Someone Got Doom Running Inside Microsoft Paint at 35 fps
Mark Russinovich, Azure CTO at Microsoft, released a project that uses Microsoft Paint as a display output to run the actual Doom engine, complete with the real shareware DOOM1.WAD file.
The Monitor Is Paint Now
The long, proud tradition of running Doom on things that were never meant to run Doom has a new entry, and this one might be the most wonderfully absurd yet. According to a report from Tom’s Hardware, someone got the classic id Software shooter running with Microsoft Paint serving as its display output, hitting up to 35 frames per second in the process. That someone, notably, is not a bored college student or a weekend tinkerer. It is Mark Russinovich, the Azure CTO at Microsoft.
The project uses Microsoft Paint as a kind of monitor, rendering the game’s output through the application rather than a conventional display pipeline. It is a genuinely strange thing to picture: one of the most iconic first-person shooters in history, its hellish corridors and shambling zombies appearing inside the same humble drawing tool that shipped with Windows 3.0.
This Is the Real Thing
What makes this more than a novelty screenshot is the technical legitimacy underneath it. As Tom’s Hardware reported, the project runs the actual Doom engine and loads the real shareware DOOM1.WAD file. This is not a JavaScript port, a demake, or a recreation built to approximate the aesthetic. The classic WAD format, the same one players have been modding and loading for over three decades, is being read and executed here.
That distinction matters to anyone who has followed the “Doom port” space over the years. Running a game that looks like Doom is one thing. Running Doom is another. Russinovich’s project clears that bar.
The 35 fps ceiling is also worth noting. For context, the original DOS version of Doom ran at 35 fps by design, since the game’s engine was built around a 35 Hz tick rate. So while that number might sound modest by modern standards, it is essentially full speed for the game as id Software intended it.
The Tradition Continues
Doom has been run on ATM screens, pregnancy tests, oscilloscopes, receipt printers, and a remarkable number of calculators. Every few months something new joins the list. The running joke in gaming communities is that if a piece of hardware or software can display pixels in any capacity, someone is already working on getting Doom to run on it.
What is unusual this time is the pedigree of the person behind it. Russinovich is not an anonymous forum user posting results for clout. He is a senior technical executive at one of the largest technology companies on the planet, the author of foundational Windows diagnostic tools, and someone who has spent decades working close to the metal of Windows internals. When he decides to run Doom inside Paint, he has the background to do it properly, and apparently the inclination to share the project publicly.
The fact that the project was released rather than just demonstrated means other developers can look at how it was built, pull it apart, and presumably improve on it. Thirty-five frames per second is the historical ceiling for the game’s logic, but there is always someone ready to push further.
For now, Microsoft Paint has a new, deeply unofficial use case, and the list of things Doom runs on got one entry stranger than most.
Who created the project that runs Doom inside Microsoft Paint?
According to Tom's Hardware, the project was released by Mark Russinovich, who serves as Azure CTO at Microsoft.
Does this run real Doom or just a fan recreation?
According to the report, it runs the actual Doom engine and loads the real shareware DOOM1.WAD file, not a reimplementation.
How fast does Doom run inside Microsoft Paint?
Tom's Hardware reports the project can run Doom at up to 35 fps using Microsoft Paint as its display output.