Speaking of flips and rolls, how important are the physics to Dirt?

Alex Grimbley: They’re vital, and they’re one of the things about Dirt that we’re most proud of. We’ve taken them right back to scratch and started afresh for the next-gen consoles. The physics we have now are probably about as realistic as you can get, and we’re updating some of them 1000 times a second. We’ve got separate models for every piece of the car, from suspension to the way the wheels grip the surface – I think we have something like 6 different types of tarmac alone - but that doesn’t come across to the player in a simulation-style way. We’re not bombarding players with statistics, it just feels really natural. Sure, you can tune your car however you want, but you shouldn’t have to understand all that stuff to enjoy driving them. The majority of gamers won’t know about everything that’s happening under the hood, but they will know that it feels good. But don’t just take my word for it – we’ve had Colin in to try out the physics as well as a host of other rally drivers and co-drivers, and those guys really know what they’re talking about.

Can you use the Xbox 360’s wireless Force Feedback wheel to play Dirt?

Alex Grimbley: You can, yes, and it’s great fun. It’s actually converted a lot of people on the team to the wheel – a lot of people preferred to play with the joypad, but now they prefer the wheel. I can actually get better times with the wheel, which I suppose is the most important thing! We’ve had a prototype version for a long time and it’s been great to work with. The guy who works on our force feedback actually has a license to race cars – he used to race touring cars – so he really knows what cars feel like when you’re thrashing them. He’s been able to transfer that sensation to the force feedback wheel and it’s been a very easy process.

Here’s the classic racing game question: 30 fps or 60 fps?

Alex Grimbley: 30. Once you se the game running you’ll understand why. As I mentioned all our other systems are running much faster than that, like the physics updating 1000 times a second. And we’ve got some amazing blur effects that really make it difficult to notice the difference. To be honest though, we did try the game at 60 fps with cut back graphics and detail, but when we put it back to 30 and ramped up the visuals again it just blew us away. We’re really not too concerned about it because Dirt looks fantastic, runs smoothly, and we’re very happy with it.

Tell us about the dirt in Dirt. Just how dirty is it?

Alex Grimbley: For a start we’ve got a fantastic particle system which is part of our new engine, Neon. We’ve got so many different types of kick-up depending on what type of surface you’re on, it all has it’s own physics, and it’s even affected by the wind in the environment. You’ll see dust clouds billowing in the wind for example. Everything you crash into emits some kind of dirt. It’ll get on your windshield and you’ll have to use your wipers to get it off. It’ll build up on your bodywork and you can even wash your car at the end of the stage if you want to. Basically we’ve got loads of systems just to muddy cars up!

Are there dynamic weather effects?

Alex Grimbley: The weather will change from stage to stage, as will the time of day. That gives a really nice feeling of progression as the day goes by or you move from country to country. Rain will, of course, make the dirt wet, and we’ve got loads of different types of mud. Wet mud, dry mud, gravel mud...