Doom Has Been Ported to a PDF File

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 the resulting experience is undeniably slow, it remains playable, adding another bizarre entry to Doom's long list of unconventional platforms.

Doom's remarkably compact size (a mere 2.39 megabytes) has always been a factor in its adaptability. This has led to a flourishing community of programmers and enthusiasts who revel in running the game on everything from refrigerators and alarm clocks (like the Nintendo Alarmo, famously ported in November) to other video games (such as Balandro). This latest PDF port, created by GitHub user ading2210, pushes the boundaries even further.

The PDF port leverages JavaScript's capabilities for 3D rendering and interaction. However, the limitations of the PDF format are evident. Instead of using individual text boxes for each pixel (which would be impractical given Doom's 320x200 resolution), ading2210 employs a single text box per screen row. This compromise results in a significantly slower frame rate (around 80ms per frame) and a loss of color, sound, and in-game text.

Despite its performance drawbacks, the PDF port underscores Doom's enduring appeal and the boundless creativity of its fanbase. The project isn't about achieving optimal performance; it's about exploring the limits of possibility. The fact that Doom, over three decades after its release, continues to inspire such innovative ports is a testament to its lasting legacy and influence on the gaming world. The future promises even more outlandish Doom ports as players continue their inventive explorations.