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Doom's Unlikely PDF Port: A Testament to its Enduring Legacy
A high school student's remarkable feat of porting the iconic 1993 game, Doom, to a PDF file has captivated the gaming community. This achievement adds another bizarre platform to the ever-growing list of unconventional devices on which Doom has been successfully run.
Doom, a seminal first-person shooter (FPS) developed by id Software, holds a legendary status in gaming history. Its influence is so profound that it essentially coined the term "FPS," with many early games in the genre often labeled as "Doom clones." Recently, a trend has emerged among programmers and enthusiasts: running Doom on the most unexpected devices imaginable. From refrigerators and alarm clocks to car stereos, the ingenuity knows no bounds. This latest PDF port elevates this trend to a new level of absurdity.
GitHub user ading2210 achieved this improbable feat by leveraging the PDF format's support for JavaScript. This allows for functionalities like 3D rendering and user input detection. However, the limitations of the PDF format necessitated compromises. Instead of using individual text boxes for each pixel (as the 320x200 resolution would require thousands), ading2210 cleverly employed one text box per screen row. This results in a significantly slower, yet surprisingly playable, version of the game. The resulting video showcases a monochrome, soundless, text-free experience with an 80ms frame rate.
Doom's Portability: A Legacy of Innovation
This remarkable accomplishment is partly attributable to Doom's compact size (2.39 MB). This small footprint has previously enabled ports to even more unconventional hardware. Just last November, a programmer successfully ran Doom on a Nintendo Alarmo, using the device's dials and buttons for control. Furthermore, another creative player integrated Doom into the card game Balandro, albeit with noticeable performance limitations, mirroring the challenges faced in the PDF version.
The objective of these projects isn't necessarily optimal gameplay. Rather, they underscore the boundless creativity of gamers and the enduring appeal of Doom. The fact that, over three decades later, Doom continues to inspire such innovative ports is a powerful testament to its lasting legacy and influence on the gaming world. The future promises even more unexpected platforms for this legendary game.
