Dirt 3

[Binnatics]

Dangerous overtake in Finland:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaxa2hTLQkE

[Art Blade]

"this video is private" -- blank (black) screen  :'(

[Binnatics]

Fixed. Weird, didn't do that on purpose  :-[

[Art Blade]

Now it works. :) Whoa, hehehe  :-D :-X

[Binnatics]

TRANSPORTER:
Imagine: 8 Gymkhana cars, devided into 2 teams. All focused on one thing.... capture the flag that is put somewhere in a construction yard. Once you got it; bring it to one of the safetyspots. But: Be careful... the drivers of the other team will try to ram you because if they do... they steal the flag!

If you start this kind of game the first time, you will only slide, drift, crash and become shattered. If you get a little advanced, it's GREAT FUN!!!
There's a special achievement that orders you to steal the flag 5 times in a single game. I just made it. And even was able to score 2 points of 4 required to win. We won! We were gooooood!!!
Man, that was awesome! Too bad I didn't capture any vids on that race.

Ppl with a racing hart should REALLY get this game. It's all you desire, makes your naughtiest dreams come true. Appart from hardcore rallyracing it offers you stunning graphics, amazing sounds (rapture 3D), cool party-mode games like I just described, and perfectly well designed Ghymkana arena's.
That gives you speed, skill, joy and laughter. And all in one racing game!!

[Binnatics]

Oh, and Art, I googled it for you;

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/dirt-3-general-discussion-1339/464511-dirt-3-supported-controllers-wheels.html

According to this site it is compatible. I'm not sure if your steering wheel is in between there? Check it out.

Edit: Just did it for you:

Your wheel:
•Logitech G25 racing wheel with 3 pedals and 6-gear H shifter

Compatible wheels according to Codemasters: (developer)
PC Steering Wheels:
Logitech G25 Racing Wheel
Logitech G27 Racing Wheel ....

^-^ ^-^ ^-^

[Art Blade]

Thanks, Binnatics :) I might indeed check the game out.. my wheel is the Logitech G25 :)

[Binnatics]

Well, I just finishing the game! I mean, completely. All achievements, all unlockables, all gold or platinum medals, etc.
Except: the downloadable content that also involves some additional achievements. I'm not sure if I will buy these... think it's gonna be an endless amount of small DLC's all with the price somewhere between 4 or 5 euros. These damn GfWL-Marketplace bastards  >:((

The fact is: The cars that are made available in the DLC are worth having. A friend I met which is a very good Gymkhaner (the word for someone who loves Gymkhana) told me that the Scion Tc, available through the first buyable DLC, is more powerfull, with more control. I checked that the guys who use that car have amazing scores, so it indeed gives you some advantage to the rest of the drivers.
I have no comments on the rest of the car pack, but I guess it will be somehow the same. Nevertheless, I still manage to win races online so the issue of not having the newest cars is still a minor problem.
Another DLC makes Monte Carlo cirquit available, which means extra SP races and unlockables, and more tracks for online racing as well, off course. Since I really like Monaco as a rally-town, I would love to play Monte Carlo. But still, I have my doubts. I don't want to feed the power of GfWL and their way of binding ppl to their network. But still.... Monte Carlo, nice cars, additional achievements... Man I wish I could just buy these DLC's through steam  :-\\

[Art Blade]

congrats on the scores and achievements  :) :-X

[Jim di Griz]

Great you enjoyed D3 so much Binn - I was surprised having seen your original post as this is not really a NFS style game but quite a serious rally epic. Okay, it's not as all out rally sim as Richard Burns Rally - it is a helluva blast though and piddles all over GT5's rally effort.

Get the Monte Carlo track - it's seriously the absolute best and intense bit of the game. Agreed that each of the other tracks are great, but with Monte Carlo you have night, snow, misty and quite a few track variants to enjoy - it's just so atmospheric. To be truthful, I'm not sure if the bitesize DLC question is realy GFWL's problem or Code Masters (not that I'm defending GFWL...)

Some pics of the track (I have hundreds)

Lancia Stratos at Monte Carlo

Classic rally cars

Exhaust flare

80s BMW

McRae's Escort MkII

If you liked the CTF portion of online, what about Cat 'n' Mouse? I thought that was hilarious - two teams of Group B monsters defending a team mate in a '68 Mini...which has to get over the finish line before the other team's Mini  :-() There were some mangled messes out there in that mode.

Dammit - now I'm going to have to get D3 out again  :)

Sounds like you're a better driver than myself  :-X as I just couldn't get the Gymkhana events to platinum level, or the Top Gear Bobsleigh challenge tribute.

I agree with what you say about online, though in my experience I only ever meet the bad drivers and rammers in the RallyX events where full contact is turned on. I like the Hardcore mode, especially those trailblazer stages in Norway...at night. Trouble is, very few people play that online as they end up totalling their car so you can win by just taking it smooth and cool.

By the way, the 'any car on any track' feature from D2 has been modded for D3 - we poor console players cannot do that still. It's not a massive issue for me but I do admit that in D2 it was lots of fun taking a buggy down the Indonesian jungle trails (now I have FC2 too  :)) Code Master's reasoning for leaving this feature out did annoy me a bit - apparently the coding to allow this conflicted with the new layer of driving aid settings implemented for the game.

[PZ]

Wow - impressive graphics.  Although .GT5 was interesting, I never did become immersed fully.  Dirt3 looks interesting.

