Codemaster you failed me again...

[izitthechad]

I got really excited to see the upcoming release of Dirt Rally 2.0 and I still play Dirt Rally and WRC7. I had high hopes that Codemasters would make up for the sad state of rally in Dirt 4, but alas they fail me again.

While I'm sure the updated graphics make for a visually great game, just on initial reads here are my disappointments.

1. Only 6 rally locations (2 of which aren't even WRC events) out of 13 WRC event season (let alone all the regional rally locations world wide). Yet again a heavy focus on Rallycross track racing... like Dirt 4

2. No modern WRC cars. Yes, there are some of the current R5s, but we are now into our 3rd WRC season under the new aero rules and driving an R5 in a sim, well I'd rather drive classic rally cars over not being able to experience the current level of WRC cars. And the list of 'classic' cars is missing some important cars over the last 40 years.

Guess I will have to wait for this one to be part of a steam sale as my hype for day 1 purchase has been crushed by a glance at the car list and rally locations. Guess its back to the original Dirt Rally and WRC7 for another year.

EDIT:

Add number 3: based on videos I've seen still using the 80s and 90s 6 turn system and notes versus the modern 9 level note system. It might be a small annoyance to me, but the variation of what Codemasters considers 3's in Dirt Rally does drive me a little nuts sometimes. I often find myself back in WRC7 because its more modern.

[☎need4naiim☎]

I can feel your understanding. After recent announcements, total Rally locations equalled to 9, counting only Season I contents. I imagine there will be several more Seasons ahead. Instead of getting a new half old + half new Rally game with 2 year periods, DR2.0 will continue to get SEASONS to accumulate all those old and new locations&cars within same game.

Even now, my favourite class Group-B RWD will most likely have at least 4 machines inside before all seasons get completed. Maybe all classes will end up with much more cars than initial versions. However, that "maybe" word turns off many gamers as well as making some others become even more motivated.

I am one of the motivated ones despite the game lacks some crucial points like hillclimb, hardrock locations without green, some iconic machines from 20th century and some imaginative game modes as of now. No doubt these can be added via future Seasons.

[Axe]

This is great reading, OP.

People certainly should do what they feel is right for themselves...

If you are lucky there should be a sale way before the year is up.

[euphoreonz]

Who cares if they're WRC events really? Not like we have any current WRC cars, and does it matter for all the classics where you rally?

[A Bad Driver]

I honestly think current WRC cars are bloody boring, homogeneous shopping carts. They're extremely fast and capable, don't get me wrong, but the older classic cars are far more interesting and have way more character. That's one of the official WRC's games biggest flaws, that it's strictly the modern stuff...

Not sure why you think a location not being a current WRC location is any kind of mark against it. Rallying existed before and continues to exist outside of what the FIA represent. DR2.0 was never marketed or intended as an official WRC game. It is, however, the official WRX game which is why it has quite a bit of content dedicated to it.

I'm not overly pleased with the business model they're going for with the DLCs, but ultimately this is an extremely niche genre. If you'd like to point to someone else making a better rally game than this one then I'm all ears. I think the complete version with all of the DLCs will be pretty damn good, but it's going to cost us. It's a little disappointing that it's come to that, but it isn't entirely unprecedented. Racing Sims is general have DLC out the ears and are basically always pretty expensive to get the full complete package.

[Hoksu]

Originally posted by Doomguy:

I honestly think current WRC cars are bloody boring, homogeneous shopping carts. They're extremely fast and capable, don't get me wrong, but the older classic cars are far more interesting and have way more character. That's one of the official WRC's games biggest flaws, that it's strictly the modern stuff...

The class with the largest number of cars in Dirt Rally 2.0 is R5.

If post-2017 spec WRC cars are "bloody boring" and "homogenous shopping carts" then what are R5 cars?? They are about a million times more of that, and that's what the game has instead of current WRC cars.

[A Bad Driver]

Originally posted by Hoksu:

Originally posted by Doomguy:

I honestly think current WRC cars are bloody boring, homogeneous shopping carts. They're extremely fast and capable, don't get me wrong, but the older classic cars are far more interesting and have way more character. That's one of the official WRC's games biggest flaws, that it's strictly the modern stuff...

The class with the largest number of cars in Dirt Rally 2.0 is R5.

If post-2017 spec WRC cars are "bloody boring" and "homogenous shopping carts" then what are R5 cars?? They are about a million times more of that, and that's what the game has instead of current WRC cars.

Didn't say that I liked those, either, but even if that is the largest class, the total number of classic cars outnumbers the modern ones, which for me is a good thing.

