Now live on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, Dirt Rally update 1.11 brings a number of fixes to the game, while also adding some new content to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Here’s the full list of patch notes for today’s update:
New Content
- Art – We’ve updated Pikes Peak International Hill Climb to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the event, complete with official PPIHC logos and branding.
- Game – We’ve updated the handling on the Hill Climb cars so that you can really attack the iconic Hill Climb course.
Fixes
All Platforms
- Game – Excessive knocking effect on wheels when playing rallycross.
- Racenet – Community Delta times should now display correctly.
- Game – AI for Classic and S1600 Rallycross adjusted to have more variety.
- Leaderboards – They will no longer be blank and the difference column works.
- Racenet – League events can now be restarted if you terminally damage, quit or complete an event.
- Community – Fixed the missing string that was being displayed in a very specific situation when Racenet was unavailable.
PC/XB1
- Graphics – Fixes for rain effects displaying incorrectly on some AMD cards (PC).
- Graphics – Motion blur being applied to cars in bonnet camera and in replays (PC).
- Audio – Co-driver call near sector 2 in Russian is now played in the correct language (PC).
- Game – Fix to prevent unrealistic AI times being shown on Hillclimb if you save and quit after finishing a time for Run 1 (PC).
- Audio -Spotter call during the results screen for Portuguese Brazilian is now played in the correct language (PC).
- Graphics – Rain causing bad reflections on some windscreens (XB1).
- Achievements – The Only Way Is Up achievement now unlocks correctly (XB1).
As for reports about the weak FFB on certain Thrustmaster wheels, Codemasters says they’re still looking at it, but “the difference between the T300 and other Thrustmaster wheels is that the FFB is perfectly linear, with the intention of providing more realistic vehicle handling.” For a potential workaround, they suggest looking at the settings Thrustmaster has recommended, while some people have found that reverting to PS3 mode, then re-enabling PS4 mode, will fix the problem.
If you missed the news earlier this year, Codemasters hired much of the Evolution Studios (DriveClub) team to work on a new racing game.
[Source: Dirt Game]
10 Game Mechanics That Need to Evolve (or Die)
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10 Game Mechanics That Need to Evolve (or Die)
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Tutorials
Recommendation: Banish them entirely. Use contextual in-game scenarios to showcase more complex tasks. Let players play! They'll figure it out or teach one another.
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Item Pickups
Recommendation: Small, manageable inventories are great. Don't design quests and games that require the player to have 37 pinecones on hand just in case.
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Fetch Quests
Recommendation: Provide a main quest that is so expansive and diverse it allows for organic tangents that feel important. Fetch quests are artificial bulk. Get rid of them. Invest the time in a main quest that satisfies for 40+ hours instead and my time will feel valued.
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Inventory Systems
Recommendation: It doesn’t take a lot of effort to find creative ways for game worlds to make sense. In The Witcher 3's case, why not add an option for the banks in Novigrad to not only exchange currency, but allow you store items in safety deposit boxes?
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Minimaps
Recommendation: Allow for maps in towns. Outside of that, no map, no icons, until you explore the area. Create a world that can help players find their way intuitively without a map using landmarks, signposts, and NPCs that can offer more than grunts and stock expressions.
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Quicksave/Quickload
Recommendation: If games insist on traditional save/load mechanics, integrate it into the control scheme. Here’s a freebie, double-tap the touchpad to save, hold it to load. I’m positive that will lead to absolutely zero accidental saves...
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Character Momentum
Recommendation: Just pay Naughty Dog for their player momentum algorithms and be done with it.
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Fast Travel
Recommendation: All killer, no filler. Don’t make me backtrack unnecessarily. Use fast travel any time it keeps a player’s progress moving forward and avoid ever making a player move backward.
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Weapon Types
Recommendation: Have fun with weapon types. If you must have an axe and a sword, make them play differently. Not just heavy swing vs light swing, let it impact the way a character is responded to, let it affect the way a character develops, etc. If your game can’t include explosive teddy bears, then do some research to find the medieval equivalent to one (there totally is one).
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Dialog Options
Recommendation: Player choice will grow and become more complex as technology (and budgets) advance. But if a game cannot (or does not) provide the foundation for meaningful dialog options, don’t include it. It weakens your story and insults the player.
