DiRT 4 First DiRT 4 Show Broadcast by Codemasters - Lots of New Details

[Paul Jeffrey]

Following the announcement of Codemasters latest entry into the DiRT rally game franchise, the team over in England have broadcast their first DiRT Show featuring the new game - with lots of interesting information revealed.

Codemasters are obviously aware of past mistakes and have made considerable improvements recently in the way in which they communicate with the gaming public. In order to support the announcement of DiRT 4, the team recently ran a substantial 'Ask me Anything' session with Paul Coleman, giving fans a two hour window in which to pose questions to DiRT 4 Chief Game Designer Paul Coleman, an instrumental figure in the development of the DiRT franchise.

To help out those of you who don't fancy trawling through the massive number of AMA threads, have a look at our summary article where we pick out the key facts and transcribe the AMA in a (slightly) more readable format..

Back on topic to the new DiRT show, the 26 minute video offers up an entertaining look behind these scenes of the new title, with interview segments featuring big name rally drivers such as Petter Solberg and Kris Meeke, plus chats with Coleman himself and Senior Games Designer Darren Hayward. Unfortunately the video is a little light on game footage from DiRT 4, but we do get an all too brief look at some impressive looking scenic shots from Australian stages throughout the video. Not much to go on, but still better than nothing I suppose!

About the game:

KEY FEATURES:

• OVER 50 OF THE MOST BREATH-TAKING OFF-ROAD CARS EVER BUILT – Including Ford Fiesta R5, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, Subaru WRX STI NR4 and Audi Sport quattro S1 E2
• 5 INCREDIBLE RALLY LOCATIONS WITH MILLIONS OF ROUTES – Australia, Spain, Michigan, Sweden & Wales
• THE OFFICIAL GAME OF THE FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP – Race at Montalegre, Lohéac Bretagne, Hell, Holjes & Lydden Hill in a multitude of different series
• LANDRUSH – Short-course dirt track racing in Pro Buggies, Pro-2 Trucks, Pro-4 Trucks and Crosskart vehicles in California, Nevada and Mexico
• JOYRIDE – Laptime challenges, smash challenges, free-play area and send challenges to friends
• DiRT ACADEMY – Taking place at the DirtFish Rally School in Washington, USA, learn the skills, techniques and practice to become the best!
• CAREER MODE – create your driver, compete across the disciplines, gain sponsors and build your team with clear goals and rewards
• COMPETITIVE GAMING – Daily, weekly and month-long challenges against fellow players from around the world
• NEXT GENERATION OF RACENET – Live ladder, leagues and tournaments, cross-platform leaderboards, enhanced CREST telemetry system
• TUNING – Tweak your set-up based on vehicle, track and weather conditions to best suit your racing style
• DAMAGE & REPAIRS – Wear and tear is faithfully recreated with an improved and realistic damage model. Damage can be repaired by hiring Engineers to work in the team’s Service Area between stages but with a finite amount of time available.

DiRT 4 will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC during June 2017.

You can check out the RaceDepartment DiRT 4 sub forum for all the latest news and discussions regarding the new title from Codemasters. Head over to our sub forum and join in the conversation today!

Did you like the DiRT 4 Show? Are you looking forward to this new title? What most excites you about the upcoming game? Will DiRT 4 rival DiRT Rally in your opinion? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Caramidaru Andrei Bogdan]

A bit calmer but really hope they have the difficulty level settings bang on, so players that want a more manageable experience have that and players who want full on sim get that too
My stage might be nice but I was and always be a fan of official content, so I know that in my imagination I go over the same piece of track/corner/gravel/stage as the real dudes, but licensing these days......I get it.
great job again on the article!

 

[Pywackett-Barchetta]

In the bullet points: Official game of the FIA WRC? I thought those courses were all in DiRT Rally, and they lost the license for this one?

 

[Peter Stokman]

not very clear to me is this the successor for Dirt Rally or is it something different

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

In the bullet points: Official game of the FIA WRC? I thought those courses were all in DiRT Rally, and they lost the license for this one?

Official WRX game, and yes, they were asked/told by the FIA to not include those stages anymore.
They could've decided to use less known rallies though, as was done in RBR.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

not very clear to me is this the successor for Dirt Rally or is it something different

Something different

This is DiRT 4, which is the follow on to the more arcade focused DiRT 2 and 3. Although Codies assure us the "simulation" aspect from DiRT Rally (which was a standalone title unrelated to DiRT 2 & 3) has been carried over and improved in DiRT 4.

They did an interesting AMA (ask me anything) session that I've tried to summarise here if it might help answer some questions

 

[thewarmer]

I await the damage model details . damage has to be realistic , at least in Full sim mode . anything less will be a fail.
Slamming into a tree or walls flat out has to mean end of Rally & not just some fancy cosmetic damage.
You had to do some pretty drastic things in Dirt Rally to not finish an event .
CM have to expand on the types of damage & their effects of the performance of the car.
I hope they give more and clearer details on a very important part of off road driving, managing the car over a full event.
Limiting the wear & tear on the cars parts , driving any car in a rough manner should result in a higher risk of parts failures.

This is an area that has needed improving for long time in Rally game's
These days with the power of current PC's & the engines now powering these game's we should be able to have a better simulation of that side of rallying.

I understand it will be of little importance for the Casual player of this game , who could make up the larger part of the sale's for this game on Console the dominate platforms.

But is it really to much to ask for a more detailed none watered down sim mode that is more closer to real life.

 

[Juicy Juice]

Rally school in WA yayyyy! I wish they had stages from there, I'm not sure what the rally scene is in WA but I think pacific northwest rally would be very pretty :3

 

[-Alf-]

Are you looking forward to this new title?

Can't wait. is it June already?

What most excites you about the upcoming game?

Your Stage feature. Always driving into the unknow is what Rally is about. DiRT Rally has awesome handcrafted recreations of real live Stages, but i'm far beyond the point where i need the Pace Notes, to be able to "see" the road ahead. Basicaly, i know all crests, corners, hairpins, from memory... and is that Rally? Not in my book...

Will DiRT 4 rival DiRT Rally in your opinion?

So far it looks that it will be better than DiRT Rally. DiRT 4 will have everything that was missing in DiRT Rally, and more... I do hope they can deliver a very solid product.

 

[howitzer155mm]

Rally school in WA yayyyy! I wish they had stages from there, I'm not sure what the rally scene is in WA but I think pacific northwest rally would be very pretty :3

Oregon Trail Rally.

Olympus Rally in Washington.

 

[Dag Inge Hansen]

So they must be scrapping some or all of the tracks from Dirt Rally? The classic stages in Monte-carlo-rally, Germany, Finland and Greece will be missing. And in USA is the hillclimb stages of Pikes Peak in three different gravel and tarmac combinations that was so masterfully created!

 

[Alex72]

Wonder if they will add proper triple screen support. Just a multiview tickbox would help.

 

[KittX]

Wonder why not create just random Finnish roads, if the official stages can't be included. You can't ban the entire country... But i guess that decision is made just to keep in good touch with FIA and not look like d-bags.

 

[Paul Blythe]

VR support would be great inclusion also ... After watching the DiRT 4 show broadcast, I'm actually looking forward to this now. Them saying they've improved upon the car physics from DR is good news. Your Stage sounds interesting, had been expecting something requiring a bit more direct input on the stage creation, not an auto track generator. However, still good to have that option in there.

Not seen Gymkhana or drift challenges mentioned, hopefully DiRT 4 will stay a little more focused on the Rally and WRX side of things...