2023 Cacowards

[faad3e]

its always xmas whenever cacoawards are released :) thanks to everyone who contributed to writing them this year, and thanks to everyone within the community

[Jimmy]

What a ceremony. Gonna take me a full day to get through all this.

 

Keep kickin' ass, Doomworld.

[valkiriforce]

I'm pretty sure I'm years behind in playing all of these amazing wads...great work, everyone.

[Gregor]

On 12/10/2023 at 5:48 PM, Scuba Steve said:

I'll answer that; we've been trying to decide for years what's the best way to handle the DBP projects and I finally just made the call to omit them. Because of past behavior and prevailing attitudes on the Doomer Boards, Doomworld has a stated policy allowing for the posting of DBP but disallows the promotion of their forums. As long as this policy is in effect, the DBP are not entitled to free publicity.

 

DBP59 was a top ten release this year, but this is not a democracy, it's a curated community. Anti social behavior makes you a pariah and the most extreme examples can get you banned on Doomworld. The Doomer Boards can change their moderation policy at any time, but until such time, Doomworld's restriction extends to its hosted awards.

 

I disagree with politics being used to discriminate against any work or artist, no matter the intention behind the decision. But as Scuba Steve pointed out, Doomworld is not a democracy; so his decision on the matter has to be respected.

In my opinion though this only serves to lessen the validity of the Cacowards as a whole. I look at this yearly ceremony as a unifying celebration of the boundless creativity and passion across the entire Doom community - not just the parts that share our ideological beliefs.

Once you start to go down the path of deciding whether or not a work is worth honoring for reasons other than quality, you quickly find yourself in the quagmire of propaganda, where ideological affiliation is as important as artistic quality.

If you decided to exclude the song "Imagine" by John Lennon from all lists of the greatest songs of the 20th century because Lennon regularly hit his first wife (which he did admit to in an interview a few days before his death) and you're of the opinion that a wife-beater's music shouldn't be celebrated, then it simply renders your list incorrect and incomplete, because "Imagine" is objectively one of the greatest songs of the 20th century, independent of what you think of John Lennon's opinions or actions.

Art has the ability to bring people together; while politics tend to divide. One has to choose, which one is more important when judging art.

Therefore, I believe it was wrong to exclude Zeppelin Armada from this year's list of winners, even though I do understand the reasoning behind the decision.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Gregor

[FEDEX]

@Endless It was a pleasure to be able to help, at least in a small way :)

[Snikle]

30 minutes ago, Gregor said:

Art has the ability to bring people together; while politics tend to divide. One has to choose, which one is more important when judging art.

Blaming "Politics" seems to be ignoring the second half of the reasoning. And dismissing the first half as "politics" might be seen as suspect itself by some folks.

4 hours ago, esselfortium said:

Doomer Boards was founded by and for people who've been banned from Doomworld for posting hate towards black people, Jews, gay people, and other minorities. The DBPs are an attempt to launder their image while continuing to tolerate all of those things on their site. Their current site admin, 40oz, was banned here several years ago after being given an ultimatum regarding a member of DB who was continually harassing a member here over another community member's death.

I like playing the DBPs as much as anyone, but not including them doesn't make the Cacowards (always subjective to the writers' anyway) any less legitimate. The DBs can make their own awards, with blackjack and hookers, if they see it necessary. They can rate all the DBPs from worst to best, I'd read it.

 

More a question for the writers than the quoted repliers, but is the goal of the Cacowards to "judge art" at all, or is it more about showing off community output and taking a yearly opportunity to highlight appreciated creators? I too would find it hard to laud the creations of people who put the community through stress and hardship, if I were a Cacoward writer who witnessed these sorts of things firsthand. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Snikle

["JL" was too short]

28 minutes ago, Gregor said:

 

I disagree with politics being used to discriminate against any work or artist, no matter the intention behind the decision.

 

That's funny, because I disagree with chuds being able to pull out the "political discrimination!!" card to evade any accountability for the odious contents of their souls, and I'm glad that, at least in this single and limited instance, the good guys aren't having any of it.

"Unity", as used in this case, seems to mean that the decent folks are being asked to unilaterally avert their eyes from the moral dumpster fire blazing merrily on the other side.  Why is the onus on Scuba Steve, Esselfortium, et al. to do this?  Why not ask the DB to advance the cause of "unity" by repudiating the repulsive ideological leanings that have come to be associated with that site?

[LadyMistDragon]

Just reading the "Doot Eternal" section just because I'm like a weirdo music nerd, and while I might disagree with some of the conclusions ("Cold Sublety" is something it took me a very long time to get appreciation for as an example so i actually understand), it's so nice to see your love for the music of these classic wads shine through! Honestly, I think Josh Martel's little 5 second blip has a good transitory feel to it but ya know....I guess it is kind of there.

