Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Discussion Thread

[warp9engage]

I have a feeling the game is not going to be pushing visual boundaries if it's also being released on switch. I mean...the game is being released on everything which kind of suggests it will be buggy and not optimized on anything.

edit: the number plates seem to suggest coordinates of 22 north and 114 east...which appears to be Hong Kong

being more liberal with the GPS coordinates landed me out in the ocean near Cabo, out in the middle of the Pacific, or in Western Australia. So I think Hong Kong is it folks.

edit 2: My earlier Macau comment might be apropos...I'd be willing to bet that its included too.

edit 3: if you interpret the first number plate as 0.2N rather than 22N, you end up on the Island of Borneo...but that's 287,000 square miles, so I'd rate that as highly unlikely

I still say people are looking too far into those plates. To me, they are numbers and letter that mean you can customize your plates from car to car, nothing more.

As others have said, I highly doubt Hong Kong is a viable scenario given the whole situation the region faces right now. It would be 'bold', to be polite.

My money is still on Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. At 2034 km2, it's larger than Oahu and larger than Ibiza, but it's not larger than both those islands combined, as in TDU2's total driving area. Optimal size for a new game, plus tropical, plus vacation destination, plus great roads, plus developed infrastructure, plus beautiful and varied landscapes, and Tenerife looks like it neatly fits the bill. It should be noted that the building in the teaser looks a lot like one of these towers. It's also interesting that there a nice convention center across the street from those buildings, where the cars in the teaser are likely at, especially if you see pictures of the inside of that center.

 

[PJTierney]

Fully CGI trailers are almost as bad as inaccurate marketing speak.

Just for reference, and so nobody thinks what I entirely reasonably thought, here's the press release (and yes, this is the entire thing):

Sounds like they had to show something for Nacon Racing Week and that the game isn't far enough along for gameplay visuals to reach trailer quality (whether that be the visuals being up to snuff, car models being signed off, environment being done etc.).

Art optimisation is usually one of the final things in a game's development; "getting the game to work" is the big one that comes first.

Same reason Forza Motorsport really liked showing Laguna Seca Corkscrew over and over in their announcement; that's probably all they had that was presentable at that time.

 

[d0x360]

Made by nacon? No thanks... Nacon and milestone make the worst racing games so... Yeah. No thanks.

 

[Doomotron]

At 2034 km2, it's larger than Oahu and larger than Ibiza, but it's not larger than both those islands combined, as in TDU2's total driving area.

TDU2 was also meant to have a Dubai map, which I believe was almost complete. Its cancellation is why much more of the game happens on O'ahu.

While I'd like a map that's as large as O'ahu or even Ibiza, I won't rule out that KT will give us a cheapo map that is absolutely microscopic in comparison.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

There was a thread going around earlier trying to figure out the setting using the original trailer.
I've quoted an enhanced photo of a tower in the background that was being used as a reference point to try and determine the location.



With the current theory that the license plates are coordinates for Hong Kong, maybe someone a bit more architecturally inclined than myself would be able to find a similar looking tower in Hong Kong?
To my eye, the rest of the skyline looks to be lacking a few smaller buildings that I would expect to see in Hong Kong but it's possible that the game isn't providing an accurate count of buildings (as you would expect from a game).

It's probably a long shot, trying to compare an obscurely angled, out of focus photo of a building in a game to a real life skyline to try and draw similarities, but I thought it might be an interesting detail to explore.

Well what we can tell from the image is that there is a tower, which actually pretty effectively rules out any Mediterranean, Caribbean, or coastal African location that I can think of. If we're seeing the bottom third of the tower (just a guess) it does have an architecturally significant feature of what appears to be a mechanical floor. It also appears to have a gradually tapered shape. The other important factor is that it doesn't have any similar-height neighbors. Finally, you can tell that the terrain beyond the tower is pretty hilly, maybe even mountainous. Hong Kong is absolutely packed with towers, but most of them are of a certain, lower height. There's really only one that works, and that's the international commerce center

If you were to park at the gateway (large parking structure + cruise ship terminal) you could probably get a vantage point quite similar to that teaser shot.

Though it's not perfect. Not sure how you could get that vantage point and not see the building adjacent - and I looked, the adjacent building was completed first.

Evidence is not ruling out Hong Kong, in any case.

edit: the teaser shot looks suspiciously high...like the car is parked at least 10-20 floors above ground. Maybe it's parked in the Pelli building across the water. Who knows.

Lame trailer, and I'd be super disappointed if I had actually been waiting for it.

I think Hong Kong would make for an interesting location too, so I hope those hints are pointing to it.



Agree with everything except FH4 having the best roads in the series. FH1 had much better roads, and the Red Rock Canyon road is still easily the best in the series, although I suppose that's getting kinda off-topic...

