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A CedarDB developer says they ported the original 1993 Doom game logic and renderer into SQL queries running inside a database. The reported version runs the game loop at 35 frames per second and includes four-player deathmatch; Python handles input, timing and display rather than game simulation.
A CedarDB developer has published SQLDoom, a port of the original 1993 Doom in which the game logic and renderer run as SQL inside a database. The developer reports that its game loop runs at 35 frames per second, with four-player deathmatch available on hosted European and US servers.
The project’s author says SQLDoom handles the game state, simulation and frame rendering in the database. Its renderer returns a bitmap encoding the exact RGB value of each pixel. A Python client handles keyboard input, advances the game at the original 35-tick-per-second rate and displays the returned image; it does not run the game logic, according to the project write-up.
The author reports that the renderer can produce frames at up to 60 Hz on a laptop, independently of the fixed-rate game loop. The project supports the shareware version of Doom’s first episode and offers four-player deathmatch. Players can join hosted EU or US servers; if all seats are occupied, the site says visitors can wait in a queue or query live game state through SQL.
The game data comes from Doom’s WAD files, which the author describes as having a relational structure suited to database tables. A Python importer converts the game data, with importing all of Doom 1 reported to take about 18 seconds on the author’s laptop. The write-up describes the project as a port of the original game, rather than a renderer that merely produces similar-looking scenes.
Doom’s Simulation Moves Into SQL
The project is a practical demonstration of how far a database can be pushed beyond conventional storage and reporting. SQLDoom’s author says the database executes both the simulation and the rendering, while a comparatively small client supplies input and displays the result. That division makes the project a useful, if unusual, example for developers exploring database computation and the boundaries between application code and query engines.
For players, the significance is more direct: the author says the port retains interactive elements including movement, combat, enemies, pickups, projectiles and animated effects, and supports online deathmatch. The project write-up presents those features as evidence that this is not only a visual rendering experiment. Independent performance testing and a detailed account of the port’s limitations are not included in the supplied report, so its broader implications for database performance remain untested here.
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From ASCII Doom to a Full Port
SQLDoom follows the author’s earlier project, DOOMQL, published the previous year. That project displayed a rough ASCII-art approximation at 30 frames per second using raycasting. The author says critics were right to point out that its approach was closer to Wolfenstein 3D than Doom: the original Doom uses binary space partitioning (BSP) to organize map geometry, enabling features such as angled walls, textures and varying floor heights.
For the new project, the author set two stated goals: make the result look like Doom and preserve the feel of playing it. The write-up says the renderer and game loop must be SQL-based, while allowing a client in another language to read input, advance game ticks and present the output. It describes the Python client as deliberately limited to those tasks.
“The game loop runs at the original 35 FPS.”
— SQLDoom’s author, in the CedarDB project report
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Performance Claims Await Testing
The performance figures in the report, including up to 60 Hz rendering on a laptop, come from the project’s author. The report does not provide independent benchmarks, the specific database configuration behind each result, or comparisons with conventional Doom implementations. The supplied material also does not detail the multiplayer server capacity, network latency or how the database handles simultaneous player actions.
The available version is identified as the shareware first episode, not the complete commercial game. The report does not specify a public release license or explain whether all components needed to run the port are available for local installation. Those details matter to readers who want to reproduce the results or assess how the hosted demo performs beyond the author’s setup.
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Try the Hosted Deathmatch
The project report directs readers to hosted European and US deathmatch servers, with four player slots and a queue when a server is full. Visitors who cannot join a match can, according to the report, inspect live game state using SQL while waiting.
The next useful milestones would be a public account of the database and hardware configuration, repeatable performance measurements, and details about the code and data needed to run SQLDoom independently. The source material does not give a schedule for those details or describe planned development, so it remains unclear whether the project will expand beyond the reported shareware episode and hosted matches.
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Key Questions
What is SQLDoom?
SQLDoom is a project that runs the original Doom’s game logic and renderer as SQL inside a database, according to its author. A Python client handles keyboard input, game timing and displaying the rendered bitmap.
Does the game really run entirely in SQL?
The author says the game logic and rendering run in SQL. The client is not SQL: Python polls input, advances the game loop and presents the database’s image output.
What version of Doom is available?
The hosted project is described as the shareware version of the first episode of the original Doom. The report does not say that the full commercial game is included.
Can people play against each other?
Yes. The author says the hosted game supports four-player deathmatch on EU and US servers. If all player slots are taken, visitors can queue, subject to the queue being available.
How fast does SQLDoom run?
The author reports a 35-tick-per-second game loop and rendering at up to 60 Hz on a laptop. Those are project-reported figures; the supplied material does not include independent benchmark results.
Source: hn
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