DiRT Rally 2.0 General Discussion

[UKMikey]

Nailing a good stage with one of the 4WD Group B cars is pretty damn satisfying. One of the last McRae challenges is a long Scottish stage in the 6R4. Beating that on the higher difficulty settings took a lot of patience, but was one of the most satisfying gaming moments I have had in a long, long, time.

I'm nowhere near that level of proficiency but I'm happy to get a good time on any stage with any car. I've found that the Delta S4 seems to be the easiest all-wheel B followed by the RS200 for me but I'm beginning to enjoy using the RWD 037 and Procar now I'm getting used to their handling.

Funnily enough I think Catamarca is the venue I'm beginning to memorise first after starter courses like Hawkes Bay, Monaro and Łęczna. I never would have guessed it'd be Argentina I took to so early after punting a couple of cars off the mountain when starting out in April, but maybe it's easier to learn because the turns are more visually distinctive to me than the featureless wastes of Värmland, say.

Something about this game encourages the player to push themselves using unfamiliar tracks and cars though. I've certainly found out my current limits playing the game. So long as I get a fairly high leaderboard score (say around 100) and a time that's less than a minute off the class leader's I'm happy for now. Giving myself a leg up on the one stage daily challenges by dumping the spare tyre is helping quite a bit.

 

[tbtstt]

I've found that the Delta S4 seems to be the easiest all-wheel B followed by the RS200 for me but I'm beginning to enjoy using the RWD 037 and Procar now I'm getting used to their handling.

That's interesting to read; I'd probably place the RS200 as the easiest 4WD Group B rally car to drive in the game. I find the E2 quattro fairly predictable and the 6R4 controllable up to a point, but once you lose the 6R4 I find it tricky to get gather back up again.

Most of my fastest Group B stage times are set in the Delta S4. Absolute weapon of a car. I think the 205 T16 might be slightly quicker in game, but the power delivery is savage and it can be a real handful!

I love the 037 in DR2: it was impossible to be consistent with in DR1 (or at least I thought it was on the controller), but it is way better in DR2. It isn't the fastest car in the Group B RWD (actually it might be the slowest!), but I find the Manta so much fun to drive. It seems to go sideways effortlessly: you just slide from corner to corner!

 

[UKMikey]

That's interesting to read; I'd probably place the RS200 as the easiest 4WD Group B rally car to drive in the game. I find the E2 quattro fairly predictable and the 6R4 controllable up to a point, but once you lose the 6R4 I find it tricky to get gather back up again.

Thinking about it that's probably correct. The RS was the first car I maxed out but I think I'm getting faster times in the Delta S4 with its shorter wheelbase.

I think I tried one stage in the Metro and drove headfirst into a wall so put it on the back burner for now. I'm not sure I've even earnt enough credits to purchase all the cars yet. One thing for sure though, I'm not getting on with the VW Golf kit car at the moment. Perhaps it's too light or lacking in downforce for me but I just can't keep it planted on bumpy stages enough to make tight turns.

 

[tbtstt]

Thinking about it that's probably correct. The RS was the first car I maxed out but I think I'm getting faster times in the Delta S4 with its shorter wheelbase.

Delta S4 is lighter, more powerful and more responsive. Harder to manage on the limit I'd say, but should walk the RS200.

I think I tried one stage in the Metro and drove headfirst into a wall so put it on the back burner for now.

Given that it is naturally aspirated the power delivery in the 6R4 is very predictable. Different handling to both of the above though.

One thing for sure though, I'm not getting on with the VW Golf kit car at the moment. Perhaps it's too light or lacking in downforce for me but I just can't keep it planted on bumpy stages enough to make tight turns.

I can't offer much assistance there: I rarely use anything other than the 306 in that class!

 

[UKMikey]

Given that it is naturally aspirated the power delivery in the 6R4 is very predictable. Different handling to both of the above though.

To be fair when I tried the car it was very early on before I learnt to drive slightly better. I might give it a go next time a challenge calls for a 4WD Group B but I'd like to max the Quattro first if I can.

I can't offer much assistance there: I rarely use anything other than the 306 in that class!

I can't really use career rally as a means of learning cars since it's currently locked to Elite level after I completed the first three in easy cars. Most of my practice comes from completing the daily, weekly and monthly challenges and I think one of the dailies called for the Golf specifically.

