Doom runs via regular expressions in extreme programming feat

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] · 2026-07-28 10:00

A programmer named Artem Lytkin has successfully run the classic video game Doom using only regular expressions. This unconventional method involves a 96MB text file that simulates the game's hardware, including registers and memory, through complex text-matching and substitution operations. While functional and producing byte-identical output to the original game, the process is extremely slow, with each frame taking approximately 180 seconds to render, requiring nearly 14 million substitutions. AI

IMPACT Demonstrates extreme computational creativity by repurposing text-matching tools for game execution.

RANK_REASON This is a niche programming feat using existing software and a common tool (regex) in an unconventional way, not a new product or frontier release.

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Doom runs via regular expressions in extreme programming feat

COVERAGE [1]

Tom's Hardware TIER_1 English(EN) · Bruno Ferreira · 2026-07-28 10:00

Daring coder gets Doom running with regular expressions at 180 seconds per frame, like playing 'correspondence chess with a shotgun' — nearly 14 million substitutions to render a frame at 80,000 substitutions per second

Daring coder gets Doom running with regular expressions at 180 seconds per frame by using one text string to the machine, engine, and video output

COVERAGE [1]

Daring coder gets Doom running with regular expressions at 180 seconds per frame, like playing 'correspondence chess with a shotgun' — nearly 14 million substitutions to render a frame at 80,000 substitutions per second

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