A modder has managed to get the original Doom to run in Windows Notepad, showing evidence of it playing in real time and at 60fps. As one of the most iconic first-person shooters in history, id Software's 1993 release is no stranger to being modified. Given that the game is considered quite primitive now, many people in the community have taken to making the influential FPS available in novel ways. Three decades is a long time for any video game, and the passing years ave produced some unique projects.
It's no secret that Doom has been ported to a lot of interesting devices, from smartwatches to vape pens to an iPod Mini. There's even been an instance of someone making the game playable on a pregnancy test. Such intriguing conversions are a challenge in and of themselves, and if nothing else, it really emphasizes just how important the game is to the industry and surrounding community, while also helping to keep the classic in the limelight.
YouTube user Samperson is no exception to this. In a recent tweet, they showed that it's possible to get Doom up and running in Notepad, with a brief clip showing the game playing in real time. The modder insists this has not been achieved through some form of "fakery," adding that they'll release the mod soon. They've also uploaded the clip to YouTube in high definition, inviting naysayers to examine the footage frame by frame to make sure that there have been no tricks involved in making the mod. Quite how they've managed to achieve this is not known right now, but hopefully Samperson will offer up a how-to at some point.
For those who are perhaps younger, it can be hard to stress just how important the original id Software title was in making an impact, not just on the FPS genre but on gaming in general. Over the years, there have been a ton of fantastic Doom clones that have come about, evidently inspired by the 1993 release. Some of them have even taken the original formula and improved on it, helping to push the genre into new territories.
With a mixture of fast-paced action, a heavy metal-inspired soundtrack, as well as being a game with great world building, Doom has certainly stood the test of time. The fact that the 2016 reboot and subsequent Doom Eternal release have helped breathe new life into the franchise shows just how much the gaming world has never truly left behind what id unleashed almost 30 years ago.
Doom released in December 1993 for multiple platforms and has been ported to many systems.