DiRT Rally

[Wilk5280]

I'm not positive, but I think it's only for the XBOX One. It would be great if it didn't matter which platform you were playing on.

I actually did much better at the Sweden rally than expected, until the last stage. I was feeling over-confident and pushing it hard and in the final section of the last day I caught the side berm, rolled it, and ended up sideways in the middle of the road. I almost saved it and continued on, but I had to do a 3 point turn to get it straightened out and moving forward again.

That's the beauty of this game. You need to be focused start-to-finish and just when you get a little cocky it'll put you back in your place.

[TCrouch]

Absolutely. I felt really good in the first rally with no +15 second penalties, but then near the end I started trying to go faster, faster, faster, and next thing I knew I was out in the hills trying to back the car up onto the road again.

The second you think you have it wired, the game b*tch slaps you back to reality. And "5 left, followed by immediate acute right"...means it.

[Zeppo]

I find Sweden so difficult. Too many times, I ended up clipping the walls of snow on either side and wound up spinning the car and coming to a halt either facing the wrong way or pointing sideways. And a night stage with snow! Why? Actually it wasn't as bad as I'd expected, but it certainly was a challenge.

Having still barely scratched the surface of the game so far, I think Sweden is the second most challenging location for me, behind Greece, where I always seem to fall off the cliff at some point. I need to try to be extra cautious for that one!

Thanks for setting this up, Don.

[Wilk5280]

I was trying to cram in the April monthly online rally last night. It's a doozy with 24 stages across multiple locations.

I got through Wales, but can't say the same about Monte Carlo. With the finish line in sight of the first stage I somehow managed to go off a cliff and ended my rally with terminal damage. It was like a punch to the stomach.

[Wilk5280]

As I try to continue improving at this game I've turned off all assists. This should be interesting.

What camera are you fellas using? I started out with in-car, but I think I can push the pace better with the hood cam.

[pk500]

All cockpit, all the time here. Not a badge of honor -- just personal preference. Gives me the best "seat of pants" feel.

[TCrouch]

I always do cockpit with a wheel, but if I'm using a controller, I get screwed up by the stick input not matching a wheel input, so I usually do a dash or hood cam. I kept meaning to go into the game and set ABS to 0 instead of 2 (it's the lone holdover assist I still had) and forgot. So I'm a big p*ssy that still has an assist enabled.

I DID grab the heaviest, lowest-HP car on this rally planning for the snow to be a complete b*tch...and then that car worked out quite well. It's a trip how differently they can all drive. Cut right through the snow, didn't have enough power to weight ratio to really make it a pain to drive.

[DChaps]

Inaugural DSP "CMR2/Sports Reviewers Memorial" DiRT Rally Championship

Rally 2 - Sweden - Final Results

https://www.dirtgame.com/uk/leagues/lea ... dsp-racing















Overall Standings after 2 Rally's:

[DChaps]

Don't forget, a new Rally Event starts each week on Monday

Rally 3 - Greece, Route 1
Vehicle Class: 1980s (RWD)
Date range: Monday 05/02/2016 12:00 noon EDT - Monday 05/09/2016 3:00am EDT

Stage: Track: Conditions:
1 Greece, Kathodo Leontiou (L) Morning / Clear
2 Greece, Pomona Ékrixi (S) Midday / Sunny
3 Greece, Ampelonas Ormi (S) Sunset / Clear
4 Greece, Koryfi Dafni (S) Night / Clear
5 Greece, Fourkéta Kourva (S) Morning / Clear
6 Greece, Anodou Farmakas (L) Midday / Sunny

Full Season Event schedule here:

https://www.dirtgame.com/uk/leagues/vie ... 43/current

[TCrouch]

The entire time I was driving that night stage, I was like "Really, Don?"

I couldn't see the road for all of the snow in my windshield with the headlights making each piece like a glowing ball of fury.

Thanks for putting this together and going through all of this effort...it's appreciated.

[dbdynsty25]

If i pick up DR this weekend on the XB1, can I join up midway, or did I have to do it from the start? Obviously I'm not going to be winning in the standings, but just competing on the last few stages would be fun. Any idea Don?

[Zeppo]

If i pick up DR this weekend on the XB1, can I join up midway, or did I have to do it from the start? Obviously I'm not going to be winning in the standings, but just competing on the last few stages would be fun. Any idea Don?

You can join anytime. I joined after the first week.

[TCrouch]

No reason you couldn't join at any time. Some guy who's not a DSP dude joined mid-rally last week (SlyRS or something like that), but hasn't run since.

So I think you can join at any point.

[AcemanPR]

Third stage killed me last week. Greece will kill me this week!

Love this game though!

[10spro]

Third stage killed me last week. Greece will kill me this week!

Love this game though!

I am already dead.

[Wilk5280]

Not liking the car selection I made for Greece... oooph.

[pk500]

Note to self: Do not attempt this game when f*cked up. I crashed on the first corner of Greece.

[Fshguy]

Small world, but I just made connection to Ringbearer(RandyM), we actually work together and never realized raced against each other back in 2004 TOCA... I've been harassing him for weeks to buy this game, he finally caved...

