Super Unofficial DiRT 4 Thread (PS4/XB1/PC)

[prisonermonkeys]

If you watch the Ai indicator on the HUD you'll see some strange time spikes too. Sometimes I'm right on level with them and then in certain sectors they whizz ahead at an impossible rate...just to fall back again the following sector after that

That's probably more to do with you than the AI. The indicator passes through each sector at a fixed rate based on average speed to match the sector time - but it doesn't take individual corners and hazards into account. I've noticed it most often going through water splashes; they slow you right down, but the AI marker continues uninterrupted.

Also, the marker is the class leader, who is not necessarily the stage winner.

 

[Brend]

That's probably more to do with you than the AI. The indicator passes through each sector at a fixed rate based on average speed to match the sector time - but it doesn't take individual corners and hazards into account. I've noticed it most often going through water splashes; they slow you right down, but the AI marker continues uninterrupted.

Also, the marker is the class leader, who is not necessarily the stage winner.

That would make sense. 👍

I've had the marker break a few times on me too by not resetting after the last stage. Don't know if anyone else has encountered that though.

 

[Wolfe]

I solved the mystery of the difficulty spike I talked about earlier. It isn't that career event, it's the E30 M3. I had the same problem in the Sealed Surface championship, finishing 2nd.

I finally got my hands on a clean Stratos from the classifieds, so I re-ran the Sealed Surface championship with that, trying a new variable. I blasted away from the NPCs like a rocket, not so much because I was faster, but because their times slouched to the bottom of the online leaderboard if they were on it, where you would expect them to be! On the same difficulty setting (Competent), the opponents I could only just match in the M3 were now 60+ seconds behind me on every stage.

I did improve some of my times, but not by that much. The Stratos seems to be a better car for Spain; it's more arcade-ish, while the M3 is more sim-ish and suffers for it by comparison. The Stratos is almost completely planted and inspires total confidence, though it exhibits a little bit of the on-throttle understeer the A110 lacked.

Once you tune out the M3's snap-oversteer on Spain's tarmac it offers a more authentic driving experience, and I'll still enjoy it for that, but why does selecting it jack up the difficulty of the NPCs??

At least now I can go back to a higher difficulty level and be aware that the game will give me a hard time in the M3.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

the game will give me a hard time in the M3

The M3 is just a terrible car.

 

[TRGTspecialist]

As much as I'm absolutely loving the game I've just identified one giant cockup Codies have made.

Won the Global Rally Series, which unlocked the fearless difficulty preset, and with it the 'brutal' AI difficulty. I have no idea why Codies thought locking away an AI difficulty would be a smart idea, but no matter, I've got it now.

By default the fearless preset has every assist (+ restarts/auto repair) turned off, unsurprisingly - including exterior cameras, which I use (bonnet cam). No problem, I'll just turn that back on and take the hit in difficulty bonus.........but when you do that, it takes you back down to Champion (Custom) difficulty. And at Champion, the Brutal AI is LOCKED AWAY.

So you can't have Brutal AI without setting Fearless, and you can't change ANYTHING without losing Fearless. This is either a bug or beyond stupid - there is no rhyme or reason why you should be forced into a specific set of settings you don't want just to get appropriate AI. @GOTMAXPOWER I know you won't like to hear this, since you use chase cam and have a bigger need for better AI than me!

I'm hoping it's a bug actually because you can't even change things like Clutch Override, or your Manual Sequential transmission to Manual H-Pattern without it taking you back to Champion (Custom).

Right, off I go to the Codies forums to beg.......

 

[LumpiestFish]

What are the highest level sponsors people have been approached by?

 

[Wolfe]

The M3 is just a terrible car.

Uh, yep, that sure does explain why the NPCs can suddenly be so fast on the lowest difficulty setting that only the ~20 best players in the world who have driven that championship could stand a chance to win...

It's a glitch. The M3 isn't any worse in Spain than some of the other 2WD cars I've tried out, and it's quite enjoyable on gravel, one of the only cars that can drift somewhat naturally as if this game is the simulator it's supposed to be.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I need to think up a good name for my team. It's surprisingly difficult in fifteen characters or less.

 

[Sureboss]

Jolyon's Great

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Jolyon's Great

I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense. It's not a name, and gramatically speaking it's a mess. But more importantly, it's a complete oxymoron, like "bittersweet" or "Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn".

 

[Pfei]

That is the whole point of it. You have to manage the car over the finish and how it's placed. In DR you could take every finish at full speed knowing there would be no consequences.

I like it

I am not complaining about having to control the car after crossing the line. That's a fantastic addition requiring you to keep normal rally pace instead of flying over the finish as in DR.

What is ridiculous and unrealistic is when the finish line is, for example, at the end of a straight right where a 2 or 3 turn begins. It requires you to brake way before the finish line. I have never seen a finish line at the beginning of a curve in real life. It's dangerous. And as video game players we have to decide between losing time on the leaderboard and finishing smoothly or wrecking our car and logging a proper time. We also don't know if the AI respect that upcoming turn or not.

The algo needs to be tweaked to put the finishes at least 50m before the next turn as in real life.

 

[Sureboss]

I'm sorry, but that doesn't make sense. It's not a name, and gramatically speaking it's a mess. But more importantly, it's a complete oxymoron, like "bittersweet" or "Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn".

Or like, "The funds with which Corbyn is going to pay for everything"

But I think it's a highly appropriate team name for you, this one might be another.

Jolyon for WDC

Edit: I reckon if you set up a team name with Jolyon in it'd instantly knock a second off every stage time you set

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I reckon if you set up a team name with Jolyon in it'd instantly knock a second off every stage time you set

Which naturally begs the question: what happens if you put "Meeke" in the team name?

