We’re a little less than two months away from the September 11 release of Dakar 18. Up until now, we’ve only had a chance to see bits and pieces of the game show up on Twitter via developer Bigmoon Studios. However, the fine folks at Team VVV are now giving us our first real look at the game.
The video kicks off with an interview from Paulo Games, CEO at Bigmoon Studios. During his 10 minute discussion of the game, Games drops some pretty surprising bombs on us.
Chiefly among these is just how much time you’ll spend behind the wheel of your on-screen racer. Every stage will coincide with the length and time of its real-life counterpart. This means several hours of bombing through the various terrain.
In addition to the length and time of the routes, another intriguing feature is the lighting.
According to Games, everything from the time of day, day of the year, and location on the map will all get simulated. Imagine you’re setting off from Bolivia at 0600 on January 12. The lighting at the start line is exactly how it would be if you were standing there on that day and time.
This is pretty cool, however, we imagine most gamers will probably not even notice it. But it does show the team at Bigmoon is concentrating as much as it can on the details.
Another major focus is on navigation. Unlike rally games where your co-driver shouts out direction, Dakar 18 will actually make the player think about where they’re going.
How? Dakar 18 will include actual route books from the FIA in the game. Prior to the stage, you’ll need to review them and figure out the best route to take to hit all your waypoints. If you ignore this step, you’ll end up lost and eventually knocked out of the rally altogether.
Getting lost is pretty easy too. With a map that’s 18,000 square kilometers (11,180 mi), losing sight of the track is almost a given.
If you do end up lost, you can get out of your vehicle to survey the surrounding area. This allows you to spot another vehicle and see if you’re on course or not. Simply following another car may not be the answer, either: AI can (and will) get lost in the wilderness.
In addition to all these simulation elements is also the standard array of features. This includes things like damage, fuel consumption, and tire wear.
Alan Boiston does note during his playtime with a development copy of the game a few things do need work. He mentions that the animations are a bit off with the vehicles and the bike physics still need some help. Also, the force feedback needs some improvement as well.
The graphics look a bit hit or miss as well. However, they look way better than the screenshots of the pre-order bonus Peugeot 205 T16 “Grand Raid” shown last week.
Overall, Alan seems fairly impressed with the project. We can’t say we blame him either, since it’s a title we’re looking forward to as well.
If you want to see the full interview along with all the gameplay footage, you can check out the video below.
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