EA Sports WRC: General Discussion

[UKMikey]

It was so cold on Estonia stage 2 in career that the track completely disappeared and I had to drive underneath.

 

[doblocruiser]

I've been running back and forth between EASportsWRC and WRC Générations. Allthough EASportsWRC is better on audio and slightly better graphics I much prefer the more natural movement of generations. When you watch a replay the car is dancing, searching for grip while in EASportsWRC the car moves like a box. It's very noticable when switching between games. The cars in EASportsWRC seem to have more weight to them. On the other hand the use of the handbrake and regaining grip is better in generations. Stage design is a mix. Some préférable in EA and others in Kylotonn.

I'll definitely explore some more between the 2.

 

[Pfei]

I've been running back and forth between EASportsWRC and WRC Générations. Allthough EASportsWRC is better on audio and slightly better graphics I much prefer the more natural movement of generations. When you watch a replay the car is dancing, searching for grip while in EASportsWRC the car moves like a box. It's very noticable when switching between games. The cars in EASportsWRC seem to have more weight to them. On the other hand the use of the handbrake and regaining grip is better in generations. Stage design is a mix. Some préférable in EA and others in Kylotonn.

I'll definitely explore some more between the 2.

I find EA WRC to be a seriously uninspiring game. It has all the ingredients of a perfect rally game but doesn't execute them well. Bugs, performance issues, and bizarre design decisions have really turned me off the past couple weeks.

Maybe the lack of VR support is influencing my opinion, but I really have no desire to fire up EA WRC. I've been doing the VRC dailies in preparation for their first EA WRC season (I raced in their Generations league) and besides the modern cars I am finding the game to be a chore. The handling of the historic cars feels odd and I am disliking the tarmac physics more and more as I delve into the game.

Tonight I ran the VRC daily in Croatia with the WRC2 class. It was just horrible. Braking, acceleration, steering, car dynamics... it all feels horribly wrong. Nothing felt like I was even approaching driving a car like I feel in GT7, ACC, RBR, or WRC 10/Generations.

Yeah, I've never driven a rally car, but I drive a WRX in real life, I have done autocross and track days, I've driven a Ferrari 488 GTB on a racetrack, I lived in Argentina for 20 years and have done some extremely spirited and dangerous driving on real WRC stages, but I'm sorry: EA WRC just feels strange. Loose surface physics are intuitive enough for me to play and enjoy but the tarmac physics are horrendous. I now think that tarmac is even worse than the DiRT Rallies despite my initial positive impressions. The odd snap grip changes on tarmac just feel nothing like a real car. At least on loose surfaces I can live with it; it feels pretty OK.

The barren environments, low quality graphics, and performance issues are just combining themselves into a cocktail of "I don't want to play this game except for maintaining my VRC ranking and wait to see if the bugs and screen tearing are fixed".

I'm really disappointed and this game is getting deleted if the mid-December patch doesn't fix the bugs and performance issues.

I'm actually hoping that some studio makes a Sebastién Ogier Rally EVO because EA WRC just isn't doing it for me.

Hopefully we don't have to wait five years for this to be a good rally game like we had to wait with KT.

 

[JHop]

I find EA WRC to be a seriously uninspiring game. It has all the ingredients of a perfect rally game but doesn't execute them well. Bugs, performance issues, and bizarre design decisions have really turned me off the past couple weeks.

Maybe the lack of VR support is influencing my opinion, but I really have no desire to fire up EA WRC. I've been doing the VRC dailies in preparation for their first EA WRC season (I raced in their Generations league) and besides the modern cars I am finding the game to be a chore. The handling of the historic cars feels odd and I am disliking the tarmac physics more and more as I delve into the game.

Tonight I ran the VRC daily in Croatia with the WRC2 class. It was just horrible. Braking, acceleration, steering, car dynamics... it all feels horribly wrong. Nothing felt like I was even approaching driving a car like I feel in GT7, ACC, RBR, or WRC 10/Generations.

Yeah, I've never driven a rally car, but I drive a WRX in real life, I have done autocross and track days, I've driven a Ferrari 488 GTB on a racetrack, I lived in Argentina for 20 years and have done some extremely spirited and dangerous driving on real WRC stages, but I'm sorry: EA WRC just feels strange. Loose surface physics are intuitive enough for me to play and enjoy but the tarmac physics are horrendous. I now think that tarmac is even worse than the DiRT Rallies despite my initial positive impressions. The odd snap grip changes on tarmac just feel nothing like a real car. At least on loose surfaces I can live with it; it feels pretty OK.

