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John Smith

The 18th Annual Cacowards

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So, for those of you who payed attention to the sidebar in last years Cacowards, you'd know Scuba wanted someone to take the reigns. For all who didn't, look again. So I talked to him about it on IRC and he thinks I'm a worthy successor to the role of Cacowards organizer, so, I'm the Cacowards organizer now. For the most part the Cacowards will be mostly the same, a showcase of the best the community has to offer. I plan on tweaking a few things though.

First off, I'll be perfectly honest, I love getting to do some reviews, and I'm looking forward to putting it together, and I'm sure I'll enjoy doing a few reviews this year, but I wouldn't really like to do the entire thing. In fact, I'd like to make the community a little bit more involved in the community awards than it is now. There will still be other reviewers making the decision of what's good enough to get a Cacoward and what just missed the mark. I think that most wads that are deemed worthy of eligibility will be mentioned in the awards, whether they win or not, but only the best will still get showcased.

Also, I want the community more involved in helping to narrow down the list of eligible wads. The main thing being, the Cacowards nomination thread (this one) is going to not hide in blogs anymore and also, I'm going to weigh potential nominees based not only on how good I think they are, but how many reccomendations they get. So feel free to mention multiple wads in your post, even if someone else has already suggested them previously. Mostly I'm doing this so as to eliminate any questions of bias, these are the Doomworld Cacowards, and so they're going to end up looking like what Doomworld likes. So speak up!

There are a couple of other things that are still up in the air, like I might make some modifications to the design of the site, and it's pretty likely that the best jokewad award will disappear, and I've got some possible ideas on other "specialty" awards that may or may not come to fruition. All that is something for October/November, not now. For now, just keep on doing as usual, but let me know guys when something interesting crops up. Oh and try to keep this thread free of random discussion, stick to nominations plz.

Oh and, before anyone points it out, I know that Jenisis Part 1 has already been mentioned in Scubas thread in blogs, so you don't have to remind me.

Discussion about this new arrangement, or the Cacowards, or the wads being mentioned, or anything else goes in this thread. Thanks Creaphis!

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Are you going to make a new discussion thread or should we use the one that's hidden away in Blogs? Since you asked us to "stick to nominations plz" I'll post there for now (this post being the exception).

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The one in Blogs is just fine. I don't want to keep the Cacowards goings on secret, but there isn't any reason to keep the discussion at the forefront. That blogs thread you've made is a perfect fit for the sort of random discussion that might go on. So, yeah, keep using that thread people. Edited my first post to reflect it.

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Um... as a nomination, I wondered about this last year.

Beyond Revival was listed as a "Runner Up" but I think the author is still working on it. If that's the case and a real release is finished this year or late last, I would argue it is worth noting.

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Icebound by Chris Lutz for a Mordeth Award.
7 years in development.

The only jokewad I've ever taken a liking to is Killing Adventure.

Totally seconding Scuba's idea about Beyond Revival.

[Editage]

And while I'm at it, I'll nominate Icebound by Chris Lutz for best as well.

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Helltrip by Hellbent. I'm nominating this because it is one of the most fucked-up, random, mind-bending, creepy vanilla wads I have ever played. It stands out, because at times it seems like the map has a mind of it's own. Granted, it's not fit for everyone's bill, but I truly believe this to be a masterpiece in disguise.

He still needs to do a proper release, so hopefully this gets him up off his ass so he can wrap it up. This wad deserves more playtime and exposure.

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As a reminder there is a link to the discussion thread at the top of this one. And I for one will only respond to nomination related things in this thread.

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Going to have to second the new cacoward category "Best gameplay mod" or something similar. Brutal doom is really good theese days, but I keep my hopes up for Project MSX too. Looks really good. The latter especially looks competent enough to be cacoward material IMO.

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I don't really like the gameplay mod category idea. At best it'll just open the flood gates for more pointless 0/5 modifications on the archives, and increase the amount of butthurt when someone's mod gets bashed at Newstuff. But hey, that's just my opinion. Although I do think Brutal Doom is pretty cool.

