Dirt Rally vs Dirt4 vs WRC7 vs SLRE - Which is your favourite? ;)

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I’ve only experienced a handful of cars, but some are better than others. That first Peugeot you get is definitely weak sounding, but the Mini is actually decent with backfires. The Fulvia and Alpine are meh, but not terrible.
Perhaps I should push through it or just play some awesome driving music in the background! We Simracers are really spoiled though... So many awesome games available these days...
 
Perhaps I should push through it or just play some awesome driving music in the background! We Simracers are really spoiled though... So many awesome games available these days...

I second the motion to give SLRE a second chance. I also agree that the sounds are abysmal in 75% of the cars. But everything underneath those sounds and graphics is top-notch. Still my favorite rally game after two years.
 
I second the motion to give SLRE a second chance. I also agree that the sounds are abysmal in 75% of the cars. But everything underneath those sounds and graphics is top-notch. Still my favorite rally game after two years.
I'll definitely give it another run. I remember playing DiRT rally for the first time and found it way too hard...Only after picking it up later again, I finally learned to appreciate the game.
 
Back onto the car sounds subject; I finally got around to trying the SLRE R2 Fiesta, and in my opinion it has the best sound of all three games. WRC7 comes in 2nd, and surprisingly the D4 Fiesta sounds kind of weak comparatively. The SLRE Fiesta packs the most sound ‘punch’.
 
Back onto the car sounds subject; I finally got around to trying the SLRE R2 Fiesta, and in my opinion it has the best sound of all three games. WRC7 comes in 2nd, and surprisingly the D4 Fiesta sounds kind of weak comparatively. The SLRE Fiesta packs the most sound ‘punch’.

Some of the cars sound pretty good. In fact I think most of them are Ok when you get used to them, I think the direction they used we good but the volume is low compared to other games.. I like the backfires and anti lag sounds that some of the cars make. At first I thought the early 00's sounded strange as every time you back of the throttle there was a funny sound but then I realised through watching the replays it was the anti lag systems! Pretty spot on.
It sounds like your enjoying the game now..?
 
Some of the cars sound pretty good. In fact I think most of them are Ok when you get used to them, I think the direction they used we good but the volume is low compared to other games.. I like the backfires and anti lag sounds that some of the cars make. At first I thought the early 00's sounded strange as every time you back of the throttle there was a funny sound but then I realised through watching the replays it was the anti lag systems! Pretty spot on.
It sounds like your enjoying the game now..?

Absolutely! My thoughts were harsh initially, but it definitely takes up a fair share of my play time. These three games are all I’ve been playing this year so far.
 
SLRE easily. Not even because of the huge amount of content in comparison but the physics are much better especially on tarmac. In Dirt Rally, you drive an Alpine A110, all of a sudden the FFB just completely disappears. Not to mention the physics on tarmac in general are just terrible. Plus the cars simply don't drift well even on dirt and have very little weight to them. It feels totally unnatural.

Still, it's tough to beat Dirt Rally in PS VR but if SLRE had VR support, I'd never play Dirt Rally.

Plus they're all inferior to Richard Burns Rally. Everyone knows that though.

If by "brought" you really meant "bought" then congrats. You have two underrated games. If you don't have them yet, get them both. Of the four titles you mentioned, three are must-haves for any rally fan: SLRE, DR and WRC 6.

I won't get into the specifics of each game since that has been done in other threads in this forum as well as the SLRE forum, not to mention discussions all over the 'net, but what I will say is that many people that bash SLRE and WRC 6 I think it's pretty apparent they haven't played the games. WRC 5 was utter garbage and SLRE has pretty poor graphics and sounds. It seems the badmouthing of those two issues were enough to generate a bad vibe regarding SLRE and WRC 6.

They're all rally games and each one has its pros and cons. Just a quick summary of the four, in order of preference (all IMO of course):

1. SLRE (Best physics of the current generation of rally games) MUST BUY
Pros: Physics; Car list; Stage Quantity and Quality; Can use rally, RX and PP cars on any track/stage you want
Cons: Graphics; Sounds; 30fps (though it runs near 60 on a high-end PC or PS4 Pro with Boost Mode)

2. DiRT Rally (Good physics - on the floaty side and too easy to throw the cars around) MUST BUY
Pros: Stage Quality; Co-Driver; Handling; 60fps
Cons: Floaty physics; Limited Content; Bare-Bones Presentation; No online rally

3. WRC 6 (Competent and intuitive simcade physics - fails at low speeds) BUY IF YOU NEED MORE RALLY
Pros: Official Cars (WRC, WRC2 and JWRC) and Rallies (13 of them); Super Special Stages; Tons of Content; eSports competitions
Cons: Cars lose torque at low speeds; screen tearing; 30fps (though it runs near 60 on PS4 Pro with Boost Mode); My goodness, that co-driver! A Fond!

