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Feedback after initial few weeks with the game

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Hi

Generally very satisfied with the game and highly recommend it to others who might be browsing the forums for user experiences before purchasing. Looks great, feels great, and very challenging - with plenty of customisation to turn on driving aids if needed. Also applaud Codemasters for ditching the awful bling in their previous driving games and being brave enough to develop a rallying game.

Now for some feedback which will hopefully be taken in the right spirit.

1) Displaying split times at horizon level is incredibly distracting. Please provide an option to display the split times elsewhere (maybe at the very top-centre, or two-thirds down the screen).

2) The spread for AI times in rallying seems very poorly done. I'm talking here about AI cars that don't crash or have serious car problems. Clearly AI cars that crash heavily and end up with serious damage are expected to be way off the pace. However it's almost as though the top-placed AI driver sets the bar for the user to drive almost flawlessly (which is fine), with an enormous spread of times down to the lowest placed AI driver which seems on par with grandad's casual sunday drive. Some AI cars that don't have serious problems listed in the results at any point in a rally have more than double the time of the best AI car.

3) Unfortunately I've written off the rallycross as a waste of time and not bothering with going forward. Quite honestly I've finished in last place in every single rallycross race I've tried - on the Open Championship, supposedly the easiest skill level! The races play out the same every single race; the AI cars (somehow) get a bullet start and never make a mistake, and I finish dead last about 2-3 seconds behind them. Presumably you guys never got anyone to playtest the rallycross other than the guy who set it up and played it every day during development. I'm sure this isn't simply me not 'getting it' - I played a rallycross online event, once again finished last about 2-3 seconds behind the AI as described above, yet still finished in the top third when the event money was handed out. So at least two-thirds of players are even worse at rallycross than I evidently am. Sorry guys, I'm having zero fun with rallycross and it seems like it needs an overhaul.

Anyway, like I say the rallying component is really excellent and comes highly recommended. I just hope Codemasters continue post-release development to improve the aspects that aren't up to the same excellent standard as the rallying.

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kev75 said:
Unfortunately I've written off the rallycross as a waste of time and not bothering with going forward. Quite honestly I've finished in last place in every single rallycross race I've tried - on the Open Championship, supposedly the easiest skill level! The races play out the same every single race; the AI cars (somehow) get a bullet start and never make a mistake, and I finish dead last about 2-3 seconds behind them. Presumably you guys never got anyone to playtest the rallycross other than the guy who set it up and played it every day during development. I'm sure this isn't simply me not 'getting it' - I played a rallycross online event, once again finished last about 2-3 seconds behind the AI as described above, yet still finished in the top third when the event money was handed out. So at least two-thirds of players are even worse at rallycross than I evidently am. Sorry guys, I'm having zero fun with rallycross and it seems like it needs an overhaul.
Did you try upgrading your car?

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I love everything about the game so far. However,  I think it would be good to have a super rally rule that allows us to return from a "totaled" crash with a large penalty. This may be just a bad luck issue but I was out of the monthly challenge in the first few stages because of a very slow off at the wrong spot and the same for several league races. One time the car was parked on the berm and sorta wobbled in the wrong direction and I was "totaled" and out of the race for being unrecoverable when the car was no more off the road than any other spot that would allow you to recover with a 15 sec penalty. Online is against real people is the only way I really have fun and its a huge bummer when I have to wait an entire month to participate again rather than just having to fight really hard with a massive penalty. 

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kev75 said:
Unfortunately I've written off the rallycross as a waste of time and not bothering with going forward. Quite honestly I've finished in last place in every single rallycross race I've tried - on the Open Championship, supposedly the easiest skill level! The races play out the same every single race; the AI cars (somehow) get a bullet start and never make a mistake, and I finish dead last about 2-3 seconds behind them. Presumably you guys never got anyone to playtest the rallycross other than the guy who set it up and played it every day during development. I'm sure this isn't simply me not 'getting it' - I played a rallycross online event, once again finished last about 2-3 seconds behind the AI as described above, yet still finished in the top third when the event money was handed out. So at least two-thirds of players are even worse at rallycross than I evidently am. Sorry guys, I'm having zero fun with rallycross and it seems like it needs an overhaul.
Did you try upgrading your car?
There are a few upgrades equipped, yes, however still finishing dead last on the easiest skill level. But anyway, upgrading the car shouldn't be a requisite to finish anywhere other than last place on the easiest skill level. It certainly wasn't on the rallying - first time I attempted the rally Open Championship I finished 1st without any upgrades at all so progressed immediately to clubman.

