DiRT Rally 2.0 Comes Free to PS Plus in April

Connection too server Failed when loading it up

Yep. All day yesterday and now today.

Cant play the main game without being connected, stupid move.

Also dont know what they did to the graphics, looks far worse than the first one.
 
The servers seem to be doing an even worse job than GT Sport's of dealing with an increase in people playing it.
I've found that they generally seem to be ok in the morning after that it's luck of the draw at this point
 


Lmao

As usual, Racenet's servers can be brought down onto it's knees with any sort of somewhat sizeable bump in player numbers. With this, and both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen telling people to throw F1 in the trash, hasn't been a fun time for Codemasters **** servers! Maybe they shouldn't have shoved DR2.0 onto PS Plus' free game of the month if they knew this was going to happen considering the servers regularly **** out on far less.
 
I have been trying to connect to the server all day long ... no luck. Bought the Super Deluxe Edition a few months ago. Well, I will just fire up the original Dirt Rally for a few days.
 
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As usual, Racenet's servers can be brought down onto it's knees with any sort of somewhat sizeable bump in player numbers. With this, and both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen telling people to throw F1 in the trash, hasn't been a fun time for Codemasters **** servers! Maybe they shouldn't have shoved DR2.0 onto PS Plus' free game of the month if they knew this was going to happen considering the servers regularly **** out on far less.
As soon as I heard they were offering DR2.0 free for PS+ members I couldn't hold myself back from laughing. Having RaceNet's track record in mind, it was very much given that the servers would barely work with the influx of new players.

Still among the dumbest decisions to having the career mode tied to an online connection. Right up there with PD's online-only save.
 
I've already got fed up trying to play "Connecting to Server" ... I'm sure it's a lovely server when you get there, but having what feels like an ideal candidate for offline solo career mode, tied to what appears to be a pc in someones bedroom is insane ... why the hell is it even considering connecting to their server mid-rally when all I'm trying to do is repair the car?!!
 
I wonder what happens, if you buy any DLC and your PSplus runs out? Will you still be able to play the game, then? Or do you have to buy the core game afterwards?
 
I think the key to this is setting the pace note timing right, I could never find the sweet spot on the first game but this seems much improved so far.
 
I think the default it too fast. Is there a setting for the speed at which they come out? I know you can adjust if they're earlier or later. I guess I want them earlier?

The hardest thing is not having a dedicated handbrake to pull. I know other companies have room for that but Logitech doesn't. It's really hard to work with a button on the wheel. The FWD cars are fun but the tight turns are so tough. Anything over 300HP freaks me out and goes too fast too quickly for me to slow down in time for the slow turns. It's fun to try though
 
I set them up earlier than the default setting but the commands seem to come in a couple of bends at a time, not like the old wrc games when it was always a steady stream of information
 
Downloaded as I used to love messing around on rally games but haven't owned one since since Colin McRae Rally 4 on PS2.

Wasn't sure at first, after crashing on the loading screen on my first attempt at a championship, the game then thew me into the deep end with the Fulvia at Argentina. After blowing all my restarts, the objective very soon became about preserving the last of my headlights which I then managed to smash the on the stop marshal's leg at the end of the 3rd stage meaning that the 4th (night) stage was going to be impossible forcing me to quit. At the same time as Codemasters' server decided to quit and I was unable to start a new championship.

This pushed me into the Freeplay area where I tried out a few different cars. I soon realised the cars I'd been looking forward to trying (F2 Kit Cars) were DLC.

Fast forward 24 hours and I seemed to be having more joy with the Fulvia winning 6/6 rallys and starting to enjoy myself. I decided that for £15.99 the Year One Pass is actually a bargain and effectively gives you the full game for half price and would unlock the cars my inner V-Rally/Colin McRae Rally nostalgia junkie wanted to drive (306 Maxi, Ibiza Kit Car and the Impreza WRC).

Now equipped with the Seat, I jumped into a second championship. At this point I started to wonder if I'd just wasted my money as suddenly I'm now 12th and struggling to keep pace and another quit ensued. I'm hoping it was the combination of the New England stages at night, learning a new car (which likes to swap ends under breaking for no good reason) and being a bit too tired to play properly, but if it's a sign of things to come I could see me losing interest fast.

I won't lie, the game has that typical Codemasters honeymoon period, where for the first 24 hours you're blow away by the little details; the car's appearance changing to suit the conditions (lamp pods, mud flaps, knobbly tyres) cars broken down on the stage, the atmosphere etc. Then it starts to go downhill fast. You suddenly find yourself driving the same stages (or shorter sections of) over and over again and those little one off details no longer seem special.

But the biggest issue is the progression or lack of. For the first rally, it's the carrot of looking forward to being able to choose your own car for the next one, but after that what are you shooting for? What's worse, is rather than simply unlocking them, the DLC gives you the bundled cars for free in the career mode as well as 2mil CR, suddenly any sense of working to climb the ladder is gone.

It's the same issue I had with Grid Autosport (though at least here the DLC gets incorporated into the career).

