The Doom Test: Apparently This Should Be Part of QA Now
Somebody got Doom running on a Canon DSLR.
Not streamed to the screen. Not played back as a video. Actually running on the camera.
Specifically, a Canon EOS 550D — the Rebel T2i here in the U.S. — using Magic Lantern. And I cannot possibly express how much I support this.
I come at this from two perfectly compatible forms of nerd damage.
I'm a photographer. I've got multiple Canon bodies, more lenses than I'd like to inventory, and enough photo gear around here that moving it all should probably require insurance.
But I was a computer nerd long before I was a photo nerd. Which means I also have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of anyone ever installing Doom on corporate computers and playing networked multiplayer with coworkers during business hours.
We would never have done that.... Repeatedly.
So when somebody combines Canon hardware, Magic Lantern and Doom into one magnificently unnecessary engineering project, I feel represented.
End-Stage Doom Nerdology
Developer Lauris NL built Doom as an actual Magic Lantern module for the Canon EOS 550D running firmware 1.0.9.
Load the module and a Doom-compatible WAD onto the SD card, launch it through Magic Lantern, and now the buttons on the back of your camera are being used to kill demons. SET fires.
The directional controls move and turn. Other buttons handle things like doors, strafing and weapon changes. And yes, the camera speaker plays the audio.
That alone would've been enough. But no.
The thing supports save games, multiple WADs, Doom II, Freedoom, persistent settings, an automap, weapon switching, sound controls and even a cheat menu.
The developer also built a lightweight software synthesizer to handle Doom's music without destroying the poor little DIGIC-era processor.
At that point, we're no longer talking about a joke. We're talking about product development.
This Should Be Part of QA
Honestly, I think we need a new standard.
We already have:
Unit testing.
Integration testing.
Thermal testing.
Regression testing.
Security testing.
Burn-in testing.
Somewhere at the end of all that there should be a guy walking into the lab with an SD card asking one question:
Will it run Doom?
Camera? Run Doom.
Car infotainment system? Run Doom.
Smart refrigerator? Obviously run Doom.
An $80 million AI supercomputer? I don't care how many tokens per second it does. How's E1M1?
If it passes, stamp the box.
DOOM CERTIFIED.
If it doesn't, engineering gets another sprint.
We Need a Consortium
At this point I think the Doom community deserves governance.
Not regulation. God no. A consortium.
"The International Doom Compatibility Consortium."
Completely vendor-neutral. Deeply unserious. Absolutely uncompromising.
Certification levels could be simple:
Doom Ready — technically runs Doom.
Doom Certified — playable controls, audio and acceptable frame rate.
Doom Enterprise — multiplayer.
Doom Mission Critical — survives 24 hours of continuous demon removal without rebooting.
Tell me you wouldn't want that sticker on a new piece of hardware.
The Camera Is Almost Beside the Point
The fun part is that these projects aren't really about Doom. Doom has become a universal hardware interrogation tool.
It's old enough to run on modest hardware, but complicated enough that getting it working means you've figured out graphics, input, storage, timing and usually audio.
So every Doom port asks the same question: What is this machine actually capable of once we stop caring what the manufacturer intended it to do?
Canon sold the 550D as a camera. And obviously, it is. But underneath that interface is still a processor, memory, storage, buttons, a display and audio hardware.
Magic Lantern opens the door. Then somebody walks through carrying a shotgun. That's what I love about this stuff. Manufacturers tend to define hardware by purpose. Engineers tend to define hardware by capability.
Camera.
Router.
Thermostat.
Printer.
Those are product categories.
Processor.
RAM.
Storage.
Display.
I/O.
Those are possibilities.
And somewhere in that gap between the two is a nerd asking:
What else can I make this thing do?
That question has built an enormous amount of useful technology.
It has also resulted in Doom running on calculators, printers, ATMs, tractors and now Canon cameras. Both outcomes are important.
Approved. Ship It.
This one hits me especially hard because Canon cameras and Doom occupy two very different archaeological layers of my own nerd history. Seeing them smashed together is just fun as hell.
And whoever built this didn't merely get a title screen to appear long enough to take a picture. They engineered it. Display. Controls. Audio. Save files. Timing. Hardware-specific behavior. Actual testing on the physical camera.
Someone is doing hardware validation for Doom on a Canon Rebel. This is civilization functioning correctly.
So I'm proposing a universal technology rule. Before any electronic device is declared finished, somebody has to attempt to run Doom on it.
Not because customers need it. Not because it makes commercial sense. Not because there's any rational reason whatsoever. Do it because technology occasionally needs to stop taking itself so damn seriously. And because after all these years, one question remains undefeated:
Yeah, but will it run Doom?
Apparently the Canon does.
Approved. Ship it.
Sources
Doom550D — Lauris NL / GitHub
Magic Lantern
Original article: Can It Run Doom? Yes. Everything Can Run Doom.
Rich Washburn is a technologist, strategist, and Founder & Chief AI Architect of ARIA AI Labs, working at the intersection of AI, infrastructure, communications, and capital. He also serves as Managing Partner and Chief AI Officer at Eliakim Capital.
Comments