The barren environments, low quality graphics, and performance issues are just combining themselves into a cocktail of "I don't want to play this game except for maintaining my VRC ranking and wait to see if the bugs and screen tearing are fixed".

I'm really disappointed and this game is getting deleted if the mid-December patch doesn't fix the bugs and performance issues.

I'm actually hoping that some studio makes a Sebastién Ogier Rally EVO because EA WRC just isn't doing it for me.

Hopefully we don't have to wait five years for this to be a good rally game like we had to wait with KT.

What's there to be sorry for.
These are all valid criticisms and opinions.

I'mma air it out too!

I've been trying to give WRC a chance to grow on me, but so far, not once have I had the feeling of "I gotta boot the game up and drive just for the funsies".
Instead it's just "Well I better practice so I don't completely lose the little touch I have".
There are moments (heh) when the game really shines, but at the end of the day, it still leaves a meh aftertaste.

I don't know if it's just me, but driving on the tarmac feels like i'm helming a tesla.
Most of the cars seem to lose a lot of momentum with just a slight lift of the throttle.

Anyway, I thought that maybe I had just lost interest in rallying, but then I picked up BeamNG in the weekend, and I have been having an absolute blast with its physics and driving model. To my surprise it even has VR support! ..sort of.

TLDR. To each their own

 

[doblocruiser]

I'm actually hoping that some studio makes a Sebastién Ogier Rally EVO because EA WRC just isn't doing it for me.

In terms of physics Milestone definitely has done the best job even with their 30fps where quiet a few where laughing about. Codies just can't get it right on multiple surfaces which is strange due all their expérience.

I must say though I am enjoying thé tarmac stages with my Stratos even with the quirks of the handling model.

Codies needs to sort it though because thé game can be so much better!

 

[MrCrynox]

I don't play it, I find it inferior to what came before. One of my biggest gripes is no vibration feedback from the Xbox triggers, it felt so good in DR2, informative yet for bizarre reason it's missing in WRC. I fired up DR2 Argentina and felt instantly satisfied, intense experience. Apart from all the other issues this game feels watered down imo. It's a shame because it has all the ingredients to be DR3, but it's not.

 

[m355y]

I think WRC Generations and WRC10 have the lowest lows (horrible difficulty spikes, no custom rally options, need to grind through WRC3/2, throttle bug etc) but the highest highs - when you find the difficulty sweet spot and find yourself in the middle of a long rally in an intense battle, with dynamic weather etc, the whole thing just comes so alive and the stage design is best, the environments seem so alive. That's better than EA WRC but its also better than DIRT Rally 2.0, seriously special.

EA has so much potential and does so much right, I think when they fix the AI bug then it's probably on balance going to be the best rally game out there so I'll keep playing it and enjoying it. So many cars, so many events and combinations, custom championships, endless possibilities to set up events, I'd class myself as more of a motorsport fan than a gaming fan, so for games like this I just want a sandbox experience and it does that.

But there's also part of me that feels disappointed that although, on balance, it edges out the alternatives through ticking more boxes than they do, it doesn't tick every box and DR2.0 and WRC10/Gen tick some some of the boxes it doesn't much better - especially the environments which feel so sterile. I'm all for authenticity but rallying is about the adventure and I think I'd take the KT 'not exactly accurate but alive and beautiful' approach over the Codemasters authenticity personally. Because at the end of the day it IS a game.

 

[Mr_D]

I'd take the KT 'not exactly accurate but alive and beautiful' approach over the Codemasters authenticity personally. Because at the end of the day it IS a game.

Absolutely. And I was allready afraid of it when a lot of the pre release material focussed on the "longest stages and most realistic" stages. Just give your track designers and artists the freedom to create something fun while inspired by the real thing. I think WRCG does it brilliantly but I will admit you're quickly running the same stages over and over.

Anyway I'm taking a bit of a break from rallying now and am back to track racing. For me it allways goes up and down throughout the year and I just spent a couple months playing WRCG, EA WRC, then back to DR1 and 2 and even some SLRE (and Art of Rally ) in between.