The long and the short of it is that I was suckered in enough to buy the DLC and this is not a new thing with me and Codemasters as I now recall ringing the cheats number on the back of the manual (remember that?!) and paying to unlock all the cars not long after to buying the game.

And I guess that's my relationship with rally games. I like to mess around, try different cars on different stages, but ultimately don't want to commit to simply playing them obsessively to get good.
 
I'll just keep it short and focus on the trailers here... The announcement launch trailer failed to capture the diversity of the game. It didn't showcase that many cars and the action scenes were too brownish and gritty. That probably seemed fitting for a rally game named DiRT, but there's a fine line in not making making it look dull. I wouldn't blame anyone for not paying attention to it.

Then there was the original launch trailer, while slightly better in terms of showcasing the game's scope, it was ruined by music with lyrics. The generic rock music just seemed out of sync with the game and the ethos of the franchise.

The VW Polo was also a rather bad choice as the cover car when Codemasters didn't secure the rights to its official WRC livery.

You guys have stepped things up though. The GOTY launch trailer is much better. Rebranding the game with the Subaru Impreza S4 on the start-up screen was a nice touch as well (too bad it didn't become the GOTY cover car).

What official WRC livery? The VW Polo on the DiRT Rally 2 cover is an R5 class car. It runs in WRC2 class with privateers but there is no "official WRC livery"
 
I think the default it too fast. Is there a setting for the speed at which they come out? I know you can adjust if they're earlier or later. I guess I want them earlier?

The hardest thing is not having a dedicated handbrake to pull. I know other companies have room for that but Logitech doesn't. It's really hard to work with a button on the wheel. The FWD cars are fun but the tight turns are so tough. Anything over 300HP freaks me out and goes too fast too quickly for me to slow down in time for the slow turns. It's fun to try though

No. The speed will adjust based on your driving, you'll hear the intensity in his voice change as you speed or slow. They recorded him doing the notes on a motion simulator at a few intensity levels and I believe the notes were recorded as a stage rather than individual calls during together so that it would feel more fluid and realistic.
 
What official WRC livery? The VW Polo on the DiRT Rally 2 cover is an R5 class car. It runs in WRC2 class with privateers but there is no "official WRC livery"

There was an official VW Polo WRC entry a few years ago. That entry had a different livery and I believe it was in DR1. Privateer teams aren't official entries by the manufacturers, so perhaps I should have said one of the liveries used on VW's official Polo entry in the WRC.
 
There was an official VW Polo WRC entry a few years ago. That entry had a different livery and I believe it was in DR1. Privateer teams aren't official entries by the manufacturers, so perhaps I should have said one of the liveries used on VW's official Polo entry in the WRC.
For what it's worth, the Polo R5 (and for that matter, every other R5 car) wasn't in DR1. Also, there are no fewer than four real-world liveries in the game for the Polo R5. One, featured in the cover art, is the official announcement/show car livery. Another is the Petter Solberg / Phill Mills 2019 Wales Rally livery, which is an "official WRC(2) livery". Then there are the Petter Solberg / Veronica Engan and Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston liveries which were added as rewards for some special online events. I'm not sure which livery you are thinking of, but if it's the livery from the Polo WRC, then that one never appeared on the R5 car and wouldn't be correct.
 
Downloaded this and thought I'd have a go through the classic rally stages to start. Still getting used to the FFB settings but i have settled it on quite weak (40) as the kicks can be very hard (T300RS).
Wheel friction 0, tyre friction 125 and suspension 125. I find all the settings a little difficult to negotiate with no descriptions on there but am getting there. Steering linearity presumably 0 is fully linear, then one way is more sensitive at the middle, and the other way more sensitive at the extremes?

Overall it seems good but there appears to be a a lot of immovable but invisible rocks at the side of the road that either spin me round or flip me over. Also it feels crazy sensitive to throttle at low speed and it feels very narrow, sure I'll get used to that
 
Overall it seems good but there appears to be a a lot of immovable but invisible rocks at the side of the road that either spin me round or flip me over.
Trust me, they're not invisible, you just need some time to develop a sense of where the corners of the car are. If you watch the replays of your runs, you'll see that the collision detection is actually pretty fair.
 
For what it's worth, the Polo R5 (and for that matter, every other R5 car) wasn't in DR1. Also, there are no fewer than four real-world liveries in the game for the Polo R5. One, featured in the cover art, is the official announcement/show car livery. Another is the Petter Solberg / Phill Mills 2019 Wales Rally livery, which is an "official WRC(2) livery". Then there are the Petter Solberg / Veronica Engan and Oliver Solberg / Aaron Johnston liveries which were added as rewards for some special online events. I'm not sure which livery you are thinking of, but if it's the livery from the Polo WRC, then that one never appeared on the R5 car and wouldn't be correct.

Regardless, it brings us back to my initial point that the Polo was not the best choice as cover car. Something with a more famous and recognizable livery would have been better for mass appeal.
 
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