DiRT 4 DiRT 4 Update 1.04 Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Codemasters have released a small hotfix update for DiRT 4 recently, addressing a number of issues and updating the game to version 1.04.

Released on June 9th, DiRT 4 is the spiritual successor to the early Colin McRae Rally games created by Codemasters and released to popular acclaim from the gaming public back in the mid to late 1990's. Forming part of the DiRT series of games, DiRT 4 further adds to the franchise a number of new and interesting features designed specifically to address complaints about the longevity of a title that traditionally contains a limited selection of rally locations dotted throughout the core game experience.

Now complete with Codemasters own unique stage generation tool 'Your Stage' plus expanded career and mechanical elements, added to returning game modes alongside the traditional point to point stage racing featured in 2015's DiRT Rally, the new game has all the necessary ingredients to become something of a classic off road racing title in the years to come.

Now just over two weeks since the game first hit the digital shelves Codemasters have released another small update across all platforms, adding some important fixes to the game.

You can read the full 1.04 update changelog notes below:

• Rain effect on the car windscreen (which is observed using the head camera) will no longer stop functioning when proceeding into a heavy rain event after completing specific weather stages.
• Grade E car parts should no longer cause a crash.
• Fixes to Flavour of the Week Trophy/Achievement
• Incorrect rep earned in multiplayer due to an issue with host migration is now addressed.
• Leaderboard improvements when they are heavily populated or finding your own times.
• Tuning differentials now functions correctly.
• Corrected unlock conditions in the “What’s This” dialogues in Career.
• PC Only - Terminally damaging your vehicle and then changing Windows focus should no longer hang.
• PC Only – Fixed issues with resizing or de-focusing the game window.
• PC Only – R9 graphics cards crash when competing in rainy conditions is now resolved.
• PC Only – Switching from Ultra to High graphics mid-stage will no longer cause an issue with the stage shadowing.

DiRT 4 is available to purchase for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Steam PC right now.

Check out the DiRT 4 sub forum to get yourself involved with the DiRTy community and discuss this excellent new rally title from Codemasters. If DiRT 4 doesn't tickle your fancy then fear not, we also have a sub forum for the awesome DiRT Rally games for you to enjoy and interact within!

How are you finding DiRT 4 now? Do you like the game and think it a suitable addition to the DiRT franchise? Let us know in the comment section below!

 

[XPheco]

D4 need car physics changes not this bull sh.t.... make the RWD cars ride like real RWD and the same AWD cars .... maybe they are working on it but i think codemasters are loosing so many players now cuz i personaly leave D4 and return to DR until they make some serious physics updates

sorry for bad english

 

[Case_]

What was the problem with the diffs and what is fixed?

Supposedly the center diff torque ratio adjustment was reversed, so adjusting it to the rear actually moved it to the front and vice versa.

Not that I noticed much difference after the update...

 

[function9]

Dang, and CM fanboys got all huffy back in May when ps4 footage started coming out and I said it looked wrong. Guess if you don't proclaim Paul Coleman to be your lord and savior you're not allowed to criticize the game.

Like this clip someone posted on CM's forums, this is supposed to be a RWD car on extremely wet/rainy Australian roads.

If that level of grip in the rain, from a RWD car is realistic in any way shape or form. Then I have a deal of a lifetime on some oceanfront property in Iowa, US.

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

We've got a nose dive going on. Codemasters, pull up!!

It's not much of a nose dive

 

[tonio duran]

Lo que más me impresionó muchísimo ma izquierda es como más subidas de nivel física cambian aún más difícil que la suciedad Ralli

 

[Strahil Kotlarov]

Well in a nutshell,the game is nowhere near as good as RBR .
Even with all it's flaws DR is still the better game.
It has enough quality to appeal to console warriors but nowhere near enough for pc sim racers that take it more seriously .

If they stated from day one ,they will aim for more casual approach and their main focus was pad-warriors i wouldn't be so upset about it.
One more thing who ever thought about cars should be setup-ed to be understeery and as neutral as possible only to appeal to new players that have no experience at all should be fired .
Don't get me started on the different setup settings which are quite limited compared to the real life counter parts and who ever did the gear ratios is out of their mind .
So now i'm literally stuck for 10-15 minutes to setup properly my car on each event .
Suspension ,Gear Ratios , Differentials , BBAL + Pressure .
Almost all cars are undrivable without proper setup .
Even then most feel awful especially the subaru's .
I could even go a step further and start cringing about how can this game look worse than DR is beyond me ,some textures have terrible quality .
I guess this is what we get when the consoles are the main focus and pc is an afterthought .

