Cacowards 2017 discussion (24 years)

[anotak]

hello

here they are!

 

winners:

 

 

Espi Award:
Marisa "Randi" Heit

Top 10:
lilith.pk3
Shadows of the Nightmare Realm
No End in Sight
Dead.air
Brigandine
Counterattack
Legacy of Heroes
Saturnine Chapel
Stardate 20X7
Void and Rainbow

Multiplayer Awards:
Pyrrhic
Progressive Duel 2

Gameplay Mod Awards:
Doom Delta
Final Doomer
High Noon Drifter

Codeaward:
OBLIGE by Andrew Apted

Mordeth:
TNT 2

Mockward:
N/A (retired, special mention to Run For It and Loot Box Mod)

Machaward:
The Given

Mapper of the Year:
dobu gabu maru

 

 

runner ups:

 

Rise of the Wool Ball
Return to Hadron Episode 2
TNT: Revilution
Waterlab GZD
Disjunction
Hexen - Curse of the Lost Gods
Water Spirit
Hellscape
Dark Tide

 

 

neat stuff safari:

 

Kanalang
floaters.wad
Calico
Idle Doom
Antryway
Low-Res Doom, Voxel Chibi Doom, PC Speaker Simulation, 8-bit blood, 8-bit Music
Csonicgo's DMXOPL
Hisymak's GENMIDI

 

 

most promising newcomers

 

anotak
Captain J
/vr/ and floatRand
Forli

 

 

the other sidebar stuff (speedrunning, multiplayer, wiki stuff, etc) is a bit harder to summarize, but worth checking out too!

 

Quote

[10:58 PM]Obsidian:Is there an official DW thread where we can gasbag about the Cacos?
[10:59 PM]anotak:yea i was about to ask that too
[11:02 PM]dewsome:i prodded fonz to make a cacoward reaction thread but he's probably afk at the moment
[11:02 PM]dewsome:so... make one yourself!
[11:03 PM]anotak:where
[11:03 PM]dewsome:doom general?
[11:03 PM]dewsome:cacowards are not just about wads anymore!
[11:03 PM]anotak:thats why i asked

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by anotak

[Scuba Steve]

Cacowards 2017

 

Special thanks to Alfonzo, Dew, Terminus, DoTW, kmx, Demon, Jabba, Ling and all the other members of the community who contributed their time to keep this tradition alive. The awards really do get better every year.

 

Without further ado, it's time to begin the time-honored Cacoward tradition of complaining about the nominations.

[Alfonzo]

Why wasn't The Alfonzone given at least all of the cacowards?

[tourniquet]

Those stalwart winners with mapping powers beyond comprehension. Say their names with reverent pride.

 

[esselfortium]

Whoops, intended to merge anotak's post into Scuba's thread and accidentally did the reverse of that. Close enough D:

 

Congratulations to all the winners!

[anotak]

thank you!!! <3 everyone!

 

im sad that ryath's unalign.wad did not make it at least as a runner up! it was quite good. my work this year would not have been what it is without the influence of that, or last year's winner absolutely killed

[Remilia Scarlet]

Congrats to all the other winners!  It's always nice to see how lively Doom has remained over the years.

[antares031]

Mockaward is dead. There will be no fun and humor in this world from now on. ㅠ_ㅠ

 

But now we have new interesting categories, so I'm happy with that. Happy 24th anniversary of Doom, and congratulations to winners and runner-ups. :)

[VGamingJunkie]

Instead of a Mockaward, how about just an award for best comedy? It doesn't have to be WADs that are intentionally suckish, just ones that have a comedic tone. One great example, although it wasn't made this year, is Mayhem Mansion.

[Nine Inch Heels]

Been a good year. Too bad speedrunning is "sidebar material", especially this year. I get that doing those runs is niche, but I think it deserves more attention.

[Obsidian]

A toast to Dobu Gabu Maru for MoTY! Extremely well deserved and has been for quite some time now.

[Reisal]

Oh nice! OBLIGE won a Cacoward in a new category! Congrats @andrewj!

[Marcaek]

2 hours ago, Nine Inch Heels said:

Been a good year. Too bad speedrunning is "sidebar material", especially this year. I get that doing those runs is niche, but I think it deserves more attention.

Maybe more events\organized competitions of some kind are needed. Maybe some promotion outside the immediate doomworld cadre as well?

[SleepyVelvet]

rip Moonblood. i was rooting for you.

 

also, I didn't know Legacy of Heroes was this year.  I assumed it was some old but underappreciated wad of yester-year that @Alfonzo dragged out for Ironman.  It was pretty good.

 

Still, I haven't even played the majority of these yet, jeez.  This endless stream of Doom, man; I can't keep up.

[Doomkid]

2nd year in a row being part of a cacoward winning project due strictly to technicality, this time for placing the DM starts in TNTR, I am truly a Doom modding god!!!