I will check out the next patch for EA WRC but only if it fixes the AI and the performance. I've put in a good few hours since release but without a challenge from the AI its unable to really grab me. The physics also dont feel as natural as DR2 to be honest (especially under braking) but I did find you can fix part of it with the tuning setup. So I'm ready to give it another chance.

Interestingly enough in DR2 I had the Ford Escort Cossworth with a rear toe of .5 degree inwards to keep the rear stable, while in EA WRC I had the same car with .5 degree OUTwards to try and get the rear out lol. I think thats saying a lot.

 

[Strittan]

Ok, so I picked this up yesterday as I’m a fan of the DiRT Rally series, but man, this is a technical disaster to put it mildly. Very dated visuals and yet it performs like ****, with some very noticeable frame drops and screen tears on my PS5.

I was not a fan of the EA deal and by the looks of things, rightly so.

Having said that, it’s still fun, immersive and I absolutely love the car selection. The tarmac physics still sucks though, lol.

 

[cjr3559]

One thing I’ve always found strange with CM rally titles since the ‘If in doubt, flat out’ days is how momentum heading into corners is just odd.

If you push just a bit too much heading into a corner for that extra second or simply just screw up, your car is attracted to the upcoming rock outcropping/building/ledge/guardrail/tree/unlucky spectator like a magnet. No braking force or evasive action makes much difference recovering. Almost like the game knows you’ve exceeded the ‘point of no return’ and punishes you accordingly.

“We’re caught in a tractor beam and it’s pulling us in.”

 

[m355y]

Oddly I’ve never felt that about the CM games - the KT ones though, definitely. You see that $#!€ing rock jutting out in front of you in Monte Carlo and you just know your car is an uncontrollable dead weight heading straight for it, and it’ll probably flip you onto your roof or launch you off a ravine, then slap you with a 5 second penalty to rub salt in the wound.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Oddly I’ve never felt that about the CM games - the KT ones though, definitely. You see that $#!€ing rock jutting out in front of you in Monte Carlo and you just know your car is an uncontrollable dead weight heading straight for it, and it’ll probably flip you onto your roof or launch you off a ravine, then slap you with a 5 second penalty to rub salt in the wound.

Was a nightmare in the KT games. Car would always do some weird stationary flip in the wrong physical direction.

 

[Mr_D]

Ok, so I picked this up yesterday as I’m a fan of the DiRT Rally series, but man, this is a technical disaster to put it mildly. Very dated visuals and yet it performs like ****, with some very noticeable frame drops and screen tears on my PS5.

I was not a fan of the EA deal and by the looks of things, rightly so.

Having said that, it’s still fun, immersive and I absolutely love the car selection. The tarmac physics still sucks though, lol.

Yeah it needs some more patches to realize it's potential unfortunately

 

[Strittan]

Just tried out the livery editor but quickly gave up as there’s no “replicate to other side” option. What a joke.

Oh, and back to the poor performance, it is really starting to get on my nerve. Some stages are barely playable. So much potential down the drain. Greed is killing games.

@Mr_D Sure, but what happened to releasing finished products? I mean, this is like alpha level. Are there no testers whatsoever? It’s disgusting, really.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Just tried out the livery editor but quickly gave up as there’s no “replicate to other side” option. What a joke.

Oh, and back to the poor performance, it is really starting to get on my nerve. Some stages are barely playable. So much potential down the drain. Greed is killing games.

@Mr_D Sure, but what happened to releasing finished products? I mean, this is like alpha level. Are there no testers whatsoever? It’s disgusting, really.

Come on, modern age of gaming, we don't get fully finished products anymore unless it's an obscure indie that has to hit the ground running.

You must be suffering from an extreme case of the stutters to feel it's alpha level though. I barely notice any in my play time now aside from the one section in Monte Carlo and one section in Croatia which are known and being worked on. I know I'm a very vocal advocate for the game so I'm sure I'll be accused of blind favouritism but like i say, you must have an exceptionally bad case to think it's as bad as you're saying.

Agree with the livery editor, needs a few more options but results can be rewarding with perseverance.

 

[m355y]

On the performance, I’ve found that the first time you go through a stage it’s sometimes a bit shaky but after that it’s ok - so you get into the flow then you hit a new stage you’ve not done in a certain country before and it’s a bit jarring because you think “ugh, I thought this was fixed but it’s stuttering again” - yes it is, but only because it’s the first time you’ve been through that stage. Maybe the shaders? Dunno, it’s weird. Also, having played WRC Generations again recently, that has the odd micro-stutter as well.

