DIRT TRACK RACING REVIEW by Jim Getzen

Dirt Track Racing was developed by Ratbag, the same guys who gave us Powerslide, an arcade racer with stunning graphics and surprisingly good physics. This is their first foray into "sim" territory. Can a racing title that sells for $19.99 at Wal-Mart really be any good? Read on!

Requirements, Installation, and Manual

DTR's listed requirements: Windows 95 or 98, P200 with video acceleration or P266 without, 32 MB RAM, CD-ROM, 16-bit color, 65 MB hard drive space (minimum install), DirectX 7.

For this review, I used: P2 450 with Voodoo 2 card, 96 MB RAM, full install (about 200 MB), cable modem.

Installation was flawless. The manual is disappointing since it is simply a CD insert-sized booklet with 29 pages, of which 23 contain useful information. However, for its size, the manual does a decent job explaining the game, interface, setup options, career mode, and so on. While it's skimpy, I understand that a $20 game isn't going to have a thick manual.

Alright, So What's It Like?

DTR takes you to 30 fictional dirt tracks, most of which are ovals or oval variations (tri-oval, etc.) ranging in size from 1/6 (!) mile to 1 mile, although most are around 1/2 mile. That's a lot of tracks, and although it might seem like they would all be pretty much the same given their short lengths, after driving them for awhile, you get to know the quirks of each track and appreciate the differences. Still, I would have liked to see even more variation (a few more of the bigger tracks would be nice, and road courses would be a dream, although clearly outside the focus of DTR).

In Quickrace mode, you can choose among three classes of cars. The "stock" class are typical street cars and really aren't modifiable in any substantial way. The "pro stock" cars are more powerful, have greater setup options, and feel more like a race car instead of your Mom's station wagon. For the ultimate in dirt performance, go with the "late model" cars, which are the real monsters -- all setup options are available, and the cars take a lot more time to learn to drive effectively.

After you've chosen your car, simply pick the track (all cars and tracks are available from the get-go), the AI skill level (thankfully with a continuous range slider) and number of opponents (up to 15), the number of laps, the track wetness, and you're off! The race starts off at the tail end of a pace lap (no pace car, however). During this time, the car is being driven automatically. Once the field hits the start/finish line, the flag waves green and control is returned to the driver. It's not as ideal as having full control at all times, but frankly it didn't annoy me.

The racing itself is a combination of driving finesse (following the ideal line, throttle control, steering and counter-steering) to get around the tracks as quickly and neatly as possible, and aggressive maneuvers to position your car on the inside line, using another car as a guard rail during a corner, and fending off the aggressive tactics of other drivers. It's quite hectic in the back of the pack with a lot of bumping, but once you're in the lead, the racing becomes a bit less chaotic as you strive to drive as cleanly a possible so as not to get caught up in the brawling left behind. Since there are few guard rails at most tracks, it is entirely possible to drive right across the infield. Thankfully, the game is smart enough to DQ anyone who does so during a race.

So with the bumping and rubbing, what's to stop DTR from becoming simply a Demolition Derby or an arcade racer? Well, if you turn damage off then it is closer to an arcade racer. But with full damage turned on, it quickly becomes apparent that you have to take care of your car as best you can. If a car becomes too badly damaged, it simply has no chance to win the race, at least in medium to longer races. In fact, the car may stop running at all, resulting in a DQ.

Occasionally, a yellow flag will come out if one of the cars gets a little too sideways and spins out. Like the pre-race pace situation, the car is control by the computer until the green comes out again. It can be slightly disconcerting for the green to wave and for the computer to return control if you are in the middle of a corner. Since the tracks are so short, I would rather have the green wave at the start/finish line. There are no pit stalls or pit stops by the way. From what I understand, this reflects reality: no pit stops in real dirt racing.

The AI is good, displaying almost human behavior in that they do not follow a fixed line around the track and definitely make mistakes. I wish the AI cars weren't quite so aggressive though -- sometimes they don't seem to know that your car is on the track too, or perhaps they don't care! However, in the end, this aggressiveness is tolerable in a dirt track setting, and the AI doesn't intentional run you off the track, or pull any other arcade racing maneuvers.