4. DiRT 4 (Excellent underlying physics model totally ruined by releasing the game six months early - note I refer to rally mode and Sim handling; RallyX physics are great) DO NOT BUY (for now... must see if the many issues are ever addressed)
Pros: Rallycross physics; Procedural Stage Generator; Online Lobby options/features
Cons: Rally physics; Small car list; Very limited content (tracks and rallies); Procedural Stage Generator incredibly bland and repetitive; SHOULD BE IN ALPHA AT THIS STAGE; This game is not anywhere near finished.

I completely agree man. You summed it nicely. SLRE is way too underrated and overlooked just because its graphics and sounds are poor but frankly it's the best rally game since RBR
 
SLRE easily. Not even because of the huge amount of content in comparison but the physics are much better especially on tarmac. In Dirt Rally, you drive an Alpine A110, all of a sudden the FFB just completely disappears. Not to mention the physics on tarmac in general are just terrible. Plus the cars simply don't drift well even on dirt and have very little weight to them. It feels totally unnatural.

DR was the first rally title I played on PS4 so it was difficult to compare the other games once I got around to them. Still, I believe that once you get used to a particular game physics and handling everything else seems ‘off’ comparatively afterward.

After about 6 months taking a break playing DR, I revisited the game and seriously thought my wheel had broken after running on the tarmac stages the FFB was so light. Now DR seems unnatural.

SLRE has the best suspension/tire model of the lot. It’s the only game I’ve played where the tires actually feel they are inflated with air.
 
DR was the first rally title I played on PS4 so it was difficult to compare the other games once I got around to them. Still, I believe that once you get used to a particular game physics and handling everything else seems ‘off’ comparatively afterward.

After about 6 months taking a break playing DR, I revisited the game and seriously thought my wheel had broken after running on the tarmac stages the FFB was so light. Now DR seems unnatural.

SLRE has the best suspension/tire model of the lot. It’s the only game I’ve played where the tires actually feel they are inflated with air.

I don't have problems jumping between most games. As long as the vehicle dynamics are decently modeled it's pretty easy to get up to speed in a couple minutes. I have no problem jumping between Gran Turismo Sport, Project CARS 2 and Assetto Corsa. The three have vastly different levels of "simulation value" but vehicle dynamics are realistic and intuitive enough in all three so as to make it easy swapping one for the other.

On the rally front the same goes for SLRE, WRC 7 and DiRT 4 (R2 and R5 classes, that is). The odd man out is DiRT Rally. It has always felt strange to me. I cannot re-program my brain to deal with the lack of weight, short braking distances and the "throw into turn and mash on gas for beautiful slides" approach of DR. The game has always felt very unnatural to me.. I love it and we still have an active league going but there is something fundamentally wrong in many aspects of DiRT Rally regarding vehicle dynamics, physics, weight, FFB and tire model.

I hope Codemasters' next rally game can implement the improvements we saw in the R2 and R5 classes in DiRT 4. Those two classes feel much more realistic and intuitive than anything in DR.
 
SLRE has the best suspension/tire model of the lot. It’s the only game I’ve played where the tires actually feel they are inflated with air.

I love the feeling of the brakes on tarmac, I can really feel the weight. The way the cars squirm around on the edge of traction coming into the hairpins is something special.
 
Just tried WRC7 and I dont know what they've done with the force feedback (T150 on the PC). Is the worst thing I've ever tried on a rig. My goodness...

I downloaded it for free in order to have an idea of it before buying it on PS4 with the deals of this week, so it's the 1.0 version and they introduced an improvement on 1.4 ("Enhanced force feedback"), but I doubt that update could have solved the mess. The ffb simply makes the driving impossible. Dirt 4, with a lot of tweeks, is not the best thing in the world; but it's Assetto Corsa level compared to WRC7.

Physics look gorgeous though. Same for graphics and stages (I think it's the game with the best rally stages ever made).
 
Just tried WRC7 and I dont know what they've done with the force feedback (T150 on the PC). Is the worst thing I've ever tried on a rig. My goodness...