I feel like, at least on console, it’s perfectly playable these days and the state of the game on its initial release kinda opened the floodgates to people fixating on its performance (and I include myself in that - I was so festered about it at one point that I actually bought it on both Xbox and PS5 so I could compare them) where, at least after the possible shader thing plays out, it’s fine. It’s just the AI now. Although, I just played a full ten stage rally in Estonia (create championship) and it was fine, no drop off at all.

 

[xX Jojje Xx]

 

[MagpieRacer]

Thread in the support forum to list our issues with the AI.

Re: Inconsistent AI Times

I believe the main trigger has been when quitting and resuming mid event in championship or career. The ai can very suddenly become slow, 2 or 3 minutes per stage slower on any ai setting. Personally, I have not had the same issue whilst playing an event all the way through but others have...

answers.ea.com

 

[doblocruiser]

I've been running back and forth between EASportsWRC and WRC Générations. Allthough EASportsWRC is better on audio and slightly better graphics I much prefer the more natural movement of generations. When you watch a replay the car is dancing, searching for grip while in EASportsWRC the car moves like a box. It's very noticable when switching between games. The cars in EASportsWRC seem to have more weight to them. On the other hand the use of the handbrake and regaining grip is better in generations. Stage design is a mix. Some préférable in EA and others in Kylotonn.

I'll definitely explore some more between the 2.

Let me quote myself here..... The lighting in EASportsWRC is by far ahead of the other 2 games and if EA gets the weatherconditions rights, this game can look stunning at times. Carmodels and sounds are superb too in the latest WRC installment. Concerning the feel on tarmac that is another story. SLRE beats WRCG and those 2 beat EAWRC. Also the replay system is a lot better in SLRE and you get a lot more a TV coverage feel. WRCG does a pretty good job too. EAWRC is still pretty poor with some great camera angles and other that completely ruin the experience. During the replays you notice as well the "boxy" movement of the cars, there is very little suspension travel and it is literally a "box" skidding around". If you watch SLRE or WRCG, the cars fight a lot more the track visually which makes it attractive to watch. Captured some footage but due to my poor connection it needs to wait.

Very short vidéo showing each game on a snippet of Monte.

 

[AstroVex]

Hey guys! Could anyone explain to me what exactly does the "elevation info" of a stage represents? I'm a bit confused...

Is it the total elevation traveled up or down from start to finish? Or is it simply the altitude at which the stage is held?

Like, how would the game calculate a stage that drops 1000m in the first part and then goes back up 1000m to finish? Would it count as 0m of elevation, 1000m or 2000m? I tried searching but couldn't find any relevant info... Thanks guys, keep on shredding!

 

[Pfei]

Hey guys! Could anyone explain to me what exactly does the "elevation info" of a stage represents? I'm a bit confused...

Is it the total elevation traveled up or down from start to finish? Or is it simply the altitude at which the stage is held?

Like, how would the game calculate a stage that drops 1000m in the first part and then goes back up 1000m to finish? Would it count as 0m of elevation, 1000m or 2000m? I tried searching but couldn't find any relevant info... Thanks guys, keep on shredding!

It's the elevation above sea level of the start line.

 

[AstroVex]

It's the elevation above sea level of the start line.

Thanks for the quick reply. Do cars react differently in-game depending on the altitude level? Could it affect the engine or even the tires? It would be amazing detail but I doubt the devs went that far.

 

[Pfei]

Thanks for the quick reply. Do cars react differently in-game depending on the altitude level? Could it affect the engine or even the tires? It would be amazing detail but I doubt the devs went that far.

Not that I am aware of, no. I haven't tested it nor heard anything about it elsewhere. Mexico's altitude in real life is a huge issue for the cars so if you want to test, try it there, vs Sardinia maybe. I doubt it, though.

 

[Pfei]

If anyone needed proof that we are mere beta testers for this game, except that we paid for it instead of getting paid, here it is:



EA is asking people on Reddit to report their AI experiences on the EA bug report forums.

I am not dissing @PJTierney here. He is just the messenger and I thank him for being the guy who puts his face in front of thousands of disgruntled gamers, and thanks for getting the word out. He has nothing to do with play testing nor bugfixes.

The major performance problems on PS5 caused me to get a DNF in the VRC rally. Please, everyone, go to the EA forums and report, or answer or agree to, any issues you have. This game is in a sorry state and needs to be fixed.

