Erik Johnson

A new update focusing on graphics has been rolled out for Colin McRae DiRT 2, now available for download on Steam.

The patch brings quite a list of items focusing first-and-foremost on graphics, with gameplay, audio changes and more. Owners of the game can grab the update by restarting the Steam client, from the change log:

Graphics

• Shadow quality setting of “low” is now correctly saved instead of resetting to “medium” Combinations of both high resolutions and high MSAA levels have been restricted on graphics cards with low memory to prevent issues found with those settings
• Added missing function key icons
• Fixed several lighting artefacts in night races
• Fixed missing initial load screen on multi-GPU setups under DX11
• Alt+Tab and Alt+Enter are now better supported under DX11
• Benchmark mode now correctly applies custom settings
• Fixed missing text in benchmark mode pause menu
• Fixed a crash when changing multisampling mode
• Fixed flickering text on stats screen in network mode
• Improved image sharpness in DX9
• Fixes to improve NVIDIA 3D Vision support
• Better default graphics options are chosen when running the game for the first time with a GeForce 8400 GS

Audio

• Fixed an issue where replay music would suddenly cut in when navigating a replay at very slow speeds
• Ensured that OpenAL is properly shut down when exiting the game using Alt+F4
• Prevented reverb cutting in and out abruptly on the Utah tracks

Gameplay

• Fixed player being able to drive through the ground on the Rewang Trailblazer track
• Fixed wall-riding on Battersea routes
• Bug-fixes for LA Stadium, Malaysia Rally and Baja Rally tracks

General

• Fixed a rare crash during the loading sequence
• Fixed an issue in the Russian language version where the default player name is missing from the one-to-watch sequence
• Fixed an issue where loading and saving would fail if multiple controllers were connected
• Fixed a crash which could occur when entering the first race using a motion platform

Changes

• Removed 16x quality coverage sampled anti-aliasing support
• Added support for MS Sidewinder Force-Feedback USB Wheel
• Added support for Logitech Driving Force USB Wheel
• Added support for Logitech Cordless RumblePad 2 USB controller
• Machines with 6 cores will now use the 4-core worker map rather than the single core map

Optimisations

• Optimised shadow rendering
• Optimised CPU performance on machines with SMT and multiple cores
• Improvements to frame-rate fluidity and triple-buffering support