DiRT Rally 2.0 DiRT 2.0: New Update Released - VR Support Heavily Featured

[Paul Jeffrey]

In the last 24 hours a new update for DiRT 2.0 has released - containing plenty of improvements and changes to the rapidly improving rally title.

Developed by Codemasters as a sequel to the 2015's popular DiRT Rally game, DiRT Rally 2.0 has been met with something of a mixed reaction from the sim racing community since it dropped back on February 26th - something the British development team have been at pains to address in recent months by way of a steady stream of post release updates for the title.

This month, build 1.8 has been deployed across the various platforms hosting the game, and with it comes a wide range of improvements and fixes - including a nice look at how VR is supported within the game.

DiRT 2.0 Update Notes:

VR:

• Added option allowing players to choose whether to launch the game in 2D Mode or VR Mode.
• Added support for separate graphics presets between 2D Mode and VR Mode.
• Added support for “-novr” launch command.
• Added ability to bind “Reset View” to a preferred button/key.
• Resolved issue where game would crash if no VR headset was plugged in.
• Improved readability of UI text in VR Mode.

Esports:

• Added support for DiRT Rally 2.0 World Championship Qualifiers.

Content:

• New car: BMW M2 Competition
• Added files for Greece Rally in preparation of DLC release on September 10.
• Added files for the Seat Ibiza Kit Car in preparation of DLC release on September 24.
• Added files for the Peugeot 306 Maxi in preparation of DLC release on September 24.

AI:

• Adjusted performance of AI drivers across multiple routes and car classes, to provide a more balanced difficulty curve.
  
• (Update, September 3): This applies game-wide, and not just to My Team as previously mentioned)

Clubs:

• Resolved issue where tuning setups were being reset to default between Stages in Club Championships.
• Resolved issue where damage was resetting between Stages in Club Championships.
• Resolved issue where tyre punctures were automatically being repaired between Club Stages regardless of spare tyre availability.
• Resolved issue where cars were automatically being cleaned after every Stage in Club Championships.

Rallycross:

• Resolved issue where too many cars would spawn on the starting grid.
• Resolved issue where AI drivers would skip Joker Laps if a player restarted a race or got disqualified.
• Resolved issue where players could avoid taking a Penalty Joker lap after receiving a penalty.

Cars:

• Resolved issue where rear left tyre of the Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 2 was too narrow in comparison to rear right tyre.

Multiplayer:

• Resolved issue where the host of a Humans Only Custom Event would fall through the game world.
• Resolved issue where end of race countdown timer would not appear for players yet to complete a race.
• Resolved issue where players could gain access to DLC cars ahead of official release date.
• Resolved issue where players could not choose a DLC car if they were in a lobby with a host with Season Content access.
  (Note: If a Lobby Host owns Season content, all players in the Lobby are given permission to use that DLC content regardless of entitlement status.)

Locations:

• DirtFish added to Freeplay.
• New Zealand Rally – Corrected brightness setting for better visibility in darker areas.
• Mettet, Belgium – Resolved issue where start lights were not working.

UI/UX:

• Updated Freeplay main menu tab to include DirtFish.
• Added World Championship tab to main menu.
• Added Uruguayan flag as a selectable option for driver profiles.

Achievements/Trophies:

• “Adaptable” – Further improvements after Version 1.7 to make Achievement trigger properly.
• “Watch the Delta” – Adjusted triggers to assist users who weren’t able to unlock Achievement initially.
• “Living the Dream” – Adjusted triggers to assist users who weren’t able to unlock Achievement initially.

Hardware:

• Resolved issue where rev lights on Fanatec CSL Elite Wheel Base were displaying in the wrong direction.

Miscellaneous:

• General stability improvements and minor bug fixes throughout title.

Additional comments on popular community issues:

• We are currently investigating the possibility of supporting Oculus VR headsets natively, via Oculus SDK on Steam.
• We are currently investigating the ways of supporting post-launch content from other platforms on Oculus, and do not have a release date to announce at this time.
• The issues of audio cutting out mid-Stage are expected to be resolved in a future update.
• The ability to spectate in Multiplayer Lobbies is in development and could potentially appear in Version 1.9.
• The ability to use a “Dashboard” camera angle (similar to the one seen in DiRT Rally) is expected to be added in a future update, most likely Version 1.9.

DiRT 2.0 is available for Xbox One, PS4 and PC now.

Check the DiRT 2.0 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for news, mods and community discussion about this excellent rally game.

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[Craig Dunkley]

Thanks for keeping us all informed Paul

 

[Raymond 18]

Free Roam available! We can now burn tyres freely on an open map

 

[Sporadik]

I wish the ability to save replays was on their list. So bizarre this pretty game can't save replays.

 

[CarlosB]

What a great game in VR. I'm loving it.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Oculus Perfomance with OpenVR is still garbage? I uninstalled to make some room, while waiting that they add the native Oculus support

 

[Sporadik]

Oculus Perfomance with OpenVR is still garbage? I uninstalled to make some room, while waiting that they add the native Oculus support

Curious if you don't mind. What are the specs on the rig you're using?

