Microsoft Veteran Engineer Makes DOOM Playable in Windows Paint
DoomPaint stands out among DOOM ports because it actually runs at the original frame rate, making the game genuinely playable through Paint rather than a visual stunt.
Reporting from 1 source: Automaton.
Mark Russinovich, CTO of Microsoft Azure, released DoomPaint on GitHub on July 21. The software runs the 1993 FPS DOOM at its original 35 frames per second through Microsoft Paint. It uses ViZDoom for the game engine and Windows mechanisms like OLE and low-level key hooks to paste frames and capture input.
Mark Russinovich, the CTO of Microsoft Azure, has released DoomPaint, a tool that runs DOOM inside Microsoft Paint. The game plays at its original 35 frames per second, depending on window size, which sets it apart from many DOOM ports that only display the game in unusual environments.
DoomPaint uses ViZDoom, a research library for DOOM, for the game engine. Paint only handles drawing. Each frame is stored in the clipboard and pasted onto the canvas. To avoid clipboard conflicts, Russinovich used OLE to register an object that returns image data. A low-level key hook intercepts keyboard input so the game receives commands instead of Paint.
The tool also adjusts canvas zoom and pixel count, letting players reduce resolution from the default 640x400 to improve performance on slower machines. Russinovich, who has worked at Microsoft for over 20 years, explains the details on the DoomPaint GitHub page.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.