Jeff Jones' Review of DRT - Dirt Track Racing, developed by Ratbag
Every once in a while you come across a game that makes you so passionate
about it that you go to bed thinking about it. While playing in pitch black
darkness, a creature in Halflife once startled me so bad that I almost
flipped backward over the chair. I thought about that one for a while. DTR
has some great action and now I think solely about this game.
My brother stopped down last night to check DTR out. He drives late models
very competitively at the area tracks and I value his opinion because he isn
't computer literate but is very racing literate. Watching him play, he
found the same things annoying that I found. But it didn't take long for him
to get that grin on his face where he starts talking to the computer
controlled racers as if they are in front of him. "OK, we're gonna race like
that eh @#$%er?". Due to the fact he drives late models we spent all of the
available time testing those cars exclusively even though two other classes
of cars are available.
In racing games many things must come together so the whole package works.
Although I've done very limited online racing I consider myself to be
somewhat of a critic of racing simulators. Something is always lacking like
the physics or graphics and it takes away from the gaming experience so much
that you never loose yourself in the moment. That is not the case with DTR.
The graphics absolutely must be realistic and fluid, which DTR is.
Throughout all the 30 included tracks the visuals are stunning with very
impressive frame rates on a fast video card. I can't speak for other
reviewers but this worked well for me on my TNT2 Ultra card. One minor
glitch is that my card seems to go through auto detection each time the game
starts and I have to go back in and change the desired resolution.
Fortunately, I can just crank it up to 1280x1024x16 and it's stays there
until I quit the game. They need to fix this though.
The sound must also be realistic and environmental, which DTR is. A 3D sound
card (Soundblaster Live, etc.) in this case should be mandatory because you
need to hear people coming from the sides and rear and real dirt racers are
not permitted to have rear view mirrors. The game does have toggleable rear
view mirrors for those who like them but this is considered cheating around
these parts.
The physics have to be flawless. Once we tweaked in the car setup I was
surprised my brother praised the physics for being realistic to his Rocket
chassis. As part of the physics the force feedback must be correct and DTR
is close on this too. I could really use some adjustment on the feedback as
I think they might be slightly weak even on my wheel which is strong on
other games such as NFS.
The user interface must be intuitive yet complete and DTR is close on this
one too but has some major annoyances. The biggest annoyance for me is that
the car setup (very detailed I might add) is not savable in any mode except
Career mode. Due to the complexity of the setup screens, entering the
parameters EVERY TIME you enter the game or go "Back" one menu too far, is
simply ridiculous. The bottom line is that the setup is not saved and always
go back to the defaults. And by the way, the default setup makes driving the
late models a handful!
And lastly, the multi-player capabilities need to be smooth, simple,
reliable, and fast. These too are handled superbly by DTR.
My wish list is rather small considering this is the beta version of a
version 1.0 game. They include the following high hopes for DTR2 or
anticipated patches:
Savable setups in all player modes, better/adjustable force feedback, TNT2
video resolution retension. 'Nuff said on that.
A cushion on the track. A cushion, for you potential non-dirt-track-racers,
is where a wet track develops a lip in the corners that progressively moves
outward as the racing line moves outward in search of fresh traction. It's
created and expanded by the tires skimming off layers of dirt with each
additional lap. Riding around the track with your right rear tire pressed
against this cushion is often the fast way around the track due to the
additional side bite on that tire. It also makes for a hazardous 4 inch curb
to potentially leap over if contacted against too violently.
Realistic setup labels. Some of the labeling of the setup parameters are
incorrect. Toe in being measured in degrees instead of inches is an example
of that. Keeping in mind that the setups are simply relations to one another
helps get past these bogus labels though.
Track tilt. One of the things I brother complained about is that in the real
car when you stomp down the gas most cars are setup up so the left front
tire actually lifts off the ground due to the horsepower of the engine and
the designed in rear suspension geometry. He explained that your view needs
to tilt with the twisting of the car. Thinking about that I often wonder how
they can see at all. I have pictures of the LF pulling easy a foot off the
ground as the weight of the car transfers to put the power to the ground.
Dust, mud, and tear-offs. OK, I'm really getting tough here but it would be
nice if dust and mud would hit the screen/faceshield and require a button
press to yank off a tear-off to return to a clear view. I guess this is
something I really like about NFS, the rain and bugs.
Eliminate rear view mirrors altogether or at least in multi-player. No
cheating!
Altogether, I find this the first real dirt racing driving simulation
because it combines most of the requires technicalities to produce a
believable experience. I highly recommend it and give it a hefty 8.5 out of
10. Hopefully, the production version and potential patches will take that
over 9.
Jeff Jones
