DiRT Rally DiRT Rally out on Steam Early Access

[Alex Franchini]

Codemasters has surprised everyone with today's launch of Dirt Rally on Steam, under the Early Access label.

Judging from the official Steam Announcement, Dirt Rally features at launch (which is right now) 17 cars and 36 stages taken from 3 different locations (Monte Carlo, Acropolis and Wales).

SEE ALSO: Brand New Community Made DiRT Rally Videos

As you can see from the announcement, one of the biggest bullet points is "Simulation Handling". While we still haven't tried it yet, Codemasters definitely seems to be aiming for a more unforgiving driving model, with a "brand new model that simulates everything from the way the surface of the road behaves to limited slip differentials." Exactly how sim-like it will be remains to be seen, but it's indeed a good start.

Dirt Rally will also feature asynchronous events, team management providing improved repair times, league support.

Dirt Rally is currently in Early Access and available for the price of 26,99€, and it's going to receive new content in the form of cars, tracks and features for free.

Are you surprised as well by the Codies' announcement? Let us know your opinion in the comments!

 

[jimortality]

The control settings keep resetting themselves so I have to map the buttons every time.
I turn the wheel but the car doesn't react very quickly.
It keeps asking me for a jump baby well you ain't havin my ass!
It's fookin hard.
Cheers

 

[ZethGAF]

The control settings keep resetting themselves so I have to map the buttons every time.
I turn the wheel but the car doesn't react very quickly.
It keeps asking me for a jump baby well you ain't havin my ass!
It's fookin hard.
Cheers

Sweet spot for wheel rotation is between 270-400, in case yours is set to high - that might be the cause of unresponsiveness.

 

[Skazz]

I had control problems , are now fixed , it was my TH8 shifter
have anyone got it to work with a addon shifter ??? or it don't support 2 controllers ??
I use G27 and TH8 shifter ( normally ) cant get the Th8 shifter to work in this game.

I was able to run the T500 and TH8A as separate USB devices, with handbrake mapped to the TH8A (4th gear as it happens). So yes you can get them both working.

I didn't try H mode, but I believe that is possible, not sure how though.

 

[jimortality]

Anyone else using sequential shifter? what are you using for handbrake? I've tried the paddle but it can be a bit awkward

 

[Stig Bidstrup]

Anyone else using sequential shifter? what are you using for handbrake? I've tried the paddle but it can be a bit awkward

I made this little vid on the subject :http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/is-there-a-h-pattern-support-for-classic-cars.104695/

 

[Hejak]

From what I can see in videos of dirt rally I notice too much grip of cars. For example let's take col de turini or monte carlo stages under concern. In real life there are places in monte carlo where rally wrc cars go 20 km/h at corners sliding and begging for grip on snow and ice. I don't see it here. It for sure is a huge step forward from last dirt games or colin games (where you were able to go with pedal to the metal all way long - almost) but it's just my observation that there is just too much grip in the game. Moreover statements saying that if real life physics had been like in RBR we wouldn't have had any rally drivers in the world left - I take it as an excuse that somebody may not be interested in making a pure, hardcore rally simulation that reflects real life physics. Just for now I don't see 900 or little less degrees turns with steering wheel and I don't see proper hands' work on steering wheel in dirt rally videos during stages. In the final product I can state that it reflects reality if I can TEST any car on a big parking area (like in RBR) where you can TEST any car's behaviours: blocking wheels while breaking, understeer, oversteer, handbrake turn, scandinavian flick, pendulum swing on icy, snowy surface and so on. I am not a professional rally driver but I have played several times with my frontdrive car in winter conditions, icy conditions and in my opinion the grip I see in the game (example monte carlo stages) is too big. All in all the title looks promising (unlike previous dirt games) but needs feedback from rally and sim community and tweaks, work from game creators if in the end somebody would like to say it reflects real physics.

I found very interesting conclusions of somebody named "TWOJA STARA" about dirt rally here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/310560/discussions/0/613956964584407490/?insideModal=1#p2

 

[-WR-]

Is anyone getting crashes in the game and then steam error code #41?

I keep getting it from time to time yesterday and today, but I'm not really sure what's causing it.

Running on an Asus gtx760.

 

[Pär Öqvist]

Wasn´t there something with that error on the last bug fix release? Check the release notes.

 

[Rufus Baggsby]

My four-penn'orth, for what it's worth:

No feel at the wheel even with the fix available from this forum.
No manual clutch option.
Cars have way too much grip.
Replay cameras are uncontrollable and mostly give nonsensical views.
Replays cannot be saved (or at least I didn't see an option for it).
No option for car setups.
Driving position not adjustable.
Very nice graphics though.

