Colin McRae DiRT - The Official Thread

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Hell, someone had to start it ;) And thanks to DigitalNitrate as I basically used one of his threads as a starter template.

Colin McRae DiRT (The font is appropriately brown don't cha think?)


US Box Art

box-l.jpg



UK Box Art

53032-forside.jpg



Summary

* Developer______: Codemasters (in association with Ingenious Games)
* Publisher_______: Codemasters
* Rating__________: Everyone (E)
* Genre__________: Racing
* Game Engine____: Codemasters NEON Engine (thanks to Robin)
* Gameplay Modes_: Offline - single player
* Online Play______: Up to 100 Players (err kinda), LAN same as online (anyone volunteering to link up 100 PS3's to verify this?)
* SIXAXIS Control: Nope
* Wheels supported - "...supported Logitech wheel device." Apparently these are the supported devices - G25/Driving Force Pro/Driving Force (Thanks to Scaff)
* Picture Format__: HD - 720P, SD - 480i
* Audio Format___: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Std Stereo
* Demo_________: Yes
* Release Dates
o USA = Sept 11, 2007
o EUR = Sept 13, 2007

Links

* Game Info:
o Official Website #1 - Flash Based
o Official Website #2 - HTML Based
o Wiki Listing - Looking a little puny and out of date right now to be frank

* Reviews:
o Game Rankings = Average Score 83.9%:
+ 85% GameSpot (9/14/2007) = 8.5 out of 10
+ 84% IGN (9/6/2007) = 8.4 out of 10
+ 88% Game Almighty (9/15/2007) = 8.8 out of 10
+ 80% Worth Playing (9/21/2007) = 8.0 out of 10
+ 84% Jolt Online Gaming UK (9/20/2007) = 8.4 out of 10
+ 82% Cheat Code Central (9/18/2007) = 4.1 out of 5
+ 88% PS3 Magazine UK (10/1/2007) = 88 out of 100
+ 80% PlayStation Official Magazine UK (10/1/2007) = 8 out of 10

o metacritic = Current weighted average of all reviews tracked 83%

Full Track/Course List
- organized by discipline and then country (denotes allowable vehicle classes)

CORR - closed circuit (Class 1 Buggy, CORR Pro 4, CORR Super Buggy)
USA - Bark River, Chula Vista A, Chula Vista B, Crandon

Crossover - closed circuit (4WD, Classic, FWD, RWD)
Australia - Canberra Park
Germany - Avelsbachring
Italy - Pozzo della cava
Japan - Numata Raceway
Spain - Circuito de Girona
UK - Kielder Raceway

Hill Climb - point to point (4WD, Classic, Hill Climb Big Rig, Hill Climb Unlimited, RWD)
USA - Pikes Peak Full (Short A, Short AB, Short B, Short BC & Short C), Windy Point Full (Short A & Short B)

Rally - point to point (4WD, Classic, FWD, RWD)
Australia - Bendora (&Rev), Brindabella (&Rev), Tidbinbilla, Uriarra Forest
Germany - Biebelhausen (&Rev), Ockfen (&Rev), Sonnenberg (&Rev)
Italy - Cunconi (&Rev), Monte di li Conchi (&Rev), Tempio Pausania (&Rev)
Japan - Komoro, Lake Ono, Maebashi (&Rev), Numata (&Rev)
Spain - Calogne (&Rev), Punta Brava (&Rev), Tossa de Mar (&Rev)
UK - Butteryhaugh (&Rev), Crawberry Crag, Deadwater Moor, Falston (&Rev)

Rally Raid - closed circuit (Class 1 Buggy, Rally Raid T1, Rally Raid T4)
USA - Jamul Valley, Lower Otay Lake, San Ysidro Mountains

Rallycross - closed circuit (4WD, Class 1 Buggy, Classic, FWD, Rally Raid T1, Rallycross Modified, Rallycross Supercars, RWD)
France - Circuit des Ducs
UK - Croft, Knockhill
 
Now for some initial thoughts (after about 2 hrs of gameplay).

* Graphics - well as we all pretty much know by now they look quite nice. I'll let others that are more knowledgeable describe the technicalities, but they are more than immersive. Also the framerate stays nice and solid the vast majority of the time. So far I've only noticed it drop during gameplay when several trucks were ahead of me in a Raid event and they were colliding together, and the drop was only momentary at that.

