Keen Awards 2022: Nominations

[Grandy02]

Sorry for the rather late response, I added most of the nominations to the first post. Nominations will end on February 19. The polls I'll create afterwards will be active until Keen Day.

1.1: Best Vorticon Mod
The only other Vorticon mods made this year are Commander Cool 1 and Bonus Episode: Fathership's Revenge, and those are just updated versions. Would those be eligible for nomination?

I'll look into those soon, and will also answer other open questions in the recent posts.

I can think of a few reasons why it would be helpful to at least have a dedicated general discussion thread for the Keen Awards outside of any specific yearly topic, for instance to preemptively discuss things like what categories should be covered, or to help keep track of one's nominations throughout the year instead of trying to go back and think of everything that was interesting from a whole year ago.

I promise that the next nominations thread will already be created in early April. Combined with a permanent subforum, that should work well.

By the way, it's likely that there will be yet another awesome set of trophies.

[TheBigV]

I edited my post to add another nomination, but I did that before there were any posts after it so it wasn't marked as edited. Can you add my extra nomination?

[proYorp]

oh gosh it's a deadline

How does anyone feel about nominating KeenWiki? I don't want to knock down all of those who made valuable contributions to that site last year, but it's already won this award in the last two years back-to-back...

True, KeenWiki is OP. Maybe it could be its own category for contributions etc. Or maybe that could also fit into Online Community Service Recognition. That itself is a newer category revision I guess though.

4.1: Keenest Person of the Year

• proYorp (for being a friendly guy always willing to help with Keen mod issues and showing great interest in the Keen community and its past, even going as far as to solve a community riddle and backing up the entire Wayback Machine archive of ezboard PCKF)

Ah, the solving the mod mystery was a group effort for sure. Everyone else came up with the puzzle pieces, I just did the gruntwork of putting it together. It was basically solved by Ceilick and KeenRush.

Thanks for the nominations!



My nomination post is coming along nicely, it should be ready within a few days.

[Grandy02]

1.1: Best Vorticon Mod
The only other Vorticon mods made this year are Commander Cool 1 and Bonus Episode: Fathership's Revenge, and those are just updated versions. Would those be eligible for nomination?

That differences don't appear to be that big, but the makers tweaked various parts of their mods, it goes beyond typo and graphic fixes. Who could give a definite answer, anyway, so I added them.

2.5: Best Non-Computerized Art
Wouldn't Soul Monster's art be classified as non-computerized art too? From what I can tell, it looks like it was made with markers. I might be wrong, though.

Yeah, it's graphical artwork, and it was also created without computers. So I added it to the latter category in my nominations.

3.1: Best Website
How does anyone feel about nominating KeenWiki? I don't want to knock down all of those who made valuable contributions to that site last year, but it's already won this award in the last two years back-to-back...

I'd like to discuss this with the community for the next round, e.g. whether an entry would take a "break" after multiple consecutive wins in the same category. But not this time, so if you want to nominate KeenWiki, go for it.

3.2: Best Online Entertainment
I can't really think of anything that fits those examples. I'm not exactly sure what would be allowed based on the title. Do comics count? What about videos?

The category is intended for interactive online content (maybe the name, used since 2002, isn't the best, since non-interactive content can also be entertainment). So a comic on the Web might count if you can influence the story by choosing what the protagonist should do, for example.

By the way, Grandy02, I have a question about 3.4: Online Community Service Recognition, which is kinda confusing me. [...]

The description from 2002 was "For those hardworking moderators, website-owners, etc etc etc", and for 2003 Awards it was "Who helps the most/does the most work around here?" I think your posts describes it well, though I assume that even someone not officially being admin/mod/webmaster could be eligible. By the way, thanks for nominating me.

I edited my post to add another nomination, but I did that before there were any posts after it so it wasn't marked as edited. Can you add my extra nomination?

Thanks for the hint, it's done.

