EA Sports WRC Update 1.3 Brings Performance Fixes

EA Sports WRC Update 1.3.jpg

EA Sports WRC Update 1.3 Brings Performance Fixes

Upon release, EA Sports WRC was criticised for poor performance, but with update 1.3, the developers hope to eradicate such issues. But will their efforts succeed?

EA Sports WRC has now been out for over a week. Upon release, we enjoyed the game, and continue to have fun with the title. However, to most that play it, it is obvious that performance and stability are not there.

Framerate issues plague the title, strange glitches exist throughout the game and soft-lock crashes are not uncommon.


Upon release, EA announced it would release a post-launch patch to address some of these optimisation downfalls. Well, the update releases today with the developers keeping their fingers crossed for a smoother, more enjoyable experience for the player base. Here is all you need to know about update 1.3 to EA Sports WRC.

Shader Pre-Compilation resolutions​

As many will know, the biggest problem affecting the EA Sports WRC experience in its current state is frequent stuttering. Early on in the game’s release, it was said that this was due to the Unreal Engine’s tendency to compile shaders whilst running through a stage.

With this new version, the engine will pre-compile shaders during the stage loading process. Accordingly, we should expect the driving to run far smoother after installing the update.


Elsewhere, the title also suffers from countless crashes and soft-locks. In fact, our own Michel experienced this in his video review, with a crash at the Monte Carlo rally. Whilst no specific crash events are noted in the changelog, the notes do point out that several known moments have been rectified.

Other additions in this latest update touch on stability in menu screens. Whilst we rarely experienced issues outside of the driving gameplay, this is sure to be a much-awaited fix for many. Furthermore, a series of graphical bugs such as 3D model inconsistencies and audio glitches will no longer feature.

EA Sports WRC Update 1.3 Patch Notes​

Aside from performance and stability fixes, the latest patch also brings quality of life improvements. Indeed, one must note some UI touch-ups as well as co-driver call optimisations.

EA Sports WRC Update 1.3 - Any better than before.jpg


Finally, the game is now able to launch on the Steam Deck, whilst improvements come to Ultra-wide screen support.

As previously announced, Virtual Reality support and the final 2023 WRC missing event, Central European Rally, will feature in an update next year.

To see how the update impacts things, we are going to put it through its paces right after release on November 8 at 2pm CET. Join Michel and Yannik for some WRC community multiplayer action in the OverTake WRC club or check out the livestream on our Twitch channel!

Want to discuss EA Sports WRC and anything and other titles of the WRC series? Feel free to head to our forums to become part of the conversation!

How does update 1.3 affect your EA Sports WRC gameplay experience? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
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Angus Martin
Motorsport gets my blood pumping more than anything else. Be it physical or virtual, I'm down to bang doors.

Comments

D
Omigosh, v1.3 only days after release? :confused:
Nothing says "released too early" quite like a cascade of patches...
It's just late day one patch. :D
And technically it's 8 days since EA release.

Wish T10 was that quick, they only quick announcing what they are going to update 2 weeks from now. :O_o:
 
Premium
There are some nice lines we can put in engine.ini, to disable bloom and dof entirely, and adjust the autoexposure. There should be settings for this in-game, but at least this is two more problems fixed for me. :)

Also discovered that DLSS quality seems to run smoother than balanced, but still far from smooth enough.

For me the choppy gameplay is now the only major thing really bothering me.
 
I gave the patch a quick go, not enough testing to confirm.

But I did a moment's stage which was at night and struggled with fps drops down to 30 fps and stuttering. Post patch it never went below 60fps and I didn't encounter any stuttering which was a relief.

I5 9600kf
1660 ti
High settings
FSR on quality
2560x1080 HDR
 
Hmmm... maybe this will ring u a bell:
You are probably not aware that the very same youtuber posted a subsequent video where he actually played the game and concluded the physics were perfectly fine. I would therefore take his videos with a big fat pinch of salt either way.

The default setups in this game are all over the place. I grabbed a couple of setups for the Hillman Avenger (H3 RWD) and the handling was transformed on soft surfaces. Miles better.

I still find tarmac ridiculously grippy (RWD H3 for example) given the roads are public roads and therefore dirty and they are not rubbered in (very green) along with the fact you are not on slicks, but treaded tires. The soft surfaces on the other hand, I am finding pretty good once you change the default setups.
 
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I have to disagree that it looks fantastic. From cockpit view a lot of stages are overexposed so badly it's undrivable because you can't see the road.

My PC specs should hardly be interesting, when I get 90 fps with it?

And before anyone calls me a whiner: I really, really want this game to be good, and it's so close. But there are these couple of really game breakers present...
Put the following into your Engine.ini and it fixes the over exposure which was utterly ridiculous in Mexico and Sweden.

