Dirt Rally 2.0

[spatular]

So it’s a rally game, it’s very much like the first dirt rally, it’s pretty difficult, mainly because of the narrow roads.

 

Was as thinking maybe it’s a bit easier than the first game, then did a stage in a rear wheel drive car, in the rain at night. It’s still really hard.

 

the handling seems really good, bit better than the first one maybe, but I’ve only played with the slow cars and a rear wheel drive car, which I didn’t use much in the first game so hard to tell yet.

 

Initial impressions of the pace notes are pretty good.

 

the force feedback is alright, not great, the fun rumbling effects are missing it seems, but the important grip/handling info is there, if a bit weak. Hopefully this will be improved.

 

Not played either game much with a pad but the first seemed really difficult, this seemed much better.

 

Graphics are are pretty good, even on my old pc, nice foliage, nice weather effects.

 

On one hand I’m not too keen on the 2.0 thing, but on the other hand it’s a nod to one of the best games ever so I’ll let it pass.

 

theres also Rallycross, I sort of don’t care about this so will only try it when I’ve run out of rallying to do.

 

so yeah it’s really good, if you like sort of realistic rally games with narrow tracks that are really difficult, this is the game for you!

 

oh yeah it’s out Tuesday unless you buy the fancy version, I sort of don’t like it when they do that, and wasn’t really bothered about getting it early, but wanted the souped up dirt 1 dlc tracksthat come with it, and the price for the pc version was not so bad.

[mfnick]

Good to read sone initial thoughts, disappointing to hear about the rumble a feedback effects being.toned down though on the wheel. 

 

RallyCross is a weird one. I fucking love watching it, moreso than proper rallying these days but in game form I just don’t enjoy it as much. I’m sure they’ll be fine though. 

[spatular]

yeah i'm trying to remember how the force feedback was in the original, it's probably pretty similar tbh, it's not bad, just missing some of the more fun effects, the important stuff is there anway.

 

i had a go of the rallycross because it was a daily challenge, i really need a map in that mode, or do a quick practice first because i don't know where the track goes, they're pretty short so easy to learn though i guess.

 

and there are unfortunately problems with the single player career mode struff needing connection to racenet to work, and the connection to racenet seems a bit flakey

 

also wanted to post this, just because

 

 

[mfnick]

Just been reading about the always online stuff even in SP career mode today. Why do they do it?!?! It just angers everyone for no good reason. Arseholes. They’ve made some really shitty decisions this time which is really disappointing when the first was one of those instances where you could tell it was a game made for the fans. 

 

The force feedback stuff sounds like its just broken or not implemented properly  too from what ive read. There’s complaints all over Reddit and Twitter about it. - only read this 2nd hand as I don’t use those sites but along with your thoughts I’d say it’s probably right. Bet it’ll be sorted in a later patch, rubbish though when I want to use my wheel as soon as I get it not a few weeks/months depending when they sort it. 

[spatular]

Yeah totally agree about the always online.

 

just want to clarify my thoughts on the ffb though, I don’t think it’s broken, the important effects that help you catch slides and stuff like that are there and working fine. Could it be better, yes it could and probably should be, and yeah it does seem like some effect are missing (but much less important ones, imo anyway, and I can’t remember if the first one had these either), but how it is now wouldn’t put me off playing it with a wheel at all, it’s great fun. Imo anyway. I’ve not read any of this reddit/twitter stuff.

[spatular]

^ sorry for being a bit defensive there, what i'm saying probably does backup the ffb complaints, but i guess what i'm also saying is that isn't affecting my enjoyment of the game. the more i play it the more i like it, the handling is great, quite a step up over the first game i think. there's some wider dirt stages too so you can throw the car around a bit which is great fun. of course it's totally infuriatingly difficult too, the tarmac stage in the rain is nuts, i had to wack the abs on max and was still struggling. the connecting to racenet was loads better today too so maybe they've fixed that.

[mfnick]

The Colin McRae Flat Out pack is out now for people who are interested! It’s got me back in, I’m loving it. The scenarios are great to play through so far. Up to his Legacy RS days. 

