DiRT 4 DiRT 4 Launch Trailer Revealed Ahead of Release 9th June

[Paul Jeffrey]

Codemasters have revealed the latest trailer for DiRT 4 ahead of the game release for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on June 9th.

Coming off the back of the highly acclaimed DiRT Rally from 2015, Codemasters have looked to keep much of the simulation orientated vibe of the previous game whilst mixing in the ever popular additional content and features more traditionally found in the DiRT franchise of titles.

Although still lacking somewhat in unique stage locations, Codemasters have implemented a brand new stage generation technology in the new release that should allow users near endless opportunity to create new and unique stage configurations across the five country locations found in the base install of the game.

As well as the 'Your Stage' stage generation feature the new title will see the return of the popular FIA World Rallycross licence, new cars in Landrush mode and an in depth career and management mode.

Closer to a sequel to DiRT Rally than a new DiRT franchise release, this new title looks like Codemasters have struck a solid mix between variety and realism as they look to appeal to the wider gaming audience and dedicated rally fans alike.

To celebrate the upcoming release you can catch the new trailer below:

With only a few days to go until the game goes live Codemasters will have to put their money where their mouth is on June 9th as fans get the first opportunity to see if this new title can live up to the hype surrounding its pre release promotion.

Here is hoping Codemasters have created one of the most complete modern rally sims in recent years. Only time will tell.

DiRT 4 will be release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC June 9th 2017.

For all the latest news, discussions, downloads and organised racing events then head over to the DiRT 4 sub forum here at RaceDepartment and become an active member of our DiRTy community! Find your inner dirt monster and get yourself involved in the action here at your RaceDepartment.com!

Excited for the release of DiRT 4? Share your enthusiasms / scepticism or general musing on the world of the DiRT series in the comments section below !

 

[Jan Larsen]

Copied from another thread in hope more see it, sorry for spam(ish), its not my intention.

The game dosent work with my standalone G27-Bodnar-cabled pedals. It just dosent recognize them. Well, the game sees the pedals, but wont bind them to their respective axis. Anyone else having this problem or a fix? Its a first for me after using them for 7 years.

 

[Akra]

Early impressions were not good, but it isn't as black and white as some are saying.

So the first car you get is the Fiesta, second is the Opel Adam. First location is Michigan. This was possibly the worst combination to give you. There is very clearly too much rear grip on the little FWD hatchbacks. You don't get the lift off oversteer, or weight movement to the front when braking. Not only that, when you're trying to slide the car, it feels like the rear grips too early, and then the front comes out to join it. It's so off putting that I had some stupid accidents at first because I was doing corrections, not expecting the car to suddenly grip, which then sent me into a silly over correction accident. I have a Fiesta in real life, and ok it isn't fitted with rally slicks, but even at regular road speeds I've had a few moments involving lack of rear grip. Now I'm doing 100mph through a forest and the car has more grip? Doesn't seem right to me.

Michigan is also a bit crap. Very flat, long flowing corners that are extremely generic. You could argue this is the stage generators fault, but there's evidence otherwise later. I won every stage on the hardest difficulty very easily. Quite simply, it did not seem like a challenge what-so-ever. First impression wasn't good.

However, if you want a contrasting example, go to the online section, select community challenges and todays challenge is the Group B Peugeot 205 in Wales. Suddenly, too much rear grip isn't a thing. It's not as much of an animal as the DiRT Rally version was, but it certainly not as cut and dry as the FWD Hatchbacks were. Similarly, Wales is crazy. Suddenly there WAS elevation, there WAS bumps, there WAS variation. Wales is fun. It isn't quite to DiRT Rally levels of detail, but it's less generic than Michigan and certainly enough to get your attention.

Graphics I don't see the problem. It looks good. Sounds are good too. It has a few nice details that rally games do tend to miss. Other competitors breaking down, stage running orders, classes etc.

So it was certainly a terrible first impression, but I'm waiting to see because the Peugeot 205 at Wales was a contrasting experience. Right now I agree there is too much rear grip on some cars. But I have a feeling this might be car specific rather than game wide.

 

[Thomas Lambaerts]

My thoughts after a little over 3 hours of playing.
I think some of you might be a little to harsh for the game. I admit there is little throttle oversteer in the 4wd cars that i drove.
The fiesta and the adam are pretty fun, trail brake oversteer is easy to do. The grp A Lancer, oh boy, trailbrake oversteer turns very easy into a spin in michigan. The braking in dirt 4 is hard, a lot more difficult than in DR. But i have to go into setup for each car. I lock up the brakes way to easy on gravel. I needed to lower the brake pressures.
The M3 was loads of fun at the dirtfish playground, but that has been said before
I am having fun. Driving in the fog on an unknown stage is scary! Building you own team is special. It gets you into the spirit more.
The game runs good here. It's on High settings on 1920*1080 with my old 770GTX and stays above 60 fps easy.
I am happy with the game, might need some polish yet. And i need to come to grips with the setups for this game so i can have my oversteer back from DR

 

[Paul Blythe]

Copied from another thread in hope more see it, sorry for spam(ish), its not my intention.

