So apparently a playable DiRT demo came out last night, along with the new XBLA games. Has anyone given this a spin yet? I hope they kept damage modeling for the demo, unlike Forza 2’s demo.
I was introduced to the Colin McRae series with the last game that was a budget title for the Xbox. I’d always been intrigued by reviews for the series but never taken the plunge until they budget title was released, and I was very impressed by it. The physics were incredible, the damage modeling was excellent, and it was definitely the best racing game of its kind. It put Rallisport Challenge and the Rally portions of Gran Turismo to shame.
I like Colin but the graphics in previous games paled in comparison to Rallisport Challenge (still looks incredible even compared to next-gen). I’m hoping Dirt is a big step up in graphics. It’s very important to me in this type of “simulation” because it adds to immersion.
Germany reports: runs like a dog if you don’t have a beefy machine.
If you can run it with decent settings it’s supposed to look awesome.
Also people rave about physics and damage.
I dunno about you, but I got in an awful mixup in the A-class cars in the Forza 2 demo and it totally trashed the front end of my car. Unless by “damage modeling” you mean affecting performance. That’s definitely not in the Forza 2 demo.
If anything disappoints me about that Forza 2 demo, it’s that it’s a pretty big download and it’s obvious that a lot of the size is taken up by the hi-def intro video, and the hi-def attract video, both pretty long. They could have dumped those and given us a couple more cars (with mods and paint/decals applied to show off that feature) or even a limited selection of mods we could apply ourselves. Something, I dunno. Or just made the download smaller.
I tried the last CMR game for PC (the one that’s on Gametap… 2005 I think), and if this isn’t a big improvement on that physics wise, I’m gonna have to pass. I enjoyed the earlier CMR games, 2 and 3 anyhow, but those were before Richard Burns Rally came out. Since then, I find it hard to enjoy playing the CMR games. I just don’t like the physics at all. It’s too hard to be light, arcadey fun, but it’s too unrealistic to be hardcore, simmy fun.
So, if they’ve re-done the physics engine, I will give it a shot. It certainly looks good, and I like the wide variety of vehicles and courses (I think it even has Pikes Peak?). But if it’s the same floaty garbage driving that they had in CMR2005, then forget it… And I know better than to take Codemasters’ word that it will be AMAZINGLY SUPER REALISTIC!
Heheh, oops. Yeah, I didn’t mean to belittle cosmetic damage modeling. I do appreciate that. I definitely prefer cosmetic damage modeling to none at all, so I appreciate the effort that the Project Gotham series makes, for example, in putting in some cosmetic damage modeling.
But yeah, I was hoping to get damage modeling where it affects performance in the Forza 2 demo. Its omission basically meant that the game played like Gran Turismo, where you can use the AI cars as a cushion for taking corners without any penalty other than making your car look uglier.
I just don’t like the physics at all. It’s too hard to be light, arcadey fun, but it’s too unrealistic to be hardcore, simmy fun.
I guess everything is always relative. I always think of Colin McRae as much more of a hardcore sim because its much more of a sim compared to the only other two games I’ve played in this particular sub-genre, which are Rallisport Challenge and Gran Turismo’s rally mode. Unfortunately, I’ve mostly given up on playing racing games on the PC because I’ve retired my joystick, and I don’t want to buy a wheel, and I can’t stand playing racing games with the keyboard. Otherwise, this Richard Burns Rally sounds intriguing.
I’ve played racing games/sims for years with a gamepad just fine, so it was a hard choice to spend money and desk space on a wheel. But there’s no going back. So even if you’ve gone all xbox360, consider getting a wheel… it adds immersion like nothing else, and your degree of control is much better-- especially for those games where just a notch more pressure on a little analog stick causes you to spin out, whereas a wheel would’ve given you feedback and tactile indicators you’re losing friction. Looks like the 360 wheel also has a contoured base for your lap, if you don’t want a coffee table or desk mount.
Okay I just played the demo, and I’m disappointed.
I mean it looks nice and I like the handling, I guess. But it’s called “DiRT” and the only track in the game is an oval crossover paved track? I didn’t download this demo to drive on the road, damnit!
