Dakar 18 - Update v.08

19 OTTOBRE

This patch mainly focus on generic device handling and introduces a new Device Manager and a new Device Wizard to help players configure their steering wheel / pedals / gear shifter / handbrake in a generic, simple and in-game way.
We feel this new functionality is ready, although, should you encounter any issues, please report back and we will promptly do our best to fix it as this is still an evolving feature and we intend to make it the best possible with your support.

We tweaked the steering wheels code. If you find any issues with your device, we recommend to access the Control Settings and "Reset to Defaults".

New Features:
New: In-game devices wizard
New: In-game device manager
New: Generic steering wheel, pedals, shifter and handbrake support
New: Gear shifter inputs support
New: Steering linearity in controls options
New: Gearbox type "Manual H Pattern"
New: Gearbox type "Manual H Pattern + Clutch"
New: It is now not possible to engage a gear without pressing clutch when using ManualHPattern + Clutch type of gearbox

Features improved:
Improved: Fanatec steering wheel force feedback support
Improved: Updated Road Book of Stage 14
Improved: Updated Road Book of Stage 6B and subtitles
Improved: Updated Road Book of Stage 12
Improved: Sensibility and inverted camera options for vehicles and characters
Improved: Rebind tweaked to allow user to begin input action rebind with one input device and then press a key with another input device
Improved: General vehicle steering behavior (less understeer throughout)
Improved: Cockpit / Hood camera inertia
Improved: Real Time ranking during race now show the number of validated waypoints by each team
Improved: Front camera on trucks now at windshield height, not bumper height
Improved: Vehicles decreased steering with speed was too high (this is ignored for wheel devices)
Improved: Rain effect improvements and other particles

General Bugs fixed:
Fixed: Engine audio could stop playing during gameplay
Fixed: Steering limited by speed when using a steering wheel device
Fixed: Handbrake input issues
Fixed: SteamVR and OculusVR starting up on game startup
Fixed: Blown tires sometimes cause vehicle to become non drive-able
Fixed: AI have trouble at a CP when tires have too much damage
Fixed: In Multiplayer when leaving a CP, clients may end up with wrong gear
Fixed: Sometimes state of game become corrupted after finishing a stage
Fixed: Sometimes game freezes when crossing the finish line
Fixed: When on a treasure hunt, driven kilometers were not counted
Fixed: Steering lerp are disabled when using keyboard / mouse / gamepad while a steering wheel was connected
Fixed: Having a disqualify right after a checkpoint save game, sometimes enter an endless loop when loading last waypoint
Fixed: Characters can damage vehicles by hitting them
Fixed: In splitscreen when changing game settings, only the first player is notified
Fixed: Overall career rankings could become wrong when progressing through the career stages
Fixed: Inconsistent career overall rankings
Fixed: Force feedback was not stopped when alt-tabbing
Fixed: At the Bivouac, the Road Book part "B" wasn't visible
Fixed: Mirror render targets were not affected by day time
Fixed: The total number of waypoints on the progression bar is now correct
Fixed: Cyril Despres Peugeot 3008 texture error
Fixed: After leaving control points in auto pilot mode, the vehicle current gear is now properly maintained even if it changes from automatic to manual gear box
Fixed: Profile bar not showing the correct amount of DPs on main menu
Fixed: Issues with multiple hooks in MP
Fixed: Road Book on Stage12A Note 52 wrong CAP
Fixed: Road Book on Stage13B Note 82 wrong Kilometers

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Dakar 18 - Update v.07

7 OTTOBRE

We are releasing the seventh update, with the content update focused on the Artificial Intelligence improvements.
In addition, we have included many other improvements and fixes from reported issues.

We tweaked the steering wheels code. If you find any issues with your device, we recommend to access the Control Settings and "Reset to Defaults".

