Richard Burns Rally

[GravelBen]

Hi, having heard that Richard Burns Rally is the most realistic rally sim out there and given that I'm starting to get a bit sick of the lack of realism in McRae 05, thought I'd ask a few questions about RBR:

-How good a variety of cars is there? only an assortment of WRC cars, or more entertaining classics as well? Favourites in McRae are mk1 Esky, Stratos (classic RWD fun) or the grp B cars for mentalness, but still enjoy WRC cars as well.

-Is the realism really as good as its cracked up to be? My main points of comparison are McRae 05 and Forza, how does it stack up against them?

-What platforms is it available on? PC, Xbox, PS2, etc? If PC, what sort of grunt is needed to run smoothly, and whats a good (preferably not too expensive) wheel to go with it?

Any advice appreciated, cheers.

[Jungles]

GravelBen said:

-How good a variety of cars is there? only an assortment of WRC cars, or more entertaining classics as well? Favourites in McRae are mk1 Esky, Stratos (classic RWD fun) or the grp B cars for mentalness, but still enjoy WRC cars as well.

The game only features modern WRC cars. These are unlocked as you go through the Rally School lessons, and a rally season. However, the default vehicle is the Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 model.

Various mods and add-on cars have been developed over time, including other WRC cars, Group-B cars, etc. You can find most of these here: www.bhmotorsports.com/RBR

Without mods or add-ons, and with all vehicles unlocked, the available vehicles are:

Peugeot 206
Mitsubishi Evo VII
Hyundai Accent
Citroen Xsara T4
Toyota Corolla
Subaru Imprezza 2003 (Available by default)
Subaru Imprezza 2000 (Bonus Car)
MG ZR Super 1600 (Bonus Car)

All are WRC-class cars, except the MG ZR, which is a JWRC Super-1600 class car.

GravelBen said:

-Is the realism really as good as its cracked up to be? My main points of comparison are McRae 05 and Forza, how does it stack up against them?

The realism is indeed the most authentic experience currently available on PC. Warthog and SCI set out to make the most realistic rally game ever, and they did the job well, with the help of Burns and Reid. The game has been tested unofficially by at least one professional rally driver in Germany, and another driver and co-driver from Scandinavia. The feedback is that the game is very realistic on gravel surfaces, but its physics on tarmac is less realistic - too little grip on dry tarmac.

Compared with CMR, there is no comparison. RBR is undoubtedly more realistic. I haven't played Forza, so I cannot comment.

It is generally accepted in the sim-gaming community that RBR is the definitive rally simulation game.

GravelBen said:

-What platforms is it available on? PC, Xbox, PS2, etc? If PC, what sort of grunt is needed to run smoothly, and whats a good (preferably not too expensive) wheel to go with it?

PC, Xbox, and PS2.

MINIMUM REQUIRED SPECIFICATION:

1.6GHZ Processor
256MB System Ram
64MB Video Card (Card must support Pixel Shading)
At least 3.10GB HD space
DirectX compatible soundcard

RECOMMENDED SPECIFICATION:

2.6GHZ Processor
512MB System Ram
128MB Video Card (Card must support Pixel Shading)
At least 3.10GB HD space
Sound Blaster© Audigy 2 ZS
Logitech© Momo© Steering Wheel

You can find more information at the official website:
www.richardburnsrally.com/home.htm

Edited by Jungles on Thursday 31st August 15:41

[GravelBen]

Cheers, sounds like my system should handle it ok then (Athlon64 3400, 512mb RAM, radeon 9550 256mb, 200GB HD), just need to splash out on a wheel and try to find a cheap copy of the game.

Any idea if people have made RWD cars for add-ons, or are they all 4wd?

[pentoman]

It is very realistic yes.

But even better than that, is that it feels very different to track racing games, so requires a different approach, driving style etc which can become very satisfying. If you drive it like every other track racing game it will be frustrating.

So it's like a whole new genre of game you didn't realise there was!

[Jungles]

GravelBen said:

Any idea if people have made RWD cars for add-ons, or are they all 4wd?

They are either 4WD or FWD.

I don't think the physics engine supports pure RWD cars. But the modding community might have found a work-around.

The source code for RBR was purchased by the Swedish Sim Racers Foundation, with a plan to make it available to the public. So pure RWD cars might be on the way in the soon. RBR looks like it will become the GPL of rally games: old engine, but lots of mods and will continue to be played for years to come.

[GravelBen]

I downloaded a demo of it from tthe link you gave in your first reply, but it just crashes every time I try to play it. Might rent a copy out to try on the flatmates Xbox before buying to see if the 4wd cars are entertaining enough to stop me getting bored