Dirt 3 : worth getting?

[propergandhi]

DiRT's multiplayer is a joke, it uses Games for Windows Live FFS

While it's not for everyone, DiRT Showdown dropped GFWL in favour of Steamworks and is all the better for it. The multiplayer is a blast, as contact is made as much of the gameplay as racing is - it's not as uptight as the GRID community was. For what it's worth, I thought the multiplayer in DiRT3 was pretty decent. Sure GFWL is unnecessary, poorly designed and best avoided but for me it's not a deal breaker.

DiRT3 is well worth picking up if it's on sale.

[TheSurroundGamr]

So, I had this game on Steam which I had yet to play, and decided to give it a spin (no pun intended ). Turns (no pun intended ) out that it's a very fun racing game to play. I even got a controller for games like this and others down that road that I will be playing. The control and feedback in DiRT 3 are very well-tuned, and make the player feel very confident in his/her ability to grip the track and/or drift around those turns. I'm interested in reading your feedback on this game! Are you using a controller? Wheel + pedals? Are you a competitive DiRT 3 racer? Feel that DiRT 3 is lacking in realism? Have another favorite racing series?

[Mehta23]

There's a quick sale on steam.... tempted to pick up either SHift 2 UL or Hot Pursuit.. Thoughts? I know GRID 2 has been advertised a bit, how's everyone's thoughts so far?

[Akdude110]

There's a quick sale on steam.... tempted to pick up either SHift 2 UL or Hot Pursuit.. Thoughts? I know GRID 2 has been advertised a bit, how's everyone's thoughts so far?

If I was you, I'd pick up Shift 2 over Hot Pursuit. I'm not saying Hot Pursuit's a bad game, but the Shift series is the only other series that can match Grid, but then again different racing styles so it's what you prefer really. And without a doubt, I will be picking up Grid 2. If it's anything like the first one it's gonna be a great game.

[Mehta23]

@akdude,

Would say Grid 2 + NfS shift 2 would be a good racing game combo, if GRID 2 is good?

[kalniel]

Grid 2 + NfS shift 2 = good racing game combo?

Are you asking us to predict the future again? Grid 2 is not out yet, it could be pants. Shift 2 is out, and is great, so get that and enjoy it. But we've been telling you that for ages so not sure why I'm bothering

[Mehta23]

Well I'm sort of assuming Grid 2 is gonna be good.

But fine. Thanks again.

[kalniel]

Well I'm sort of assuming Grid 2 is gonna be good.

Why?

[Mehta23]

I don't really know. I know I shouldn't, seeing as I'm aware of what happened to that ALIENS game...

edit: I've just noticed that GRID 2 is only available for pre-purchase. My bad.

edit edit: You may be happy to know I just got NFS Shift 2 Will be back (sorry!) when GRID 2 is released.

final edit: Forgot to mention that the earlier post was directed to Akdude (I know it's the same question as before) , but it seems like I pressed the wrong button, and didn't reply with a quote.

[AETAaAS]

I might have missed it if it was mentioned, but DON'T but Shift 2 unless you have a controller or steering wheel. The drift levels are very difficult on a keyboard.

I like Dirt 2 and Dirt 3, and if you are a rally fan, the classic rally stages and cars (especially Group B) in Dirt 3 are pretty much enough to sell you. NFS: Most Wanted 2012 (beware there is a 2005 game with the same name) is also a pretty fun game. It is very visually appealing and plays quite nicely but is definitely not the a simulator. The NFS series is one where EA hasn't managed to totally bollock but I think that is more to Criterion's credit.

[Mehta23]

I will be buying a XBOX controller after exams

IIRC someone said that GRID and Dirt were very similar, so I think I'll wait for GRID 2, Dirt 2 being my backup game I think.

