DiRT Rally 2.0 DiRT 2.0 Post Launch DLC Contains Monte Carlo, Sweden and German Rallies

[Paul Jeffrey]

Codemasters have revealed the first round of post release DLC for DiRT 2.0 - and it has plenty of very sweet content set to hit the sim.

With release day set for later this month, Codemasters have already taken the bold decision to announce the first wave of post release DLC content set to hit the rally driving simulation, and it is already taking shape to be a very, very impressive collection of both cars and rallies lined up to come to the title following public release.

Noted as the first "season" of DLC content, with more set to follow later, the first load of additional paid addons for the game will include no less than three returning rally events from the original DiRT Rally, spread over an 11 week post release period. Back and substantially upgraded from DiRT Rally comes the famous Monte Carlo, Swedish and German events, giving a nice mix of snow, ice and tarmac surfaces for players to sample the new physics and features of DiRT 2.0.

Also forming part of the 11 week update schedule will be new cars - notably the ŠKODA Fabia and Subaru Impreza fan favourites.. so plenty to get stuck into for players of the game.

“It was important for us to not just include brand new content for DiRT Rally 2.0, but also to recognise the fan favourites from the previous titles”, commented Ross Gowing, Chief Games Designer. Gowing continued, “The improvements the team have made for DiRT Rally 2.0 are plain to see, and Monte Carlo is a shining example of that. I think it looks incredible, and I hope our players feel the same way too. We are making a significant commitment to expanding the DiRT Rally 2.0 experience for the players that have been calling for us to do exactly that over a number of years.”
​

Fear not those of you who are thinking the returning rallies will merely be a rehash of DiRT Rally content - the new stages have undergone significant updates for inclusion in DiRT 2.0, enjoying visual upgrades thanks to the new lighting system, and of course benefitting from the new for DiRT 2.0 track materials improvements. Previews of the Monte Carlo rally stages can be seen in the images below, already looking considerably improved from what was a very solid baseline in DiRT Rally:

Monte Carlo - DiRT Rally

Monte Carlo DiRT Rally 2.0

DiRT Rally

DiRT Rally 2.0

• Week 1: ŠKODA Fabia Rally, Citroën C4 Rally
  
• Week 3: Monte Carlo Rally, Special Livery
  
• Week 5: BMW M1 Procar Rally, Opel Manta 400, Special Livery
  
• Week 7: Sweden Rally
  
• Week 9: Ford Focus RS Rally 2007, Subaru Impreza, Special Livery
  
• Week 11: Germany Rally

Players who pre-order or buy the Deluxe Edition will have this Season One content, plus Season Two which contains a similar level of content and features, included as part of their Season Pass. Players who pre-order the Deluxe Edition will also have early access to the game from 22nd February 2019. Day One or Standard Edition players will have the opportunity to purchase each season and piece of content separately on their digital store of choice.

DiRT Rally 2.0 will release February 26th 2019.

If you want to discussion the game with our passionate community, and read about the latest news, check out the RaceDepartment DiRT Rally 2.0 Sub Forum for 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!

Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!


 ​

 

[pigloaf]

We'll let you know in a couple of days (well other people will... My G25 broke this week )

 

[bogani]

Well, to get back to DR 2.0... I really don`t know what to think about what I see. I was watching Jimmy`s stream again tonight, and then I also see something like this (a random YT video that was recommended to me):

Again, hard to judge how the game actually is just by watching it instead of playing it yourself, but this and what could be seen on Jimmy`s stream at times looks a lot..."videogame-y", I guess, for the lack of the better word (I really don`t want to go into the whole "arcade" thing because I don`t agree with the simracing consensus on what that word means). And it may also be due to the way they drive, I don`t know...it just looks weird to me. Sometimes it even looks as if the footage was sped up (the fairly wide FOV probably doesn`t help as well).

IMO cockpit cam with a visible steering wheel have a tendency to make things look weird as well as chase cam. Even more so when they are the top of the leaderboard type of players, they somewhat always finds a way to slightly abuse the physics to find extra time. I saw some of the ACC lap records on YT and they manage to abuse the tires so much that they would be completely dead, but it's working, they set top times.

It's very hard to judge how something feels by just looking at it.

 

[Case_]

I don't know, I don't think I've seen aliens do laps where it would look as if physics no longer apply. Abuse tyres...perhaps, but that's a different thing. This just looks downright weird.

But yes, it is hard to judge it from a video, as I've tried to point out myself.

 

[bogani]

Myself I haven't encountered anything like moon physics anywhere. It basically feels like D4 but with correct low/mid speed behavior, which is what D4 lacked.

