1 week ago
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Image: id Software/ading2210
Ian Walker loves exploring niche communities and researching the development of classic video games.
The original Doom is now playable in a custom PDF file, further contributing to its legacy of being ported to just about every platform under the sun.
Developed by ading2210, a self-described “high school student with an interest in programming, web development, and cybersecurity,” the Doom PDF project utilizes the file format’s inherent Javascript support to recreate the iconic first-person shooter in text. It runs poorly and plays even worse, but it’s a marvel to see in action.
“Previous interactive PDF projects I’ve seen use individual text fields that are toggled on/off to make individual pixels,” ading2210 wrote on the game’s GitHub page. “However, Doom’s resolution is 320x200, which would mean thousands of text fields would have to be toggled every frame, which is infeasible. Instead, this port uses a separate text field for each row in the screen, then it sets their contents to various ASCII characters. I managed to get a 6 color monochrome output this way, which is enough for things to be legible in-game.”
Doom PDF only works in Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Opera, etc.) and supports custom WADs (modded Doom files like the recent Gallery Experience), though you’ll need the original Doom WAD to get them working.
English (US) ·