SINERGY - A Vanilla Ultimate Doom Megawad - Now on idgames!

Episode 02

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Episode 03

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Episode 04

(Just to say, did much enjpyed to play this megawad!)

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I started playing this a few days ago and I'm having a blast! I love the attention to detail and all the work with lighting to create projected shadows. It's beautiful!

Unfortunaly I found two game-breaking bugs:

1. The mod crashes on Chocolate Doom because of the M_DOOM title. That happens when the image is too big or the offset is too far away. After removing the image the mod worked perfectly. I think it would be a shame to see all your effort for vanilla-compatibility be compromised by a single image, specially when they are so beautiful.
2. Another thing is what seems to be a soft-lock on E3M4. When I go to the flesh room I'm not able to go back. Maybe I'm just too dumb to know what I should do, but I think that area is a dead end.

4 hours ago, Noiser said:

I started playing this a few days ago and I'm having a blast! I love the attention to detail and all the work with lighting to create projected shadows. It's beautiful!

Unfortunaly I found two game-breaking bugs:

1. The mod crashes on Chocolate Doom because of the M_DOOM title. That happens when the image is too big or the offset is too far away. After removing the image the mod worked perfectly. I think it would be a shame to see all your effort for vanilla-compatibility be compromised by a single image, specially when they are so beautiful.
2. Another thing is what seems to be a soft-lock on E3M4. When I go to the flesh room I'm not able to go back. Maybe I'm just too dumb to know what I should do, but I think that area is a dead end.

 

Haven't tested e3m4 , but the m_doom crash is easy to fix ,simply resize the image to 142x32 , offsets 0 . -30 

@Austinado

Mad props for playing everything and recording it as well, ive watched what I can but there is a fair bit of content there (which is great). Cant thank you enough for playing mate, cheers!

6 hours ago, Noiser said:

I started playing this a few days ago and I'm having a blast! I love the attention to detail and all the work with lighting to create projected shadows. It's beautiful!

Unfortunaly I found two game-breaking bugs:

1. The mod crashes on Chocolate Doom because of the M_DOOM title. That happens when the image is too big or the offset is too far away. After removing the image the mod worked perfectly. I think it would be a shame to see all your effort for vanilla-compatibility be compromised by a single image, specially when they are so beautiful.
2. Another thing is what seems to be a soft-lock on E3M4. When I go to the flesh room I'm not able to go back. Maybe I'm just too dumb to know what I should do, but I think that area is a dead end.

 

Yeah ill have to fix that and re-upload that asap, thanks dude! As for E3M4, use the automap, it will give you a hint how to get out. The general Idea was that the pit has a secret entrance for the demons, or something like that.

I’ve been slowly playing through this over the past week, and finally completed it the other day – at which point I took some extra time to just fully digest the experience. Cutting right to the point, this was an absolutely wonderful experience. I would load the wad up with the intent of playing a few maps, and consistently found myself playing through entire episodes in a single sitting, without really realizing it – I was just having a great time.

There’s a strong sense of nostalgia here that I find hard to put my finger on and say, “that’s it!”, but at several moments it took me right back to playing Doom 1 for the first time. Each episode felt incredibly distinct in all aspects, and I can’t really say I had a favourite among them. That said, there were some maps that just stood out to me for various reasons, including Ghost Mountain (there was something about the visuals here that just struck me, in juxtaposition to the prior maps) and Military Boneyard (with the looping blood canal and constant Baron threat, I really enjoyed this one), as well as some of the more direct homages including Reviled Souls (Slough of Despair), and Volcanic Disturbance (Mt. Erebus). Teleported was another standout, but primarily because I both loved and hated this map. I admired the hell out of its creativity and atmosphere, however it became the only point I actually found myself genuinely frustrated. The thing is, it’s a beautiful and brilliant level that relies on old-school, enigmatic progression, and just really highlighted how much I suck at that kind of setup. It’s no fault to the map author.

Your approach to each of the episode finales was certainly a highlight. They felt “appropriate”, and yet, I almost found myself saying “gosh, I wish the original episodes ended like this”, most notably with Scorch and Hades. God Machine was a spectacularly grandiose display of diabolic visuals and gameplay, within Sinergy’s overall context, and feels right at home in 2019 as a nigh perfect finale with a fantastic MIDI choice (though, the second phase with the wave of Barons and Cacos didn't feel quite on the same level as the first phase, so much as it just felt like grinding down the obligatory final horde).

I think my most memorable and absolute favourite moments from the experience were some of the unexpected Cyberdemon fights, with standouts being Soul Trap, Holy Grounds, and Devils Gullet – the latter being the most troublesome. You used Cyberdemons incredibly well throughout the megawad, bringing them to the forefront a bit more into Ep’s 3 and 4, without ever letting their presence become predictable.

The music was always fitting, with an interesting mix of old and new, and I really loved your map titles – The Haunting of Hilltown, God Machine, Ghost Mountain, Whispering Walls, Lurid Quarters, Curse of the Grotto, Silent Shrine; they were always so “classic” and simple feeling, yet provocative of the imagination. I wanted to make a special note about the lighting, as well – specifically how you consistently used 160 or 176 as the outdoor lighting, rather than 192 or higher. When mixed with 128/144 shadows, this had such an awesome quality to it. I do intend to adopt this, so thank you!

I also want to thank you for teaching me that...

I would recommend doing some testing in Chocolate/Vanilla Doom, found two issues right out the gate. Demo is from a different version, it says. Also vispatch issues when I try opening the main menu.

6 minutes ago, OpenRift said:

I would recommend doing some testing in Chocolate/Vanilla Doom, found two issues right out the gate. Demo is from a different version, it says. Also vispatch issues when I try opening the main menu.

Relax, dude. OP hasn't been around since October.
Or is it accidental tripleposting?

17 minutes ago, OpenRift said:

I would recommend doing some testing in Chocolate/Vanilla Doom, found two issues right out the gate. Demo is from a different version, it says. Also vispatch issues when I try opening the main menu.

I'm quite sure that after just being tested on PrBoom+ and Zandronum, its probably better fitted to play on something like Crispy Doom, and not chocolate or vanilla :/

Thats what the author recommend at least, as he doesn't tested under strict vanilla settings.

But yes, i remember playing this on chocolate now that i think of it.

The crashing you are experiencing is already mentioned a few post above and there is a way to fix it manually, too.

Hey, neat! I have just found out about this through Maximum Doom The Way 'Kid Did. Given my soft spot for vanilla-style Ultimate Doom megawads, I am surprised it took me so long...

Anyway, I will start playing this as soon as possible, but already, I like the title "SINERGY" already; it is quirky, yet snappy!

Normally I'm not a big fan of Ultimate Doom. The lack of the SSG and the absense of the 'new' monsters make most maps rather bland. This wad however is so on point how the original felt that it was really fun to play through it.

The first three episodes are very close in terms of difficulty and how they are designed (as in style, not recreating the originals). Episode four feels like it is the most 'distant' from the original. For the most part I enjoyed playing episode four, but Teleported... just no ;) I kinda skipped that one after around 20 minutes of trying to make sense of it.

Otherwise this is great! The beefed up boss fights at the end of the episodes are the best part of it.

I feel like the first episode is much harder than Knee-Deep In The Dead, with some fairly brutal They Flesh Consumed-style ambushes.

If anything, I would say the difficulty is a step above Inferno despite holding back on the higher-tier monsters - at least, until E1M8.

UV-Max: Episode 1

Looks great! Love the screenshots