More DIRT

JBeck · 4 May 2007 at 11:26

As well as Forza 2 next month we also have Colin Mcrae: DIRT. Just come across this HD video here, don't think it's been posted before (i'm sure someone will correct me on this)

http://gamevideos.com/video/watch?video=11156&largeFormat=wmv

So what do you think? I'm not sure what to make of it really. The behind car view looks terribly arcadey, but when it switches to a inside view on the rallycross part, it seems to get a whole lot better. The rally raid seems dull but rallycross/buggies should be major fun on Live with 8 or so players jostling for position (especially in MK2 Escorts yippee) Anyone looking for a sim though is going to be very disappointed by the looks of it.

Whappers · 4 May 2007 at 11:47

I was really looking forward to this. But I've got a couple of issues with what I've seen so far...

1. It does look a bit Arcadey;
2. I can't believe Codemasters stated that this generation of consoles is not powerful enough to turn on more eye candy! - I mean take a look at FM2 which is beautiful and runs at twice the framerate!;
3. The cars seem to corner mysteriously arkward. They should use Colin McRae 2.0 for reference to see how a car "should" handle;
4. There appeared to be a lot of slowdown which is just not acceptable in my opinion.

I do however respect their attempts to bring Rallying to America under the name of DIRT and think they will do moderately ok across the water. However, I think I might wait until the next DIRT game before I consider buying it. Perhaps I'm just being a bit too picky, but FM2 is definately getting my money with regards to a racing game!

Whappers.

ScarySquirrel · 4 May 2007 at 12:41

It looks really good IMO but the handling looks dodgy.

Kreeeee · 4 May 2007 at 12:47

ScarySquirrel said:
It looks really good IMO but the handling looks dodgy.

Shame because graphics are by far the least important aspect

kidloco · 4 May 2007 at 12:49

does look fun, graphics look quite nice to, not to fussed about it being 30fps as long as its a constant 30fps, there did seem to be a fair bit of slowdown in that video.

Couldnt make out just what was going on with the handling though, it seemed really strange, I guess there going for a more arcadey feel this time but the handling looked akin to the original Out Run

Memphis · 4 May 2007 at 12:49

The car still seems to trun around a central point, which seems absolutely crazy that they haven't fixed it.

Roll on the next company willing to take a gamble and produce a hardcore-sim like Richard Burns Rally.

skullman · 4 May 2007 at 12:54

Saw a video of some gameplay footage and wasnt impressed. Only 1 car on the track and not exactly massive draw distances, and there was significant slowdown and screen tearing. I hope it was an early build and not an indication of the final product or I wont be bothering with this.

Nismo · 4 May 2007 at 12:58

skullman said:
Saw a video of some gameplay footage and wasnt impressed. Only 1 car on the track and not exactly massive draw distances

What sort of race was it, rallying can tend to be only a single car at a time

I saw a couple of vids yesterday that had more than one car racing, and the draw distance looked good to me.

skullman · 4 May 2007 at 13:11

Teletraan-82 said:
What sort of race was it, rallying can tend to be only a single car at a time

I saw a couple of vids yesterday that had more than one car racing, and the draw distance looked good to me.

Aye but when you see Forza2 with 8 cars on the track, sporting a far superior physics engine, all looking lovely and running at 60fps you have to wonder.

ScarySquirrel · 4 May 2007 at 13:12

skullman said:
Aye but when you see Forza2 with 8 cars on the track, sporting a far superior physics engine, all looking lovely and running at 60fps you have to wonder.

Seeing as Forza 2 has all the foundations of a realistic racing game, can they not just make a Rally Edition?

dirtydog · 4 May 2007 at 13:13

ScarySquirrel said:
Seeing as Forza 2 has all the foundations of a realistic racing game, can they not just make a Rally Edition?

It's a shame it doesn't include a few rally sections like the GT games actually. But I digress.

Kamakazie! · 4 May 2007 at 13:26

Whappers said:
I was really looking forward to this. But I've got a couple of issues with what I've seen so far...

1. It does look a bit Arcadey;
2. I can't believe Codemasters stated that this generation of consoles is not powerful enough to turn on more eye candy! - I mean take a look at FM2 which is beautiful and runs at twice the framerate!;
3. The cars seem to corner mysteriously arkward. They should use Colin McRae 2.0 for reference to see how a car "should" handle;
4. There appeared to be a lot of slowdown which is just not acceptable in my opinion.

