that I think this is going to be an awesome game! It may not out-do GPL in
terms of realism, but it easily falls into the same range as SCGT and Viper
Racing. Early reports indicated some online glitchiness in the alpha and
early beta versions, but I was able to conduct several one-on-one online
races with folks here in the US and also people as far away as Australia
with NO lag.
This is pretty awesome for short ovals (some as short as 1/4 mile) where you
can see the entire track all the way around. The Speedway oval in
Powerslide showed a LOT of lag even with only 2 people online, so DTR's
online functions seem much improved over what Ratbag did with Powerslide
(which was pretty darn good already).
The late models in DTR are the BEST! I managed to catch some live
Hav-A-Tampa late model action on Speedvision Friday night, and thanks to my
recent exposure to DTR, I found myself VERY interested in the on-track
action. What I saw from the in-car camera views pretty much matched what I
saw happening in DTR, and the late models in DTR look much more realistic to
me now that I've had a chance to really watch similar late models in
action -- Ratbag obviously did their homework for DTR!
As for doing one's homework, I heard that a few of the beta testers feel
that DTR's physics are too arcade-like because it feels too "disconnected"
to be realistic. In response to that, I would like to share with you the
following post from the rec.autos.sport.indy newsgroup. Someone made the
post below stating that they feel that racing in a dirt bowl doesn't require
as much skill as driving on a road or street course, and Allan Pagan,
co-owner of the Indy Racing League's Pagan Racing Team, posted a reply
describing the sensations you get while executing a four-wheel slide all the
way around a dirt oval:
=====SNIP=====
Its obvious that you have never felt the true wonder of a full four wheel
slide all the way around a dirt oval, where you are seemingly not hooked to
the surface at all, but skimming above it, in what should be a completely
out of control situation (since you don't feel connected to the surface),
but yet you feel completely in control. doing this in a crowd is even more,
shall we say, stimulating ...
===END SNIP===
That last paragraph is Allan Pagan's response describing the dirt track
racing experience, which I think pretty much sums up the Dirt Track Racing
experience. I've never driven a race car on dirt before, but after testing
DTR, I immediately identifed with Allan Pagan's comments, and if that's the
way it is in real life, then it seems to me that DTR does indeed qualify as
a dirt track SIMULATION, and a darn good one at that, based on feedback
from real dirt track racers like Justin Belfiore.
The issue of arcade versus simulation will undoubtedly be a hotly debated
aspect of the DTR title -- it's pretty obvious that cars sliding on dirt are
going to handle MUCH differently than a car in a similar situation on
pavement. The track wetness in DTR can be varied from dry to wet, and
eveything in between. "Wet" means wet, sloppy, traction-free mudhole, and
"dry" is equally slick for different reasons. The physics modeling in DTR
feels "right" to me as far as what it takes to correct the slide, what it
takes to hold it through a turn (TONS of opposite-lock), and how the car
handles under power (you CAN steer with the throttle!). All in all, I think
that DTR feels like a realistic simulation of a dirt track racer in much the
same way that Viper Racing feels like a good simulation of a front-engine,
rear-drive, ***, testerone-drenched sports car, and also in the same way
that GPL feels lke a good simulation of 1967-era Grand Prix machines.
Based on my limited exposure, I have to say that while DTR may not be the
be-all and end-all of dirt track racing simulations, it's definitely a great
start. Papyrus started their empire with their groundbreaking Indy 500
simulation, then they went on to make ICR1, ICR2, NASCAR Racing, N2, GPL,
N3, etc.. Their empire started with the Indy Racing simulation and the
original ICR title, though, so if you think of Powerslide as Ratbag's "Indy
500" simulation, and DTR as their "ICR" title, it seems like a pretty good
starting point -- and that would mean that the best is yet to come! At any
rate, kudos to Ratbag -- I think they've come pretty close to hitting the
nail on the head with DTR!
I'll be posting a full preview on The IRL Insider site in the next week or
so. Stay tuned!
-- John Bodin
Publisher, The IRL Insider Magazine
http://www.racesimcentral.net/