 

(also, I don't think it's wise to go down the route of the why of DB too much, that's something that's been unfortunately been a niggling problem and really, people that have been around a while can understand why)

Edited December 11, 2023 by LadyMistDragon

[xScavengerWolfx]

I can't believe doom is 30 now. Here's to another 30 years of ass kicking and slaying demons.

 

I also want to give my congrats on the winners, the runner ups, the composers and everyone else that won. This year was full of great wads and midis.

 

I saw MyHouse.WAD won as well, who know (Sarcasm) but overall congrats on who won this year and hoping next years Cacoawards are going to be chock full of goodies and even more goodies to feed our hunger.

 

I also want to say good job on the write ups as well, it's always nice to read about what other people think on wads we play as a community.

[Ludi]

4 hours ago, esselfortium said:

The DBPs are an attempt to launder their image while continuing to tolerate all of those things on their site.

 

At the risk of derailing the current topic, this is why wads like AZ make me uncomfortable

 

 

Yeah, I'll pass...

 

I'm glad the cacowards have no tolerance for hate. Shoutouts to those who broke off the DPBs and saw through 40z's truly abhorrent behavior.

 

And shoutouts to the wider doom community for being so accepting and tolerant. Who knew that just because someone is different, you shouldn't think less of them?

 

On a more related note, I wanna give some shoutouts to my boys. I'm so honored that @Egg Boy and the Squonker team let me join their ranks, I have so much respect for them and I learned so much about mapping from the experience of working on the next Squonker project (stay tuned!). I made so much cool stuff with @myolden this year it's crazy, including a collab map that is absolutely nuts. @Korp continues to be one of my best friends and one of the people I can count on most in this community. I'm absolutely dumbfounded by his musical talent and output! 

 

@HiRon, @Christophine Place, @Yumheart, and @finnks13 were my favorite mappers this year, as well as being some of the chillest people I know. The work I saw from them in Hardfest 2 fucks so hard, it's not even funny. I'm so happy Finnks won a caco for that wad, he absolutely earned it!

 

And lastly, shoutouts to @Alaux for Nugget Doom. Easily my favorite source port, and has a ton of really cool features worth check-ing out.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Ludi

[jmac]

Congrats to all of the winners, and thank you to all of the writers for taking the time to put this all together.

 

I thought I really paid close attention to the wad releases this year, so I'm surprised to see some winners that I hadn't even heard of. AAA was my favourite wad of the year, so I'm glad it got a gold award. What lies beneath, the settlements, sepia, devilution, flesharmonic, and the diseases are all also fantastic projects that I'm glad I took the time to play this year.

 

Black Diamond and Wonder Wheel are two wads I feel deserved at least a mention which, as far as I can tell, they didn't get. But I know competetion was very tough this year, so this isn't so much a complaint as it is a shoutout to some more great stuff.

 

I dislike the decision to exclude DBP in general, but I don't know the details of what all has gone down regarding the situation, so I'm not in a position to push the subject.

Edited December 11, 2023 by jmac
grammar, flesharmonic mention

[HiMyNameIsChair]

55 minutes ago, Gregor said:

 

Quote

If you decided to exclude the song "Imagine" by John Lennon from all lists of the greatest songs of the 20th century because Lennon regularly hit his first wife (which he did admit to in an interview a few days before his death) and you're of the opinion that a wife-beater's music shouldn't be celebrated, then it simply renders your list incorrect and incomplete, because "Imagine" is objectively one of the greatest songs of the 20th century, independent of what you think of John Lennon's opinions or actions.

 

How the hell can something as subjective as a list of songs be "incomplete"? It's not up to you to decide what should objectively be on someone else's list. Also, they're not excluding the DBP from all lists, just the Cacoaward, i.e: their own. So they rightfully have the final say. Other people can put them on their own lists, no one is gonna stop them. Your analogy makes no goddamn sense lol. 

 

Also, all the chuds complaining about Politics always seem to forget that all art, in some way is political: even Doom! They always forget the small detail that Doomguy got court-martialed for assaulting his superior after refusing an order to fire on unarmed protesters. Also, he literally has Nazi killing in his blood, it runs in the family.

 

This ain't your game Nazi punks. Cry more.

[Scuba Steve]

36 minutes ago, Gregor said:

Once you start to go down the path of deciding whether or not a work is worth honoring for reasons other than quality, you quickly find yourself in the quagmire of propaganda, where political affiliation is as important as artistic quality.

It's just the enforcement of 'terms-of-service.' It's no more "propaganda" or censorship than the enforcement of social rules in public spaces; if you're running around a public shopping center shouting profanity and hurling slurs at other patrons, you're going to be escorted from the building. We don't go digging into the internet history of every mod-maker, but if you're banned or censured on this site, there is no expectation your works will receive any publicity. More important, this also means you can be assured their maps aren't being snubbed because of any judge's personal vendetta.

 

As evidence by the awards this year, the community is larger and more diverse than ever and we have no intention of encouraging speech and behavior that might drive away the next COTY. If you have questions, feel free to send me a PM, but I won't discuss it in this thread anymore because the policy is quite clear.

