Ever since the original Doom came out in 1993, people have been trying to find interesting pieces of hardware that the game can be ported onto, to such an extent that it's almost become something of a meme. The id Software's Doom can be played on so many odd devices, including a pregnancy test, and can even be ported over to other games. In an attempt to keep this trend going, one person has managed to get the game running in web browsers, which is not that unusual, however they've built it entirely out of checkboxes.
Uploading the source code to GitHub recently, user healeycodes has taken the original Doom and made it playable through a series of rendered checkboxes, which are just those small and simple boxes that exist in software and on webpages that users click on to highlight with a tick. The uploader says the idea was built from three previous projects, namely id Software's game itself, a library that renders texts, shapes, and videos into a grid of boxes, and a WebAssembly version of Doom.
The game is playable in a browser window on the user's website, in which elements that are ticked become blue and represent aspects of the game, such as the HUD or the player's gun. Conversely, the unchecked, white boxes represent other things, such as borders, negative space, or distant walls. It's perhaps not quite as out there as the professor who ran Doom through logic gates built from soldier crabs, but playing the game rendered through blue and white boxes is definitely one of the more unique ways that this classic FPS has been reimagined.
With Doom also now being playable through Twitter, in which users reply to a bot with in-game commands which are then converted into a mess of play footage, it's impossible to know where it may end. Given that the original game is close to being three decades old at this point, the hardware required to run it is much more basic now that gaming and computer technology has advanced. It will definitely be interesting to see what else the game can be run.
As one of the most influential FPS games in history, inspiring heaps of clones, especially in its heyday, it's hardly surprising that fans are keen to tinker with Doom. With it also setting the scene for early online multiplayer gameplay, as well as being modded to death, the mid-90s Hellscape shooter is not just a fun action game that's a product of its time. It's something that is a huge part of gaming history, whose legacy will likely continue for a good while longer.
Source: GitHub (source code), Doom via Checkboxes (game)