Cacowards 2023 Mentionation Thread: You Don't Need To Post Myhouse Again

[Ningen666]

3 hours ago, TJG1289 said:

That came out way long ago so it's not eligible. 

oh.... ):

[taufan99]

21 hours ago, Polyg0n said:

oh.... ):

If you want to experience something else more recent, you might want to check out Elegant Agony 64. That is, if you have the D64 Remaster.

[Ningen666]

These two are pretty cool, so I am gonna bring these up!
So I guess +1 HOTFIX93 and +1 Escape from Slime City!

 

[Serathis]

Hotfix was pretty great!

I want to mention Hotel of the Dead, a short, fairly but detailed single map WAD

 

 

[Ausara]

 It's finally out

 

[princetontiger]

IMP Act

 

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by princetontiger

[DRON12261]

"Death Guard" by @Kisadillah

A very strong map with great attention to detail. The "DoomCute" is a lot to take in here. The leveldesign is nice, the location is interesting to explore, and the visuals are beautiful. I won't hesitate to suggest this map on Cacowards, as I really love Ultimate Doom vibe and this style of mapping, maps of this quality don't come out every day. Good work!
 

Spoiler

 

 

[CherubCorps]

Some interesting gameplay mods that have come out in 2023

 

Cyberaugumented by Bugie:

An interesting weapon/enemy randomizer inspired by complex doom/Dusted Panedmonia but more focused.. The weapons are good, heavy, fun to use, do the job. Where the mod really shines is with its monster pack. The monsters have a much darker, sinister tone compared to their vanilla counterpart. There is no humor or nuance in these enemies, they are pure hellspawn, all teeth and snarls, and go well if you want a darker set of foes for more sinister map sets. It is a randomizer so the baddies will get more powerful as you progress (A boon or bust depending on if you like to pistol start or not). Goes great with darker/horror themed map packs where you might want increased challenge without spoiling the mood. It should also be mentioned that the monsters are available without the weapons if you want to use a mapset's custom weapons or lock and load with your favorite weapon pack. Overall, a very impressive release for 1st time modder Bugie.

https://literally-bugsie.itch.io/cyberaugumented

 

 

Pvt Stone by Skelegant:

A spiritual successor/sequel to Lt Typhon. Smaller in scope than Typhon, the mod trims out all the fat found in bigger epic mods and is entirely focused on solid, hard hitting weapons and brutal melee. The melee is the star as you hit like a dump truck, but also gain back life per hit, encouraging the player to play risky and switch to fistacuffs when low on health. The player can also activate a super melee mod which not only makes you invincible for a few seconds, but ups your punching power to the max. A weaker version of this ability is also set on a cooldown so it can be used in strategic positions.

While this mod does tread familiar territory (Overpowered giant army girl with huge muscles punching demons) and while I miss alot of the fun easter eggs, it's an overall more balanced experienced. If you want to play a version of Typhon with more of a "Power fantasy earned" feeling, this is the mod for you.

Special mention should go to sprite artist Sonik.o.fan who did majority of the gun sprites. He is an amazing artist.

https://skelegant.itch.io/pvt-stone

 

Combined arms Gaiden V2.0 by Combine Kegan

(Note) The mod was released back in 2020. So much has been changed and refined in the past 3 years (Including an entirely new playable class with new art weapons etc) CA gaiden is pretty much a completely new mod. It's also 100% finished.

 

A spin off of Combined arms and love letter to the NES era. This mod once again puts you into the shoes or Arti, a space bounty hunter with an affinity for weapons based on old school NES stuff, but also adds a new character, Telos who some people might recognize from another Kegan mod, Space Hunter. This mod takes its NES roots even further as everything is lovingly crafted with an 8-bit pallette, 8-bit sound effects, but ironically, with some of the most cutting edge combat seen in a Doom mod.

Every weapon is fun to use, easy to figure out and a blast to fun to fire. Beneath the surface however, every weapon has some interesting alt-fires and has some sort of gameplay purpose, nothing ever becomes redundant. An example of this is that EVERY single weapon has a dry fire alternate shot (Meaning they can be used without ammo). I doubt most people will ever use these attacks (Let alone realize they exist) as their pretty weak compared to their ammo counterparts, but at times, even these weaker attacks have purpose can be amazing in odd situations. 

Art wise, the degree in which you like this mod will be depend on your nostalgia for 8-bit games. While everything to a degree is a reference to an existing 8-bit NES game (Which at times can get annoying and be ham-fisted) the animation quality is top notch. If you have a fondness for the 8-bit era (Like I assume alot of older doomers do), this mod is definitely worth your time. Even if you're not into retro games, screechy 8 bit sounds or pixel art, it's still worth a playthrough because of how damn good it feels to play. 

https://combine-kegan.itch.io/combined-arms-gaiden

 

 

This one could also count as "Best multiplayer mods"

BYOC (Bring your own class) by various authors

 

A multiplayer mod made by several people of the modding community. The biggest name being McPig, the creator of Pizza Tower. Who knew he was also into making Doom mods. While I haven't played too much of this, it's a really interesting concept. A doom community project done by modders rather than mappers.

https://revenatn.itch.io/byoc

 

We're only halfway through 2023. Can't wait to see what comes out during the 2nd half.

[baja blast rd.]

1 minute ago, CherubCorps said:

Some interesting gameplay mods that have come out in 2023

 

great post, I wish more mentionations had this amount of detail

[Ravendesk]

I think noescape.wad by el inferno deserves attention.

 

This is a set of icon of sin maps with infinite monster waves, kinda like invasion gameplay, but the catch is - it is implemented in Boom. It uses a very clever monster sorting mechanism that allows mapper to control where to spawn each type of monsters (and which monsters to not spawn into the map at all) and also ensures they don't get stuck in each other (maps do no require map30 slot). This results in so many creative possibilities (just check out the maps, they are absolutely different in gameplay despite all being based on icon of sin spawners).