[10spro]

The fourth race In Sweden is a night one I believe. Crashed after a minute, then my headlights went out and I raced the rest of my eternal 10 minutes blindly. Literally. Be warned.

[DChaps]

Inaugural DSP "CMR2/Sports Reviewers Memorial" DiRT Rally Championship

Rally3 - Greece - Final Results

https://www.dirtgame.com/uk/leagues/lea ... dsp-racing















Overall Standings after 3 Rally's:



Man, I was in third place after the first two stages then literally fell down the leaderboard by falling off the cliffs twice. I was amazed that my car actually was still operational. I also lost my headlights early on in the night stage. That was fun as well. It's hard to believe that the real WRC drivers face stages like these. This sim continues to amaze me.

Here is a nice little article to help improve your driving in DiRT Rally:

16 Tips for DiRT Rally to Get Faster Stage Times
http://psracingpro.com/tips-faster-stag ... cing-game/

[TCrouch]

Again, thanks for this, Don.

I actually thought about streaming and recording a video of a stage or two from these rallies. It would be surprising how slow it feels when you're in a zone. I have spent entire stages at like half throttle and 3rd gear. In most cases, I brake so early it feels like I'm crawling to a corner, and keep the car geared just enough so that accelerating won't leave me breaking a ton of traction on exit.

So much of rally is that seat-of-the-pants feel...shifting weight on the car, knowing that 'over bumps' means I'm probably going to lose it if the vehicle isn't perfectly centered, etc. Their points about shifting the weight mid-corner is the most helpful piece of advice in that entire article, IMO. Figuring out that one little aspect will drop your stage times by 30 seconds to a minute per.

And of course, ANY off-track vehicle reset will kill you. So when in doubt, being cautious and losing 5 seconds is a lot better than wrecking out (losing 5 seconds while you wreck) and another 12 or 15 with a reset.

It sounds so simple, but it's crazy how much patience you have to exercise to go-slow-to-go-fast in a rally game. I can't imagine driving like the top dudes who absolutely BLAZE around a course. Way beyond my talent level, but I think most people would be surprised how slow and serene a 'decent' run will feel in Dirt Rally.

[DChaps]

We have a very close points race for 2nd place and 4th place going into the 4th rally of our 6 rally season.

Rally 4 - Finland, Route 1
Vehicle Class: Group A
Date range: Monday 05/09/2016 12:00 noon EDT - Monday 05/16/2016 3:00am EDT

Stage: Track: Conditions:
1 Finland, Kontinjärvi (L) Morning / Overcast
2 Finland, Hämelahti (L) Morning / Rain
3 Finland, Kailajärvi (S) Midday / Sunny
4 Finland, Paskuri (S) Afternoon / Clear
5 Finland, Naarajärvi (S) Night / Clear
6 Finland, Jyrkysjärvi (S) Midday / Sunny

Full Season Event schedule here:

https://www.dirtgame.com/uk/leagues/vie ... 43/current

[GB_Simo]

It would be surprising how slow it feels when you're in a zone. I have spent entire stages at like half throttle and 3rd gear. In most cases, I brake so early it feels like I'm crawling to a corner, and keep the car geared just enough so that accelerating won't leave me breaking a ton of traction on exit.

And of course, ANY off-track vehicle reset will kill you. So when in doubt, being cautious and losing 5 seconds is a lot better than wrecking out (losing 5 seconds while you wreck) and another 12 or 15 with a reset.

It sounds so simple, but it's crazy how much patience you have to exercise to go-slow-to-go-fast in a rally game. I can't imagine driving like the top dudes who absolutely BLAZE around a course. Way beyond my talent level, but I think most people would be surprised how slow and serene a 'decent' run will feel in Dirt Rally.

This.

I picked up the XB1 version at the weekend, having played the PC early access version last April, loved it and then completely left it alone for over a year. On Don's leaderboards, the stages where I don't lose much time to the leaders are the ones where I'm playing myself in by driving as Terry describes. The ones where I lose huge chunks are the ones where I'm pushing beyond my present skill level and taking penalties, my favourite being the two stages featuring the super-fast downhill section with a sheer drop to driver's left. First time through, I got off line through a 5 left and turned the following 4 right don't cut into a cartwheeling ride into oblivion. Second time around, I'd built up a bit of confidence and came at it with more speed, which left me really off line through the 5 left...

[TCrouch]

Exactly! So were you "bigsim" in this rally? I was wondering who that was, but assumed!

And almost every week, I start out going "OK I'm going to go fast!" and then end up 3rd or 4th on the leaderboard after one stage. Then I settle myself down, don't push it, and just drive 'controlled'...and end up climbing back up.

It's a never ending battle. I'll start to feel like I'm in a zone--I go from turn to turn with the car just pointing the 'right' direction, weight balance is perfect; then I inevitably go "I've got this!", push it a little harder, and completely screw the run up.

This game, like no other I've ever played, forces you to be 100% focused, 100% of the time. The instant you deviate from your 'race plan', you lose a sh*t ton of time.

EVERY. TIME.

[Fshguy]

Don, can you check your requests, I think Ringbearer is trying to get in. Although he's having a problem binding his gamertag to his codemasters account.