News
Use Your Roomba to Create a ‘DOOM’ Map!
Yep, December’s not out quite yet, and another weird DOOM-related software has shown up to blow your mind. Well, that is if you have a Roomba. You know, those robot vacuums that people buy to freak out the dog? Well, coder Rich Whitehouse has another use for that contraption: Making your own DOOM maps.
Enter DOOMBA, a script for Whitehouse’s Noesis software, which is used for “previewing and converting between hundreds of model, image, and animation formats”. The script tracks and stores your Roomba’s movement data via the robot’s Clean Map reporting system, which can be imported into Noesis and then finally be converted into a DOOM map.
Currently, the script has only been tested with the Roomba 980. Plus, you’ll have to do the work of installing the software, the script itself, as well as figure out your Roomba’s IP. But once that’s done, you simply grab the Roomba’s movement data, throw it into the Noesis application, and you have a DOOM map of your living room/bedroom/kitchen.
Well, part of it. You’ll have to fiddle around with values, and according to Whitehouse, he hasn’t tested it extensively, and that could result in the map attempting to do things that DOOM can’t handle. Still, it’s a neat little something you can try over the holidays if you’re up to the challenge.
Or, you could always wait for John Romero to finish up and release SIGIL, but that’s entirely up to you.
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting are deeply sad to learn that The Blob director Chuck Russell has passed away at 74 years old.
Russell’s career began with his directorial debut, 1987’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
The multihyphenate film director, screenwriter, and producer is best known for helming 1994 comedy The Mask starring Jim Carrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner Eraser, and adventure spinoff The Scorpion King. The latter served as the first leading role for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The filmmaker left an indelible mark on horror with his ANOES sequel, 1988’s The Blob, and 2000’s Bless the Child.
Russell’s final film credit is 2024’s Witchboard remake starring Madison Iseman (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), and Jamie Campbell Bower (“Stranger Things”).
It marked Russell’s return to horror after a lengthy hiatus, and he shared sequel hopes to Bloody Disgusting in an interview ahead of the remake’s release: “I got to design the board with real mystical symbols and things that I know represent good and evil, and where that board takes us if the audiences respond to the film, and I hope they will; I know it’s out there for you guys, but the sequel is a world we’ll get to go a little further. That’s sure the intention.”
He also recently expressed interest in returning to the franchise that began his career.
TMZ notes that Russell passed away at his San Diego-area home.
We send our deepest condolences to Chuck Russell’s family, friends, and fans.
Director, Co-Writer & Producer Chuck Russell behind the scenes of the horror film, WITCHBOARD. Photo courtesy of The Avenue and Atlas Distribution
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