Unfortunately it seems that if us beta testers don't tell EA what is wrong with the game then nothing will be fixed, because apparently they can't test it themselves in spite of the hundreds of thousands of complaints all over Steam, YouTube, Facebook, etc... explaining EXACTLY what the issues are.

 

[MagpieRacer]

If anyone needed proof that we are mere beta testers for this game, except that we paid for it instead of getting paid, here it is:



EA is asking people on Reddit to report their AI experiences on the EA bug report forums.

I am not dissing @PJTierney here. He is just the messenger and I thank him for being the guy who puts his face in front of thousands of disgruntled gamers, and thanks for getting the word out. He has nothing to do with play testing nor bugfixes.

The major performance problems on PS5 caused me to get a DNF in the VRC rally. Please, everyone, go to the EA forums and report, or answer or agree to, any issues you have. This game is in a sorry state and needs to be fixed.

Unfortunately it seems that if us beta testers don't tell EA what is wrong with the game then nothing will be fixed, because apparently they can't test it themselves in spite of the hundreds of thousands of complaints all over Steam, YouTube, Facebook, etc... explaining EXACTLY what the issues are.

What I’m seeing with the AI support thread on the forum is that they’re struggling to recreate the issue themselves, hence it existed and hasn’t been fixed yet. It doesn’t appear to be linked to a specific set of criteria, it just happens. Hence they’ve opened up that thread for people to input exactly what and when their AI issue is happening.

So I disagree with the beta test comment, and support the theory that they simply cannot pin down/recreate the issue. Which is totally plausible as the AI issue in particular isn’t affecting everyone.

 

[m355y]

I find it slightly worrying that they can’t replicate this issue - but then again I’ve only had it like once and every time I run an 8-9 stage rally and play it through I’ve never had it happen. I’ve never saved and quit in the middle though, always in one sitting. I think the one time I noticed it I loaded back up something I’d started days before, and that was pre-patch. And I never play career mode.

 

[PJTierney]

If anyone needed proof that we are mere beta testers for this game, except that we paid for it instead of getting paid, here it is:



EA is asking people on Reddit to report their AI experiences on the EA bug report forums.

I am not dissing @PJTierney here. He is just the messenger and I thank him for being the guy who puts his face in front of thousands of disgruntled gamers, and thanks for getting the word out. He has nothing to do with play testing nor bugfixes.

The major performance problems on PS5 caused me to get a DNF in the VRC rally. Please, everyone, go to the EA forums and report, or answer or agree to, any issues you have. This game is in a sorry state and needs to be fixed.

Unfortunately it seems that if us beta testers don't tell EA what is wrong with the game then nothing will be fixed, because apparently they can't test it themselves in spite of the hundreds of thousands of complaints all over Steam, YouTube, Facebook, etc... explaining EXACTLY what the issues are.

You are not considered beta testers.

For reasons I can’t go into (because it reveals how the AI works), this AI bug is really hard to diagnose and more information is being requested in order to nail down the cause and fix it.

Or you can just moan about it and it’ll take longer to find a fix, your call.

 

[Strittan]

You are not considered beta testers.

For reasons I can’t go into (because it reveals how the AI works), this AI bug is really hard to diagnose and more information is being requested in order to nail down the cause and fix it.

Or you can just moan about it and it’ll take longer to find a fix, your call.

Fair enough.

Now, how about the performance issues? Are they also really hard to diagnose? And is it really hard to add a “copy to other side” option to the livery editor? No disrespect, just curious.

There’s a lot of things this game does incredibly well, which makes the issues all the more frustrating/annoying.

I did some time trials in Kenya with the Ascona 400 earlier today, and the satisfaction I got from nailing a hairpin, hearing the incredible engine noise and seeing the dust cloud behind me still being in the air since the start of the stage is nothing short of amazing.

 

[m355y]

They’ve done a LOT to fix the performance and did it incredibly quickly.

As the players obviously all we want to hear is “we know what’s going on, it’ll be fixed in the next patch” but I guess sometimes life just isn’t quite that easy.

 

[PJTierney]

Now, how about the performance issues? Are they also really hard to diagnose? And is it really hard to add a “copy to other side” option to the livery editor? No disrespect, just curious.

Some performance issues are tougher to resolve than others.

Further improvements to livery editor are being considered and potentially being worked on.