DiRT 2™ DEMO README (version 1.0, updated 2009-11-09)

Thank you for playing the DiRT 2 Demo! This document contains last minute information about the game. Please read through if you are experiencing any difficulties running the game.

- The Codemasters Racing Studio

CONTENTS

System Requirements
Supported Controllers
Installation Instructions
Known Issues/Troubleshooting
Further Troubleshooting
Audio
Force Feedback and Steering Wheel Setup
Advanced Features
Useful Websites

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Specifications

Recommended Specifications

DiRT 2 is enhanced for DirectX 11, so if you're running on DX11 hardware and a compatible OS you'll benefit from enhanced visuals.

Network Play Requirements

Supported Graphics Cards

ATI Radeon x1550, x1600, x1650, x1800, x1900, x1950, HD2400, HD2600, HD2900, HD3450, HD3650, HD3850, HD3870, HD3870x2, HD4850, HD4870, HD4870x2, HD5850, HD5870.

NVIDIA Geforce 6800, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950, 7950Gx2, 8400, 8600, 8800, 9600, 9800, 9800Gx2, GTS250, GTX260, GTX275, GTX280, GTX285, GTX295.

Not compatible with all integrated sound/graphics solutions (inc. laptops).

SUPPORTED CONTROLLERS

DiRT 2 can be configured to use almost any PC controller, however we recommend the following controllers for the best game play experience:

DiRT 2 provides default configurations for all of the above, meaning that you should be able to plug-and-play, with no tweaking required.

For some wheels (e.g. Logitech MOMO, Fanatec Porsche) it is important that the pedals are on separate, rather than combined axes. From the Windows Control Panel, choose 'Controllers' and click 'Properties' for the wheel you will be using. Click 'Settings' and ensure that the 'Combined' or 'Single Axis' setting is unticked.
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

It is advisable to close down all applications before either starting the installation or running the game. Not doing so may cause the game to lose focus or run poorly.

Once you've downloaded the demo, simply run the installer file and follow the on-screen instructions.

DiRT 2 requires the presence of DirectX 9c on your system in order to run. Your version of DirectX will be automatically updated (if required) during installation.

Once you have entered the game and created a profile, you can alter your graphics and resolution settings from within the Options Menu.

KNOWN ISSUES/TROUBLESHOOTING

Before reading the list below, make sure you're on the latest Graphics Drivers for your card. If you're having any kind of trouble running the game or you're seeing any strange behaviour then this is the first thing to check. Follow the links at the bottom of this page to the ATI or NVIDIA website (depending on your graphics card) and just follow the instructions you find there to ensure you're up-to-date. To a lesser extent the same is true of Audio Drivers and Windows Updates - try to make sure that all your hardware and software is up-to-date and you'll avoid most problems.

i) The game won't install!

You'll need enough free disc space to install the game, and this includes space for the downloaded file, space for the installer's temporary files and space for the game itself.

To install or uninstall the game you will need administrative privileges within Windows. On Windows Vista, simply enter the administrator password if and when you are prompted for it. On Windows XP, log on as an administrator before running Setup.

ii) I changed my graphics settings - now the game won't boot!

If you changed your graphics settings and now can't get into the game - don't panic! This can occur if you enable an option unsupported by your graphics card, or set the resolution beyond what can be handled by your monitor. DiRT 2 includes a 'Safe Mode' to help under such circumstances, which can either be run using the shortcut under the start menu in Windows XP, or by right-clicking the game in the Games Explorer in Windows Vista, or else by launching the game using the '-safemode' parameter. Safe Mode will simply boot the game using the lowest possible resolution and graphics settings. Alternatively, simply delete the hardware_settings_config.xml file, and the game will generate a new one the next time it is run.

iii) Visible shearing/tearing

You may experience tearing across the picture. This can be avoided by turning on 'VSync' which is available from the advanced graphical options menu. Please note that this may reduce the performance of the game, and so is disabled by default.

iv) Poor frame-rate

DiRT 2 has been designed with multi-core processors in mind, and you'll require two or more cores in order for the game to be playable. If you are running in Vista, the game may also require a larger amount of RAM than if you were running in XP.

If the game runs at an unsatisfactory framerate, try turning down/off some graphics systems from the graphics options menu. Mirrors and Wind Effects can both be disabled for a significant performance increase with little loss in visual fidelity.

Benchmark mode is available from the Graphics Options menu, and this will simply run a test race with the currently selected settings. For more information, see the Benchmark Mode section below.

More advanced users may want to tweak the settings in the hardware_settings_config xml file, located in your savegame directory. Turning down the shadow mask quality to 0 has been found to provide good framerate improvements for those with older graphics cards.

v) The game looks stretched/squashed!

Check that the aspect ratio and resolution settings that you are using are supported by and are applicable to the monitor you are using.

vi) Graphical Corruption!