I'm going back to RBR/DR had enough of this game .

 

[JuanManuelFangio]

I try this game yesterday... so so baaaad i back to my lovely RBR with NGP

 

[Andrew W]

It's not much of a nose dive

Please explain. Thanks!

 

[RoadKing]

Yep, and I have no doubt about Codemasters good intentions. But they are no Kunos or Reiza, simply lacking the confidence and know-how regarding physics, despite being larger studio. Seems like with Dirt Rally they found the needle in the haystack, by half-blind luck. And now lost it again.

Like Paul Coleman said in the post-launch stream, replying to a physics complaint.. they had to change everything, wasn't possible to copypaste just cars from Dirt Rally, it's done from scratch. And something got lost along the way...

Creating realistic physics is not easy, only few teams in the world have the required talent. Lots and lots of big studios make racing games (or even "sims") but not capable of creating that, even if they wanted... I'm sure Codies tried their best, maybe (hopefully) they will try to correct it.

I wish kunos would make gravel physics for Asetto Corsa. The game is such a great foundry for all racing types. The freedom of having mods is the best part about any game and its something I dislike about Codemasters.

Secondly, the biggest issue is that they limited themselves to what they could do by using the same old engine from almost a decade ago. Selling us a game from old technology is the poorest thing any major studio could do. They could probably work a lot more effectively with a better engine given they would be spending less time fixing it and instead working on the gameplay mechanics.

Now with the new 'your stage' thing, I feel like they've dug themselves a trench that they'll struggle to get out of. Unless they decide to either scrap it entirely or port the system over to a new engine, but at this point I've lost faith in them. Admitting Asetto Corsas physics was better shows that they are well aware of it, that to me just isn't good enough. Why make a game so half assed when you know you're competition are successful for that specific reason? Aghhhhh I'm angry..

 

[Cheesenium]

Would be nice if Codemaster releases some DLCs, the core game feels quite lacking of content.

 

[MarkR]

I've pretty much completed Dirt 4 on the Xbox One, I'm just waiting for the weekly (now fixed) and monthly achievements to pop. I think it is a great rallying game that has provided hours of quality entertainment and still does with the ongoing community events.

I said rallying game on purpose though, it isn't a pure sim - no tyre choices for example yet I remember this being a big deal in the much longer WRC rallies of the past - but it is much more than just an arcade type game. I agree on some of the handling observations, some cars are odd, others brilliant fun and I've tried them all now (at full sim settings for clarity). A couple of the RWD cars like they are glued to any track surface, the H3 Opel Ascona 400 and BMW E30 M3 are notable. The other cars in this same class, Stratos, R5T, RS500 are much more lively. At the other end of the spectrum, the FWD 205 GTi, 95 Impreza and 205T16 all feel exceptional. The 205T16 spins individual wheels as the surface changes and the wheels lose contact with the ground. The sound quality in the game also means you can, for example, actually hear the left rear tyre spinning on the tarmac surfaces on uneven cambered roads. The 205, in particular, feels fast and heroic. There are some oddities in even the 4WD cars too though the up to 2000 cars all like to spin and the same is true of the Group B Delta.

The DiRTFish Rally School and Rally Cross stages also stand out as handling differently. At DirtFish the surfaces changes seem more pronounced. I doubt it will be the cuppa of choice of many here but the Joy Ride Ken Block style challenges are quite fun in terms of car handling. Put a beginner in a RWD car with full sim selected options and you soon see lots of spins and how difficult the game can be without an appreciation of car type and surface changes. I agree though not as challenging as it could have been for the most experienced sim racers. For me though, I found the 10 mile, night and heavy rain stages in the Group B historic rallies quite long and challenging enough.

The game elements shouldn't be ignored either. I understand there are people who are happy just to pound empty tracks for hours in search of a few 10ths but there is also room for good gameplay. The team development, car buying and damage during stages all work well. Loeb Rally with all it's fancy cut scenes quickly became boring so the Codies definitely got something right here.

The fact the game has worked almost flawlessly from launch day impressed me, the updates required have been minor. The main game, leaderboards, community challenges etc are all functioning well. I'm mentioning this because other than the Forza series (and Horizon had its issues on PC) it's a rarity for this to be the case at launch.