I'll certainly take your advice about using the Peugeot into account next time though. It's been great as a relative beginner being able to chat about cars with an experienced and knowledgeable veteran rather than having to learn via trial and error (or worse, seek advice on Reddit lol).

 

[tbtstt]

To be fair when I tried the car it was very early on before I learnt to drive slightly better. I might give it a go next time a challenge calls for a 4WD Group B but I'd like to max the Quattro first if I can.

Ah yeah, that makes sense for the career: focus your funds and mileage on whatever car(s) you own.

To be fair when I tried the car it was very early on before I learnt to drive slightly better. I might give it a go next time a challenge calls for a 4WD Group B but I'd like to max the Quattro first if I can.I can't really use career rally as a means of learning cars since it's currently locked to Elite level after I completed the first three in easy cars. Most of my practice comes from completing the daily, weekly and monthly challenges and I think one of the dailies called for the Golf specifically.

I can't remember the actual description for it now, but I found the set Championships (in "Freeplay") for each era good for trialing the different cars. And of course everything is unlocked in custom, so that is a good way of picking the next car for you to buy in the career. Dirtfish (free roam) is great as well. I have a favourite route around that whole environment and I have found that useful for comparing cars.

 

[UKMikey]

I can't remember the actual description for it now, but I found the set Championships (in "Freeplay") for each era good for trialing the different cars. And of course everything is unlocked in custom, so that is a good way of picking the next car for you to buy in the career. Dirtfish (free roam) is great as well. I have a favourite route around that whole environment and I have found that useful for comparing cars.

Unfortunately historic and custom rallies don't earn credits which I need to buy and repair vehicles so I'm stuck with the challenges for now. I've managed to salt away 18.6 million so far but I haven't attempted the Rallycross events yet as without a map they get quite nervewracking.

What I generally tend to do is test drive a couple or three cars on the surface I plan to race on and pick the one with the fastest time. I eventually plan to buy them all so it doesn't matter if the one I buy turns out to be a lemon.

 

[Jtheripper]

Back home after 3 weeks, good to get back into gaming a little.
Dr2.., good grief, what a blast it still is.
So much fun, one of rare games that makes me giggle each time, exciting, challenging, super good quality all around.

This and pc2 and ac on ps console, nothing much else gets near those for me, for car sim type games.
Edit: well there's acc of course as well, although with a more limited appeal perhaps for me.

Wrc10 is fun but really too easy controls, simcade style, at least when on flat roads its limited as a full sim to me, plus on overall quality.

Really glad Codies wrc game will be based on dr2 physics, and not dirt, keep it hardcore enough.

Wrc, ac2, and gt Revival, will be my new replacements hopefully.

 

[AEKara38]

I finally got the glitched XBox achievement for "Watch the DELTA - Purchase every Group A car" today because all 4 cars are on sale. If you still need it today could be the day. The Lancia tripped it for me despite me owning them all and having fully tuned them.
Just a few more to complete before WRC23 comes out.

 

[PJTierney]

I finally got the glitched XBox achievement for "Watch the DELTA - Purchase every Group A car" today because all 4 cars are on sale. If you still need it today could be the day. The Lancia tripped it for me despite me owning them all and having fully tuned them.
Just a few more to complete before WRC23 comes out.

Those achievements were a right pain. Every time we thought we fixed them in a patch somebody else reported them being broken 😅

 

[RACECAR]

Those achievements were a right pain. Every time we thought we fixed them in a patch somebody else reported them being broken 😅

Was this an Xbox exclusive problem or was it across all platforms?

 

[PJTierney]

Was this an Xbox exclusive problem or was it across all platforms?

Everywhere really, the way this game handles inventory is kind of weird sometimes, partly because of the online requirement and partly because it did something pretty unique with its DLC entitlement system.

 

[AEKara38]

I still can't do a rally career. It crashes after the first stage and tells me my save is corrupt. As I've had the game since day 1 and have most cars fully upgraded I'm not prepared to delete my cloud save. Reinstalling last time lost me something because there were less files than I deleted (probably one of the bonus cars) so I won't do that again either. EA customer support weren't helpful.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I still can't do a rally career. It crashes after the first stage and tells me my save is corrupt. As I've had the game since day 1 and have most cars fully upgraded I'm not prepared to delete my cloud save. Reinstalling last time lost me something because there were less files than I deleted (probably one of the bonus cars) so I won't do that again either. EA customer support weren't helpful.

