Should I or should'nt i?

Tarmac Terrorist · Mar 30, 2020

Hi folks!

So a friend of mine just informed me of the big deal on steam with Dirt 2 and told me I should buy it. However he's never used RBR. So i've come here to ask for your advice. Be great if i could hear from those who've used both.

RBR is one of the best PC driving experience'es ive ever had and id love to have it again, however on my modern PC RBR doesnt seem to work right, it wont remember contoller settings and now i have widescreen and it wont do that either.

So my question is should i buy the discount version of Dirt 2 or try to get RBR working again, I do miss it so much! The physics were great and the tracks to. I don't want any more than bas content, the cockpit mod i used to have, maybe camhack, widescreen and be able to have it save my controller settings (which it shoud do any way, can't figure out why the hell it won't now). Anyway, is it worth sticking with RBR or is Dirt better and will work. What you think RBR community?

Tarmac Terrorist · Mar 30, 2020

Ha, just fired up the old install, no widescreen, think i did the cockpit install as I can see a bit of the cockpit, can't remeber. No widescreen, but holy shxtx is it still good, how the hell is it still this good! Can Dirt 2 be better than this?

Germain Entete · Mar 31, 2020

Dirt 2 is way behind RBR for physics, in my opinion. If you like hardcore physics, you might not enjoy Dirt 2.
You can always buy it, try and refund after 1h to make yourself an opinion.
In my case I deleted it after 30mn, physics felt to me too arcadish, but it's worth a try tbh.

Tarmac Terrorist · Mar 31, 2020

Germain Entete said:
Dirt 2 is way behind RBR for physics, in my opinion. If you like hardcore physics, you might not enjoy Dirt 2.
You can always buy it, try and refund after 1h to make yourself an opinion.
In my case I deleted it after 30mn, physics felt to me too arcadish, but it's worth a try tbh.

I had a feeling it might be that way, when I used to drive RBR i used to think, good I wish all racing games had physics like this, rally, race track, just all that good. Felt the same last night when I fired it up again. I mean I learned stuff that I tried out down the little Norfolk rally (type roads) here IRL that id first tried in the sim, it was that good!

If anything at all, even if i can't get it to run in a widescreen res I just wish it would remember the controller settings, i mean wtf is with that!

Germain Entete · Mar 31, 2020

Yep, RBR physics in particular on dirt surfaces are excellent. DR2 is good in many areas, but not with physics, at least not on par with RBR.
The fact that you don't mind playing such an old sim and praise its physics makes me guess you wouldn't enjoy DR2, as all its good assets don't make up for the lack in the physics area.
Also, physic on tarmac is even worse than on dirt.
For RBR widescreen there is an easy fix somewhere, you should just google it.

manc0ntr0 · Mar 31, 2020

Tarmac Terrorist said:
I had a feeling it might be that way, when I used to drive RBR i used to think, good I wish all racing games had physics like this, rally, race track, just all that good. Felt the same last night when I fired it up again. I mean I learned stuff that I tried out down the little Norfolk rally (type roads) here IRL that id first tried in the sim, it was that good!

If anything at all, even if i can't get it to run in a widescreen res I just wish it would remember the controller settings, i mean wtf is with that!

About the controller settings, did you install it under "program files"? Because it caused problems in the past. Put it on C directly, or another place out of "program files"

Tarmac Terrorist · Mar 31, 2020

Yes ive got it on Win10 in progam files, will try C drive. Have also tried the Fix up plugin but it doesnt change anything no matter what i do with it. Thanks v much guys for your help, I'll be sticking with RBR, just need to get it running right, its been too long and its still so damn good! I even think the graphics look great, i mean i know the lighting and shaders are well out of date but what the artists did with what they had and all the little things like the swaying grass, splashes and stuff. So many little details that make it special. And then theres the physics! Oh also, the damage is still streets ahead of most racing games, streets!

akephoe · Mar 31, 2020

I rediscovered rbr for myself a few month ago. The community is great and there are really a lot of awesome stages on allkind of surfaces. The physics, ngp6.3 are good and basically better than dirt2 of any other rallye game/sim. But, physics alone is not everything. Eben with all the mods and installers etc rbr can't denie its age. The Sound is Bad compared to dirt, the graphicsvary from ok to awful. For me important is that the ffb, despite the good basic physic of ngp, lacks in feel and Information. The cars feel not alive , hard to express for me.
Yes, dirt2 is far from being perfect, lacks in physics(tarmac mostly), damagesystem is a joke, and man other Things could be optimiced. But the in car feel is way better than in rbr, for me. So formyself i take dirt2 as the game to have a good rallye game feeling anno 2020.
Playing with a t300rs, no assists, always Cockpit and trackir gives me a Lot of fun and challenge.
sorry for my bad english.

PikWik · Apr 19, 2020

im one of those racing game fans that plays everything - RBR, dirt rally 2, WRC 8, v rally 4, project cars 2, AC, forza 4.
for me, its really about enjoying myself, stepping up to the challenge of each game, and learning how to get the best times.

RBR is the sensei/great teacher in my opinion, and i literally get better at all other rally games after just a 30 minute session in RBR. i would definitely agree that its "graphics age" is showing when compared to the beautiful dirt rally 2. like its not even close to those polished visuals running at high settings. but for me, RBR just feels so damn good to drive with a wheel and the sim feeling is undeniable when im completely focused and attacking a stage

TL;DR for a true rally experience, RBR is still king. for a rally game to show a friend what a modern rally game looks like, show them dirt rally 2

sptp · May 16, 2020

Well, if you ask here, we'll tell you to try RBR (w/ NPG) until you can control the car at least. If you ask in a DiRT Rally forum...

Rally driving can be frustrating. I say, at least fight a car with the physics modelled as accurately as possible. That's why I wouldn't bother with games with inferior physics modelling.

Can Dirt 2 be better than this?

I think they are not even trying. Different targets.

About your problem with the widescreen. You can go two ways:

Install FixUp plugin manually or via RBRCIT (easier to install and keep updated). You know you have it installed if file plugins/fixup.dll exists in your RBR installation folder. Then, set resolution in RichardBurnsRally.ini to your monitor resolution. Towards the end of the file:

Code:

XRes = 1920
YRes = 1080

or whatever it is. I think this is the step you missed.

The other way would be installing, for example RBRpro. It's a "manager" that deals with this and other issues. I would recommend it for neophytes.