The rally experience I want has you driving those point-to-point races with the navigator calling out what kind of turn and terrain changes are coming up. I’m not terribly into rally games, but that’s the thing I like about them most. The whole thing is about not having every track memorized. It’s about coming up on stuff nearly blind, hearing what to expect (and maybe seeing an icon) just before you get there, and trying to navigate through the turns and terrain as fast as possible without going in so aggressively that you lose control. It’s that suburb concentration you need to keep it right on the edge of losing total control.
I’m sure DiRT has that stuff, but the demo is a paved crossover track with no navigator. Bo-ring!
Are you sure?
People say there are 3 cars and 3 tracks.
The demo is around 800 MB.
My download just crashed so no demo for me until tomorrow evening… :p
Well how do you select different tracks? I tried pressing all kinds of stuff. I tried playing the one track and winning to see if it moves on, and it said “see you in the full version!”
if this isn’t a big improvement on that physics wise, I’m gonna have to pass. I enjoyed the earlier CMR games, 2 and 3 anyhow, but those were before Richard Burns Rally came out. Since then, I find it hard to enjoy playing the CMR games. I just don’t like the physics at all. It’s too hard to be light, arcadey fun, but it’s too unrealistic to be hardcore, simmy fun.
Totally agree with this sentiment, RBR ruins you for fake physics.
But this DiRT demo looks VERY promising. Dramatically better physics from my current keyboard-impaired PC! Recommended, at least for a demo trial run. I think I’ll be pre-ordering based on this.
And anyone reading this who hasn’t tried Richard Burns Rally, shame on you, sir. Shame on you.
I’m sure you’ve already figured this out Jason, but just in case you haven’t, the track you race on is determined by which of the three cars you choose to drive.
I just tried the demo myself, and I’m very impressed with most of it, and pretty disappointed by one aspect.
Excellent Intro Video
Very Slick Menu + Showing race stats while loading is a nice touch
Incredible graphics, surpasses Motorstorm on an SDTV at least
I like the physics from what I’ve seen so far
The tarmac track is so much more interesting than the track in the Forza 2 demo
I love the different views. They have a hood view and two different dashboard views!!
I love the rear view too when you press Y while in dashboard view
And finally the negatives, including the big one:
Who the hell is Travis Pastrana? I hope they give us North Americans the option to have Colin McRae be our guide. This isn’t Travis Pastrana’s DiRT is it?
Where’s my navigator in the rally track? I want to hear about the upcoming turns and hear him call out directions in a Scottish accent damnit.
I thought I’d love it and came away from the demo very disappointed. I have the wheel for the 360, but it seems like I was just floating along never quite gripping the dirt at all. I felt like I was fighting with a hovercraft most of the time. :(
Travis Pastrana is the current Rally America champion, and is moving up to a full PWRC schedule next year. He’s essentially the American face of Rally.
He also beat CMR at the first XGames rally, after a dramatic roll by Colin in the penultimate turn of the last stage.
Where’s my navigator in the rally track? I want to hear about the upcoming turns and hear him call out directions in a Scottish accent damnit.
Welsh, actually. I’m sure that the co-driver will be present in the full game, as it’s such an integral part of Rally. It’s entirely possible that they haven’t finished working out the pace notes for the various stages yet, as they would have to be changed to reflect any last minute changes to the stages.
Edit: I just went to the options menu and adjusted the speech volume, and it gives a quick demo to check your volume settings, which features a co-driver. Looks like the co-driver is Christian Engstrom, Travis’ co-driver.
I too hope that it’s possible to select Nicky Grist as your co-driver in the retail version.
Graphics: Incredibly detailed car models (surpasses MotorStorm in car models); the lighting looks great (especially in the third stage) but in the first two stages is overdone and comes off as fake; the particle effects for the dirt are underwhelming; pleasantly surprised that they were able to maintain the same level of detail when more vehicles were on screen
Racing: Driving felt a bit floaty and loose, seems more arcadey than previous games; however, the arcadey nature worked very race in the race against other players; tracks are okay but nothing great (same can be said for their graphics: great textures but rather small and rigid)
Will probably end up buying it if they give me more racing against other players and less rally racing
