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

[Austinado]

Episode 02

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Austinado]

Episode 03

 

 

 

 

 

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[Austinado]

Episode 04

 

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

 

 

 

 

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[Noiser]

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.

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Noiser

[Pablo_Doom_Guy]

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 

 

 

[Crunchynut44]

@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.

[RonnieJamesDiner]

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...

Spoiler

...if there’s a doorway, that means there is automatically a pair of Lost Souls waiting immediately on either side of that doorway. You got me with that trick 27 times, but I caught on to the other 83 ;D

 

[OpenRift]

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.

[taufan99]

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?

[P41R47]

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.

Edited February 21, 2021 by P41R47

[Rudolph]

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!

[TheCyberDruid]

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.

[Rudolph]

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.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Rudolph

[Fiendzy]

UV-Max: Episode 1

[phoo]

Looks great! Love the screenshots

[RaRu Des2122]

Let's get started! Today are presented:

E1M1: Kickstart
E1M2: Slime Factory
E1M3: Decayed Facility

 

***

EPISODE 1: Shores to Sheol

 

 

 

Finding the BFG9000 at such an early stage of the megawad is pleasant and very unexpected! But there is really no monsters to use it against them and there are no ammo for it yet, so I will postpone it for now.

 

It may seem boring to someone to watch collecting all the bonuses to armor and health after completely clearing the level of all monsters but I really wanted to equip myself to the maximum and bring everything in line with the weapon that suddenly fell on my head! :))

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

The level seems easy and can be passed quite obviously and simply but I can't say the same thing about the yellow key and the secret exit! Both are very well hidden!

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented:

E1M9: Shotgun Shore (secret level)

E1M4: Digital Shutdown

E1M5: Rancid Base

 

***

 

 

A very unexpected but at the same time high-quality and not very heavy slaughter, organized exclusively by traditional for the first episode monsters. That's why I didn't use the purchase from the starting map, although I really wanted to and here are enough ammo thanks to the found plasma gun.

 

***

 

 

It's definitely not just the triangles from armor and health bonuses that are the attribute of this megawad. I can also note the extremely careful and scrupulous working with shadows from objects - I have seen this very few places.

 

***

 

 

It would seem that the map itself is purely traditional and I don't know what special things can be said about it but the secrets on it are more interesting than each other! Well hidden and in quite a variety of ways!

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented:

E1M6: Sinister Complex

E1M7: Ghost Mountain

E1M8: The Haunting of Hilltown

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

The white cliffs that spread everywhere on this map make me associate more with the second episode than with the first. Perhaps we are witnessing a smooth transition from one of them to the other... By the way, on the next map the attributes of the second episode are also presented in large numbers and will naturally rush at us! :))

 

***

 

 

A very hot final battle in which it is highly discouraged to keep the BFG9000 in the backpack!

[RaRu Des2122]

Some intermediate results:

BEST MAPS: 

 

1) E1M1: Kickstart (a valuable equipment from the very start!)
2) E1M5: Rancid Base (well hidden secrets in a variety of ways!)
3) E1M8: The Haunting of Hilltown (a hot and intense final battle that requires a lot of effort from the player compared to the usual ones!)

 

Next step will be The Unholy Realms...

[Crunchynut44]

1 hour ago, RaRu Des2122 said:

Some intermediate results:

BEST MAPS: 

 

1) E1M1: Kickstart (a valuable equipment from the very start!)
2) E1M5: Rancid Base (well hidden secrets in a variety of ways!)
3) E1M8: The Haunting of Hilltown (a hot and intense final battle that requires a lot of effort from the player compared to the usual ones!)

 

Next step will be The Unholy Realms...

Well played,

 

I've enjoyed reading your feedback and watching how you tackle certain situations. I especially like that you saved the BFG for the last level as that was the intention when I put it there, to reward players who are doing a single playthroughs 

 

Looking forward to Episode 2!

[RaRu Des2122]

EPISODE 2: The Unholy Realms

 

Today are presented:

 

E2M1: Deadly Ascent

E2M2: Whispering Walls

E2M3: System Shock

 

***

 

All three starting maps of the second episode are united by the fact that they are small, not very densely populated (although when teleporting directly into a crowd of imps on E2M1 or during two fights in a row with four cacodemons in a narrow patch on E2M3 you can quickly forget about it :)) and for more effective playthrough it is recommended to save ammo, actively force monsters to infight with each other and use a chainsaw and a berserk more often. I can also add that despite the small size, all three maps are very unique and I couldn't find any references to the original Doom on them (which will take place in the future).

 

 

Finding a chainsaw in secret immediately after the mentioned battle with a crowd of imps will greatly facilitate the task of saving ammunition. Anyway, I later recalled this secret with a kind word more than once.

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented:

E2M4: Lurid Quarters

E2M5: The Halls Have Eyes

E2M9: Curse of the Grotto (secret level)

 

***

 

 

Although this map occupies the fourth slot in the episode, it catches the eye with a large number of references to the original E2M6 (a large dark maze, three colour exit doors in a row, the presence of a fake exit containing a life-threatening trap) and one to the original E2M2 - the last two secrets I found. Together with the unchanged soundtrack from E2M4, this creates a certain mix which is perceived as something unique.

