On the upcoming December 10, Doom will turn 24 years old. While obtaining a copy isn't difficult, it would be nice if id Software and Bethesda/ZeniMax officially made it freeware next year. However, Doom fans have found another way to celebrate the game: running it on the strangest devices we can imagine. Many of these hacks were made possible by the openness of its engine, but others are pure magic.
A couple of days before the Steam Summer Sale I got a copy of the new Doom at a great discount (less than $11). As preparation, I decided to finish the two original Doom games back-to-back including the Ultimate pack, and when everything was set to take on the role of the Doom Slayer and gut demons... I found that my computer lacks a bit of power. Granted, I could play it on low, but the 2016 Doom demands a certain fluidity that I won't reach for a couple of weeks. No matter! If there are enthusiasts out there with enough patience to run the classic Doom on inconceivable places, I can wait for a graphics card.
One of the biggest questions is how they do it. Technically, the WADs are still protected by copyright, but the source code of the Doom Engine was first released in 1997, and then in 1999 under the GPL license. From there, the sky is the limit. Hundreds of mods and ports appeared over the years. Some focused on improving graphics and fixing bugs (GZDOOM and QZDOOM are good examples), while others prefer to reproduce the original MS-DOS experience (such as Chocolate Doom). Now, a detail to consider is that many complex devices on the market have an x86 computer inside, which makes things easier... a little. The rest is a hymn to madness. Observe!
1. Programmable Thermostat
DOOMOSTAT is a creation by YouTube user 'cz7 asm', based on a special port of Chocolate Doom for the STM32F429IDISCOVERY development platform. The Honeywell device we see in the video uses the same STM32F429 chip, and with a few additional tweaks, we have Doom on a thermostat. I imagine John Romero never anticipated this.
2. Cash Machine
'Aussie50' is known on YouTube for experimenting with all sorts of old parts and discarded technology, but in July 2014 he joined forces with user 'jgcertified' (who appears later in the list), and together they restored an ATM with a Pentium 4 computer inside. When playing Doom, the ATM behaves like an arcade machine, and honoring its original job, it accepts coins as credits.
3. Printer
We all agree that printers haven't improved much in quality, but several manufacturers decided to incorporate more complex software and a small screen to visualize their functions. The problem is that this “advance” multiplied security flaws, and as a demonstration, researcher Michael Jordon hacked the firmware of a Canon Pixma MG6450... to run Doom.
4. MacBook Pro's Touch Bar
The new MacBook Pro wasn't well received by Apple users. The lack of ports and the presence of the Touch Bar caused a lot of rejection, but at the end of the day that bar works as a secondary screen of 2,170 by 60 pixels, and Facebook engineer Adam Bell managed to open Doom there. The marine's vision is a bit “compressed” if you will, though the HUD rendering worked quite well.
5. Calculator
One of the pioneering projects, and one that received the most coverage on the web. Running Doom on a Texas Instruments calculator traveled the world, served as inspiration for other similar projects, and introduced us to this crazy world of using the game as a “Hello World” full of demons and guts. The calculator barely survived 30 seconds running Doom, and it was glorious. (?)
6. Billboard Truck
Giant screens on corners and buildings are quite common today, but we've also seen them mounted on the back of many trucks. These advertising systems often choose Linux, and the previously mentioned jgcertified customized the code so that Doom and the operating system see the giant panel as a conventional screen. The results speak for themselves.
7. Ultrasound Machine
Apparently this project arose as a response to a question asked by Luke Plunkett of Kotaku: Can Doom run on an MRI machine? The person in charge said “soon”, and we never heard from him again, but we can see the game running on a GE Vivid S5 ultrasound machine. Perhaps this is the most expensive Doom session in history, because that hardware costs $50,000.
8. Piano
What happens when you combine four developers, an old piano, lots of cables, I-PAC encoders, and a desire to experiment? The solution is the Doom Piano. A striking aspect is that the device tortures twice: associating basic commands with piano keys is a nightmare for the player, and for those who can hear it. Most likely they applauded at the end because they stopped playing...
9. Oscilloscope
Oscilloscopes are very expensive devices, but there are models that use some variant of Windows to manage their software. In this case we can see an Agilent Infiniium based on Windows 95 running Doom with a fluidity and consistency that would have been the envy of many players in the mid-'90s. They also installed the first Quake, and a copy of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.
10. Toy Chainsaw
Dying by the chainsaw was particularly humiliating in Doom's multiplayer matches, but like the sawed-off shotgun, it became the favorite weapon of many fans. With that in mind, we find George Merlocco's Pi Zero Painsaw, which modified a toy chainsaw with a Raspberry Pi Zero and an LCD screen to play Doom 2. The VHS effect in the video is very good, as long as we ignore the Xbox gamepad and the modern keyboard.
Honestly, I could keep going. I've seen Doom on an iPod, a SanDisk player, the Apple Watch, and more. However, as a closing, I'll leave you with nothing less than Quake, the great heir to Doom, running on an old Hitachi oscilloscope. Green doesn't look bad on it...
It Runs Doom!