* Offline - the game will automatically upload your best laps, confirmed for career and timetrial modes, to the server and indicate your ranking. NOTE it will only do so if you are logged in at the time. If you're not logged in and have a smokin' lap, welp as near as I can tell too bad for you as the game will not upload it the next you log in. Kinda odd, but oh well. Just log/sign in to PSN before playing the game and you'll be all set. Now it claims there is some "world #1 ranking" but I have no idea if that spans regional servers or not... maybe someone else can clarify?

* Replays - yea the replays are pretty cool, just like the demo. Boo the replays CANNOT be saved. How cannot this be an automatic feature for a console that MUST have at least a 20GB hard drive connected to it? :grumpy: Anyway if you want to save an especially interesting replay, and with the quality of the damage and physics engine that probably won't take but 30 mins, you'll have to ingeneure (yeah I kinda enjoyed The Prestige) another method.

* Career mode - the quickest way to make big bucks is to run the first tier races in ascending difficulty order. The reason for this is that as soon as you beat a race in a higher mode (let's say Pro-Am) all the difficulty levels including and below it immediately reduce they're payouts by at least half. However, if you race from the least to most difficult you'll receive the maximum payout at each level. If this is still a little confusing, I'll try to clarify it when I'm not quite so sleepy.

More thoughts/observations later, but as I mentioned on the demo thread, the game is simply just fun. They did get that part right :)
 
I posted this question on the Demo thread, but since this is the offical game release thread, I am asking it here.

On the full version, can you confirm if in the Options menu the game supports the full functions of the G25?
- Gated shifting
- Clutch pedal
 
icelt - the game engine used in DiRT is called the Codemasters NEON Engine and will supposedly run the next gen TOCA (Race Driver) aswell...

Robin
 
BreakerOhio
On the full version, can you confirm if in the Options menu the game supports the full functions of the G25?
- Gated shifting
- Clutch pedal
Click to expand...

Just found this response on the codemasters forum:
http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175063

The G25 will work with DIRT on PS3 & PC as a wheel and peddles but the 'H' Pattern gears and Cluch peddle will not.
Click to expand...

So far in the game the ONLY place I've seen a "wheel" mentioned as a supported control input is in the race pause menu... <hit pause> <select settings> <select game> and this text is displayed, "The following force feedback options are only available when using a supported Logitech wheel device." That's it. No mention in the manual and no mention in the main menu controller options area. Kinda odd IMHO.
 
icelt
So far in the game the ONLY place I've seen a "wheel" mentioned as a supported control input is in the race pause menu... <hit pause> <select settings> <select game> and this text is displayed, "The following force feedback options are only available when using a supported Logitech wheel device." That's it. No mention in the manual and no mention in the main menu controller options area. Kinda odd IMHO.
Click to expand...

Weird as the UK manual does cover all the wheels that are supported (G25/Driving Force Pro/Driving Force) and the manual does clearly state that neither the clutch or gated stick mode are supported. The clutch pedal can however be assigned to another function.

On the gameplay side of things I have only just got back from work, so I've read the manual and that's about it - more later.

Regards

Scaff
 
1.5 hours last night and a couple observations:

Gameplay is a treat, I find the replays of a much poorer quality. I can't pinpoint what is 'off', but isn't nearly as smooth or 'realistic' looking as GT [4 or HD].

As others have mentioned, lots of fun. In careermode you have the ability to purchase other vehicles, however they arent' significantly better performers than the default available ones. [ie: Chevy and Toyota trucks]

The GUI is outstanding on the front end, but I find the load times are rather long. And maybe thats a good thing, better playability, you may not finish the game so quickly.

Favorite race mode so far is the COR trucks. Big whoops, side by side action, big jumps.

Looking forward to another couple hours tonight!


R.
 
I thought i heard it was going to be in full 1080p... guess i was wrong... How does the game feel in comparison to the demo?

Thanks
 
I have to say that so far I'm loving DiRT, its a nice Sim-cade physics engine, looks great an the front end menus are simply the best I have ever come across.

With a great car range (from what I have got so far), nice replays (but they do still have the standard codemasters 'floating' look, particularly during changes of direction), an excellent damage model and wide ranging tuning and set-up.

My only gripe so far is to be honest my co-driver, why exactly is he a 'surfer dude'?

I've also added the EU box art to the first post, as its different, may as well have them all on show.

