Programmer Creates a Computer Chip Designed Specifically to Play DOOM

For those who weren’t yet around when the original DOOM was released back in 1993, this first-person shooter, developed by id Software, was distributed freely as shareware and played by an estimated 21-million people within two years. However, the full game, with a total of three episodes, had to be purchased by mail order. Fast forward to today, programmer Sylvain Lefebvre has created a custom computer chip designed specifically to play a custom build of this game. Read more for a video and additional information.

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

Officially called “The DooM-chip!,” it is programmed to run E1M1 until the end of time, or when power runs out, whichever comes first. The algorithm has been burned into wires, LUTs and flip-flops on an FPGA. There’s no CPU, opcodes, or instruction counter, and it also runs on Altera CycloneV + SDRAM. All it took to get everything running was an ominous 666 lines of code.