Codies Racing Line: April 22, 2021

It’s been another busy time here at Codemasters HQ but thankfully the Racing Line is back with another timely entry, wrapping up all the goings on over the last two weeks.

Without further ado, let’s get into the biggest story of the lot…

F1® 2021

How far will you go before you reach your ‘Braking Point’? The next generation of F1® gaming is on its way, as last week we announced F1® 2021 to the world, racing onto your PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, or PC via Steam on July 16. You can check out the trailer here:

So, what’s to be expected in F1® 2021? Things you know and love from F1® 2020 such as My Team, two-player split-screen, shorter seasons, accessible options, and F2™ aren’t going anywhere. We’re also expanding and refining many other features including scalable assist options, driver stats, and multiplayer, all of which we’ll be revealing more about very soon. As for the new features, if you missed our announcement (where were you?!) – here’s a mini rundown of what we’ve revealed so far:

Braking Point
Introducing ‘Braking Point’ – our brand-new story-mode. You’ll be able to rise from the ranks of F2™ and take a shot at stardom in F1®. We’re going to be giving you an experience of the lifestyle both on and off the track as you take your seat in the pinnacle of motorsport – you’re going to love it.

Oh, and yes, did we say that F1® 2019’s Devon Butler is back too? ?

Two-Player Career
This is something we know you’ve been asking us for a while – an online two-player career. You’ll be able to play with a friend co-operatively, or competitively, with complete control over your own assists, so you’ll be able to enjoy the game whether you’re a veteran or totally new to the series.

Real-Season Start
If you’ve ever wanted to pick up an F1® season from a particular point, Real-Season Start is for you. Whether you want the opportunity to rewrite the season, or dive in and race alongside the real one, you’ll take the place of a driver of your choosing and drive the remaining races.

Want more information about F1® 2021? Get all the details in our blog post right here.

We can’t wait to share more in the coming weeks! Stay tuned…

– Jenny

 

DIRT 5

It feels like every time we open up social media we’re greeted with a new selection of incredible snaps taken in DIRT 5’s Photo Mode. If you didn’t know, we’ve been proudly displaying some of our favourites in our Twitter banner but now we’ve taken it one step further by promoting them in-game! Before you find an online match, you’ll be greeted with a handful of incredible photos from the community – like this one from Nick Baker.

It’s not only Photo Mode that you’ve been wowing us with – Playground Arenas like this one make it as our featured Playground of the Week. Whether you’re on PlayStation, Xbox, PC or Stadia, the Playground of the Week is playable across all platforms and can be found in the ‘Discover’ section.

Want to get your Photo Mode snaps in-game or your arena creation as the featured Playground of the Week? Make sure you tag the official DIRT social channels wherever your posting and your works of art and they might be next to make an appearance.

Don’t forget, you can jump into our official Discord server if you want some more DIRT 5 goodness.

– James

 

Codemasters DiRT Rally Team

Hey everyone, PJ here with a special rally update.

Junior WRC: Croatia Rally
After announcing our team last month the time has finally arrived, DiRT Rally are competing in the real-world this weekend!

As I write this, Jon Armstrong and Phil Hall are making their final preparations ahead of Croatia Rally, the opening round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship.
A successful tarmac test took place over the Easter break and they’re now in Croatia to take on the world.

A rally week is typically very busy, as the Junior WRC drivers had a training day on Monday, recce on Tuesday and the Shakedown takes place on Thursday.
After that they’ll be sharing the same roads as modern-day legends Sebastian Ogier, Ott Tänak, Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans.

The Junior WRC drivers are competing in identical Ford Fiesta Rally4 cars; the closest equivalent in DiRT Rally 2.0 would be the Ford Fiesta R2 which was the previous generation model. These machines have been prepared by the fine people at M-Sport Poland and the DiRT Rally car really stands out with its black and yellow colour scheme.

Jon and Phil will be busy on the road of course, but throughout the week keep an eye on their Instagram profiles ([Jon] & [Phil]) as they’ll be sharing reaction, insight and behind-the-scenes goodness straight from the paddock. We’ll also be sharing the best bits on @dirtgame too so follow us in all the usual places to see how the team gets on.

If you want to show your support for the team, Jon and Phil have put together a whole bunch of Codemasters DiRT Rally Team merchandise too! Caps, mugs, stickers and the fashion accessory that just oozes rally-chic (the bobble hat) are all there so if you want to wear some DiRT, that’s the place to go.

I’ll be back in the next Racing Line to let you all know how they got on, but for now all we can do is wish them the best of luck!

-PJ

 

PROJECT CARS 3

Image credit: Aivis (Discord)

Welcome racers! Time to dive into the world of Project CARS 3 and catch up with what’s been happening since the last Racing Line blog.

Porsche 935 Poll

We asked you to head over to our Facebook page to vote for your favourite Porsche 935. In Project CARS 3, we have various versions of this, one of the world’s most dominant race cars. Built as the racing version of the Porsche 911 Turbo in 1976, by the end of its evolution in 1982, the Porsche 935 (in its varying evolutions and driven by the factory and customer teams) had entered 370 races and won 123 of them—an astonishing ratio that included an outright win at Le Mans, along with wins at Sebring, Daytona, Nürburgring, and championships galore (DTM, IMSA, and World Championship of Makes).

The choice was tough, and the result was surprising. The Porsche 935/77 squeaked a win over the Porsche 935/78 (aka Moby Dick), with the re-boot 2019 Porsche 935 finishing in third.

We’ll be making more of these polls in the near future, and the next one will no-doubt have you rubbing your chin in deep thought. Stay on the lookout for that one once it goes live!

April’s Rivals Challenge

The end of the month is almost in sight, which once again means your collective efforts of topping the leaderboards will earn you some in-game currency and experience points.

Think you’ve done enough to be in the Platinum ranking? If not, there are still many daily challenges and one more weekly challenge to get your ranking up.

Give it your all, track your own progress online on the leaderboards, and visit the website to get a schedule of upcoming Rivals challenges.

Getting Even More Snappy

One of the genuinely big perks of my job as community manager is that I get to trawl through our channels in search of the best images from our amazing community of photographers. Being an avid virtual photographer myself, I know what it takes to capture a special moment and turn it into something truly awesome. So here are my recent favourites from my last trawl!

Image credit: Haru86_GAME (Twitter)

Image credit: WWXGD401 (Twitter)

I’ll leave you with some tips that I use frequently in my own shots that you’ve seen from Project CARS 3. Try to frame the action into a single shot by pushing the camera back and zooming-in on the subject. Then adjust the aperture to draw attention away from the background. And finally, crank up that shutter speed to bring everything together for a dramatic sense of speed!

That’s all for this week, I must go, I sense some electricity in the air…

– Fernando

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