Code:
[SystemSettings]
r.EyeAdaptation.LensAttenuation=0.50
 
Let me get this right:

You only get 100FPS at 1080p using a 4070 and a 7700

I‘d seriously take a look at your rig if it‘s performing so badly.

I just finished building it last night so there is probably room for improvement.

But hey +100 FPS @ Ultra settings !

What more do you need in a racing game ?
 
I have to disagree that it looks fantastic. From cockpit view a lot of stages are overexposed so badly it's undrivable because you can't see the road.

My PC specs should hardly be interesting, when I get 90 fps with it?

And before anyone calls me a whiner: I really, really want this game to be good, and it's so close. But there are these couple of really game breakers present...

I also remember som stages, gravel stages if i remember correctly was overly bright but I don't remember which so I have to try and see if I can find them again.
 
D
Put the following into your Engine.ini and it fixes the over exposure which was utterly ridiculous in Mexico and Sweden.

Code:
[SystemSettings]
r.EyeAdaptation.LensAttenuation=0.50
Are you guys using HDR, both Mexico and Sweden look fine in HDR without any tweaks?
 
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Will have to give it a go again, haven't had a run in a couple days. The only issue I'm hoping it fixes, is usually somewhere in the last sector of a run, there's just a quick stutter/freeze before running perfectly fine again.
 
Premium
Pity I've already used up the 5 free hours provided to gamepass users, visually I couldn't see any difference in visuals between medium and ultra apart from multiple shimmery bushes and trees in the ultra setting. Never once thought the visuals were in any way impressive.

I found the game fun enough, Rally games were my gateway into racing on the PC platform (from the Amiga platform...lol) so I have played far far worse and enjoyed them immensely.

It just didn't do anything to entice me to break out the wallet, even with its budget price. After my 5 free hours were up I just went back to Dirt Rally 2.0 with its VR, Motion-sim, and simhub capabilities....
 
You are probably not aware that the very same youtuber posted a subsequent video where he actually played the game and concluded the physics were perfectly fine. I would therefore take his videos with a big fat pinch of salt either way.

The default setups in this game are all over the place. I grabbed a couple of setups for the Hillman Avenger (H3 RWD) and the handling was transformed on soft surfaces. Miles better.

I still find tarmac ridiculously grippy (RWD H3 for example) given the roads are public roads and therefore dirty and they are not rubbered in (very green) along with the fact you are not on slicks, but treaded tires. The soft surfaces on the other hand, I am finding pretty good once you change the default setups.
Either way his video has a valid point - on tarmac DR2 absolutely sucked - hitting the sides was terrible you got locked into a mini game of fruitless counter steer because the game was faking it. His points about the suspension is pretty true too.

Never played RBR but I can understand why people like so much now. I'm off to play other titles I haven't given a fair shake like Generations and Seb Loeb so I can take on a hill climb in my favourite Stratos something Dirt 1.0 would never do probably for "physics" reasons..

For a franchise entry it was a bad decision to release with the technical issues it has. I will wait on patches and discounts personally it's dropped down on my Christmas list which is a damn shame.
 
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Either way his video has a valid point - on tarmac DR2 absolutely sucked - hitting the sides was terrible you got locked into a mini game of fruitless counter steer because the game was faking it. His points about the suspension is pretty true too.

Never played RBR but I can understand why people like so much now. I'm off to play other titles I haven't given a fair shake like Generations and Seb Loeb so I can take on a hill climb in my favourite Stratos something Dirt 1.0 would never do probably for "physics" reasons..

For a franchise entry it was a bad decision to release with the technical issues it has. I will wait on patches and discounts personally it's dropped down on my Christmas list which is a damn shame.
Let me know what you think of Generations and Loeb. I have read mixed reviews. Hard to gauge really but if you are into Rally, by all means let me know your thoughts (I didn't buy them). Personally think that all Rally titles have issues - including RBR/RSF/NGP. I love Rally as a sport. Have done for a very long time so I tend to cut some slack to Rally titles if they at least have some strong points.
 
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D
Omigosh, v1.3 only days after release? :confused:
Nothing says "released too early" quite like a cascade of patches...
Speaking of too quick patching. Bethesda JUST releasing BETA version of update supporting DLSS in Starfield, thing that was available on day one via user mod. No hope for that company.
 
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D
BTW, telemetry works fine, if impatient, Simhub has beta version with support for native, not hacked one. Available on discord.
Better performance after patch, few hiccups on stage start I had are gone.
I believe it compiles shaders when you start the game without any progress bar but you can tell by how heavy GPU works. If you go straight to racing without waiting for it to finish, performance will suffer.
Fanatech SQ shifter it still broken, so to use H-Shifter, switch to sequential mode BEFORE starting the game, after starting you can switch to H, and it should work just fine.
 
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