Darkness and rain all the time
New to the Dirt Series...
There is a wonderful game hidden inside... Driving feels good to me. FFB is a bit weak but that's not a big problem for me. Also the sound getting lost is something i don't worry too much about... Ok: playing in cockpit view and suddenly everything is too dark to race on -> switching to bumper view... which is sadly too low over ground... will get fixed at some point... i'll survive...
BUT: It riddles me how a developer of a rally game comes to the conclusion that the probability of darkness during racing should be somewhat 40%? And chance of rain is 50%?
I finished my 3rd career cup now... Last time: Australia... Raining... after that it is dark and dry... Lets go on to Spain now... raining... sure... Argentina... wet too... and: dark again...
Is it too much to ask to be able to enjoy the beautiful courses AT DAY TIME WITHOUT RAIN? I'm no expert but i'd say 20% chance of rain and every fourth race at darkness/near darkness should be enough. For the moment i can't enjoy my career mode which i'd prefer because i won't tolerate these conditions in 7 of 8 races... In the approx 8 hours i played so far: (guessed) 4 runs with clear sky and at daytime... I'm also driving much better because I SEE THINGS.
Seems the FX guys were so in love with their work and the scenery guys just shrugged....
I totally trust that everything i mentioned will be fixed quite soon but i'm not sure if Codemasters acknowledge the night/rain scenario as a real problem?
So the full set of weather conditions for each country are below. Remember that the career mode championships cycle through these time periods (day, sunset, dusk, night) without any percentage chance of each occurring, so you will always get as many 'night' stages as 'day' stages as things currently stand.
The main thing that jumps out at me is that:
a) Certain events (NZ, USA) are impossible to have all dry OR all wet events.
b) The 'sunset' and 'dusk' conditions are not only sadly lacking in variety, it is impossible to see the sky at all for the 50% of each rally (average) which takes place at these 'times'.
c) Dirt4 nailed this part of the game really well, having multiple day times to work through so the entire event doesn't take place in the evening.
d) Leaderboards are split by dry/wet, so I don't understand the aversion to adding other weather conditions for various times. I would love someone to discuss this on the blog or podcast to let us know the thinking process behind doing it this way, as well as whether people disliking it has been heard and if there's a chance anything can be done about it or not. To me, it's the main one thing holding back the superb 'game' that we have here and it's my #1 request for anything that could be worked upon and improved as I use this mode more than any other. AR Day clear-dry, cloudy-dry, showers-wet, rain-wet Sunset cloud-dry Dusk cloud-dry, heavyrain-wet Night clear-dry So Argentina is the event with the best chance of a dry event, but it’s impossible for more than 50% of the event to be wet. Despite there being a 50% of heavy rain at dusk (and no chance of this heavy rain at any other time of day), even when it rains the night is clear and bone dry. AU Da clear-dry, cloudy-dry, showers-wet, rain-wet Su cloud-dry, overcast-dry, cloud-wet Du cloud-dry Ni clear-dry Just about the best chance of an all-dry event - this weather pattern arguably makes a little sense, because rain would be expected to arrive at one time of day (if at all) and dry up through the day. However, you only have a 25% chance of seeing the sky in Australia at all before the middle of the night (and even when you do it will be cloudy for the entire evening). NZ Da clear-dry, cloudy-wet, showers-wet Su cloudy-dry Du heavyrain-wet, lightrain-wet Ni clear-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet So the first event where it’s actually impossible to have a consistent surface throughout an event. New Zealand only has dry sunsets and rain of varying intensities at dusk. And you will always get both of these in every event. PL Da clear-dry, heavy rain-wet, overcast-dry Su cloud-wet, cloud-dry, showers-wet Du cloud-dry Ni clear-dry, cloud-dry, heavy rain-wet Theoretically possible to have all dry over a ‘day’, but that chance is around 14%. What is clear is that, like every event, there is no chance of seeing the sky for the 50% of each rally that takes place during the evening. ES Da clear-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet Su overcast-dry, cloudy-wet, light rain-wet Du cloud-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet Ni clear-dry The rain in Spain falls nearly all the time. But never at night. 66% chance of a wet surface on each and every single daytime stage but miraculously 100% chance of dry surface at night. US Da clear-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet Su cloud-wet, showers-wet, Du cloud-dry Ni clear-dry, cloud-dry, showers-wet, heavy rain-wet As discussed before, it is impossible to have an all-dry or -wet event in the US, as the sunset into dusk transition will always go from wet to dry.
a) Certain events (NZ, USA) are impossible to have all dry OR all wet events.
b) The 'sunset' and 'dusk' conditions are not only sadly lacking in variety, it is impossible to see the sky at all for the 50% of each rally (average) which takes place at these 'times'.
c) Dirt4 nailed this part of the game really well, having multiple day times to work through so the entire event doesn't take place in the evening.
d) Leaderboards are split by dry/wet, so I don't understand the aversion to adding other weather conditions for various times. I would love someone to discuss this on the blog or podcast to let us know the thinking process behind doing it this way, as well as whether people disliking it has been heard and if there's a chance anything can be done about it or not. To me, it's the main one thing holding back the superb 'game' that we have here and it's my #1 request for anything that could be worked upon and improved as I use this mode more than any other. AR Day clear-dry, cloudy-dry, showers-wet, rain-wet Sunset cloud-dry Dusk cloud-dry, heavyrain-wet Night clear-dry So Argentina is the event with the best chance of a dry event, but it’s impossible for more than 50% of the event to be wet. Despite there being a 50% of heavy rain at dusk (and no chance of this heavy rain at any other time of day), even when it rains the night is clear and bone dry. AU Da clear-dry, cloudy-dry, showers-wet, rain-wet Su cloud-dry, overcast-dry, cloud-wet Du cloud-dry Ni clear-dry Just about the best chance of an all-dry event - this weather pattern arguably makes a little sense, because rain would be expected to arrive at one time of day (if at all) and dry up through the day. However, you only have a 25% chance of seeing the sky in Australia at all before the middle of the night (and even when you do it will be cloudy for the entire evening). NZ Da clear-dry, cloudy-wet, showers-wet Su cloudy-dry Du heavyrain-wet, lightrain-wet Ni clear-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet So the first event where it’s actually impossible to have a consistent surface throughout an event. New Zealand only has dry sunsets and rain of varying intensities at dusk. And you will always get both of these in every event. PL Da clear-dry, heavy rain-wet, overcast-dry Su cloud-wet, cloud-dry, showers-wet Du cloud-dry Ni clear-dry, cloud-dry, heavy rain-wet Theoretically possible to have all dry over a ‘day’, but that chance is around 14%. What is clear is that, like every event, there is no chance of seeing the sky for the 50% of each rally that takes place during the evening. ES Da clear-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet Su overcast-dry, cloudy-wet, light rain-wet Du cloud-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet Ni clear-dry The rain in Spain falls nearly all the time. But never at night. 66% chance of a wet surface on each and every single daytime stage but miraculously 100% chance of dry surface at night. US Da clear-dry, cloud-wet, showers-wet Su cloud-wet, showers-wet, Du cloud-dry Ni clear-dry, cloud-dry, showers-wet, heavy rain-wet As discussed before, it is impossible to have an all-dry or -wet event in the US, as the sunset into dusk transition will always go from wet to dry.