PDF Port Awakens Doom

Doom's Unlikely New Home: A PDF File

A high school student has achieved the seemingly impossible: porting the legendary 1993 first-person shooter, Doom, to a PDF file. While the experience is undeniably slow, it remains playable, adding another bizarre entry to the long list of unconventional platforms hosting this iconic game.

Doom's compact size (a mere 2.39 megabytes) is a key factor enabling such feats. Its relatively small footprint has previously allowed players to conquer the game on devices like the Nintendo Alarmo, using its dials and buttons for navigation. Furthermore, innovative players have even managed to run Doom within other games, such as Balandro, although performance limitations are typical across these unconventional ports.

This latest PDF port, created by GitHub user ading2210, leverages the PDF format's JavaScript capabilities for 3D rendering and user interaction. However, the limitations of the format are apparent. Instead of using individual text boxes as pixels (which would be impractical given Doom's 320x200 resolution), the port utilizes a single text box per screen row, resulting in a significantly reduced frame rate (80ms per frame). Consequently, the PDF version lacks color, sound, and in-game text.

The enduring appeal of these projects lies not in achieving optimal performance, but in showcasing the boundless creativity of Doom's community. The fact that, over three decades later, players continue to find novel ways to experience Doom underscores its lasting impact on gaming history and its enduring relevance in the digital landscape. The future undoubtedly holds even more surprising platforms for this timeless classic.