I downloaded it for free in order to have an idea of it before buying it on PS4 with the deals of this week, so it's the 1.0 version and they introduced an improvement on 1.4 ("Enhanced force feedback"), but I doubt that update could have solved the mess. The ffb simply makes the driving impossible. Dirt 4, with a lot of tweeks, is not the best thing in the world; but it's Assetto Corsa level compared to WRC7.

Physics look gorgeous though. Same for graphics and stages (I think it's the game with the best rally stages ever made).

Turns out that the 1.4 update does change a lot the situation regarding ffb. :lol:

They didnt improve anything, but they added more options to tune it. I managed to get some settings that actually feel a bit better than what I have on Dirt4. On both games I almost break my head looking for proper settings.

I love when games developers release the game with absurdly bad ffb settings and let that job to the customer.

Only because of that, SLRE must be always upon them in terms of ffb.
 
I just bought Dirt 4 after i sold Dirt Rally. I always played DR with gamepad (ps4), but now i'll start Dirt4 using the G29. Anyone plays it this way? Suggestions?
 
I just bought Dirt 4 after i sold Dirt Rally. I always played DR with gamepad (ps4), but now i'll start Dirt4 using the G29. Anyone plays it this way? Suggestions?

No suggestions other than I played D4 with a G29 for several months and it’s a great combo. The G29 pedals are the best in this price range. Good luck!
 
Now time for a bit of D4 rant:

I’m just 4 trophies away from getting platinum on this game, but the only thing stopping me is the chronically awful ‘Pro Tour’. This mode constantly disconnects as soon as I make any sort of tier progress.

Nothing like waiting around for a match, winning a stage, and then getting kicked out of the game. Once you reboot you’re welcomed to a friendly warning you’ll be temporarily banned because the game thinks you quit. Drives me crazy. And forget using your personal cars if you value your staff. It’s been so long since I attempted Pro Tour I forgot it burns up their contracts at the speed of light.

Oh and apologies to the French fellows I came across in a ‘Jam Session’ running RX today. I sure made a complete hash of their race being woefully unprepared for the event. I can’t stand online trophies in ANY game.

What we do to others to get trophies....
 
Now time for a bit of D4 rant:

I’m just 4 trophies away from getting platinum on this game, but the only thing stopping me is the chronically awful ‘Pro Tour’. This mode constantly disconnects as soon as I make any sort of tier progress.

Nothing like waiting around for a match, winning a stage, and then getting kicked out of the game. Once you reboot you’re welcomed to a friendly warning you’ll be temporarily banned because the game thinks you quit. Drives me crazy. And forget using your personal cars if you value your staff. It’s been so long since I attempted Pro Tour I forgot it burns up their contracts at the speed of light.

Oh and apologies to the French fellows I came across in a ‘Jam Session’ running RX today. I sure made a complete hash of their race being woefully unprepared for the event. I can’t stand online trophies in ANY game.

What we do to others to get trophies....

Multiplayer has a bug they never fixed: if you use the camera to watch your competitors after you have crossed the finish line it can cause timing errors, disconnects, and blue screen crashes. So make sure you just sit there and do nothing while waiting for people to finish.
 
Multiplayer has a bug they never fixed: if you use the camera to watch your competitors after you have crossed the finish line it can cause timing errors, disconnects, and blue screen crashes. So make sure you just sit there and do nothing while waiting for people to finish.

It wasn’t spectating that induced the crash this time, but I should have known there would ultimately be an issue when the game seemed to rush me through some of the menus before the countdown timer expired. Still a game breaking bug that needs and probably won’t get addressed.
 
Dirt 4 and Dirt Rally are at the top of my list and, although both are flawed, it is DiRT 4 that is my current favourite.

Dirt Rally has the most detailed stages and I played it to death at the time, but some flaws in the physics (that become even more apparent when playing D4) mean that I play it less than I used to.

I thought DiRT 4 was a step forward in terms of handling for the 4WD and modern FWD cars, but the RWD feel inferior to DR to me. My preference is the 4WD rally car classes though so, for that reason, D4 has become my favourite. I am also a huge rallycross nut and I thought that was vastly improved in D4, so another reason why I lean towards towards that over DR.

SLRE was/is OK, but I didn't find the car behavior as natural, so I haven't spent much time with it.
 
So I love dirt rally but was so disappointed with dirt 4 a year ago I sold it after a few weeks...however actually thinking about picking it up again now as I really have got dirt rally out of my system.

So can anyone tell me...has dirt 4 improved much with patches since release, is it any better?

My frustrations were with inferior graphics and just general feel, I could never make the car dance like in dirt rally.

Also thought most of the stages seemed soulless and mostly the same. Was I too harsh?
 
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