 

This is obviously a very niche thing, but strictly speaking this wad introduces a whole new map style (for Boom/MBF ports) and also provides instruments to create your own maps with it.

 

One thing that may turn people away is that the maps are pretty hard on UV, but they have difficulty settings, so don't hesitate to try lower difficulties to see what's the most fun for you.

 

 

[wertercatt]

+1 Space Cats Saga 2.0

[Somniac]

Throwing in a vote for Glaive III. I'm just over midway through this mapset and it is just brilliant. I love maps that seem to encourage the player to jump in and get their hands dirty, and this wad has that in spades. I'm not quite the player I was years ago, but being ruthlessly slapped around has rarely felt so fun. Its like these maps are just screaming "come get me". Of course, I love anything that recalls Scythe, and Glaive III is definitely ticking boxes in that regard. It does feel like a spiritual successor to that classic series, but I should point out that it stands out equally on its own merits. Visually, it feels crisp and refined. There's a non-stop momentum to the combat. I'm loving the map layouts. This wad is ace!

[Geniraul]

A very worthy single-map WAD to mention is Stanley by @Dee Legit, a tribute to the game "The Stanley Parable".

 

The level combines features of a walking simulator and combat puzzles bringer, while supplementing it by various screen messages for the story, successful color palette, and walls decorated with pictures of well-known Classic Doom areas. The map progression is very consistent, the linearity doesn't ruin the gameplay either thanks to the wise reuse of space/rooms due to the backtracking followed by the game story.

 

Really high attention to detail is reflected in the well-made Doomcute, the proper lighting and shadows are present, too. At some point, the overall atmosphere and some of the areas are giving a Doom 3 feeling. Even in the title screen section the default image is replaced by a camera taking you on a trip around the main area of the level occupied by red hellish lighting.

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by Geniraul
The embedded link to the thread has been added for better visibility.

[continuum.mid]

+1 for GOODWAD just for being good humor.

 

I'd also like to nominate Tetanus, Squonker Team's latest joint. AD_79's "Salvage" is enough to qualify it for a Cacoward by itself, it's such a creative vanilla WAD, not to mention pure fun.

Edited June 1, 2023 by continuum.mid

[Lizardcommando]

I also nominate Death Guard. It's a nice Doom map. A bit tough but still a fun romp.

[Geniraul]

One more excellent WAD to mention is @Jacek Bourne's Cybershot, which may become your greatest aim trainer. You better be ready, as this mapset will test your 2 shot BFG skills, as well as your ability to punch, by using thousands of cyberdemons on all the 3 levels. How many of them can you send back to hell? :) Seriously, this one is almost perfect for practice, in my opinion. There is no health or armor items, so you should entirely rely on your skill.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Geniraul
The embedded link to the thread has been added for better visibility.

[RataUnderground]

I know the ACE engine has been in development for some time now, but yesterday its author finally released a demo of what it is capable of, and I am really impressed. The author himself says that he will soon release a video and documentation explaining the features. But from what I've seen in the demo levels, I think it's definitely Cacoward material.
3D flooring, freelook, Color sector lighting and a million other things. ... All this in Doom2.exe

[BeachThunder]

No one's mentioned @Andrea Rovenski's Autophagy yet? I'll mention Autophagy. There's a lotta great, fun maps here - particularly the short and sweet early levels.

[Serathis]

Not that much to say. Stanley does what Stanley does! Excellent mindbening adventure.

[doomerman]

+1 to Myhouse.wad. It blew my mind in so many ways! Happiness needs to be fought

[esselfortium]

1 hour ago, doomerman said:

+1 to Myhouse.wad. It blew my mind in so many ways! Happiness needs to be fought

As the thread title says, you don't need to post Myhouse again. It being mentionated in here once or twice is enough to ensure the judges are aware of it.

[doomerman]

53 minutes ago, esselfortium said:

As the thread title says, you don't need to post Myhouse again. It being mentionated in here once or twice is enough to ensure the judges are aware of it.

Sorry my bad

[Walter confetti]

+1 for ACE Engine Demo. Thinking that i just playing vanilla Doom executable stuff with few add-ons into a simple playable wad is freaking insane.

[OliveTree]

+1 for AUTOPHAGY

 

 

[RichardDS90]

+1 for Glaive 3.

[Scypek2]

+1 for STANLEY. The gameplay, visuals and the awesome original soundtrack makes it worthwhile ever for someone who never heard of The Stanley Parable, but for The Stanley Parable fans who also like Doom it's an absolute must-play. It's not a perfectly accurate recreation, nor is it just a vaguely Stanley Parable themed set of demon arenas. Somehow, it's the best of both worlds. Somewhat downscaled from what it was originally intended to be, and sometimes it shows (if you're familiar with The Stanley Parable, that is), but downscaled so elegantly that it doesn't feel incomplete at all. In fact, it might be the perfect size for what it is. It's already a huge, masterful experience.

[Firedust]

+++ Valis by Galactic

Fans of super-polished combat-focused megawads owe it to themselves to check this one out. Maps range from small to medium (there's one large map in the secret slot) and look super slick. Difficulty-wise I'd put it maybe a smidgen above Plutonia but hey, HNTR and ITYTD exist for a reason.

[msx2plus]

+1 to Austrian Avian Association

this is just too wonderful.

[Ausara]

+1 The Penultimate Breakfast

Chex

[Major Arlene]

+1 for DSDA 0.26 to have mention somewhere this year - as your average UDMF enjoyer, the UDMF for DSDA is a fantastic way for mappers to have the QoL features of UDMF without the "bloat".