Cacowards Explained

The Cacowards
Awarded For:	Doom modifications of outstanding quality
Presenter:	doomworld.com

The Cacowards are an annual online awards ceremony which honors the year's most prominent "Doom WADs", video game modifications of the 1993 first-person shooter Doom. Such modifications may be single levels, level packs, or "total conversions" featuring gameplay that significantly diverges from traditional Doom. Although generally focusing on classic Doom games (Doom, Doom II and Doom 64), modifications for other Doom-engine based games such as Heretic, Hexen and Strife have also been featured. Since 2004, the Cacowards have been hosted at doomworld.com, a Doom fansite.

History

In 2003, Doomworld celebrated the 10th anniversary of Doom with "10 Years of Doom", a series of articles and reviews written by Mike "Cyb" Watson and Andrew "Linguica" Stine, discussing the history and legacy of the Doom modding community across the prior decade. The event was continued in 2004 as the Cacowards, with an emphasis on discussing the year's most notable contributions to the Doom modding community.^[1] The name of the Cacowards stems from Doom's "Cacodemon" monster, whose likeness is present in the award's design.

Categories

The primary category of the Cacowards is the Top Ten, which discusses ten of the most notable Doom WADs of the year.

• Multiplayer Awards: Awarded to exemplary multiplayer-oriented WADs.
• Gameplay Mod Awards: Awarded to high-quality mods which modify or transform Dooms base gameplay, such as by adding or altering weapons and enemies.
• Mockaward: Awarded to the "best comedy WAD of the year"; such WADs are often designed with humorous intent, with a diminished focus on gameplay balance and longevity. The Mockaward category was discontinued in 2017.^[2]
• Mordeth Award: Awarded to the year's released project with the longest development time. The category's name references Mordeth, a total conversion mod for Doom which has been in development since 1997.^[3]
• Worst WAD: Awarded to WADs of exceptionally low quality. The Worst WAD category was discontinued in 2011, following concerns that the category rewarded users for low-effort content.^[4]

Legacy

The Cacowards have been critically praised as a resource for high-quality Doom modifications. Commenting on the event, PC Gamer stated: "If you want a direct route to the best Doom maps and mods, the place to go is the Cacowards."^[5] Rock, Paper, Shotgun shared a similar sentiment, commenting that the Cacowards are "often a handy pointer towards good and fun new things."^[6] Numerous award recipients have received additional commendations by journalists covering the Cacowards, who often review highlights from the year's ceremony.^{[7] [8]}

See also

• Brutal Doom – 2011 Cacoward winner in the "Gameplay Mod Awards" category^[9]
• Sigil – 2019 Cacoward runner-up^[10]
• List of WADs – Examples of the most popular and historically significant WADs, many of which have won Cacowards
• Cyriak (Mouldy) – Winner of 2012 and 2014 Cacowards^{[11] [12] [13]}
• MyHouse.wad - Winner of a 2023 Cacoward^[14]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Doomworld -- The Cacowards. April 15, 2018. doomworld.com.
2. Web site: Doomworld -- The 2017 Cacowards - Other Awards. April 15, 2018. doomworld.com.
3. Web site: The Mordeth TC Site - Back In The Days. April 15, 2018. mordeth.doomworld.com.
4. Web site: Doomworld -- The 18th Annual Cacowards. April 15, 2018. doomworld.com.
5. Web site: Why I Love: Doom WADs. January 14, 2015. April 15, 2018. pcgamer.com.
6. Web site: Doom Over The World: The 2015 Cacowards. December 10, 2015. April 15, 2018. rockpapershotgun.com.
7. March 2016. 2015 Cacowards. PC Gamer UK. April 15, 2018. Internet Archive.
8. Web site: Celebrate 24 years of classic Doom modding and mapping with the annual Cacowards. December 10, 2017. April 15, 2018. pcgamesn.com.
9. Web site: Doomworld -- The 18th Annual Cacowards. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20111211085737/http://www.doomworld.com/18years/others.php . 2011-12-11 . 2020-12-27. Doomworld.
10. Web site: Cacowards - Runner-Up Spotlight. 2020-12-27. Doomworld. en-US.
11. Web site: Ryerson. Liz. 29 January 2018. The Doom Mod That Best Describes Our Uncanny Reality. 5 January 2020. Vice.
12. Web site: Doomworld -- The 19th Annual Cacowards. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130107021336/http://www.doomworld.com:80/19years/best3.php . 2013-01-07 . 2020-12-27. Doomworld.
13. Web site: Doomworld -- The 21st Annual Cacowards. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141225013423/http://www.doomworld.com:80/21years/best1.php . 2014-12-25 . 2020-12-27. Doomworld.
14. Web site: 2023 Cacowards . 2024-01-21 . Doomworld . en-US . 2024-01-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240120004757/https://www.doomworld.com/cacowards/2023/index/ . live .