That opening shot 
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1st impressions, pretty awesome with some just released issues that are sure to be addressed. Now these are Xbox screens with a gamepad… I’m sure people with wheels and PC’s will have additional issues, which they seem to always do with new released games.
Now-a-days, even thou we should expect complete, great games. It’s the norm to really wait for an opinion after a patch or two.
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Gah, I guess I’ll buy it anyway so might just as well save those 10%…
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WRC PC Steam version first impressions: So far, 
. It’s early access so there are bugs and imperfections to expect. I’ve had a few CTDs as well.
Lots of content, single and multiplayer. It’s nice to be able to drive all cars and tracks off the bat instead of grind. PC users can use their mouse in the menu!
Group B cars ARE NO JOKE. Talk about raw power. 
Fps 100+ at max/ultra settings
Hardware- Nvidia 4090 OC, i9 13900KS, 64GB memory
Resolution 5120x1440
HOWEVER… there are occasional stutters and momentary freezes. (I’ve seen reports on other outlets about this.) It seems to happen when you make contact with objects off the track. I wonder if this happens on the console (XBOX, Playstation).
The replay and photomode functions are handy for post race analysis and snazzy screenshots.
Force feedback on my wheel (Moza) did not work initially. Got some quick help on the Moza discord and updated a WRC user file to enable it. FFB on paved road stages is basically non-existent. But on dirt and gravel it works good.
*** If you pre-order before the official Nov 2 release, you will get the 5 VIP Passes that gets you access to additional/future content for 5 in-game seasons. Otherwise, if you wait until after Nov 2, these VIP passes will be a separate DLC purchase.
I created a Mudpike WRC Club for those that want to race amongst the community and enjoy some friendly banter. It will be cross platform so everyone can join. There will be a separate post for that. no need for a fancy wheel and pedal setup. Controller is fine. Plenty of in-game assists to keep you going straight and fast!
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Moved from screenshot/vid thread:
Awesome! I really miss sim racing - going to have to try something to get back into it. I just tried moving my feet on my rudder pedal toe brakes a cuppla days ago and it seemed to go okay. So I reckon I’ll try using them for car pedals and use my old FFB wheel now and then.
Can’t use my G29, which is permanently set up on another desk, cos the pedal action causes me too much pain these days. If only the steering with gamepads was better.
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OK that finally pushed me over the edge… downloading now.
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I played it for just under 2 hrs tonight. I liked the handling on the dirt. I didn’t drive too many stages on tarmac, although I did the Hartje stage in the wet (Croatian rally) in a S2000 car. That was quite fun.
As many are reporting, I had stuttering as well. I was running high/ultra, on a 3080, i7-11 series, using M2. SSD. On reddit, people reported that if you run the stage multiple times, the shaders load up and the stuttering is less. I seemed to notice that too, although it also could have been me wanting to believe.
I did update to the latest Geforce driver which got released today. I’m not sure how much that helps. I didn’t have any CTDs.
I like the feel of the game/sim, but I think more optimization is needed. The graphics don’t look the best, considering 2023, but then I didn’t think they were the best during the reveal trailer and they don’t look any worse. Maybe the developers were forced to reduce the graphics due to performance, or maybe it’s a UE thing.
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Same here. But I don’t plan on driving it until VR support is released.
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Yeah. I am now waiting as well.
Meanwhile, when did Petter Solberg get so old?
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I was looking forward to it but I’m very disappointed. Dirt Rally 2 looks and performs better on my PC. Plus I find it doesn’t have telemetry so my Sim Racing Studio Shakekit can’t work with it. I got a refund from Steam. I may consider it again when EA add VR support and telemetry output.
All the hype from the Youtube content creators and they miss or omit to mention the lack of telemetry. It really does reinforce my belief they are mostly shills.
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Am I nuts that I still enjoy Colin McRae 2004 more than any other rally game? Luckily it’s fun with a gamepad.
Anyone tried WRC with a gamepad yet?
I played yesterday with an Xbox controller. I had fun with it with no setup changes.
2 Likes
As someone who’s been racing on a PC since World Circuit from MPS in 1992 or so, I’ve never used telemetry, have no idea which sims have it, and wouldn’t know where to look if it did.
Check out the Rally School. I found it useful to learn/practice different techniques. It’s voice narrated with tips as well.
There are 12 lessons, each on the 3 types of surfaces- snow, asphalt and gravel.
Basic Familiarisation
Basic Driving with Co-Driver Calls
Manual Starts and Straight Line Braking
Regularity Rally (achieving target times)
Road Positioning and Race Line
Off Throttle Oversteer
Left Foot Braking
Handbrake Turns
Power Slide and Throttle Control
Stage Obstacles (Jumps and water)
Hybrid Tech
Final Timed Test
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Telemetry certainly isn’t a mandatory item but once you get used to using it in sims ( driving and flight ) it’s omission is very noticeable. It is surprising given Code Masters provide it in their previous titles.
I also bought the game and drove around for a few hours.
I kinda feel like I am missing something from DR2 but cannot say what.
But my T-150 wheel and H-shifter instantly worked fine and my 2070Super seems to handle high quality graphics setting decently.
Will do more testing soon.
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I agree… it’s a great game but not getting that feel I had with DR2 either, I played the hell out of that one. But this is missing something like you said.
Now I play on Xbox Series X… and the framerate is terrible, I don’t know how to tell on the console but especially in heavy environments it seems to be around 20 or so, kinda gives me a headache after a long run. Then it has an occasional pause, usually when jumping a big jump or something. Just doesn’t seem tuned enough, not even for a console which is supposed to be a set standard.
I had a small number of microstutters on PC as well.
Weirdly they don’t seem to be correlated with graphics settings, I had them both on medium and high settings.
Speaking of medium: I am a tad disappointed by the graphics of WRC. It might be the rose tinted nostalgia glasses but on medium quality WRC actually feels like it looks worse than DR2. And even on high it doesn’t look much better, at least to me.
Edit: is there a way to get FPS on PC?
Side note: is there a way to run stages in reverse or at night? I drove a few stages but I can only pick one direction, wet or dry, and always day. Am I missing an options screen for that?
There is a Steam setting that will have it display the FPS for any Steam game in the upper left corner. I have it enabled. I haven’t tried WRC yet to see what my performance is like beyond going into the main menus.
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Addressing reported performance issues for PC players on WRC
With an upcoming update to WRC, we have been working hard to address the performance issues some players are reporting on PC.
The team has been implementing Unreal’s PSO system (shader-precompiling) which will address many of the stalls experienced by players in the first run of a track in various weather conditions. Alongside this, we have also targeted specific locations where framerate is sub-optimal and focussed our efforts on these areas.
The upcoming patch also contains many other fixes and optimizations. The team continues to work on optimizations for future updates.
This patch is coming soon. Follow EA SPORTS WRC for the latest news and patch information.