WinDoom, an Early Prototype of DOOM for Windows 3.x

WinDoom is a preliminary port of DOOM v1.8 for Microsoft Windows 3.1x, developed by a team including industry luminaries Gabe Newell and Robert Hess. This innovative port was designed to harness the power of the Win32s API, allowing it to work seamlessly within the Windows 3.1 environment. In particular, WinDoom introduced experimental support for MIDI music, providing a distinct audio experience from the original release. Unlike the later DOOM 95, it used the WinG API to provide improved graphics performance.

As a prototype, the April 13, 1995 build shown in this video has certain limitations and technical issues. For example, it always starts with a 320x200 window size, and while it allows you to select a larger size during gameplay, it only scales up the screen without rendering at a higher resolution. In addition, the fullscreen option only results in a black border around the screen. The sound effects may either not work or be noticeably delayed. Despite these drawbacks, the prototype already offers a robust gaming experience.

It is worth noting that WinDoom was never officially released and was eventually superseded by DOOM 95, which was one of the first games to use DirectX. Microsoft used DOOM 95 to promote Windows 95 as a gaming platform.