DiRT Rally DiRT Rally out on Steam Early Access

[Alex Franchini]

Codemasters has surprised everyone with today's launch of Dirt Rally on Steam, under the Early Access label.

Judging from the official Steam Announcement, Dirt Rally features at launch (which is right now) 17 cars and 36 stages taken from 3 different locations (Monte Carlo, Acropolis and Wales).

SEE ALSO: Brand New Community Made DiRT Rally Videos

As you can see from the announcement, one of the biggest bullet points is "Simulation Handling". While we still haven't tried it yet, Codemasters definitely seems to be aiming for a more unforgiving driving model, with a "brand new model that simulates everything from the way the surface of the road behaves to limited slip differentials." Exactly how sim-like it will be remains to be seen, but it's indeed a good start.

Dirt Rally will also feature asynchronous events, team management providing improved repair times, league support.

Dirt Rally is currently in Early Access and available for the price of 26,99€, and it's going to receive new content in the form of cars, tracks and features for free.

Are you surprised as well by the Codies' announcement? Let us know your opinion in the comments!

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Oh well. At least make more of them!

 

[samekyo]

Mod support wink* wink*

 

[Skazz]

Well at least they have modified their "EGO" engine to get this far. Earlier DiRT games had smaller environments, so they have made a clear step forward. And not only in the environments: cars look more realistic than GRiD Autosport or DiRT 3.

 

[Hellracer234]

But rbr is like driving on ice!

If you have such poor gripp in RBR i can guarantee that something is wrong, i had the same problem in the beginning when i first installed RBR, but now it works realy well : )
As you can se in this video when i takes on Ouninpohja in a Suzuki SX4, as you can see it handle well and is not like driving on ice.

 

[Hejak]

I know it looks cool to drive with one hand but it clearly shows that somebody knows the stage very well and just it. It doesn't show his/her ability to rescue hard moments on the stage. And rally driving IS NOT about driving with one hand. Driving at all isn't about doing this with one hand. It's just the challenge to go as quickly as possible with two hands (as it provides with maximum control and possibility to correct the wheel any time if needed). It's a challenge to find proper moments while driving to get one hand of the steering wheel and quickly change gear and get back to holding the wheel with two hands. Cold elbow is cool on Holywood movies but not while driving rally cars and sims. This is my opinion. With no intention to attack but such videos always make me laugh. It's a challenge to learn how to drive with two hands most of the time.

 

[samekyo]

If you have such poor gripp in RBR i can guarantee that something is wrong, i had the same problem in the beginning when i first installed RBR, but now it works realy well : )
As you can se in this video when i takes on Ouninpohja in a Suzuki SX4, as you can see it handle well and is not like driving on ice.

Hi! It is an inside joke. DiRT fans who were enjoying DiRT 1, 2 and 3 (I don't know if there were other games involving Ken Block's comedy) cannot accept, that real life and RBR have less grip. Therefore there is this "RBR is driving on ice" theme going around

 

[Hellracer234]

Hejak:
Yes i know the stage pretty well, but as you can se i hasytate here and thare, i dont know wy but i foget to listen to facenotes when i have them on so i rarely use them. I rather memorise the stage and after that i can have fun, with is for me the reasen i do this, i am totaly unintrested in Rally as a sport, for me its all about driving action : )
I can guarantee you that the reason why i steer mostly with one hand is not to act cool, i am a 52 year old man (probably with ADHD) who happen to love speed and especially Rally. I have long time ago outgrown the need to act tough and cool in any way, Infackt i im a real wimp with an over active brain with a big need for action.
Dont forget that even if RBR is a god Simulator so isent it real life, if i drive a real rally car i probebly wold have to use both hands, but when driving sim rally this is what works best for me.
Maby you sholdent judge peuple so fast : ) Sorry my bad Englich

 

[Hellracer234]

