Dirt 2 - overhyped

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ShuttleLuv

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Not flame bait, just an opinion. They are like assholes....everyone has one....

But personally I am just disappointed. The graphics to me do not appear even much better than Need for Speed Most Wanted circa 2005. The marketing of DX11 is total hype, even the differences shown online are like within 1% between DX9 and DX11. Did anyone else notice the god awful load times as well? I have a Intel x25-m set up perfectly, benching higher than any scores online, everything set up right, and the load times are definitely god awful imo, no matter what. And I'm on a quad core overclocked.

Meh. I'm sick of overhyped games. I like the game that you hear little about, and it comes and blows your fucking ass away. Games like Painkiller, games like Far Cry.
 
Uhh...What? Have you played Most Wanted recently? It sure as hell does not look as good as Dirt 2.
 
I haven't had any any loading issues. Takes a few seconds to load up a race. What kind of hard drive do you have? it may be that.

I'm not even a huge racing fan, let alone ones that are more sim than arcade style, but I'm enjoying this game.

The whole dx11 argument, yea, they are hyping up the new features, like tessellation. No one is going to take full advantage of a new technology right off the bat though, it's going to take time. Also, it's not just about eye candy, it's about improved rendering efficiency as well.
 
I had problems loading the demo with my 4870s cos the frame rate was so bad I think, inside the trailer ran at 7FPS...swapped out for my 5970 and its all smooth as silk and the initial load is much faster, near instant.

The game looks fantastic and runs really well for me.
 
I had it run at 7fps or whatever once in the trailer, seems to be a bug. My 4870 runs the game smooth as silk. Load times in the game are pathetic though, almost appalling.
 
^ Bingo im on a solid state hdd and the load times suck ass. But the graphics to me do not show amazing quality. I'm not sure what it is. The game just doesn't look leaps and bounds better than say most wanted imho.
 
What are you guys talking about? The load time for a race is less than 10 seconds on my rig, and I'm not even on solid state.
 
ShuttleLuv said:
^ Bingo im on a solid state hdd and the load times suck ass. But the graphics to me do not show amazing quality. I'm not sure what it is. The game just doesn't look leaps and bounds better than say most wanted imho.
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uh? Most Wanted?

I think you either need a better glass or you are just didn't even try either of the game.

the graphic between it is a huge difference..

any proof to back your statement up instead of your "opinion"?
 
ShuttleLuv said:
^ Bingo im on a solid state hdd and the load times suck ass. But the graphics to me do not show amazing quality. I'm not sure what it is. The game just doesn't look leaps and bounds better than say most wanted imho.
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I can't see sigs @ mobile view, so:
if you have a dx11 card, have you:

installed the dirt2 patch (amd driver hotfix)
insalled the latest dx package
made sure you don't have a low end CPU botlenecking that gpu?

Good luck!
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
NFS:MW did not look as good as DiRT 2. Are your settings turned all the way down?
 
Unless you have a DX11 card it's impossible to judge the difference between DX9 and 11 because you haven't seen it in full motion at full res (even youtube wouldn't really give the feeling of the game in person).

Everything I've read so far regarding this game and it's European release has been positive if not glowing.

http://www.elitebastards.com/index....t-2-pc-review&catid=14:game-reviews&Itemid=27
If you are lucky enough to own some DirectX 11 hardware, the differences you'll notice once you crank everything up to "ultra" (the equivalent of enabling DirectX 11 in this title) are subtle, but they're definitely there. Perhaps the biggest change you'll see is with regard to the water splashes that are scattered around many of the courses you'll traverse in game - While this looks pretty good in DirectX 9 mode, DirectX 11 adds dynamic tessellation to this water, which in turn gives some far more realistic (and pleasing) wave and displacement effects when you drive through it.

The game's animated crowd also get the dynamic tessellation treatment, although in this instance it's more about effectively using resources rather than improving image quality per se, as the tessellator can control the level of detail dynamically dependant on how close you are to the crowd - Tessellation isn't just about detailed models, it's also about playing smart.

Lastly, in-game flags also get tessellation to increase image quality - Let's be honest though, do you really have time to look at the flags while you're tearing around a ridiculously narrow track at insane speeds?

