Real Dakar 18 Platinum Guide (1.00 to 2.01)

[alexkuzko]

Hello!

 

This is to track mine two months story for the Platinum of the Dakar 18.

 

At the time of writing I've got all but three grindy KMs trophies (yeah, Platinum is mine!) facing ALL the issues and problems. So I hope if you are one of these brave souls the advises below will help you to run away! Let's the game begin!

 

So, as you may be aware of there are two main trophies which are glitched: The Bolivian and linked to it Dakar 18 Explorer. They may be collected in version 1.00 (1.01) and (probably, not tested) in 1.04 but not in 2.01 (the latest version). Beware! There is a weird glitch with Blue screen of death in Peru for Nasca Monkey (I'll explain it below) at least in 1.00/1.01 and probably in 1.04! On other hand you cannot get neither of countable hidden trophies (e.g. 1-2-3-4 something) - they are tracked in 1.04 and 2.01 only. At the same time you cannot pass Stage 12 (not the special, but the main stage) with Truck in 1.00 and 1.01 as you will drive straight into personnel on passage causing expulsion. Not enough? Well, you cannot get Winner in Peru/Bolivia/Argentina (both, Rookie/Competitor and Legends difficulty) in 1.04 - you need 2.01. Getting mad? Me to! Finally, the online is working in 2.01 only.

 

Now summarize with key notes and advised (faster) way of getting the Platinum:

 

0) Prepare a set of USB flash drives and PC. Seriously. You need to save after each and every Stage including Special. Absolutely. No exceptions!

 

1) Install version 1.00 of the game (using PSX Downloader and/or Disc version) on External USB drive (it would allows you to transfer it to PS5 for Nasca Monkey) and disable network (LAN and/or Wifi) to prevent game upgrade. IT IS THE CRUCIAL REQUIREMENT. CANNOT BE AVOIDED!

 

2) Complete Dakar 18 with the Car on Rookie (I wasn't able to use Truck due to Stage 12 glitch). Note that if you fast enough you may try to beat the Competitor level but as you wish to collect the Navigator trophy it is better to use Rookie and NOT TO MISS any waypoints!

 

3) Now you may collect all the hidden trophies (30 of them) with the same Car and profile. Read hints at the bottom.

 

4) If you cannot collect Nasca Monkey there are two main options:

 

4a) Remember where the trophy is, stop the car ~30 km before the point, get out of the car and slowly walk to the place. You need to be extra slow allowing PS4 (I've used PS4 Pro with and without Boost mode but have reports that it is impossible with PS4 and PS4 Slim - cannot confirm) to load textures and other things. It took me 4 hours with each and every attempt ~15 minute just to drive (turn back from the start and on the road drive to the right) but I succeeded. I have used 1.00 and 1.01 versions of the game.

 

4b) Detach USB drive and connect to your PS5 (expensive Platinum!), make sure you disabled all network and then you should be able to use the game safely enough.

 

5) Now you made the worst trophies hunt part and need to either upgrade to version 1.04 (it is hard as requires a lot of proxy operations, PSX downloader won't help) or to version 2.01. I've made all mine Competitor and Legends run on 1.04 with Truck as version 2.01 having tougher AI (rumors, hopefully not).

 

5a) If you have used 1.04 then you need to re-collect all the hidden trophies using SAME profile. 30 in total. Then win on Competitor difficulty (I've used Truck - it is easiest vehicle type) and finally win on Legends difficulty (note that you need to win All stages, including Specials - if you fail to do so, reload from previous USB save). You will NOT get the 6 trophies for winning everything in Peru/Bolivia/Argentina but don't worry yet!

 

5b) If you have used 2.01 - do the same. It wasn't tested by me but I pretty sure you may do the same as in 5a and additionally get these 6 trophies.

 

6) Being on version 1.04 and winning all Legends stages it is safe enough to upgrade to version 2.01 and Restart Stage 14 ONLY. After you complete it (I've won but probably it would be enough to to just complete) you will get all of these 6 trophies. Hope you won't miss any of the wins! But if you are - you may give it a try to restart stage you fail to win. While I do not recommend it - too fragile.

 

7) Grindy part is here! Drive in multiplayer with all of the vehicle types and eventually you will get the 10,000 km in Multiplayer, 2,000+6,000 km for every vehicle type and so on. Remember that you need to finish Stage AND if you wish to speed up the process just BEFORE the finish drive/draw circles to increase PARTIAL KM count. DO NOT switch roadmap, DO NOT fail off bike and quad (yeah, they are weird) and DO NOT be greedy like me! As soon as you get ~200-300 km save yourself - finish and perform save steps (below). Then repeat over and over again.

 

Hints:

1) To track your Special stage wins use Profile Statistics - your Win Stages counter need to increase by one, same as Total Stages.

2) Remember to force profile save by going into Options, then Audio, then change anything, and exit by pressing Circle and Accept. Wait few seconds and you are ready to save your profile to an USB drive for possible (you won't be able to avoid, seriously) restores.
3) Stage 12 glitch warning: in versions 1.00 and 1.01 it cannot be passed with Truck. In version 1.04 you may find that AI driving much faster than you resulting in... 37 of 24 waypoints! Don't worry, just be solid and finish Special of Stage 12! Then you'll see real results. I remember I saw same glitch in 2.01 with my initial Rookie run (which I made twice as 2.01 save won't work with 1.00!!) so be prepared.

