32 in 24 - 5 - Various Artists

Have you heard of the 32 in 24 project? No? Get the hell out of here.

But seriously, the 32 in 24 project is simply that: make 32 levels in 24 hours and compile them into one WAD so people can give the ugly looking maps sympathy votes in the /idgames listing for taking little time to make the megawad. While the first 32 in 24 wad was a moderate success within the multiplayer community, it really started to kick off when the third one was released, providing a much higher quality set of DM levels over the first WAD. The fourth 32 in 24 project resulted in a relatively high quality CTF wad which is being included in the third season of IDL, the premier Doom CTF league. Thirty-two CTF maps made within a mere 24 hours.

Those efforts were all eclipsed by 32 in 24 5, which had broken new grounds by splitting the production into two teams, one dedicated to making layouts and another dedicated to detailing those layouts—the result of which created what is by far the highest quality set of deathmatch levels released in 2007. Yes, I say this while simultaneously spitting on the face of Sabbat Martyr DM and Odamex CTF, as both of these projects had taken several months to complete, and Odamex CTF only had eight maps. 32 in 24 5 delivered beautiful landscapes with highly replayable, incredibly fun, and seriously competitive layouts that anyone would enjoy if they had played the maps online. All of this within a mere 24 hours. While it is true that there are a couple of layouts that aren't exactly fun after playing them enough times, there is no doubt that 32 in 24 5 is more worthy of receiving this award than any other DM wad released this year.

Worst Wad

Anything Gamarra - Giulio "Glassyman" Galassi

This is not a joke, and I say this with complete sincerity... Glassyman, stop making Doom wads—it is embarrassing.  You do not try, and you have shown no capability or desire to improve your work.  Your Gamarra wads are nothing more than childish projects meant to poke fun at those who have "wronged you", and without any real humor or tact.  Calling people gay and having them crap their pants is not even worth a chuckle.  It is juvenile and undignified and, again, I beg of you, stop making Doom wads.

I contemplated even nominating the Gamarra maps, since publicity is what the author wants.  I have taught enough children to know that you do not reward bad behavior with attention, since it gives positive reinforcement of their actions.  By nominating these "projects" I am giving credence to an author who deserves neither recognition or attention.  This is not a joke; these maps are terrible, and I am begging you, do not click the link in the header and play them... that is only giving attention where it is not deserved.  Why did I chose to list the Gamarra series if I feel this strongly?  Well, this IS the worst wad category, and they truly are the worst wads available this year.  Glassyman has been making Gamarra maps for a little over a year now, and it needs to be said that they are terrible.

What infuriates me is the utter lack of quality and talent in these projects; they are merely hacked together and feature some of the most childish jokes ever... the kind elementary children find funny.  No, scratch that, they have better taste... I know.  There is no attempt by the author to improve their skill or attempt to make meaningful maps that contribute to the artistic nature of this community.  Blackfish  was panned by the community for being terrible... but even he made an effort to improve.  I just don't see it here.

I did not include a picture because it is a waste of bandwidth as well as my time to take a screenshot.  Do not play these maps, I beg of you... for your sake.  My final words of parting are to Glassyman... please, stop making maps.  If you are not going to take modding seriously, stop, and quit forcing your immature, juvenile attempts at humor on us.  We do not want it.

Mordeth Award - Released project with the longest development time

Knee Deep in ZDoom - Various Artists

This category is tricky to judge.  It is quite possible a project has been in development longer than the award winner... but I never learn about it, or the wad does not list completion dates.  Often times, it is just word of mouth that a project took forever and is finally coming out.  Even if this year's recipient does not have the longest development time... it sure managed to cram as much drama and hype into its development as possible.

Knee Deep in ZDoom was set to be released almost a year and a half ago, but was continuously postponed.  While the delays were probably for the best and resulted in better gameplay and visuals, the team managed to hype the project to an unimaginable status rivaled only by the amazing and groundbreaking Action Doom.  Similar to that project, they released ads, posters and testimonials; unfortunately, it did not capture the community the same way.  Development stagnated, betas were leaked and members were added and dropped with regularity.  After a while, similar to Daikatana, the project's release became a community joke.  When the project was released, it was panned for a number of the additional elements that were added that contributed to the delays... sprite rotations, additional level detail, and more boss fights.

