Paul Jeffrey

Premium
Kylotonn Racing Games have confirmed this September will see the release of the next officially licensed World Rally Championship video game - WRC 8.


Imaginatively titled as always, the eighth instalment to the steadily improving WRC franchise of games is set to launch on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC this September, and promises to be an all round improvement on previous iterations of the long running franchise.

New for WRC 8 will be a revised physics system across the many varied different racing surfaces within the game, plus the inclusion of what looks to be an already very impressive looking dynamic weather system, presumably adding a feature to allow the 100+ official WRC stages to be experienced in a variety of different weather conditions.

Of the new dynamic weather, Bigben and Kylotonn had the following to say during a brief press release to accompany the brand new announcement trailer:

"A new dynamic weather system has been developed to add random elements to the driving experience, but also to increase realism in the game. Managing the weather is a real challenge for the drivers: modified grip, car settings adjustments, tyre selection optimization, weather team relationship to ensure the best tips and information on the latest conditions. More than mere visual effects, climatic conditions become crucial, especially in the management of your career"

Of course with the title coming out toward the end of the year, the new WRC 8 release will replicate the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship season, including the latest cars and drivers from the official teams' of the category. Featuring over 50 drivers, including the returning multiple champion Sébastien Loeb in his new Hyundai, 14 different events across over 100 individual stages, WRC 8 certainly lacks nothing in terms of scale.

Most importantly of all for sim racers looking to get their rally kicks, Kylotonn have promised that "WRC 8 will go above and beyond WRC 7, especially in the steering requirements and the realistic physics of the vehicles" - one of the weaker points from previous releases.

As well as the class leading WRC cars, the new game is also set to feature a selection of vehicles from the WRC 2 and Junior WRC categories, alongside a number of historic cars. Team management is also set to play a role in the expanded career mode, with the player able to improve their car by way of upgrades and team developments, of which more details are expected to be revealed in the near future.

Exciting times for fans of sideways action.

WRC 8 releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Steam/PC September 2019.

WRC 8 Release 2.jpg
WRC 8 Release.jpg


Check out the upcoming WRC 8 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news, discussions and conversation prior to the big game reveal this September!

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anyone else getting this?
RedBull have smacked me in the face, and i dont even know what for. 10 live streams hit by them, i cant see any red bull content thats not in the rest of the 6 hour video

i think ill just give up hahahahahaa
 
richard burns rally has better graphics when you apply reshade graphics mod.kylotonn stop spending money so our forest can grow!
Then perhaps you can explain me how the hell can I FORCE RBR to run in ANY 16/9 resolution !?? Either my screen is 4:3 windowed or everything in awfully stretched from 4:3 all over my 16:9 screen. RBR have most realistic physics ever in rally, and it's hard like driving Grand prix legends on public roads but graphic wise hmm... not so stellar.
Although... I agree to a point that WRC 8 could use some better graphic engine. :)
 
So far I have uploaded three onboards without a problem, but I just uploaded my nearly one hour review. As a private video as I do some tweaking before making public. It was still in the processing phase when I got a strike from Red Bull.
Screenshot_20191006-094247.png

I also noticed in Analytics that Red Bull has been combing my videos or something. Not sure what's going on. It's a pretty involved review and took a long time. I would hate to have to go back end edit it again, but I don't know what I could edit, anyway. I don't have any Red Bull material besides the arches in the stages and the Citroën livery on the car.
Screenshot_20191006-094541.png
 
WRC may (and may not) have some canned FF and car behaviour but let me tell you...
(and I want to open new thread about but ok... it can as well goes here I guess) -

WRC 8 with all assists off, damage on max, with wheel ofc - vs DR 2 is much much more unforgiving. And if you don't believe me just do one little test - load up Sweden in both games and let the beating speaks for itself. In DR 2 you can simply, kind of... "lean" on snow banks and sail or should I say bobsled-ged it into the safe victory, by large margin. In WRC 8 you just don't. :-l
 
Yeah that's one of the things I'm a bit disappointed with about this game, the lack of info from the devs. I thought they would be like kunos simulazioni or iracing and have a dedicated forum for this game but I sure as hell can't find one. Guess what's the point of creating a forum when you're just going to spit out a new iteration next year. Somebody with a shite ton of money needs to start a service similar to iracing but for rally(and cheaper). Oh Elon, stop worrying about fooking space!
 
Well I figured out from another forum what the symbols mean in case anyone is interested. They have to do with the perk cards. When you get a card the symbols of your crew members have to match up with the card for it to be activated. These perk cards must be really rare cause I've been playing for a fair amount now and still haven't got one.
 