[proYorp]

Ok I think it's ready! My nominations:



Best Vorticon Mod
Not too much on the Vorticons mod front this year, however I noticed that Venture to Vorti Peaks by Excuses received a quiet update on their github on January 1 2022, which is the version that I played. It's a very nice lighthearted little adventure and it's the only new Vorticons mod I managed to play in 2022, so that must mean something special.



Best Galaxy/Dreams Mod
There were a surprising number of new Galaxy mod productions in the last year, but again I only managed to find time to play just one and the one I chose was Back to Fribbulus Xax! by Alopex. Has personality, shows potential, need to get myself organized enough to write a review or something.



Best Graphical Artwork
For artwork I nominate our recent contributor Rolly AKA rollytheborb. There was a bit of art posted to the Fan-Art thread here, but there was also a lot more stuff posted in the PCKF Discord. However I don't know how I would ever go through and find all of them or even a few to highlight because Discord is so slow to scroll back in.



Best Gameplay Video
I know troublesomekeen AKA Breakdown was nominated in general, but if I had to pick a single series I would choose the one on Back to Fribbulus Xax. I love the humor and wholesome vibes. (It's also the only one I've been watching because avoiding spoilers. )

Breakdown plays Back to Fribbulus Xax!



Online Community Service Recognition
I nominate Fleexy for excellence in responsible, respectful, and effective administratorship. While there hasn't been anything demanding strong intervention this year that I know of, I realized just how much I truly appreciate his leadership. The time I spent digging through old forum content I noticed, once again, how chaotic things used to be. In the archives from 20 years ago, admins would use their power to bully users which resulted in harm to the forum (I'll write more on that when I get a round tuit); in the forum threads from 10 years ago it's apparent that a simultaneous self-glorification of authority and neglecting to address actual misconduct of users created an environment of veritable anarchy which damaged the community. Someone of my personality wouldn't last two minutes in that environment and I wouldn't be able to make the kind of positive contributions that I aim to.

Fleexy has demonstrated both firm decision and courtesy in treating even the users that misbehave. Such actions send a clear message that bullying and fighting have no place here, and all who are willing to abide in respect for others are welcome and able to make an impact. I think it's very important to be aware of the effects that the leadership has on the community. Without this kind of stability, which may at times be invisible, this forum would not be enabled to be the close-knit community that it wants to be. Personally I don't think many would be able to be particularly Keen at all. For this reason, I also nominate Fleexy for Keenest Person. Or Fleex, whichever he goes by nowadays; I'm a little confused about that lol.



Really Keen Stuff
I feel so lame doing a self-nomination but like I can't totally take credit for this either. I just kinda ran into this discovery, and I didn't even fully realize on my own what was happening, and I also wasn't technically the first to find this. However, I was very excited to have the chance to document this phenomenon, and put a lot of effort into writing out this guide. That's what I can lay claim to, but I also want to nominate this because it just felt Really Keen to learn this trick after so long!

Explanation of How to Cause the Foreground Rendering Glitch by proYorp

Also Really Keen: ezboard releases the Wayback Machine archives from their frigid claws



Most Promising Project
This was nominated in the 2021 Awards even though the status update was publicly announced in 2022, but just so everyone remembers, Keen -3 by cyber zero and brother is still being worked on!

[Grandy02]

Thanks, people, everything should be in the list now. I also nominated a few more things. I'll still accept nominations until the moment I create the first poll.

I'd greatly appreciate if someone:
...uploaded a map of Magnetic Field Manipulator (Operation Station Infiltration) to KeenWiki. (EDIT: Uploaded one myself.)
...provided direct links to the musical pieces Cylindrical Rhombus, Robotic Mines and Too Silent, if possible.

EDIT: Didn't get around to it on Sunday and Monday, sorry, will try again on Tuesday.

[Quillax]

Hey Grandy02, I just want to let you know that I added a few nominations to my post, if it's not too late. They're for categories 1.6 and 2.4; I tried looking up some other animations for the latter, but I couldn't find anything good enough, unfortunately. I also changed the URL for the Commander Keen Returns gameplay video.