I've enjoyed DiRT 4, as a game it is hard to fault. If I was the Codies, and it was technically possible, I'd be looking to add back in a DiRT Rally handling mode for the hardcore sim racers but leave the core game as it is.

Worth £42 though? A yes from me.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Now with the new 'your stage' thing, I feel like they've dug themselves a trench that they'll struggle to get out of. Unless they decide to either scrap it entirely or port the system over to a new engine, but at this point I've lost faith in them.

I feel "Your Stage" as an idea is fine, it would simply need more tiles.

Some more (randomized) buildings/trackside objects to create visual variety. It's a hex based tile system. Adding new tiles into the mix and extending it fairly easily (even now, post-launch) should be possible.

This is screencap from Dirt 4 "dev diary" video, so yeah. Double the amount of tiles per location, and I think people would have very positive opinion of Your Stage. The idea itself is fine IMO.

 

[LuMue]

This is screencap from Dirt 4 "dev diary" video, so yeah. Double the amount of tiles per location, and I think people would have very positive opinion of Your Stage. The idea itself is fine IMO.

And if they double the amount of tiles it last maximum two weeks and some people say "Uh, the stages repeat themselves, there are not enough tiles per location".
After racing DR with 2 stages per location (Oh, wait, they were split and reversed to get 8 stages overall) I think we should be very happy with this so far! Of course it can be improved but it's not even one month ago when the game was released...calm down boys

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Well, I didn't even drive it enough to get tired of Your Stage. For me the problem is the physics, I don't mind some repetition. And think this procedural generation is definitely good idea for a rally game.

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

Please explain. Thanks!

It's not a "Nose dive" in the sense that Dirt 4 is going trough an unique level of player drop off after it was released. Take for instance the three month graph, where you can see the player spike Dirt Rally had when Dirt Rally got in the humble bundle. Tapered off pretty quick - and at launch it's number of concurrent players didn't come close to Dirt 4's (early acces games). If you use your definition of "nose dive", all the F1 games would have had a nose dive, Assetto Corsa would have had a nose dive, Project Cars would have had a nose dive, etc. This isn't really anything new.

 

[Nevini]

I just can't play Solitaire without VR anymore.

Not that funny mate. Some of us who have VR, find driving on a monitor or 3 screens flat and boring. Its a simple truth. Nothing more than that. Once you have tried VR and find you do not suffer from motion sickness, this is as close as you will ever get to driving high performance vehicles. The immersion is that good. ;-)

 

[Andrew W]

... If you use your definition of "nose dive", all the F1 games would have had a nose dive, Assetto Corsa would have had a nose dive, Project Cars would have had a nose dive, etc. This isn't really anything new.

Go ahead and add those to the chart for comparison. Dirt 4 was released on June 9th. It's now the 29th. It now has the same daily player numbers as the two prior Dirt releases -- one of which originally released on PC in 2011. Would you consider that a successful launch?

 

[Ian Cameron]

Go ahead and add those to the chart for comparison. Dirt 4 was released on June 9th. It's now the 29th. It now has the same daily player numbers as the two prior Dirt releases -- one of which originally released on PC in 2011. Would you consider that a successful launch?

Maybe so, but how many will carry on playing it?

 

[Brandon Wright]

It's not a "Nose dive" in the sense that Dirt 4 is going trough an unique level of player drop off after it was released. Take for instance the three month graph, where you can see the player spike Dirt Rally had when Dirt Rally got in the humble bundle. Tapered off pretty quick - and at launch it's number of concurrent players didn't come close to Dirt 4's (early acces games). If you use your definition of "nose dive", all the F1 games would have had a nose dive, Assetto Corsa would have had a nose dive, Project Cars would have had a nose dive, etc. This isn't really anything new.

It lost 3/4 of it's players in less than a month's time, I'd call that a nose dive.

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

It lost 3/4 of it's players in less than a month's time, I'd call that a nose dive.

I would call it a nose dive if it's particularely strong in relation to other games, but single player games often do that thing where it has a lot of players straight after release and afterwards it tapers off, unless the game has a strong multiplayer component on top of it(which Dirt 4 does not, unfortunately), or in case it has had Early Access. Project Cars, Mad Max, Fallout 4, Shadow of Mordor, Prey: They all had similar "Nose dives", losing 3/4th of it's playerbase in a matter of one or two months, simply because those are all games that have a point at which the game is over. Dirt 4 has this too: You need about 30 hours to get the triple crown, which is what most people will be going for, before turning their attention back to other things they enjoy doing.