Dakar 18 - The Game

[Patrik Marek]

plus he also sounds so happy, as if they finished entire Dakar and not just first stage sigh
this video makes me actually not really excited for this after all

 

[BP]

oh boy , so true!

this will make me want to turn him off
hmmm

OK...after that video, I think I just hopped back onto the fence...and then belly-flopped over to the other side

3 Reasons:

1. The tone of the navigator isn't THAT bad (gRally anyone?), but I don't think he shouldn't be going bonkers so early after hitting a waypoint. They advertise the game as giving you freedom, but an ounce of deviation and the navi goes crazy? I know, ideally you should begin your turn to the next waypoint before hitting the current waypoint (as is done in planes if you've flown IRL or a flight sim)...but this is a bit much. Maybe there's an .ini file to tweak that somewhere...
   
   
2. As I said in my previous post, it doesn't need an rFactor 2 level of physics...but it needs SOME believable physics! I mean...from 4:15 to about 5:10 was the craziest part for me...there were at least 5 instances where that car should have rolled over. Off-road on sand dunes + erratic movements = no possibility of flipping? C'mon now.
   
   
3. It's advertised as having a total area of over 15,000 square km using real cartographic data. Here's a quote from Bigmoon Studios in the comments section of that same YouTube video:
   
   "...However, bear in mind that Dakar 18 is a Rally Raid game and therefore is unlike other racing games. The goal is to navigate through a harsh environment (based on the real countries) and collect the WayPoints before crossing the final line. For that, we created a +18.000Km2 open world that allows players to experience the real sense of navigation and that includes the ability to getting lost too. That being said, we don't focus only on a few Km of track visuals but replicate and manage to stream thousands of km2 as never done before.
   
   This game is based on real local cartography and therefore we didn't make up the environments or roadbooks. They are based on what happened on Dakar Rally 2018 in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. This stage, for example, has only around 30Km because it's the prologue (not a complete normal stage), also it happens in the middle of the Peruvian desert... we understand your complains about graphics... but, in this stage it's only sand. Other stages have a way richer environment. It depends on the real localization."
   - Bigmoon Studios
   
   Bruh.
   
   Look at the very start of the run: to cover 1 kilometer in 1 minute IRL you have to be going 60 kph (sustained speed or average speed/min). They do it in 10 SECONDS from standstill with an average speed of approx 56 kph?! Which means they're going 6x faster: 360kph?! Yet the world doesn't look like it's moving at 360 kph (more like the indicated speed if anything)...so yea...I don't know what they're using to measure, but that sure as hell ain't real world kilometers.
   
   I understand if they want to compress the game so you're not playing for 8 hours, as the longest stages in Dakar can take that long in some vehicles, but 6x distance compression seems a bit much...but not if you're making an arcade game I guess.

Even as an arcade game, there's still some things they need to fix before release...but I'd love to see a hardcore mode that has less (or no) compression...but then there's still the problem of lacking believable physics

 

[Merlin59]

Just watched the above video. After that we'll see. Not saying no but maybe just got stronger!

 

[Tr3voRR]

the clouds

 

[Damage Inc]

I'm still looking forward to this, agree somewhat about the navigators tone of voice, hopefully they'll work on that, I got royally effed off with the first Deus Ex Mankind Divided mission where team mates were shouting at me, it was a sandstorm and I had NO idea what to do......left the game alone for about 6 months after that crap (went back and enjoyed the game once past that crappy bit). This is something new and unique, should be refreshing.

 

[Patrik Marek]

There's definitely time for the devs to tweak it some more, and yes, it's definitely quite unique game
but yeah,.. not sure at the moment

will wait for some first reviews I suppose

 

[rubennaatje]

There's definitely time for the devs to tweak it some more, and yes, it's definitely quite unique game
but yeah,.. not sure at the moment

will wait for some first reviews I suppose

I think it's gone into the right direction but they have made a few incorrect choices or mistakes. Apart from the physics it's just small things.

 

[hupske]

Hello,

I've found a new gameplay video. Dont know why there is always a complete noob driving it, because it's looking horrible for the game.
They stage it self looks good to me

And the video with some new images:

Have fun looking at it!

btw, the are also at Gamescom.
https://www.facebook.com/dakarthegame/posts/1821789924571105

 

[er185]

 

[spark23]

If you are playing in pre-release, are you giving feedback to developers to improve the game?

 

[rubennaatje]

Hello,

I've found a new gameplay video. Dont know why there is always a complete noob driving it, because it's looking horrible for the game.
They stage it self looks good to me

And the video with some new images:

Have fun looking at it!

btw, the are also at Gamescom.
https://www.facebook.com/dakarthegame/posts/1821789924571105

So true about the noob driving, makes the game look a lot worse...

 

[Case_]

Just watched the video elsewhere and came to post it here. Some thoughts:

- The co-driver is incredibly annoying. Quite an issue in a game that seems to be all about navigating. I would probably want to just turn him off very soon. That's not a good thing IMO.

- I have a huge issue with the distances in the game. I don't mind as much the fact that we seem to cover 98 km in 13 minutes, but it makes the navigation very confusing - if the co-driver calls out distance 2 km to a nav point, it's basically an equivalent to what would be 200 meters or less related to the scale of the car and landscape objects, and calls like "in 500 meters turn right" basically translate to "turn right immediatelly". Really confusing IMO.

- It actually seems quite boring, at least from this video. In those 13 minutes, nothing really happens. You're just driving through landscape following checkpoints. And while I understand that might be fairly realistic, it's still a game and I have a suspicion it will get old fairly quickly, and then what?

 

[magzire]

Yep not for me

 

[Trebor901]

looks like an open world shooter with the guns taken out and rally cars put in, physics look shocking just the way the car behaves and they cant even be bothered to make the wing mirrors in interior view work lol, wont be buying unless i can find it dirt cheap off a key website.

 

[hupske]

Looks like there is a little bit of input lag or the deadzone of the steering wheel is not good.
Also it looks like its missing FFB.
Gameplay starts at 10:30. Have fun watching it.

 

[JuanitoRPM]

If these are the definitive physics its a great *****d arcade... what a pity!

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Good lord, what is that supposed to be?

90 degree lock on the real wheel... 15 degree on the screen?!?!?!

Hope that is just a setting issue rather than actually how the game is supposed to be? Would expect better being this is from GamesCom and release isn't that far away...

Very unimpressed

 

[hupske]

Maybe interesting to follow the discussion on Reddit about the steering wheel.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DakartheGa..._with_steering_wheel/?st=JLCL1Z8Z&sh=7e45b7c5

 

[R1Joel]

Really love the concept of this game, but that video is very underwhelming.

 

[Trebor901]

I want to pre order it from cd keys but they're listing release as 30th yet steam list it as 25th and then some others I've seen have had 28th.