I'd like point out that Soul Monster added a few nominations for 1.5 in his post. Plus, the link to Vorti Peaks in your original post currently takes me to the forum discussion of Bonus Episode: Fathership's Revenge v1.1.

By the way, it's likely that there will be yet another awesome set of trophies.

Oh my, this is simply EXCITEMENT! Can't wait!

The category is intended for interactive online content (maybe the name, used since 2002, isn't the best, since non-interactive content can also be entertainment). So a comic on the Web might count if you can influence the story by choosing what the protagonist should do, for example.

I see the point, but nowadays it seems that online games are pretty rare (not to mention they could overlap with Best Fangame/Other Mod). Perhaps in future Keen Awards ceremonies, this category could be changed to include non-interactive online entertainment? Like, I've seen a couple comics that, while the graphical artwork is simple and there isn't much of a narrative, the writing and joke(s) are hilarious (example #1, #2)! (Or maybe we should rename 2.2 to "Best Narrative/Writing"?)

On the other hand, however, including non-interactive online entertainment might make it too broad of a category. It would overlap with so many categories in section 2 and perhaps even Best Website. Maybe this category is just obsolete at this point?

The description from 2002 was "For those hardworking moderators, website-owners, etc etc etc", and for 2003 Awards it was "Who helps the most/does the most work around here?" I think your posts describes it well, though I assume that even someone not officially being admin/mod/webmaster could be eligible. By the way, thanks for nominating me.

Well, I guess I kinda get it. I do see your point about someone not needing to be officially admin/mod/webmaster to be eligible. Nisaba has contributed greatly to the design of both this forum and the K:M forum, so she deserves the nomination, even if she doesn't have any specialized powers in these forums. And you're welcome!

Online Community Service Recognition
I nominate Fleexy for excellence in responsible, respectful, and effective administratorship. While there hasn't been anything demanding strong intervention this year that I know of, I realized just how much I truly appreciate his leadership. The time I spent digging through old forum content I noticed, once again, how chaotic things used to be. In the archives from 20 years ago, admins would use their power to bully users which resulted in harm to the forum (I'll write more on that when I get a round tuit); in the forum threads from 10 years ago it's apparent that a simultaneous self-glorification of authority and neglecting to address actual misconduct of users created an environment of veritable anarchy which damaged the community. Someone of my personality wouldn't last two minutes in that environment and I wouldn't be able to make the kind of positive contributions that I aim to.

Fleexy has demonstrated both firm decision and courtesy in treating even the users that misbehave. Such actions send a clear message that bullying and fighting have no place here, and all who are willing to abide in respect for others are welcome and able to make an impact. I think it's very important to be aware of the effects that the leadership has on the community. Without this kind of stability, which may at times be invisible, this forum would not be enabled to be the close-knit community that it wants to be. Personally I don't think many would be able to be particularly Keen at all. For this reason, I also nominate Fleexy for Keenest Person. Or Fleex, whichever he goes by nowadays; I'm a little confused about that lol.

These are all very excellent points you brought up, proYorp! Although at times it might not seem like much in the surface (which, I'll admit, makes nominating someone for 3.3 a bit tough), Fleexy really has a done a lot to keep the community in good shape! Just think, he:

• Hosts and maintains the Keen forum domains (which is a very big deal, otherwise we wouldn't be talking here!)
• Helps with any forum issues new users may have
• Integrated Nisaba's neat designs and images to make these forums look good
• Sets up the Keen Awards subforum to keep the polls organized

Fleexy is literally the nuts and bolts of our Keen community! He gives us the place to discuss and share projects about our favorite space commander, makes sure it's a pleasant, smooth experience for everyone, and is willing to do the admin duties necessary to improve our discussions and community events! I've visited many other forums and online communities (at least one of which I'm a member of), and believe me, so many of their staff members could really learn a few things from Fleexy!

