DOOM 1.1 Had Multimonitor Support?!?

Source: Hackaday DOOM 1.1 Had Multimonitor Support?!?

Why No, We Haven’t Droned On About The Original DOOM Enough

It was recently discovered that the original DOOM supported multiple monitors, and the way it does it explains why it took so long to figure it out.  The support only exists in DOOM 1.1 and not later updates, further obfuscating the ability until it was revealed by Tech Tangents and shared on Hackaday.  The source code is available, so if you want to try this you will need three copies and three computers to run it on … not to mention the monitors.

In order to play multimonitor DOOM, you need to connect three instances of the game on networked computers using the old IPX driver code DOOM used for multiplayer.  Instead of bots or other people you spawn two drones which are locked to your first instance, that provide a viewpoint 90 degrees off of that instance.  You set one drone to -left and one to -right and suddenly you actually enjoy DOOM with a view.

It is a bit of work, which may well explain why this support was dropped in later versions of DOOM, but if you want to experience one of the very first games that had multimonitor you have to expect to put a bit of work into it.

It’s a right of passage, when hacking a machine, to run DOOM on it — be it a VoIP phone, or tractor. But the original 1993 release does have a few notable tricks, and there’s something to be said for recreating that experience on period hardware.

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About The Author

Jeremy Hellstrom

Call it K7M.com, AMDMB.com, or PC Perspective, Jeremy has been hanging out and then working with the gang here for years. Apart from the front page you might find him on the BOINC Forums or possibly the Fraggin' Frogs if he has the time.

2 Comments

  1. Kyle

    Yup. I remember playing it that way in the comp sci lab. Would love to see this sort of multi-system setup again. I mean, you could buy three computers for the price of one 4090. 😂

    Reply
  2. Benja

    Eso está genial, y otra cosa curiosa, que surge de la derivación, del motor de Doom, para crear el juego de Heretic, shadow of the serpent riders. Es que si utilizas, el código summon o summonfriend, mas el nombre de cualquier monstruo de Doom dentro de heretic, estos tienen participación en el juego, aunque serán no visibles, a menos que utilices el mapa para ubicarlos. Aunque sería genial si hubiera una forma, en la se puedan visualizar los monstruos de Doom en el juego de Heretic.

    Reply

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