Greetings DiRT 3 Steam players,

Just wanted to let you know the new look Codemasters Forums are now live.

If you happened to be a member in the past you should be able to login using the same Codemasters Account details you used on the old forum and you'll find the login/register button in the top right of your screen (These will be the same as the details you use to login to RaceNet). Your username should be automatically pulled in but if you don't have a Codemasters/RaceNet account don't worry, setting one up is free and just takes a few moments.

That’s pretty much all you need to know to get you up and running, if you are having any problems at all just let me know either on here or Twitter.

Once you are logged in click your username at the top of the screen to visit your profile, from here you’ll be able to upload your avatar which will be used across the whole of the forum. Over on the right of this page you’ll find the edit profile button where you’ll be able to add details like your website, Twitter username, Steam ID, PSN ID or Gamertag.

While you are on the edit profile page be sure to have a good look at all the settings and the notification page, we have pop up and email options for almost everything that happens on the forum so and you can customise pretty much everything to suit your taste.

So take a look around, let me know what you think, it would be great to get some of you guys on the new boards but don't worry I'll be dropping by Steam daily still and I have been reading the GFWL and the New Game Suggestions posts even if I have been a little quiet of late :)

Greetings all,

I'm Lee your friendly neighborhood community manager, I will admit to being a total lurker here on the Steam forums and I wanted to thank everybody who regularly helps out the other users with their problems. I figured it's time I was a little more active on here though and I wanted to clear up some of your frequently asked questions.

Whats The Deal With Games For Windows Live?
We are working on removing Games For Windows Live from DiRT 3 and when the work is finished we'll be pushing an update via Steam and you will all be upgraded free of charge. I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know when that work will be complete but I will let you know as soon as I do.

I Have a Boxed Copy of DiRT 3 - What about me?
The current plan is to allow anybody who has a boxed copy of DiRT 3 to redeem their CD key via Steam which will add DiRT 3 to your Steam library - there is a chance the process of how you get your copy might change and we're working with Valve to make sure it's as painless as possible.

Why Can't I Download The DLC?
Because the GFWL market place is currently shut down unfortunately you can't purchase or download the DLC for DiRT 3, we will be making the DLC available on Steam when the Steamworks version of the game is available.

WTF! My Game Won't Start
Some users do have trouble starting the game, this seems to be an install/GFWL issue. Try downloading and installing the GFWL client manually and it should work fine Link

How Can I Contact You?
You can obviously contact me here on the Steam Forums or on Twitter I'm not going to be much use for technical questions in 140 characters so if you are having problems with the game it would be best to contact custserv@codemasters.com, let them know as much as you can about the problem and your rig set up and they will do their best to help. If you want to keep up with what the DiRT team are currently up to then you can follow DiRT on Twitter and Facebook and the CodiesBlog

I'm pretty sure that's the major questions that come up answered, I'll keep this first post updated with any others that crop up

If you've pre-ordered DiRT Showdown you'll now be able to start pre-loading the game ensuring you're in pole position for launch.

Not yet pre-ordered? There's still time left!

The DiRT Showdown demo on Steam is now live, we hope you have fun, crash aplenty, and generally just have a good time.

We'll see you in the rampage arena!

We're happy to announce that DiRT Showdown will race into stores on May 24th across mainland Europe, May 25th in the UK and May 29th in North America. DiRT Showdown will be the first game to launch on the company’s new publishing label Codemasters Racing

To mark the news, we've released the ‘Ultimate Hoonigan’ gameplay video featuring the spectacular tricks and stunts players can perform in DiRT Showdown’s Hoonigan game modes. The video features Ken Block’s Ford Fiesta H.F.H.V Gymkhana 5 which features exclusively in DiRT Showdown, going head-to-head with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X JUN.

<A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kUCMT8JNjQ">Ultimate Hoonigan Video on YouTube</A>

We're also extremely excited to announce that a playable demo of DiRT Showdown is due to launch worldwide from May 1st. The demo will feature a solo and multiplayer event and will be available via the DiRT Showdown Steam store page.