View attachment 1287924

Same happens to me.

 

[Natustell]

I just got this on sale and am satisfied except for one detail: there doesn't appear to be a way to match the steering ratio of the car model to that of my physical wheel. I turn my wheel 90 degrees, the rack turns appropriately, but the steering wheel and driver model's hands turn ~135 degrees. This is visually jarring, hence why all other sims that I have plated, Project Cars, rFactor, allow you to force the model's steering ratio to that of your physical wheel.

I must clarify that I am not talking about needing a soft lock. Many people ask about this issue and others misunderstand. My physical wheel as a steering angle of 240 degrees and has no driver settings for steering angle because it's so low. The cars are between 540 and 1080 degrees, from what I read, so I need the steering ratio of the cars to decrease to match.

I don't 100% understand the in-game settings. Maybe there is a way. If not, is there a mod that allows one to change the steering ratio of the cars? Maybe a file edit?

 

[FrankieStail]

I just got this on sale and am satisfied except for one detail: there doesn't appear to be a way to match the steering ratio of the car model to that of my physical wheel. I turn my wheel 90 degrees, the rack turns appropriately, but the steering wheel and driver model's hands turn ~135 degrees. This is visually jarring, hence why all other sims that I have plated, Project Cars, rFactor, allow you to force the model's steering ratio to that of your physical wheel.

I must clarify that I am not talking about needing a soft lock. Many people ask about this issue and others misunderstand. My physical wheel as a steering angle of 240 degrees and has no driver settings for steering angle because it's so low. The cars are between 540 and 1080 degrees, from what I read, so I need the steering ratio of the cars to decrease to match.

I don't 100% understand the in-game settings. Maybe there is a way. If not, is there a mod that allows one to change the steering ratio of the cars? Maybe a file edit?

If you want to have in game wheel on show you can keep soft lock on but set steering saturation to 60, this will make all cars match in game wheel while still giving 540 on all cars.
I’m not sure this is how it’s supposed to work but it definitely did so on g29.

The second option, and the one I recommend, is to turn off in game wheel and run soft lock to get all the cars actual rotations.

Of course if your using vr, the first option is the one to go for.

 

[Natustell]

If you want to have in game wheel on show you can keep soft lock on but set steering saturation to 60, this will make all cars match in game wheel while still giving 540 on all cars.
I’m not sure this is how it’s supposed to work but it definitely did so on g29.

The second option, and the one I recommend, is to turn off in game wheel and run soft lock to get all the cars actual rotations.

Of course if your using vr, the first option is the one to go for.

This makes the problem even worse by reducing the amount of throw my physical wheel has. My wheel does not support soft lock. I want the position of the in-game wheel to match the position of my physical wheel regardless of car and without sacrificing turn radius.

See the following videos to understand what I want. Notice the relative positions of the physical wheel (left window) and the model wheel in the games.

Correct Animation (Project CARS 2):

^ Steering ratio of car is automatically adjusted to match physical wheel without losing any range.

Incorrect Animation (DIRT Rally 2.0):

^ Steering ratio is realistic which causes a mismatch between physical wheel and model wheel to prevent loss of range.

 

[FrankieStail]

This makes the problem even worse by reducing the amount of throw my physical wheel has. My wheel does not support soft lock. I want the position of the in-game wheel to match the position of my physical wheel regardless of car and without sacrificing turn radius.

See the following videos to understand what I want. Notice the relative positions of the physical wheel (left window) and the model wheel in the games.

Correct Animation (Project CARS 2):

^ Steering ratio of car is automatically adjusted to match physical wheel without losing any range.

Incorrect Animation (DIRT Rally 2.0):

^ Steering ratio is realistic which causes a mismatch between physical wheel and model wheel to prevent loss of range.

What model of wheel are you using?

 

[Natustell]

What model of wheel are you using?

It's a Logitech MOMO. I would be very surprised if this game had a specific incompatibility with this wheel. All other racing sims have either auto-detected the model or allowed for custom steering angles.

