Cacowards 2017 Mentionation Thread

+1 for Run For It!

If dobu gabu maru's Saturnine Chapel doesn't end up with an award, either I will know that the universe is a buggy simulation, or that 2017 will have produced an unreasonable quantity of amazing material :)

Randi for ZDoom

I second Fraggle's post. ZDoom made miracles possible.

Randi Heit for lifetime achievement. ZDoom is probably the most influential source port for Doom, and is probably responsible for making Doom as limitless as we know it to be, and fostering a subset of the doom community all on its own.

fraggle said:

Randi for ZDoom

+1 for Run for it! (Best jokewad)
+1 for Randi (lifetime achievement)

+1 SgtMarkIV for lifetime achievement.

+1 to Randi for Espi Award.

Let's let the newness of Zdoom ceasing development settle down before we jump on the Randi bandwagon for lifetime achievement.

After developing and maintaining ZDoom for 19 years I'm pretty sure Randi deserves an Espi award. Far more than I deserved mine, anyway.

Yeah I'm not even a big ZDoom nerd but it wasn't until recently that I realized there was someone behind the curtain making all of the great ZDoom mods possible (especially since many cacoward winners are in fact ZDoom compatible mods)

fraggle said:

Far more than I deserved mine, anyway.

You're not the one to decide that, buddy! Don't make us give you another one!

Anyway, I don't think anyone even passingly logged in can NOT be aware of the recent news and the "End of an Era" impact it carries. On the other hand, it's been exactly a month since I finished the current Espi writeup. If we solidify the 2017 Cacowards by mid-January, what do we bicker about for the rest of the year?

dew said:

If we solidify the 2017 Cacowards by mid-January, what do we bicker about for the rest of the year?

If I learned anything from last year, it's that the first six months are for coming up with a list of obvious Cacoward winners and the next six months are for being pissed off that you have to keep revising the list.

I am going to have to say Dobu's Saturnine Chapel is my pick for a mention in this thread, it was a visually stunning map that I feel deserves a look at.

+1 32in24-17 for Multiplayer
+1 Run For It! for Mockaward
+1 REKKR (Only if finished in 2017)
+1 No End in Sight

I still think it's very odd that the espi award is going to people who are known for everything but mapping.

7hm said:

I still think it's very odd that the espi award is going to people who are known for everything but mapping.

There's the "mapper of the year" for people who are known for mapping.

7hm said:

I still think it's very odd that the espi award is going to people who are known for everything but mapping.

Its also weird that mapper of the year is going to people who are known for mapping but not for anything else.

Gez said:

There's the "mapper of the year" for people who are known for mapping.

I guess, but those don't recognize long term contributors whose releases were infrequent enough so as to be unlikely to warrant mapper of the year in any given year, which seems like the original stated intent of the espi award.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like the initial award was aimed towards mapping to some extent, and that it's morphed since then. That's not a bad thing. Every single recipient has deserved it. But it's maybe a sign that there are enough lifetime achievements in both mapping and other areas to expand into a distinct separate award.

7hm said:

I guess, but those don't recognize long term contributors whose releases were infrequent enough so as to be unlikely to warrant mapper of the year in any given year, which seems like the original stated intent of the espi award.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like the initial award was aimed towards mapping to some extent, and that it's morphed since then. That's not a bad thing. Every single recipient has deserved it. But it's maybe a sign that there are enough lifetime achievements in both mapping and other areas to expand into a distinct separate award.

to quote the 2013 header:

Though the goal of the Cacowards is to honor the best ten-plus wads of the previous year, we've come to realize that some achievements worthy of honor expand far beyond the span of a single year. In honor of Doom's 20th (and to that of a certain individual), we've decided to introduce a very special award category dedicated to those who have kept Doom alive and healthy through constant contribution over a long lifespan. We salute you, long-time Doomers.

it's not supposed to be the grand slam for someone who just made a lot of really cool maps, or who only made a few memorable things over a long period of time. but given that the award is named in memorium of who was at the time - for us - the best remembered deceased Doomer, I can see why there might be some confusion. if Ty Halderman had passed away before the award had been instated, then it would necessarily have been named for him. Kaiser has made a ton of Doom maps but i believe that it was his source port work and tireless pursuit of bringing Doom 64 to the PC platform in one form or another (esp. Doom64EX) that made him a prime candidate. Espi award people ought to be the glue that holds the community together.

7hm said:

I guess, but those don't recognize long term contributors whose releases were infrequent enough so as to be unlikely to warrant mapper of the year in any given year, which seems like the original stated intent of the espi award.

They definitely take lifetime achievement into account for Mapper of the Year. Take Lainos, for instance.

The Espi is more about people who have kept the community alive than people who have made lots of maps. Kaiser qualified because he's done other things besides mapping, and there are several non-mappers who are likely to get the Espi for their broader contributions to the community before it starts going to mappers again. If the Espi does go to a mapper, it will be someone who has done a lot more than just make maps. As I've said before, I'd like to see Jimmy get it someday, not only because he's made lots of cool maps but also because his music has helped keep the community vibrant and he's done a lot as a project leader, mentor, general force for good, etc.

Many people here are nominating mentionating 2016 WADs, so why not me as well?
Doom: Damnation by Ofisil. Vanilla 27-level megawad. Kicks ass. Mostly.
https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/levels/doom/Ports/megawads/ddamn0.9

Sayok6 said:

+1 REKKR (Only if finished in 2017)

I'd put money on REKKR winning a Cacoward when it comes out, but nominating WADs before you've even played them seems silly to me.

kmxexii said:

to quote the 2013 header:

it's not supposed to be the grand slam for someone who just made a lot of really cool maps, or who only made a few memorable things over a long period of time. but given that the award is named in memorium of who was at the time - for us - the best remembered deceased Doomer, I can see why there might be some confusion. if Ty Halderman had passed away before the award had been instated, then it would necessarily have been named for him. Kaiser has made a ton of Doom maps but i believe that it was his source port work and tireless pursuit of bringing Doom 64 to the PC platform in one form or another (esp. Doom64EX) that made him a prime candidate. Espi award people ought to be the glue that holds the community together.

fair enough, and I certainly agree that you've selected people who fit that broader mold. I think I probably did mention it in a previous year's thread, but I'll reiterate my suggestion this year to rename the Espi to the Halderman award and to shift the Espi to represent the idea of a mapper legacy that goes beyond single year releases.

Travelling to the moon, by The_trigger.

I had a LOT of fun playing through this one, the visuals are fantastic but not overbearing; with gameplay to match: equally grand but not overbearing.

+1 Saturnine Chapel

I also want to mentionate Saturnine Chapel. It truly is a thing of malign beauty.

Stop this madman while we're ahead; skillsaw.

+1 Skillsaw (Mapper of the Year)