Hi! It is an inside joke. DiRT fans who were enjoying DiRT 1, 2 and 3 (I don't know if there were other games involving Ken Block's comedy) cannot accept, that real life and RBR have less grip. Therefore there is this "RBR is driving on ice" theme going around

Ok i se : )

 

[Hejak]

PEACE Hellracer234
I understand the fun factor sims and games generally provide people with. Didn't want to offend you or anybody, just wanted to state my observation about driving in general. Once again I understand the fun time sims give us so PEACE Personally the factor I like most about driving a rally sim is the amount of focus it requires from you and the fact that at any moment you need to be prepared for something: to make a correction on the steering wheel, accelerate, brake quickly, countersteer, change gear and so on - in one word rally driving differs from racing or f1 driving cause you need to be prepared, you can only imagine what lies ahead. This is what I personally love about rally driving. I remind myself on some wet and during heavy rain tarmac stages in RBR that require from me to be focused so much that after few hours of driving at home I am really tired And this is what I love about rally sims. Hopefully in the end DR will provide us with the same type of immersion and focus required during stages.

 

[Hellracer234]

PEACE Hellracer234
I understand the fun factor sims and games generally provide people with. Didn't want to offend you or anybody, just wanted to state my observation about driving in general. Once again I understand the fun time sims give us so PEACE

Its ok : )

 

[Pedro K]

It felt like driving on ice for me too at first. I installed RSRBR15 and hadn't run their launcher. Once I did the game fixed itself.

 

[Silvio Camolesi]

Hi everybody, back here after some days. Any news about FFB? Any improvement from CM? It is an early acess, so I think it is expected to have some news, or not?

 

[Msportdan]

That vid looks like you took a Sunday drive down to the shops. Rallying doesn't look like that at the wheel. Rbr was good, but rallying is a lot more rougher than that and intense!!

Rbr looks dull now

 

[function9]

That vid looks like you took a Sunday drive down to the shops. Rallying doesn't look like that at the wheel...

It's funny, because I always thought that's exactly how Burns or McRae looked when driving.

 

[Dave R]

I could resist no longer. Bought it a few minutes ago.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

Hi everybody, back here after some days. Any news about FFB? Any improvement from CM? It is an early acess, so I think it is expected to have some news, or not?

smallish patches so far mainly fixing real problems like error screens game crashes etc. saying they're working on ffb. hillclimb announced for this month (probably end of), so maybe some more stuff at that date.

 

[roksteady]

Therefore there is this "RBR is driving on ice" theme going around

There is an ACTUAL issue with RBR... install the patches and mods wrong and you end up with that driving on ice bug ... happened to me several times. RBR is completely unmanageable in that state. In it's proper state RBR is fantastic! I feel sorry for anyone who previously overlooked RBR due to being hit by this issue or being fooled by something they read...

 

[samekyo]

There is an ACTUAL issue with RBR... install the patches and mods wrong and you end up with that driving on ice bug ... happened to me several times. RBR is completely unmanageable in that state. In it's proper state RBR is fantastic! I feel sorry for anyone who previously overlooked RBR due to being hit by this issue or being fooled by something they read...

It is the first time I ever hear about this issue. And I've been on RBR scene since beginning.

 

[thierry.le.hingrat]

Hillclimb is out.....Nice ride on slippery tracks ( mix of gravel and tarmac ) with heavy rain !!! Hard challenge with Peugeot 205, 405 or Audi Quattro "Pikes Peak" but lot of fun !

 

[nickh158]

Shall i tell u what i think codemasters are doing here A: making a little bit of cash and b: Getting the community to build their game for them to release as dirt 4 .

I wrote something similar to this in another thread. Dirt: Rally clearly started life as a console game, which explains the lack of mouse support, and force feedback which is more like controller rumble than wheel ffb. So, yes, I think they slapped a basic PC code onto the initial program so they could release it into early access to get the cash they need for further development.
However, I seriously doubt that they intend to turn the game into another arcade rally affair.