 

[some_dude]

Hi all, I've spent hours trying to get my Reverb G2 to work with Dirt Rally 2. The headset keeps going blue and the game crashes without any errors before it gets to the main menu screen. I've tried everything listed in this guide including even switching to PCIE Gen 3!

My Specs

• 3080ti
• 9900k
• Windows 11
• 32gb RAM

Does anybody play this game regularly with a similar setup? Have you ever encountered this issue and found a way around it? I'm out of ideas, really want to play this game in VR!

 

[some_dude]

Hi all, I've spent hours trying to get my Reverb G2 to work with Dirt Rally 2. The headset keeps going blue and the game crashes without any errors before it gets to the main menu screen. I've tried everything listed in this guide including even switching to PCIE Gen 3!

My Specs

• 3080ti
• 9900k
• Windows 11
• 32gb RAM

Does anybody play this game regularly with a similar setup? Have you ever encountered this issue and found a way around it? I'm out of ideas, really want to play this game in VR!

 

[GTboyz]

It's finally on 70% discount in PSN. Hell yessss.

 

[GTboyz]

Okay so I finally installed and tried this game a bit. Am I crazy or is it really easier than DR1?

The cars feel more stable (tried Fiat 131 and Stratos). I'm too scared to go fast with the Stratos in DR1 but DR2 I feel more confident and the cars seems more responsive too.

 

[tbtstt]

Okay so I finally installed and tried this game a bit. Am I crazy or is it really easier than DR1?

The cars feel more stable (tried Fiat 131 and Stratos). I'm too scared to go fast with the Stratos in DR1 but DR2 I feel more confident and the cars seems more responsive too.

I found it easier in that the car behavior seemed a lot more predictable; some cars (most notably the 037) were really random in DR1 so I often didn't bother with them. I personally think the handling in DR2 is a lot more consistent, so "easier" in that sense.

Really pushing hard is still a challenge in DR2 (at least it is to me!), but I have experienced a lot less "random" crashes in DR2 than DR1.

 

[some_dude]

Hi all, I've spent hours trying to get my Reverb G2 to work with Dirt Rally 2. The headset keeps going blue and the game crashes without any errors before it gets to the main menu screen. I've tried everything listed in this guide including even switching to PCIE Gen 3!

My Specs

• 3080ti
• 9900k
• Windows 11
• 32gb RAM

Does anybody play this game regularly with a similar setup? Have you ever encountered this issue and found a way around it? I'm out of ideas, really want to play this game in VR!

FYI to anybody that comes across this, I figured it out! It was my XBox Wireless Controller. If I unplug the receiver or (I think) just turn the controller off, everything works flawlessly. No idea how a USB controller was causing a Direct3D 11 crash but just glad it works.

 

[GTboyz]

I found it easier in that the car behavior seemed a lot more predictable; some cars (most notably the 037) were really random in DR1 so I often didn't bother with them. I personally think the handling in DR2 is a lot more consistent, so "easier" in that sense.

Really pushing hard is still a challenge in DR2 (at least it is to me!), but I have experienced a lot less "random" crashes in DR2 than DR1.

There seems to be less bumpiness on the cars IMO

in DR1 I feel like every cars is really twitchy and unstable everytime I go through bumps and jumps, either that or the tracks in DR2 are flatter (which I doubt).

 

[tbtstt]

in DR1 I feel like every cars is really twitchy and unstable everytime I go through bumps and jumps

I retyped my previous message a couple of times before posting, as I didn't think I was conveying my thoughts very well: you have said exactly what I was thinking with that line!

In DR2.0 if you hit the bumps and jumps square then the car is typically predictable in flight and on landing: in DR1 some peculiar stuff would happen and certain cars could/would snap violently with zero warning, no matter how neatly you seemed to set the car up.

I personally think the surface degradation is very noticeable in DR2.0 (and, as a side note, I haven't found it as noticeable in EA WRC yet), so it isn't that stages are flatter, it is just that the car behavior seems more consistent to me.

 

[GTboyz]

I retyped my previous message a couple of times before posting, as I didn't think I was conveying my thoughts very well: you have said exactly what I was thinking with that line!

In DR2.0 if you hit the bumps and jumps square then the car is typically predictable in flight and on landing: in DR1 some peculiar stuff would happen and certain cars could/would snap violently with zero warning, no matter how neatly you seemed to set the car up.