Features improved:
Improved: AI driving is now more realistic
Improved: AI behavior changes according to the difficulty mode more noticeable
Improved: Truck tires' damage adjusted
Improved: Better UI display when picking up a treasure in Treasure Hunt mode
Improved: Peugeot 205 T16 engine and gear box improved (it now reaches a top speed of 170km/h)
Improved: Wheel particle system management on a world shift
Improved: Server list now shows server state ('Lobby' or 'In Progress')

General Bugs Fixed:
Fixed: NPC vehicles disappeared during world shift
Fixed: Some assets had glitches and could end up with different visuals during world shift
Fixed: Issue with landscape lowest LOD showing for a few frames after a world shift
Fixed: Problem where binding an input, player could end up stuck
Fixed: Some bushes were seen inside the cockpit
Fixed: Painted green the path on Stage 11 note 30

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Dakar 18 - Update v.06

3 OTTOBRE

We are releasing the sixth update, today only with bug fixes.
Meantime we are preparing the second content update for the end of the week with nice improvements.
Fixed: Multiplayer - Incorrect player count in the server list
Fixed: Characters in "T-Pose" when skipping the intro
Fixed: Unknown devices no longer interfere with wheel default bindings
Fixed: When starting the game for the first time the devices configuration files were not created properly

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Dakar 18 - Update v.05

3 OTTOBRE

We are releasing the fifth update allowing now the users to manually configure your own devices, such as Steering Wheels, shifters, etc; we also included generic improvements and bug fixes.

Regarding the Steering Wheel devices, our plan is:
- Support as many steering wheels / pedals / shifters / handbrakes as we can by default
- Achieve a simple and robust way of allowing any other devices to be configured by the user
- Allow users to share their configuration presets with others (even with us in case you would like to see it in the official game)
- Allow default and custom device presets to be fully customizable in the game settings (remove the need to edit text files)

You can find all supported devices at: %appdata\Local\Dakar18Game\Saved\SteeringWheelConfigs, after running the game with v.05 patch.
If you do not see a file with your device vendor / product id, please check on our official guide for information on how to add it.

Devices supported:
- Improved device management and customization
- Steering wheel configuration files are now exposed (%appdata%\Local\Dakar18Game\Saved\SteeringWheelConfigs) after running the game for the first time after applying the patch

Bugs Fixed:
- Fixed: Vehicle steering input was not linear
- Fixed: Issues with manual gear setting in multiplayer for remote vehicles
- Fixed: In multiplayer, spectating a player using manual gearbox would cause the vehicle to look like being stuck in neutral gear
- Fixed: If a driverless player vehicle would enter a CP (pushed by another player), the owner of the vehicle would be stuck in character without input
- Fixed: Clients in multiplayer could not change truck high / low gear (or even see the state in the UI)
- Fixed: When changes are made to the lobby settings, the session metadata is now updated (no visible effect yet, but part of further improvements to server list that are incoming!)

Improvements:
- Improved: Vehicle replication is now smoother in multiplayer
- Improved: Optimized vehicle network traffic

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Dakar 18 - Update v.04

30 SETTEMBRE

We are releasing the fourth update with our fixes and content update.
This includes the first content update with significant improvements to device handling and customization (steering wheels and pedals for now) along with much more, check the list bellow.

We recommend to make a "Reset to Defaults" in the Control Settings after downloading the patch in order to avoid possible problems with re-assigned bindings.

Steering wheel improvements:
Fanatec generic steering wheels are now supported
Logitech G920 steering wheel is now supported
Action and axis mapping for Steering Wheels implemented in the Control Options
Added external configuration file for unknown Steering Wheels (check technical documentation)

General improvements:
Several art fixes and improvements in the game world
Race ground flags have collision disabled for vehicles (temporarily while implementing flag dynamics)
Metal street sign on Tutorial level is now destructible
Improved storm Visual Fx: lightning bolt, rain and sparks particle effects
Tweaked moonlight color values to be more accurate
Adjusted clouds and horizon color intensity
Improved overall vehicle damage model
Improvements to the replication of vehicles in multiplayer
Added keyboard input to the shovel excavation action

General bug fixes:
Fixed: General adjustments on some Road Books
Fixed: Gear box won't break and staying in neutro when exiting an Passage Control waypoint
Fixed: Transmission option don't change when exiting a Passage Control waypoint
Fixed: Vehicle damage adjustments according to difficulty (including suspension)
Fixed: Force feedback / vibration is now only sent to the device in-use (gamepad or steering wheel)
Fixed: Gear box settings now keep the previous settings (career vs not career)

Known steering wheel related limitations:
Other USB peripherals, despite Steering Wheels and Pedals are not used yet
Clutch functionality is not yet used
Starting the game with a steering wheel may result in right input until the wheel is turned
Axis and special buttons may not be yet recognized on some devices
Force Feedback stops working when disconnecting and reconnecting a steering wheel in-game
Steering Wheel Dpad may be recognized as gamepad input when re-binding an action / axis