If you enjoyed DR I think it's a no-brainer.

Yeah streamers getting it early is all part of the PR machine with game companies/publishers these days I guess.

 

[RoccoTTS]

For those who are not convinced yet, watch this :

 

[Case_]

And for example 8:40 to 9:00 is pretty much what I was talking about.

 

[RoccoTTS]

And for example 8:40 to 9:00 is pretty much what I was talking about.

Trying to analyze physics by watching a video is completely pointless.
And also remember this is just a videogame(just like every sim), just have fun instead of taking everything so serious

 

[Case_]

I see. Well thank you for opening my eyes and letting me see the error of my ways.

 

[69Harder]

For those who are not convinced yet, watch this :

I was waiting for Mickey Mouse to pop up cause it looks so Tooney !

 

[Case_]

BTW, while I don't want to be OT and neither I want to be an asshole to someone who might've linked something in good faith...there was a supposed physics (and more) mod for WRC 7 linked here a few days back and I feel like I should mention this.

So. I will fully admit I am generally quite skeptical when it comes to these community mods that claim they've completely reinvented the physics and whatnot, and the more the supposed mod promises, the more skeptical I become. So while I always try to be as objective as I can and also keep an open mind as much as I am able to, I absolutely admit to having preconceptions. I also admit the way the mod was presented (a closed FB Spanish speaking group with 20 or so members) already threw out some red flags for me.

That being said, I was curious, so I downloaded the mod and looked into the documentation on how to install it. And immediately, there was more red flags, because the mod expects you to basically replace your legitimate game executable with a cracked one (and add a few more files so the cracked game works), supposedly because the game performs much better once the copy protection is removed (that's the reason given in the installation document). Well, if you say so. I never had any real performance issues with the game and I really saw no reason essentially cracking a game I legitimately own, so I didn't do this.

But I installed everything else that was included in the mod except for the cracked exe and the crack files, thinking it might just work. It also included some optional graphics tweaks (basically adjusting detail levels using a custom config file), but I wasn't really interested in that, so I skipped that (there was absolutely nothing there related to physics). Went to try the game out...and apart from the ReShade the game installed being active (so basically a color tweak), I just couldn't notice any difference in the physics. So I uninstalled the mod again, drove the same car on the same stage...no, sorry, no difference at all (not that I can detect, anyway).

There's more, though. Curious, I thought I would compare the files in the mod with the original game files. I completely uninstalled the game and redownloaded it, just to be sure nothing was left behind from the mod. Then I compared the files and did an MD5 sum for both the original files and the files in the mod - I mean, the mod seemingly includes some 350 MB of sound files... Nope. If you exclude the files that belong to ReShade and the crack, pretty much the only files that are actually different is the game executable and (for some reason) an exe file that controls a motion platform if you have one. The sound files are exactly the same, everything else is exactly the same (and by that I mean not a single byte of those files is different).

So, yeah, I really don't know what to think. But unless the supposed physics tweaks were done by directly modifying the game executable file (which is certainly possible, but given the circumstances, I am even less likely to check that than I would otherwise), there's no noticeable difference after installing the mod apart from some optional graphics tweaks. And you end up with cracked copy of the game.

I would steer clear, but that may be just me.

 

[Bruno Iwanczuk]

Is that Citroen C4 paddle shifter?

 

[RCHeliguy]

I'm going to come at this from a different perspective.

In November 2017 I picked up Dirt Rally for $12.99 on sale! I built a basic sim rig and then ordered my Rift on black Friday of that same month. It took me an uncomfortable week to get my VR legs for Dirt Rally, but guys, I LOVED it!

After playing 80 hours on this game I started to feel guilty that I had gotten it so cheap!

I picked up AC on sale for $15 and paid full price for PC2, but I spent 99% of my car sim time in Dirt Rally.

I've just taken my rig up a few notches with a super rigid Sim-Lab P1 cockpit and NLRv3 seat mover. Dirt Rally suddenly became a LOT more fun! With my new rigid frame I can now feel FFB. AC and PC2 feel alive! Very cool. So yeah FFB matters to me now, but I didn't stop enjoying Dirt Rally. I've WAY WAY WAY more than gotten my $12.99 out of it!

My take is that people are being impatient and demanding which is pretty common these days.

Slightly unrelated but in the same spirit. I've been waiting patiently for Heusinkveld to catch up with demand for their new Sprint pedals. I understand they are very good and Heusinkveld stands behind their products with great support. They have a great product and can't keep them in stock. I'm happy that Heusinkveld is enjoying this demand even if it means I have to wait a while. It means they will be around a while.

