Dakar 18 (PS4, XOne, PC) - Release date September 25 2018

[Zipperface]

A racing game with poor physics is useless. Its all about driving, but when the driving is unreal and just poor the game make no sense.
Just read the reviews! However, play what you want... if you like it.

 

[DustDriver]

Was excited for this game, as I have been hoping for a proper dakar game since as far back as it was actually a race to Dakar.
Saw a live stream last month from, i believe, the developers. I liked the concept, but had the idea that it would take half a year to a year for them to implement a better physics system as it looked like a placeholder in the live stream.

Didn't know the release date, so was very surprised to see this article on the front page. And from what I can tell from the videos, it's the same physics system.
From my opinion without actually playing the game, I would say this is more of an early access release, rather than a proper release.

I still want the game, but i'm going to wait at least half a year before I buy it.

 

[zargdin]

A racing game with poor physics is useless. Its all about driving, but when the driving is unreal and just poor the game make no sense.
Just read the reviews! However, play what you want... if you like it.

Can you direct me to the reviews you mention? I can't find any on Metacritic.

 

[die996]

Only 7 messages from @Zipperface, most used to insult Dakar18 in different threads. This is obviously someone from a rival company or a BigMoon employee that got fired. The mods do nothing, they are nowhere to be seen, I guess they are fine with someone slandering a company.

 

[Famine]

Only 7 messages from @Zipperface, most used to insult Dakar18 in different threads.

Two of the seven posts are comments on Dakar18. That's not "most". They're both in this thread, so that's not "different threads" either.

The mods do nothing, they are nowhere to be seen, I guess they are fine with someone slandering a company.

We're perfectly fine with people giving their opinion on games. I don't see anyone slandering (or libelling, as it would be here) a company - but I do see someone suggesting a financial motivation for another user's opinion without any evidence:

This is obviously someone from a rival company or a BigMoon employee that got fired.

And that's far more slanderous. Or rather libellous.

Also, your Report just now is the first we've heard of this - we're not omnipresent. That said, it's not like it's been going on ages and annoying several different users - the first of the messages you're complaining about was posted four hours ago, and it's one of two.


If you disagree with this user's opinion, I suggest you disagree, find evidence to counter their points, or don't engage. Dragging us into it while complaining about us and dropping insults on the user you disagree with... that's not going to fly.

 

[doblocruiser]

It's not like the dev is trying to hide, see here his comments on reddit:

This is not a game for everyone and we know it. It's hard. It's unforgiving. Well, boohoo. Professional pilots fail it in real life. 45% of them didn't even FINISH the rally. Regular trigger happy streamers won't be able to suceed at first either.

thx for the input, guys. and the support. as I said, we know we need to improve a lot of things. but our main goal has been achieved. to recreate the dakar rally 2018's stages, navigation and harsh, unforgiving environment. this was never meant to be fair. Have you seen Nani Roma's accident? That was the end of the rally for him and Alex, right there.

--

I didn't watch the stream. Where was he playing? Pc or consoles?

The most recent patch isn't available on consoles yet. And even on pc, we do know there's still work to be done. We created our own driving engine to support the 5 categories. We know there's a long way to go if you're aiming to compare it with other engines that have decades of experience.

We're aware of that.

But we're also aware that we did a good job as far as navigation and environments go. We still need improvements, yes. And we're working on them already.

That said, I think the are of to a very solid start with a solid base. It has been a very long time I have be that enthusiastic about a racing title and this simply gets a lot of stuff right from what it wants to represent.

 

[DustDriver]

So even the devs themselves say the physics aren't great at this moment. And most of the positive reviews on steam mention this as the biggest drawback of the game.
If you want to play the game pure for the navigation feel, go right ahead. If you want a game that combines it with good physics, wait.

 

[Pfei]

The game for some reason was released without the day one patch which includes physics tweaks so let's put the pitchforks away for now.

The handling is indeed atrocious but let's keep in mind this is a navigation simulator. It does a fantastic job recreating the Dakar difficulty. If the patch can get the physics only up to Baja Edge of Control level I will be happy.

 

[doblocruiser]

The game for some reason was released without the day one patch which includes physics tweaks so let's put the pitchforks away for now.

The handling is indeed atrocious but let's keep in mind this is a navigation simulator. It does a fantastic job recreating the Dakar difficulty. If the patch can get the physics only up to Baja Edge of Control level I will be happy.

