Doom Now Playable in PDF: Toasters Outdone

Doom, the iconic first-person shooter, has been adapted to run on everything from toasters to fridges, pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a gaming platform. Yet, the thrill of seeing Doom on unconventional devices continues to captivate enthusiasts. Enter a high school student and GitHub user, ading2210, who has taken this challenge to a new level by porting Doom into a PDF file that you can run directly in your browser.

This version of Doom may lack text and sound, but it still lets you dive into the classic E1M1 level while you procrastinate on mundane tasks like filing your taxes. Inspired by the innovative TetrisPDF, ading2210 leveraged the Javascript capabilities within a browser's PDF reader to create this unique port. Although the PDF format's full scripting potential is curtailed by browser security, it proved sufficient for ading2210 to craft a functional Doom experience.

Using a six-color ASCII grid for sprites and graphics, the student managed to create a legible version of Doom, albeit with a response time of 80ms per frame. While it may not compete with modern gaming consoles, the sheer novelty of playing Doom within a PDF file is astonishing, highlighting the game's enduring versatility.

Thomas Rinsma, the creator of TetrisPDF, acknowledged ading2210's work on Hacker News, noting that the high schooler's version of PDF Doom was "neater in many ways." While this PDF version might not be the ideal introduction to Doom, the fascination with seeing the game run on everything from PDF files to living gut bacteria continues to entertain and inspire.