To hear people moaning and complaining about how they can't buy their pedals NOW! Is crazy.

I've even read people vindictively posting about buying something else because they were fed up waiting and the guys as Heusinkveld always respond politely saying that they are sure this person will enjoy his new pedals.

Back to Dirt Rally 2.0.
For the record I do appreciate the No VR = No Buy "backlash/ranting".
We officially got the news that VR was coming this summer. We won guys it's coming! Be happy!
Yet we have a LOT of impatience and complaints that it isn't here now. Chill.......

If you think Dirt Rally 2.0 is too expensive and hate the DLC charges, wait... I'm sure that by next Black Friday or Christmas there will be some great sales. I paid $12.99 for Dirt Rally! If you want it now than open your wallet and support the company building this content. If you don't feel they deserve as much of your wallet, wait..

If you expect the software to be perfect, dream on! By all accounts PC2 has become a very good package, but it had a PILE of issues that it has fixed over the last year and still has a few.

Right now I'm waiting patiently for my Sprint pedals to become available. I have good working pedals now.
I'm waiting patiently for Dirt Rally 2.0 VR support. I have Dirt Rally VR support working now.
By the time Dirt Rally 2.0 VR is available, I'm expecting many of the issues to be resolved, but I still won't expect it to be perfect and I will happily support Codemasters when they release VR support.

The bottom line is that good things come to those who wait. Patience has no downside.

 

[Case_]

The bottom line is that good things come to those who wait. Patience has no downside.

That is great wisdom (no sarcasm intended), but you're forgetting one thing - the product is already offered as a finished and for all intents and purposes complete. It is not an early access title at low price that you buy and then wait several months as it is gradually completed and polished out. It is a full price finished product you pay a fair amount of money for. Granted, you don't have to get it. But if you do, you really shouldn't be expected to sit on it for six months and wait when any issues you might have will be solved. IF they will be solved. I know it's becoming more and more customary, and in part it's likely even unevitable, given the huge amount of hardware variations out there, but that still doesn't mean that's how it should be.

(Please note: I really don't think DR2 is as broken as many people would make you think. But I'm also aware of the fact that I might simply be one of the more lucky ones that either don't consider certain things an issue or are not experiencing some of them.)

 

[RCHeliguy]

I'll have to admit some bias here because I'm an engineer who has been doing software development for many years. Software is never bug free. Sorry but when software gets to this level of complexity it's just not. And you are right that there is a LOT of hardware out there to run on between a million permutations of computer hardware to many different racing controls.

Voting with your wallet is a great way to handle mixed feelings about a product. Something rubs you the wrong way? Don't buy it. Simple.

In the case of VR, there was backlash, but Codemasters very specifically stated that if they saw demand they would respond to that and they did. So there was an invitation there. Yet many non VR users were worn out by all the VR posts dominating any comment stream below anything Dirt Rally 2.0 related.

Now we are dealing with things that they will improve or fix within reason, but when Dirt Rally 2.0 hits end of life cycle it will still have bugs.

When you say that isn't how it should be. How would you change things? Lets say it cost them an extra 20 million pounds in hardware and salaries to test Dirt Rally more thoroughly against all kinds of niche controls to get closer to bug free and it would delay release by a year. Do you think the average consumer would want to pay more and wait longer for products?

There are different schools of thought about this. Increasingly there has been a move to get software to a usable form and then get it out into the wilderness and do triage on the result. It can save a lot of money for both the company producing the software and the consumer buying it. It's not right or wrong. It is just a way to do things. Consumers tend not to like this unless they are specifically testing a discounted pre-release software package which is their payment for dealing with the issues, but the effect is the same either way. It can lower costs for everyone.

This wasn't always the case. Before easily downloadable patches there was a big cost sending physical media out to customers. That meant there were many less patches and much more testing because a patch was expensive. That has reversed. Now patches are fast and cheap and therefore smaller and more frequent.

Keep in mind that these are games. This isn't a piece of mission critical software that just screwed up and cost your company millions of dollars. The liability is MUCH lower. The stakes are MUCH lower.

If you don't like how they are doing business. Vote with your wallet.

Or you could appreciate the fact that a company spends many millions to create something that is fun and costs you a few 10's of dollars to play with at home.

 

[RoccoTTS]

I'll have to admit some bias here because I'm an engineer who has been doing software development for many years. Software is never bug free. Sorry but when software gets to this level of complexity it's just not. And you are right that there is a LOT of hardware out there to run on between a million permutations of computer hardware to many different racing controls.

Voting with your wallet is a great way to handle mixed feelings about a product. Something rubs you the wrong way? Don't buy it. Simple.

