When you ask yourself, “Does (insert any object or software) run DOOM?” The answer is ‘yes’ 90% of the time, and the remaining 10% haven’t been explored yet.
Artist Lennart contributed to the research by setting one of its maps in Houdini. Well, running might be too big of a word as the footage shows the level on a Houdini-made screen but no actual gameplay, though if it opens like this, I don’t see why you can’t figure out the controls and enemies.
Lennart
Lennart created this VEX-powered project for their DOOM ray tracer in SOPs using the map found online. The screen is a Houdini primitive grid with a resolution of 320x200px.
“From there, I shoot a ray into the scene, record the prim I hit together with its UVs, find the matching texture on disk, and return the color at the specific UV position. Do that for every pixel and you have a renderer from the 90s. I added some fake shading and particle effects because why not.”
Lennart
Houdini is not the first 3D software to manage such a feat. We’ve seen it on Blender’s Geometry Nodes as well as other programs and objects: a PDF file, an attendee’s badge from a hacking conference, Windows’ Notepad, LEGO bricks, Balatro, and Fortnite.
I can’t even imagine what’s next for this epic shooter. It’s nice to see DOOM inspire people after all these years.
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