WRC4 WRC 4 The Game

[Bram Hengeveld]

On the iOpener website there is a very interesting article about an upcoming World Rally Championship simulator:

World Rally Championship's next game: Racing live against rally heroes

The next generation WRC computer game will allow players to 'compete' in live rallies", states ISC chairman Neil Duncanson in the April version of SportBusiness International magazine. ISC, the global promoter of the World Rally Championship (WRC), mentions WRC's ultimate goal as building up an online gaming world championship alongside the real thing.
ISC and the computer gaming industry believe the next step in gaming is this 'live' competition between gamers and real drivers, made possible through iOpener's patented technology.
ISC CEO Simon Long says: "Now we are a global promoter, we want this to be multi-platform, multi-publisher, multi-territory."
For Long and Duncanson the new game is part of WRC's broader efforts to appeal new fans beyond the hardcore enthusiastics. FIA's chairman Max Mosley has said the virtual champion will be honoured at the WRC's annual end-of-season awards ceremony in Monaco.

Source: iOpener Media

Last April we already brought you the first news about iOpener Media's beta testers recruitment for their Real Time Racing project.

The news about this technology where virtual racers can compete against the real drivers on the track in real time is now spreading amoung the simracing communities.

iOpener is still looking for the worlds best simracers to join their beta test program that's about to start soon. If you are interested in joining then you can sign up on the RTR website

 

[Warren Dawes]

That trailer looks very good!

They always LOOK good, but I think the art of creating immersion and realism may have been lost since Richard Burns Rally.

I'll keep my hopes up for this one, maybe third time lucky.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

But the graphics looks a lot better than the previous two titles imo. Stages also look a bit more narrow and real.

 

[Scott Webber]

Game looks alot better but the major factor of this game which is a MASSIVE let down is the fact that steering support is utter crap.

apart ffrom that this game does have potential i think.

 

[Travis]

Badned from Forzacentral has posted that the new graphics engine will be used for the next SBK game which is great news because SBK Generations looks tired and old.

 

[Trebor901]

but the reason the steering support is crap is because Milestones budget probably isnt that big so they just do a simple port from the console version to make the pc version so they dont really have the money to spend on developing different sets of steering support for pc and console versions

 

[Warren Dawes]

but the reason the steering support is crap is because Milestones budget probably isnt that big so they just do a simple port from the console version to make the pc version so they dont really have the money to spend on developing different sets of steering support for pc and console versions

I suspect you may be right about this.
However, it is still disappointing that many of the serious SimRacing Community (eg. a fair share of RD members) have invested in excellent Sim Racing rigs and Steering Wheels, only to find that many of the new PC "Sims" may as well be controlled by a Gamepad.
It's even more disappointing when these new developers buy the sole rights to the Licences (in this case the FIA approval) which locks out other developers from designing something for those looking for realism and immersion.
In the case of Rallying, the more hardcore gamers have been begging for a new RallySim for a long time now.
Thank goodness we still have an older game like Richard Burns Rally and the wonderful efforts of the Modding communities to satisfy our needs.
I've noticed that Milestone are "toning down" the previously outrageous claims they made with the previous versions of WRC regarding realism etc.

 

[Harry Platt]

http://www.computerandvideogames.co...n-it-plays-it-straight-but-its-better-for-it/

 

[Harry Platt]

Official Car list... http://www.wrcthegame.com/wrc.html

WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
MINI John Cooper Works WRC
Volkswagen Polo R WRC - Exclusive!

CLASS 2
Ford Fiesta S2000
SŠkoda Fabia S2000
Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000
Proton Satria S2000

CLASS 3
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
Subaru Impreza WRX Sti
Ford Fiesta ST​

CAREER MODE
MINI Countryman S2000
Peugeot 207 S2000
Subaru Impreza WRC - '07
Citroen C4 WRC
Ford Focus WRC
Lancia Delta Integrale HF - '91
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD - '92
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III - '96
Subaru Impreza WRC - '97
Peugeot 205 T16
Lancia Delta S4
Ford RS200
Citroen BX4 TC
Renault 5 GT Turbo
Ford Escort RS 1600
Peugeot 504
Honda Civic R3
Renault Clio R3
Citroen C2 S1600
Suzuki Swift S1600
Citroen DS3 R3
Ford Fiesta R2
Citroen C2 R2
Renault Twingo R2
Suzuki Swift Sport (R2)

​

 

[Stewart Bridge]

was very disappointed when i got WRC2 on release. really weak ffb, no triple screen support, shoddy graphics, shoddy sounds, long winded menus, stupid over zealous respotting... the list goes on.