1: I agree but that is how it is meant to be. CM games have always leaned towards the arcadey side of things. No one would ever consider it a sim.
2: They didn't say that. They just said that to get it looking as good as they wanted, they would have to run it at 30FPS. With it being early in this generation, that is not surprising and I am sure the next DIRT will run at 60FPS (unless they get away with the 30).
Forza 2 does look good but it is nothing special. DIRT is certainly a step above it in terms of graphics. The surrounding environments are far more detailed in the videos i have seen and the particle effects are sublime. Something FORZA doesn't really need to do other than some smoke.

3: Some of the stuff did make the handling look a bit dodgey. Like an early build.
4: Again this could easily be due to the videoing/compression and the fact that it is pre-release.

Kamakazie! · 4 May 2007 at 13:29

skullman said:
Aye but when you see Forza2 with 8 cars on the track, sporting a far superior physics engine, all looking lovely and running at 60fps you have to wonder.

Sporting a far superior physics engine? Where are you pulling those comments out from?
DIRT is likely to have one of the most advanced car and environmental damage models to date. I've yet to see much damage and physics going on in Forza although admittedly i have only watched a few videos. Give me a link to a video that demonstrates this "far superior physics engine" please.
There are videos of dirt with atleast 5 cars on the track exibiting lush particle effects and such like.

Now DIRT may well be rubbish and Forza 2 may well be the holy grail of driving sims, but neither are out yet and already people have decided which one is the best, even though they are different games, for different markets.
Wait for the reviews people.

JUMPURS · 4 May 2007 at 13:33

The thing about Forza is, sure it may have the 'Far superior physics engine' But that engine would probably explode and grind to a halt if you put it in a rally environment.
It is one thing to make a physics engine for a game that goes along a tarmac track, but i sare say it is a completely different animal to throw it into an off road situation.

Mr Men · 4 May 2007 at 13:37

Not really, the physics of driving on dirt are basically the same as driving on tarmac, as long as the tyre physics were done right, and the grip levels for the road surface etc...

skullman · 4 May 2007 at 13:38

Kamakazie! said:
Now DIRT may well be rubbish and Forza 2 may well be the holy grail of driving sims, but neither are out yet and already people have decided which one is the best, even though they are different games, for different markets.
Wait for the reviews people.

I never said it was rubbish, I was just expressing my disappointment at the slowdown and screen tearing.

JUMPURS · 4 May 2007 at 13:38

Yeah but you can handle 300fps on a physics engine when a surface doesn't have many bumps and potholes. but when you get that much uneven surfaces the physics engine would no doubt start to struggle.

JBeck · 4 May 2007 at 13:48

I'm not sure what would be the biggest performance hit, rallying with loads of trees/bumps/potholes and particle effects or a track with more draw distance/skies/details etc.. I do think the in car view in that video of the rallcross part looks pretty damn good with a lot of stuff going on. It is hard to gauge the final quality through a WMV video though.

Kamakazie! · 4 May 2007 at 13:56

skullman said:
I never said it was rubbish, I was just expressing my disappointment at the slowdown and screen tearing.

That comment was for the general thread, not specifically you, however, you instantly attribute it to the game and not the fact that it is both a lossy and compressed video and most probably an early build.

Go look at the newer videos on gametrailers. Theres no slowdown/tearing on those that can not be attributed to the video compression. Even then i noticed very little.

skullman · 4 May 2007 at 14:19

Kamakazie! said:
That comment was for the general thread, not specifically you, however, you instantly attribute it to the game and not the fact that it is both a lossy and compressed video and most probably an early build.

Go look at the newer videos on gametrailers. Theres no slowdown/tearing on those that can not be attributed to the video compression. Even then i noticed very little.

I dunno what footage is in the clip in the OP, but the footage ive seen is the 'Japanese Hillside' HD clip from Gametrailers. I dont see why the tearing would be down to the video compression. I've watched countless vids of Forza2 footage and not noticed any tearing whatsoever. Also I did say in my earlier post that I was hoping it was an early build - I'm not a CM hater or anything! I just dont like screen tearing as I think its a cheap way of hiding a lack of fps.