"
Is it that time already?"
Of course it is! (Actually, I'm a bit late, and I'm thankful that NiroZ prodded me to get this started. Who says the Bureaucracy doesn't have a purpose?) It's time to dust off the ol' top hat and suit (Or dresses and white satin gloves for all the ladies out there) and recognize all of the wonderful contributions that many of the forum members have produced in the last year.
I will admit I've cheated a bit and essentially copied last year's post and edited as needed. Only one additional category has been added this year, and I felt that the copy-paste functions would work better than my own memory.
And, as usual, I also want to emphasize that this award show isn't about popularity or the awards, it's about acknowledging all the people who keep this community alive and to bring awareness to all of the amazing creations that are out there. Just because your hold doesn't win an award or get nominated, it doesn't mean that no one enjoyed it. As far as I'm concerned, if only one person enjoyed your hold, than all of the hassle that you went through was justified and well worth it. Be proud of your creations! Share them with the world!
For anyone interested, a brief history of the Deadlies are available on the
website. Now then, let's move onto the aspects of this show, shall we?
The Main Section:
Of course, in order to have an award show, we need to get some nominees. In a day or two, I'll be creating a separate submission topic allowing people to make their nominations. They will be accepted until
Local Time:11-14-2007 at 11:59 PM. You are able to edit/delete/modify your submissions until that date, but all entries created or edited after that date will not be accepted. C'mon, you'll have a little under a month! You should be able to make up your mind before then! Keep in mind that both 2.0 + 3.0 holds qualify for all of the following categories unless otherwise noted.
Categories open for nomination this year (Note: Published holds constitute any hold published to the Holds board from October 11th, 2006 to October 13th, 2007):
1. Most Promising Hold
This category is open to any hold made in any version that has been in a
public beta test for at maximum of two hundred (200) days. You are looking for a hold that, while still a work in progress, shows promise in puzzle design, storyline, concept, and/or aesthetic design. I'm leaving private tests out of this at the moment, but I'm willing to negotiate a change in that rule.
2. Technical Design Excellence for Scripting
This category is open to any published hold that exhibits both innovative and unexpected uses for scripting, whether they affect the storyline or actual game play. A hold like this doesn't just use previous scripting techniques, it
creates them.
3. Technical Design Excellence for Layout and Aesthetics
This category is open to any published hold that is both visually appealing and/or uses a clever and unexpected layout. A hold like this would have a very accessible layout, and would look visually pleasing, possibly in an attempt to create a distinct environment outside of the typical dungeon. Custom floor designs in a hold fall under this category.
4. Technical Design Excellence for Concept
This category is open to any hold that uses DROD's engine in ways never imagined before. This can be done via interesting puzzles, or an interesting way to tie in normal puzzles. Holds that are nominated for this category are the only kind out there like it.
5. Creative Design for Storyline Excellence
This category is open to any published hold that shows an excellent and engrossing storyline through detailed character development, careful planning of an in-depth plot, and an interesting style. These holds are the ones that give you incentive to solve the current room just to find out what will happen next.
6. Creative Design for Difficulty
This category is open to any published hold that manages to create puzzles that are difficult and require new ways of thinking without being tedious. These holds push your mental limit to the edge, while still managing to maintain an element of fun.
7. Creative Design for Entertainment
This category is open to any published hold that you feel was the most fun to play. A hold eligible for this category would be of medium to low difficulty range, and while it wasn't overly difficult, was entertaining enough to make you want to complete it.
8. Graphics Design Excellence for a Modification
This category is open to any modification made for any version of DROD that looks the most professional and the most usable. This can be in the form of either clock, generaltiles, or styletiles available freely on the forum. Any custom floors included in a hold are to be nominated for the fourth category.
9. Best Actor/Actress in a Leading Role
The category is open to any voice acting in any hold that sounds the most professional and entertaining. When nominating an actor or actress, please nominate both the hold, and the character that the person played.
10. Best DROD 2.0 Engine Hold
This category is open to any hold released in the last year that was created in the DROD 2.0 engine. This hold should be one that makes good use out of all of the elements in the engine
11. Novice Architect Excellence
This category is open to any architect who's first
publicly released hold, either still in progress
or released in the last year, showed promise in design of puzzles and other architectural skills. When nominating an architect for this award, include the hold's name as well.
12. Lifetime Architectural Achievement Award
This category is in special recognition of architects who have dedicated years to this game. Specific criteria will be released below.
13. Hold of the Year
This category is open to any published hold that combines both difficulty, creativity of puzzles, professionalism, concept, entertainment, and story into a hold that you feel shows exactly the kind of quality we should expect from holds. This hold is the best that we have seen in the past year, and would be the one hold that you would want to show future generations to show how talented builders from this time period can be.
The Lifetime Architectural Achievement Award
This one's going to be handled a bit differently. I had to bump the requirements up a bit so that the emphasis on "
Lifetime"
was kept. So, when nominating a person for this hold, keep in mind all of these points:
1) The author's first hold must have been published before October 15th, 2005. In other words, they've been around for at least two years and have built up a reputation.
2) This author must have created and published at least two holds, both of which have been rated higher than 7.
3) The author must be in good standing with the community.
A quick note: Henri (AKA Doom) is not eligible for this award.
The Pre-Show Festivities
Feel free to openly discuss what holds you think were good this year. Don't necessarily suggest holds/people for specific category's (Such as saying "
Man, Patrick Fisher totally deserves to win the super-colossal-extraordinarily-superb forum member award!"
), but instead suggest hold/people who you've liked (Such as "
I really enjoyed playing Delver's Demise. That hold was challenging while still keeping my interest for more than thirty seconds"
). I think that if people suggest holds, then some of the better yet forgotten over time holds will be brought back up to the surface again.
Other than that, start reviewing all the holds from the past year, and start nominating!
-Patrick Fisher
____________________________
--That guy with a million different aliases since he doesn't like this name anymore.
Dammit. My most recent hold missed the cutoff date by a mere three days!