The rest of the improvements offered up by the game's DirectX 11 mode are with regard to lighting quality - You get higher quality, faster High Definition Ambient Occlusion to improve shadowing via a DirectCompute 11 shader, improved High Dynamic Range lighting via a floating-point rather than integer texture format, and full-screen post processing (compared to processing done at a quarter of the screen resolution in places via DirectX 9). Most of these changes (water aside) create pretty subtle improvements in visual quality, but they're definitely there and definitely worth using if you've splashed out on high-end DirectX 11 hardware - We'll be looking briefly at performance with both Radeon HD 5850 and 5870 graphics boards a little later.
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My only beef with the graphics is with some of the textures (as with almost all console ports). Hope to see a texture pack sometime soon.

No issues with load times here (game is not installed to my SSD, it's on my SAS array.)

The game itself is very fun, though I prefer playing it with the 360 controller vs. a wheel for some reason. Odd, as I preferred GRID with a wheel.
 
Based on the demo, Dirt 2 looks almost identical to Dirt 1. The colors are muted. That was my only complaint with Dirt, which I happened to love - the game looked washed out to me. It was incredibly disappointing seeing that Dirt 2 used the same engine as the original game (Grid has this weird washed out effect as well).

Compare this with the stunning clarity of Shift, and it's no contest. Yeah, I realize that Dirt takes place on Dirt, but that's kind of what I had been hoping for - a more modern looking version of the original game.

The demo left me completely cold. I was about to order this game, and then I played the demo.

Right now, Shift owns me. Shift is the best racer I've played in years. I raced at Laguna Seca last night and my jaw practically hit the floor when I saw the smoke and the dust and the debris that was kicked up and left behind from the cars when they collided or went slightly off the track. Visually, Shift is stunning, and the driving model, when the assists are turned off, is beautiful. Screw Dirt, I'm having more fun with this.
 
I like the game a lot, but there's nothing revolutionary about it.
It's just a good fun racer that's more arcade-like than Shift and the like, but it's not as mindless as say, NFS: Underground 2.
 
I'm having trouble getting used to the driving in the game. Might just be that I'm so used to pure arcade games, but it feels very floaty and twitchy.
 
You are judging the game by just it's graphics and load times alone? lol How about the actual game play and how much fun you get out of it? That's the whole point of a game...
 
I can't wait for GRID 2.:cool: More demolition derby please.
 
I haven't run into any weird load time issues and I'm on a normal 'ol 7200 RPM drive. The initial start-up for the game is about 15-20 seconds, but that's not that big of deal.
I really like the GUI for the game. It's polished, but still offers lot of configuration options and even a benchmark.
My only real complaint so far is that there's no in-game music. It's there for the menus, but in game it's just engines roaring on the non-rally levels.
 
Domingo said:
I haven't run into any weird load time issues and I'm on a normal 'ol 7200 RPM drive. The initial start-up for the game is about 15-20 seconds, but that's not that big of deal.
I really like the GUI for the game. It's polished, but still offers lot of configuration options and even a benchmark.
My only real complaint so far is that there's no in-game music. It's there for the menus, but in game it's just engines roaring on the non-rally levels.
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same feeling, I really hope there is a option that I can enable the music for in-game racing..
 
I am running 3 x 24". If you can run eyefinity I would say buy 2 more 20.1's.
 
yeah, playing on a single 280 for the sake of keeping three monitors on makes for a nice butter flowing graphic arcade racing all over the place car game---whew:)

In other words, even my nvidia card rocks this game.
 
As far as performance goes, on my 5870 the only reall hiccups are with water splash ups in a crowd or lots of dust in a crowd. I average 60fps (vsync), but in the becnhmark it drops to as low as 30 with water splashes and tons of dust. I can imagine that might be at least partially fixable with drivers since it never drops below 60 otherwise.
 
Running at 5040x1050. This game is gorgeous, my WD 640 black loads it just fine. My 5850 keeps my frames running great and it's just a blast drifting around corners in the dirt.

If you have the means for triplescreen, do it. Racing games make Eyefinity a MUST have for me now.
 
Coming as a big fan of the original DiRT, the second part is a little bit of a let down. DiRT hit a very nice mix of realism and arcade. The Rally stages, even though relatively arcadish, were hard enough to be called "Rally". Some of the modes in Dirt2 i just can't agree with. Same with the stupid interface in Dirt2. I just hate that outside table, inside table, move in between the two kinda thing. Gets old REALLY fast.