I realise this is Early Access, but imo it has a long way to go even if it is a step in the right direction from the previous console releases.

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Once again with the grip levels... Those of you who state it has too much grip, what are you comparing it to? What is your reference in concluding that?

Because i still maintain that the grip levels and torque curves are way better represented here than in any other rally title, including RBR.

Brakes need some work, as does FFB with regards to feeling how the car leans.

But i hope they don't change the grip too much because what they have now is very realistic...

I will agree on the Monte Carlo stages though... The tarmac/ice feel is really off, and needs work. Feels horribly twitchy and strange. So for future tarmac support and the promised hillclimb feature they would need to fix that.

But for me, being a swede and not a frenchman or spaniard, rally is not real rallying if run on tarmac anyway so as long as gravel still feels nice i can hold...

 

[Erbium99]

Once again with the grip levels... Those of you who state it has too much grip, what are you comparing it to? What is your reference in concluding that?

Because i still maintain that the grip levels and torque curves are way better represented here than in any other rally title, including RBR.

Brakes need some work, as does FFB with regards to feeling how the car leans.

But i hope they don't change the grip too much because what they have now is very realistic...

I will agree on the Monte Carlo stages though... The tarmac/ice feel is really off, and needs work. Feels horribly twitchy and strange. So for future tarmac support and the promised hillclimb feature they would need to fix that.

But for me, being a swede and not a frenchman or spaniard, rally is not real rallying if run on tarmac anyway so as long as gravel still feels nice i can hold...

Obviously there are two types of people. People who know what the grip should feel like from direct experience. And people who think they know what the grip should feel like. For most of these people the reference point is RBR, which is generally recognised as the most realistic to date.

I have no clue which is the most realistic. What I do think though is that if people believe RBR gives them personally the best experience they should play that. Morphing Dirt Rally into a clone of RBR, with all of its strengths and weaknesses seems to me to be futile. The start point should be to compare Dirt Rally to realism. Not to compare it to RBR. IMO anyway.

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Obviously there are two types of people. People who know what the grip should feel like from direct experience. And people who think they know what the grip should feel like. For most of these people the reference point is RBR, which is generally recognised as the most realistic to date.

I have no clue which is the most realistic. What I do think though is that if people believe RBR gives them personally the best experience they should play that. Morphing Dirt Rally into a clone of RBR, with all of its strengths and weaknesses seems to me to be futile. The start point should be to compare Dirt Rally to realism. Not to compare it to RBR. IMO anyway.

Spot on. This is a new title, made for new hardware capabilities in a diferent era of racing simulations. So it mus be treated as a new approach and a blank slate.

If i wanted RBR i would run RBR. We don't need a carbon copy of something that is starting to feel outdated, even if that is what has kept us going for the time up until now... We need something new, that takes advantage of the developments between RBRs release and now.

Can we get a Codemasters rep to come to RD by the way? Like how Kunos and Sector3, as well as Reiza are active here, listening to us...

Someone care to invite them? If they want the opinion that matter for a title like this, here or maybe NoGrip is where they should look, not Steam forums

 

[-WR-]

Wasn´t there something with that error on the last bug fix release? Check the release notes.

Seems like you're right.

Known issues we're working on
Error 41 - We're looking into this one, and will update as soon as I have more info. As it is something we need to discuss with Valve.

 

[Erbium99]

I agree steam forums is not the right place. I think there are several issues though. Even though some forums have higher quality feedback than others, there is a huge variety in the quality of feedback people give. Plus the entire issue is to some degree subjective. You only have to look at the hand wringing and chest beating that goes on every time a racing sim is released. You get some people insisting the game is unplayable, others that its great. The only consistency is the inconsistency, although over time trends emerge.

For me the solution is simple. Crowdsource the settings by making the model settings variable, seed the community with settings that you think are "OK" and then leave the community to do the rest. The odds are if someone doesn't like the defaults, they are willing and happy to spend the time tweaking to get the results they want provided they are given simple access to parameters.

My guess is though that if you asked CM about this they might well say that the model is too complex and there are too many variables to allow this to happen. I think its more an issue though of protecting IP and not wanting competitors to be able to understand more detail of how the modelling works. That's the trade off between getting the best results and protecting your own IP unfortunately.

