DICKIE02 (DICKIE02.WAD)

DICKIE02
by Richard Wiles

DICKIE02 is, unsurprisingly, the second map in Richard Wiles's DICKIE series, released as ten individual maps in 1998. While he parted with DICKIE01, the second in the series is the first he deemed satisfactory. It's a single map for vanilla Doom II, occupying the MAP02 slot. It basically takes off from the previous map, where you slew the demon responsible for a planet's invasion and must kill its cursed offspring afterward. Well, it's not explicitly mentioned in the .TXT, but that's the story going in to DICKIE02.

Wiles tackles a different theme with this release, split between granite rock and dark metal techbase. You start out in a cramped, dark cave before emerging into the base exterior, which has one of the map's most difficult fights, given how limited your arsenal is and how many monsters are just knocking around. You'll have to dodge hitscanners and explore the southern portion of the map to grab your primary weapons, most importantly the SSG, which makes disposing of some ambushes (like the hell knights in the trap prior to the key teleporter) much more palatable.

The map's northern section deposits you on to a granite outcropping adjacent to a blood-flooded metal structure. It's a nice chance to catch your breath after you knock down some of the multiple imps hanging around. The rest of the map isn't quite as challenging, but the outer area with the plasma rifle looks pretty sharp and the arachnotron annex to the north is a little tricky if you want to do it as fast as possible. I will say that some reckless play ended up with the plasma rifle guardian bumping me off a few times. I really should learn to be more careful.

I can see why Wiles favored DICKIE02 over his freshman outing. The map has a much more coherent texture scheme on top of better (if subtle) lighting and alignment. It may not have as many tricks as its predecessor, but cool little bits like the outer wall with the blood falls at the end help to give the level some great hooks and it's swimming in more exciting combat scenarios. It's cool to see such a difference in production between 01 and 02. If you want to play a cool Doom II map with some solid aesthetics and fights or just like Wiles's style, you should play DICKIE02.

This post is part of a series on
Richard Wiles's DICKIE series

DICKIE01	DICKIE02	DICKIE03	DICKIE04
DICKIE05	DICKIE06	DICKIE07	DICKIE08
	DICKIE09	DICKIE10