Cacowards 2024 Mentionation Thread

[netcurse2000]

 

[Master O]

 

This one's a no-brainer to be nominated.

[No-Man Baugh]

+1 For @JollyMelt as an up and coming mapper, already breaking into both their mapping career & the new year with a 1-man-megawad and an extra episode to boot
 

 

 

[DRON12261]

Evil Returns by @Cartel. For me, this megawad was a revelation and probably the biggest and most interesting release so far in 2024. It's like what if Hell Revealed wasn't a boring and dull megawad with a very small pinch of Alien Vendetta, Sunder and Sunlust (at least I had such associations). That said, each map looks very distinctive and varied, in some ways the whole megawad is like a big non-stop ride that almost never gets boring. Very cool combat, where the levels have a pretty big killcounter, the arenas are very meaty, but most importantly not stuffy. The megawad finale is a total masterpiece. This is definitely one of my favorite works now.

 

Edited March 24, 2024 by DRON12261

[97th Century Fox]

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Another +1 to Evil Returns by @Cartel It's amazing to see a wad that covers this variety of Doom mapping so successfully

[Deadwing]

 

[LadyMistDragon]

+1 to Le Gars Qui a Fait Doom

 

 

[jmac]

Anathema 2 sometimes makes me feel like I've stepped into an inside-joke that I don't understand, but I've been having a great time playing through it. The OST is also fantastic.

 

 

[netcurse2000]

+1 Chex Quest: The Penultimate Breakfast

 

 

[Master O]

 

[MFG38]

Mentionating 0x0 by Danlex for the Machaward.

 

[SleepyVelvet]

I concur, 0 Shades of Graytall is a very good wad.

[Shepardus]

Because it hasn't been mentioned here yet.

[DRON12261]

This is just another masterpiece by @A2Rob.
 

mod edit: spoilered images because they take up a ton of screen space.

Spoiler

 

Edited April 2, 2024 by Maribo

[omnibot]

I don't know if this is award eligible due to the... remake(?) aspect of it, but it's actually brilliant and y'all should play it. Sunder but the size of Haste. Now, when do we get the Micro Sunder Community Project? 

 

 

[CacoKnight]

Can we mention soundtracks?

 

 

[Not Jabba]

9 hours ago, CacoKnight said:

Can we mention soundtracks?

Yep, there's an award for that!

[LadyMistDragon]

A mentionation for thelokk's Thrice Doomed(+1), an Ultimate doom megawad admirable for its consistent use of particular vanilla textures in each map and featuring some combat beats that at time exceed the difficulty of classics like Return to Hadron. Although I think Low on Ice is more likely to get a nod but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

Edited April 6, 2024 by LadyMistDragon

[taufan99]

Once again I'd like to nominate @jval for at least a mentionation. Making source ports/engine recreations of lesser-known games remotely based on the id Tech 1 (or even not related at all) from his own DelphiDoom source port should be nothing short of an appreciable effort.

 

Also, @hfc2x et al.'s Doom: Evil Unleashed and @Bitbotherer et al.'s Doom: Slayer Edition for Atari Jaguar for at least a Mordeth Awards mentionation. Hope they both get released this year as well.

On 1/6/2024 at 1:30 AM, styd051 said:

+1 Beta64 Remastered  by @Antnee and @styd051 (mod for DOOM 64)

 

+1 Doom 64 Reloaded Remastered by @AtomicFrog (mod for DOOM 64)

 

+1 DOOM 64 Absolution TC Remastered by @Kaiser and @styd051 (mod for DOOM 64)

Be careful so as not to include mods featuring yourself as a contributor (people who send suggestions must not send their own mod(s) for a Cacoward nomination). I know you and I all want more D64 stuff in Cacowards, but I'd also like to kindly remind you.

 

Also, Reloaded has been featured back in the 2023 Cacowards.

[Cutman 999]

On 3/31/2024 at 12:11 AM, jmac said:

Anathema 2 sometimes makes me feel like I've stepped into an inside-joke 

 

 

Because it actually is lmao

[DeafPixel]

A lot of good reccomendations in this thread, id like to add Doom 2 In City Only.

One of the best community projects in recent memory, covers a wide range of gameplay styles and themes, and manages to give each mapper time to spotlight their own unique personalities. Almost every level is visually interesting in some way, and feels distinct from one another despite sharing the common "City" theme. You could call this the "definitive City megawad" and you would have good reason to. Most maps in this set are distinct, even though I didn't love all of them. I think a community project with an unconventional premise and execution this solid is very rare.

I'd like to highlight BluePineapple72, taviow, Snaxalotl, eater29, and muumi for some inspring work. Some of their maps in particular would be contenders for Cacowards even if they were released stand-alone.

 

[LadyMistDragon]

Also, a resounding +1 to Body, Mind, Spirit, a wad with a messy yet oddly striking and consistent aesthetic and combat scenarios that (largely at least) tend to contain some quite strong framing and lead-up! This mostly assumes that it doesn't get continued, naturally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[apichatpong]

I've got to be consistent with my endless last post on this map's thread so, with "Le gars qui a fait Doom"*, Excavation --- this "jumble" map limited to doom II textures, with a minimalist midi, great lightning, classic (a bit 2000's) vibes, great implementation (this go from easy (ITYTD) to very hard (UV)), tremendous adventure and narration, nice non-linearity etc etc --- is the wad I liked the most this year (to date), and an approachable (=easier) terrestrial, rampant and aquatic variation (maybe done without knowing it) on the Mucus Flow's spirit !

 

 

*and I gotta say "Body Mind Spirit" quoted by LadyMistDragon is also something but, for my concern, with a "shortest impact"(0x0 is great, it's instant WOW, but also "shortest impact"),

Edited April 7, 2024 by apichatpong

[Master O]

 

@Weird Sandwich

Edited April 12, 2024 by Master O

[Chris Hansen]

I think this very unique E1 replacement by @ivymagnapinna deserves some recognition and a nod from the higher powers here at DW. What you get is a text book example on how limited ressources is no hindrance for a daring and creative mind! It shows us that there's still tons of fun to be had with The Ultimate Doom's limited monster roster if you dare step outside the beaten path.

 

 

[97th Century Fox]

 

[elborbahquarama]

i wish to support phobochromaphobia as well, it's a pretty unique wad with a bunch of interesting ideas, i think it would deserve to be written about 

 

[danidf96]

I gotta give a mention to this great episode by @Arsinikk, just the presentation of the thread is telling of the quality in here.

 

[97th Century Fox]