Port of idTech1 games (Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Strife) for Raspberry Pi Pico 2 (RP2350) with HDMI output, SD card, PS/2 or USB keyboard/mouse, and OPL music.
All four game engines are compiled into a single firmware binary. At startup, a WAD selector screen automatically detects available WAD files from the SD card and lets you choose which game to play.
| WAD Selector | Doom | Heretic | Hexen | Strife |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Engine | Supported WADs |
|---|---|
| Doom | doom.wad, doom2.wad, doom1.wad (shareware), plutonia.wad, tnt.wad |
| Heretic | heretic.wad, heretic1.wad (shareware) |
| Hexen | hexen.wad, hexdd.wad (Deathkings) |
| Strife | strife1.wad, strife0.wad (demo) |
This firmware is designed for RP2350-based boards with integrated HDMI, SD card, PS/2 (or USB), and PSRAM:
- FRANK -- A versatile development board based on RP Pico 2, HDMI output, and extensive I/O options.
- Murmulator -- A compact retro-computing platform based on RP Pico 2, designed for emulators and classic games.
Both boards provide all necessary peripherals out of the box -- no additional wiring required.
- Single firmware binary with all four id Tech 1 engines
- WAD selector start screen with automatic WAD detection
- Native 320x240 HDMI video output via PIO
- Full OPL2 music emulation (EMU8950 with ARM assembly optimizations)
- 8MB QSPI PSRAM support for game data
- SD card support for WAD files and savegames
- PS/2 and USB keyboard and mouse input
- Sound effects and music at 49716 Hz
- Raspberry Pi Pico 2 (RP2350) or compatible board
- 8MB QSPI PSRAM (mandatory!)
- HDMI connector (directly connected via resistors, no HDMI encoder needed)
- SD card module (SPI mode)
- PS/2 or USB keyboard and mouse
- I2S DAC module (e.g., TDA1387) for audio output
FRANK idTech1 requires 8MB PSRAM to run. You can obtain PSRAM-equipped hardware in several ways:
- Solder a PSRAM chip on top of the Flash chip on a Pico 2 clone (SOP-8 flash chips are only available on clones, not the original Pico 2)
- Build a Nyx 2 -- a DIY RP2350 board with integrated PSRAM
- Purchase a Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 -- a ready-made Pico 2 with 8MB PSRAM
Two GPIO layouts are supported: M1 and M2. The PSRAM pin is auto-detected based on chip package:
- RP2350B: GPIO47 (both M1 and M2)
- RP2350A: GPIO19 (M1) or GPIO8 (M2)
| Signal | M1 GPIO | M2 GPIO |
|---|---|---|
| CLK- | 6 | 12 |
| CLK+ | 7 | 13 |
| D0- | 8 | 14 |
| D0+ | 9 | 15 |
| D1- | 10 | 16 |
| D1+ | 11 | 17 |
| D2- | 12 | 18 |
| D2+ | 13 | 19 |
| Signal | M1 GPIO | M2 GPIO |
|---|---|---|
| CLK | 2 | 6 |
| CMD | 3 | 7 |
| DAT0 | 4 | 4 |
| DAT3/CS | 5 | 5 |
| Signal | M1 GPIO | M2 GPIO |
|---|---|---|
| CLK | 0 | 2 |
| DATA | 1 | 3 |
| Signal | M1 GPIO | M2 GPIO |
|---|---|---|
| CLK | 14 | 0 |
| DATA | 15 | 1 |
| Signal | M1 GPIO | M2 GPIO |
|---|---|---|
| DATA | 26 | 9 |
| BCLK | 27 | 10 |
| LRCLK | 28 | 11 |
- Install the Raspberry Pi Pico SDK (version 2.0+)
- Set environment variable:
export PICO_SDK_PATH=/path/to/pico-sdk - Install ARM GCC toolchain
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/rh1tech/frank-idtech1.git
cd frank-idtech1
# Build for M1 layout (default)
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DBOARD_VARIANT=M1 ..
make -j$(nproc)
# Build for M2 layout
cmake -DBOARD_VARIANT=M2 ..
make -j$(nproc)| Option | Description |
|---|---|
-DBOARD_VARIANT=M1 |
Use M1 GPIO layout (default) |
-DBOARD_VARIANT=M2 |
Use M2 GPIO layout |
-DCPU_SPEED=504 |
CPU overclock in MHz (252, 378, 504) |
-DPSRAM_SPEED=166 |
PSRAM speed in MHz |
Or use the build script (builds M1 by default):
./build.shTo build both M1 and M2 variants with version numbering:
./release.shThis creates versioned UF2 files in the release/ directory:
frank-idtech1_m1_X_XX.uf2frank-idtech1_m2_X_XX.uf2
# With device in BOOTSEL mode:
picotool load build/frank-idtech1.uf2
# Or with device running:
picotool load -f build/frank-idtech1.uf2- Format an SD card as FAT32
- Place WAD files in the root directory or in an
idtech1folder - The WAD selector will automatically detect all supported WADs at startup
- Save directories are created automatically per game
Shareware / Free:
- Doom Shareware (
doom1.wad): Internet Archive - Heretic Shareware (
heretic1.wad): Internet Archive - Strife Demo (
strife0.wad): Internet Archive
Full versions can be purchased from Steam or GOG:
- The Ultimate Doom
- Doom II
- Final Doom
- Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
- Hexen: Beyond Heretic
- Hexen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
- Strife: Veteran Edition
- Arrow keys: Move/Turn
- Ctrl: Fire
- Space: Open doors/Use
- Shift: Run
- 1-7: Select weapon
- Escape: Menu
- Tab: Map
- Move left/right: Turn
- Move forward/back: Move forward/back
- Left button: Fire
- Right button: Strafe
- Middle button: Move forward
GNU General Public License v2. See LICENSE for details.
This project is based on:
- Chocolate Doom (Doom, Heretic, Hexen, and Strife source ports)
- doomgeneric by ozkl
- rp2040-doom by Graham Sanderson (OPL and Pico optimizations)
- EMU8950 by Mitsutaka Okazaki (OPL2 emulator)
Mikhail Matveev xtreme@rh1.tech
- id Software for the Doom engine
- Raven Software for Heretic and Hexen
- Rogue Entertainment for Strife
- The Chocolate Doom team for the clean portable source ports
- Graham Sanderson for the incredible RP2040 optimizations and EMU8950 ARM assembly
- The Raspberry Pi foundation for the RP2350 and Pico SDK