There are a number of views available. Naturally, most folks will choose the in-car view. It's nicely done, although the only working gauge is the tachometer. A rearview mirror is optional. In the upper corners of the screen, the current lap time is shown, along with the last several lap times (great idea), the gap time between the car ahead or behind, the race lap counter, and the race position. The current gear is shown in the lower corner.

Physics and Setup Options

OK, all the race details sound good, but physics modeling is the foundation of any game that wants to call itself a sim. DTR includes a physics realism slider, but honestly, I slid it all the way to full realism and didn't bother with the lesser settings. At the maximum setting, the car feel is nice, with just the right amount of control one would expect on a dirt track. You can tell when the car has settled nicely into a turn (riding the tackier dirt cushion are the edge of the racing line) and when it hasn't. Hitting the brakes too hard results in them locking up.

On the other hand, the power curve for the engines seems a bit small to me (requiring precise shifting to stay in the meat of the curve), but that's far superior to a flat power band. Acceleration from a standing stop is a little questionable -- flooring it on a dirt track in an 800-hp car ought to result in the car just spinning its wheels and hardly moving. Instead, it accelerates pretty quickly. Other test: stop the car and hold the brake. Does the car move? In real life it obviously wouldn't, but in DTR it can slowly slide around. That situation (and others) obviously won't really come up in most races, but it is interesting to test the fidelity of the physics.

In short, I found the physics to be good, but perhaps a bit short of excellent. The modeling is clearly superior in most areas to Nascar 3, and on the same level as SCGT or Viper racing. The physics aren't as good as GPL, but are good enough that you can immerse yourself and not be distracted. It's believable.You can't get away with just flooring it and turning the steering wheel at the end of the straights. Not if you want to win at least.

Hitting curbs (such as they are on dirt tracks), railings, or other cars usually upsets the car in a convincing way. I actually flipped my car over once upon hitting a guard rail. It didn't seem "canned" or gimmicky either. It struck me as reasonable behavior given how my car hit the rail. On the other hand, I did see a couple of flips in multiplayer that were a little suspect. Spins, by the way, are definitely not canned.

There is a wide array of setup options: five types of tires (soft to hard), tire pressure, toe-in, shock strength, bump and rebound, gear ratios, steering ratio, weight distribution, and so on. Unfortunately, the settings are spread among four different screens instead of being displayed comprehensively in one window. There is plenty to tinker with, and thankfully setups can be saved and loaded. Since many of the tracks are similar, I can see how only about five or six setups would be needed to accommodate all 30 tracks. All setup changes will have to based strictly on car feel and lap times though, since DTR doesn't include telemetry, tire temps, and the like to serve as a guide. Since the car naturally and appropriately feels slightly out of control as you race around a dirt track, in all honesty it is a little difficult to assess whether changes in the setup are helping or hurting. I did try an "expert" setup from a fan site and it made a big difference in the handling. I shaved about 3/4 of a second off my lap times. This is one area that will take some time and experience to fully master, but it is clear that winning late model races at the highest AI setting virtually requires a good setup.

Tired of that 9 to 5 job? How About a Career in Dirt Tracking Racing?

A major part of the fun of DTR is the Career Mode. In other games with a career mode, I found myself trying it out, growing tired of it, and giving it up for the quick races or multiplayer. I'm happy to report that Career mode in DTR is nicely thought out and comprehensive enough to keep it interesting (at least so far!). After choosing your skill setting and race length (not changeable after you start your career), you start out with $1,000 and no car. All you can afford to buy is a stock car. From there, pick a racing series to enter (there are three for each car class), and you're off to your first race. The races themselves are nicely done, with a practice session, qualifying, assignment to heats, and main events. Prize money is awarded and if you drive anything like I do, you will then immediately turn around and spend your winnings repairing your car.

After you get the hang of things and manage to win a stock car series, you'll probably have enough money to buy a pro stock car. It will be a stripped down version though, without all the optional racing parts you'll need to actually be competitive. In fact, racing pro stock races with a bare bones car is actually a money-losing proposition since you have no chance to place in the top half of the field, and repairs will drain your bank account. So, you will probably have to use your old stock car to enter a few stock races to earn some extra cash to spend on pro stock parts. Once you have a competitive pro stock car, the stock car can be sold off. It's pretty neat to be able to own more than one car and race in more than one series at a time.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention that if you do well, vendors may make sponsorship offers. It will be up to you to evaluate the terms and select the best offer. That sponsor's logo will then appear on your car. Very cool.