Then perhaps you can explain me how the hell can I FORCE RBR to run in ANY 16/9 resolution !?? Either my screen is 4:3 windowed or everything in awfully stretched from 4:3 all over my 16:9 screen. RBR have most realistic physics ever in rally, and it's hard like driving Grand prix legends on public roads but graphic wise hmm... not so stellar.
Although... I agree to a point that WRC 8 could use some better graphic engine. :)
I run RBR 2016 PERFECTLY on my ultrawide 34" screen at the correct resolution. It's been an easy fix for years. :rolleyes:
 
WRC 8 with all assists off, damage on max, with wheel ofc - vs DR 2 is much much more unforgiving.

Agreed. Taking gameplay comparisons out of the equation, the big difference for me between the two games is really simple: WRC 8 begs me to boot up the game and play, whereas DR2.0 never inspired me to play. I just don't feel like booting it up. I got it 50% off on PS4, got the Platinum trophy in a week, and didn't touch it for months. Now I only fire it up once every 15 days to compete in my league which is really the only time I actually enjoy the game. Because of the human competition with my long-time WhatsApp group. It's great fun, but the rest of the game... I just don't touch it.

WRC 8 on the other hand... I just really enjoy jumping into my career (Hard difficulty and Authentic damage) and trying to get somewhere. Trying to advance to the WRC. Trying not to crash, go bankrupt, get fired... It's very challenging, immersive and addicting. I get all happy when jumping into WRC 8. It reminds me of gaming in the '80s and '90s when there were games that would just trap me in their world. You know, "can't put it down" kind of addiction. I really enjoy my time with WRC 8. It's just a well put together game despite some of the lack of polish and bugs here and there.

As for the inevitable comparisons, I think DR2.0 only beats WRC 8 in sounds and car variety. I find the physics, FFB, dynamic weather, tire wear, driving sensation, stages, features to be better in WRC 8. I much prefer tarmac in WRC 8. Loose surface physics I would say it's a tie, however I do prefer WRC 8 as it doesn't have that "drift on demand you are an automatic rally slide champion" feeling that the DiRTs have, which I find to be unrealistic and annoying at times.

Neither of them are sims. They both are sim-lites. Both are enjoyable to drive for different reasons. Both suffer from excessive grip and reduced braking distances. But both are intuitive which makes them sim enough for me to enjoy. But DR2.0 falls short on so many things: FFB, floaty EGO physics, repetitive stages, botched/missing/lacking features. The big thing that annoys me with DR2.0 is the FFB. Beyond SAT, there is pretty much nothing. The SAT is well done, but I can't really feel the tires loading up, loosing, regaining grip like I can in WRC 8, nor can I feel anything from the road surface (and I am not talking about fake vibrations here, I am referring to the fact that the road surfaces feel completely flat). I will explain:

The thing that really killed DR2.0 for me was when I was testing in Poland for a pre-season league event. I was on a tarmac straightaway in the village in an R5 car and the road had very heavy camber, sloping down from the crest in the middle towards either side of the road. I was on the left side of the road. The camber was pushing my car to the left (gravity working) towards the ditch, however I felt absolutely nothing from the wheel telling me it was happening. There was no SAT at all. It was a last-minute visual cue that even made me realize it was happening, and I barely kept the car on the road. I started to realize at that point that what bothered me about DR2.0 was that I felt like I was always driving on roads smooth as glass and completely flat. Not even the heavy cambered roads in Wales cause SAT. You just cross over all those cambered crests with the wheel as light and dead as ever unless you are sideways breaking traction.

So I did an experiment, and it would be interesting for anyone here who wants to try, you can try it, too. I went to a stage in Australia in an R5 car. I started driving along the straights in first gear at 30km/hr and zig-zagging the car as if I were warming up tires on a track car. The wheel is completely lifeless here. No resistance or reaction at all despite the fact that I am doing some serious zig-zagging. Then, when a turn approaches, the forces of the SAT appear out of nowhere and resist my zig-zagging throughout the turn, even though I am still doing 30km/hr and not getting near the limits of grip. Once the turn ends, and another straight begins, the wheel goes lifeless again, even though I am still zig-zagging.

So I believe that the SAT in DR2.0 is actually scripted and only activates itself in turns or when you are at a massive slip angle (like loosing control on a straightaway) and that's why I find the driving sensation to be so boring. Scripted SAT and lack of other forces and total lack of the road surface affecting the car at all. Just... SAT. Nothing else.

Anyone else get that feeling: that the FFB in DR2.0 is scripted?
 

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