DiRT 4 So, first impressions? Where does it stand versus DR?

[Helmut Skrdla]

Title says it all. It's available now, so for those with much more skill than me, how does it fare? Especially compared to Dirt Rally?

 

[Case_]

If over 1000 active players and pretty much the same as Dirt Rally had for months means the game is dead, then I guess rFactor 2 or Raceroom are dead *and* buried. And I don't even want to know where Automobilista stands in this analogy, with its 250 or so players.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

If over 1000 active players and pretty much the same as Dirt Rally had for months means the game is dead, then I guess rFactor 2 or Raceroom are dead *and* buried. And I don't even want to know where Automobilista stands in this analogy, with its 250 or so players.

This is all about trend, just released game declined to the level of 2 year old same genre title in less than a month.
By definition it should appear to much wider audience than poor looking, hardcore wanna be sims like rF2 and AMS (niche masochists market really).
But even if you compare to one of the the leads in the sim group, things are not looking that promising to D4.
http://steamcharts.com/cmp/421020,244210#1m

 

[Case_]

The wider audiences have played it for a week or so it took them to finish the career, and then left it because they feel no need to play a rally game on a daily basis. Only the core target group remains. It probably could've gone better, but it also could've gon worse.

Though I'm sure the review bombing on Steam didn't really help the issue.

 

[Majuh]

The game had been released primarily for the consoles. Steam player counts are irrelevant in comparison.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

not a nice sight, but seriously impressive numbers for AC.

 

[UMC 22]

The game is dead. Check stats

http://steamcharts.com/cmp/421020,310560#1m

Pretty much meaningless. Most of the racing sims we use in our clubs here on RD show less current players than both Dirt Rally and Dirt 4, yet we don't have any problem filling out clubs with drivers. Graphs aren't absolute. You need to consider the reasons behind what you're seeing on them.

For example, driving sims are a bit of a niche market so they'll never get as many players as the latest and greatest FPS. Also, as people have already pointed out here on numerous occasions, nearly all games see a massive spike for week one before tailing off to much lower numbers. That's all the people interested rushing into the game, then the novelty wears off, and you're left with the core players that will continue to play for months to come and make up the true fan base.

The pattern is similar for nearly every game out there, and to be honest, for nearly all products that are sold whether they're games or not.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

The comparison is not against FPS, but other "sims", including Dirt Rally.
How that can be irrelevant?
If you miss the chart
http://steamcharts.com/cmp/421020,310560#1m

Same situation as with FPS, take COD IW and BO3, if successor is not good, people inevitably fall back to predecessor. IW is a ghost town now as everyone is back to BO3.

 

[Case_]

It's not irrelevant, it's just that claiming the game is dead because a month after release it has the same amount of concurrent players as Dirt Rally and more than most other racing games this site focuses on apart from Assetto Corsa seems like a needless exaggeration.

 

[bogani]

With som minor tweaks the NR4 felt pretty nice in the Swedish Weekly. SS4 was actually really enjoyable. Love the sky as well!

 

[Case_]

Yeah, it really felt quite good, and it was probably the first time I liked Sweden in the game. I'd still argue the cars don't break traction as much as they should, but nevertheless I was quite happy with the setup and handling.

Looks like the Impreza really is the go-to car in this game if you want a nice feeling AWD. And if you're looking for a RWD, then it's the BMW E30 M3, which I'm also enjoying quite a lot.

 

[bogani]

Yeah, it really felt quite good, and it was probably the first time I liked Sweden in the game. I'd still argue the cars don't break traction as much as they should, but nevertheless I was quite happy with the setup and handling.

Looks like the Impreza really is the go-to car in this game if you want a nice feeling AWD. And if you're looking for a RWD, then it's the BMW E30 M3, which I'm also enjoying quite a lot.

Did any setup changes? Zero camber on the rear seems to be the general rule to get some more movement.

 

[Case_]

@bogani Yes, the setup is included at the end of the video. I don't really know what I'm doing, though

 

[bogani]

@bogani Yes, the setup is included at the end of the video. I don't really know what I'm doing, though

Stiffen the rear ARB a notch and set rear camber to zero and give it a spin in Sweden again

 

[Case_]

Yeah, that would likely result in more rear oversteer. But does such setup make sense? I'm not too sure.

 

[bogani]

Yeah, that would likely result in more rear oversteer. But does such setup make sense? I'm not too sure.

Depends I guess. I want the rear to have some slip in Sweden. It doesn't give you crazy oversteer, just a nice progressive feel of rear slip.

 

[Leynad777]

The game is dead. Check stats

http://steamcharts.com/cmp/421020,310560#1m

First check the owners...
Dirt Rally: http://steamspy.com/app/310560 (app. 691k)
Dirt 4: http://steamspy.com/app/421020 (app. 49k)

 

[Rob Every]

If you release a game like this, there will always be high initial take up

Problem is, I think they hooked a lot of people from DR into it obviously, and maybe they feel like most of the reviews I have seen that there simply is not enough in there for them. If you read the blurb you already knoew that, but as usual people bought it anyway regardless so desperate were they to try.

I understand Codies reasons, they made an awesome platform in DR, did a bit with it then left it to rot and be replaced by this. Tel everyone its similar and hope they buy it. I have not played it so cannot judge fully. But this seems a world away.

What I can't understand is that with a sort of experiment like DR, why not make it more moddable, make it open, make it like RBR, as in a few years time you would surely have loads of cars, stages, mods for it and it would establish itself as a sort of cult game like RBR did.

If you are not really releasing a game as a proper game like they did with DR, why not do that, aswell as offering up Dirt 4 which is so obviously designed to not appeal to Dirt Rally players, but a wider audience.

 

[UMC 22]

What I can't understand is that with a sort of experiment like DR, why not make it more moddable, make it open, make it like RBR, as in a few years time you would surely have loads of cars, stages, mods for it and it would establish itself as a sort of cult game like RBR did.

Because that would go against Codemaster's sales model. They aren't interested in making games which last forever and achieve cult status... it's good for fans but not for profits. They want titles they can redesign and re-release every year or two, with each one becoming the "next big thing".

In a way you can't really blame them. Developers/publishers don't make significantly more money for a "cult classic." Just like every other game, most of the money is made within the first month. Then it tails off to a trickle, then it gets discounted, then it gets pirated, and after a year pretty much everyone that will ever want the game has it. Time to move on and release something else.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

back to the game: i still really love the management and career stuff, i think the generated tracks are great but the actual driving experience just leaves so much to be desired on a g27, every time i sit down to play it i find myself actually spending more time managing my team, playing with the track generator, painting my car etc. etc. rather than spending time on track. with a g27 one cannot shake a certain floaty feeling. you never really feel where exactly your four wheels are and what exactly each is doing atm, weight transfer is non-existent. so, yes, one devises certain strategies of doing this or that to make the car behave in this or that way but it simply never feels intuitive as it always did in RBR and quite often did in DR. Pity, the DR driving model was fine by me, wish I could go back to it while at the same time having all the management and track design gadgets to play with.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

on another note, the guys who do the official FIA rally game announced the following feature in their new game: "These special stages, which are longer than 20 km and last for more than 15 minutes of gameplay, are certain to sorely test the players’ endurance. It’s also interesting to find all these different conditions in one single, solitary special stage.”