Gave the much criticised on-line a quick go last night and it wasn't as bad as reported, I like the idea of racing rally stages on your own (as it should be) and the on-going update of your position lets you know what's going on well enough, that said I would have liked to be able to run Rally Cross, etc on-line as well.

Hopefully Codemasters will listen and act on that front, I'm also amassed that once again they have missed off the option to save replays in a game, they have consistently do so with the PC versions of Race Driver, only to have to add it as a patch a short time later (you would have thought they had figured that one out by now).



Scaff

Oh and the hill climbs are great, tried the lower part of Pikes Peak in an FTO, bloody hell that's mad, can't wait for the rest.
 
Looks like the worst is confirmed. RIP Sir Colin.

Rally champion Colin McRae dies with son in helicopter crash
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2461339.ece

THE former rally driving champion Colin McRae was killed and his five year-old son feared dead in a helicopter crash yesterday afternoon. The aircraft came down in Jerviswood, Lanarkshire, half a mile from the family's home and burst into flames just after 4pm.

Jean-Eric Freudiger, McRae's agent, said the 39-year-old driver had been piloting the helicopter himself. Also on board were believed to be his son Johnny, another adult and another child. Police said there were no survivors.

McRae's wife Alison and their daughter Hollie, 9, were not on board, friends said.

McRae became Britain's first World Rally champion in 1995. He was one of the country's most successful sportsmen, achieving 25 wins in World Rally events and 42 podium places. He was a flamboyant driver, inspiring one the world's best-selling computer rally games.

The helicopter came down within half a mile of McRae's home, Jervis House, a 16th-century tower house, which has an adjacent helipad. The weather had been overcast, with a light breeze, but visibility was good.

Strathclyde police said the extent of the fire damage was making identification a problem.

McRae's wife, a childhood sweetheart and his former co-driver, was taken back to the house under police escort shortly after 6pm. She looked calm, but neighbours gathering outside the house looked shaken with grief.

McRae's friend the rally journalist Jeremy Hart who flew with the champion several times described him as a "very good, very measured pilot whose natural ability with machinery was second to none". "Colin regularly flew all over the UK and into Europe," said Hart. "He knew the terrain and conditions at Jerviswood very well. It was the place he flew into most regularly.

"As a driver Colin was misunderstood slightly as being reckless but everything you saw with him came from pure raw talent as opposed to being learnt. He was the Michael Schumacher of rally driving.

"It's so ironic that he should die in a helicopter crash when he had competed and had brushed with death so many times as a rally driver."

Additional reporting: Paul Lamarra
Click to expand...
 
Scaff - I'm interested to get your impressions of the Brindabella Rally event once you get there (think it's Tier 3 race 4 from the left or so). It's an "interesting" little trail :mischievous: ;)
 
icelt
Scaff - I'm interested to get your impressions of the Brindabella Rally event once you get there (think it's Tier 3 race 4 from the left or so). It's an "interesting" little trail :mischievous: ;)
Click to expand...

Have not quite got that far yet, but should be able to have a go on that one tonight, so will post on it as soon as I can.

I do also just have to repeat just how much fun DiRT is, I'm very, very impressed with it so far, particularly the damage model, took the front end right off my Clio last night after I hit a lamp post (its exactly what GT5 needs).


Regards

Scaff
 
More observations and some niggles (finally getting around to it as promised :):

* Graphics - maybe it's just my impression but both bonnet and bumper cam views seem noticeably faster than the 2 in car camera views. So it's kinda a trade-off racing from a more realistic view (probably being dashboard) but with a reduced sense of speed.

* Replays - There is no way to get a rear view shot of your vehicle in replay. Not a big deal, but there will be moments where you wish you could watch a rear looking shot of your huge wipeout.

Speaking of wipeouts, I have yet to see much damage occur to the car's rear quarters. I haven't lost a wing yet nor have I seen the rear bumper, quarter panels or trunk come off a vehicle. Can anyone else confirm if the game does or does not display damage to the rear of a car (more than just scratched paint obviously)?

* Gameplay - the req to collect money seems just about pointless. I'm only just less than 30% complete yet have some $10 million currently saved up, and that's after purchasing all the vehicles and liveries available to this point.

