The Atari ST was eight years too early for Doom, however not anymore

[ad_1] In context: The checklist of unbelievable units operating the enduring first-person shooter Doom continues to develop. Though porting it to a PC launched in 1985, eight years earlier than Doom, may appear tame in comparison with operating it on a Lego brick or inside a QR code, the in-development Atari ST conversion reveals spectacular dedication.

Augsburg-based indie developer Jonas "indyjo" Eschenburg just lately started sharing early work on a local Doom port for the Atari ST. Though early clips reveal important compromises, continued improvement may end in one of many sport's extra intriguing diversifications.

Porting DOOM to the Atari ST. Now with keyboard management which makes the sport virtually playable. Emulation accelerated so you do not have to attend a number of seconds per body... 😂 pic.twitter.com/MjKFly1xwJ

– Jonas Eschenburg (@indyjonas) April 26, 2025

Eschenburg's preliminary effort reveals the primary map operating in grayscale at a low body fee with no sound, however a outstanding quantity of element stays seen (above). The next day, a second publish reveals dramatic progress with the addition of 16-bit colour and keyboard controls (beneath). The colour model shows heavy dithering, making it much less clear than the grayscale mode, but it surely provides full-screen harm results.

Working Doom on an actual Atari ST as an alternative of Eschenburg's emulator will probably show difficult. The 1985 PC, the primary entry of Atari's TOS platform, options an 8 MHz 68000 CPU and as much as 512 KB of RAM. By comparability, the unique DOS model of Doom, launched eight years later, requires at the least an Intel 386 processor clocked between 16 and 40 MHz and 4 MB of reminiscence.

Goodbye grayscale: DOOM on the Atari ST, now in 16 colours with a number of dithering. Palette results (display screen going pink when taking harm) supported as nicely. pic.twitter.com/zb6QFiwN7r

– Jonas Eschenburg (@indyjonas) April 27, 2025

Eschenburg's Atari ST code presently runs on an emulator that faithfully reproduces the unique CPU however simulates 14 MB of overclocked RAM. The developer plans to optimize the port additional, which may enhance efficiency and produce actual {hardware} operation inside attain. For comparability, one of many extra spectacular retro PC Doom ports runs on a Commodore 64 at a clean 50fps, albeit with assist from a Raspberry Pi growth cartridge.

Different unimaginable Doom ports have run on a money register, a motherboard, a garden mower, a one-milliwatt neural chip, a PDF doc, and extra. Restricted Run Video games just lately joined the joke by unveiling a set containing a number of basic Doom entries, shipped in a field that may play the sport. Microsoft has positioned the anthology to assist construct curiosity within the franchise's newest title, the exponentially extra demanding Doom: The Darkish Ages, which launches on Might 15.