Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Codemasters have revealed some further information about the upcoming DiRT 4 game, looking in greater detail at the Landrush feature due to return to the series this June.
The details have been released as part of the first DiRT 4 Roadbook release, and they actually do a fairly good job of helping to alleviate some fans concerns about the potential for these features to be more focussed on the arcade side of racing than the simulation aspects that have gone down so well with DiRT Rally.
The new mode featured within the Roadbook is called Landrush, and makes a return to the series have sat out the most recent release. Planned to be "unlike anything you experienced in previous games" and to contain a serious focus on simulating the real off road track racing series so popular in North America.
DiRT 4 will contain three specific classes of car in Landrush mode: entry level RWD Larock 2XR Buggy which is a rear engine low power off road buggy intended as an entry level easy to learn, difficult to master machine similar to those seen on the Race of Champions in recent years.
Next up on the difficulty and performance scale is the Jackson Pro-Truck 2. This is the first of the Stadium Truck classes. As is the norm for these kinds of off road series, the Jackson Pro-Truck 2 is a RWD 700bhp beast that should provide an interesting driving experience when pitched against six other rivals on these short, tight racing circuits.
The final of the three Landrush classes is the top tier Jackson Pro-Truck 4. With 4WD and 900bhp and are based on their real-life counterpart. According to Codemasters "this car is the real deal when it comes to top-tier shortcourse racing – and as in real life, their power lends themselves to some utterly spectacular racing (and jumping!)".
As an additional bonus Codemasters have also made available the Speedcar Xtrem and Crosskart in Landrush mode, so players have the choice of five different types of machine to use on the interesting short track locations.
I'll had over to Codemasters themselves to explain more about the cars and series within DiRT 4:
"How do they handle?
For anyone concerned that this will be an ‘arcadey’ part of the game, then think again. The same authentic treatment we’ve given Rally and Rallycross has also been applied to Landrush, resulting in the most authentic representation of short course racing that we’ve ever done. We’ve paid real attention to the intricacies and nuances of the real life counterparts; the stance, the suspension travel, the way the wheels drop-out and compress, the way they absorb the huge bumps and jumps… right through to little slips and burbles you can hear between gear changes in their unique transmission systems. It’s this attention-to-detail that real makes the sport come alive beyond anything we did in our previous games.
If you’re playing with sim handling with all assists off, you will get the truest simulation of landrush racing. And if you’re playing with gamer handling, then our intuitive assists will help you control the car in the same way that it would with rally and rallycross. Our assists (for example the lift-off-throttle braking) are the same across each discipline, so your experience will be consistent across each part of the game.
The game features three fictional landrush circuits – Baja, California and Nevada. How did you go about creating these?
The first step was to do a lot of research on the existing landrush championships out there, to ensure that what we were building was going to be a realistic representation of the sport. Of course, we looked at corner-to-straights ratio, the length of the tracks – and importantly, we spent a lot of time researching track surfaces and track width to get it right. The great thing about the rally portions of DiRT Rally and DiRT 4 is that the track/stage widths are true to real life, and therefore the best and most authentic challenge to set a player. We wanted to ensure that this was the case throughout all of our disciplines.
We also noted the various characteristics of existing tracks used for shortcourse racing, and again made sure we were including everything true to real life. Berms, moguls, jumps, bigger jumps, step-ups and split routes are all part of landrush circuits, as they are in the real-life discipline. Even getting further into that we researched the height and length of various jumps, to make sure we were going to build something that was true to the existing circuits. It was crucial to us that if we were representing the vehicles as true to real-life as possible, we built jumps to a real-life specification too – meaning that vehicle and track would interact with each other in a very realistic and genuine way.
Then, from there, we set ourselves the challenge of building these fictional tracks from scratch, with all of that research and knowledge banked.
What is particularly great about these tracks, and what should a player look out for?
Each circuit was built with a slightly different difficulty specification, and because of this they all have their own personality and charm. And not only that, but each vehicle interacts with the track differently. In some vehicles, jumps on each circuit can be jumped… But that’s not the case for other vehicles, so you’re going to have to stay reactive and learn how to control each vehicle in each environment. Throw in multiple track configurations and seven other drivers into the mix, and you’re never going to be allowed to be complacent. As a player in an arena with so many moving parts, you should be looking out for everything.
Moving onto multiplayer for landrush – how does that work?
Well, they don’t call it landrush for nothing! Every race features the iconic 8-abreast Landrush start. The adrenaline of starting alongside seven unpredictable and competitive racers – is amazing. When we had our community event last November, we finished off a session with a couple of rounds of landrush, and there was all sorts of shouting and jeering going on!
There’s also a lot of strategy to a start like this, and it calls for quick decision-making too: if you get a good start and storm away, you have to make the call on how late to brake to hold your place. However, if you don’t get away well you have to work out how aggressive you want to be, or if you want to drop back a little in case carnage ensues ahead of you.
The features of the track also lend themselves to strategic racing. If you’re on a piece of track which has jumps and bumps either side, but is relatively flat in the middle, you have a couple of options; hang the opponent beside of you out to dry on the jumps, or put your foot down and let the suspension cope with the smaller undulations of the centre. However, the fastest route is most likely to be the narrowest in some situations, and also the most hotly contested space on the track – so the fastest way around the circuit may not involve using the fastest or the most direct route…
Is landrush a compulsory part of the career mode?
Nope – it’s not a compulsory part of the career in DiRT 4. However, if you want to 100% the game, you’ll need to get stuck into it.
Any finally, any tips for players who are new to this kind of racing?
Controlling these vehicles over the undulating terrain is difficult to master – but the best tip is to get the vehicles as square and as straight as you can over the jumps. And with RWD vehicles, it’s all about throttle control. Aside from those two gems, you’re on your own".
DiRT 4 is due for release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC June 2017.
If you want to keep abreast of the latest news and discussions with regards to DiRT 4 then check out the RaceDepartment DiRT 4 sub forum and join in with your fellow community members.
Looking forward to DiRT 4? Do you think the buggies and Trophy Trucks will be a worthwhile addition to the game? Would you like to see an officially licenced Stadium Super Truck game in future? Let us know in the comments section below!