 

Im rusty as fuck though, used to have assists off and do ok on last one. I did ok but didn’t win all the time (in fact this is one of the only racing games where I don’t feel I have to get 1st in every race). But I’ve had to put it on very easy and all assist on full I’m that bad at the minute ! It’s mad hard. But this does mean when you finally do nail a corner or section it’s more satisfying than just about any other racer. Like in my vid, it may not look like much but the way I took that corner felt good enough to actually shout out “FUCK YES!!” And save the clip. That narrow little bridge is far easier to screw up than it looks. Anyone who’s played it will know. 

& It’s genuinely frightening when you’re going fast in this game compared to lots of other games, 

 

I do wish it allowed you to rewind a couple of times though when you put the difficulty down. Some of these tracks can take well over 10 minutes and I’ve stuffed it in last section a couple of times. Really miss that assist on this, although I understand why it’s not there, but still if I’m playing on very easy I think the option should be there. 

[spatular]

thanks for the heads up on the dlc. i was back playing this at the weekend to finally finish up a championship i'd been doing for ages - they maybe do take a bit too long. and play some of the dlc stages i hadn't played yet. did ok at the weekend as i was using a modern wrc car which has great handling/suspension - but in the McRae dlc in the escort i'm all over the place - also had to turn the difficulty down.

[mfnick]

That Escort is a MF’er. Defo got a bit easier when I got to the Legacy RS scenarios. The Scotland tracks are probably the hardest in the game too & they’re the first ones you play in the DLC which doesn’t help. 

[mfnick]

Did my first race with the GC8 Impreza, god its so a jump in quality. It’s faster and handles loads better, managed to out difficulty up a bit since starting the Impreza challenges. Best car ever*
 

*No bias because I own one, fell in love with rallying because of Colin in the Impreza or because of the original Colin McRae Rally on Ps1. Honest. 

[Sly Reflex]

I started this today. I like it, but fuck me it's really hard.

 

One thing I really don't like is that damage cars stay damaged even between rally's. The Lancia they give you at the start has free repairs, but all the other cars are costly to ding and that shit is permanent. I get it's to force you to drive a bit more cautiously, but it's a real punishment for no other real reason other than fuck you for crashing.

 

I did some private streaming in the discord to the guy that was responsible for making me install it, he said he'd never seen the Lancia get that quick before, I think I was doing about 180 at one point, the pace notes are really accurate, but I wish they'd warn about drops instead of just mentioning a crest since this could mean anything without more data.

 

I managed a win in New England though, one leg was in complete darkness and I did it without lights, since I fucked them up. Just call me Colin. ?

 

[Jimboxy]

1 hour ago, Sly Reflex said:

Just call me Colin. ?

 

Helicopter sim next?

[Sly Reflex]

Maybe I can 2 degrees of separation and do NBA2K after?

[Sly Reflex]

It's sort of clicked now. I'm getting through rallies with damage that you'd expect from rallying when pushing hard. I'm easily covering my damage in the Lancia and so far I've come first in all the cups so far, although the one in Australia was only by 2 seconds overall since I drove moderately around crests since the drops really do fuck you up, both in time and damage. I like that being cautious is a thing instead of just going all out.

 

I just want to talk about the dark stages for a moment. They're properly alarming in a way that makes you tense up every single fibre of your being. It's like being subject to constant near misses in a real car. The use of light in this game is used to excellent effect, when you're in those really narrow dirt roads with trees lining either side and everything is bright it feels somehow even more claustrophobic than it does in day, the contrast between this when you open out into a plain and there's nothing for your lights to hit so the intensity of the beams drops significantly.

 

When you turn the lights off in these area's, it becomes really apparent how important casting lumens in front of you is. What becomes even more apparent on how beneficial the lights are to you getting through unscathed is when they break. I had a rally in Poland where everything was going gravy, I was out in front by a mile and going into the last 2 legs they were at early evening and just after midnight. I had a repair before these so made sure the lights got some love and smashed my way through the first stage. Just drove like a complete maniac, felt as comfortable as I could have in these dark stages. Second and final stage I've got my foot to the floor again, until it happens. Big jump on a nice straight-ish bit of track and as soon as I hit the ground the lights went out. For the second half of the stage they constantly flickered in and out. Trying to control my panic when this happened was such a test of concentration. There was one moment where they went dim and then turned off completely for about a section, I knew slowing down wasn't an option so I'm just trying my best to keep it together.

