DOOM running on a pregnancy test? Programmer goes viral for his attempt
iD Software, Don Ivan Punchatz Twitter: FooneA programmer has gone viral on Twitter after he managed to (almost) get the game DOOM to run on the tiny screen of a pregnancy test, joining the ranks of the other strange devices that people have got DOOM to run on.
DOOM is a games franchise based on the exploits of a space marine whose mission is to fight hordes of demons and the undead. It is considered to be one of the original first-person-shooter games, with features such as 3D graphics and support for mods created by players.
California-based programmer Foone Turing specializes in Python, and he set his sights high when he attempted to run the action-based game on a modified electronic pregnancy test.
iD Software, Don Ivan PunchatzFoone explained that “this is a replacement display and a replacement microcontroller,” meaning only the original shell of the pregnancy test remains. He noted that the reason for this was that “the existing CPU can’t be reprogrammed,” leading to a bit of prototyping to figure out how to bend the technology to his will.
- Read More: When is Ninja returning to streaming?
Prior to embarking on DOOM, Foone had managed to get the music video for “Bad Apple” to run on the test, a song from the 1998 video game Lotus Land Story.
people suggested it should show Bad Apple.
CAN DO! pic.twitter.com/ha2ve6BmSK— foone (@Foone) September 5, 2020
He admitted that running DOOM in its full capacity as a game will be tricky, but does say that it can’t “yet” run the game, implying that he will not stop until he can. Instead, he opted to play a video from DOOM.
and it can’t yet run doom. That’s going to be way tricky, even cheating and having a modern desktop computer connected to it… but I CAN play back a doom video on it, which is kinda close?
(Using a different dithering method here so that you can see anything: doom is dark) pic.twitter.com/BhJLYkQlXp— foone (@Foone) September 5, 2020
Naturally, the game appeared very pixelated, due to the lack of overall pixels to work with on such a small screen, but it’s easy to make out the key shapes and the classic first-person-shooter angle.
Getting DOOM to run on increasingly bizarre devices is not a new phenomenon, as there is even a whole Tumblr blog dedicated to showcasing people’s creations called “It Runs Doom.”
Tumblr: It Runs Doom, darklordoflinuxDevices people have utilized include a tiny GameBoy keyring, a Sony Ericsson K800i, and an educational LeapFrog toy. Though the pregnancy test has to take the winning spot at the most bizarre.
Foone’s tweet has now garnered over 10,000 likes, with another person’s tweet drawing attention to the technological feat gaining over 30,000 within 24 hours of being posted.