It’s time for another edition of one of video games’ most creative and increasingly ridiculous memes: “Can it Run Doom?” In contrast with other entries, this one seems fairly tame, especially when you compare it to the likes of “Doom on the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar ” or “Doom on gut bacteria.”
In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), indie game developer and programmer Jackson Clayton got Doom to run in Fortnite. In the clever clip, Clayton controls Doomguy, who looks like he’s about to start running through E1M1, the first level. However, Doomguy turns around and starts using Fortnite Battle Royale‘s building mechanics. You can watch it below.
But can #Fortnite run DOOM?
Obviously I can't publish this, but it was a great way to learn more about Materials and PostProcessing in #UEFN #FortniteCreative pic.twitter.com/POlf4obJlm
— Jackson Clayton (@JKClayton_FN) July 7, 2024
In an interview with Kotaku, Clayton said it was a matter of exporting the Doom level E1M1 from Ultimate Doom Builder in 3D, putting it in Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), and then removing many of the editor’s effects.
“I used Unreal’s material system to give the Doom Marine [sprite its] choppy spinning effect, and a PostProcess material to pixelate the screen and show the gun,” Clayton, who didn’t have a lot of experience programming in UEFN, said. So a lot of what you’re seeing is a visual workaround that still looks close to the real thing.
This isn’t something you can sell on Fortnite‘s Island Creator or online for obvious copyright reasons (and also because this is just a test), but it shows that the 1993 first-person shooter classic can truly run on anything, which is always a good thing.
And if you want to play even more Doom, you can keep an eye out for Doom: The Dark Ages updates The next game in the reboot series is set to release in 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. You can also play the original Doom trilogy just about anywhere these days, including on Android and iOS.