 

This was only made worse by the fact I was driving through areas that would have spotlights set up, so I'd get my dark vision reset each time I sped past one of these occurrences. Even though I'm blinded I still manage to keep eating into the best sector times. With a few more sections to go suddenly the headlights beam back into life, flickering back and forth between on and off, between full and dim, it took a few rotation of this before they finally settled down into being always on, allowing me to really smash through the last part unimpaired. It felt amazing, exhilarating even.

 

Had a similar thing happen in the Australian Rally I won by 2 seconds. I was rubbing shoulders with the top 3 when on the last stage which was dark I made a mistake, overshot a corner by a tiny bit and smashed into a road marker. Usually it'd have been fine, but this resilient little bitch popped both my headlights, so I was left to make the last half of the final race needing to keep ahead of one guy without any lights. The crests and banks are horrific at the best of times, but in a lightless race to the end where the canopy of the surrounding trees kills any iota of natural light getting through, well lets just say my arse spent a good few minutes chewing on my underpants. I managed a 6 second lead there, without it I would have fallen because of my mistakes in the previous days. I've never been so eager to check the leaderboards to make sure I outpaced the guy that had an edge on me.

 

Such a little touch as well, but I love how the co-drivers voice wobbles when you have a close call or have an accident, as well as him complaining about the state of the car if you have a ding. The authenticity of his mouth clicks, pops and inhales are something I'd have probably removed, but they make complete sense here and add an air of authenticity.

 

I played some of the historical part of the game as well that allows you to go over the different sections of rally history, starting off with stock road vehicles which are unanimous with the sport. I've only done the Mini one so far, but my god can you chuck that little thing about. You can see what it dominated back in its day, the tiny wheelbase and for a song repairs really showcase what a fucking beast it was. I am really looking forwards to spending more time with these modes and getting to know more of these legends more intimately.

 

I think the biggest surprise for me is how few people have actually played this. Only 2 people here and 6 people on my steam, 3 of which bounced off it pretty hard. I can sort of understand it, because it's really fucking difficult, and the RWD cars it gives you along with the FWD Lancia Fulvia at the start are such a handful that just getting around one corner before wiping out is almost certainly going to happen. I took the A110 out and it's like trying to fuck a pig covered in olive oil, but when you tame it as much as you can it's an ungodly amount of satisfaction. I get the same feelings with this that I did all those years back when I originally played Gran Turismo and hated it so much because the demo had a Corvette that spent more time doing donuts than going where it should be. I was in the train of thought that everything had to be like Ridge Racer, just hold go and the game will do the rest, but a little time investment pays dividends with games like this. Same as it did with GT. Same as it did with Colin McRae. Those games that dared to be a bit different and drive a more simulated path roads all led to the abundance of sims we have now.

 

Anyway, this game. It's a good one. Would recommend, especially if you've got the patience to understand what it's asking of you. It feels like a proper return to form after a few questionable themed games.

[Sly Reflex]

Made a bit of progress here.

 

Been doing the historic rally stuff. Just fell short beating the challenge with the Mini, so went back in with the Fulvia and managed to hit the requirements. That wet section makes you really up against it, you're just constantly chasing after the wet run since there's no way to really set a good time there.

 

After this I went for the historic RWD. Fuck me this is so hard. Tried with the Kadet, the A110 and the Abarth. My issue is the RWD are such a handful thT I dropped the difficulty right down and then I'm not really pushed in the car, I can drive it at my leisure and get used to it and still put a fight up at the top of the table. It's really asking the impossible so I don't mind cheating it a bit here, each time I win I knock the difficulty up a bit until I find a spot that's comfortable without being trampled. Eventually I tamed the Abarth somewhat, but it's not a convincing ability to get it around the track, but at last I'm not fucking stacking it as much as I was when I started out.

 

Then I went up and had to pick the Stratos. Fuck me what a beast this is, it makes the other RWD stuff look like toys. The bad thing is it's so wide that you've constantly hitting the rear on the banks, but the good thing is it's so wide that it doesn't flip when it happens like it would with a narrower car. I've got the leading position in the rally I'm in, but this could all change since the Stratos is such a handful that I could ruin it at any moment.

