WTF?! Those keeping track of how many devices can run Doom can now add a digital camera to the list. Compared to previous examples, this freely available port retains an impressive amount of the standard DOS version's functionality, supporting numerous mods and level packs.
A 12-year-old YouTuber with the username Kick recently uploaded a video of Doom running on a Canon DSLR camera. The open-source project is available on GitHub.
Unlike prior unexpected ports of id Software's iconic shooter that barely run on things such as DNS, Microsoft Paint, or a pair of earbuds, "doom550d" appears to achieve playable frame rates on Canon's 2009 camera. The video shows Kick using the menu buttons to move, shoot, navigate menus, and load multiple WAD files. The arrow and zoom keys control movement, the play button activates doors and switches, the DISP (or INFO) button opens automapping, and the rear wheel cycles between weapons.
Developed for Magic Lantern, an open-source alternative OS for Canon's DSLR and MILC cameras, the port allows players to install up to 32 WADs at one time. The video showcases the camera running the open-source fork Freedoom as well as the original game. The GitHub page also confirms that Doom II, TNT Evilution, and The Plutonia Experiment are supported, but not non-Doom WADs such as Heretic, Hexen, and Doom 64.
Players can also maintain multiple save files for each WAD, log debugging, and access a cheat menu by rapidly pressing the delete button. The game can run in either 320 x 240 pixels or an unofficial full-screen mode that upscales to 720 x 480.
To try the port, 550D owners must install Canon's firmware version 1.0.9 with Magic Lantern and copy the "doom.mo" and WAD files to the directory ML/MODULES/ on an SD card. Then, on the camera, select the desired WAD from Doom > WAD in the Magic Lantern Games menu, and restart the camera to begin playing. As with other Doom mods, purchasing the official WAD files from Steam or GOG is recommended.
Doom has been ported to an expanding list of increasingly implausible devices. Thus far, these include:
- A single keyboard key
- The late John McAfee's "unhackable" crypto wallet
- A McDonald's cash register
- A McDonald's self-order kiosk
- The Playdate handheld
- Minecraft
- A captcha
- A $15 Ikea smart lamp
- A motherboard
- A Lego brick
- John Deere combines
- Notepad
- The Atari ST
- A candy bar
- A one-milliwatt neural chip
- The Commodore 64
- Teletext
- A robot lawnmower
- Fortnite
- A self-generating AI model
- Holograms
- Nintendo's Alarmo clock
- A PDF document
- Microsoft Word
- An Anker power bank
- A satellite orbiting hundreds of kilometers above Earth
- The Windows screen saver
- Earbuds
- A computer made of living human neurons
- TypeScript's type system
- A box containing the game
- A QR code
- DNS
- Microsoft Paint
The creator of doom550d is also developing an NES emulator for the 550D. While no binaries are available from the project's GitHub page yet, interested users can currently build from the source code and test a few ROMs.