Edit : I think it is worth noting that this is Cm's first EA / sim style release. In some ways it's funny because they have done an EA release in what I would call a traditional company way. But in many ways that is a bit cruel to them. Over time they will develop better strategies to get benefit from the community in a typical EA type way. But it requires some patience. For now I am mainly happy that there is another business who wants to do more "sim style" racing, and has the graphics engine and raw coding resource to back that up.

 

[Hejak]

Speaking of grip levels and hands' work on a steering wheel in dirt rally I would like to give You guys a new fresh look on the matter. Here is Assetto Corsa vs RBR and the same Joux-Plane stage. I love how many corrections there occur on a steering wheel in Assetto Corsa during stages and how you Must be concentrated on tarmac feeling that at some high speeds you may lose control, traction, GRIP and simply get of the stage.

The video:

Oh Yeah !!! Hands' work on steering wheel in Assetto Corsa is somewhat delicious (especially 1:31 - 1:36 in this video) I'd like to see something like that in the final dirt rally.

And another video from Assetto Corsa that astonishes me with how challenging the stage itself is (narrow, bumps, telemetry). And this sweet physics and proper rally hands' work on a steering wheel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz7kmlKbHQM
OH Yeah !!! Car handling and physics in Assetto Corsa in Rally Poland stage gets to me sooo much!!! I really can say I feel this handling even though it's just a youtube video

 

[Pär Öqvist]

AC should be better with the tarmac simulation as that is the only thing they specialize on

As for being real what feels real in a sim with no G-forces may actually be way to grippy compared to real life.

We need to try to feel less and watch the speedometers and check if the corner speeds is realistic. Not that I really care about that. Is the corner speed in RBR less then IRL for example? Of course really not possible to make an apple vs apple comparison particularly not on gravel or ice.

 

[Gary Horneck]

Well... Real rally drivers input would mean more to me than simracers input. A simracer who has no experience of an actual car will make a lot of lofty assumptions, based on bias for this or that "simulation" that he is used to.

The best input would come from real rally drivers, as i think it will in this case.

What i would like the most is a combination, a rally driver who is ALSO a simulator user... If Codies want my input as a former local level Grp. H and A driver and simracer, i can send my payment details

However we should make claims for what we need as simracers when it comes to architecture of the software... That is a given. One thing is multiplayer options, catering for league play. That is important to us. With split time sharing and the like.

Also, set up options and support for our perohperals is important (multi-monitor, wheels, pedals, shifters etc.).

There we have to make ourselves heard!

I'm a Rallycross racer, and I am pleasantly surprised at the effort by Codemasters. Lots of issues that need correcting, but after I made some tweaks to the FFB effects files, its much closer to RL. I find the grip levels about right. Entering a switchback, with a very loose surface is spot on. As in RL, the handbrake is only marginally effective on gravel, especially setting up for a 90 degree uphill turn in the fluff. Rally tires have a lot of grip, and suddenly your off line into the loose stuff, and you have very little. They did a good job of replicating what happens when you get way off line. The steering lock is a killer though. Way too twitchy, and counter steering suffers because of it. Not bad for a early beta.

 

[nicksamamyjake]

Does it steer in game over 90° ? or is it the usual 90° lock... ?

google wheel settings for dirt rally

 

[nicksamamyjake]

What steering rotation are u guys using?

Also the FFB on tarmac VS gravel is huge!

270 on g27 google wheel settings for dirt rally youll find codies recommendations

 

[Hejak]

And yet another but now The Most Important (MVP) thread on the net - the official codemasters and dirt rally thread about grip levels: http://forums.codemasters.com/discussion/5865/too-much-grip
Now guys get there. Read opinions from varius sources on the matter, bring your thoughts. I may agree that RBR's grip levels are little to low comparing to reality but then dirt rally's grip levels are certainly to high. I think we might be forced to find a real balance in this matter between these two titles right now. There is one video - game footage from dirt rally showing a car approaching corner and immediatelly losing speed on gravel - greece without even breaking on a very short distance. I really hope game's creators are gonna hear whole rally fans community's voice and fix this aspect of the game so that in the end all the evolutions that you can do with FWD, AWD, RWD cars in real life are gonna be possible in dirt rally as well. I think we might want to find a gold balance on the matter of grip levels in dirt rally and that this action might bring everybody content. In the end I think creators should also provide gamers with a proper rally school (like in RBR) where you learn yourself various, single, part aspects of driving a rally car and get to know what it is capable of. This rally school would also be a resemblence for me that car's handling works as it should, that it is like in reality.