Unfortunately they weren't able to get the patch certified in time. It should release in the next couple of days. Wouldn't surprise if it would launch this night since then the European release will be available.

I've been mostly posting on Twitter but here is the suspension movement of the vanilla version on a base PS4

 

[crooky369]

Why has no one asked the most important question. Does it have commentary from Carlton Kirby like in the Eurosport coverage of the real event? He’s a real marmite commentator but I can* listen to him speak bollocks for hours!

*See Eurosport’s Le Mans 24 hours coverage,

 

[SPhilli911]

I'm still interested in this, but I suppose it's best to wait for the patch to go live first. Still looks fun to me.

 

[Zipperface]

He report me because of i´m summary replay the reviews on steam? What a nice person. If a game is poor in my eyes, i can say that or?
Dakar 18 is a great simulator with great physics and great proper hardware support! Dont belive all of the negative Reviews! Its a top game, realy! 👍👍👍

https://steamcommunity.com/app/767390/reviews/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/767390/discussions/

 

[dirtyduckuk76]

Must admit im not impressed with the handling at all.

20 minutes was enough for me to wait for it to be patched. I hope they do get the handling sorted out but currently it's not enjoyable to me.

 

[Wolfe]

The physics should have been finalized before the game launched. I'm still somewhat interested but I guess I'm not buying a physical copy if there's no worthwhile security in having it.

I'll be waiting to see how it looks after the patch.

 

[ElGreco]

I tried to find the game at ps store but I can't find it. So I guess I have to get a hard copy for this one

 

[crooky369]

I’ll probably wait for the inevitable sale when the real Dakar really begins on January 1st. The patch should’ve been applied by then and an honest assessment of the game should be available.

 

[Retro_UK]

Bought this on Xbox One (X) and firstly, why oh why does it drive the fan in the console mental? I haven't played another game that seems to be pushing the fans so hard. I refuse to believe this game is pushing the machine harder than the likes of Forza, Assassins Creed etc.

As others have said, the physics are really poor right now. There is no feeling of weight to the vehicles at all - at least the ones I started with. And strange spin outs, seemingly for no reason whatsoever. In fact it reminds me of Isle of Man TT where the bike has a mind of its own at times.

They need to make the tutorial for navigation more user friendly as well. At the moment I can be driving along with the co-driver saying "keep going straight.....keep going straight.....keep straight, past these rocks.....we're lost" What???? The co-driver will carry on giving out the directions for quite a while after you have seemingly taken a wrong turn. Quite annoying.

I know they are trying to replicate the real thing, but perhaps a learner mode where it actually gives an indication on screen as you pass each waypoint, so that you can look at the notes and better understand where you are going.

I'm new to the whole Dakar racing so maybe it's just me. But I'm getting lost far too easily at the moment, even though I feel like I'm following the notes. And currently there is no way for me to understand what I'm doing wrong.

I hope the patch improves things though, as I do like what they are trying to do with this.

 

[Pfei]

Bought this on Xbox One (X) and firstly, why oh why does it drive the fan in the console mental? I haven't played another game that seems to be pushing the fans so hard. I refuse to believe this game is pushing the machine harder than the likes of Forza, Assassins Creed etc.

As others have said, the physics are really poor right now. There is no feeling of weight to the vehicles at all - at least the ones I started with. And strange spin outs, seemingly for no reason whatsoever. In fact it reminds me of Isle of Man TT where the bike has a mind of its own at times.

They need to make the tutorial for navigation more user friendly as well. At the moment I can be driving along with the co-driver saying "keep going straight.....keep going straight.....keep straight, past these rocks.....we're lost" What???? The co-driver will carry on giving out the directions for quite a while after you have seemingly taken a wrong turn. Quite annoying.

I know they are trying to replicate the real thing, but perhaps a learner mode where it actually gives an indication on screen as you pass each waypoint, so that you can look at the notes and better understand where you are going.

I'm new to the whole Dakar racing so maybe it's just me. But I'm getting lost far too easily at the moment, even though I feel like I'm following the notes. And currently there is no way for me to understand what I'm doing wrong.

I hope the patch improves things though, as I do like what they are trying to do with this.

PS4 Pro here and very little fan noise, unlike No Man's Sky which turns it into a jet engine.

I agree the training stages have horrible notes. Start a real rally and you will learn better there. It's tough but it works. We have an ex Dakar navigator in our WRC 7 league (VW in 2011 I think) and he has classified the navigation as 95% accurate. Just like everyone else, he also lambasted the physics. Let's hope that the day one patch arrives before the end of the week and fixes these things.