[Mr. Hypnos]

It’s a real honor to be mentioned alongside all of the extremely talented designers in this year’s “Promising Newcomers” section. Doom’s thirtieth year also happened to be my very first year spending time with this incredible game, and creating Octate was an experience that I’ll never, ever forget. Thank you very much for my inclusion. 

[lupinx-Kassman]

Congratulations to everyone recognized! I'm still reading through the full thing, but preemptively gonna say that the writing is incredible. I know it couldn't have been easy to pick these out and sum up your feelings in such exquisite detail. Props to the writers!

 

And special thanks to @Dynamo! It was a very pleasant surprise seeing my name up there for the Espi award. I really didn't see it coming at all. Reading your personal review of my past was both nostalgic and extremely touching. I'm always impressed by your knack for research, even if I shouldn't be considering your tireless work on the doom wiki and prior cacowards haha. I had a big dumb smile on my face when you described your personal experiences during the heyday of the KK days. We dove deep into the dust-covered relics of doomin' old, and this door was indeed one of the greatest treasures we've stumbled upon. Its a testament to why we keep getting our ass kicked by demons. That wooden midtexture blockade wouldn't work! The door's too tall! Doors slide up in Doom!! Agh!!! Uh, anyways, I mainly wanted to say that I really appreciate the detailed article you wrote on me Dynamo, but moreso, I appreciate you as an irreplaceable friend.

 

I've got my evening read in order for tonight haha

 

PS: Thanks for snapping that photo of me @Bank, and for the physical award @Scuba Steve!

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by lupinx-Kassman

[Gregor]

4 minutes ago, Scuba Steve said:

As evidence by the awards this year, the community is larger and more diverse than ever and we have no intention of encouraging speech and behavior that might drive away the next COTY. If you have questions, feel free to send me a PM, but I won't discuss it in this thread anymore because the policy is quite clear.

Fair enough. I just wanted to voice my opinion on the matter. I said my piece. Topic closed.

[DMPhobos]

Congratulations to all the winners!!

[head_cannon]

I always enjoy reading the analysis & storytelling that gets posted by this scene's writers & scribes. Long before I ever registered an account, I was reading old DWMegawad Club threads to alleviate the boredom of work. Then as now, I respect Demon Of The Well's ability to depict this art-form's ability to conjure anxiety & stress in such detailed, evocative terms. And a hearty congratulations to scwiba, Maribo, and Cardboard Marty for making such a stellar debut! The sidebar where midi artists talk about the craft was neat too.

[Egg Boy]

Very happy to have won a silver with Squonker on Tetanus. I am extremely proud of the work everyone did on it, and I hope we can release more than one thing next year.

[MTrop]

Congrats to all the winners!

 

30 more years!

[jazzmaster9]

Congrats to all the winners

 

Love seeing the lists of winners getting more and more diverse in terms if ports, target audience and over all vibe. Im guessing more people have been added to the pool of judges for this? 😁

Edited December 11, 2023 by jazzmaster9

[Hyacsho]

Congratulations to all the winners!! I love this year's list, some expected ones, and new ones.

I need to go through each. 

[plums]

4 hours ago, head_cannon said:

I always enjoy reading the analysis & storytelling that gets posted by this scene's writers & scribes. Long before I ever registered an account, I was reading old DWMegawad Club threads to alleviate the boredom of work. Then as now, I respect Demon Of The Well's ability to depict this art-form's ability to conjure anxiety & stress in such detailed, evocative terms. And a hearty congratulations to scwiba, Maribo, and Cardboard Marty for making such a stellar debut! The sidebar where midi artists talk about the craft was neat too.

I definitely miss @Demon of the Well's posts in the DWMC, but priorities change. All the more reason to enjoy his write-ups here!

[pcorf]

Congrats to all. It was also great to get a mention for the WOS music as well.

 

Time for 30 more years of Doom!

 

I also have a plan ..... just wait and see.

Edited December 11, 2023 by pcorf

[Dynamo]

2 hours ago, jazzmaster9 said:

Im guessing more people have been added to the pool of judges for this? 😁

Yep, as mentioned in the foreword! We couldn't have done it without their excellent contributions.

 

[Removed response to removed post -- Mordeth]

Edited December 11, 2023 by Mordeth
removed response on removed post

[Mordeth]

Removed a post complaining about banned peeps not being allowed to participate anymore. No more derailing of this thread.

[GIG]

Excellent write ups - congrats to all this year!

[yakfak]

just wanna say that the write-ups are really good and the myhouse swerve made me giggle
hope everyone's well cya

[bjh13]

I'm just shocked at how much I missed this year when I thought I was on top of things. Really appreciate the Cacowards are still going just for this reason.

[Mordeth]

34 minutes ago, bjh13 said:

I'm just shocked at how much I missed this year when I thought I was on top of things.

 

This is me, every year :)