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DiRT Showdown Tested On Linux, Preview Port Report

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Updates will be placed at the bottom, please read the bottom before deciding anything.
I managed to get an early look at what will be one of Linux's only semi-realistic racers, and the results of DiRT Showdown on Linux are rather interesting.

Now, I've never actually played DiRT Showdown before, so my look at it will be with a completely fresh mind. I'm also throwing out the "wrappers are bad" argument, I'm just going to take the game for what it is right now.

About the game (Official)
Race, crash and hoon your way through a world tour of motorised mayhem in DiRT Showdown! Crowd atmosphere, social gameplay and accessibility are all ramped up in this turbo- injected shot of driving delirium. Smash down the accelerator and earn the adulation of frenzied crowds at hyper-energised events at iconic locations. Trick, speed and smash your way to victory, then do it again.

Linux gameplay video
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Note: Frame-drops in this recording by 1-4fps, and only because of the recorder. That's impressive itself, as all other games I've recorded drop by a whole lot more. This video has Vsync on.

Port report - Nvidia 970
Well, what can I say? Performance wise they have absolutely nailed it. I was able to get very high framerates on Ultra graphical settings (proper test below), so this is the first port of theirs I haven't had big frame-drops on. I haven't noticed any input lag, my Logitech gamepad was picked up with zero configuration needed, and I've really been enjoying it!

Using the in-built benchmark test gave me:
Nvidia 970, 2xMSAA, Ultra with advanced lighting enabled, 1920x1080
Average: 103.45
Minimum: 79.60

Nvidia 970, No AA, Ultra with advanced lighting enabled, 1920x1080
Average: 105.58
Minimum: 72.31

Nvidia 970, 2xMSAA, High with advanced lighting disabled, 1920x1080
Average: 133.03
Minimum: 100.53

Nvidia 970, No AA, High with advanced lighting disabled, 1920x1080
Average: 130.76
Minimum: 95.07

Port report #2 - Nvidia 560ti
Using the in-built benchmark test gave me:
Nvidia 560ti, 2xMSAA, Ultra with advanced lighting enabled, 1920x1080
Average: 37.40
Minimum: 31.13

Nvidia 560ti, No AA, Ultra with advanced lighting enabled, 1920x1080
Average: 39.79
Minimum: 33.46

Nvidia 560ti, 2xMSAA, High with advanced lighting disabled, 1920x1080
Average: 71.19
Minimum: 58.98

Nvidia 560ti, No AA, High with advanced lighting disabled, 1920x1080
Average: 75.13
Minimum: 61.34

I'm not sure if this is because eON (Virtual Programmings "wrapper") has generally improved, or because the DiRT engine is less intensive and a better match for it, but it doesn't matter, it's bloody good.

Although, if you look at Windows benchmarks, there's clearly still a gap between this on Linux and Windows. That doesn't stop it being playable on Linux though, even for a mid-range 560ti (not even the special 448 Cores edition, it's the standard 560ti) on High settings that's now multiple years old.

You can find DiRT Showdown on Steam. The game will now officially release on Monday the 10th of August.

I also spoke with Paul Lesurf from VP Ltd, and he confirmed they are now going to go back to older ports and look at any issues there. Good to see them do this!

Update: I've now done a few more races, and sadly at random times the game will crash. It seems to just get stuck on certain screens without ever progressing. I've reported this to the developer with logs of the errors.

The benchmarking has been re-done and the figures changed (560ti results later tonight too), a recent Nvidia driver update forced Vsync on, doh. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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38 comments
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aristorias Aug 4, 2015
Quoting: Beamboom
Quoting: Mountain ManExcept that won't convince anybody to give up Windows and start using Linux.

Even 100% on par with Windows won't do that. It takes more than being "as good as" for average Joe to jump OS.

And why the heck does anybody want average joe using this OS?
Even ubuntu had a bad impact on the community. Some company driven distribution with closed upstream is de facto reference for Linux distributions and quality of wikis/forums degraded the past years significantly.
Linas Aug 4, 2015
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Quoting: aristoriasAnd why the heck does anybody want average joe using this OS? ...

Because in the end it will benefit everybody in many ways. Because average Joes are our friends and family.

I did not choose Linux as my OS because only "l33t hackers" use it, but because I like how it works. If one day Linux becomes the most used OS, I am fine with that.
Liam Dawe Aug 4, 2015
Quoting: Linas
Quoting: aristoriasAnd why the heck does anybody want average joe using this OS? ...

Because in the end it will benefit everybody in many ways. Because average Joes are our friends and family.

I did not choose Linux as my OS because only "l33t hackers" use it, but because I like how it works. If one day Linux becomes the most used OS, I am fine with that.

Exactly. I really hope people stop this insanity of not wanting anything but elite nerds on Linux, it's doing us no good thinking like that. I consider myself average nowadays, I know barely anything about the command line for example.
adolson Aug 4, 2015
Quoting: ajgpHmm, this is a maybe pickup; now if they ported Dirt Rally i would be in there like a shot
No, just no. DiRT Rally isn't even out of Early Access. A wrap job would be acceptable years from now... Not before then.
Cmdr_Iras Aug 4, 2015
Quoting: adolson
Quoting: ajgpHmm, this is a maybe pickup; now if they ported Dirt Rally i would be in there like a shot
No, just no. DiRT Rally isn't even out of Early Access. A wrap job would be acceptable years from now... Not before then.

To be honest I wasnt specifically talking about VP doing a port of Dirt Rally, just that if it was ported by anyone (pref. natively) I would snap it up in a shot, but I can see how my comment could be seen that way.
Guest Aug 4, 2015
[quote=liamdawe]
QuoteI consider myself average nowadays, I know barely anything about the command line for example.

Just nowadays? I have always considered you average...



:P


Last edited by on 4 August 2015 at 11:04 am UTC
Liam Dawe Aug 4, 2015
Added some tests on the 970 with MSAA off, very little difference to performance.
Liam Dawe Aug 4, 2015
Update again, the game is probably stuck to my refresh rate, as it wont go above 65fps even on low, finding out how to turn it off to re-do the tests.

Edit: Due to the above, I reckon the game actually performs a lot better than my initial testing.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 4 August 2015 at 11:34 am UTC
Liam Dawe Aug 4, 2015
UPDATE: 970 tests have been re-done showing the proper results. It seems my last Nvidia driver update wiped my config and forced Vsync on, apologies, blame Nvidia or something.

I will re-do the 560ti results tonight too.
MayeulC Aug 4, 2015
Quoting: liamdaweUPDATE: 970 tests have been re-done showing the proper results. It seems my last Nvidia driver update wiped my config and forced Vsync on, apologies, blame Nvidia or something.

I will re-do the 560ti results tonight too.

Thanks liam. Ineed, these figures are much better. Too bad you can't compare with an amd graphics card :P

It seems strange that the previous setting had you have sub-60 fps, though.


Last edited by MayeulC on 4 August 2015 at 1:09 pm UTC
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