Hello everyone, time for your regular roundup of DiRT news in The DiRT Roadbook!

Mini Cooper SX1: Coming in Season 4!

Let’s start with some fresh news! As revealed exclusively in The Racing Line yesterday, we’ve got another car coming to Season 4 of DiRT Rally 2.0! The Mini Cooper SX1, as driven by Oliver Bennett in the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship, will be available on January 14 as part of Season 4’s Rallycross content. Oliver and XITE Energy have been great supporters of DiRT Rally 2.0 with our game being playable at many of their events, and soon XITE fans can drive the Mini round the game’s official circuits.

Here’s the full calendar for both upcoming seasons incase you missed it before (now including the Mini Cooper SX1 on January 14):

VR Status Update

As you all know, VR support for DiRT Rally 2.0 was added in Version 1.7, however we’re fully aware that some are enjoying it less than others due to technical performance. You’ve given us feedback, and we’ve been having many discussions internally about how to ensure you all have the best VR experience possible with our game.

First up, we posted a VR settings guide. If you haven’t seen it yet it’s here:

Next, we looked at what changes could be made in time for our next update. Version 1.8 is expected to release around September 3. Here’s a snippet of the Patch Notes (which we’re currently assembling) detailing what’s changing for VR:

Added option allowing players to choose whether to launch the game in 2D Mode or VR Mode.

Added support for separate graphics presets between 2D Mode and VR Mode.

Added support for “-novr” launch command.

Added ability to bind “Reset View” to a preferred buttons/keys.

Resolved issue where game would crash if no VR headset was plugged in.

Improved readability of UI text in VR Mode.

In addition to this, we are currently investigating what is required in terms of time and resources to implement Oculus SDK support into the Steam version of the game.

Adding Oculus SDK support to the Steam version is not a simple matter of flicking a switch, nor is it a case of copy/pasting code from the Oculus version. It’s also not something that can happen immediately or in a very short space of time. We’ll share more in the future once things progress.

As always, we’re grateful for the feedback you provide to us on all aspects of the game, whether it’s on our forums, Steam or social media. It’s through this two-way conversation that we’ll continue to improve the game and give you the best experience possible.

Stage Degradation: What do the settings mean?

One of the big features in DiRT Rally 2.0 is the inclusion of Stage Degradation, where the surface of the road performs differently based on how many cars have driven a Stage before you in an Event. There’s been a few questions recently about what the different settings for Stage Degradation mean, given that more people are creating their own Championships in Clubs.

Here’s some comments straight from our Principal Games Designer, Andy Stewart, giving great insight into how this part of the game functions:

Authentic

Provides track degradation similar to real life. The change in degradation between any two places in the running order is quite slight, but accumulates with each place.

In a Custom Event of 20 entrants, you therefore only get to see the early stages of degradation.

By contrast in a Career Event, where there may be 150 entrants across multiple Classes, those running late in the order would see much more degradation.

Full

Provides the full range of track degradation regardless of how many entrants there are. It allocates the full range of effects, proportionally, to the number of entrants in the running order.

This means that in a Custom Event of 20 entrants, the entrant running first experiences the untouched track, and the entrant running last experiences the most complete track degradation. For the latter, it’s as if 150 entrants had raced the Stage ahead of them instead of 19.

This is unrealistic given the number of entrants; but it means that running order has a more pronounced effect on the race result than with the Authentic setting.

Optimum

Ensures all entrants experience the same track degradation, similar to running 6th in the Authentic setting.

This is considered the best for racing performance, for most players. This is the “sweet spot” after the road has been swept of loose material and before ruts and bumps have started to form on the racing line.

This setting is great if you want a level playing field; everyone gets the same, yet authentic, experience.

Off

Disables the degradation effects altogether. All players get the same experience, regardless of where they are in the running order.

This also provides a level playing field, like “Optimum”, but it’s as if no-one has raced along the track.

Pace may not be as good as with the Optimum setting, depending on the track.

Sennheiser PRO TALK with Chris Jojo

While hanging out on the DiRT Discord over the weekend one of the members there pointed out these videos by Sennheiser that went up in March, where they talk to our Senior Sound Designer and Principal Sound Recording Engineer, Chris Jojo. Chris and the audio team have the enviable task of finding real-life rally cars, getting them to scream and then capturing all that audio goodness for use in our games.

If you haven’t seen these videos yet they’re certainly worth a watch. Personally I always enjoy watching people talk passionately about their craft and the work they’re most proud of, and these videos are a great example of that.

SUBARU Impreza (2001) and Ford Focus Rally 2001: Coming August 27

Season 3 is about to begin and we’re starting off with 2 famous cars from rallying’s storied past. Colin McRae and Richard Burns pitted these famous cars against each other in 2001 and you’ll be able to do the same next week. They’ll join the other cars in the “Up to 2000 CC (4WD)” Class and if you’re in the official DiRT Rally 2.0 Clubs both will make use of this Class in active Championships to celebrate the release.

As always, the release time will vary depending on the platform and region. If there are any issues with players not accessing content we’ll keep you posted on social media and ensure everybody’s driving these cars as soon as possible.

Season 3 Content Availability

As mentioned above, Season 3 kicks off next week.

Many of you are wondering when various content bundles are going live on your platform’s storefront. Some will be available on the morning of August 27, with the remainder becoming purchasable a day or 2 later.

The individual car DLCs should be available to buy on August 27 however if you’re wishing to be a Deluxe player for Seasons 3 and 4 you’re best off waiting of the bundles to go live.

Once they do go live it may take a while for in-game entitlements to be updated allowing Deluxe players to play with the content without additional purchases. Based on recent DLC releases this usually takes between a few hours and a day, so don’t be alarmed if your content isn’t appearing or unlocking immediately.

As always, keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on when everything is live on your platform.

Also, for the avoidance of doubt, here are the bundles that will be coming soon to your platform’s store:

DiRT Rally 2.0 – Deluxe Content Pack 2.0 (Seasons 3 & 4)

This is the same kind of bundle as the original Deluxe Content Pack (which was for Seasons 1 & 2), also a similar price.

DiRT Rally 2.0 – Year One Pass

This is a new bundle giving you Deluxe content for all 4 Seasons.

You can save money here compared to buying the Deluxe Content packs individually.

DiRT Rally 2.0 Super Deluxe Edition

This is a new bundle which includes the base game and all 4 Seasons.

You can save money here compared to buying the game and the Year One Pass individually.

That’s it for this week. August’s “big month” for DiRT Rally 2.0 is nearly over, but we may have a few more things in store at the every end. Have a good weekend everyone!

-PJ