WRC9 WRC 9 The Game

[Paul Jeffrey]

WRC 9 is just around the corner, and one of the new locations set to make an appearance in the game is the New Zealand Rally - with some first preview imagery from the states now out in the public domain.

Set to release on console and PC in September this year, with next gen console release slated for a little while afterwards, the ninth instalment of the WRC game series (can you believe we are on number 9 already?!?) looks to be shaping up rather nicely over at KT Racing - so much so that the studio have decided to release some preview footage from an early build version of the title - and already it looks fantastic.

As per usual, the upcoming game enjoys the official licence of the FIA World Rally Championship, this time taking the opportunity to recreate the 2020 season that is currently on hold, and as such returning favourites such as the Safari Rally in Kenya, Rally Japan and the featured Rally New Zealand.

“Roads in New-Zealand are amongst the most beautiful and the most appreciated in the Championship’s history.” tells Benoît Gomes, Lead Level Designer at KT Racing.​

“Famous for its fast chains of turns and a sustained pace rhythm, along with breath-taking landscapes, Rally New-Zealand truly offers a particular experience. A long preparation work allowed us to replicate, as closely as possible, the luxuriant vegetation, the light and unique ocean views, as well as the road’s topography and surfaces, mainly composed of gravel. We’re convinced that players will enjoy taking up this challenge as much as we did in WRC 9.” concludes Benoît Gomes.​

WRC 9 Key Features:

• 3 new rallies: Japan, New Zealand, Kenya
• Over 50 official teams and their livery from the WRC, WRC 2, WRC 3 and Junior WRC
• Over 15 bonus cars that have left their mark on the history of the WRC
• Exclusive new game modes soon to be discovered

WRC 9 will release on Xbox One, PS4, PC this September 3rd.

Want to know more about this new game? No worries, keep an eye out for the upcoming WRC 9 sub forum here at RaceDepartment to engage with your fellow sim racing fans.

 

[Kenny Paton]

My stupid - only W10 supported. Looks like I'll have to upgrade to 10 from 7 to play as got missing dll error for dX12.

we're in the same boat my friend

Guys, like yourselves I was reluctant to move to W10, but I made the move several months ago and having made sure that I turned third party updates off and fixing my privacy settings it's been plain sailing.
In fact I'm pretty sure things are running smoother than ever.
(afterthought) I really hope I haven't jinxed myself

 

[Zolazem]

Actually considering buying this right now as every review ive seen has been positive

I bought it today first impressions are good. FFB is already good out of the box with no settings changed fanatec DD, fun to drive and good feeling what the car is doing. I also discovered a 10€ discount coupon in my epic store so i payed only 40€

 

[BlobbeLobbe]

I bought it today first impressions are good. FFB is already good out of the box with no settings changed fanatec DD, fun to drive and good feeling what the car is doing. I also discovered a 10€ discount coupon in my epic store so i payed only 40€

YEAH !

Feels better, Sounds better and looks better right out of the box with my Fanatec rig
!
Paid about 25€

I haven't changed much yet ( Only changed to manual transmission ) as it was plug and play.

Kylotonn,- Keep this update pace with WRC 10 and 11 and I can easily forget those 5 years with Crapmasters

Update: replace better with "totally AWESOME"

 

[Kenny Paton]

I've taken my first plunge into the Epic store and bought this.
Looking forward to trying this tomorrow after watching a pile of yt videos.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

It's a solid rally title. Weight transfer and suspension modeling have been greatly improved. FFB decent out of the box with the G29. Still needs some tweaking. A good, intuitive sim-lite driving model. Biggest complaint there is that braking distances are still way too short (also an issue in SLRE and the DRs).

Really enjoying this even though I am a #NoVrNoBuy guy. Well worth it. It's a blast to play, which is the most important thing.

 

[TeSL9]

if someone has a good T300/ tx FFB setting info, I would be glad to know. Its good out of the box ... but something is needed for sure. And i hope someone mods the cameras for example.

 

[iltavilli]

Anyone tested with Simucube 2? In my opinion, WRC 8 felt pretty bad with it, so I’m hoping there is some improvement.

 

[toweleeie]

its a good game, problems are if youve already done the career on WRC8 then theres nothing new here to keep you interested, as it just seems to be cut n paste from 8 missing crew members and all.
the whole career is just wrong at this point.
youre offered a contract and instantly lose the season youre currently running in. why not give limited rallies with R5 or WRC during the season if youre doing well in it? it doesnt reflect someone coming up through the ranks.

massive issue for me is NOT being able to play the championship as one of the WRC drivers...... hows jari matti guna win the championship now??? hahahahaa still, its not funny, in a WRC game you cannot play as one of the current WRC drivers or even have access to do a championship in one of the top class cars without going through essentially the career and starting in rubbish cars, not good kylotonn

the bonus cars are pointless as most dont have other cars to compete against in the same class and no sort of full rally or championship can be utilized using the bonus/classic cars, another wasted opportunity.

graphics wise, the stupid over done reflections ruin alot of stages for me, as does the amount of dirt that builds up on the windscreen in dry conditions but atleast the wipers can be used all be it every 20 seconds, its quite the distraction, other than that graphics are bumped up slightly from WRC 8

sounds are an odd one, there both better and worse than 8.
there is just no or very little anti lag sounds and minimal pops from the exhaust, car engine notes for most cars sound better, but i miss the pops n bangs. when ya go to watch rally cars the 1st thing that hits ya it those bangs n pops reverberating through the forest sometimes minutes before you even see the car. VERY loud. and very missing in this game.

