2023 Cacowards

[Nockson]

I know I might ruin the holiday spirit a little, but I just can't help but speak out. When I woke up this morning and opened the Cacowards page, I was very excited. Doom, my beloved game from childhood, turned thirty, and ahead of me was a description of the best mods of the year, many of which I had seen or even played as part of my work at DoomWiki (I don't play much because, you know, age). Some of my favorites received awards or mentions this year: Insanity Edged, BOOMER, DBK03, UDINO, MyHouse.

 

But when I read to the end, the feeling of joy gave way to confusion. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. I returned to the beginning again and began to carefully look through page by page. And by the third or fourth time, my feelings changed from confusion to disappointment. I kept asking out loud why? Why didn't DBP59: Zeppelin Armada receive an award, or runner up, or at least a mention? This is a gorgeous set of levels with beautiful steampunk architecture, exciting battles, and NPCs and quests implemented in an almost vanilla engine. Many people liked this mod, even outside the Doom community. But now it feels like it simply doesn’t exist.

 

And while I collected my thoughts and wrote this message, which took about half an hour, my severe frustration cooled down. I understand that, as we say in Russia, you do not argue about tastes. Not everyone will like what you like. You just have to accept it and move on. But the feeling of disappointment will still not leave me soon. It's sad.

[Deadwing]

Massive year, wasn't aware of how much good stuff was out there. Congratz for all the winners!

Edited December 10, 2023 by Deadwing

[Dynamo]

2 hours ago, prfunky said:

 

What the hell for?

 

It is mostly just an excuse to post cool screenshots of even cooler Doom mods for people to see and be reminded they should play them. And to get today's post retweeted by Romero, obviously. That's about it, none of the actual writeups are on there.

[plums]

8 hours ago, Dynamo said:

And also, did you know that months ago we made a Twitter account? Weird, right? Give us a follow if you'd like!

You guys just made a twitter account *now*? What's next year, caco NFTs?

 

Anyhow congrats to all winners and happy 30th birthday to the best set of games of all time.

[Dynamo]

7 minutes ago, plums said:

You guys just made a twitter account *now*?

It was actually made in the first half of the year, before a lot of the craziness went down, but there was no reason to bring it up earlier I suppose.

[Pieruskwurje]

I think back in like, 2009, I had delusions of grandeur about releasing the final part of an epic series of mods to close out a long running story in an action-movie kinda way, and winning an award like Creator of the Year for it. I knew it probably wouldn't ever happen, so I permanently shelved the idea in my mind, working towards more achievable goals like actually making a half-decent mod to start with, since I know the first one didn't go down so well.

 

Writeups like those two linked above have always helped me achieve a better understanding of the game as whole. The Cacowards, while not super in-depth on any specific mod, gives me the opportunity to see so many different things that are incredible in their own right, exposing them to a great amount of people with writeups that capture their charm so remarkably well in so few words. They've always helped by giving some of the best examples the community has to offer, and pointing young 2009 me in the right direction to learn and eventually make something that's actually fun. While I get there's not really a wrong answer, I want to try to make the best experience for as many people as possible, including myself.

 

...and as such, to prove Scuba Steve's point that I am indeed a perfectionist, his article says that Winter's Fury came out in 2014, when it really came out in 2012

 

Today, I kinda felt like that idiot-kid from 2009 again. Thank you so much.

[Doomy__Doom]

Here's to another 30 years and then some.

 

 

Also a minor issue: top 12 page one reads "Home > Top Ten - Page 1" in the navbar at the site top.

[RDETalus]

Quote

Roll for initiative.

Thanks @Scuba Steve, very appropriate words because that map was initially designed as a D&D adventure

[Roofi]

Very nice to see Flesharmonic mentioned ! 

[Mr Masker]

YAY CACOAWARDS!

 

I've been burnt out on Doom for a while now, but I'm hoping the Cacoawards can bring me back to the reason I joined DW in the first place.

 

Congrats to all the winners! I haven't read it yet so I don't know who they are, but I assure you they are congratulated.

[finnks13]

Well, this has been a very wonderful morning for me :P

 

I can't believe that Hardfest 2 got a gold cacoward! I just want to thank everyone who mapped for, or made music & art for the project since Hardfest 2 wouldn't be what it is with any of you guys missing, you're all awesome <3

 

I'm also shocked that Doomed: By the Hour got a mention! I'm so glad that people got something out of our silly set of speedmaps. Thanks @Yumheart for being a great friend and mapping partner!

 

Congratulations to all the other winners, this is an incredibly stacked year and I'm honoured to be featured alongside you guys!

[MFG38]

Congrats to all of this year's winners!

[Yumheart]

Was extremely happy to see bythehour here, thanks so much <3

[RataUnderground]

I think the people who write the cacowards deserve a Cacoward . It's genuinely great to see all the energy, creativity and passion of this community encapsulated in this event.

 

happy 30th anniversary!