Hail to the Fleex (king), baby!

This absolutely justifies my Keenest Person of the Year nomination of you, proYorp! I'm amazed at how keen you can really get! Are you sure your username isn't proKeen? (By the way, how's the Keen 4 demake going? I was so pleasantly shocked to see that you were still working on it a year ago!)

----------------------------------

By the way, Grandy02, weren't there plans for a 2010s Keen Awards? I remember you talking about that back in -- I wanna say -- Keen Awards 2019. Did you either forget about it or changed your mind? An alternative would be to make a one-time category for Keen works made from 2005-2018, kinda like the Ancient Works (pre-2002) category in Keen Awards 2003. Either way, I think it'd be nice to give such special attention to those excellent works that never got the chance to be nominated for Keen Awards. Plus, I really, REALLY wonder who would win in a poll/fight: Battle of the Brains or Atroxian Realm?

Also, is there a Keen Awards 2021 - Poll Results thread? I can't find it...

[Grandy02]

Hey Grandy02, I just want to let you know that I added a few nominations to my post, if it's not too late.

Added them, thanks. Unfortunately, I've still not been able to finish this, so I extend the nominations for another day. Hopefully it will be done before the weekend. Then I'll also respond to the other parts of your post.

If you have the time, it would be nice if you could upload maps of the two levels from the Keen 2000 remake.

[Fleexy]

Thanks to proYorp and Quillax for the extremely kind words. I must say that lots of people deserve credit for making the community so nice, especially this last year. I'm grateful to everyone for their kind participation, and to the other forum staff (including multiple who work behind the scenes without posting much!) for their moderation efforts. In particular, I'd like to nominate XkyRauh for his community service keeping Keen Modding clean. There have definitely been spans of time where he was singlehandedly administering K:M due to my being MIA. Thanks, Xky!

And yeah, in retrospect the Fleexy/Fleex inconsistency is pretty confusing. I've been calling myself Fleex for a while, but changing my own username at this point would probably cause more chaos. Either name is perfectly fine.

[Grandy02]

Thank you all for your interest! Finally, the polls are here, hope I didn't oversee anything. Fleexy will move them to a dedicated subforum again. In any way, happy voting!

1.1: Best Vorticon Mod
1.2: Best Galaxy Mod
1.3: Best Fangame
1.5: Best Galaxy Level
1.6: Best Fangame Level
1.7: Best Tool

2.1: Best Graphical Artwork
2.2: Best Narrative
2.3: Best Music
2.5: Best Non-Computerized art
2.6: Best Gameplay Video

3.1: Best Website
3.3: Online Community Service Recognition

4.1: Keenest Person of the Year
4.2: Really Keen Stuff
4.3: Most Promising Project

@Quillax: I'll answer your other questions soon.

[Quillax]

Hey, looks like this topic got moved to a new dedicated subforum for Keen Awards discussions! For some reason, though, as I'm typing this, I see something about "Post icon" above the subject and message fields. I've got a feeling it's not supposed to be there, as I don't get it when replying to threads in other subforums.

Looks like there's a lot of great things to choose from! Man, voting will be pretty tough, especially as someone who hasn't even played any of the new mods. I wonder if I even have the time to go through them all...

If you have the time, it would be nice if you could upload maps of the two levels from the Keen 2000 remake.

Well, in case you need to know, I just started working on a map for Freezilic Caves! It might take a while, though, since I'm stitching together screenshots (much like how the old maps for the original Keens were made). It's pretty much the best way when there isn't a map viewer/exporter for Clickteam Fusion 2.5 games nor could you open the game with a Clickteam program, like the original Keen 2000. (Even then, however, I still had to do screenshots for Keen 2000's level maps since The Games Factory doesn't display the colors correctly.)

EDIT: I got the map made and uploaded! Now Antarktius has to be taken care of, which might be a bit tough since it has a parallax-scrolling background.