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Mossemo said:
I love everything about the game so far. However,  I think it would be good to have a super rally rule that allows us to return from a "totaled" crash with a large penalty. This may be just a bad luck issue but I was out of the monthly challenge in the first few stages because of a very slow off at the wrong spot and the same for several league races. One time the car was parked on the berm and sorta wobbled in the wrong direction and I was "totaled" and out of the race for being unrecoverable when the car was no more off the road than any other spot that would allow you to recover with a 15 sec penalty. Online is against real people is the only way I really have fun and its a huge bummer when I have to wait an entire month to participate again rather than just having to fight really hard with a massive penalty. 
I'd agree with that especially for online events because sometimes the game will decree your car is totalled for reasons that are not clear.

I got halfway through the current monthly event and in one rally got on the wrong side of an Armco barrier. I was driving forwards slowly (20-30mph) on flat ground to drive around the outside of the Armco rather than take a 15 second penalty, but the game decided to inexplicably decree my car was totalled?!? So, sit out a few weeks waiting for the next monthly event. :(

There either needs to be a means to soldier on with a big penalty as you suggest, or simply more events runnimg simultaneously.

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Don't know about you, but aside from the Mini class, it's quite easy to beat AI on rallycross. Even on Master level, especially when you have all the upgrades installed. Open is so easy it's not even funny...

I'd say your driving technique is quite definitely off when it comes to RX cars. RX supercars require you to start from 3rd or 4th gear, the FWD cars are usually better off starting from 2nd gear, though that also depends. With those you do have to wait for the traction in the front wheels and AI will outpace you at the start but then quickly will lose their lead. Again, if you know how to handle those cars. Don't treat them like your standard rally cars. Sideways on tarmac here can be faster than gripping. Quite often.

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Thanks for the tips, but again, I don't think things like upgrades, waiting for the traction in the front wheels off the start, etc should be needed to merely be competitive on the easiest skill level. And as I said originally, judging by online events two-thirds of people are doing worse than me at rallycross.

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The game is aiming for as realistic an experience as possible, which means you do have to learn the tracks, and upgrade the cars them before you will win, because that's how it goes in real life. Ask @KickUp and @JonTucker how many rally stages they've won in the real world. @KickUp may have only been co piloting for a couple of years, but @JonTucker has been driving for quite a while now.

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(PS4) I agree with the op about the inconsistent times of the AI in a rally event, I get killed in the first stage (16-20 seconds) after driving a clean stage then without changing my driving style I win the second and third stage by about 8 seconds...! Upgrading your car in the Rallycross is essential and shorten your gears on the short tracks for faster acceleration. 

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If anything rallycross ai needs to be made more difficult on the harder settings, especially in the supercars they are very easy to beat on hardest setting. The starts are just a matter of getting the right gear, revs and throttle control when you start moving. Its different for every car is every class, on every surface you start on. Massive amounts of trial and error needed. Agree 100% with the first two points though. Would like a greater percentage of AI in rallies to run competitive times (would also like them to be more consistent through the same section on two different stages), and split times could not be placed worse.

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kev75 said:
Thanks for the tips, but again, I don't think things like upgrades, waiting for the traction in the front wheels off the start, etc should be needed to merely be competitive on the easiest skill level. And as I said originally, judging by online events two-thirds of people are doing worse than me at rallycross.
I won without any upgrades in the Mini department on the Pro level. Same with S1600. Also, if you're saying proper throttle management is not needed to be competitive on the easiest skill level... well, sorry, but I think you're being mislead what "easiest" difficulty level means. It's not "you can win without trying". It's "you can win if you can bring out small amount of skill in this".

