DiRT Rally Codemasters Announce DiRT Rally PSVR

[Paul Jeffrey]

Codemasters have been pretty quiet recently regarding their DiRT Rally game aside from the occasional hits of "big things to come". Well one of those big things is here with the announcement that PlayStation 4 gamers will soon be able to drive DiRT Rally in glorious VR. Welcome PS VR for DiRT Rally.

Virtual Reality seems to be on an ever increasing rise within the gaming world, and sim racing is no exception it seems. With the likes of rFactor 2, RaceRoom Racing Experience and Automobilista planning future support and Assetto Corsa, Project CARS and DiRT Rally on PC featuring impressive implementation already, its a great time to be a VR owner and sim racing enthusiast.

Below you can see some in game footage of VR in action across a number of cars and stages in game:

Since the release of PlayStation VR many fans have been bombarding Codemasters to know if DiRT Rally was going to be available on the platform, and today the British studio have confirmed that DR will indeed be supportive of this new technology in the near future. As can be seen in the above video and attached screenshots, VR implementation is already far advanced and should, according to Codemasters, be available "in the coming weeks".

Due to be released as DLC to the current game, and rumoured to retail for £9.99, the PS VR update is not the only new addition scheduled to be added to the sim. With the new VR update comes the ability to allow two players to participate at the same time, with one player driving the car and the second person acting in the role of co-driver. The role of co-driver will require "using the social screen to understand when to send calls to the driver using the DUALSHOCK 4 buttons and touchpad. Making those calls at the right time will be the difference between the driver hearing the correct information at the right time, so it’s crucial that this is executed properly". This is a very novel idea by Codemasters and it will be interesting to see how this new feature plays out in reality.

The new PSVR DLC hasn't received an official release date yet, however if the announcement post is to believed one should expect a release within the first quarter of 2017.

DiRT Rally is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC right now. DLC content can be purchased for the game at an additional cost.

Do you like it DiRTy? If yes then we have just the thing for you! RaceDepartment are exceptionally proud to announce our RDRC league! Head over to the RaceDepartment Rally Championship forum to keep up to speed on this exciting new venture. If leagues aren't your thing then that's fine, the RD DiRT Rally sub forum is a great place to pick up mods, catch the latest news and chat about the game with our community. Give it a go, just keep it DiRTy!

Are you happy to see DR finally move to VR on PlayStation 4? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[fastfab]

Just a general question, excuse my ignorance but how come a PS4 can run VR pretty good by the looks of it but you have to have a high end graphics card for PC VR(1080?).
Or is there a massive difference in quality between PC & PS4?

Because there is a difference in quality and also you are making assumption on the fact that a 1080 is mandatory.
PSVR have a 1920x1080 (960x1080 for each eye) display that works at 60fps (with reprojection to 120hz)
Vive and Occulus have a 2160x1200 (1080x1200 for each eye) display that works at 90fps (reprojection is also avalaible on Vive and Rift). So resolution and frame rate are better on Vive and Rift.
Now for the GPU needed. A GTX 970 or radeon 390 alone can outperformed PSVR quality and it doesn't cost the price of a 1080, far from it.
So yes a PS4 (with a radeon 7850) can do VR in 1920x1080 60fps with low setting. And it's actually not a bad experience at all. To the credit to the PSVR, it also have a better sub-pixel arrangement than the Vive and Rift. But keep in mind that how you see those Dirt Rally videos with your screen pixel density, is not actually how you see inside the Headset with a 960x1080 screen 2cm away from your eye with a huge short focal magnifier between the both of them.

Owning myself a Vive there is also a huge advantage on the PC platform : VR is at best when it's tailored to the user. I will give you 2 practical exemples.
First, on Assetto Corsa (who works perfectly with ReVive), if your GPU is powerfull enough, you can choose to render the game at a higher resolution than the native resolution of the Headset (like DSR), allowing a crisper render with much less aliasing, there is actually a huge difference in pixel density perception with the same display resolution. Second you can move the inboard camera to match your point of view in real life on your chair, and your wheel position and real hands distance. Your not stuck with what dev think is the average POV of users. To me it have a real impact on the quality of the immersion and therefore on the degree of motion sickness. Those two fact alone are game changer in the VR experience in my opinion.

 

[Colin Knowles]

And you'll even be able to participate in RDRC with a console!

Which camera view do your members use ? Do many drive outside of the seat too ?

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Which camera view do your members use ? Do many drive outside of the seat too ?

I know that a lot of people are sitting on the hood, and I guess there are some chase-cammers as well, not that it really matters. It's all supposed to be fun

 

[Colin Knowles]

I know that a lot of people are sitting on the hood, and I guess there are some chase-cammers as well, not that it really matters. It's all supposed to be fun

Agreed it should be fun first was more interested in which view the fastest guys are using & are those views still available in VR ?

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Agreed it should be fun first was more interested in which view the fastest guys are using & are those views still available in VR ?

My guess is that the fastest guys are using hood and incar views. And I have no idea if all views are included in the VR. But maybe @Rallycameraman knows! or @Evilsmurf

 

[Jack Hintz]

Hood in VR is very disorientating, trust me

 

[Colin Knowles]

Hood in VR is very disorientating, trust me

Ah ok... So I take it chase cam, TCam or Hoodcam in VR is a no no or slower ??

 

[Jack Hintz]

Its entirely up to how you want to play, but if you play in any of those views there's a much higher chance you will end up quite dizzy from it after a while. It's cool to have a look round etc, but for prolonged use I cant recommend cockpit view highly enough Plus it is so much more immersive!

 

[Evilsmurf]

I've only used PSVR once, and that was November last year at Codies with @Rallycameraman. What I can tell you is, I've never had a game that has left me so ill after 7 minuets of play!

That said, it is the single coolest thing I have ever seen in gaming! so much so, I've packed my PS4 away, bought a PS4 Pro, a PS camera and I'm saving up for the PSVR.

We tested it on a standard PS4 in November, and it did look awesome! but with the Pro, you get slightly better performance and eye candy, so I'm told. And if I'm going down that rabbit hole, I want the full experience.

 

[Colin Knowles]

I've only used PSVR once, and that was November last year at Codies with @Rallycameraman. What I can tell you is, I've never had a game that has left me so ill after 7 minuets of play!

That said, it is the single coolest thing I have ever seen in gaming! so much so, I've packed my PS4 away, bought a PS4 Pro, a PS camera and I'm saving up for the PSVR.

We tested it on a standard PS4 in November, and it did look awesome! but with the Pro, you get slightly better performance and eye candy, so I'm told. And if I'm going down that rabbit hole, I want the full experience.

Yeah I got a little sick with drive club too. I've read the report on ps4 pro looking better so now I feel like the pro will be a necessity come September when f1 2017 rolls around

Easily the most impressive piece of gaming kit I've seen in 30 years

 

[Colin Knowles]

Well I bought dirt rally and VR DLC today. Blown away. Simply Unbelievable....

Only managed to get a good handle on Monte Carlo in the snow today but the immersion is mind blowin. The graphic detail is lower but the feeling of 'being in the cockpit' is so overwhelming I needed a lie down. Simply the future... No doubt about it