Best WADs to have never won a Cacoward

[Lippeth]

Back to Saturn X has absolutely wowed me like no other wad I've ever seen. It being for Vanilla makes it even more impressive. The first thing that got me was being able to see under the bridge on the first map. Either way, the gameplay is incredibly versatile with equal amounts of wide and narrow spaces to fight in and constantly has me switching weapons to fight an array of superbly placed enemies in slick and beautifully designed environments. The music is also some of the best I've ever heard, is almost too serene for a game like DOOM, but has a certain magical quality that I wouldn't change at all. But with only 23 levels I guess BTSX isn't even done so I've read, although I can't find much information about it. Back to Saturn X is by far the most impressive wad I've played to date, with DTWID and the Lost Episodes being a close second.

[Tarnsman]

BTSX E1 was released the day the 2012 Cacowards were supposed to be out. That technically makes it a 2013 release.

[Lippeth]

Oh I see. I'm always a day late and a dollar short for everything.

[Gez]

Dominic White said:

Now that the 2012 Cacowards are out, this thread needs an update to include the winners, plus the ones that didn't quite make the cut. Any chance savagegrant is still alive?

You can take a look at this mammoth of a wiki page, all the Cacoward winners and other recommended fan-favorites are there. There's also convenient info absent from savagegrant's list, such as number of maps and supported game modes.

[savagegrant]

Hey guys. I've been working on this list again. In the OP you will see that I've changed the formatting and have combined the Cacowards list with the members' recommendations list. Please let me know what you think of this new look and if you feel that adding more recommendations and recent Cacowards to the list is a worthwhile endeavour. :)

[ella guro]

i've said this multiple times, but - i think A.L.T. is easily one of the best Doom megawads out there, and it never won a Cacoward.

i guess the thing with it is it veers away from traditional Doom megawads and verges into "art game" territory in a lot of places. the maps are also not what is considered "conventionally attractive" for a Doom map in a lot of places. but saying either of those things is an easy way to ignore to how incredibly creative the design is in it.

[LVMinerva]

Mayhem Mansion should've got at least a runner-up award in 2013.

[Doomkid]

Since this thread has been bumped, I have to say that The Golden Souls was a huge project that is really fun and colorful, it's right up there with Pirate Doom and was pretty sadly neglected. I really enjoyed the platforming elements, the only other place I'd seen that is in those RJump wads, but this is miles ahead of those. Just a brilliant wad overall, I feel Batandy deserved more recognition than he got for that one.

There are plenty of others too, just can't think of them right now..