In context: The list of improbable devices running the iconic first-person shooter Doom continues to grow. Although porting it to a PC released in 1985, eight years before Doom, might seem tame compared to running it on a Lego brick or inside a QR code, the in-development Atari ST conversion shows impressive dedication.
Augsburg-based indie developer Jonas "indyjo" Eschenburg recently began sharing early work on a native Doom port for the Atari ST. Although early clips reveal significant compromises, continued development could result in one of the game's more intriguing adaptations.
Porting DOOM to the Atari ST. Now with keyboard control which makes the game almost playable. Emulation accelerated so you don't have to wait several seconds per frame... 😂 pic.twitter.com/MjKFly1xwJ
– Jonas Eschenburg (@indyjonas) April 26, 2025
Eschenburg's initial effort shows the first map running in grayscale at a low frame rate with no sound, but a remarkable amount of detail remains visible (above). The following day, a second post shows dramatic progress with the addition of 16-bit color and keyboard controls (below). The color version displays heavy dithering, making it less clear than the grayscale mode, but it adds full-screen damage effects.
Running Doom on a real Atari ST instead of Eschenburg's emulator will likely prove challenging. The 1985 PC, the first entry of Atari's TOS platform, features an 8 MHz 68000 CPU and up to 512 KB of RAM. By comparison, the original DOS version of Doom, released eight years later, requires at least an Intel 386 processor clocked between 16 and 40 MHz and 4 MB of memory.
Goodbye grayscale: DOOM on the Atari ST, now in 16 colors with a lot of dithering. Palette effects (screen going red when taking damage) supported as well. pic.twitter.com/zb6QFiwN7r
– Jonas Eschenburg (@indyjonas) April 27, 2025
Eschenburg's Atari ST code currently runs on an emulator that faithfully reproduces the original CPU but simulates 14 MB of overclocked RAM. The developer plans to optimize the port further, which could improve performance and bring real hardware operation within reach. For comparison, one of the more impressive retro PC Doom ports runs on a Commodore 64 at a smooth 50fps, albeit with help from a Raspberry Pi expansion cartridge.
Other incredible Doom ports have run on a cash register, a motherboard, a lawn mower, a one-milliwatt neural chip, a PDF document, and more. Limited Run Games recently joined the joke by unveiling a collection containing several classic Doom entries, shipped in a box that can play the game. Microsoft has positioned the anthology to help build interest in the franchise's latest title, the exponentially more demanding Doom: The Dark Ages, which launches on May 15.
Masthead credit: Atari Legend
The Atari ST was eight years too early for Doom, but not anymore