I personally think the surface degradation is very noticeable in DR2.0 (and, as a side note, I haven't found it as noticeable in EA WRC yet), so it isn't that stages are flatter, it is just that the car behavior seems more consistent to me.

But is it more realistic this way ? I have no idea how rallying actually is but I always see it as being scary and DR1 made me feel that way (especially in Stratos and 037).

I still choose this over DR1 overall though. Everything feels and looks so much better.

 

[tbtstt]

But is it more realistic this way ? I have no idea how rallying actually is but I always see it as being scary and DR1 made me feel that way (especially in Stratos and 037).

So - and I expect some may disagree with me here - but I think there is an important distinction between "difficult" and "realistic". For sure rallying is very tricky and potentially scary in real life, so the game should be a challenge and - in my opinion - should punish you severely if you make a mistake... but being challenged by spurious handling isn't realistic in my mind and that could happen in DR1.

If you go back and watch footage of a well driven Stratos or 037 they aren't flailing all over the road when the power is delivered smoothly, or spearing off into the scenery after a small jump or rut in the road. For sure they required finesse to drive fast, but if driven with caution they shouldn't be randomly veering off the road or bouncing in the air.

Something which I do think that the DR games have been guilty of (and I can see why) is taming some older cars, most notably the 4WD Group B cars: the transmission, suspension, brakes/handbrake, engine response on these cars all seems a little too effective in DR1 & 2 which is perhaps down to the cars that CM sampled for the game, or a gameplay choice to make those cars more usable.

(as an aside, I haven't spent much time in the older cars in EA WRC yet but, from my brief dabble with them so far, I don't think they feel as "modern" in the new game: need more time with the game to form a stronger opinion on that though!)

I still choose this over DR1 overall though. Everything feels and looks so much better.

I loved DR1 and played the hell out of it at the time, but I am the same. I very rarely go back to play DR1 now (and if I do it is usually for a blast up Pikes Peak and that is it).

Slightly off topic - and something which has been discussed previously in this thread - but DR2 also contains the most realistic representation of rallycross I think we have ever got in a game (and are likely to get for the foreseeable future), so I can see me going back to it for years to come.

 

[MagpieRacer]

So - and I expect some may disagree with me here - but I think there is an important distinction between "difficult" and "realistic". For sure rallying is very tricky and potentially scary in real life, so the game should be a challenge and - in my opinion - should punish you severely if you make a mistake... but being challenged by spurious handling isn't realistic in my mind and that could happen in DR1.

If you go back and watch footage of a well driven Stratos or 037 they aren't flailing all over the road when the power is delivered smoothly, or spearing off into the scenery after a small jump or rut in the road. For sure they required finesse to drive fast, but if driven with caution they shouldn't be randomly veering off the road or bouncing in the air.

Something which I do think that the DR games have been guilty of (and I can see why) is taming some older cars, most notably the 4WD Group B cars: the transmission, suspension, brakes/handbrake, engine response on these cars all seems a little too effective in DR1 & 2 which is perhaps down to the cars that CM sampled for the game, or a gameplay choice to make those cars more usable.

(as an aside, I haven't spent much time in the older cars in EA WRC yet but, from my brief dabble with them so far, I don't think they feel as "modern" in the new game: need more time with the game to form a stronger opinion on that though!)

I loved DR1 and played the hell out of it at the time, but I am the same. I very rarely go back to play DR1 now (and if I do it is usually for a blast up Pikes Peak and that is it).

Slightly off topic - and something which has been discussed previously in this thread - but DR2 also contains the most realistic representation of rallycross I think we have ever got in a game (and are likely to get for the foreseeable future), so I can see me going back to it for years to come.

I totally agree, difficulty and realism don't go hand in hand. Driving a car, fundamentally, isn't difficult, and DR2 and EAWRC do a good job of recreating that, the challenge/difficulty comes in when you start pushing hard. DR1 as you say was just inconsistent and difficult through issue rather than design.

With the Group B cars, in my head I think I just go on the assumption that they're the more modern take on the cars depicted. This video is a good demo of what I mean, and whilst I'm sure the car will still be a challenge on the limit, it conforms to modern requirements and standards.


Might not be the case, but I like to think so.