[Mordeth]

Happy 30th anniversary everyone!  Congratulations to all the winners and runner-ups of this year's Cacowards, and a massive thanks to the team that made it all happen!

[Vermil]

3 minutes ago, Mordeth said:

Happy 30th anniversary everyone!  Congratulations to all the winners and runner-ups of this year's Cacowards, and a massive thanks to the team that made it all happen!

 

I'd only say the same, so I'm quoting it :p

[Horus]

Congratulations to everyone featured in the cacowards! That especially includes the cacoward panel themselves who as always have put an insane amount of effort into all of the content!

[Soundblock]

GGs to the winners, mentionees & other contributors this year and special thanks to the Cacawards panel for keeping an Evil Eye out on the politics of hell, yet another and extra special year. Happy 30th Doom!

[Maribo]

It was awesome to be a part of the panel in a year that was more than overflowing with great works suited to every kind of Doom player. Working with the team was wonderful, there was a lot of cross-pollination and collaborating on write-ups to make them as good as possible. Happy 30th to Doom, and congratulations to everyone. 💜

[Lother]

On behalf of the entire BYOC team, it is a honor to receive a Cacoward for our mod that began as a little silly private mod in Pizza Tower Discord but ended up evolving into what you can currently play.

 

This mod has been in development for at least 4 years and has seen many changes during that time. There were a number of classes that were removed, others who were reworked (Like Gammu which got her arsenal, gameplay and weapon sprites entirely redone to make her more enjoyable to play).

 

We are still working on it in order to bring you new content and fixes. Expect new classes (Like Homer Simpson which was revealed by one of our members on Twitter), a true ingame class select screen with quick descriptions and other QoL additions.

 

Cardboard Marty really hit the nail on the head with his article on what is really at its core "40 different gameplay mods in one package". Thank you and the Cacoward Team for this Gameplay Cacoward.

[Kinsie]

I tend not to comment too much publicly on the Cacowards because I prefer to let the articles speak for themselves, but I will say that working with @Cardboard Marty after a couple of years of doing the Gameplay Mods stuff solo couldn't have been easier. Absolute champ, hope he sticks around.

[ludicrous_peridot]

Congratulations on the 30th Anniversary date. Hats off to @Erick194, @Gerardo194 and @Chris194 for the well deserved award! I don't think the article does even scratch the surface of the Team G.E.C. 's achievements and how your tech prowess has been fueling incredible creativity of console Doom fan community. Keep on going, folks - U R Awesome!

Huge thanks and congratulations to the awards team! Cool to see your hard work bring doomers of all backgrounds, skills and experience from all around the world together around, as always, prime material!

[Redneckerz]

I didn't think people were able to top 2021 and 2022.

 

Was i wrong.

 

I am glad Doot Eternal, celebrating the Midi soundscapes crafted by all these fine people is getting the recognition it deserves.

 

There have been far too many stellar examples this year to list them all. I am glad that, as Doom enters year 30, there is still this level of commitment dedicated to this game. It is rightly one of the classic games.

[Phoenyx]

Beautiful write-ups by all, thank you again for bringing attention to some incredible WADs and honoured to have been a part of some of them <3
Well done especially to the new writers: @Maribo, @Cardboard Marty and @scwiba, you all did a fantastic job! ^-^

[Searcher]

What an amazing community.  Congrats to all winners and mentions.

30 years, where did it go?

[Dynamo]

2 hours ago, Soundblock said:

GGs to the winners, mentionees & other contributors this year and special thanks to the Cacawards panel for keeping an Evil Eye out on the politics of hell, yet another and extra special year. Happy 30th Doom!

Thanks very much Soundblock, it is a true honor that you still choose to ride with us after all these years!

[Captain Toenail]

Congratulations everyone!

 

Very happy to receive a runners-up award for VoD this year :D

 

It's quite surreal to think this game is now 30 years old.

[DooMAD]

Congrats everyone.  Looks like I was too lazy to release anything this year (again).  I'm glad the rest of you are decidedly more productive and keep this wonderful community alive.

[Dynamo]

8 minutes ago, DooMAD said:

Congrats everyone.  Looks like I was too lazy to release anything this year (again).  I'm glad the rest of you are decidedly more productive and keep this wonderful community alive.

Cheers DooMAD, we are eagerly awaiting your and Doom_Dude's work on NDCP!

14 minutes ago, Captain Toenail said:

Very happy to receive a runners-up award for VoD this year :D

We also had a few words for good old Quest for the Crystal Skulls, better late than never :)

 

[Major Cooke]

7 hours ago, Nockson said:

I kept asking out loud why? Why didn't DBP59: Zeppelin Armada receive an award, or runner up, or at least a mention?

Doomworld comes out with a ridiculous number of projects every year when it comes to mapping and modding. I suspect it's pretty easy as such for things to fall between the cracks, or there's just so many good ones that some have to be sidelined.