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!

 

[Majuh]

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?

Dirt 3 had been given away for free 2 months ago, so this comparison is pointless.

 

[Matthew Allington]

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

At least the R5T now turns in a lot better than I could ever manage with it in DiRT Rally...

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

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?

It's in part apples and oranges, as Dirt 4 hasn't been discounted to 12 euros unlike Dirt Rally (which, err, "Nose-dived" in the same way when that happened, and never got the impact that dirt 4 had on it's own release, as much as Early Access muddies the waters there), and Dirt 3 has been released for free. When you add Project Cars and Assetto Corsa to the branch, You also see similar "nose dives" that occur at release, just like a lot of other games have (i've already mentioned a lot of SP games up at #40).

Would I say that Dirt 4 had a succesful launch? No. It being review bombed at the start on steam is already a pretty good indicator, as much as I disagree with most of those reviews. Dirt Rally had a far smarter launch in terms of marketing and the like, and Dirt 4 isn't good enough to keep Dirt Rally from being it's main competitor. Contrast F1 2016, which is a very good F1 game after codies struggled with engines for 2 years, and one which has a far longer career mode to boot! On the other hand, Dirt 4 actually works, which is more then could be said for Assetto Corsa and Project Cars at launch.

 

[Case_]

and who ever did the gear ratios is out of their mind .

I believe it was stated by the devs that the gear ratios are set up according to how they were in the car they had sourced. I might be mistaken, though.

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.

It's funny how completely different can two people perceive the same thing. I'd call the M3 probably the best RWD experience I've had in the game so far (which is not exactly saying much, to be honest), with some setup changes. It actually drove quite close to how I'd expect an RWD car to drive and was actually capable of some on-throttle oversteer and controlled powersliding, which is a rare thing in D4 for me, even with RWDs. Similar with the Ascona - to me, it's the most RWD-like feeling car in its group.

On the other hand, I very much dislike the Stratos and Renault T5 because to me, they feel nothing like an RWD car. Stratos was an agile RWD marvel in DR, now it's an undesteering boat that rarely ever manages to brake traction in the rear. T5 was kinda tricky to master in DR, it had a tendency to understeer horribly under braking, but on throttle showed plenty of RWD oversteery characteristics and it was great fun trying to balance these two different sides of the car. Now it's just boring and bland with no oversteer to talk of, but plenty of on-throttle understeer.

And don't even get me started on 205 T16. I *loved* that car in DR, it was a screaming 4WD monster capable of incredible controlled powerslides if you managed to tame it. Now...now it is an undesteering pig suffering from quite unpredictable and almost random snap oversteer (which could be said about most of the 4WD/AWD cars in the game), making it a very frustrating drive.

Probably the most enjoyable AWD car in the game for me so far (but there's still plenty I didn't even drive yet or spent enough time with to form an opinion) is the Lancia Delta Integrale. With some setup changes, it's actually somewhat enjoyable to drive and handles semi-decent and close(r) to what I'd expect such car to handle, which, in the context of Dirt 4 cars is still considerable praise.

 

[MarkR]

It's funny how completely different can two people perceive the same thing.

Thanks for the reply and clear explanation of your perceptions. This difference in perception is something I've often wondered about, are for example the wheels we are using and feedback settings giving us anywhere near the same experience of the game? I'm always fascinated by how flawed the human eye is at perceiving reality and how colours change in low light conditions. Add to that how much difference there is in human perception of events in general and I think we get closer to the truth in these discussions. I suspect a similar effect is at work in a lot of the arguments about how games feel and what is deemed to be right.

I'm almost certain the different wheels and the strength of force feedback play a large part having owned and used a few different wheels now. The later wheels can generate a strength of force I've never experienced in even unassisted real car steering yet for some this seems to be a key factor in feedback. All artificial steering weight and no real road feel or feedback a lot like many real world VAG products in 'Sport' steering modes. Drive something with sweet steering feedback like an Exige Cup and you realise all the feedback that is missing from the mainstream VAG group cars (Golf GTi Clubsport being an exception), though a lot like DiRT 4 the mainstream buyers of cars are much more content with the insulated VAG type feedback. Now imagine the drivers of each car jump on to a video game with those frames of reference. What feels right to one player will feel wrong to another.

For me with my enthusiastic yet limited range of track experiences, Assetto Corsa feels as close to the real track in terms of feedback as I've experienced. Others disagree and I both get and accept that. For me, the DiRT 4 feedback and control of the cars work fine and actually feels closer to my few experiences at Rally School and on a few rally car handling courses (massive fun), but at the same time DiRT 4 still feels much more like a great game than an all out simulation. Add into that mix the perceptions of people who think they know how the real car should feel vs how the real thing actually feels and it all becomes a conundrum. The first time I drove a specifically track prepared Exige I was shocked to find the brake pedal was almost solid and had no real sense of modulation like the road version, it took a lot of getting used to so I'm aware of how my own perceptions of right and wrong have shifted over time.

