Papers › ViZDoom: A Doom-based AI Research Platform for Visual Reinforcement Learning

ViZDoom: A Doom-based AI Research Platform for Visual Reinforcement Learning

6 May 2016arXiv:1605.02097archive 2025-07-28

Michał Kempka, Marek Wydmuch, Grzegorz Runc, Jakub Toczek, Wojciech Jaśkowski

The recent advances in deep neural networks have led to effective vision-based reinforcement learning methods that have been employed to obtain human-level controllers in Atari 2600 games from pixel data. Atari 2600 games, however, do not resemble real-world tasks since they involve non-realistic 2D environments and the third-person perspective. Here, we propose a novel test-bed platform for reinforcement learning research from raw visual information which employs the first-person perspective in a semi-realistic 3D world. The software, called ViZDoom, is based on the classical first-person shooter video game, Doom. It allows developing bots that play the game using the screen buffer. ViZDoom is lightweight, fast, and highly customizable via a convenient mechanism of user scenarios. In the experimental part, we test the environment by trying to learn bots for two scenarios: a basic move-and-shoot task and a more complex maze-navigation problem. Using convolutional deep neural networks with Q-learning and experience replay, for both scenarios, we were able to train competent bots, which exhibit human-like behaviors. The results confirm the utility of ViZDoom as an AI research platform and imply that visual reinforcement learning in 3D realistic first-person perspective environments is feasible.

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mwydmuch/ViZDoom officialmentioned on GitHubtf report
apollopower/DOOM-AI mentioned on GitHubtf report
chengyu2/vizdoom_rl_community_canberra mentioned on GitHubnot reachable when probed 2026-09-18 — repositories for recent papers often appear after camera-ready report
farama-foundation/vizdoom mentioned on GitHubpytorch report
hegde95/ViZDoom_with_Sound mentioned on GitHubpytorch report
icmlanon58443043/vizdoom mentioned on GitHubtf report
nolanwinsman/Team-Doom mentioned on GitHubpytorch report
sagpant/ViZDoom mentioned on GitHubtf report

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1ran · violated contract
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get_action_array apollopower/DOOM-AI/examples/python/basic.py community (archive-listed) ran · violated contract fingerprinted no licence file found · pointer only · e75a37e421c09a08 · report
get_action_name apollopower/DOOM-AI/examples/python/basic.py community (archive-listed) ran · our draft was wrong fingerprinted no licence file found · pointer only · 17a5e9d43c6df406 · report
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Tasks

Atari GamesFPS GamesGame of DoomQ-LearningReinforcement LearningReinforcement Learning (RL)reinforcement-learning

Datasets

Introduced by this paper, per the archive.

VizDoom

Results from the paper archive 2025-07-28

TaskDatasetModelMetricValueRank at snapshotLeaderboardReport
Game of Doom ViZDoom Basic Scenario DQN Average Score 82.2 #1 of 1 Archive leaderboard report

Ranks are positions in the archive's leaderboards as they stood at the 2025-07-28 snapshot. Results published since then are not among these rows, so a rank here is not a current standing.

Methods

Q-Learning

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