Using extremely high resolutions on graphics cards that aren't up to it may result in graphical corruption. To fix this try lowering graphical detail or running the game in safemode as described above.

vii) Poor frontend performance using an ATI graphics card with driver version 9.9

There is currently a bug with the ATI catalyst driver version 9.9 which can cause low frame rates in the frontend. This is down to a problem with this specific version of the drivers, and can be fixed by switching to a different driver version. At the time of writing, the problem must be fixed by rolling back to an older driver version. To do this, first uninstall the Catalyst 9.9 drivers via the control panel (Add/Remove Programs in XP, or Programs and Features in Vista), then browse to the following website: ati.amd.com/drivers. Choose your operating system and graphics card from the lists, and click GO. If the subtitle of the page is “ATI Catalyst™ 9.9 Display Driver…”, scroll to the bottom of the page, and choose “Previous Drivers and Software”. Download and install the Catalyst 9.8 drivers.

viii) Game crashes when changing resolution

There is an issue when running with Windows Vista with a Geforce 8800 GTX and the latest drivers at time of writing installed (version 191.07), that will cause game to crash after changing resolution. The 182.50 drivers are the most recent which don’t suffer from this problem.

ix) Graphical corruption on GeForce 9800 GT

Graphical corruption has been seen to occur on an NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT when selecting one of the following multisampling modes: 8xMSAA, 8xQCSAA. Changing to a different resolution will fix this issue, and once this is done you can select any resolution and the corruption won’t return.

x) Can't accelerate properly with a racing wheel

Make sure the wheel is not set up to use a combined axis. See the Controllers section above for info.

xi) The rear speakers are not playing

Switch your speaker configuration from stereo to surround in the Windows Control Panel. DiRT 2 supports 5.1 surround in 'generic software' mode, and both 5.1 and 7.1 with OpenAL X-Fi hardware acceleration or via the default Rapture3D driver. You must restart the game to hear the effect of changes to the PC speaker configuration.

xii) The side speakers are not playing

The software mixer supports up to 5.1 channel surround. For 7.1 surround, with two extra speakers, select "hardware" with a suitable set-up (e.g. X-Fi with current OpenAL drivers) or "Rapture3D". Set the number of speakers in Windows Control Panel and then customise it, if you wish, with the additional options in the Creative Labs and Rapture3D speaker layout applications.

xiii) Problems with Hardware audio acceleration

DiRT 2 supports hardware audio acceleration via OpenAL on sound cards with fully-functional EAX5 drivers. Generic software and optimised Rapture3D drivers can however be selected in the game audio settings if hardware acceleration shows problems such as missing or stuttering audio. The hardware option only appears in the game sound menu if your system reports suitable capability (e.g. 100+ voices, high quality filters and reverb) and is in 'Game Mode'. There is a known problem with ASUS Xonar cards, and obsolete X-Fi drivers may also show problems. While hardware accelerated audio support remains an available option, the new Rapture3D driver is capable of matching or surpassing the performance of dedicated audio DSP on modern PCs, and is the generally preferred configuration.

xiv) Game doesn't run when USB headset is connected

The game may fail to run with some combinations of sound card and USB headset. This can be rectified by;
1) Select Run from the Start menu, type dxdiag and select OK.
2) Select the Sound tab.
3) Change the Hardware Sound Acceleration Level to read "No Acceleration".
FURTHER TROUBLESHOOTING

If you are still experiencing problems then please contact our customer support where we will be more than happy to help. Details can be found on the Codemasters website: www.codemasters.com. You can also see if other users are experiencing similar problems by visiting the DiRT 2 forums - see the link at the bottom.

AUDIO

Performance

The audio system in DiRT 2 has been designed to scale greatly, to suit all machines and sound interfaces.

There are three audio driver options. The "software" and "hardware" options are those available in the original DiRT for PC. Software uses the 'generic software' mixer from Creative Labs. This works on any DirectSound-compatible audio device, in stereo or 5.1 channel surround. It is fast but of limited fidelity; it has only limited EAX environmental effects. The "hardware" option works with X-Fi cards that support 100+ sounds, high quality reverb, mixing and sample rate conversion (e.g. X-Fi Xtreme Music, Auzentech X-Fi Prelude, Fatal1ty and the Titanium series of X-Fi cards). Results are hardware and driver-dependent, but may benefit PCs with a good sound card but limited CPU power for software audio. These are legacy options - they've been well-tested on dozens of games over more than a decade (dating back to Colin McRae Rally 4) but they are no longer the default.

DiRT 2 introduces the new Rapture3D OpenAL driver from Blue Ripple Sound. On a slow PC, this matches the quality of the old 'generic software' driver, but on a fast system (such as a modern Quad core PC) it can deliver performance equal or superior to that of the best hardware acceleration. Rapture3D tests your CPU performance and auto-configures to suit. The two 'Quality' options in the Rapture3D tab of the Rapture3D Speaker Layout application, installed with the game, allow you to give more or less CPU time for sound. The latency (delay between game action and hearing the result) can also be tailored by adjusting the Default Buffer settings. Increase these if you hear stuttering of the entire audio mix; decrease them to make the audio respond more quickly to the controls. This only has an effect when Rapture3D is selected in the game audio menu.

