An unexpected new way to play the IBM PC version of Doom emerged today, as a programmer modified the game to support vertical-oriented monitors. The modification makes the game more difficult to play and goes against the game's design in a hilarious manner.
Doom is optimally played in a horizontal configuration, as the majority of first-person shooters play best when the player is given some degree of peripheral vision to view enemy locations with. TOOM removes a large portion of the horizontal view by displaying the game vertically, leaving the player with a great view of the floor and ceiling, which is not helpful for locating demons to shoot.
The modification comes from the name of "tate mode," a practice commonly used with vertically-oriented classic arcade games where a monitor is rotated on its side to better serve the game's design. Modifying Doom to use this display method may not have a practical application, but it makes for an interesting and strange new way to experience this classic game. The mod is available to download on the BigEvilCorporation GitHub page, along with a short readme file containing a set of installation instructions and credits.
The creator of the mod, Matt Phillips, is an experienced developer, being the creator of Tanglewood for the SEGA Genesis and currently employed as the lead developer for the console edition of Rust. The TOOM project is yet another created for an old system, being a modification of the IBM PC-compatible version. IBM PCs were standardized implementations of personal computers, popular throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. While the mod may not run properly on newer systems, the original Doom remains a popular game with a number of ports to modern systems that would theoretically allow something similar with non-standard setups.
Doom has long been the subject of projects to port the game to unusual hardware, but modifications to the game itself beyond serving porting purposes are somewhat less common. A popular community port to modern systems, GZDOOM, is sufficient for many modders' needs. Modifying the IBM PC-compatible version of Doom would have made the TOOM project more difficult, but it makes sense considering the project was inspired by Lazy Game Reviews, a YouTube channel primarily centered around videos about PC hardware from the pre-2000s.
TOOM is a thoroughly strange modification, given that it does not change the fundamental gameplay, yet will make Doom substantially more difficult by removing view elements. However, given that some devices such as smart fridges and touchscreen drink dispensers use vertical displays, TOOM provides an interesting concept for porting Doom to more ridiculous devices in the future.