Keen Awards 2024: Nominations

[Quillax]

Here it is! Nominate the people and stuff from 2024 that were really keen in your opinion! Unlike previous times, when Keen Awards started after its respective year ended, this Keen Awards will start very early and run almost year-round. This is so that people can nominate something as soon as it comes out rather than have to remember it by the time the event starts. Other than that, it works just like the previous nominations.

No deadline for nominations has been set, although it's likely going to be in early 2025, maybe somewhere from mid-January to mid-February.

Feel free to make any suggestions!

1: Programming

1.1: Best Vorticon Mod (incl. level packs)

1.2: Best Galaxy/Dreams Mod (ditto)

• Keen Dreams Gold Edition by szemi
• Revival of Bliss by Dave216

1.3: Best Fangame/Other Mod

• Commander Keen: Galaxy Reimagined by namida

1.4: Best Vorticon Level (from any 2024 Vorticon mod or level pack)

1.5: Best Galaxy/Dreams Level (from any 2024 Galaxy/Dreams mod or level pack)

• Cauliflower Quarter from Keen Dreams Gold Edition by szemi
• Turnip Trapway from Keen Dreams Gold Edition by szemi
• Rhubarb Rapids from Keen Dreams Gold Edition by szemi

1.6: Best Fangame/Other Mod Level (from any 2024 fangame or other mod)

1.7: Best Tool

• uGrab v.1.013 by K1n9_Duk3
• VorticonView v.1.6 and GalaxyView v.1.9 by K1n9_Duk3

2: Fan Art

2.1: Best Graphical Artwork (e.g. an individual piece of art or a series of comics)

• Fanart (Pajama Keen) by The Pixel Apothecary
• "Get Well" artwork for Emmxyzzy by The Pixel Apothecary
• Fanart (Commander Keen) by Narklos
• Revival of Bliss by Dave216

2.2: Best Narrative (fanfic, story of a fangame/mod/comic etc.)

• Revival of Bliss by Dave216

2.3: Best Music (e.g. an individual remix or the soundtrack of a work)

• Smooth Carrot Juice Smoothie Street by T-Squared from Keen Dreams Gold Edition (level 1)
• The Sly Bean Sprout by T-Squared from Keen Dreams Gold Edition (level 11)
• Oh My Little Grove by T-Squared and Dave216 from Keen Dreams Gold Edition (level 10)
• Hash It Out by T-Squared from Keen Dreams Gold Edition (level 16)
• Cool Cabbage Cakewalk by ZidaneA from Keen Dreams Gold Edition (level 6)
• Stamp Em' Down by XkyRauh from Keen Dreams Gold Edition (level 13)

2.4: Best Animation

2.5: Best Non-Computerized Art (pencil drawing, sculpture, cosplay etc.)

• Chester & The Bips by Ryan

2.6: Best Gameplay Video (speedruns, playthroughs etc.)

• Revival of Bliss playthrough by Shikadi-Netzwerk
• The Sunnylands playthrough by troublesomekeen

3: Web

3.1: Best Website

• KeenWiki by Malvineous
• PCKF Archive by Grandy02

3.2: Best Online Entertainment (e.g. games with online support and browser games)

3.3: Online Community Service Recognition (for the hard-working admins, moderators and website owners)

• Quillax
• Fleexy
• Grandy02
• Malvineous
• Nisaba

4: Miscellaneous

4.1: Keenest Person of the Year

• Nisaba
• Quillax
• dark
• K1n9_Duk3
• Syllypryde

4.2: Really Keen Stuff (something great that came out of the blue)

• Apple II port of Keen 1 proof of concept by deater
• Behind-the-scenes videos of porting Chocolate Keen to WebAssembly (video #1, #2) by James Mackenzie
• Foray in the Forest as a patch-based Keen 4 mod by K1n9_Duk3
• Minimum Winning Scores - Commander Keen - ADG Pro 30 by Pixelmusement

4.3: Most Promising Project

• Foray in the Forest v.1.1 by Nisaba
• Inside the Vorticon Hyve by Vortlike

[Mobiethian]

Once again, I am nominating 4.3: Most Promising Project Keen Dreams Gold Edition by szemi that's all I have for now, I will figure out more later.

[Dave216]

I'll publish my Revival of Bliss this year.

In case someone was to nominate me for the most promising project, just to save you the trouble of adding and then removing me afterwards, Quillax.

[szemi]

4.3: Most Promising Project: My project, Keen Dreams Gold Edition and Ceilick's Aliens and Their Just Desserts.

[Nisaba]

Nomination for 3.3: Quillax (KeenWiki) and Fleexy (pckf)

[szemi]

1.2:

Return to the Shadowlands by Ceilick
Operation Station Infiltration by Ceilick
Dave216's mods (involving the currently in-progress Revival Bliss mod)

1.7:

King_Duke's uGrab (latest version)

4.1:

Nisaba
Quillax

[Quillax]

The nominations list has been updated!

4.3: Most Promising Project: My project, Keen Dreams Gold Edition and Ceilick's Aliens and Their Just Desserts.