The version of Rapture3D shipped with DiRT 2 is tailored to this game, but Rapture3D is also available for many other PC games that use OpenAL, with extra features such as custom speaker layouts and low-latency ASIO2 output for professional soundcards not normally supported by games. Contact Blue Ripple Sound for details: http://www.blueripplesound.com

Drivers

You should ensure you have the latest drivers for your soundcard. If your drivers aren't up to date, or your sound-card is not made for gaming or set to "game mode" you may not be able to choose "hardware" mixing even if you own an X-Fi.

Please download the latest drivers for your X-Fi card. Creative Labs OpenAL drivers were updated in summer 2009 to ensure high performance on games like DiRT 2. For hardware-accelerated X-Fi cards on XP and Vista the current driver, used to test the game, is web update 6: SBXF_PCDRV_LB_2_18_0013.exe for PCI and XFTI_PCDRV_LB_2_17_0007.exe for 'Titanium' PCI express cards, both available from http://www.soundblaster.com/support/ - note that the SoundBlaster Xtreme Audio is not supported as it lacks the DSP power needed for this game, and that it's important to go to Creative Labs, rather than Microsoft Windows Update, to ensure you have current X-Fi drivers.

You also need to configure the system to Game Mode using the Creative Audio Console application installed with the driver, and select the most appropriate speaker set-up (or headphones, for CMSS3D effects).

If the 'hardware' option is not available on your PC you should consider using the Rapture3D driver. This does not use the Creative Labs DSP but does support 7.1 channel surround on X-Fi and other capable cards, with optional HRTF effects (similar to CMSS3D), and offers a scalable CPU load, with audio performance comparable to that of a dedicated DSP on modern PCs.

Acknowledgment

DiRT 2 uses Ogg Vorbis libraries © 2006, Xiph.Org Foundation, http://www.xiph.org/ (see disclaimer below)

FORCE FEEDBACK AND STEERING WHEEL SETUP

If you have a steering wheel, the following options are available in the DiRT 2 controller setup screen.

i) Dead Zone
This setting can be used to create a dead area around the centre of the wheel. If you feel the steering is too twitchy, increase this setting to increase the size of the dead zone. Note that a higher Linearity value (see below) may give a more desirable effect than increasing the dead zone, so consider trying that before increasing the dead zone.

ii) Saturation
This alters the amount that you have to turn the wheel to make the car turn. Increase this if you feel the steering is too sensitive. Reduce this if you feel that you have to move the wheel too much to get around the corners.

iii) Linearity
This changes how easy it is to hold the car in a straight line and to maintain drifts. Increase this if you are finding it too difficult. Decrease this if you feel the steering is too sloppy. Positive numbers mean that the steering is less sensitive around the centre point whilst still giving fine control when cornering. Negative numbers mean that the steering is more sensitive around the centre point than it is when cornering.

As well as the above settings, the following force feedback wheel options are available.

i) Force Feedback Strength
The overall strength of force feedback. Caution: setting this value too high may cause oscillation and an unrealistic feel to the force feedback.

ii) Force Feedback Weight
Higher values make the force feedback feel 'tighter' - only small changes in wheel orientation are required to cause large forces. This increases the perceived strength, but removes some of the subtlety and smoothness.

iii) Effects Strength
The amount of force feedback from crashes, rumble strips, and other environmental effects.

ADVANCED FEATURES

Benchmark Mode

Benchmark mode allows you to automatically run a standard race, in order to test the current graphics setup. It can be launched by pressing the button on the Graphics Options screen, and the test will take a few minutes to complete.

Benchmarks can also be launched as standalone tests from the command line by running "DiRT 2.exe -benchmark example_benchmark.xml". The XML filename is optional and allows you to override settings for displaying replays, saving the benchmark results, and overriding which hardware_settings_config.xml file to use (found with the game saves in the My Games folder). You can also specify custom race-sets by listing track and car combinations. See the file example_benchmark.xml in the game's installation folder for an example.. For further automation options, search the game's forums (linked below) for the word 'benchmark'.

Motion Platforms

If your system has a motion platform, then DiRT 2 should be able to control it. This feature is completely untested beyond checking that the basic data output is correct, and as such should be used entirely at your own risk. The output format is designed to be compatible with the "Live for Speed" outsim motion platform format. To enable, just open the hardware_settings_config.XML file and edit the motion attributes:

<motion enabled="true" ip="192.168.0.10" port="20777" delay="1" extradata="0" />

USEFUL WEBSITES

Codemasters website: http://www.codemasters.com/

DiRT 2 forum: http://community.codemasters.com/forum/...

If you are having problems running the game, you may want to try updating your graphics card drivers from one of the following websites:

ATI Technologies: http://ati.amd.com/drivers
NVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com/drivers

Neither the name of the Xiph.org Foundation nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. This software is provided by the copyright holders and contributors 'as is' and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. In no event shall the foundation or contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.