DiRT 4 DiRT 4 Released!

[Paul Jeffrey]

Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC players can now finally get their hands on the new Codemasters release, as DiRT 4 officially hits the game store shelves today.

Although some parts of the world have been able to pick up a physical copy of the game for console over the past couple of days, today marks the official worldwide release of the game across all platforms, bringing the fourth iteration of the popular DiRT franchise back to the forefront of off road racing on PC and current generation console machines.

Featuring over 50 cars the likes of the Ford Fiesta R5, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, Subaru WRX STI NR4, Audi Sport quattro S1 E2 plus many different machines from different classes of World Rallycross, Landrush and Crosskarts, run over five unique rally locations and a five Rallycross venues, the new game looks to firmly establish itself as the biggest and best inclusion to the DiRT franchise of games to date.

DiRT 4 is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC today.

If getting down and DiRTy is your thing then we know the place to go... check out the DiRT 4 sub forum here at RaceDepartment to get your fix of news, events, mods and discussions around the new Codemasters rally game. Go on, it'll be fun I promise !

Have you tried DiRT 4 yet? What are your impressions of the game? Do you think the title is comparable to DiRT Rally in terms of driving experience? Where does it rank against other DiRT franchise games? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[UKBall]

Honestly i'm hoping codies will just see the complaints and push an update to the handling for the steam version of the game (seeing as that's where most sim racers live). If not then i wonder if the modding community can get into the handling files and play around a bit....

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

I think the whole section from 30:22 to 36:05 here is important to watch, and listen to. And not just watch it with a closed mind, but watch, listen, as it is a pretty good explanation of handling/physics etc.
Actually, I would say that this is an extremely important piece to watch before buying/commenting - and not at least, as Paul Coleman say himself - Be constructive with feedback, and not just "this is awful! This is arcade!" that is not helpful in any way.

 

[mantasisg]

Real rally driver will not guarantee best sim handling recreation. Somebody like Aris would.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

And - just to throw that out as well. I've been the moderator on RBR and DiRT Rally forums here on RD for years. And there is one thing that's not been a part of the forum, and that is the typical "my junk is bigger than your junk" arguments and discussions that plagues certain other forums.

I sincerely hope that it can be kept that way on this forum as well, as we are all wanting to have the best possible rallying and RX experience, and the way to get that is constructive, useful criticism, tips, tricks and so on.

 

[Lance Loomis]

My only issue with the game is the T500RS isn't supported on PS4....

 

[UKBall]

I think the whole section from 30:22 to 36:05 here is important to watch, and listen to. And not just watch it with a closed mind, but watch, listen, as it is a pretty good explanation of handling/physics etc.
Actually, I would say that this is an extremely important piece to watch before buying/commenting - and not at least, as Paul Coleman say himself - Be constructive with feedback, and not just "this is awful! This is arcade!" that is not helpful in any way.

I'm honestly glad they've took this well and are genuinely looking at ways to put this in.

 

[Jens Roos]

I tested a bit more and decided to refund my game. The stadium and rally cross is actually really well done.
Did try a few other of the historic cars and would say the Stratos is the worst of them, the other
do tend to slide a little bit but the grip levels of these are still way to gripy for such cars,
it is not but gives the overall feel of arcade mode behavior even if it better at some points (brake, airborne, tarmac).

The FFB is ok, but not as crisp as in DR, but that could be an tuning issue.

According to the interview above the newer cars should be better but I didn't test any of them but if codemaster
later on do fixes with attention to the historic cars I would consider buying the game again, even at full price.

 

[Lily Starfox]

I'm glad to see I was right when I decided to stick to RSRBR...
It won't be replaced any time soon.
Never trust Codemasters.

 

[RaceNut]

After circumventing Dirt 4's attempts to refund itself by continually crashing, I finally got into the game and managed to test most of the game-modes / features. Overall, I like the concept and new features / modes well enough, it has potential to be a lot of fun imo.

My main gripe echoes many DR fans in regard to the car-handling. I shouldn't be able to throw a rally car around on dirt like it's a race-car with slicks on warm tarmac. I do detect some improvements / refinements in the underlying physics but, there is a very fine line from the car handling like it's on rails to suddenly losing control. It actually reminds me of Pcars1 in that way; there is not much of a margin with which to balance the car on the threshold of grip-loss and it should be easier to do on dirt than tarmac.

The game FFB felt much like DR's but, for AccuForce users, SimCommander FFB saves the day once again.

