Co Driver Calls Explained

[KickUp 0]

Hi, my name is Paul Coleman and I’m the Chief Games Designer on DiRT Rally. My role on this project is to ensure that you get the authentic rally experience you’ve have been asking for. I look after many of the key aspects of the game including the Vehicle Handling, Environment Designs and many of the aspects that hold the game experience together.

Since DiRT 3 came out in 2011, I’ve been out and done some co-driving for real, teaming up with Jon Tucker in his 1995 Subaru Impreza WRX STi. While it has been a dream come true for me to actually get to compete for real, money has been tight so we haven’t been able to do as many events as we would have liked. That said, this real world experience has been invaluable in ensuring that DiRT Rally is without question the most authentic representation of the sport we have ever produced here at Codies and hopefully you’ll think it is the closest thing you have ever had to driving a rally car in real life.

So onto my area of expertise and the reason you are all here… Co-driver calls!

We investigated using systems that are more prevalent in the real world such as 9-1 or 6-1 where the higher the number the tighter the corner but we found that players who were used to Colin McRae Rally and DiRT were struggling to get to grips with the change in system.

So we settled on using the 1-6 system, in this system 1 is a slow corner and 6 is fast one. We call the corner direction first i.e. “Left Five into Right Three” and have a little more detail such as “Square”, “Hairpin” and “Accute” corners for when the corner severity is 90 degrees or greater.

Linking all of the corners together are distances. “Into” and “And” are very small distances between corners, we then use even numbers up to 100 metres and odd numbers once we go over the 100 metre mark.

As well as receiving the audio calls we have also implemented a system of co-driver call icons that will allow you to get a visual clue of the corners ahead. These don’t have as much detail as the audio calls but they do at least give you a good idea of the corner severity and of any bumps or dips in the road ahead.

The main difference with the notes in DiRT Rally is that we have used a new Level Design tool that studies the corner angles and gives us a pretty accurate first stab at a set of notes. I’ve then gone through the notes with Jon Tucker (who I go rallying with) or one of the Level Design team to correct any errors with the system and add additional detail into the calls to make sure that you get all the information that you need to attack the stage with confidence.

The key thing to remember with these calls is that they are not Pace Notes. Pace Notes are written on recces and are very personal to the crews that create them and the car they are using. The calls we have created are Route Notes and they are designed to describe the road as best as possible. This makes them much more consistent and far less subjective, as a result they are a much better fit for the broad spectrum of rally cars that you will be able to drive on our stages.

People often describe the 1-6 system by saying that the numbers are the gear you should be in to take the corner but that is not strictly true. Sometimes you will go from a tight Right One into a fast Left Six but the chances are that you won’t have dropped into first gear for the Right One and you won’t have picked up enough speed to be in sixth gear by the time you get to the Left Six.

The best way to describe the calls that describe the corner severity is with a diagram. So here is one I prepared earlier:

The corner angle is derived from the angle of the corner available when using as much of the road as possible, the racing line, stage width and obstacles are taken into consideration but having this diagram in mind when listening to the notes should help a great deal with understanding the road ahead.

Another key area we have looked to improve in DiRT Rally is the additional description of detail in the road ahead. This has been a necessity due to the added technicality of the stages. We have calls such as Care, Caution and Double Caution to signify sections where extra care should be taken. We talk about corners that Open, Tighten or Double Tighten when the angle of the corner changes mid way through. We describe the corner length using Half Long, Long or Continues for.

We describe the various things that you can drive over such as Crests, Bumps and Jumps as well as things you can drive through such as bad camber, dips and water splashes.  We also make sure that you know when not to cut or run wide on corner exit as some of the corners have some rally ending rocks that aren’t immediately obvious hiding near the apex.

After we have written, checked and double checked the notes we set about recording them. In the past we have recorded the calls with an actor in a recording studio but to try and get a better sense of being in the cockpit we have rigged up a Stilo Intercom System in our D-Box room. I wear my crash helmet and sit in the D-Box chair. It’s a motion seat so every bump, dip and crest in the stage is transferred through the seat and into my body. It’s subtle but the faster sections are reflected through the intensity of the calls and things tend to get calmer when the car is going through some of the slower sections.

Perhaps the best part is that through the bumpier sections you can really hear the compressions in the stage coming through in my voice.  Its pretty rough having to do multiple runs through the stages over the course of an hour with the D-Box turned up to the maximum but I think it has been totally worth it for the overall game experience. In fact, all of this virtual practise made me a better co-driver when went back out on stage in Somerset Stages on the 18th April.

Ultimately, you can drive an unknown stage without co-driver calls but you will have to slow down for every crest or corner where visibility is minimal. As rallies tend to take place out in the wild many of the corners that you’ll encounter will be hidden or deceptive so without co-driver calls you will never be able to drive them with true commitment as there will always be a chance that the corner does not end up being what it looked like it was going to be.

The reason for co-driver calls is to describe the road ahead so that despite having not driven the stage before you can confidently attack the stage. Listening to the calls gives you a mental picture of the road ahead allowing you to approach corners with an understanding of the challenges they will present. Timing is crucial and in DiRT Rally we’ve given you the option to get the calls earlier or later than the default so you can tailor the timings to suit you better.