The game dosent work with my standalone G27-Bodnar-cabled pedals. It just dosent recognize them. Well, the game sees the pedals, but wont bind them to their respective axis. Anyone else having this problem or a fix? Its a first for me after using them for 7 years.

Not bought D4 yet, but this is good to know as it's what I use along with the Richmotek loadcell v2 mod... Until I hear that it's not a problem, I'll keep D4 at arms length.

 

[Helmut Skrdla]

It isn't quite to DiRT Rally levels of detail, but it's less generic than Michigan and certainly enough to get your attention.

That's what I was wondering about after the videos. DR has so many small camber changes, potholes, ruts in the roads which can throw you. The generator, while a clever idea, doesn't seem to generate those, there seems to be more run-off area (instead of evil stones and trees next to the road edge).

Would that be your impression?

 

[bogani]

That's what I was wondering about after the videos. DR has so many small camber changes, potholes, ruts in the roads which can throw you. The generator, while a clever idea, doesn't seem to generate those, there seems to be more run-off area (instead of evil stones and trees next to the road edge).

Would that be your impression?

The abscense of roadside landmines is a good thing imo.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Early impressions were not good, but it isn't as black and white as some are saying.

So the first car you get is the Fiesta, second is the Opel Adam. First location is Michigan. This was possibly the worst combination to give you.

This is why used the 100 minutes I tried on Steam in quick events using Your Stage, exiting career as fast as I could. So I could test variety of cars and all locations/surfaces evenly... bad impressions, too much grip in everything, cars don't get sideways.

Your Stage is very nice, but not enough alone

And I agree lack of "landmines" is good. The stages aren't too easy even when wide/less hazards, because you never know what's coming.. so long stages will get pretty damn hard. Snowbanks of Sweden are still treacherous like supposed. For me problem is the weird handling. Like all cars have some hidden stability control or something

 

[Helmut Skrdla]

The abscense of roadside landmines is a good thing imo.

LOL, I like the wording. It's definitely better for my limited skills, but is it realistic?

I do agree that DR is very, very unforgiving in it's stage design (at least for someone with my driving ability).

 

[Akra]

That's what I was wondering about after the videos. DR has so many small camber changes, potholes, ruts in the roads which can throw you. The generator, while a clever idea, doesn't seem to generate those, there seems to be more run-off area (instead of evil stones and trees next to the road edge).

Would that be your impression?

Yeah that's my impression, but not as bad as it sounds. I just generated a stage in Wales, which was short but maximum complexity. The elevation change was extreme - so that answers that portion - big elevation changes are in the game, just not at all events. The maximum complexity made it look and feel more like DiRT Rally. It wasn't quite as extreme in road surface design, and it was missing those odd little rocks which totally f**ked up your day (especially in Greece), but it was pretty close. There was a couple of points during the stage where if you'd told me this was from DiRT Rally, I'd have believed you. It didn't go quite as extreme on the cambers, but it did do some stuff that you wouldn't expect a generator to do. So it isn't producing DiRT Rally quality, but it is better than I expected. So for Wales, I'd say the generator is really good.

In terms of extra run off, that is certainly how it appears but it doesn't feel like that because it isn't as usable. Anything off the driving surface at Australia (in my Group A Impreza) is not really usable. It feels like putting a tyre on a wet kerb - the car immediately loses traction on the wheel that's off the surface. So although it appears more forgiving due to the lack of furniture, it doesn't really drive like that.

Your Stage does appear to be able to come very close to DiRT Rally in some cases, especially Wales. What it is missing is the ability to drive up hillsides, like we had in Monte Carlo and Greece. It can do the elevation changes, but more like the large rolling hills of Wales. Australia seems very good with elevation too. Michigan seems very poor. Have not tried Spain or Sweden yet.

In terms of physics, the Group A Impreza certainly drives a bit better than the FWD cars. It is actually a challenge, or certainly more of one than the little hatchbacks. Braking distances are longer, so you need to pay more attention to pace notes. With the edge of the road being a bit more slippery (rather than bumpy), it can catch you out easily. There is still an issue with the car being sideways. Even the Impreza, the rear feels too planted when you're deliberately sliding, and it does feel like it grips too early. But it's not as pronounced as the hatchbacks. Each car feels different, rather than this being a problem everywhere. The rest of the physics feel fine - it's not GPL or Assetto Corsa, but neither is it an arcade game. I haven't tried the Gamer physics, but if I was Codemasters I'd be making some changes to the grip levels, especially of the rear tyres for Sim mode only. They've gotten this pretty close and it'd be a shame for it to fall down on some numbers in an ini file.