 

***

 

 

A quite confusing map. It was a separate interesting task for me to building the optimal route for it. Interestingly, most of such maps are in the second episode (E2M5, E2M7, E2M9) but in the third (E3M6) and fourth (E4M2, E4M7) episodes there are fewer of them.

 

By the way, you write good music, @Crunchynut44! I noticed this from the Hell's Bane megawad... I wouldn't mind if there were more of it in SINERGY.

 

***

 

 

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't complete this level quickly because it's just full of secrets :)) 

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented:

E2M6: Haunted Hollow

E2M7: Military Boneyard

E2M8: Scorch

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

In my sense, this is the longest map in the whole megawad. It seems to me slightly overly open but I wouldn't call it complicated. I mean that due to the abundance of possible ways to explore, it is very difficult at first to navigate and generally build a playthrough plan.

 

***

 

 

The final map in the episode is a purely meat and most of the task of exterminating the local population will be performed by this population itself - especially by four cyberdemons :)) During the numerous playthroughs, I repeatedly encountered a certain problem: one or two lost souls didn't teleport from technical areas to the battlefield at all or they did it extremely reluctantly and it could take them an indefinite amount of time. As you can see, this doesn't always happen but it is impossible to understand in advance whether this will happen or not.

[RaRu Des2122]

Some intermediate results:

BEST MAPS:

 

1) E2M4: Lurid Quarters

2) E2M5: The Halls Have Eyes

3) E2M9: Curse of the Grotto

 

So I liked the middle of the episode the most. And now we're moving on to the next one, which is called Nightmare Promontory!

[RaRu Des2122]

EPISODE 3: Nightmare Promontory

 

Today are presented:

 

E3M1: Guardian

E3M2: Reviled Souls

E3M3: Silent Shrine

 

***

 

 

Like the previous one, this episode begins in an atmosphere of slight shortage of ammunition. Here you can quite quickly get find berserk in the secret but I tried to save ammo a little even before I found it. Because the next level was ahead...

 

***

 

 

Maybe I built the route of passing this level so strangely but I walked on the verge of completely wasting ammunition almost to the very end and I had to use a chainsaw very actively. And despite this, my final impressions of the map are positive! They consist of matching the very neat style of playing this map (without impulsive movements and saving each shot) and the "Plurry" soundtrack that plays on it. It looks like the music itself also hints to the player to be careful and unhurried...

 

***

 

 

Starting with this map, the problems with bullets are gradually disappearing. Although I still decided to save rockets and plasma for now, so shooting all three barons of Hell with a shotgun and a chaingun may seem boring...

Edited June 4 by RaRu Des2122

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented: 

E3M4: Soul Trap

E3M5: Under Realm

E3M6: Volcanic Disturbance

 

***

 

 

***

 

 

How cool are all the secrets connected to each other on this map! The blue skull needed to visit the third secret is at the end of the first one from which we teleport to the second one! I really love such moments in Doom especially if they still reward the player properly!

 

***

 

 

There are maps as big as you want but at the same time they are intuitive and difficult to get lost on them. And there are maps that are as freely constructed as possible and almost devoid of any landmarks to such an extent that the route of their playthrough has to be literally memorized! I can say this about this map as well as about all of them that are made in the spirit of the original Mt. Erebus. That's why UV-Max playthrough of such maps gives me personally more satisfaction compared to many others maps ;))

 

By the way, this map is one of only two in SINERGY that are inhabited by all ten kinds of monsters.

[RaRu Des2122]

Today are presented: 

 

E3M9: Extermanation Central (secret level)

E3M7: Holy Grounds

E3M8: Hades

 

***

 

 

E3M1 from Quake migrated to Doom? Great idea!

 

***

 

 

At first, it seemed to me that the ending of the level with the yellow skull was very difficult due to the limited space for maneuvers but then I accidentally found a teleporter divided in two parts leading to secret invulnerability... As a result, the final battle ended so quickly that I had to wait for the grate to open! ;))

 

***

 

 

And as usual, there is a heated battle in the final. There is practically nowhere to hide from spiderdemons (unlike E2M8 and cyberdemons on it) but they can be made infight to each other. 

 

I have also encountered the problem of stubborn zombiemen (like lost souls on E2M8) on this map, but compared to it, this happened much less often.

Edited June 7 by RaRu Des2122

[Michael63]

E3M8 is cool, despite infighting makes it easy. Design and music in this map perfectly fit each other.

[RaRu Des2122]

Some intermediate results:

BEST MAPS:

 

1) E3M2: Reviled Souls

2) E3M5: Under Realm

3) E3M7: Holy Grounds

 

Forward to the Once Were Angels, the last episode of SINERGY!

[Crunchynut44]

1 hour ago, RaRu Des2122 said:

Some intermediate results:

BEST MAPS:

 

1) E3M2: Reviled Souls

2) E3M5: Under Realm

3) E3M7: Holy Grounds

 

Forward to the Once Were Angels, the last episode of SINERGY!

Looking forward to it. I enjoy reading your feedback on each level and seeing what's a hit and what's not