If you were born in the late 1970s or early 1980s, you probably remember playing Doom, a popular first-person shooter in which you play a space soldier exterminating demons on his journey across the earth and the underworld.
Released by Rage Interactive in 1993, today its fame has risen again, a remake of the iconic saga has been released 6 years ago… and the soul of the old video game has colonized a multitude of peculiar everyday objects in recent weeks.
Why has Doom come back into fashion in recent months? The story is that thousands of users on networks have been able to install Doom on gadgets and devices of all kindsfrom household appliances such as microwave screens to calculators or pregnancy tests, through agricultural machinery or even Christmas tree decorations.
The following tweet illustrates one of the examples of installing Doom on peculiar objects.
Now, the latest gadget to join the party is a small functional Lego computer, the work of Weta Workshop graphic engineer James Brown. Thanks to his efforts, reflected in a video on his YouTube channel, it is now possible to play the classic shooter in first person using motion controls and touch nails.
This specialist has been working for 8 months to achieve this feat: the beginning was to try equipping the classic 1980s Lego space line of bricks with functional screens showing animations and fake computer interfaces.
After arduous weeks of work, which James Brown documented on his YouTube channel, the engineer achieved several milestones. Among them, mHe showcased several custom Lego bricks with various finishes and transparencies to maximize the visibility of the tiny OLED displays embedded within.
As documented by media such as gizmodoAnother of Brown’s milestones was installing a lightweight version of Doom on Lego computers using a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller.
But the thing did not stop there, but the engineer also managed to get the video game to a custom Lego ring, using it as a test bed for small batteries that could help make the Lego brick autonomous and self-powered.
In both cases, the game was played only in demo mode, but it brings some amazing improvements in terms of progress with the transformation of Lego toys into tiny screens: Brown managed to free them from the wires and fit a piece at the bottom, so that Doom can be played by tilting the brick in different directions.
For controls, touching the touch sensitive pads on top makes it possible to open doors and also fire the player’s weapon.
In the video you can appreciate the feat of installing Doom on a 0.42-inch monochrome OLED screen, a delight for both Lego collectors and lovers of this vintage shooter.