 

[Akra]

LOL, I like the wording. It's definitely better for my limited skills, but is it realistic?

I do agree that DR is very, very unforgiving in it's stage design (at least for someone with my driving ability).

These screenshots (from the replay) are of a full complexity Welsh stage. As you can see it isn't as detailed as DiRT Rally, but the edges of the road are no-go areas, and it's got a lot more detail than Michigan, which is pretty terrible.

Graphics are not on full detail, my rig isn't the best.

 

[bogani]

Just took the Hyundai R5 to Dirt fish. The physics truly shines in Dirt fish and the road surface there. If you have your doubts please try a couple of cars in that place.

 

[Akra]

I'll be honest, I just tried the Impreza in Spain and didn't like it. The new tarmac physics feel snappy and unrecoverable when sideways. Actually feels like RBRs very poor tarmac physics.

 

[bogani]

I'll be honest, I just tried the Impreza in Spain and didn't like it. The new tarmac physics feel snappy and unrecoverable when sideways. Actually feels like RBRs very poor tarmac physics.

That is one of the worst car in the game though. It was quite bad in DR as well.

Give the Hyundai a go if you have access to it!

 

[Akra]

I found the Group A Impreza fine in DiRT Rally. I don't have the Hyundai, but if I'm honest, I'm getting slowly tired of the physics oddities in this game. It works (with issues) under certain circumstances, but the lack of sideways movement, the unrealistically low grip surroundings, and some cars being plain wrong, has already tired me out. This actually reminds me of Project CARS on the Xbox One. It can work, but you have to drive remembering it's broken, and compensate for it, which makes it not fun.

There is something wrong with the grip levels in this game, specifically the rear tyres. They have too much grip on the racing surface, and not enough off the racing surface. It makes no sense at all.

 

[Tim Davila]

D$4 is a CM cash grabber arcade.
DR was a Paul Passion project it seems, much probably different teams worked on both, and it clearly shows the differences.
Completely different goals on both titles.

 

[RaceNut]

Unable to get past the initial loading screens without the game crashing so I can't judge handling but, I want to follow through to try for myself. The responses from the Sim side so far seem pretty bleak though.

 

[Akra]

That is one of the worst car in the game though. It was quite bad in DR as well.

Give the Hyundai a go if you have access to it!

Just tried the F2 Peugeot 306 in Sweden. So icey. Great for the rear end swinging round. FWD car, so should be able to lose rear grip easily? Nope! It was pretty planted on the rear. Losing front grip was easy enough because you can just spin the front wheels up in the snow. But the rears acted like they had infinite grip. Absolutely no sideways moments at all.

This sort of driving is absolutely impossible.

Only plus side was Swedens snow banks no longer grab the car if you get even remotely close to them. If you abuse them then they'll bite, but it was much less dangerous this time.

 

[MarkR]

I'm a good few hours in now and still enjoying the game as much as I did in the first hour.

I see a few posts about the cars not sliding and reacting correctly (each to their own games are a subjective experience) yet the DiRT Academy lessons almost all focus on weight transfer, trail braking and flicking the car through corners, each drive and surface type is covered well.

I agree some of the cars are slightly easier to drive than the DiRT Rally equivalent on dry stages with clear weather. Add some rain or just a slightly wet stage and things quickly become quite different. If you like to slide try the CrossKarts they are unhinged. It might also be worth considering the cars have a full range of setup options to meet individual driving styles.

The difference between DiRT Rally and 4 is much smaller than being made out in my experience so far. The difference between the FWD, AWD and RWD machines is easily as good as any other modern sim. What DiRT 4 adds is a much better game and progression to go with a good handling model.

I'm enjoying the game above all it is fun and challenging.

 

[bogani]

Just tried the F2 Peugeot 306 in Sweden. So icey. Great for the rear end swinging round. FWD car, so should be able to lose rear grip easily? Nope! It was pretty planted on the rear. Losing front grip was easy enough because you can just spin the front wheels up in the snow. But the rears acted like they had infinite grip. Absolutely no sideways moments at all.

This sort of driving is absolutely impossible.

Only plus side was Swedens snow banks no longer grab the car if you get even remotely close to them. If you abuse them then they'll bite, but it was much less dangerous this time.

First if all, I agree with the excessive resr grip, but you can't use Monte as an example. You never have the right tires in Monte.

I'm gonna keep nagging. Driving the M3 or Hyundai around Dirtfish, I couldn't wish for anything more physics wise. There is hardly any understeer.

It's the surface on the other locations that should be improved. The core physics is great!

 

[Matthew Allington]

Repost from the first impressions thread. I may have had a different experience to some people in specific areas but hopefully this gives people the gist of it. In my 2 hours I didn't have time to go nuts with DirtFish or try 2WD in Sweden, so maybe bear that in mind.