In the case of VR, there was backlash, but Codemasters very specifically stated that if they saw demand they would respond to that and they did. So there was an invitation there. Yet many non VR users were worn out by all the VR posts dominating any comment stream below anything Dirt Rally 2.0 related.

Now we are dealing with things that they will improve or fix within reason, but when Dirt Rally 2.0 hits end of life cycle it will still have bugs.

When you say that isn't how it should be. How would you change things? Lets say it cost them an extra 20 million pounds in hardware and salaries to test Dirt Rally more thoroughly against all kinds of niche controls to get closer to bug free and it would delay release by a year. Do you think the average consumer would want to pay more and wait longer for products?

There are different schools of thought about this. Increasingly there has been a move to get software to a usable form and then get it out into the wilderness and do triage on the result. It can save a lot of money for both the company producing the software and the consumer buying it. It's not right or wrong. It is just a way to do things. Consumers tend not to like this unless they are specifically testing a discounted pre-release software package which is their payment for dealing with the issues, but the effect is the same either way. It can lower costs for everyone.

Keep in mind that these are games. This isn't a piece of mission critical software that just screwed up and cost your company millions of dollars. The liability is MUCH lower. The stakes are MUCH lower.

If you don't like how they are doing business. Vote with your wallet.

Or you could appreciate the fact that a company spends many millions to create something that is fun and costs you a few 10's of dollars to play with at home.

Very wise words my friend !

 

[Case_]

@RCHeliguy I understand your reasoning. I even somewhat agree with a lot of that. But I still think it's not a good attitude for a business to tell its clients "well don't buy it if you don't like it, there will always be bugs, and don't complain if there are", which is still what what you're saying mostly boils down to.

And neither is it a good attitude to adopt when it comes to approaching your work (or any activities, really). It kinda makes you not care about the end result IMO, and that's rarely good.

 

[RCHeliguy]

@RCHeliguy I understand your reasoning. I even somewhat agree with a lot of that. But I still think it's not a good attitude for a business to tell its clients "well don't buy it if you don't like it, there will always be bugs, and don't complain if there are", which is still what what you're saying mostly boils down to.

And neither is it a good attitude to adopt when it comes to approaching your work (or any activities, really). It kinda makes you not care about the end result IMO, and that's rarely good.

Feedback is an important part of any software development effort and I'm not remotely telling everyone to shut up!

I appreciated the "No VR = No Buy" feedback and CodeMasters did act on it. If they didn't I would have been disappointed. BTW I made a few of those No VR = No Buy posts myself since I am exclusively setup to play in VR. However there was a turning point where I felt a line had been crossed and VR users were starting to alienate the rest of racing community. I started making comments to the effect that I'm sure Codemaster's has heard us by now and there is no point making the rest of the racing community hate VR users.

Companies need to address bugs and respond to user feedback. Reporting bugs is important.

Like all things in life moderation in everything is important. There is a sweet spot where you have made yourself heard and either something will happen or it won't. Past that point you can actually do more damage than good. When tirades begin and people start to excessively vent their spleens a line has been crossed.

This causes two problems:

1. It starts taking enjoyment and enthusiasm away from other people who are excited about a product.

2. More importantly the comments will start being ignored. The users complaining most harshly begin to be written off as a bunch of whiners who are never happy with anything. The people reading the comments end up with an attitude of "It's doesn't matter what we do. They will never be happy". It's not even something they may be aware of consciously, but they will start to ignore useful feedback and lump it all together with the "haters".

So yes, report bugs. Yes, explain what you think needs to be fixed. Just don't claim you are trying to help them make a better product and then rant tirelessly about how they are just trying to milk gamers and rip us off and put out a poor product.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

I may be terribly old-fashioned, but when I go to a bookstore and buy a book, I presume someone wrote it, someone edited it (basically made the author's creative stuff flawlessly readable) and then someone else marketed it, i.e. enticed me into buying it. When I go out and buy a quart of milk, someone had a cow milked it and sent the milk on its way, someone else pasteurized it and packaged it, then someone ... you get my drift.
In any case, what I as a consumer get is a finished product. I am still not willing to give up on that principle unless something is called EA in big shiny letters (I took part in the Dirt Rally release from day one and loved it) or called a preview or whatever. Hence, I am indeed often waiting for software to have settled before I buy it (will probably get Dirt Rally 2.0 over the summer) or join ongoing projects like iRacing where the understanding from the get-go was the software is constantly updated to get better and better (which it does ). Just my five cents.
That said, writing code is probably no easy task these days, but some cows aren't very cooperative either ...