Game itself is good but not AS good as Dirt1 imho. If DiRT 1 was a 8.5/10 for me, DiRT2 is a 7.5/10.
 
ShuttleLuv said:
Meh. I'm sick of overhyped games. I like the game that you hear little about, and it comes and blows your fucking ass away. Games like Painkiller, games like Far Cry.
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Funny enough, the newest Painkiller and Far Cry games were both fueled by pure hype and both turned out to be trash. Your logic fails. :D
 
I will be getting Dirt2 soon, right now i am completely hooked on Shift, especially after the second patch+DLC that has fixed many of the annoyances. The '67 'vette around Road America is a blast :D
Edit: Strangely,I prefer the xbox controller for Grid, but I play Shift only with the Logitech Momo FF wheel...simply can't make fine adjustments with the controller.
 
...? How does his logic fail? Dirt 2 was overhyped and in his opinion is not good. According to you the newest Painkiller and Far Cry games were overhyped and are both "trash."

You just add to his logic.

Also, the new Painkiller and Far Cry 2 were made by completely different people.
 
Hmm well to be fair, I was basing this opine on the demo. I'll register the full version I got and update if anything is better. So far though it doesn't appear to be a HUGE jump from Dirt, but not too bad nonetheless. I want Grid 2 damnit!

When I mentioned Painkiller (2004) and Far Cry (2004) I meant they surprised us in every which way. Graphics were phenomenal, pushed rigs, good games with good gameplay. Something new and fresh at the time.
 
The game is awesome. All settings at max and 4X AA and this thing looks beautiful. It controls really well too. A bit arcady but sooo enjoyable. I wanted to throw my controller at the screen with Dirt 1. I don't get that feeling with this game.
 
Derangel said:
Uhh...What? Have you played Most Wanted recently? It sure as hell does not look as good as Dirt 2.
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Looks about as good as NFS: Shift to me, which didn't receive much hype (at least not nearly as much as DIRT 2). DIRT 2 does have some better post-processing effects. When it comes to racers, small details like tesselated water just don't seem to net you that much in terms of "wow look at that". Most Wanted still holds up pretty well, I think, but it's obviously no Shift or DIRT 2.

And yeah, according to bit-tech, the differences between DX9 and DX11 are incredibly minimal, and the former is significantly faster. The DX11 support here has been unbelievably overhyped.
 
i loved dirt 1. favorite racing game of all time. my buddy let me borrow his copy of dirt2 for 360. the first level, the opening, the whole layout of the game is disappointing. it feels like tony hawk's pro driver. the controls feel loose, the graphics look shoddy compared to dirt 1.

i only raced the first track or two, but i was not at all impressed. very sad after coming from the amazing game that dirt 1 was.

just talking about this makes me want to go home today and give the game another chance to wow me. i was expecting so much from dirt 2. maybe i havent given it a fair chance.

but so far, meh.
 
refraxion said:
What types of frames are you getting at that resolution with 1 card?
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I am getting constant no less than 30fps on 5760x1200 2xAA ultra settings post processing low. I avg 35 with a min of 31 which is totally smooth and consistent with this game. In other words it fucking awesome. The jungle tracks are like racing through crysis.
 
phide said:
Looks about as good as NFS: Shift to me, which didn't receive much hype (at least not nearly as much as DIRT 2). DIRT 2 does have some better post-processing effects. When it comes to racers, small details like tesselated water just don't seem to net you that much in terms of "wow look at that". Most Wanted still holds up pretty well, I think, but it's obviously no Shift or DIRT 2.

And yeah, according to bit-tech, the differences between DX9 and DX11 are incredibly minimal, and the former is significantly faster. The DX11 support here has been unbelievably overhyped.
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Kyle disagrees: http://hardocp.com/article/2009/12/07/dirt_2_demo_dx11_performance_iq_preview

I wish that 5970s were available!:(

There's no SLI profile for this game but with everything DX 9 maxed at 1920x1200 I'm getting about 55 FPS and the game plays and looks great. At little arcady which is awesome for off road racers.
 
BravO))) said:
I am getting constant no less than 30fps on 5760x1200 2xAA ultra settings post processing low. I avg 35 with a min of 31 which is totally smooth and consistent with this game. In other words it fucking awesome. The jungle tracks are like racing through crysis.
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That is pretty damn awesome.. do want!
 
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