Three Decades On: How a Legendary Gaming Meme Holds Unprecedented Significance Today

When DOOM debuted in 1993, it necessitated an IBM or compatible 386 machine, 4 MB of RAM, and 24 MB of hard disk space. The family computer you had in the legendary computer room may not have been capable of running it. Nowadays, however, you can execute DOOM on your smartphone, via your web browser, on an Apple MacBook TouchBar, a TI graphing calculator, a pregnancy test, an ATM, and nearly anything else that comes to mind.

Since the introduction of DOOM, developers and designers have been engrossed with altering the groundbreaking first-person shooter and adapting it to new systems. In recent times, those adaptations have become significantly more audacious and decidedly more… peculiar.

“[DOOM] enchanted countless players to the extent that some individuals sought to enhance the experience or understand its workings,” states Zach Volchak, founder and proprietor of CanItRunDoom.org, a site devoted to cataloging the various platforms on which individuals have successfully run DOOM. “The bizarre devices capable of executing DOOM represent a natural progression of the porting community.”

“Natural” may seem like an unusual term to describe DOOM operating on a (fake) chocolate bar, but the methodology behind these adaptations has not deviated significantly over the years. DOOM was developed using basic C programming language along with quite a bit of smoke and mirrors. When Id Software made DOOM’s source code available in 1997, developers swiftly recognized the versatility of that simple code. As everyday gadgets became more powerful than the leading computers of 1993, the competition to run DOOM on everything began.

Why DOOM, Why Now

But that only addresses the “How?” inquiry you’ve likely pondered if you’ve ever encountered footage of DOOM functioning on, for instance, a digital camera. As such adaptations grow more prevalent, the more urgent question appears to be “Why?” Developers may perceive this as a challenge, but how did this movement transition from a curiosity to a widespread sensation?

The solution is quite apparent: “I believe it’s a combination of DOOM being a pivotal moment in gaming history and the release of its source code,” clarifies Ólafur Waage, a programmer who assisted the European Space Agency in getting DOOM to run on the ESA’s OPS-SAT satellite. “We have numerous instances of one but not the other, so the synergy here is essential.”

DOOM has evolved into a form of shorthand that enables us to comprehend both these programming accomplishments and the capabilities of the most basic modern devices. That’s a valuable trait at a time when less apparent technological breakthroughs make it tough to appreciate our advancements.

Consider the typical commercial aircraft. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like they have altered much over the past 80 years or so. However, that initial observation does not reveal the myriad, largely imperceptible innovations that have rendered them quicker, more efficient, and safer. Even contemporary game creators occasionally find it challenging to convey just how astonishing their creations are.

“When you possess the most technologically advanced consoles, every launched game is an impressive accomplishment,” Waage theorizes. “It’s harder for a non-developer to grasp the number of elements in play when they see a field brimming with robots in Horizon. But witnessing DOOM operating on an unusual device is something that people can easily connect with.”

In other words, our fascination with these unconventional DOOM ports may be rooted in our desire to observe clear, indisputable indicators of advancement. In gaming, it appears that the increase in conversations regarding aspects like framerates and ray-tracing correlates to our inability to simply point at a new game, say “Look at that,” and let initial impressions do the thinking. With these DOOM ports, we seem to have discovered this potent method to convey how remarkable most modern technology actually is. It’s easy to overlook a graphing calculator or wireless printer until you witness it executing DOOM.

The DOOM-opticon

Conversely, there is a hypothesis that our intrigue with DOOM stems from apprehension regarding that technology. As more devices become interconnected to the internet, and more of that internet tracks us, collecting our data, or operated by AI, it’s simple to be uneasy about the screens surrounding us. When we execute DOOM on those screens, it might serve as a reminder that we are indeed encircled.

Yet, there seems to be no progress in the realm of DOOM ports that does not evoke happiness. Perhaps that’s due to the fact that we are discussing innocuous old tech running on contemporary devices. Or, maybe it relates to the circumstance that none of these devices were ever intended to operate DOOM until an individual in command made it possible.

“It’s a means of reclaiming control,” Waage conjectures. “[Individuals declare] ‘I don’t grasp all of these requirements associated with all of the new tech stuff that I utilize.’ Then someone executes DOOM on it and individuals connect more. It’s merely a computer. It has a CPU, there is a hard drive concealed somewhere, there is RAM. It can execute these sequences of events one after the other.”

DOOM aids us in tracing a distinct path between the comforts of yesterday and the innovations of today. It reminds us that there is no new piece of technology so remarkable and potentially intimidating that it can’t be adapted to run DOOM. As the “Can It Run DOOM?” meme persistently grows, it almost seems disconnected from worries about the future of gaming and technology. Over time, that appears to be one of these projects’ most significant attractions.

“Porting DOOM is a ritual beyond industry trends and anxieties,” Volchak believes. “One could even argue that this tradition isn’t genuinely about games as a whole. DOOM simply happened to be the game that fostered a community capable of making headlines while doing what they are passionate about.”

The future can be daunting. It is frequently characterized by our fear that we will exhaust our tomorrows that are superior to our yesterdays. However, thanks to those who commit their skills to getting DOOM to execute in the most bizarre locations conceivable, we can feel assured that regardless of what may come, it will likely run DOOM.