Hasty Briefsbeta

Doom crash after 2.5 years of real-world runtime confirmed on real hardware

8 hours ago
  • #software experiment
  • #overflow
  • #DOOM
  • Author started a 2.5-year software experiment to test DOOM's engine behavior.
  • DOOM's demo tracking variable was found to increment indefinitely, risking overflow.
  • Calculations suggested an overflow would occur after roughly 2.5 years.
  • Experiment setup: DOOM ran on a PDA powered by a DIY 18650 UPS connected to a router.
  • The game crashed as predicted, confirming the variable overflow caused the crash.
  • Crash occurred just hours after the 2.5-year mark, validating the experiment.