1.2:

Return to the Shadowlands by Ceilick
Operation Station Infiltration by Ceilick
Dave216's mods (involving the currently in-progress Revival Bliss mod)

In case you didn't know, Keen Awards 2024 is for anything from 2024, and only 2024. For 4.3, I left out Aliens and Their Just Desserts because the last sign of progress appears to be early 2023, unless Ceilick has been posting about it on Discord lately. If that's the case, could you please show me a message for proof? For 1.2, almost all of the mods you listed were released before 2024, so they don't count unless they get an update this year (preferably one that's more than just minor fixes of bugs and typos). Revival of Bliss hasn't been available to the public yet, so I don't think it should count for 1.2 until it comes out.

[szemi]

The nominations list has been updated!

4.3: Most Promising Project: My project, Keen Dreams Gold Edition and Ceilick's Aliens and Their Just Desserts.

1.2:

Return to the Shadowlands by Ceilick
Operation Station Infiltration by Ceilick
Dave216's mods (involving the currently in-progress Revival Bliss mod)

In case you didn't know, Keen Awards 2024 is for anything from 2024, and only 2024. For 4.3, I left out Aliens and Their Just Desserts because the last sign of progress appears to be early 2023, unless Ceilick has been posting about it on Discord lately. If that's the case, could you please show me a message for proof?

I hope that mod will have signs, too...

[Mobiethian]

1.2: Best Galaxy/Dreams Mod and 2.2: Best Narrative, I am nominating Revival of Bliss by Dave216 for both of those and will be doing others later on. So cool!

[Mobiethian]

I'm not sure which category it would go into, so I picked the best one I can see. I'd like to nominate namida's "Commander Keen: Galaxy Reimagined", if I may, for 1.3: Best Fangame/Other Mod. Topic: https://pckf.com/viewtopic.php?t=17015

[Quillax]

Since Roobar made a few nominations outside of this thread via a hashtag (#keenawards2024), I'll be listing them below:

2.1: Best Graphical Artwork

• Fanart (Pajama Keen) by The Pixel Apothecary
• "Get Well" artwork for Emmxyzzy by The Pixel Apothecary

4.2: Really Keen Stuff

• Apple II port of Keen 1 proof of concept by deater
• Behind-the-scenes videos of porting Chocolate Keen to WebAssembly (video #1, #2) by James Mackenzie

If I got the categories wrong, or you want a nomination to be applied for more than one category, then please let me know! As for why I didn't include your other nominations:

• eviltentacle's fanart is down, and the Wayback Machine doesn't have a copy of it. Maybe if someone saved it and re-posted it, then it could be nominated. EDIT: Roobar provided an alternate link.
• James Mackenzie's Keen port to WebAssembly was made back in 2019, and even won a category in Keen Awards 2019. The two videos you linked, however, are posted within this year so they could qualify for a nomination if you'd like. EDIT: Videos are nominated, under Really Keen Stuff.

Anyway, the list of nominations is fully up-to-date! I apologize for letting your nominations go unnoticed for quite a few months, Mobiethian! I moved Keen Dreams Gold Edition to Best Galaxy/Dreams Mod since it released and thus no longer counts for Most Promising Project (I can include the mod in my list of nominations).

I'll say, I'm a bit surprised that aren't many people making their nominations, especially when there was a lot of support for having the nomination process run year-round. I'm guessing that there's not much stuff to nominate for an award (it's been a bit of a quiet year so far), or maybe people were put off by the inactivity of this thread (for that I apologize again). Hopefully we'll start seeing some cool stuff that's nomination-worthy soon, considering that this year only has a few months left! As I hinted earlier, I plan on making my list at some point.

[Roobar]

Since Roobar made a few nominations outside of this thread via a hashtag (#keenawards2024), I'll be listing them below:

2.1: Best Graphical Artwork

• Fanart (Pajama Keen) by The Pixel Apothecary

4.2: Really Keen Stuff

• Apple II port of Keen 1 proof of concept by deater

If I got the categories wrong, or you want a nomination to be applied for more than one category, then please let me know! As for why I didn't include your other nominations:

• eviltentacle's fanart is down, and the Wayback Machine doesn't have a copy of it. Maybe if someone saved it and re-posted it, then it could be nominated.
• James Mackenzie's Keen port to WebAssembly was made back in 2019, and even won a category in Keen Awards 2019. The two videos you linked, however, are posted within this year so they could qualify for a nomination if you'd like.

Anyway, the list of nominations is fully up-to-date! I apologize for letting your nominations go unnoticed for quite a few months, Mobiethian! I moved Keen Dreams Gold Edition to Best Galaxy/Dreams Mod since it released and thus no longer counts for Most Promising Project (I can include the mod in my list of nominations).

I'll say, I'm a bit surprised that aren't many people making their nominations, especially when there was a lot of support for having the nomination process run year-round. I'm guessing that there's not much stuff to nominate for an award (it's been a bit of a quiet year so far), or maybe people were put off by the inactivity of this thread (for that I apologize again). Hopefully we'll start seeing some cool stuff that's nomination-worthy soon, considering that this year only has a few months left! As I hinted earlier, I plan on making my list at some point.

