June 23, 2009

This is a sub-page of Proto:DiRT 2 (Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360).

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: There are definitely more differences.

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

A preview build for Xbox 360 dated 23 June 2009, a month and 9 days before the release build, was released as part of TeraRelease 2.0 in 2021. The game is starting to look identical to final game at this point, but there's still noticeable differences.

It is a press-demo, these demos are usually sent to game journalists months before game release. As a result, only the first minutes of the game is accessible (until Morocco). The several cars, multiplayer and other events (these are stripped off the build) aren't accessible.

User Interface#

Startup Legal Credits is looking similar to final build but almost everything is white.
During game boot up, a preview splash screen appears and it's a video.
Title screen poster has been changed, however it still uses Mitsubishi render, but it uses final style.
The thumbnails for cars and locations were different, although they were captured from earlier build.
XP level font had several number differences

Gameplay#

RallyCross tutorial is played when players enters the race, unlike in final where it is skipped by default.
The zoom effect was faster, and it was possible to zoom out even more
This build contains intro and attract video but they don't trigger.
Event Start camera has multiple variations instead of one in final game.

Locations#

The other routes that were in their respective folders of tracks were kept are still there. However they are buggy due to incompatible files. It is possible that the only important files (these are ones intended to be used in build) were overwritten with later versions

Location sponsor boards had DiRT 2 logo, albeit with green color as a placeholder.

London#

Battersea Bridge (route_0)#

The other routes that were in their respective folders of tracks were kept are still there.

The lighting and sky were different. The sky would be used in final game in night London version of Frontend.
There are still no sponsor boards yet.
The projector projected DC Shoes logo.
The opponent highlight and race outro are different, such as former zooming at later interval rather than instantly.
Several Replay Camera cutscenes were different

Battersea Bridge B (route_2)#

The track used to be called as Battersea Bridge Reverse rather than what's in final in title.
This time however, there are no projectors.

Soundtrack#

This build includes more songs that exist in this build but are not triggered as they are not listed in Music Player configuration. As a result, the game only plays these songs:
- Black Tide - Shout
- Blakfish - Jeremy Kyle Is A Marked Man
- Die! Die! Die! - Sideways Here We Come
- Dinosaur Pileup - All Around The World
- Eagles Of Death Metal - Wannabe In LA
- Elbow - Ground For Divorce
- The Hot Melts - Edith
Several songs used to have their replay versions:
- Die! Die! Die! - Sideways Here We Come - rp_mus_loop_06
- Hollow Earth Theory - Transmission - rp_mus_loop_10
- MSTRKRFT - Work On You - rp_mus_loop_15
Several music files for replay existing in game files, the specific ones:
- rp_mus_loop_12
- rp_mus_loop_14
- rp_mus_loop_18-33
- rp_mus_loop_37-40

: are placeholder audio, that plays Friendly Fires - Lovesick, and in addition, a beep sound will play with a voice repeating: "Replay placeholder" throughout the song.

Ingame Videos#

`intro.bik`#

It still uses DiRT's attract movie. However, it doesn't play.

`first_race.bik`#

A placeholder version of intro, it only features Rally Subaru Impreza WRX, and an early version of LA Stadium map, apparently even earlier than QA build. It also includes Black Tide - Shockwave song that didn't made into final game and the older logo. Just like above, it doesn't play.