For GT vets (and since you're on this forum I guess that pretty much means all of you ;)) I'd recommend trying to play through the Career mode on Pro level. It's really not as difficult as it sounds and provides a nice little challenge for most events (especially those with multiple cars on the tack). I'd also suggest a progression technique of 1st attempting a race at Amateur, for as long as you try to stay smooth and limit your aggression you should still easily win most races on the first try. Then go back and run the race on Pro-Am, as this will help you learn the course a little better and let you try a more aggressive style on key corners, still you probably won't require more than 1 or 2 restarts to win at this level. Then finally go back for a run at Pro. The side benefits of this method is that for 1 you'll acquire money reserves at a rapid rate and for 2 by learning the course and beating Pro on many tracks will leave you with a pretty fast Personal Best time for the leader boards (should put you in the top 300 or so consistently and depending on how blazing you were that lap upwards of the top 50 and higher even :)). Oh yeah, you should be able to win most races on Pro without having to fiddle with the default suspension settings as well.

When racing multi-stage rallies and presented with the option to repair your vehicle definitely first select the "clean vehicle" option. It will cost you 8 mins, but the primary direct benefit (other than an increased chance to pick up more sponsor girls) is that it will reduce the repair times of some/all of the more important repair categories (the logic here is that the mechanics can better estimate the damage once the whole car is cleaned). So basically it pays for itself.

* Leader boards - there's no way to search for a specific PSN id or to quickly view times/rankings of friends. The only search feature is to find your own ranking. Kinda odd. Also the boards do not differentiate between times set on different difficulty levels. So one who sets a fast time on "rookie" level can still be ranked above another who set their time on "pro" level. Given who the damage realism increases with difficulty level this just doesn't seem like an even playing field.

* Online - after a race is voted for you can't change livery or difficulty level. Not a big deal but I wonder what is the default difficulty level for online games?

* Sound - I've noticed that the in-car racing views also have a noticeably different sound effect representation. To my ears the engine and gravel sounds are slightly muted when racing in car (realistically I understand) and this is most evident when you blow out your front windshield as you will immediately notice more engine and road noise. So although it is a pretty cool effect, personally I do prefer the sound and speed of racing from the bonnet cam.
 
The Cheef
I thought i heard it was going to be in full 1080p... guess i was wrong... How does the game feel in comparison to the demo?

Thanks
Click to expand...

From the racing and replay standpoint it feels pretty much the same to me, however I only played through the demo once before I decided that was enough to get me to purchase the full version. So I don't really remember the demo too well.
 
Picked up the game Friday night and played for about an hour straight and completed 11% of the career mode so far. (the bottom row / teir of the pyramid)

What I like most about this game is the many different type of courses. My favorite type are the the point to point races. There is good road feel with the forcefeedback and the graphics in the detail on the courses is amazing. This game is a lot of fun.

As others have said about the replay, there's something about it that doesn't have a realistic replay look like Gran Turismo replays. It's no biggy, I don't spend time watching the replays in Dirt anyhow, the game play is plenty enough to keep me playing.
 
Scaff
Have not quite got that far yet, but should be able to have a go on that one tonight, so will post on it as soon as I can.

I do also just have to repeat just how much fun DiRT is, I'm very, very impressed with it so far, particularly the damage model, took the front end right off my Clio last night after I hit a lamp post (its exactly what GT5 needs).


Regards

Scaff
Click to expand...

Well I won't ruin anything for you other than to reinforce that you should look forward to Brindabella.

GT5 coupled with Dirt's damage modeling? Ohhhhhhhh baby that'd be kick arse :D
 
LaBounti
In fairness its just called Dirt in the U.S.
Click to expand...

Agreed and understood, but given recent events I think Colin deserves the recognition. However if it truly bothers enough people I'll happily change it back.
 
Im telling you guys these private helicopters just fall out of the sky, seriously if your rich just travel in a car! Go go on an airline with everyone else...

Robin
 
Been playing this game on the Xbox and I love it! Except for those giant trucks (the Kamaz and the other). Annoying monsters, they are. :ouch:
 
icelt
Agreed and understood, but given recent events I think Colin deserves the recognition. However if it truly bothers enough people I'll happily change it back.
Click to expand...

Oh no it doesn't bother me. I just noticed when i was looking for his name on the box Saturday when I read the news.

Oh Ebiggs that story brought chills through my body.
 
Is there any major flaws with this game which is worth pointing out before I ask for it for my birthday? I must say on the demo I had great fun is the game as much fun?

Thanks
 
I think it's a great deal of fun. The only flaw I could list are the loading times, but I'm more bothered by racing the large trucks, so I pretty much give the game a 9/10. It has completely refueled my taste for rallying.
 

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