[Frey]

my biggest disappointement is we can't choose weather and time like in dirt 4...
now only 2 choices...no rain no night in Spain in Time trial for example...a big step back

[Cosmicality]

Originally posted by Koly™:

my biggest disappointement is we can't choose weather and time like in dirt 4...
now only 2 choices...no rain no night in Spain in Time trial for example...a big step back

im pretty sure i saw the ability to pick a time of day, coupled with any weather condition on the time trial / custom championship screen. Ive seen people running spain at night and with rain

[Stinkflipper Incarnate]

I don't get what people has against rallycross, it was excellent in the original but there were way too few tracks. That's just being fixed now.

If you pay attention to real world rally and not just simracing, you know that rallycross is very closely linked to rally. There's a good reason why rally legends Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg, among others, are active rallycross drivers.

[☎need4naiim☎]

Originally posted by Stinkflipper Incarnate:

I don't get what people has against rallycross, it was excellent in the original but there were way too few tracks. That's just being fixed now.

If you pay attention to real world rally and not just simracing, you know that rallycross is very closely linked to rally. There's a good reason why rally legends Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg, among others, are active rallycross drivers.

I think the MAJOR reason why RX Championships are turning off so many gamers is that Rallycross circuits are very very short, unlike Formula 1 and LeMans circuits. If Rallycross tracks had been as long as SPA Francorchamps or Circuit De La Sarthe, its popularity would have been a lot more evident.

[the_ruthless]

Originally posted by ☎need4naiim☎:

Originally posted by Stinkflipper Incarnate:

I don't get what people has against rallycross, it was excellent in the original but there were way too few tracks. That's just being fixed now.

If you pay attention to real world rally and not just simracing, you know that rallycross is very closely linked to rally. There's a good reason why rally legends Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg, among others, are active rallycross drivers.

I think the MAJOR reason why RX Championships are turning off so many gamers is that Rallycross circuits are very very short, unlike Formula 1 and LeMans circuits. If Rallycross tracks had been as long as SPA Francorchamps or Circuit De La Sarthe, its popularity would have been a lot more evident.

...but practically, in the real world, rallycross tracks have to have income from something, and that is frequently by being used for vehicle testing and technical driving schools courses... Because most motor sports are smooth tarmac only events, it seems. Like, that Hell RX track I think is also used for learning truck driving and such most of the year. That's why they're short; they are not primarily/only made for racing.

[☎need4naiim☎]

Originally posted by the_ruthless:

Originally posted by ☎need4naiim☎:

I think the MAJOR reason why RX Championships are turning off so many gamers is that Rallycross circuits are very very short, unlike Formula 1 and LeMans circuits. If Rallycross tracks had been as long as SPA Francorchamps or Circuit De La Sarthe, its popularity would have been a lot more evident.

...but practically, in the real world, rallycross tracks have to have income from something, and that is frequently by being used for vehicle testing and technical driving schools courses... Because most motor sports are smooth tarmac only events, it seems. Like, that Hell RX track I think is also used for learning truck driving and such most of the year. That's why they're short; they are not primarily/only made for racing.

I understand the logic behind it. I also like RX tracks with mixed surface (except they are short ) The length of tracks that host motorsport events is a crucial aspect of those championships. Remember the Hockenheim GP circuit before 2002? It is still deemed as a legend. Or the old Nurburgring. Even NASCAR which mostly have just ovals or inclined ovals has long Superspeedways during seasons. The most favoured F1 circuit SPA Francorchamps is also one of the longest circuits of the calendar. Track length directly affect popularity even if it is an inclined oval track.

I hope current RX circuits will be lengthened in the future by at least 80%, keeping mixed surface qualities and bumps intact.

[the_ruthless]

@☎need4naiim☎ Longer RX tracks would be interesting indeed, but in the real world with capitalism, there's still the need to fill spectator seats (and earn ticket sales)... The starting cost of a RX track and then the added cost of massive expansion (and the actual availability of land next to existing tracks) vs. general earnings. I don't know the length of those Finnish and Swedish folkrace circuits, though... they might be slightly longer.

[☎need4naiim☎]

@the_ruthless

you are not wrong. Thanks for pointing out the issues concerning those circuit owners.

Maybe, for gamers, the stage generator from DiRT4 can be handy to lengthen those RX circuits in an appropriate way, so that we can drive those RX Supercars in much longer straights, through much longer corners, on bigger elevation changes.

[the_ruthless]

@☎need4naiim☎

...now, imagine if the stage generator could do properly (realistic) mixed surfaces and be used for functional RX, too. That would certainly be something GREAT! :D

(IF we first acknowledge that proper rally is ON-road, on actual public driving roads, and that RX is on tracks purpose-made to be technically difficult.)