Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Discussion Thread
- Thread starter GTPNewsWire
- 1,603 comments
- 240,956 views
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
I enjoyed both TDu1 and TDu2, and was able to adjust the steering wheel/controller settings to make the physics engine bearable in TDU2. I would be willing to bet that I have, not just more hours but far, far more hours into both games than many other people here, as these are quite simply two of my most-played games of all time. TDU2 alone I had over 1500 hours Probably closer to 2000 in reality. TDU 1 was well over a 1200 hours. To go with that statement, I have a scary good memory for most things and can remember events and places back to when 2 years old.
Why does this matter?
Because though I loved TDU, most of you seemingly are remembering the game through a rather powerful pair of rose-colored glasses. In fact, I would flat-out challenge you to go play both games again, see how well they aged, because the TDU1 game I remember had whole sections of roads that were completely terrible. Off ramps that ended in a 30º angle when it merged with a road, as in, the road sections were not meshed at all in some places. Some of the mountain pass roads also had this problem. I mean it was bad, really bad in some areas, just choppy, rough roads that were not fun to drive on. TDU2 however fixed these issues. So one can certainly and fairly make the statement that TDU2 had bad physics but at least the roads were drivable. The bike physics in TDU2 were a good notch better than TDU1. To be clear, both games bike physics were not very good, but TDU1 was definitely worse in this area.
Tdu2 also added dirt roads, I always felt the Dirt physics were far better than the road physics in TDU2, those to me at least were very enjoyable. The physics in TDu1 were better, but by how much? The reality is, TDu1's physics weren't all that great either, go play it, see what I mean. It's like saying the physics in TDU2 were a big smelly turd compared to TDU's physics which were a medium-sized smelly turd. Guess what, they are both still turds, and I'm only comparing them with each other. Now throw in FH1 in to the comparison and how do they both fair? Not well is the proper answer here.
I'm not bashing either game, I thoroughly enjoyed both games over a very long stretch of time and know them each like the back of my hand, but I refuse to remember either through rose-colored glasses. They were good offerings at the time with virtually no competition, but they were very rough in a lot of ways, completely lacking polish in some areas, while perhaps over-polished in others.
All that being said, I am looking forward to see what KT and Big Ben can do with the series.
Why does this matter?
Because though I loved TDU, most of you seemingly are remembering the game through a rather powerful pair of rose-colored glasses. In fact, I would flat-out challenge you to go play both games again, see how well they aged, because the TDU1 game I remember had whole sections of roads that were completely terrible. Off ramps that ended in a 30º angle when it merged with a road, as in, the road sections were not meshed at all in some places. Some of the mountain pass roads also had this problem. I mean it was bad, really bad in some areas, just choppy, rough roads that were not fun to drive on. TDU2 however fixed these issues. So one can certainly and fairly make the statement that TDU2 had bad physics but at least the roads were drivable. The bike physics in TDU2 were a good notch better than TDU1. To be clear, both games bike physics were not very good, but TDU1 was definitely worse in this area.
Tdu2 also added dirt roads, I always felt the Dirt physics were far better than the road physics in TDU2, those to me at least were very enjoyable. The physics in TDu1 were better, but by how much? The reality is, TDu1's physics weren't all that great either, go play it, see what I mean. It's like saying the physics in TDU2 were a big smelly turd compared to TDU's physics which were a medium-sized smelly turd. Guess what, they are both still turds, and I'm only comparing them with each other. Now throw in FH1 in to the comparison and how do they both fair? Not well is the proper answer here.
I'm not bashing either game, I thoroughly enjoyed both games over a very long stretch of time and know them each like the back of my hand, but I refuse to remember either through rose-colored glasses. They were good offerings at the time with virtually no competition, but they were very rough in a lot of ways, completely lacking polish in some areas, while perhaps over-polished in others.
All that being said, I am looking forward to see what KT and Big Ben can do with the series.
Last edited:
I once got flak for exaggerating TDU1's roads as resembling something out of the original Star Fox. I have not forgotten this aspect of the game.
TDU Platinum was also a stark reminder of just how poor the physics were. Having played WRC8, I have confidence that Kylotonn could do better.