Delays, hubris, and an unstable team roster invariably lead to problems with a project.  KDiZD suffers from inconsistency and a sense that the team was overreaching their original goals.  The project took two years and nine months to complete, and, despite everything I have written during this Cacoward ceremony, I still say the project turned out decent in the end, and is one of the best projects this year.

Mockaward - Best comedy wad of the year

It Only Gets Worse - Wills

Sadly, 2007 has been a terrible year in general for jokewads. We had to put up with the likes of Glassyman, Ruba, Paul Corfiatis's non-serious maps, anonymous loser(s) who imitated Glassyman <insert appropriate barfing emoticon here> and even some dodgy releases by Wills, so I find it slightly ironic in giving the Mockaward to one of the aforementioned people who had released unfunny tripe this year. Why is it ironic? It Only Gets Worse had literally restored my faith in Wills' style of jokewads after a few mediocre releases. It is one of the very few jokewads that I can proudly admit to wanting to play more than once, and that on its own deserves merit for the Mockaward. While I'm personally disappointed in the lack of co-op in It Only Gets Worse, it is kind of a challenge to make a jokewad that is fun while playing co-op, so it's something I'm willing to overlook, and it's not like there's anything else that is worth mentioning this year...

Mapper of the Year

Alexander "Eternal" S. (aka Deadall)

Scuba was intent on picking Tormentor as mapper of the year because he couldn't think of anyone else (translation: he's a lazy jerk who didn't bother to research), but fortunately I stopped him dead on his path and said "Halt! You are a fool for not being attentive towards the Doom community in 2007. Let me show you the works of this newcomer, you shall not be disappointed in his maps!" After a while, I finally swayed the stubborn and hesitant guildmaster of the Cacowards to shine light on this guy who is known as "Eternal", and was literally unknown before this fine year.

I reviewed his first map, Generator of Evil, way back in May, and I dismissed it as being an uninteresting single player experience, but I did personally note that there was raw talent waiting to be unleashed, since I was impressed with the level of detail in the map and the intro, despite being ridiculously dark. I also wrote off Napalm because I couldn't figure out how to get past the first room, but when I read the comments made in response to that horrible review, I gave it another shot, and I was blown away by how great the map was in general. Then he produced two of my personal favourite WADs for 2007, Remain 1 (Chapter 1) and EPIC, two masterpieces which prodded at the limits of the respective ports they were made for (doom2.exe and PRBoom), and showed us just why that classic Doom feel still kicks ass to this day. You may also recognize EPIC if you actually read this entire article, because it was listed last page as being one of our top picks for 2007! I personally see a very prosperous future in Eternal's Doom mapping career (and a new WAD which I need to check out after I finish my half of this article, NORDHELL) that you Tormentor-loving fools should pay full attention to, even if he doesn't dabble in the fine arts of ZDoom that often!

2007 Cacowards

Page 1

Genesis of Descent
Cheogsh
Songs of the Damned

Page 2

The Dying End
Sine Die
Knee Deep in ZDoom

Page 3

Community Chest 3
Epic
Ultimate Torment and Torture
The Outer Darkness

Other Awards

Best Multiplayer
Worst Wad
Mordeth Award
Mockaward
Mapper of the Year

Did You Know...

July 3rd marked the 3 year anniversary of Action Doom.

Did You Know...

Mordeth and Millennium were still not released in 2007 despite almost ten years of development?

Caconoes!

After 4 years of writing the Cacowards, this may be the last time my presence graces this award ceremony.

Do you Remember?

How many of these Doomworld memes do YOU remember?

• Ball Shit Snakes
• McDoomworld
• I am not an retarded
• Lüt died in a car crash
• PeterH's letter to Kat
• BBG's virginity
• Ralphis hacking DW
• Captain Jean Luc Picard
• Taylor
• Prower Fired

0: You are probably from NewDoom.  You have bigger problems.

1-2: You are new to DW or just COMPLETELY oblivious.

3-4: It is possible you are a forum staple AND have a life.

5-6: You remember when ZarkyB was ZarcyB.

7-8: Seek mental counseling.  You dream of Doom.

9-10: Get a life.  You create tool-assisted, pacifist speedruns of Nuts 3 on Nightmare.