The only thing I know for certain is I wouldn't want to be a video game force feedback designer trying somehow to meet all those perceptions on multiple devices with widely variable force settings. DiRT 4 is good enough for me but I hope Codies listen and add more of what the sim racers want too, in a specific mode not adjusting the core of the game - these games need to be accessible too. Overall though across the driving game genre wheel feel and feedback is, in my opinion, better than it has ever been and I think with some trial and error almost everyone should be able to find a driving game that meets their perception of how cars 'should' behave.

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

On the other hand, I very much dislike the Stratos and Renault T5 because to me, they feel nothing like an RWD car. Stratos was an agile RWD marvel in DR, now it's an undesteering boat that rarely ever manages to brake traction in the rear. T5 was kinda tricky to master in DR, it had a tendency to understeer horribly under braking, but on throttle showed plenty of RWD oversteery characteristics and it was great fun trying to balance these two different sides of the car. Now it's just boring and bland with no oversteer to talk of, but plenty of on-throttle understeer.

And don't even get me started on 205 T16. I *loved* that car in DR, it was a screaming 4WD monster capable of incredible controlled powerslides if you managed to tame it. Now...now it is an undesteering pig suffering from quite unpredictable and almost random snap oversteer (which could be said about most of the 4WD/AWD cars in the game), making it a very frustrating drive.

Those are all mid-engined cars are they not? On the Dirt 4 launch stream, Coleman mentioned that they had considerably changed the way weight shifting impacts the handling of the cars, which in turn affects how much grip the tire has. Understandably, cars with odd weight balances (such as the Renault 5 and the Stratos) would be far more affected by this then, say, the M3.

 

[ariwalk]

I got a lot of experience of rallying with rwd cars and fwd cars. Well, I think this game is better to drive with your keyboard than a proper driving wheel. You just feel it when you drive. Fwd cars are pretty close to realistic but rwd cars are too easy to drive. Except Alpine which is the worst car I have ever driven in games. Rwd cars even 037 Lancia hasn't any power. Have you ever drive with bmw m3 in real life? After that 037 feels like Lada. 4wd cars are like powerful fwd cars and got really bad balance. You can of course change some setups but it tells that something is totally wrong in physics. I dunno what Kris Meeke was doing there but I guess he even didn't drive whole game because it so bad.

So what else horrible things there are? Notes are total mess. Now I know why Colin McRae was allways off the road because there are no yelling or anything. It's sounds like your father is reading bed time story. And the scale are total mess. After note class 5 the road can turn over 90 degrees and that is really stupid. I have done now 14h driving and if they don't do anything about physics that was my last 14h with that game. Compare that I have driven 427h Dirt Rally.

 

[Case_]

Those are all mid-engined cars are they not? On the Dirt 4 launch stream, Coleman mentioned that they had considerably changed the way weight shifting impacts the handling of the cars, which in turn affects how much grip the tire has. Understandably, cars with odd weight balances (such as the Renault 5 and the Stratos) would be far more affected by this then, say, the M3.

They are, yes, as far as I know.
And as for how it affects their handling in D4, I seriously don't know. With the Renault 5 at least, the odd handling in DR kinda made sense to me. The car handling in D4 doesn't make much sense most of the time to me and is all over the place even when it comes to the same car in different game modes.

 

[theravenousbeast]

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. ;-)

Not that funny mate. Some of us who have tried heroin, find other heavy drugs flat and boring. Its a simple truth. Nothing more than that. Once you have tried heroin and find you do not suffer from constipation, this is as close as you will ever get to being on top of the world.It is that good. ;-)

Barely changed a few words. That's pretty much how you VR nerds sound all the ****ing time.

 

[Thomas Lambaerts]

my first time in the M3, I did the daily. It drives just fine? Even with the very neutral setup.
To me it looks pretty much like a rwd rally car should drive.

Ps: i know crappy driving, but first time i drove it. And i'm not that great with rwd thingy's. + Trying to slide it around a bit more than was needed
Pss: My pc isn't the youngest so framerate not that high for screencap.

 

[Case_]

The M3 daily in Spain was one of the best experiences I had so far in D4. The tarmac handling is already better in general than gravel handling, plus the M3 handles better than most RWD cars in the game, so the result was actually pretty good. If all of the cars handled like this and on all surfaces, I'd be complaining a lot less. Went to do the daily after spending about two hours drifting a DTM 92 Mustang around Knutstorp in R3E and it actually felt quite similar, which is pretty high praise for D4 in this case, I'd say. The fact that the car was behaving as I expected it to also showed on my result for the daily, placing me more where I usually finish in Dirt Rally.

I was regretting I didn't record my run.

And then I picked up the Impreza N4 and did a rally in Spain as well and it also felt pretty good (with some setup changes), again better than most 4WD/AWD cars in the game.

I wonder if the fact that both of these cars feature an official DirtFish livery has something to do with it.