 

(rofl)

 

Well done to all who won an award, the Doom modding scene isn't going anywhere any time soon! All awards were well deserved. Keep it up!

[Zakken]

Congratulations to all of the winners! I'm pleased to always have my expectations blown out of the water to check out the year's award-winning wads every year, most of them for the first time (since I'm not very in the loop with every good release that comes out), and this year was no different. Many thanks to those who continue to challenge the limits of what can be done in this 24-years old game, and of course, those who embrace those limits and standards and keep on building great content to keep the more traditional side of the Doom spirit alive as well.

 

 

Quote

Watch out for that potential Ralphis comeback!

[Graf Zahl]

So how does a totally mediocre project like Legacy of Heroes get a Cacoward and an absolutely outstanding masterpiece like Waterlab GZD merely end up as a runner-up?

 

And what about lilith? Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage? It may have warranted a Mockaward in my book but a best of the best is a too great an honor for this thing.

 

So, sorry. The Cacowards have just become like the Oscars, where true quality no longer matters and the main deciding factor is good promotion to make one's project visible in the eyes of the ones who decide and playing to their known tastes?

 

[Doomkid]

2 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

Come on man, nothing that won was anything short of "cool as heck" imo. Everyone's tastes are different and I can't think of a single cacowards where everyone was 100% completely in agreement with each result, but everything mentioned in some way certainly deserves it. Being a runner-up on a completely subjective list does not prevent that wad from being awesome and I don't think anyone (worth a damn) is foolish enough to assume that, because something is a runner up, it isn't worth their time.

[Marcaek]

1 hour ago, Graf Zahl said:

So how does a totally mediocre project like Legacy of Heroes get a Cacoward and an absolutely outstanding masterpiece like Waterlab GZD merely end up as a runner-up?

 

And what about lilith? Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage? It may have warranted a Mockaward in my book but a best of the best is a too great an honor for this thing.

 

So, sorry. The Cacowards have just become like the Oscars, where true quality no longer matters and the main deciding factor is good promotion to make one's project visible in the eyes of the ones who decide and playing to their known tastes?

 

[esselfortium]

6 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

So how does a totally mediocre project like Legacy of Heroes get a Cacoward and an absolutely outstanding masterpiece like Waterlab GZD merely end up as a runner-up?

 

And what about lilith? Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage? It may have warranted a Mockaward in my book but a best of the best is a too great an honor for this thing.

 

So, sorry. The Cacowards have just become like the Oscars, where true quality no longer matters and the main deciding factor is good promotion to make one's project visible in the eyes of the ones who decide and playing to their known tastes?

 

So because the judges liked a wad you saw fit to throw a tantrum about when it came out (are you still not over this?!?), the awards are now suddenly a sham? 🤔

[esselfortium]

16 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

So how does a totally mediocre project like Legacy of Heroes get a Cacoward and an absolutely outstanding masterpiece like Waterlab GZD merely end up as a runner-up?

 

And what about lilith? Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage? It may have warranted a Mockaward in my book but a best of the best is a too great an honor for this thing.

 

So, sorry. The Cacowards have just become like the Oscars, where true quality no longer matters and the main deciding factor is good promotion to make one's project visible in the eyes of the ones who decide and playing to their known tastes?

 

The mockaward is for comedy, but the only thing funny about lilith.pk3 is that it keeps attracting these kinds of posts

[Zakken]

11 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

So how does a totally mediocre project like Legacy of Heroes get a Cacoward and an absolutely outstanding masterpiece like Waterlab GZD merely end up as a runner-up?

 

And what about lilith? Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage? It may have warranted a Mockaward in my book but a best of the best is a too great an honor for this thing.

 

So, sorry. The Cacowards have just become like the Oscars, where true quality no longer matters and the main deciding factor is good promotion to make one's project visible in the eyes of the ones who decide and playing to their known tastes?

 

Well, you certainly could have tried to articulate your arguments in a way that isn't blatantly disrespectful to the projects, their respective authors AND the writers for this year's awards, but that's just too much bloody work for someone riding a high horse like you, ain't it?

 

Also, did you even play lilith at all, or are you just being mighty unreasonable about its reasonable port requirements again instead of having anything of substance to criticise about it?

[anotak]

14 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

So how does a totally mediocre project like Legacy of Heroes get a Cacoward and an absolutely outstanding masterpiece like Waterlab GZD merely end up as a runner-up?

 

And what about lilith? Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage? It may have warranted a Mockaward in my book but a best of the best is a too great an honor for this thing.

 

So, sorry. The Cacowards have just become like the Oscars, where true quality no longer matters and the main deciding factor is good promotion to make one's project visible in the eyes of the ones who decide and playing to their known tastes?

 

what motivates you to treat others this badly

 

i legitimately want to know

[MrGlide]

28 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

So how does a totally mediocre project

There is no reason to act like a douchebag to other members, there is nothing constructive about your post, it's fucking rude, and uncalled for.

[Edward850]

Under the authority of absolutely no-one but myself, I hereby award Graf Zahl's post the now-defunct Mockaward.

[esselfortium]

33 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage?

[TheZombieKiller]

39 minutes ago, Graf Zahl said:

So how does a totally mediocre project like Legacy of Heroes get a Cacoward and an absolutely outstanding masterpiece like Waterlab GZD merely end up as a runner-up?

 

And what about lilith? Why do people like such a piece of visual garbage? It may have warranted a Mockaward in my book but a best of the best is a too great an honor for this thing.

 

So, sorry. The Cacowards have just become like the Oscars, where true quality no longer matters and the main deciding factor is good promotion to make one's project visible in the eyes of the ones who decide and playing to their known tastes?

 

As a port developer, it is your responsibility to respect mod authors and not try to rudely shove your own opinions on what makes a "good mod" onto them.

It would be nice if you upheld this responsibility, but posts like these, along with the lilith.pk3 drama in the past, make it impossible to say that you do.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Tarnsman]

It's not the cacowards without someone questioning the legitimacy of these here "doomworld" "forums" and their right to give out "awards".

[jmickle66666666]

Congratulations to all the winners! An amazing collection yet again~ Especially happy to see Randi get the lifetime achievement, and lilith.pk3 get an award! Both entirely deserved.

 

Also super happy to see a new award for tools! I'm going to have to step up my game :)

[dobu gabu maru]

Excellent articles everyone. Cool that Randi got the lifetime achievement award; I still use Zdoom to this day, so I owe her a lot. I'm really glad to see the expansion of the gameplay mod category, given that it seems like a fairly popular and broad venue, despite only being able to receive a single award. I also like how some new music was covered in the side bar, as well as the strides in speedrunning. It's kinda funny that as the Cacowards march on they continue to spiral out of control, until we reach the point where the side-bar is going to eclipse the main articles in words, or we inevitably create a dozen new niche categories. Just goes to show how expansive the community is, and how difficult it is to properly honor everybody involved.

 

I think for me, the only project that I'm sad to see missing was Moonblood as it's a hell of a sturdy one-man megawad, all with new music to boot (which at least was mentioned). That said, I haven't played most of the other winners/runners-up from this year, so Moonblood's absence isn't something I feel incensed by. Competition was all over the place this year, with a surprising amount of single maps/short episodes making it into the running. I'm also sad to see kmxexii too pressed for time to survey the Doom landscape this year, but I mean this in the warmest way possible; I just miss his voice being part of the committee. I really need to find some time to play through Brigandine, Water Spirit, Dark Tide, Disjunction, Counterattack, Maskim Xul, Alfonzone... the list goes on.

 

Lastly, thanks for the plaudits :) I think like anybody that maps, you get to a point where you fantasize about winning awards for the current project you're working on, and eagerly await the day when you finally get "recognized". But similar to Buddhist teachings, you get closer to achieving your desired outcome the less you stress out about it. When I was plunking away at my NOVA maps back in early 2013, I was definitely thirsty for praise, especially since I had no idea what I was really doing "right" or "wrong" with Doom. It felt disheartening to contribute a map that took months to work on and receive little to no feedback regarding it (most of it came from playtesters, who often [rightfully] primarily look for issues). Fast-forward five years and now I predominantly work on maps that are somewhat immune to streamlining, created as bizarre projects in order to push my own boundaries or realize an unconventional concept. It's kind of funny that here, where I consider my work to be at its most rigid, is where I get the most feedback; back in 2013 I would've loved for Iron Exuviae to get recognized and discussed, whereas now I'm kind of surprised when anyone mentions my maps being their favorite from a set.

 

The advice I want to pull from this experience is to tell both new and old mappers to keep going. Recognition is really brutal to earn, because if you don't make an especially strong first impression (like floatRand), it can feel like you're invisible on the forums most of the time. But if you've been here for over a year, I can assure you that you're not—everyone has a particular habit and style of mapping that reveals itself gradually, like folding a sheet of paper into an origami animal that is uniquely you. Go ahead and take pride in the little bits of praise; one of the greatest impacts for me early on was having someone random on this forum tell me they liked a map I contributed to Panophobia. That tiny bit of encouragement still means more to me than compliments I receive nowadays, because it was so formative—it told me that I wasn't working in a vacuum; that what I had worked on could be considered "cool". It's those minuscule exchanges that stick to us and propel us to move forward, and it's what's going to matter at the end of the day more than any grandiose fantasies you'll have about imagined accolades or uncontested popularity. Don't give up; keep on pushing that boulder.