4) Truck in 1.04 and 2.01 is much faster than in 1.00/1.01 - so 1.04 and 2.01 your only versions (especially due to impossible Special of Stage 12 with a Truck) to choose for Competitor/Legends runs.

5) The only Repair you may afford is Tire repair. 1 minute each, 4 minutes in total. It may have sense in Stage 13 just before main Stage after Special.

6) You may force AI to make mistakes but it won't be easy to finish in front as they always be behind you in ~0:45-1:00

7) For Trophy hunt you may watch videos of Alfarroba on Youtube (I'm not linked to him, posted few comments and made one full video, this is it) for stages overview, they are not complete, but helped me much. If you stuck with specific trophy you may... After you found at least one trophy you may save profile using method from above, then restart the stage. Check known locations for treasure chest and as they are random you may finally collect remaining ones. I've used this trick for a several times and it was very helpful despite of the fact you need to reach treasure location again... Works in 1.00/1.01 (initial hunt) and 1.04 (countable hunt).

 

It was one of the hardest and darkest game in mine PS4 carrier trophy-wise. But it has its own magic and mine tribute to it is... the long awaiting Platinum!

Edited July 6, 2022 by alexkuzko

[banlieue8952]

nice guide!

I started Dakar 18 not long time ago (US) and the game is often absolutely unplayable. It crashes/freezes a lot. Sometimes invisible barriers totally destroy your car out of the blue or rocks in ant size. oh, and the helicopter. where you hit something and suddenly you fly over the map. It's really frustrating to play it. Concerning playing competitor/legend with the truck: I tried now with v1.0 but the AI is still not that bad. This casserole with tires has no power to move over dunes. You managed to win every stage with that thing?

I won every stage in Peru with the Duster and the patched/online version. And it's really, like really really hard to beat the AI. Not only because of the times, but they can do whatever they want. I saw them entering speed zones / villages (mostly sainz) with full speed in superman manner and at the end screen they don't even receive a penalty for it. they never change a single tire, even when I'm obligated to do it after a 500km stage. How should I beat them when I need to slow down but they can keep the speed? Or when you need to go off-track over those little dunes where rocks hide behind every plant, so you drive carefully. The AI rushes with full speed through it. And even when I follow them on the exact same path, my car will be destroyed sooner or later. It's impossible to keep up with AI like that. Really frustrating. maybe I will go back to 1.0 and try the truck. But after testing it on competitor 1.0 the truck is really slow and the AI is always catching up. I just tried the dunes in Peru and not later stages with it.

Is it possible to not get 1st in one stage and repeat it later and still get the trophy for winning every stage?

here's a beautiful example how the AI rushes into a crowd (which for us would be a direct expulsion). Sainz continued the race without any penalty at the end:
 

Edited July 16, 2022 by banlieue8952

[alexkuzko]

@banlieue8952sorry for late response - was busy with work...

 

Well, to the Legends difficulty - as you may have seen I wasn't able to complete Competitor level on 1.00 and 1.01 versions with Truck (used KAMAZ) as Stage 12 was glitched - it was impossible to pass Passage Control Zone due to the fact Truck was driving straight into the personnel. I've tried it tens times, different angles, tried to run alongside competitors (it is impossible - trucks run one after another), spent 8+ hours just to find that it is impossible. So I was forced to upgrade to version 1.04 (it is tricky) and immediately saw that mine Truck have got higher top speed! Yes! So it was easy enough to win all stages and I won remaining stages on Competitor level with KAMAZ pretty easily. Then I've started to play on Legend difficulty with MAZ. I wasn't perfect, on one stage I even able to win with few seconds margin and it was tough, really tough. One stage I was forced to replace tires after first stage (it was important - you need to win first part, then repair and win second/overall) but as said I was constantly checking the Total/Won counters to proof I've won or lost.

 

Should I tell that Legend difficulty doesn't allow to resume in the middle of the stage?.. So if game freezes/crashes you are out of luck and need to start stage from the beginning. Fortunately it does save after first part in two parts stages.

 

I believe that 2.01 version is harder (speed is as high as with 1.04 version but AIs.... they play in their own "no-rules" league) so I've kept playing 1.04 and finished all Trophy Hunt (for a second time, you know - you need to collect everything again for countable trophies) and Competitors/Legends difficulty. Then I've upgraded to 2.01 just to finish 6,000 km for remaining vehicle types AND replay Stage 14 to get trophies (explained below).

 

IMPORTANT: You need to upgrade to 2.01 version as soon as you won on Legend difficulty in version 1.04 and restart Stage 14 (I won it but probably it is possible to drive it in relaxed manner) as this is the only version of the game where you may get remaining trophies for winning!

 

HINT: As I was starting first all the time (become I won each previous stage) it was possible to try to cheat by running few kms, wait for a second runner (usually it is your rival) and then force him out of road/crash him. Then drive as fast as you can. I also saw that AI times were random. E.g. if you restart stage your rivals may be out of luck, crash, etc. and you will be the first.

 

To your remaining question: I don't know is it possible to restart Stage, win Stage you failed in your first run and re-calculate the trophy conditions to get missed Trophy for winning all stages in specific region. I wasn't brave enough to test it. I was saving after EACH AND EVERY stage I won. Have two USB sticks, PC to save them and strict rule to save to them in a row to prevent any human mistake. I was paranoid!

 

Good luck to you! This Platinum smells like nothing else so you will be proud of yourself when you achieve it!

Edited July 23, 2022 by alexkuzko