Doom PDF: Iconic Game Now Accessible in a Unique Format

A high school student's remarkable achievement: porting the legendary Doom (1993) to a PDF file! While performance is understandably sluggish, the game remains playable, showcasing the enduring ingenuity of Doom's fans and programmers.

Doom's compact size (a mere 2.39 megabytes) has always fueled its adaptability, allowing it to run on incredibly diverse hardware. Previous examples include a Nintendo Alarmo port and even a version integrated into the game Balandro. These unconventional ports, often hampered by performance limitations, aren't about optimal gameplay; they're testaments to the boundless creativity of the Doom community.

This latest PDF port, developed by GitHub user ading2210, leverages JavaScript's capabilities within the PDF format. However, rendering a full 320x200 resolution using individual text boxes for pixels proved impractical. The solution? A single text box per screen row, resulting in a playable, albeit slow and monochrome experience, devoid of sound and in-game text, with an 80ms frame rate.

High School Student Brings Doom to PDF

The continued exploration of unconventional Doom ports underscores the game's lasting impact. Over three decades since its release, Doom remains a source of inspiration and playful experimentation. From refrigerators and alarm clocks to now, a PDF file, the possibilities seem truly limitless. The future undoubtedly holds even more surprising platforms for this iconic game.