 

The sound in this game is phenomenal, when the Stratos is roaring and you get those areas where the level encloses you on either side you can really appreciate how much work they put into sampling the noises and how they interact with the tracks you are on.

 

I think what will be interesting is if going back down to the RWD after the Stratos if I will be able to handle it more, or rather be able to push it a bit more and get better overall.

 

Really it reminds me a lot of Gran Turismo and trying to tame the TVR Griffith and Dodge Viper on those final license tests. You put a wheel wrong and you're fucked, you spin and you're fucked. You take a corner poorly and you're fucked. But eventually you start being able to avoid these pitfalls without really thinking about it. It's a really odd feeling, like when you're playing Guitar Hero and you start playing notes without making mistakes. It feels a bit trail and error sometimes and bad decision can make it worse, but I'm still loving it.

[Sly Reflex]

Still poking away at this. Just did the 80's legends FWD, which was a nice return to being able to put my foot down to the metal and just gun through everything. I did do a jump on one level 1 section from the end where I landed and instantly blew a tyre which made me shit my pants. I couldn't stop to repair as I didn't have the time, so decided to limp to the end and still managed a win, albeit one that would have been a lot easier if I hadn't soared through the sky and smashed that poor golf into the ground.

 

Speaking of the Golf, I really like the headlights on it, since they damage individually, some cars you can hit the track furniture that lines the side of the roads and it can send you into a blackout, you get a bit of a reprieve here as the Golf has 4 lights and then the big cluster you get for night rallies as well. Would recommend the Golf over the Pug for this alone.

 

Next up is the 80's RWD and then for some mad reason my first introduction to 4WD is Group B. That's going to be fun, since they go quick, quicker, quicket and then stop as you wrap them around a tree.

[Sly Reflex]

Started the 80's RWD. I think I might bump the difficulty up a few points, the RWD stuff isn't causing me as much misery as it was when I first started out, I'm certainly not feeling as out of control when I was with the A110, Abarth and Stratos as I am with the Renault 5. Sure it can still be a bit hairy at times but I seem to be better at predicting when it's going to go wild and get it under control before it bites me in the arse.

 

One thing I am noticing is I don't really like any of the tarmac stuff, It feels super weird going from a loose surface to an asphalt one, the instant grip feels nice but then it evens out and just feels kind of meh. The Spain level is my least favourite for this as there's little point in sliding the car aside from here and there from what I've seen, just take the racing line and you're good, any slides just kills your time. I'd rather these levels be like the Corsica Rallies from Colin McRae 2.0, with their endless grip, driving on the brakes and turning at the last opportunity.

 

When I think back to all the other rally games I've played it makes me jones for some of those levels. I've not played all the world stages here, but it feels like everything is mostly narrow as fuck. I can't remember which games they were from, but having something like the Australian Rally where the roads were wide as fuck and the run off areas were huge are missing, I've not seen anything like this where you're in top gear all of the time going sideways. Nor have I seen anything like Greece where it's all hill climbing on dust roads covered in debris and other obstacles. Sure, the locale variations are very different, but from a road aspect it's almost like for like from the stages I've played. Maybe this will change as I delve further into the game, or at  least I hope it will.

 

Saying that, I am noticing that I'm not as worried at the narrow roads at all, in fact I think some of them are really wide now I've gotten used to the game. Sure there's bits where it's about as wide as the car, but as long as you're in control those banks, crests and awkward cambers aren't as scary as they initially seem.

[spatular]

yeah i was hoping there would be some wider stages, there aren't really, the one with all the jumps is probably the widest iirc, can't remember which country that is. also don't know what mode you're playing but the career mode automatically increases the difficulty for the next season if you come 3rd, again iirc. i should play this some more as it's ace, but also stressful, and don't get much chance to setup the wheel these days.

[Sly Reflex]

I'm playing the freeplay thing one tab over. Mainly it's so that I can get to grips with some cars that are not FWD without getting into debt with the mad repair bills the game chucks at you if you so much as ding your ride.

[spatular]

that's cool, i never paid much attention to the repair costs. always thought it was odd how the early/cheap cars are pretty difficult to control, but later you get the wrc (called R5 in this i think) cars which in comparison handle a lot better and have amazing suspension that copes with the bumps a lot better.