 

[doblocruiser]

The training stages work very well imho. The problem here is because it is the beginning of the game, one tends to go to fast and one gets a huge load of information to take in. Same for the first stages where you start. No roads and simply desert. This can make the learning curve rather steep. All I can say is slow down and slow down. After stage 4 you have more stages where you need to follow roads and here navigation is a bit easier to follow.

 

[Retro_UK]

Yeah, my big problem is with those first desert stages (in single player mode) and taking wrong turns. I keep making mistakes at the same points and getting lost. It would be great if after say, 3 or 4 times taking the wrong turn (at the same point), it flashed up on screen explaining where you should have gone instead so that you could compare that with the notes.

 

[Zipperface]

Maybe they can save themselves and their game with a huge physics patch, fast enough before they need to close the studio.
The damage is already very high.

funny & sad at the same time ->

 

[Lambob]

having watched some of this Zipper's video above, I must say, it's remarkable how this handling seems to be carbon copied from Microsofts' Motocross Madness from 1998 now 20 years ago.

 

[cjr3559]

While we wait for this wheel patch, I still want to know how controls outstide the vehicles will work. Can’t imagine controlling the driver with the wheel’s D-pad would work very well. Maybe pull out the controller for these instances?

Have a feeling this game might be best played with the controller which is fine I suppose.

 

[kembro]

Was super keen on this but like others will be waiting for the post patch review of the physics and ffb. The environment and lighting is looking good but it's all about the driving for me. Thinking about downloading Sprintires Mudrunner for some off-road driving until Dakar is sorted out.

 

[Wolfe]

Was super keen on this but like others will be waiting for the post patch review of the physics and ffb. The environment and lighting is looking good but it's all about the driving for me. Thinking about downloading Sprintires Mudrunner for some off-road driving until Dakar is sorted out.

Spintires: Mudrunner is excellent but FYI it's kind of more of a "work sim" than an offroad crawling sim. The emphasis is on the task of delivering lumber, though you're free to explore the trails and woods. It's a unique and engaging title, though -- somewhat RPG-like in how you must manage your vehicles, fuel consumption, and route planning.

 

[kembro]

Well I couldn't resist a South American adventure, after hearing the update was being released. Three days later and still waiting to be able to use a G29 on it. It's enjoyable just navigating to waypoints through interesting landscapes, or free roaming the maps. But they have some work to go with this one. Anyone else have it on PS4?

 

[Pfei]

Well I couldn't resist a South American adventure, after hearing the update was being released. Three days later and still waiting to be able to use a G29 on it. It's enjoyable just navigating to waypoints through interesting landscapes, or free roaming the maps. But they have some work to go with this one. Anyone else have it on PS4?

I have it on PS4 Pro. Loving it in spite of the bugs. Eager for the patch to give it a go on my G29

 

[doblocruiser]

I am on PS4 standard an I am absolutely loving it. Dailed steeringsensitivity back to 30 which improves handling. Eager for the patch as well. Have completed the 14 stages with the 3008 and the stages are absolutely a highlight. Beautiful long ones. Not the 15 to 20 km but 200 up to 900 km! Struggle with the treasure hunting but than one also recieves fixes in the upcoming patch.

Did I mention the landscapes already

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

I've had my first weekend on the game and it's really enjoyable. Navigation is challenging even when you're on tracks, the map is big enough that you can drive for minutes in totally the wrong direction without hitting an invisible wall or being reset. Even when you know where you're going you can't lose concentration, if you hit a lump in the road wrong you fall off and have an hour or so of repairs before you can get going again. In short it's a proper challenge (as a Dakar game should be). The stage lengths are scaled down so what it says is 1km isn't actually but they are all still long enough (aside from the prologue they're all roughly between about half an hour to just over an hour).

There are a couple of issues though, the physics could do with some work but they're not as bad as others have said (to be honest you're concentrating so much on everything else you don't really notice). It would also be nice to race against other classes, I raced on a bike which isn't so bad but I can imagine it getting lonely if you're on a quad/SxS with only 3 other. I had some frame-rate problems on Stage 13 but overall it's run much better than I expected from a small developer.

In short, if you enjoy the real Dakar you will probably enjoy the game. If you just like racing games maybe you will like it, maybe you won't.

 

[doblocruiser]

Patch is live! 37 GB