Apologies for the wall of text....

Bearing in mind that I was playing RBR earlier today, jumping into DiRT 4 was a bit of a shock. DiRT 4, particularly on gravel, just has so much grip. To me, it feels like "the Forza of rally games" - designed for the mass market, but with simulation elements. Compared to RBR or even DiRT Rally, this will take some getting used to...

Compared to RBR and even more so to Rally, the change of balance of the car when going from on-throttle to off-throttle on gravel is much more extreme and this seems prevalent in some cars more than others (in FWD cars I expected this behaviour to a certain degree - but it also seems to vary between cars of the same class). It's very off-putting, particularly on the brakes. Hairpins are simply not satisfying at all as the car just has so much grip at low speeds

Tarmac is not bad, but I miss the responsive bite that the DiRT Rally tyres had upon turn-in, particularly for FWD cars, even if it may or may not have been unrealistic. Sweden is really nice, and I'm personally thankful that the snowbanks are more forgiving!

I'm liking what I've seen of the stage designs thus far. You do have to listen to your co-driver and he or she is usually pretty accurate, which gives me confidence to attack the turns. Elevation changes are very much appreciated.

Good news! You're no longer guarenteed to crash the moment you bring a wheel ever so slightly off the stage. The car feels much more settled than Rally in this regard (and is also much more predicatable over bumps & jumps - no more praying for your life during each and every jump!). On the other hand, the rear end of the car suddenly seems to lose all of its grip in these situations, which makes life difficult.

As a "controller" player, I tried the chase cam view which worked well for me in Rally. Nope. For whatever reason it serves to make Rallying a harrowing experience. My experience with on-car cameras was completely different, for the better. Chase cam is still neat for RX and Landrush, though.

Speaking of crashes - DiRT 4 is extremely satisfying in this respect if you do muck it up. The physics and damage models are definitely a step up from DiRT Rally RBR still has it beat in a few areas (particularly sensitivity) though.

Rallycross feels good - it really benefits from the reduced floatiness of cars compared to DiRT Rally Group Bs feel tame as they, like the rally versions, are neutered and in RallyX it really makes it feel like just a feeder series to the Supercars. Landrush is just downright fun, although the tyres seem to have an awful lot of traction...

Which brings me to my single biggest bugbear - to me it feels like there is too much traction in places (who needs traction control - says the keyboard player?), particularly on gravel and in RWD cars. Realistic or not, I feel that a Lancia 037 with no traction control should be trying to spear me off the road when I apply full throttle - the RWD experience has been brutally neutered. As said many times over in the community, the gravel tyres have tons of lateral grip and it makes the gravel rallying experience the worst part of DiRT 4 for me

On a different note, team customization is not very in-depth but it is still a nice feature - I have a car that looks about as good as an Opel Adam can get! It's also really nice that you gain credits just for doing free play events.

As a skinner, it's disappointing to read that Codemasters have taken to further trying to restrict modding capabilities. Before you get unlocking stuff there's a lot of plain-liveried cars that I really would like to see with something more realistic and/or inventive, official content or not.

On a positive note - attention to detail is insane. The service areas, car detail (you can see fans spinning, etc), strength of signs, fences & bollards (they're no longer immovable solid objects ), the whole presentation of the game... I love those little bits. I also love the soundtrack.

The summary;
The good

• Your Stage
• Co-drivers
• Landrush
• Rallycross improved
• Sweden improved
• Crashing
  
• Attention to detail
• Soundtrack
• Visual presentation
• Team system

The bad

• Physics feel less sim-my
• Ridiculously grippy tyres
• (Really these two are pretty big negatives - they serve to castrate the RWD experience and make gravel not very pleasurable)
• Hairpins
  
• Chase cam in rallying is dreadful, even to controller players
• Tougher on computers than Rally (particularly Wales)
• Not sure if there is enough content

Do I feel that this is a compelling sim game? No - as I said earlier, I'm treating it as a "Forza of rally games". Will I keep playing DiRT Rally? Of course - I have unfinished business with Pant Mawr! Seriously though, DiRT 4 is not a successor to DiRT Rally, intentional or not - Rally is hardcore and seriously fun to play. I can also use custom skins on it. Will I be asking for a refund? Honestly.... that remains to be seen. I haven't really made up my mind on it yet. Cancelling my physical pre-order and getting the digital version instead has at least easily opened up that possibility. (I'll be keeping the soundtrack, though! ) Am I jumping on the "I hate DiRT 4" bandwagon? No - there are some good things about this game. Sadly it's not completely good

I should stress that I play with a keyboard and that I've never driven a rally car for real in my life So of course, this is all my own opinion, feel free to agree or disagree - but hopefully this will have been helpful to some people