Doom's been ported to everything from toasters to refrigerators, seemingly leaving little room for innovation. However, a high school student has achieved the seemingly impossible: running Doom within a PDF file viewable in a browser.
While features like text and sound are absent, the core gameplay of E1M1 is surprisingly playable, offering a unique way to procrastinate.
Github user ading2210, inspired by the TetrisPDF project, leveraged Javascript within a browser's PDF reader to accomplish this feat. Browser security restrictions limit the PDF's scripting capabilities, but it proved sufficient.
Using a six-color ASCII grid for visuals, ading2210 created a functional, albeit slow (80ms per frame), rendition of Doom. The result is surprisingly clear, given the limitations.
Although it won't replace your PS5, the accomplishment of running Doom inside a PDF file is noteworthy. TetrisPDF's creator, Thomas Rinsma, even commented on Hacker News, praising ading2210's cleaner implementation.
While not ideal for a first-time Doom experience, the continued porting of Doom to unusual platforms, files, and even bacteria, remains a testament to its enduring legacy and the ingenuity of its fans.
