Doom

Classic Doom behavior in a web experiment

Silent Space Marine uses Chocolate Doom as the basis for its browser port. Chocolate Doom aims to reproduce the Doom experience of the 1990s, so the project's starting point is the classic game's behavior rather than a modernized remake with a different presentation. The browser and networking work sits around that engine.

This matters when comparing Doom projects: the engine's preservation goal and the host's multiplayer transport answer different questions. One concerns how Doom behaves; the other concerns how players share a session.

Chocolate Doom · preservation goals · Cloudflare · Doom multiplayer implementation

Choose solo play or start a group

The site provides Play Solo and Start Multiplayer. Multiplayer runs through Cloudflare's network and supports up to four players. The host shares an invitation URL; guests enter their names and wait for the host to start. Use the invitation when joining friends, rather than independently starting another multiplayer game.

Silent Space Marine · solo and multiplayer launcher · Cloudflare · Doom multiplayer implementation

Desktop mouse or phone controls

The implementation supports mouse input and sound, with F for fullscreen during play. Phones use virtual gamepads, and the landing page suggests hiding the browser toolbar for more room. These are controls documented for this specific experiment, not a promise that every Doom WebAssembly port has the same mobile layout.

Cloudflare · Doom multiplayer implementation · Silent Space Marine · solo and multiplayer launcher

The group moves at its slowest connection

The multiplayer simulation waits for every player's input. A slow connection can therefore slow the whole group, even when the other players have faster links. The creator also describes rough handling of abrupt disconnects and reconnects.

Treat a match as a shared live session. The experiment does not make that session a durable saved game simply by using Cloudflare Durable Objects; the implementation article distinguishes its live coordination from persistent storage.

Cloudflare · Doom multiplayer implementation