a single text box per screen row. This results in a monochrome, soundless, and slow (80ms per frame) experience, yet it remains surprisingly functional.

The enduring appeal of these projects lies not in optimal gameplay, but in the boundless creativity they showcase. The ability to run Doom, over three decades after its release, on such diverse and unexpected platforms is a striking testament to its lasting influence and enduring legacy within the gaming world. The ongoing experimentation suggests that the list of unusual Doom ports will only continue to grow.