- 26,757
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
When someone posted a thread for opinions on the Test Drive Unlimited series, a lot of us were in agreement that TDU is excellent in concept, but rather poor in execution. I must say "Test Drive Unlimited 2" was rather disappointing in a lot of aspects. What it DID do was introduce me to lots of people on PlayStation Network. I mean, I had better luck meeting new people in TDU2 than I did with (at the time) Gran Turismo 5 or that God-awful PlayStation Home.
A few aspects really let down TDU2 for me. The whole Solar Crown thing helped add some replay value outside of online play, but it was totally horrid. I also felt like you had to really grind just to get the better cars or some of the better houses. It was also a game I was scared doing jumps in because you didn't know how you were going to land sometimes. I still love the Test Drive Unlimited series and the concepts provided. Only thing is, it has yet to be a complete package that I can fully enjoy. Metaphorically speaking, TDU is a tiger in a perched position but has yet to truly leap and pounce. Will this newer TDU in the works be that leaping tiger, or will it still be in its perched position? Time will tell.
A few aspects really let down TDU2 for me. The whole Solar Crown thing helped add some replay value outside of online play, but it was totally horrid. I also felt like you had to really grind just to get the better cars or some of the better houses. It was also a game I was scared doing jumps in because you didn't know how you were going to land sometimes. I still love the Test Drive Unlimited series and the concepts provided. Only thing is, it has yet to be a complete package that I can fully enjoy. Metaphorically speaking, TDU is a tiger in a perched position but has yet to truly leap and pounce. Will this newer TDU in the works be that leaping tiger, or will it still be in its perched position? Time will tell.
- 29,981
- Cuddington, Cheshire
- JDA1982
I couldn't put it much better than that myself 👍.
I do have a huge soft spot for TDU, but I think a major contributing factor to that is that like you I love the concept and potential the game has and what it could be. It was an enjoyable game, but both TDU and TDU 2 had plenty of shortcomings, if enough of those can be overcome then maybe that tiger will pounce.
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
I was not expecting them to reinvent the wheel, and it sure sounds like they are not doing that at all but rather, they are making a Next gen version of the old game complete with better handling/physics (which is all the game really ever needed). Honestly if they just kept it to that, it would be a winner imo, cheesy voice acting and all, but I expect they will improve the old formula in many other ways, specifically to add more depth to the game as a whole. This has been mentioned by the devs as a goal. New driving missions, another new area/map, and more customization are all ways they can do exactly that. Adding an improved Livery editor over TDU2's is another way they can extend the replay value of this game.
I also want more everyday cars in this game, TDU1 was better in this regard
I also want more everyday cars in this game, TDU1 was better in this regard
- 355
- Virgin Islands US
Having a few makes sense as like the starter cars, like what they did in TDU2. But the main focus should be exotica. The whole idea behind TDU is driving the latest and greatest luxury and exotic cars in a tropical paradise. Living the high life. I can imagine they’ll include things like a Mk8 Golf GTI, Megane RS, Mk7 Fiesta ST, and so on, but not much else in the way of ‘pedestrian’ cars. Unless you mean things like the BMW M4 and Dodge Challenger.
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
Or any of the Audis like the A3, A6, the Lexus vehicles, Nissan (that were all in tdu1) and so on, but there should also be plenty of off-road vehicles that were in TDU2, something you wouldn't want an Exotic vehicle for. I would imagine given studio involved, that there will be plenty of off-road terrain to tackle.
- 6,963
- South Africa
...All this talk of the third game got me nostalgic again and I wanted to play TDU 1 but couldn't find any reliable used copy anywhere, so I went and DLed a free version available in the internet archive.
First thing I couldn't help notice was how floaty the cars feel. And despite being big, the island doesn't have a lot of interesting features at all.
Weird. I don't remember it being like that - but is what it is, I guess. Also, some stretches of the road have waaaay too many cop cars.
I'm genuinely intrigued on how the third game will turn out to be. I wouldn't mind it to be completely arcadey, but also not so floaty that it's like I'm driving speedboats with some cars. Also, a big map might be nice in theory but an equally empty one wouldn't be fun to drive around in either.
Fingers crossed that the devs get the balance right somehow.
First thing I couldn't help notice was how floaty the cars feel. And despite being big, the island doesn't have a lot of interesting features at all.
