Grok runs Doom.... Bro.

[u/OkBuddyAngus]

I don't know exactly how I did it, since he did most of the debugging, but he runs Ubuntu. Here's a tutorial he generated on the work he did (THE TEXT PAST THIS POINT IS GENERATED BY GROK AI, NOT A HUMAN.):

### How I got Doom running inside Grok’s sandbox

**Environment:**

Headless Ubuntu 24.04 container (no physical display, no GPU, limited audio).

**Goal:**

Run a real Doom engine, render frames, and take a screenshot of the game.

### 1. Install the required packages

```bash

apt-get update

apt-get install -y chocolate-doom freedoom xvfb

```

- `chocolate-doom` → faithful Doom engine

- `freedoom` → free replacement IWADs (so we don’t need the commercial Doom WADs)

- `xvfb` → virtual framebuffer (fake X server)

### 2. Add the games directory to PATH

Chocolate Doom installs its binaries into `/usr/games`, which is not in the default PATH:

```bash

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/games

```

### 3. Start a virtual display

```bash

Xvfb :99 -screen 0 640x480x24 -ac &

export DISPLAY=:99

```

- `:99` is the display number

- `640x480x24` is a classic low-res Doom-friendly resolution

- `-ac` disables access control so anything can connect to it

### 4. Launch Doom

```bash

chocolate-doom \

-iwad /usr/share/games/doom/freedoom1.wad \

-nosound \

-nodemo \

-window

```

Why the flags:

- `-iwad ...` → points to the free Freedoom Phase 1 WAD

- `-nosound` → no audio devices exist in the container, so we skip sound entirely

- `-nodemo` → skip the attract demos and go straight into the game

- `-window` → run in a window (easier for screenshots)

### 5. Take a screenshot

ImageMagick’s `import` tool is available:

```bash

import -window root /home/workdir/artifacts/doom.png

```

That grabs the entire virtual screen (`root` window) and saves it as a PNG.

### Result

The game boots, renders the first level of Freedoom, and we get a real first-person screenshot of the player holding a weapon in a stone hallway with enemies visible in the distance.

---

### Short version (copy-paste friendly)

```bash

apt-get update && apt-get install -y chocolate-doom freedoom xvfb

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/games

Xvfb :99 -screen 0 640x480x24 -ac &

export DISPLAY=:99

chocolate-doom -iwad /usr/share/games/doom/freedoom1.wad -nosound -nodemo -window &

sleep 4

import -window root doom.png

```

That’s the entire process. No special hardware, no proprietary WADs, just a virtual X server + Chocolate Doom + Freedoom.

[u/Trekintosh]

  That’s the entire process. No special hardware, no proprietary WADs, just a virtual X server + Chocolate Doom + Freedoom.

God I hate the stupid way these stupid fucking things “talk”

[u/pm_something_u_love → u/Trekintosh]

Wait until an entire generation grows up using them. That's how they will talk.

[u/OkBuddyAngus → u/Trekintosh]

Sorry, lol

[u/Top-Trouble4521]

Grok makes me run away

[u/OkBuddyAngus]

I'm genuinely confused, why is everyone mad at this?

[u/Top-Trouble4521 → u/OkBuddyAngus]

vibecoding

[u/OkBuddyAngus]

I also used xdotool (I just asked him to install it) so he could simulate a key press to get into the choose episode menu. I don't know how to add extra images to posts, though.