Dakar 18

Hi guys,

I'd like to share my opinion on the Dakar 18 game. Coming from Czech Republic, I'm proud of Tatra trucks taking part in this race since 1986. "Mr. Dakar" Karel Loprais has won six times and his nephew Ales Loprais is still hunting for his first victory. So I was really looking forward to this game and have a spin in a Tatra.

The initial reviews were not very good. The map is impressive in both size, looks and details. The rest... It looks like they released it in a "beta" stage of development. There were awful lot of bugs, no wheel support, physics is questionable at best. The whole interface sucks, as it's done for all platforms. Rainy conditions are not realistic, sometimes it's impossible to dig out your truck using a shovel, while listening to the super annoying navigator, who's just standing around and pissing you off by saying "no time to smell flowers, we have to go". AI is retarded, too. Often you see them trying to climb a dune over and over again, even if it's simply not possible. They've been releasing frequent and huge patches, but it often happens that a patch screwes up some other functional parts of the game. And it's expensive. 50 Euro is a pricetag of a premium title. Honestly, if this was a regular sim, I'd ask for a refund immediately. But... It isn't

This is an insane sado-masochism and once you give it a try, you get hooked. The navigation is very difficult and requires your attention all the time. You really need to be 100% focused, otherwise you'll simply get lost. And after you get lost for the fifteenth time, you're standing at the top of the largest dune around those hundreds of square kilometers of sand and desperately looking for anything you can hold on to, i guarantee you'll forget about all the flaws of this game. It's an incredibly intense experience. It doesn't matter if you're in the middle of dunes, on some crazy rocky roads on top of mountains, driving through a river bed, or on an asphalt road in rain, at night in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, this is not for everybody. But if you hesitate and those indifferent reviews keep you away from this game, I can only encourage you to give it a try. Is it perfect? No, not by far. But all I can say is Give it a try and you'll see. It's like nothing else  

I have it on Xbox and i love it. The physics and AI as you say, are not the best. But the experience is something else. I'd recommend it just for that.

Nothing like digging yourself out of the mud while it's raining

Richard Coxon wrote:

I have it on Xbox and i love it. The physics and AI as you say, are not the best. But the experience is something else. I'd recommend it just for that.

Nothing like digging yourself out of the mud while it's raining  

Does Xbox get those updates, too? The improvements are huge on PC. Implementation of steering wheel support, reducing of that horrible understeer for all vehicles, corrections of roadbook, just to name few. And the good thing is that there's a Facebook group where the developers listen and react to what people say. They're fully aware that it was released prematurely and they're working hard to sort everything out.

Xbox has only had 1 patch at the moment. the 42GB one

I believe that had most of the PC fixes in, but with just that one update, the game became miles better.

absolutely love the concept, always fascinated watching the dakar daily updates growing up.

its obvious driving physics weren't their primary objective, so as much as i wish it had been, i'll put those comments aside, im still going to give it a try for the experience.  but some questions...

player settings like tire pressure low/high, suspension etc.   what benefits/consequences to these options have (top speed/grip, wear?).  

speaking of wear, do the tires just wear from driving, or am i over doing it that i seem to have to replace mine in the middle of the long stages?  hitting the bumps too hard or spinning them too much?

are all the water/mud/soft sand crossings really all the same 3 prong fork pattern?  

oh, and the biggest thorn in my side so far, how do you manage the speed zones correctly?  i seem to be giving up way too much to the ai when i slow down to early not knowing where the speed limit kicks in.  sometimes it shows a house/building on the notes, but sometimes i just can't tell where im supposed to be slowed down by.

oh, and one more thing...  vegetation.  does it need to be avoided at all or can it just be driven thru all the time.  initially i was avoiding, but now it seems like i can blast thru without any consequence.

thanks for any tips,
dave

Speed limit zones, take a look at the distance markers. The roadbook should give you a detailed distance of when it starts, I just go on that.

Vegetation, just be careful. Some have rocks in. Your Co Driver/Roadbook will tell you to avoid if you really have too.

The tires do wear, but being rough and bumping or crashing doesn't help. I've found when it feels like all grip has gone, I've actually had a puncture.

Looks indeed like an amazing experience. The concept of roaming around in a vast world, free of the constraints of a "road" and on your own with the risk of getting lost reminds a lot to the classic novels of Verne, Salgari, etc and the explorations of the XIX century through deserts and to the poles. The video you linked already captures it very well, you start as if it was just another game and 5 minutes later it's OMG this is BIG, it's for real, no joke! Is it only trucks so far? I hope they solve the physics, the interface isn't that bad though the status bars for car parts are obviously arcadish.

Cars, Bikes, Trucks, Quads and ATV's so far.