We'll see if the developers can correct the handling or someone can successfully make a grip-mod. I hope it happens because the title has some really fun aspects to it imo.

 

[Jayblue]

Steam is downloading a patch now (580Mb)
Seems to be taking forever to install it however. No change log as yet and 580mb seems quite big for bug fixes.

 

[TeSL9]

The more i drive, the better it feels! Fun and enjoyable.

 

[jimortality]

The more i drive, the better it feels! Fun and enjoyable.

Same here, I really like it.

 

[dbracedesign]

Lol, this negativity.

Sadly you can't please everyone...

I'm enjoying it tho

 

[UKBall]

Changes come from negativity, you cant improve when nobody complains

 

[ShredatorFIN]

The new update apparently improved FFB. Didn't have chance to test it, refunded already before. But even if it's improved, it's not fixing main issues

"Improved simulation model" is all fine and dandy, but it doesn't really matter when it doesn't feel plausible. It just doesn't..

Haven't driven a real rally car, but Assetto Corsa has a few. Only on tarmac though, but hard to imagine putting loose surface under them with less grip would make them into this...

 

[TzZyO]

Since when Assetto Corsa and especially Dirt Rally (let's not be ridiculous here?) have become car physics benchmarks? If it's not like Dirt Rally, just say it's not like Dirt Rally.
Not everybody bought into that PR BS from Codemasters that DR is a full fledged simulator. It has long ways to go before it can be called one. It appears that many judge a rally sim by the amount of jumping in it and the general in air time.

Has anybody with NGP experience and not being a DR fan tried this thing yet?

 

[bogani]

I think the whole section from 30:22 to 36:05 here is important to watch, and listen to. And not just watch it with a closed mind, but watch, listen, as it is a pretty good explanation of handling/physics etc.
Actually, I would say that this is an extremely important piece to watch before buying/commenting - and not at least, as Paul Coleman say himself - Be constructive with feedback, and not just "this is awful! This is arcade!" that is not helpful in any way.

Nice post Ole! I think people are way too harsh and it's starting to look like a mass psychosis kinda thing.

There are aspects than can be improved, absolutely, but the core physics is better than Dirt Rally in my opinion.

You gave it a spin yet @Ole Marius Myrvold?

 

[TzZyO]

I think people are way too harsh and it's starting to look like a mass psychosis kinda thing.

Same thoughts here. Almost like a cult.
It's understandable people wanted a good new rally sim for a decade and then some, but what followed the release of Dirt Rally is a massive overreaction. A bit more of that and they'd start comparing circuit sims to DR's tarmac.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Since when Assetto Corsa and especially Dirt Rally (let's not be ridiculous here?) have become car physics benchmarks? If it's not like Dirt Rally, just say it's not like Dirt Rally.

All you need to do is compare TV footage of rally cars, to Dirt 4 replays. There is nothing similar in the way cars move. What is difficult about this?

FFB is only communicating what front wheels do, and what comes through the drive column. But it all comes from physics and movements/forces directed at the front of the car, which can be all seen from outside. Nothing in the steering wheel of the car happens, that isn't visible in TV exterior footage. It's only more detailed, instant and on-point through a wheel.

But if you see it ALREADY from video footage of real rally cars, without even touching a wheel, it has to be off A LOT.

And yeah Assetto Corsa may not be perfect, but if (rally) cars in it handle on tarmac in certain way... that makes actual sense and resembles closely real drifting... and also looks like real life footage of a car, that is drifting... Then it is really hard to believe Codemasters did better job, when their cars handle and look like they are from another planet.

Automobilista has dirt physics, which are IMO pretty darn good. Why Codemasters dirt physics feel completely different? They both can't be right. Or even in the right direction. It felt so fundamentally wrong across the board in Dirt 4, that it goes beyond certain car type / model... something at the very core is wrong.

 

[Mr Deap]

Since when Assetto Corsa and especially Dirt Rally (let's not be ridiculous here?) have become car physics benchmarks?

The experience come from the car dynamic.

Many people are aware that DiRT Rally is definitely not a sim in scientific model, but the car dynamic was in a class on its own by interaction. When you spin out in DiRT Rally, it simply just feel right, although by scientific model it's wrong.

We all know DiRT 4 scientific model is superior to DiRT Rally, but when you actually interact by playing it or watching the car moving on replay... Well you know... I don't know exactly how to describe that.