Austrailian software developement company Ratbag and publisher Wizard Works have brought us Dirt Track Racing, the first real attempt at a dirt racing sim ever produced. Within a few month's of DTR's intial release it has positioned itself at the top of the heap next to and second only to Papy's Nascar titles. DTR was voted 1999 Sim-of-the year by Powersims magazine and surpassed even Wizard Work's expectations with its remarkable sales through the 1999 Christmas season and into the new year as well. Make no mistake about it, DTR is definately a full-blown simulation. There is nothing arcade about this title. Game features include three separate yet equally challenging classes of cars to drive. Street Stock, Pro-Stock & Late Model. Each class has Career mode, Quick Race and Multiplayer features. Career mode starts you out in the budget class of Street Stock and allows you the challenge of winning money to buy more go-fast parts until you finally earn enough money and skill to afford and drive the Unlimited Late Model. If that seems like too much work, and to me it does, you can hop right into the Late Model class in quick race mode and head to the track for some fender rubbing action on any of a number of tracks. Some of the tracks will have names that you will probably recognize. DTR comes with the server software installed on the CD that will allow you to join & host multiplayer races. Lets get started.


USER INTERFACE, SOUND & GRAPHICS:

Once you have loaded up DTR, it's time to go inside and have some fun. When you launch DTR you are imediately shown a menu of Graphic card driver options for Glide, D3d, Banshee and software mode. First on the "to-do" list will be to setup your controller, which in DTR works very well and the setup menus are pretty easy to navigate through. DTR does support Force Feedback and although I don't have a FF wheel, people I've talked to have said the FF really adds to the simulation. At this point I will mention that Ratbag has released their fourth patch to resolve some compatability issues with the GeForce graphics cards, so if you've just purchased DTR, or if you are planning to buy it, I would strongly recommend that you get the latest patch, ver. 1.03. The patch also contains a DTR options program that will eliminate the intro movie and help fine tune some of the graphics card options. Again this was done to make DTR as compatible with as many hardware configurations as possible. Ratbag also left the code for the cars power parameters open so that anyone could edit the performance of their cars, against the wishes of the testers that they had at the time. The patches have also added a checksum feature that is suppose to insure even competition by making sure you are not racing against someone online with altered performance numbers. If you like to race online, you will almost have to patch the game because most of the race servers with Gamespy Lite ( the multiplayer server ) only support the patched version of DTR. If you are not planning on racing online and you don't need the patch for the Geforce then the patch is not as essential. Now that we've got the game loaded, the controller is calibrated and you have tweeked the options in the graphics and sound menus, it's time to get out and play in the dirt.

Dirt Track Racing gives you the choice of 30 different tracks to satisfy almost anyones preference. From quarter-mile flat bullrings to wide open one-mile oval to figure 8's and just about everything in between. Flat tracks, high-banked ovals and even some tri-ovals. Ratbag has done a supurb job of including many varied shaped and sized tracks to give even the most seasoned crewchief nightmares. All of these tracks, regardless of shape or size are excellently done. Each track has a unique color and texture on the dirt. Just like it is in the real world. Time to go to the track.


GAMEPLAY:

After you select the particular track that suits your desire, it's time to mix it up on the track. Now before you get your first peek at the track, you have a few more options to sort through. The first option you will want to select will be the adjustable track moisture setting. In other words, if you want it dry and dusty or wet and tacky, you get to choose the track condition. Next you can adjust the strength of the Ai and also how many laps you will run for the race you have chosen. And like any good racing sim you may need to stop by the garage and tune up the chassis. I will assure you that you wont want to drive the default setup for very long. That is if you want to be able to see your competition when the race is over. Like many sims that have been created, the default setup will let you drive the car but that's about where it ends. The setup menus are a bit intimidating if you haven't grown up next door to Smokie Yunick, but there are plenty of setups that you can download right here at Blackhole Motorsports that will knock the AI on their butts. Like any chassis tuneup goes, there are some of the setup parameters that make a big change in how the car feels and there are some of the settings that will only make a small change in the way the car drives. One thing is for sure, every option changes how the car performs. For the seasoned dirt track racer some of the setup parameters are a bit backwards to the real thing, so it may take a little relearning to get you to the front of the pack. I sort of attribute this to the fact that the developers are hanging upside down from the other side of the earth. Get your helmet on because its time to have some fun.


PHYSICS:

Now that you have a killer setup under the hood you can finally click the "RACE" button and get some laps in. When you enter the track you will find that you're not in control of the car yet. Your heading toward the Start/Finish line with as many as 15 other dirt crazed racers about to take the green flag. Once the green flag drops you're in control. The first thing that catches your eye at all of the tracks are the amazing graphics. The cars are dirty as if they've been there all week trying to qualify. Some of the tracks are set at night and some are run in the daytime. At the night tracks the lights streak across the hood as you go past each light poll. The grandstands are packed with cheering fans and if you're not careful, you will think you are really in a race car. The engine is thumping, the dirt is being kicked up by the cars in front of you and you're hammer down going into turn one. The cars in front of you slide sideways into the turn as you throw yours in there right beside them. For all you dirt track fanatics, you'll think you died and went to heaven. The physics engine in DTR is supurb. The car rolls as you turn in to the corner. The engine moans as the tires search for traction. If you stand on the go pedal too hard the car will lose traction and you will see your other competitors moving away. You can even hear dirt & rocks being thrown against the sheetmetal underneath the car. Quickly you begin to appreciate all those Saturday night racers you've watched for years. You know, the ones that you always said couldn't drive. Well now you realize it's not quite as easy as you imagined it would be. The cars can be a bit on the touchy side. Too hard into the corner or taking the wrong approach to the apex suddenly puts you in a slide you can't recover from. Damn, another yellow and this time they're waving it for you. You're sideway on the track or worse yet upside down and in need of the tow truck. Well DTR didn't include the tow truck so you'll have to reset and start over. One nice feature I like in DTR is that when you press escape, you're presented with the option to continue right where you left off, restart from scratch or simply go back to the pits for some more tuning.


RACING ONLINE:

The multiplayer function allows you to connect via tcp/ip to a race server or you can race as many as eight of your friends from down the block. If you're hosting on a dial-up modem you are probably only going to be able to race with three. DTR multiplayer also includes a chat pad so you can talk about the pass for the win you made or to scold your opponent for rough driving. The chat feature also gives each racers ping times to the race server. DTR is troubled by high pings though so you should try to eliminate drivers with pings over 250ms or so or you'll see warp and your racing will diminish. Another feature in online play displays the names of the drivers above their car. To me, this seems a little on the arcade side but a quick press of the F5 key turns this feature off. Although DTR doesn't have paint program included in the CD, the cars can be extracted and painted and then put back in the game. You can also download your favorite dirt drivers car and drive it like it was your own. If you want others to be able to see your paint job while racing online you will have to send it to them so they can load it up on their machine. Our DTR team exchanged paint jobs so that we could all recognize each other without the drivers names flying around above everyones car. To me that really added the finishing touch to an already great game.


BOTTOMLINE:

Dirt Track Racing can be fun but it can also mean serious racing. Its your choice. The game is really cheap and if you are still in doubts about buying it, download the demo which I am sure will convince you about the high quality of this product.

A big thank you goes to TruGrit for grabbing the spectacular screen shots.