All in all I think it is testament to the authenticity of the game and the increased technicality of the stages that the co-driver calls are once again such an integral part of the experience. When we have turned the calls off we have really noticed the difference in how much slower we have to drive through the stages without them.

[Ruben Correa Alves 28]

Nice, and your voice is good as well! Would have been great to have Nicky Grist as a bonus voice as well but I don't now if that's possible for you guys to realize. Maybe just ask for permission and then use soundfiles from one of the older games?

[MartijnvH 7]

Nice Post @KickUp ! Really good described,
I have to adjust while gaming, specially because i use personal Pacenotes in real rallying, but this system works perfect for every one!

Perhaps for the full game later, u should put this in a small video to explain it to people who are new in the game, in combination with an rally school perhaps!

Keep up the good work guys!

[NoOneNBA 0]

So you're the one responsible for the "thing I'll never unhear again"?
Every time I go over a rise, I hear Austin Powers in my ear, telling me... "Left 4 -- Over Crest -- Jump, baby".
Go try to unhear that now.

[SamRWD 2]

Big thanks for Your work. I find DiRT Rally's peacenotes to be absolutely the best ever. RBR doesn't even compare. One improvement would be more accurate description of "tightens" corners, i.e. "left 5 tightens to 4" etc.

[silicijeva 0]

Thanks for explanation  ;)

[monkiemurdie 0]

great to see devs on this forum, (as it seems kinda quiet) communicating the vision of the part of the product design.

I be honest I didn't know what the signs where so its good to hear a formal explanation, especially about the numbers getting reduced from 9 to 6, I assume this was to make barrier to entry a little more accessible as well as to tie into your corner predictor software. Also good to hear that these are not as good as pace notes.

Hopefully that will help the hardcore understand this why this system came about. It really helps when you communicate this way. I know a lot of devs get separated from the community by legal and pr. If this game is truly about access and community then the way things have worked in the past is not good and usually leads to resentment by fans. I have heard that's it wasn't really what the devs wanted, they want to share more with the community, but more of a case of damage limitation by the pr team controlling what could and could not be confirmed/clarified.

Once again thanks for the history of the design element fused with what was possible on the resource is what I find valuable as a community member even if it explains why some features could not be implemented. This is sometimes referred to as "not within the scope of the game/design", a polite way of saying not enough money or just to much resource burn on the project. It's really in your best interests to clarify focus on things for launch so that it meets community expectations.

e.g from OPFDR to OPFRR we wanted an editor for missions on the ego engine, but it was never released, I believe there was a lot of rumour surrounding the ip protection from CM surrounding EGO engine itself, so a tool set was never part of the scope. there where MODS for OPFDR. So I am not expecting a track editor for this product since it uses Ego, I see however there are some mods on livery and dashboard already being created. I hope you can for the peeps that want it, but I am not holding out hope.

[SkiddyMcCrash 311]

NoOneNBA said:

 "Left 4 -- Over Crest -- Jump, baby".

It's not just me that's been hearing that then lol

[Joethe155 0]

Thank you to @KickUp, very enlightening and enjoyable read.

It's very nice to see someone from Codemasters posting and I hope the Dirt Rally community can be tended to by a few Codemasters employees better than the F1 forum and community has been in recent years.

I don't have Dirt Rally but it's great to see a new rally game. If it comes to consoles, then I'll be interested. Hope things get better and better. From what I've read here, it seems quite a promising start.

[CmdrCody 0]

Are the hairpin and acute corners shown in the correct order in the diagram? I thought hairpin is the tightest (180° or close) and acute being somewhere between hairpin and square (90°), so maybe 110° to 160°.

[austinb 37]

CmdrCody said:

Are the hairpin and acute corners shown in the correct order in the diagram? I thought hairpin is the tightest (180° or close) and acute being somewhere between hairpin and square (90°), so maybe 110° to 160°.

An acute corner has an angle between 90 and 180 degrees but has a very small or non existant inner radius, where as a hairpin can have a larger inner radius and therefore it isnt as tight. How tight a corner is depends on the inner radius of the corner not how many degrees it turns, so acute corners will mostly be slower than hairpins. Quickly made this to help explain:

[CmdrCody 0]

Cool, thanks for the explanation!

[DabScience 0]

KickUp said:
Ultimately, you can drive an unknown stage without co-driver calls but you will have to slow down for every crest or corner where visibility is minimal. As rallies tend to take place out in the wild many of the corners that you’ll encounter will be hidden or deceptive so without co-driver calls you will never be able to drive them with true commitment as there will always be a chance that the corner does not end up being what it looked like it was going to be.

Exactly why that first day co-driver audio/HUD bug was such an issue! As someone who loves simulation driving, but never truly understood the rally co-driver calls, this is an awesome post! Beautifully laid out with some cool behind the scenes information.

Keep up this kind of communication with your players and this will be the best rally sim ever made. No questions asked.