I think that's the missing art:
https://x.com/emmxyzzy/status/1775509775394210267

As for James Mackenzie's Keen port, you're right. It's from 2019. Maybe add the video on how it's ported to the neat Keen videos category.

[Quillax]

I think that's the missing art:
https://x.com/emmxyzzy/status/1775509775394210267

As for James Mackenzie's Keen port, you're right. It's from 2019. Maybe add the video on how it's ported to the neat Keen videos category.

Both of those things have been added to the list of nominations! I also updated the post listing your nominations.

I credited the artwork under The Pixel Apothecary, since he's the same person as eviltentacle, according to an itch.io page, and the former name is used for the other artwork nomination. As for the video on how James Mackenzie ported Chocolate Keen, I included that under Really Keen Stuff, along with the video on how to port it. Since the videos aren't much focused on gameplay, I figured they'd be more appropriate under the aforementioned category rather than Best Gameplay Video.

[Dave216]

1.5: Best Galaxy/Dreams Level (from any 2024 Galaxy/Dreams mod or level pack)
Cauliflower Quarter - Keen Dreams Gold by Szemigi
Turnip Trapway - Keen Dreams Gold Gold by Szemigi
Rhubarb Rapids - Keen Dreams Gold Gold by Szemigi

2.3: Best Music (e.g. an individual remix or the soundtrack of a work)
Smooth Carrot Juice Smoothie Street - T-SquaredProductions; Keen Dreams Gold(LVL 1)
The Sly Bean Sprout - T-SquaredProductions; Keen Dreams Gold(LVL 11)
Oh My Little Grove - T-SquaredProductions (I’ve composed it, but he made it sound great) ; Keen Dreams Gold(LVL 10)
Hash It Out - T-SquaredProductions; Keen Dreams Gold (LVL 16)
Cool Cabbage Cakewalk –ZidaneA; Keen Dreams Gold (LVL 6)
Stamp Em' Down - XkyRauh; Keen Dreams Gold (LVL 13)


2.6: Best Gameplay Video (speedruns, playthroughs etc.)
Shikadi-Netzwerk's Playthrough of Revival of Bliss

4.1: Keenest Person of the Year
dark - He opened interesting topics and generally seems to be very active here.
K1n9_Duk3 - Maybe another biased nomination since he helped me greatly with the Revival of Bliss update, but I always enjoy reading through his analysis and impressive understanding of Keen's code.

[Quillax]

My nominations:

1.2: Best Galaxy/Dreams Mod

• Keen Dreams Gold Edition by szemi

1.7: Best Tool

• VorticonView v.1.6 and GalaxyView v.1.9 by K1n9_Duk3

2.1: Best Graphical Artwork

• Fanart (Commander Keen) by Narklos
• Revival of Bliss by Dave216

2.5: Best Non-Computerized Art

• Chester & The Bips by Ryan

2.6: Best Gameplay Video

• The Sunnylands playthrough by troublesomekeen - Kinda biased here I suppose, but I had a lot of fun watching it! troublesomekeen's easygoing and enthusiastic attitude really goes well with the lax nature of The Sunnylands, I feel.

3.1: Best Website

• KeenWiki by Malvineous
• PCKF Archive by Grandy02

3.3: Online Community Service Recognition

• Grandy02 - He may not have done much this year, but in January he posted an update on PCKF Archive saying that he preserved the "old" folder of DOS Classics (which has many ancient Keen sites) and the Commander Keen Newsletter, both of which are no longer up in their original URLs. For preventing a significant chunk of Keen history from being lost, I think he deserves a nomination!
• Malvineous - He kept numerous spambots off of KeenWiki (there were at least 20 I swear!), gave me instructions on how to make the fangame pictorial list, gave Grandy02 access to all of archive.shikadi.net, and generally has been taking good care of KeenWiki.
• Nisaba - When she was active, she made sure KeenWiki's downloads were up-to-date, and she has done good work as a forum moderator, such as by editing Dropbox links to either make downloads easier or make images appear in the posts.

4.1: Keenest Person of the Year

• K1n9_Duk3 - I know Dave216 already nominated him, I just want to add that in addition to what he said, he bugfixed so many mods, both old and new, and provided some very valuable and detailed feedback, even offering a few patches to help fix bugs! The influence he's had on so many mods lately is incredible, he's like the next Levellass! It's no coincidence that the "K1n9" in his name sounds so close to Keen!
• Syllypryde - He's a very thorough player through many Keen mods, and has given feedback that is very helpful and detailed. He also responded to other people's feedback to offer his own point of view, making discussions feel keen! I also appreciate his work in filling out level stats and info for the level images in KeenWiki!

4.2: Really Keen Stuff

• Foray in the Forest as a patch-based Keen 4 mod by K1n9_Duk3
• Minimum Winning Scores - Commander Keen - ADG Pro 30 by Pixelmusement

4.3: Most Promising Project

• Foray in the Forest v.1.1 by Nisaba
• Inside the Vorticon Hyve by Vortlike