If you're on the PC side, I have no issues going for few online RX matches with you and showing the difference that all of those things make. Just today I had an issue finding a lobby that didn't went completely empty (or kicked me out of it) after the events, since I've been winning every single race... with a not fully upgraded Polo, which is slower than Fiesta and 208 that everyone are using... so yeah. Being that 0,5s faster per lap purely due to setup and how you handle the car on RX track makes a huge difference to the result compared to rally.

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The main thing you have to do with rally cross is make sure the traction control is turned off otherwise you will never get near the AI off the line :-) 

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kev75 said:
Thanks for the tips, but again, I don't think things like upgrades, waiting for the traction in the front wheels off the start, etc should be needed to merely be competitive on the easiest skill level. And as I said originally, judging by online events two-thirds of people are doing worse than me at rallycross.
It's not "you can win without trying". It's "you can win if you can bring out small amount of skill in this".
Winning without trying is really not what I'm saying at all - sorry if you got that impression, but that at a basic level it's much more difficult than the rallying. As mentioned above I won the rally Open Championship on my first attempt; without upgrades, without knowing the courses, making plenty of mistakes whilst getting used to the handling, without tinkering with setups, and of course despite it being much easier to total the car  in rally than in rallycross.

Compare that to the rallycross. My car has a couple of upgrades, I know the courses, I've had a few weeks to get used to the handling...yet still the races play out identically with the AI blitzing me off the start line, the AI in procession never making a mistake, with me 2-3 seconds behind. Whenever I try an online rallycross event I finish near the bottom of the first tier. If two-thirds of players are worse than me and also getting smashed by the easiest rallycross AI, well in my opinion there's something fundamentally wrong with the difficulty balancing for rallycross and we'll have to agree to disagree.

If you guys are winning online easily it sounds like you're experts and if you say that the hardest skill level needs making harder, I've got no quibble with that at all - but it'd be nice for those of us who aren't experts to have a bit of fun too and not be trailing around after the worst the AI has to offer.

I'm on PS4, with the PS4 controller. Maybe it's just more difficult with these controls from the get go.

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I play with a gamepad as well and to me rallycross is easy, even with the mini's. But really, rallycross just seems to click with me for some reason as I can beat one of my friends in RX and he has been setting top 10 times in the rally mode since early access.
I don't even like RX all that much, Rally is my favourite part of the game and I'm pretty awful there (top 250 when I do a clean stage when pushing 95%).

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To get a good start in rally cross let go of the handbrake just befor it says GO, you need to try it a few times to get it right to avoid getting a jump start penalty which is a double joker.

So far I'm finding rally x difficulty ok, won first 2 seasons with the Corsa 1600 and the 3rd with the DS3, ready to start the elite championship now.

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kev75 said:
If two-thirds of players are worse than me and also getting smashed by the easiest rallycross AI, well in my opinion there's something fundamentally wrong with the difficulty balancing for rallycross and we'll have to agree to disagree.
So, in other words if the player base sucks at RX, blame the AI that doesn't? Interesting point of view. I'm also playing with a gamepad, specifically the DualShock 4 (which I believe is what you mean, as Playstation 4 has more than one controller for it, Move for example).

Also if you would finish in the lower first tier in a daily rally event, that would equal to you finishing behind AI. Another thing, on the dailies you get fully upgraded cars, unless it's an Owner event. Most of the community sucks balls, it's nothing new. But it's not a reason to make the game easier. As Dark Souls players would say... git gud.

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Gave the rallycross another go for a few hours but still not getting anywhere near progressing out of the Open championship and seemed to have hit a plateau.

Despite having a fully upgraded car it still plays out the same every race; the AI blast away from the start into a lead, I follow ~2 seconds behind and finish last. Since the times for AI players not in my race are pulled out of thin air, I still am put through to the semi final, whereupon again I finish last. Usually end up 6th-7th in the Championship so nowhere near the top 3 required to be promoted and see other content. Earnings are a pitiful 6-7k. Rinse, repeat. Literally every single attempt today.

I think I'll knock the rallycross mode on the head and stick to the rallying. Thanks for all your input.

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