When the DiRT Showdown demo goes live, we'll be inviting our community to join the free new online hub for Codemasters Racing games, RaceNet. RaceNet will launch in beta as an evolving interactive community platform for Codemasters Racing games and allow fans to track their Races, Rivals and Rewards. For more details about RaceNet, you should check out our <A HREF="http://community.codemasters.com/forum/codemasters-racenet-1438/480830-codemasters-racenet-faq-new-post.html">FAQ</A> at the newly created <A HREF="http://community.codemasters.com/forum/codemasters-racenet-1438">Codemasters RaceNet forum</A>.

If you want to keep up to speed with all the exciting DiRT 3 DLC released to date, just check out this thread over at our official forums for all the latest info.

<a href="http://community.codemasters.com/forum/dirt-3-general-discussion-1339/467285-dirt-3-dlc.html">DiRT 3 DLC roundup thread</a>

We've recently released the first patch for DiRT 3, and if you don't have the patch already then the game should auto-update the next time you try to run it.

The following issues have been addressed by this patch:

• Time of day and weather options are now correctly saved within Jam Session save/restore slots.

• Fixed an occasional loading screen hang which could leave the player with a black screen.

• Fixed a soft lock when removing the Ethernet cable on some screens during a LAN session.

• Battersea Compound – Parking Lot environment updated to ensure that smash blocks are always present.

• Resolved specific instances of the player being able to drive into areas of crowd.

• Corrected a rare issue with online staggered start team events which could lead to incorrect team scoring.

• Fixed a very rare physics issue which could lead to the player’s vehicle falling through the world.

• Fixed two graphics issues which could lead to a crash when changing resolution or resizing the windowed game to a height of 0 pixels.

• Resolved an issue preventing Player 2 from re-binding their controls if using a keyboard within a split-screen event.

• Fixed an issue which, in specific circumstances, could lead to a spectator seeing incorrect progress during a multiplayer Transporter event.

• Minor corrections to track boundary and reset lines.

• Fixed an issue which will occasionally cause the green ‘infected’ effect to be applied to the player’s car during loading between Outbreak events.

• ‘World Record’ and ‘Personal Best’ symbols now correctly appear within all circuit-based time trial events.

• Correction to particle behaviour during high speed collisions, avoiding any instances of them spawning in the wrong direction.

• Minor finish line adjustments to avoid the possibility of bypassing them in some routes.

• Fixed an issue which lead to the driver’s hands clipping when in the interior camera ‘brace’ position.

• Resolved an issue which would occasionally prevent the ‘World Tour’ tetras from spinning within the front end.

• Resolved an issue which could lead to some vehicle cards flickering within the front end vehicle select screens.

• Adjusted a small number of text references and menu options for the ‘VIP Pack’, which should be referred to as the ‘Free Car Pack’ for PC.

• Various stability fixes.

Presented by Codemasters, Monster Energy, DC Shoes and Ford, Gymkhana pioneer Ken Block is back! Shot at London's iconic Battersea Power Station, transformed for one day only into a hoonigan's paradise, DiRT 3 Technical Consultant Ken Block hits the dirt hard in his specially prepared Ford Focus. Witness a masterclass in multi-surface car control as he drifts and donuts around a course based on the DC Compound -- a Gymkhana stage set around Battersea Power Station in the forthcoming DiRT 3 videogame.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX_JSw8iAeQ">Ken Block's Dirt 3 Gymkhana: Battersea Power Station, London </a>

A few of you may have seen this before, but for those of you who haven't :)

<A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2gwGg1Oblw">DiRT 3- Group B Rally lives on Trailer</A>

In case you didn't know, Paul Coleman who is the Senior Game Designer of DiRT 3 is regularly active on Twitter answering community questions and providing regular updates on the game. If you want you can follow him at the below link.

<A HREF="www.twitter.com/kick_up">Kick_Up (Paul Coleman) on Twitter</A>