I'm a little scared at what might happen ...

 

[Sureboss]

Put Maldonado in and the game turns in to Destruction Derby from the PSX.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Put Maldonado in and the game turns in to Destruction Derby from the PSX.

I think the game calls that "Land Rush".

 

[ScandyFlik]

Saw a post on Reddit regarding the founders event for the Hyundai r5 - looks like if you took part you get an exclusive livery

 

[BionicDerp]

I need to think up a good name for my team. It's surprisingly difficult in fifteen characters or less.

Mine's Maritime Mania.

 

[TRGTspecialist]

Saw a post on Reddit regarding the founders event for the Hyundai r5 - looks like if you took part you get an exclusive livery

Not a huge fan of that livery. Which is actually good because I clean forgot to do that event

 

[Manuelos]

What is ridiculous and unrealistic is when the finish line is, for example, at the end of a straight right where a 2 or 3 turn begins.

That's quite common here in Belgium. I can think of 4 stages were the FF is exactly in the corner/junction.
Just skip to the end of the video's. In the first video there were a lot of drivers who just went full throttle up until the finish and used the field as some sort of "runoff area".

 

[WhoosierGirl]

Saw a post on Reddit regarding the founders event for the Hyundai r5 - looks like if you took part you get an exclusive livery

I'm still confused about the Hyundai R5, is it supposed to be free in the pre-order bonus or just available for purchase in-game?..confused.

 

[Pfei]

I'm still confused about the Hyundai R5, is it supposed to be free in the pre-order bonus or just available for purchase in-game?..confused.

It's available in-game but if you want one for your team you have to purchase one with credits.

 

[WhoosierGirl]

It's available in-game but if you want one for your team you have to purchase one with credits.

Thank you, I had one person online tell me they received it free with their pre-order and another person tell me it was in their game for purchse with no pre-order. I just didn't want to purchase it needlessly if all I needed to do was re-downloaded the game or something buggy like that.

 

[FT-1]

Classified cars with B grade parts have me buying cars I didn't even need at the time. Here's an Ibiza RX I picked up, only been raced once:

 

[ProjectWHaT]

What's the best way to grind money? I know the competitive things get you a lot but you have to wait for the event to end to get the money (which means a day or even a month).

 

[Wolfe]

I solved the mystery of the difficulty spike I talked about earlier. It isn't that career event, it's the E30 M3...

Last update on this; I'm not the only one encountering the problem. Hopefully it will be fixed with a software update.

"Don't Touch Career Mode, AI is Borked in today's v1.03 update"
"Tough AI: RWD vs 4wd"

 

[FT-1]

What's the best way to grind money? I know the competitive things get you a lot but you have to wait for the event to end to get the money (which means a day or even a month).

The first RallyX event in career mode pays out over 200,000 credits for three very short events (six races in total).

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Saw a post on Reddit regarding the founders event for the Hyundai r5 - looks like if you took part you get an exclusive livery

👍

 

[Techy]

 

[TRGTspecialist]

As much as I'm absolutely loving the game I've just identified one giant cockup Codies have made.

Won the Global Rally Series, which unlocked the fearless difficulty preset, and with it the 'brutal' AI difficulty. I have no idea why Codies thought locking away an AI difficulty would be a smart idea, but no matter, I've got it now.

By default the fearless preset has every assist (+ restarts/auto repair) turned off, unsurprisingly - including exterior cameras, which I use (bonnet cam). No problem, I'll just turn that back on and take the hit in difficulty bonus.........but when you do that, it takes you back down to Champion (Custom) difficulty. And at Champion, the Brutal AI is LOCKED AWAY.

So you can't have Brutal AI without setting Fearless, and you can't change ANYTHING without losing Fearless. This is either a bug or beyond stupid - there is no rhyme or reason why you should be forced into a specific set of settings you don't want just to get appropriate AI. @GOTMAXPOWER I know you won't like to hear this, since you use chase cam and have a bigger need for better AI than me!

I'm hoping it's a bug actually because you can't even change things like Clutch Override, or your Manual Sequential transmission to Manual H-Pattern without it taking you back to Champion (Custom).

Right, off I go to the Codies forums to beg.......

Got a reply from Paul. It is by design but he acknowledges the grievances. So hopefully this will change, although I take it from his wording that it isn't guaranteed.

Using cockpit/dashboard view isn't as bad as I remembered though, it's quite nice actually. Except for the crosskarts.......they're great fun to drive, but piloting them with Brutal AI buzzing round you, with a porthole for a view........"Be Fearless" indeed

Edit: This post from Paul is even clearer:

Yep, actually I think we are looking to up the difficulty within the levels rather than adding new ones. We may uncouple Brutal at the same time but that is TBD.

 

[Wolfe]

I acknowledge this, but it hasn't undermined my experience very much. I experience déjà vu from corners and natural or man-made features in real life; patterns are a thing, and landscaping practices and DOT/MOT regulations contribute to that.

It helps that the tiles are placed upon a map with larger topographical features, so the repetition can appear man-made. Thanks to the broader surrounding scenery, I always feel like I'm getting somewhere, and a familiar pacenote call doesn't always turn out like I expect.

The things that stand out the most are junctions, certain hazards (like the water crossing in Michigan), or the most glaringly obvious roadside decorations. There's no excusing the lack of variety there. I also wish Codemasters had taken the time to incorporate mixed-surface stages into the system, perhaps a "mixed/single-surface" flag for the whole stage and then a chance of switching surfaces at a junction.

Your Stage might seem formulaic with time, but it's a hell of a lot better than a set of stages that merely recycles one road and an alternative fork forwards, backwards, and in chunks, IMO.