Sound, Graphics, and Control

The engine sound is OK, but could be better (perhaps a little clearer, with more variation depending on the RPMs). On the other hand, the sound of bumping other cars is good. One neat bit is that you can hear the track announcer calling out the name of the event, as in, "Ladies and Gentlemen, here is your A Main event!" as you prepare to go green. The crowd cheers at the end of the race. Overall, I'd say the sound is adequate.

Graphically, DTR is quite nice. While not as jaw-dropping as Powerslide, the graphics really do give the feeling of small town dirt racing. The cars are modeled well (they're mostly based on real vehicles), display front wheel motion and dirt spraying in the turns. The tracks, also mostly based on real tracks, have definite racing lines and vary according to the moisture level. The stands, backgrounds, and infields are good, if not spectacular. Thankfully, from my point of view anyway, there aren't any fake "arms" or a steering wheel on the dash (I already have arms and a steering wheel in front of me). The frame rate on my machine was good.

Setting up my MS Force Feedback wheel was easy. DTR recognized the separate brack axis and I could assign all buttons without problem.

Multiplayer

LAN games are handled through the game menus, but internet racing uses GameSpy lite (included) to find opponents, chat, and join races. I have a cable modem, but even in races with 8 other racers with wildly varying pings (some up to 400 and 500 ms), the races were generally smooth with minimal lag and warping. Occasionally, there would be problem here and there, but overall I'd characterize internet play as good.

DTR has a few neat multiplayer features. First, you can have the names of your opponents displayed above their cars as you race, helping keep track of who's who. Second, if you get DQ'd or simply want to watch the race instead of drive, you can switch camera views to any particular car or use a free floating camera, aimable and movable with the mouse to view the action from anywhere. After getting DQ'd early in one race (got bumped into the infield), I went into watch mode and checked out the race from way up high (like a blimp) where I could see the whole track at once. Very cool. Another neat feature (which may bug some people) is that points for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are awarded in each race. The reverse point total is then used to determine the starting order instead of qualifying. It helps to even out the competition and ensure closer racing.

I was relieved to find that most internet drivers try to drive cleanly and not turn the race into a demolition derby. I was afraid that the aggressive AI of the single-player game might foster the same mindset in multiplayer. Thankfully, my fears appear to be unfounded.

Annoyances?

DTR does have a few annoyances: The force-feedback is OK, but it caused my frame rate to drop a bit (still adequate though). However, turning off force-feedback left my MS wheel with no resistance at all, making it far to easy to turn, with no return-to-center force.

I wish the AI skill setting could be increased beyond 100. Frankly, with a good setup, it isn't as difficult as it should be to win even late model races at the highest skill setting. Don't get me wrong, it's challenging, but I can't help but think that as my skill level improves over time, it will become easier and easier to win at 100 skill. In my book, all racing sims should have a skill slider like Nascar 1/2/3 that go beyond 100 to challenge even the very best drivers.

There are some mild user-interface issues. For one, there are too many branching menus or "sub menus" where one comprehensive screen would have been ideal. Also, for the anal retentive (such as myself), it is hard to get precise settings with many of the sliders. For example, you want the toe-in set at 1.0 degree? It can be tricky to get it there instead of 0.9 or 1.1. Seems trivial, but it's a little annoying.

As I said before, the manual is skimpy, but for a $20 game, it's not bad. However, given the complexity of the setup options, I would have like to have seen a more thorough discussion of each setting and its effect on handling. The setup options are covered, but very briefly.

Finally, in what may be the biggest flaw of all, there is no replay option. Sometimes, I found myself really wanting to replay that last race and see how I slipped between two cars for the win, or see what caused me to spin out and crash.

Bottom Line

Fortunately, my sim friends, the niggles aren't showstoppers. And given the sim's low price, it's not reasonable to assume that DTR will have every bell and whistle. Dirt Track Racing is a steal at $20 and is one of the better sims available at any price, period. It is simply one heck of a lot of fun. I'm very excited by Ratbag's presence in the sim arena, and can't wait for their future offerings (CART sim please!).

Demo available HERE!