Doom Now Playable in PDF Format: Toasters Outdated

Doom has been ingeniously ported to an array of unconventional devices, from toasters to fridges, pushing the boundaries of what can run this iconic game. However, the frontier for truly remarkable ports may be narrowing. Yet, a high school student has achieved something extraordinary by porting Doom into a PDF file, playable directly in your browser.

While this version of Doom omits minor elements like text and sound, it still allows you to enjoy the classic E1M1 level while perhaps procrastinating on those taxes you've been avoiding. The mastermind behind this project, Github user and high school student ading2210, drew inspiration from the recent TetrisPDF port to create a version of Doom that runs in a Chromium-based browser.

ading2210 ingeniously utilized the Javascript capabilities within a browser's PDF reader to bring Doom to life in a .PDF file. Although the official PDF specifications support advanced scripting, browser security limits these features. Nonetheless, these capabilities were sufficient for ading2210 to perform the necessary computations and create a functional port of Doom.

Employing a six-color ASCII grid to represent sprites and graphics, the student managed to deliver a remarkably legible version of Doom, albeit with a frame response time of 80ms. While you might not be ready to trade in your PS5 just yet, witnessing Doom running within a PDF file is undeniably impressive, especially given its clarity.

Thomas Rinsma, the creator of TetrisPDF, acknowledged ading2210's achievement on Hacker News, noting that the high schooler's version of PDF Doom was "neater in many ways." Although this rendition might not be the ideal introduction to Doom for newcomers, the sheer novelty of seeing the game run on everything from unusual devices to files, or even living gut bacteria, continues to captivate and entertain.