BUT, i installed it again after about 3 months after i got it and decided to give it some time. i did pay full retail price for it after all, so had to get my money's worth lol

it did end up growing on me and becoming quite fun, even with the long list of drawbacks. Personally i'd rather see codemasters pick up the franchise and run it alongside Dirt. Have the Dirt series for arcade/casual racers and the WRC series for the more hardcore sim enthusiasts. it certainly couldn't hurt! afterall codies listen to their customers, while blackbean/milestone don't even have a forum and rely on their facebook page for comment (which is ignored!)

heh, i only looked at this thread because I couldn't find any racedept WRC2 group races... and now you've got me ranting!

 

[Primoz Makselj]

 

[Harry Platt]

Stage looks good. Tight and twisty. Physics look ****. Way to much slidey, drifty, nasty unrealistic tarmac driving. I'm guessing this was played with a gamepad.

 

[Stewart Bridge]

i think the slippy/slidyness is partly down to the camera changing it's orientation to the car.

in WRC2 there are two chase mode cameras on replays one of which has a more dynamic camera, which is being used in the video.

There is also the possibility that the driver set up the car for a more "showy" run for the video.

there's definitely a marked improvement in the graphics! the lighting and contrast is more vivid. They also appear to have worked hard on the textures of the road this time. In the last one the texture repetitions were every meter which sucked!

the sound is still the same, ie crap. you can still really notice it in the high revs where is sounds like what a computer voice compares to a human voice.

I certainly wont be buying this on or prior to release day though. I'll wait till i've played a demo or "borrowed" a copy before shelling out this time.

 

[Senad Subasic]

Meh. Even offroad, smoother than the roads on Tour de France.

<plug>
Richard Burns Rally.
</plug>

 

[Rob Every]

All these WRC games from this Italian form have been drivel

They are doing exactly what they did with SBK and regurgitating the same engine and physics year on year on a contracted basis, therefore the game is the same, just a sort of patch to make it look better and this years cars.

Load of rubbish and little or no PC support, best avoided or buy console version in the cheap bins as there are loads of copies there

 

[Stewart Bridge]

can't help but agree with you there Rob

I'll be honest, I've got the marroni to walk right into their offices and tell them where they are going wrong, then offer my services as a former Designer and 3D illustrator to show them how it's done

honestly it's shocking. how they've not lost the licence i'll never know. Codemasters surely are in the run up for second choice should BlackBean/Milestone cock it up good and proper again. Let's face it, aside from plushy graphics I can't see that much more work has gone into it.

Here's to hoping they pull their finger out their arse though

 

[Harry Platt]

Interview with the producer...

 

[Stewart Bridge]

Thanks for posting the video!

There were a few words I took note of during the interview. He says they're leaning more towards simulation (YAY!) and having looked at VVV's videos of a early Alpha/Beta build he notes that you've definitely got to be careful on the throttle. it's not like Dirt where you can use engine braking on most corners (another YAY!).

Though when he said there are no other games on the market like this one I did laugh. *cough RBR cough*. Although technically it's not "on the market" now.

based on VVV's videos and this interview, I'd say the management at Milestone have finally woken up to their customers complaints (another YAY!).

I was outright never going to buy another Milestone game ever again but I've almost changed my mind and now have somewhat of a curiosity

 

[Harry Platt]

I'm certainly interested to see where this game goes. I also saw the VVV videos and was quite intrigued, especially considering that it is still an incomplete product. I like the idea of the career mode. Should make it more gamer friendly and then show a few people a glimpse of the sim world.

 

[Neil Farren]

Promising preview.

 

[Stewart Bridge]

So triple screen is still not supported. gah.... that'll be a deal breaker for me.. i may buy it anyway in the hope that a patch puts it in, if it's not there on release.