I was building a new rig right when VR support was added, didn't run great on my previous rig (not every time I played but half the time I had that strange stutter glitch every few seconds) runs as good as any oculus native title on my current rig.

 

[newbert]

When it comes to VR, this latest release is again a FAIL for me unfortunately. Still no mouse support in VR, so I can't select "Freeplay" - not even when using the arrow keys. In single screen, selection of "Freeplay" works fine.

I have no interest in running a career or a full season. I just want to select a car, a rally, and GO!

So, I'm disappointed.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Curious if you don't mind. What are the specs on the rig you're using?

8700K and 1080 Ti OC, 16 GB of RAM @ 3200 MHz. And for headset Rift S

I was getting really bad performance the last time I tried. And even the tracking didn't work, it was stuttering too, when trying to look to the sides. Even when Oculus Debug shows over 50% GPU headroom

 

[Deleted member 197115]

When it comes to VR, this latest release is again a FAIL for me unfortunately. Still no mouse support in VR, so I can't select "Freeplay" - not even when using the arrow keys. In single screen, selection of "Freeplay" works fine.

I have no interest in running a career or a full season. I just want to select a car, a rally, and GO!

So, I'm disappointed.

F3/F4, it says right on the screen.

No native Oculus support on Steam version yet, it wasn't expected in this release.
WMR works great though, managed to clock 50 hours in VR already.

 

[newbert]

F3/F4, it says right on the screen.

No native Oculus support on Steam version yet, it wasn't expected in this release.
WMR works great though, managed to clock 50 hours in VR already.

Thank you for that. It was not very readable on my VR headset. I still say that mouse support in VR would be more desirable.

I play a lot of AC in VR, but I had to stop after about 5 minutes of Dirt Rally 2 VR since I was feeling nauseous and got a headache. First time that I've experienced that......

 

[Sporadik]

8700K and 1080 Ti OC, 16 GB of RAM @ 3200 MHz. And for headset Rift S

I was getting really bad performance the last time I tried. And even the tracking didn't work, it was stuttering too, when trying to look to the sides. Even when Oculus Debug shows over 50% GPU headroom

Clearly you have good specs. I've always had that issue where its stuttery at the startline looking side to side but after I launch its smooth. I've read some users updated their nvidia drivers and it improved performance. Try uninstalling video drivers using DDU, reboot, then reinstall. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Thank you for that. It was not very readable on my VR headset. I still say that mouse support in VR would be more desirable.

I play a lot of AC in VR, but I had to stop after about 5 minutes of Dirt Rally 2 VR since I was feeling nauseous and got a headache. First time that I've experienced that......

They have pretty good head stabilization (lock to horizon), try to lower Camera Shake settings, set to like None.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

VR update combined with earlier FFB fix really turned that ugly duckling DR 2.0 was on release into one beautiful swan.
Good job Codies!!!

 

[BrainsBush]

When DR2.0 VR option was released I also struggled with the right graphic settings etc. A lot of trial and error. Maybe because of recent updates of several drivers (Oculus, SteamVR, DR2.0?) in my case the stuttering is gone for 90%. Like @Sporadik mentioned I also only experience some stuttering at the start of a stage and then youhave to move your head rapidly left/right but during a stage it's ok.
Also I could increase the settings so it's visually very good in VR (no not comparable with 2D ultra, but for VR very good).
my specs: i7-7700k, 1080ti 11GB, 32GB, Rift

 

[Green-Promise]

Curious if you don't mind. What are the specs on the rig you're using?

I was building a new rig right when VR support was added, didn't run great on my previous rig (not every time I played but half the time I had that strange stutter glitch every few seconds) runs as good as any oculus native title on my current rig.

Whats your specs, whats your graphics settings and do your game go into asw mode or stable 90 frames?

 

[Robin_NL]

My real life car is an M2 Competition so I love the( way faster, gearing/weight )M2C rallycar ingame as well.

But there is a bug. My real life names are Robin Gerhard and on the sidewindow first comes my name as a driver and below that the co driver's name( in this case Mills), but in the replays it's the other way around. FWIW. I love the car!

Some screenshots:

Cheers
Robin

 

[MarkR]

Curious timing for the update with WRC 8 releasing today.

I'll give it another try in Oculus via Steam VR but I don't hold out much hope of improvement until native support is added. I enjoy DR2 but it isn't good enough to buy again on the Oculus Store (plus DLC) at full price just to add VR.

Edit to add....................
Just tried it and the Oculus via Steam VR remains truly awful and a real stuttering mess. The stutters seem to be caused by the FPS bouncing between 40-81 no matter the graphics settings. Unplayable for me.

 

[Rallycameraman]

Curious timing for the update with WRC 8 releasing today.

This update was launched Tuesday.

 

[Fatalist88]

Is the FFB for direct drive still a bit rubbish?