A Hacker's Journey from Hardware to Viral Fame

Running Doom on Our Custom CPU and Going Viral

Based on Hacker News Story

02

The Project

Building a CPU from scratch and making it run Doom

Building a Custom CPU from Scratch

01

Design the Architecture Create a custom instruction set and processor design from the ground up
02

Implement in Hardware Build the CPU using FPGA or custom logic circuits
03

Write the Toolchain Develop assembler, compiler, and debugging tools for the new architecture
04

Test and Debug Iterate through countless cycles of testing and refinement

Porting Doom to Custom Hardware

The ultimate test: running the iconic 1993 game Doom on a custom-built processor. This requires understanding both the game's architecture and the custom CPU's capabilities.

• Reverse-engineered game requirements

• Optimized memory and processing constraints

• Achieved playable frame rates

A milestone in DIY computing history

59

Hacker News Points

Reached the front page of Hacker News, capturing the tech community's attention

From Concept to Viral Success

Start

Idea Born

The challenge to build a custom CPU begins

Development

CPU Completed

Custom processor architecture fully functional

Integration

Doom Running

Successfully ported and running Doom

Viral

Hacker News Fame

Story hits front page with 59 points

Key Takeaways

bolt

Technical Excellence

Deep understanding of computer architecture enables creative solutions

visibility

Share Your Journey

Documenting the process creates compelling content for the community

hub

Community Matters

Tech communities like Hacker News celebrate authentic engineering stories

Thank You

Inspired by the story at armaangomes.com