[ZaO]

Grid was pretty cool for a racing game on pc. I have Shift 2 and I wanted to get into it because it seemed fairly good. But I just couldn't because the controls are nasty when you use a controller and want to play with assists turned off. It only works good with a steering wheel. It was to much for me to look past. Totally ruined the experience for me and so I stopped playing after a matter of days. Shame... Dirt 2 is sorta alright. I'm not saying I haven't ever enjoyed a few races on it. But I just don't like the cheesy route that those games took. Preferred the more realistic style Collin Mcrae games of a past era. I haven't bought or played Dirt 3 for this reason. And Grid 2 I am hoping will be good because the pc has never really had anything good that compares to Gran Turismo / Forza. I'm not saying Grid 2 will, but I'm hoping it's a good substitute at least!

[kalniel]

Shift 2 is great on an X360 controller with the assists off, you just have to build up to it because there's a semi-decent simulation engine in there. You can turn down the accuracy of the simulation separately from the assists if you want as well, so you can run an easier physics model with no assists. But yeah AETAaAS made a good point - I assumed you had at least a gamepad so good that you will be getting one. Grid might be enjoyable on the keyboard but games with a more simulation leaning are designed to be used with a gamepad.

I'm waiting for some driving sim sites to review Grid 2 when it comes out, because my two biggest annoyances with Grid were 1) The extremely arcade like handling - any game that encourages you to drift around corners on a racing track is clearly not aiming for realism and 2) the rubberbanding AI. I get that 'fun' games need some element of rubberbanding at certain difficulty levels, but Grid took it to extremes again, which took the fun out of it for me.

So far previews of Grid 2 haven't mentioned anything about the AI, but then reviews of Grid didn't mention it either. Previews of the handling have not been great either, but it's the kind of thing that can change quite rapidly in development so hard to judge at this stage. Does look like it will be a very pretty game though

[Mehta23]

Alright, cheers for the tip.
I heard GRID 2 won't have a cockpit camera view...

[ZaO]

Shift 2 is great on an X360 controller with the assists off, you just have to build up to it because there's a semi-decent simulation engine in there. You can turn down the accuracy of the simulation separately from the assists if you want as well, so you can run an easier physics model with no assists.

I found the steering far to twitchy with all the assists off. I haven't played it for a while so forget what all the settings are, but I remember if you change one of the settings you can make the steering feel a bit more controlable. But the problem is that it's partially steering for you which isn't fun to me. I'm decent at driving games so it's not me being crap. The steering is just way to sensitive. It's impossible to drift/control slides because there just isn't enough variation/progressiveness in the amount you can steer. Adjusting the sensitivity doesn't do enough. If you can suggest a good way to set the game up with all the assists turned off then I would be happy to reinstall the game and give it a go! Afterall, it does seem like quite a cool game from what I played of it. Was just very disappointed with the steering. I use a 360 controller as well btw. Sorry to sorta hijack the thread here by the way but I figure this will probably benefit us all anyway...

[kalniel]

Alright, cheers for the tip.
I heard GRID 2 won't have a cockpit camera view...

Yeah it doesn't. But it's not the kind of game you play with a cockpit view anyway as far as I can tell.

I found the steering far to twitchy with all the assists off. I haven't played it for a while so forget what all the settings are, but I remember if you change one of the settings you can make the steering feel a bit more controlable. But the problem is that it's partially steering for you which isn't fun to me. I'm decent at driving games so it's not me being crap. The steering is just way to sensitive. It's impossible to drift/control slides because there just isn't enough variation/progressiveness in the amount you can steer. Adjusting the sensitivity doesn't do enough. If you can suggest a good way to set the game up with all the assists turned off then I would be happy to reinstall the game and give it a go! Afterall, it does seem like quite a cool game from what I played of it. Was just very disappointed with the steering. I use a 360 controller as well btw. Sorry to sorta hijack the thread here by the way but I figure this will probably benefit us all anyway...

It doesn't steer for you, but if you find the defaults too sensitive then just adjust the linearity. It's no different from any other game using the gamepad - you have to cram a car wheels 540+ degrees of movement into about 60 degrees of gamepad joystick movement, so they use a variety of tricks like non-linear mapping and variable sensitivity based on car speed.

The only adjustment I think I made was reducing the dead zone so more of the joystick range could be used. If I get time this afternoon I'll fire it up and double check my settings.