Running the 2014 Deadlies has certainly been a learning experience for me. I'd like to share with you some of the things I've learned.
1. Making custom monsters is hard.
That must be why so few people attempt it. RuAdam, however, makes it look easy by including multiple scripted monsters in his hold, Tower of Din. As such, his hold has been recognized by the community for its scripting excellence.
Congratulations to RuAdam, winner of this year's award for Technical Design Excellence in Scripting for Tower of Din!
2. Everything is better in miniature.
blorx1 obviously knew this already, and felt compelled to enlighten the rest of us. His hold, A World in Miniature, is a collection of tightly compacted puzzles which prove that bigger is not always better.
Congratulations to blorx1, winner of this year’s award for Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics for A World in Miniature!
3. Metapuzzles can be fun.
Every required room in Dischorran's Hypercube is trivial to solve. Solving them in the right order, though, that's tricky. What could have been an exercise in frustration proved to be an enjoyable diversion thanks to Dischorran’s architectural ability.
Congratulations to Dischorran, winner of this year’s award for Technical Design Excellence in Concept for Hypercube!
4. Cake is delicious.
Well, okay, everyone knows that, but who knew a hold about cake would be equally delicious? Kwerulous took all the ingredients necessary for a quality hold and mixed them up into a delightful confection.
Congratulations to Kwerulous, winner of this year's award for Creative Design Excellence in Storyline for Beethro and the Cake!
5. mxvladi is not a robot.
Contrary to popular belief, mxvladi is not some sort of DROD-solving machine, but is, in fact, a flesh and blood human being. In addition to being a dynamite optimizer, mxvladi is also a very talented architect, as demonstrated by his latest hold, The Pile of Puzzles.
Congratulations to mxvladi, winner of this year's award for Creative Design Excellence in Difficulty for The Pile Of Puzzles!
6. Cake is de- oh wait, I already did that one.
What more can I say about Beethro and the Cake?
Congratulations to Kwerulous, winner of this year's award for Creative Design Excellence in Entertainment for Beethro and the Cake!
7. Diamonds are a smitemaster’s best friend.
Even when not in doily form. bomber50 demonstrates that very effectively in his first hold, Diamond Dungeon, a multifaceted collection of puzzles in an aesthetically pleasing setting.
Congratulations to bomber50, winner of this year’s award for Most Promising DROD Hold for Diamond Dungeon! (Diamond Dungeon has since been released, so check it out!)
8. The future looks bright for DROD RPG.
At least as long as architects like komachi keep designing quality level sets like Great place. Now if only we could get a few more level sets out of Architecture and onto the Holds board.
Congratulations to komachi, winner of this year’s award for Most promising DROD RPG Level Set for Great place!
9. A hold doesn't have to brain-breakingly difficult to be fun.
Case in point: Beethro and the Cake by Kwerulous, winner of no less than three awards this year!
Congratulations to Kwerulous, winner of this year's award for Hold of the Year for Beethro and the Cake!
10. DROD RPG is not dead.
After a multi-year drought, 2013 saw the release of not one, but three new DROD RPG level sets. The best of these, by an overwhelming margin is clearly The Forgotten Castle by Suwako.
Congratulations to Suwako, winner of this year's award for Level Set of the Year for The Forgotten Castle!
11. Past success is often an indicator of future success.
Last year’s winner for Most Promising DROD Hold, The Intelligence by Lucky Luc continues to enthrall the DROD community who are themselves a pretty intelligent bunch.
Congratulations to Lucky Luc, winner of this year’s Novice Architect Award for The Intelligence!
12. Sometimes just being eligible for something is an accomplishment.
It feels wrong to hand an award to someone just because no one else qualified. And yet, the eligibility requirements for the Erik Hermansen award are so high that few will ever meet them. This award requires a long term commitment to architectural excellence, a commitment that mxvladi has certainly demonstrated through the creation of no less than fourteen holds, including this year's winner for Creative Design Excellence in Difficulty, The Pile of Puzzles. I think no one would question that mxvladi's accomplishments are deserving of recognition, so it is fitting to award him this year's Erik Hermansen Award for Lifetime Architectural Achievement.
Congratulations to mxvladi! You can find all of his holds
here.
Congratulations to all the winners! I can't offer much in the way of prizes, but any of the winners who reply to this thread will receive five shiny new rank points.
[Last edited by RabidChild at 07-26-2014 05:32 AM]