TL;DR: Resourceful hackers have been running Doom, or ports of the original source code, on countless, most unlikely devices. Anything with a processor goes, from calculators to kitchen appliances, the iconic shooter has become a benchmark for computational curiosity. Now, a developer has released a more "traditional," dressed-up version that can run directly on Windows as your screensaver.
Developer Wiaam Suleiman recently released Doom Screen Saver, a lighthearted project that turns Doom into a fully functional Windows screen saver. Everything the tool needs is packed into a single .scr file, a portable format that remains in use for modern versions of Windows, even if it has long since faded from the spotlight.
Screen savers were originally created to prevent screen burn-in issues on CRT and plasma computer monitors, but they have been largely overlooked in the LCD era. Thanks to the growing popularity of OLED displays, the concept is seeing a quiet resurgence of sorts because light-emitting films made by organic compounds suffer from the same burn-in issues as older monitor technologies.
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Doom Screen Saver is built on Doom Retro, a newish open source port of id Software's foundational shooter conceived to follow a minimalist approach in tech upgrades and graphics bell and whistles. Originally based on the Chocolate Doom project, Doom Retro is still being developed and updated on a frequent basis.
To further reduce the risk of burn-in, Suleiman stripped away Doom's traditional HUD. In its place, the screen saver occasionally displays the familiar "Doomguy" face, which periodically switches sides to avoid lingering static elements. Doom Screen Saver can play for hours, cycling through the entirety of Episode 1, Knee-Deep in the Dead, from the original shareware DOS release.
Efficiency was also a design goal. According to Suleiman, the screen saver is intentionally light on CPU usage, ensuring it won't "burn" through processor cycles while it runs in the background. Like any .scr file, Doom Screen Saver can be launched with a double-click or installed directly into Windows' screen saver settings, where users can also customize audio options.
Doom screen savers aren't exactly new, as people were already making this kind of ancillary programs back when Doom was still a brand-new gaming experience. However, the new Windows screen saver is probably the first one that can actually render the complete Doom gameplay experience from start to finish.
The godfather of modern first-person shooters is arguably the most ported game in history. Recent conversion feats include a version of Doom that runs on an Anker power bank and even one that operates aboard an actual satellite orbiting Earth. The "classic" Doom experience is also enjoying a revival, thanks to the recently introduced DoomScroll project, which lets users access thousands of fan-made Doom levels in WAD format directly from a web browser.