DOOM has been ported to everything from smartwatches to toasters, but running the 1993 id Software classic inside Microsoft Paint was not on my list of expected experiences. That changed this week when I installed DoomPaint, a project built by Mark Russinovich, the Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Azure. It works, it has sound, and it is exactly as bizarre as it sounds.
What Is DoomPaint?
DoomPaint is an open-source experiment hosted on GitHub that forces the original DOOM engine to output its video frames directly into a Paint document. Rather than rendering to a graphics API or a windowed viewport, the project treats the Paint canvas as a raw display surface. Every single frame is pushed to the Windows clipboard and pasted into the document as a genuine, editable image. In effect, Paint is acting as a monitor, not a game engine.
Russinovich, who has spent decades working on Windows internals and system architecture, clearly built this as a technical curiosity. The project page includes a dry, self-aware note about the architecture: “Paint renders the game but does not compute it. Paint computes nothing. Paint has never computed anything. That’s the joke.” It is a clever nod to how deeply Windows handles data transfer under the hood.
How It Actually Works
The technical approach is surprisingly straightforward once you understand how the Windows clipboard operates. The DOOM executable runs normally in the background, calculating physics, input, and rendering as it would on any standard PC. Instead of sending its rendered output to a DirectDraw or DirectX surface, the code intercepts the frame buffer and writes it to the clipboard. Paint, running in the foreground, is configured to continuously paste the latest clipboard content into its workspace.
This means the heavy lifting is still happening in the DOOM engine itself. Paint is purely a passive display layer. If you were to pause the game, the image on the canvas would freeze exactly where the engine left it. The clipboard acts as the bridge between the game’s internal state and the user’s desktop environment.
The Framerate and Sound
Performance varies depending on your hardware, but Russinovich describes it as ranging from “quite smooth to snail’s pace.” He openly acknowledges that “the spreadsheet-tier framerate is part of the charm,” which is a generous way of saying it is not optimized for competitive play. You will likely see frame rates that fluctuate wildly as the clipboard operations compete with other system tasks.
Despite the visual overhead, the audio subsystem functions correctly. Music and sound effects play through your standard Windows audio drivers without requiring any special configuration. This confirms that the audio pipeline remains completely separate from the clipboard-based video hack, which is a relief for anyone trying to experience the full atmosphere of the original shareware release.
A ‘Vibe-Coded’ Collaboration
If you look at the contributors section of the DoomPaint repository, you will notice commits from both Anthropic’s Claude and Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot. Russinovich has leaned into the current trend of AI-assisted development, calling the project a “vibe-coded” effort. While the core concept and architecture are his, the AI tools helped with boilerplate, debugging, and documentation.
This approach highlights a shifting workflow in modern software engineering. Even senior architects at Microsoft are integrating generative AI into their side projects, using it to handle repetitive tasks while they focus on the underlying system design. The result is a functional, if unconventional, piece of software that pushes the boundaries of how we interact with legacy applications.
What This Means for You
For the average Windows user, DoomPaint is a fascinating piece of digital art rather than a practical gaming solution. It demonstrates the flexibility of the Windows clipboard and the enduring appeal of DOOM’s open architecture. If you are a developer or a Windows enthusiast, it offers a rare look at how low-level system functions can be repurposed for creative ends.
The project also serves as a reminder of how far display technology has come. Running a game by pasting images to a clipboard is inefficient by modern standards, but it works as a proof of concept. It highlights the difference between rendering and displaying, two processes that are usually tightly coupled in modern operating systems.
How to Get It
To run DoomPaint, you will need to install Python, as the project relies on a Python script to manage the clipboard and Paint interactions. You can download the interpreter from python.org. Once Python is set up, clone the repository from github.com/markrussinovich/DoomPaint and follow the included instructions.
You will also need a legitimate copy of the original DOOM shareware .WAD file. Without it, the game will not load the full selection of levels and weapons. If you already have a source port like UZDoom installed, you likely already have the necessary files. Otherwise, the official id Software website still distributes the original shareware release for free.
While DoomPaint will not replace your primary gaming rig, it is a brilliant demonstration of Windows internals and a fun nod to the history of PC gaming. It proves that even the most mundane applications can be pushed into extraordinary territory with a little creative engineering.
Source: Latest from Windows Central
Over to you: Would you try DoomPaint for a laugh, or stick to a proper source port?