[Art Blade]

Jim, you may upload pics to our own site.. check the gallery section :)

[Jim di Griz]

Jim, you may upload pics to our own site.. check the gallery section :)

Cool, that makes life easier alright.

Indeed PZ - GT5 offers clinical beauty but D2 and 3 offer atmosphere in abundance. You can also roll and wreck your car most impressively. The stages are quite short in D3, longer in D2 which has been a point of contention for quite a few gamers - me, I like it.

Also forgot to mention the superb soundtrack. I'll dig up some links later.

[Binnatics]

Jim, I already read somewhere that you played Dirt 1 and 2 (I never played 1 but did like 2) and it's very cool to see that you also played D3. I liked the game like Dirt 2 but even better. Especially because of the funny weird game-modes never tried before like, you name it, Cat 'n mouse. Brilliant!!! I've had more fun in a few of these races that the entire single player campaign. I was laughing so much together with my, I think Russian friend that the rest of the players must have been pretty annoyed :-D
I almost never laugh like that while online gaming but man was that funny :-X

I think you're right about the game mechanics. It's not totally arcade, and indeed it took me a while to get a hang of it when starting with D2. It's harder than NFS kind of games. But I remember with GT only spinning the entire track not being able to make one turn without massaging the gravel :-()

I do like the fact that it's a bit more realistic. I liked it when cars got more realistic to manoeuvre in GTA IV. Lots of gamers were complaining but I like it. Once you manage you'll have the same fun turning stiff corners and it all feels better ^-^

The Gymkhana starts to get easy after practice. After completing the campaign I started to do online Gymkhana games and there I learnt to even double the scores.
And that Bobsleigh challenge took me at least 50 tries to get it done, lol :-D

I'm still thinking about Dirt Showdown. I think that's going to deliver more funny moments for sure, and I already know the quality will be splendid. I think it's a good choice for after holidays. The price may have dropped a bit then as well ;)

[Jim di Griz]

All spot on observations Binn. Have you tried the demo for DiRT: Showdown? apparently the game is improved, but I tried the demo on PS3 and found the whole thing to be a slight step backwards - that is purely pesonal opinion though.

Having cursed you earlier and gone back on D3 today, I had far more fun racing around the Battersea compound earning skill points, generally mucking about and racking up eleven more challenges (thank you) than I did in the D:S demo. I only say this as you obviously enjoyed both D2 and 3 - so I'd feel wrong if I said nothing. I just felt that the cars were too arcadey and there was very little of the damage evident seen in the trailers - also, the cars seemed very bottom heavy and so almost never flipped or rolled, even in the online mode.

There is hope though - Initialy CM were going to stop the whole thing with D3 but apparently they now want to go for a D4 - I reckon that will be the one to go for. Alternatively, if you want some late summer off-road fun and have an Xbox360 - then I'd suggest going for Forza:Horizon it has been designed by one of the ex-Dirt people and boasts 65 types of road surface from tarmac through to fine dust. Plus it'll also be open world, though not huge. I'd say easily as big as TDU2 or maybe larger, this is because of the detail level, which is apparently very impressive.

[Binnatics]

If Forza is a 360 only I won't try it. I'm a PC only :-()

D4 is great news. I might indeed try the demo first. But anyway, after holidays it's gonna be very busy with FC3 and Borderlands 2 coming up :o

[Jim di Griz]

Uploaded a few D3 pics into an album - hopefully this link will take you there - enjoy  :)

[PZ]

Worked perfect - nice shots  :-X

This one is my favorite - I like the trace snow and fog effect
[smg id=4489]
...but this one would be great to have in FC2  :-()
[smg id=4473]

[Jim di Griz]

The mercs would never catch you  :) lots of fun across the dunes too. Just wait until I upload some DiRT 2 pics of the Indonesian rally.

[Art Blade]

nice pics :) I really liked the interior cockpit view with the skull on the dash board 

[smg id=4503]

[Jim di Griz]

Thanks - that skull is great, I have it inside most of the cars, they eyes roll around most distractingly  :) The dashboard items in D2 are unlockables as are horn sounds, including Ice-cream Van and Clown Hooter.

It's a shame D3 didn't continue with that tradition, though you can select a larger horn sound array.

The water splash effect is intense from the driver's perspective, you can't see anything for perhaps three seconds, which is a lot at those speeds...

[PZ]

The game looks more interesting all the time  :-X

[PZ]

This looks like an STI

[smg id=4497]

... love that car

[Jim di Griz]

That's an WRX STi alright, just has the old Colin McRae livery on it and has been fitted out for trailblazing, Pike's Peak style.

The only problem with screen captures in D2 and 3 is that you have to take them from the replay which cycles through the camera modes - okay, you can then choose to look from each mode available once paused, but it's not as free as GT5's photomode.

[Binnatics]

Great pics Jim! I could make pictures from D2 with the steam screenshot functionality. Unfortunately, every time I re-install and fire up D2, I lose 3 achievements. And it would take quite some time to win them back again :-D It's the weirdest achievement bug I've ever found in a game.

With D3 I used the youtube movie-upload mode which made it possible to publish small movies of max 30 seconds. I posted some here I guess.

I am still stunned by the graphics quality of Dirt. It is the only game that offers solid and smooth DX11. Weird that other devs don't seem to reach that quality :-\\