[Fleexy]

For some reason, though, as I'm typing this, I see something about "Post icon" above the subject and message fields. I've got a feeling it's not supposed to be there, as I don't get it when replying to threads in other subforums.

Oops, yes, I missed a spot when creating the subforum. Fixed now, thank you!

[Quillax]

Ah, you're welcome! Now it's all nice and consistent!

By the way, Grandy02, I uploaded the level map for Antarktius last night. It's only the second part, but the first part should be easy since that's only one screen. I figured that for KeenWiki we'll upload them as separate maps, while for this Keen Awards we'll link to both of them since the game itself seems to treat both parts as the same level in some ways (e.g. no entrance message for the second part, password takes you to the first part even though the teleporter is in the second). Believe it or not, that map took me hours to make! I was going to put in the blue-and-purple background, but after a while it seemed way too complicated and tedious to assemble, thanks to the parallax scrolling. Erasing the background from all the screenshots for the map was a lot of work, anyway. (I'd probably remove the background for the map of the first part too, at least for consistency.)

[proYorp]

This absolutely justifies my Keenest Person of the Year nomination of you, proYorp! I'm amazed at how keen you can really get! Are you sure your username isn't proKeen? (By the way, how's the Keen 4 demake going? I was so pleasantly shocked to see that you were still working on it a year ago!)

Ah-- I wasn't trying to argue against the nomination! No need for justification! This is a bit much. Thank you though.

Keen 4 Retro hasn't been touched in... over a year... It's just life circumstances haven't allowed for work on that specific project, sorry. Doesn't mean I haven't been poking around at Keen 2 though.

"proKeen" ain't bad but I need my symmetry.

Plus, I really, REALLY wonder who would win in a poll/fight: Battle of the Brains or Atroxian Realm?

^

Up next: 2020s Keen Awards featuring Foray in the Forest vs. ???????



I have some opinions on rules of fairness but I think I'll write that part later since this discussion is moving pretty fast.

Also Soul Monster I almost missed the nomination you wrote but thank you very much. It's so nice to know my efforts are recognized. Gosh the nomination "speeches" are about as good as an award themselves.

Wow the voting is going fast this year. Some of the categories already have about the same amount of votes as they did at the end of last time.

[Grandy02]

I see the point, but nowadays it seems that online games are pretty rare (not to mention they could overlap with Best Fangame/Other Mod). Perhaps in future Keen Awards ceremonies, this category could be changed to include non-interactive online entertainment?
[...]
On the other hand, however, including non-interactive online entertainment might make it too broad of a category. It would overlap with so many categories in section 2 and perhaps even Best Website. Maybe this category is just obsolete at this point?

I might change it to "Best Online Interactivity" next time so that it's clearer. From time to time, not every year, there should be Keen stuff that fits into this category.

By the way, Grandy02, weren't there plans for a 2010s Keen Awards? I remember you talking about that back in -- I wanna say -- Keen Awards 2019. Did you either forget about it or changed your mind?

Oh yeah, I remember. Always wanted to do that, somehow never did. With the permanent forum, it should be easier to organise two nomination threads in parallel, so I'll finally launch it this year. The Battle of the Galaxy Mods shall happen.

Also, is there a Keen Awards 2021 - Poll Results thread? I can't find it...

Another omission. However, I asked Fleexy to move the old polls to the subforum, so that they can be accessed permanently.

By the way, Grandy02, I uploaded the level map for Antarktius last night. [...] Believe it or not, that map took me hours to make! I was going to put in the blue-and-purple background, but after a while it seemed way too complicated and tedious to assemble, thanks to the parallax scrolling. Erasing the background from all the screenshots for the map was a lot of work, anyway. (I'd probably remove the background for the map of the first part too, at least for consistency.)

Oh, didn't expect that it would take so long, I actually thought you would use a Clickteam tool to extract maps. Thank you for taking the time and effort!