Raspberry Pi Pico 2 developer demonstrates running Doom on RP2350-powered Def Con 32 badge

The ultimate test of a microcontroller or SBC is whether it can run Doom. One of the designers responsible for the new Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller hacked the Def Con 32 badge to show that, yes, the latest edition of the Pico can run Doom quite smoothly. Participants in the conference are encouraged to modify, customize, and hack their badges to add more functionality. Since the associated “Badge Life” program focused on gaming, software engineer Graham Sanderson got Doom running on the Def Con 32 badge .

The Raspberry Pi Foundation recently began shipping the Raspberry Pi Pico 2, which includes a new RP2350 microcontroller. That same microcontroller was also integrated into the Def Con 32 badge distributed to attendees of this year’s hacking conference in Las Vegas.

Sanderson is one of the designers behind the RP2350 and previously released a version of Doom for the predecessor to the RP2350, the RP2040. So, it’s only natural that he would work to bring the same classic first-person shooter to the newer version of the microcontroller.

This year’s Def Con badge looks like a handheld gaming device with a small display. Others have demonstrated running PalmOS on the badge and emulating a GameBoy Color. Sanderson’s contribution to GitHub includes sound and save game support. The game itself runs at a smooth 50 frames per second.

Sanderson warns that installing Doom on the badge will overwrite its flash storage contents, so he recommends backing it up first. Once installed, you can run the game’s demo modes, play a game, complete levels, and even save and load a game. Saved games are stored in the badge’s flash memory and persist across power cycles.

A few things don’t work on the badge, at least for now. Doom’s main menu has a “Quit Game” item that doesn’t work because it is meant to quit DOS. Sanderson says he removed DOS mode due to display limitations, but the menu to end an active game found under “Options > End Game” does work. There’s also no button for strafing and no way to enter cheat codes.

If you have a Def Con 32 badge, you can find everything you need to get Doom running on it at Sanderson’s GitHub repository for the project. Sanderson has also updated the original rp2040-doom repository to support the new RP2350 microcontroller for those without a Def Con 32 badge but wishing to install it to a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 instead.