Dirt Track Racing

Released

Release Date: January 31, 2000

Dirt Track Racing is the first title in the racing series produced by Ratbag Games. The player participates in the extremely popular in the United States title Dirt Racing races, which are held on muddy sections - however, unlike car races, the competition is held on oval tracks similar in appearance to NASCAR or IndyCar arenas.

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Dirt Track Racing is the first ever game based on one of the most popular forms of motor racing in the US with more competitors than any other type of 4-wheel motor sport, racing at over 700 tracks all over the country.

DTR captures the exact experience of competition, including realistic physics simulation, tuning/upgrading vehicles and progression through various series from hobby stock to the late model class. Possibly the most important feature is the very tight racing. In a field of 16 cars every single car uses the same physics engine with over 100 parameters for each car. This means that all the other cars race right along side you. This results in incredibly tight racing around short circuits, jockeying for position in a pack of vehicles, something never seen before in a game.

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Grooves

Grooves of hard packed dirt form on the standard racing line. The groove is more slippery than the rest of the track. This creates more than one optimum racing line and adds an extra level of complexity.

Water Truck

The dirt or clay must be wet by a water truck to create sufficient traction for racing. However over the course of the night the track dries out and the water truck appears periodically re-wet the track. The result is that each time one races in qualifying, heats and mains the track handles slightly differently. This may require adjustment to car settings and tactics.

Game Progression

The player starts with $1000 and must use this money to purchase a vehicle and enter the lowest class of competition, hobby stock. By winning prize money and attracting sponsorship the player can purchase new vehicles and enter new classes of competition. Their career, from amateur to professional, spans several years in the game. There are 12 separate cities / competitions (local, regional and national) of varying difficulty levels in which the player may compete. Each competition has full simulation of practice, qualifying, heats and mains.

Additional Features:

* 30 tracks

* 18 different vehicles

* 3 separate classes

* 8 separate series

Resource Management:

The player can spend their money on:

* Purchasing new vehicles (a garage will store all the player's vehicles)

* Upgrades

* Repairs

* Entry fees

* Fuel, Tyres & track hire in practice

Classes:

* Hobby or Pure Stock (cheap, no modifications)

* Production Stock (more advanced, stock body, some modifications to mechanics allowed)

* Late Model Class (professional, highly modified, fibreglass bodies)

Tracks:

30 tracks, with variations of: * length (1/8th to full mile)

* banking (flat to 33 degrees)

* clay or dirt

* oval, D-oval, tri-oval, egg shaped, figure 8 (with collisions)

Vehicles:

18 vehicles accross the 3 classes. Each vehicle has 5 paint schemes. When the player attracts sponsorship the sponsor's logo will appear on the vehicle.

Physics:

The physics are simulation, not arcade. In practice and during the race meet the player is able to adjust the vehicle settings. The vehicles have a damage model which affects handling.

Technical:

* Improved software rendering for Pentium II 233 machines

* Extensive 3D graphics hardware

* Multiplayer over LAN and Internet (human players only)

* Force

* Neural Network AI

Platforms: