Doom's been ported to everything from toasters to refrigerators, seemingly leaving little room for truly novel feats. However, a high school student has achieved the improbable: running Doom within a PDF file viewable in a browser.
While lacking sound and detailed text, this version allows you to play E1M1—perfect for procrastination during tax season!
Github user "ading2210," inspired by the TetrisPDF project, leveraged Javascript within a browser's PDF reader to accomplish this. Browser security limitations restrict the full potential of PDF scripting, but it proved sufficient.
Using Javascript's computational capabilities and a six-color ASCII grid for visuals, ading2210 created a surprisingly playable, albeit slow (80ms per frame), version of Doom.
While not a replacement for modern consoles, the accomplishment of running Doom inside a PDF file is remarkable, especially given its readability.
TetrisPDF's creator, Thomas Rinsma, commented on Hacker News, praising ading2210's version for its superior neatness.
Although not ideal for a first-time Doom experience, the ongoing trend of running Doom on unusual platforms, files, and even bacteria remains endlessly entertaining.