Anyway I'd like to nominate Double Impact for an award. http://doomworld.com/idgames/?id=16419

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Plutonia Revisited was probably one of the most fun megawads I've played, so I hereby nominate that for a look-in at the awards. Hopefully somebody who can't be construed as biased (I made a map for it afterall) will back this opinion up though.

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Nominating Mandril, as it is indeed a fun, clever and original mapset with good gameplay too.

Also Apostate, needs more Heretic.

Double Impact too, for making Phobos hard and interesting again.

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I nominate Alien Vendetta even though it isn't eligible :P

Seriously, Jenesis and Doom 2 Unleashed (which I am in the process of reviewing) are very good. D2U can be somewhat repetitive, but many maps are genuinely beautiful and I really enjoyed playing it. Jenesis is an incredible achievement, it's like a one-man D2U, so I'll be upset if that doesn't win something!

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Because I know it can be a pain to go back and look for them... make sure you guys are posting a link (idgames preferably, if possible) to wads you nominate so they are easier to track down.

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Okay, here goes my slew of nominations so far this year (most if not all of these will be seconding):

Icebound - Chirstopher Lutz. Easily ranks up there with Curse as the best Heretic wad of all time, IMO. The architecture has Lutz's trademark awesomeness.

Heretic - Call of the Apostate - Stormwalker. Perhaps slightly weaker than Icebound but nonetheless deserving of a mention.

Vanguard - Paul DeBruyne. What more can be said about this? Excellent gameplay with visuals to match. This would fit in the the top ten wads any year.

Mandrill Ass Project - Aluqah. Every year, I always feel like I come across one 'token' GZDoom wad that contains a lot of enjoyable scenarios. This one has a really unique, fun feel that I love.

Doom Core Michael Jan Krizik (Valkiriforce). Undeniably old-school megawad. A bit rough around the edges in some areas, but overall, a tone of fun.

Reverie - Michael Jan Krizik (Valkriforce). Classic mapping defined.

Plutonia: Revisited Community Project - Various. 32 maps, hardly any dull moments... Plus, I'm always fond of demo-friendliness in a wad.

I'll go ahead and support Valkriforce's Mapper of the Year nomination as well. While he did work on a good deal of the maps over the course of last year, his ability to make quality maps quickly isn't matched by many.

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CC4 might be finished by the end of the year, and if it is it'll probably get the Mordeth award.

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Save yourselves the trouble of mentioning mockaward nominations. It wont happen. Exceptionally good and funny things can be mentioned for general nominations, though. I also posted this in the thread in blogs (link at the start of thread) and some other stuff that you may or may not care to read.

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I think Skillsaw might be the Mapper of the Year, due to his great works: Lunatic and Vanguard. These WADs aren't as epic as DV1-2 was, but I tried it and the difficulty settings were amazing! And just look at the architecture, that was also pretty good, even according to the idgames reviews.

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If you are going to add a "Best Gameplay Wad" category then Brutal Doom is definitely a good nominee to induct.
As for there being a final version of it, considering theres a new version out every 1-2 months i dont think there will ever be a FINAL version.
As for best megawad i'd have to go with Plutonia Revisited for now, for episode not sure yet but if Unloved 2 comes out before the end of the year that will most certainly be my pick.

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I personally didn't enjoy Brutal Doom that much, but might be just me.

I nominate Plutonia Revisited for providing me hours of fun, with great levels and design.

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Hmm, as for contenders for the top ten slot:

1. "Vanguard" by Skillsaw
This is probably my favorite WAD this year. All around a very good set of maps. It has brains, brawn, and beauty all rolled into one neat package.

2. "1994 Tune-Up Community Project" by various
This was a pleasant, fun megaWAD that made a bunch of crappy 1994 maps much more entertaining. Not a "flawless gem," but still a very wonderful project with very cool results.

For best mapper, I have to say skillsaw without a doubt--he's thrown out three great WADs this year!

For the Mordeth Award, I'd have to say "Community Chest 4" if it's completed on time.

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