This chip plays ‘Doom’ and nothing else_IT_FreeIT

This chip plays ‘Doom’ and nothing else

2020-05-12 05:49Author: @Baymax

This chip plays ‘Doom’ and nothing else

Id Software

It’s been over 25 years since Doom was unceremoniously released on a university FTP server. And despite its age,the classic first-person shooter has become a mainstay,not just for gamers,but also for programmers. The game has shown up on a ridiculous amount of hardware,from ATMs to printer screens to iPods. Graphics and game development enthusiast Sylvain Lefebvre,though,has created a machine that only plays his custom port of Doom.

The DooM-chip! It will run E1M1 till the end of times (or till power runs out,whichever comes first).

Algorithm is burned into wires,LUTs and flip-flops on an #FPGA: no CPU,no opcodes,no instruction counter.

Running on Altera CycloneV + SDRAM. (1/n) pic.twitter.com/wd7j4JnfWn

— Sylvain Lefebvre (@sylefeb) May 8,2020

Lefebvre created a mini computer using a Cyclone V FPGA circuit board. These were originally meant to serve as the brains behind simpler electronics,but have also found a place in homebrew gaming,including the development of hardware-based emulation -- companies like Analogue Interactive use FPGA chips to create products such as the Mega SG. Excluding the game itself,Lefebvre says it took 666 lines of code to get the “DooM-Chip” up and running,which is fitting enough for a game filled with demons and hellspawn.

This project shows how affordable hardware,paired with know-how and research,can net some impressive results. It also proves just how popular Doom is,even after all these years.