Weird. I don't remember it being like that - but is what it is, I guess. Also, some stretches of the road have waaaay too many cop cars.
I'm genuinely intrigued on how the third game will turn out to be. I wouldn't mind it to be completely arcadey, but also not so floaty that it's like I'm driving speedboats with some cars. Also, a big map might be nice in theory but an equally empty one wouldn't be fun to drive around in either.
Fingers crossed that the devs get the balance right somehow.
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
I think at the very least, we will have a good map with decent driving physics, and hopefully a nice car list to make use of all those customized homes to park them in.
If we get a semi-horrendously bad Solar Crown storyline with cheesy voice-acting to go with, then I'm ok with that. Though it would be cool if they made it really immersive, driving missions and so on.
Ha, I remember the Private Investigator missions in TDU2, I got a kick out of those. Most of the time I would use a Red Ferrari 308 GTS too, Magnum style, I found a way to get the Hawaiian shirt too.
- 355
- Virgin Islands US
- 8,426
- Rockay City
That's usually what happens when playing old games. The original came out in 2006, so you're now playing it with an additional 14 years of experience and progress in (driving) games. Doesn't mean the game wasn't great when it came out. Just that the world moved on while the game stood still.
I had the same experience BTW, loved to play this game when it first came out, but time was not kind to it when I tried it again a few months ago.
- 1,344
- Malaysia
- BABOBILIMBI
I revisted TDU1 recently with the Platinum mod, the driving feels mostly fine but whenever the car get some air time through slopes it feels like a instant death.
There are a few things I really enjoy in the first game is the traffic density and roads width. Narrow roads and higher traffic car count makes it a lot more fun and tense to speed around compared to recent open world racing games. I remember the cops were bad back then and revisiting it recently, it is worse than I remember.
I do hope the third game still have these elements, I hope they bring cops back as well. Cop chase with a huge map will be fun.
There are a few things I really enjoy in the first game is the traffic density and roads width. Narrow roads and higher traffic car count makes it a lot more fun and tense to speed around compared to recent open world racing games. I remember the cops were bad back then and revisiting it recently, it is worse than I remember.
I do hope the third game still have these elements, I hope they bring cops back as well. Cop chase with a huge map will be fun.
- 29,981
- Cuddington, Cheshire
- JDA1982
It's fairly straightforward to follow the instructions to install it. I managed, so it can't be too hard
.It's a cracking mod, doesn't turn the game into a whole new game, but it hugely improves the content and there's a few hours worth of discovering ad trying the new cars and finding out what cars can get turned into what other models etc.
- 275
- Currently Racing
- SosoMSC
- AnikiMSC
So quiet about this game since the announcement
- 1,325
- England
- Doomotron
Probably because it's in early development.
- 11,788
- Marin County
I think there's a good chance that we'll find out the location with the announcement. Any final bets?
I'm going with: Mallorca
It just seems to work so well with the series. Big enough, stunning roads and vistas, luxury lifestyle vibes. I mean...has anyone watched Love Island? It's clearly a place on the mind of 20-somethings.
I'm going with: Mallorca
It just seems to work so well with the series. Big enough, stunning roads and vistas, luxury lifestyle vibes. I mean...has anyone watched Love Island?
It's clearly a place on the mind of 20-somethings.
- 13,267
- GTPlanet
- Street-King-07
- Quattro Saltire
I think Corsica would be the chosen location given that Kylotonn is French.
- 298
- Brazil
- RodSk8Dude
- RodSk8Dude
Looking forward to this. I have grown pretty bored with Forza Horizon 4 (it doesn't help that Horizon 4 stopped working on my PC, AGAIN, and in fixing it, it broke Forza Horizon 3, which I got on the final week before being taken down from the store, and now the DLCs don't install. From what I read on a similar problem, the only solution might be to reinstall Windows from scratch).
I feel the Test Drive Unlimited series has some cool stuff that could make for good competition, if they get it right this time and don't screw the handling. If it's like the first, it's fine (except for the weird super-gravity).
I feel the Test Drive Unlimited series has some cool stuff that could make for good competition, if they get it right this time and don't screw the handling. If it's like the first, it's fine (except for the weird super-gravity).
Similar threads