(this is a gripe)i still dont understand why in 2020 we cant choose the sound bank we want. id like to use the in car cam with the behind car sound effects, its not rocket science to do this but everyone making games is going for 'realistic sim' where the only thing being simulated here is cr4p on the windscreen

the game plays really well, very natural feel to handling, brakes are still way to good mind

I hammered WRC 8, and its left me with no want or will to grind out another career just to unlock the top tier WRC cars, so ill end up just doing time trials until boredom sets in.

its a very very good rally experience but it could have been a whole lot more.

peace out

MM

 

[Kenny Paton]

I'm beginning to see why people get frustrated with this series. My wheel setting don't seem to work until I redo them and even then it's hit or miss how good they'll feel, atm I'm getting no FFB although I've set everything back to default. The UI is really not very intuitive but I dare say I'll get used to its quirks after all I've played SLRE. I seem to spend as much time getting things working as driving which is becoming rather annoying.
Now if someone more experienced in the series (I'm looking at you @Martin Fiala) would care to wade in I'd be very grateful.
Incidentally I've just bought Dirt rally 2.0 which has now dl'd so I'm going to see how that compares.

 

[gamer19]

to anyone who feel like brakes are too strong -
set the sensitivity as low as you feel comfortable and it'll be better.
I dare you to try 5% sensitivity. it's a load of fun

 

[James Nance]

I have really bad stutters or freezes during the rallies. These freezes were pointed out in Billy Strange’s review of the title. Tried setting the game to window/boarderless and using vsync, still happens.

 

[Case_]

@Kenny Paton Just posted some first impressions in the other thread (kinda forgot this one existed). If by "wade in" you mean try to find some better FFB settings than the default, then I certainly plan to at least give it a try. Though I didn't have any issues with the FFB not working (so far), just not feeling all that great. I was using some fairly customized settings in WRC 8, so I'll have to take a look what these were and how they translate to 9. There's certainly a fair amount of canned vibrations in 9, but also a fair amount of sliders to tweak, more than in 8, so we'll see.

 

[Kenny Paton]

Though I didn't have any issues with the FFB not working (so far), just not feeling all that great. I was using some fairly customized settings in WRC 8,

Thanks Martin.
I looked at some from 8, but the default seemed not so bad when I first tried it, it's more the issue of having to set everything up again each time. I've discovered that if I unplug my wheel then I get ffb after I once again go into controls.
Ah well, today's another day

 

[toweleeie]

I have really bad stutters or freezes during the rallies. These freezes were pointed out in Billy Strange’s review of the title. Tried setting the game to window/boarderless and using vsync, still happens.

hello mate
iv had stutters on WRC 8 when i was using a high refresh rate monitor. the only solution was to change the refresh rate to 60 in NCP then use msi afterburner/riva tuner to limit frames to 59, disable vsync and run windowed borderless.
iv had no issues on wrc9 as im running a 60hz monitor. you probably tried all this but hope it helps in some way

peace out

MM

 

[James Nance]

hello mate
iv had stutters on WRC 8 when i was using a high refresh rate monitor. the only solution was to change the refresh rate to 60 in NCP then use msi afterburner/riva tuner to limit frames to 59, disable vsync and run windowed borderless.
iv had no issues on wrc9 as im running a 60hz monitor. you probably tried all this but hope it helps in some way

peace out

MM

Oh man I totally forgot that part, thank you! I do use a 144hz and I will test later the 60hz, but I feel certain your correct on this, thanks again.

 

[toweleeie]

Oh man I totally forgot that part, thank you! I do use a 144hz and I will test later the 60hz, but I feel certain your correct on this, thanks again.

just on the stuttering side........ make sure you CPU cores are 'unparked' as cores 'parking' can cause stutters on certain games

MM

 

[Case_]

Core parking is disabled in Windows 10 power plans by default since at least 2017, and you have to consciously turn it on for it to be enabled (or use a non-standard power plan).

BTW I get a fair amount of intermittent microstutter in WRC 9 regardless of what I try, and I'm on a 60 Hz monitor, so that's not the issue, at least not in all cases.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

Does anyone have any tips for DD1 settings? How to you setup in Fanalab and in game? Just bought the game and it seems very entertaining. Just don't have the FFB right. Thanks in advance.

 

[Kenny Paton]

BTW I get a fair amount of intermittent microstutter in WRC 9 regardless of what I try, and I'm on a 60 Hz monitor, so that's not the issue, at least not in all cases.

Sorry I can't help you there,that side of things is running smoothly for me, but I've not managed a full stage yet due to wheel problems, even after deleting my save file and starting over.

 

[evo1982]

anyone got wrc9 to work with simucube pro 2 ?
every time i try to select it on the controls screen the game crashes ( works fine with wrc8 )
thanks