You're probably right. I do remember RRC being fun. FH1 was such a refreshing game...it's a real shame that they haven't tried to improve the formula at all. I think the lack of continued development/innovation is the most disappointing thing about the entire franchise. It's beyond stale.

 

[dimassa19]

Made by nacon? No thanks... Nacon and milestone make the worst racing games so... Yeah. No thanks.

If these companies were not producing this game, the franchise would probably be dead already...And since TDU is my second favorite franchise, I am very happy to be able to play a new game. (even if fan reviews show that he is the worst in the series)

 

[d0x360]

If these companies were not producing this game, the franchise would probably be dead already...And since TDU is my second favorite franchise, I am very happy to be able to play a new game. (even if fan reviews show that he is the worst in the series)

I understand where you are coming from, and I'd like the series to return too...but the developers have a track record of making terrible driving/racing games. They are buggy, they have engine issues, the physics are always... strange. It's like they have no respect for the genre but maybe since this is different than their usual kind of game they will be passionate about making it. We can only hope.

So again I'm with you but I'm not going to bother getting hyped in any way because nacon...

 

[warp9engage]

Well what we can tell from the image is that there is a tower, which actually pretty effectively rules out any Mediterranean, Caribbean, or coastal African location that I can think of. If we're seeing the bottom third of the tower (just a guess) it does have an architecturally significant feature of what appears to be a mechanical floor. It also appears to have a gradually tapered shape. The other important factor is that it doesn't have any similar-height neighbors. Finally, you can tell that the terrain beyond the tower is pretty hilly, maybe even mountainous. Hong Kong is absolutely packed with towers, but most of them are of a certain, lower height. There's really only one that works, and that's the international commerce center

If you were to park at the gateway (large parking structure + cruise ship terminal) you could probably get a vantage point quite similar to that teaser shot.

Though it's not perfect. Not sure how you could get that vantage point and not see the building adjacent - and I looked, the adjacent building was completed first.

Evidence is not ruling out Hong Kong, in any case.

edit: the teaser shot looks suspiciously high...like the car is parked at least 10-20 floors above ground. Maybe it's parked in the Pelli building across the water. Who knows.

I would say, instead of the convention center, the cars from the teaser could be in a player house or clubhouse, on this hill, with that view to the buildings. That would also explain a bit the elevation, because a house on the hill would be above the ground level of the buildings.

 

[dimassa19]

I understand where you are coming from, and I'd like the series to return too...but the developers have a track record of making terrible driving/racing games. They are buggy, they have engine issues, the physics are always... strange. It's like they have no respect for the genre but maybe since this is different than their usual kind of game they will be passionate about making it. We can only hope.

So again I'm with you but I'm not going to bother getting hyped in any way because nacon...

We will see...

 

[karelpipa]

thank finger/palm animation was awesome

 

[Doomotron]

I understand where you are coming from, and I'd like the series to return too...but the developers have a track record of making terrible driving/racing games. They are buggy, they have engine issues, the physics are always... strange. It's like they have no respect for the genre but maybe since this is different than their usual kind of game they will be passionate about making it. We can only hope.

So again I'm with you but I'm not going to bother getting hyped in any way because Nacon...

And the first two TDU games were also buggy messes, with engine issues and strange physics, so there won't be any change there!

The first two TDU games were not good because they were driving games; they were good because they recreated a desirable lifestyle masterfully.

 

[Wolfe]

@d0x360 -- This game is being developed by Kylotonn ("KT Racing" in the trailer), not Nacon. It must be published by Nacon. No telling yet if that is still a bad sign.

Art optimisation is usually one of the final things in a game's development; "getting the game to work" is the big one that comes first.

So I'm doing it the right way.

You're probably right. I do remember RRC being fun. FH1 was such a refreshing game...it's a real shame that they haven't tried to improve the formula at all. I think the lack of continued development/innovation is the most disappointing thing about the entire franchise. It's beyond stale.

You're on a roll for echoing my unpopular opinions about FH.

FH1 was revolutionary, and really got my hopes up for the Forza brand overall, but the XBone games (and Microsoft's antics) crushed that.

 

[d0x360]

And the first two TDU games were also buggy messes, with engine issues and strange physics, so there won't be any change there!

The first two TDU games were not good because they were driving games; they were good because they recreated a desirable lifestyle masterfully.

I don't disagree with that either however that was a very long time ago games wise. Now they are essentially competing with Forza Horizon 4 or more likely 5.

People's expectations for driving games has shot through the roof.

I REALLY hope it's good...I mean that but I'm not going to let myself get hyped up like I do for Horizon because nacon has made nothing but terrible games and those were closed circuits not open world. Hopefully they are making a bespoke engine because the one they always use is... terrible.

 

[RodSk8Dude]

[...]


Despite being the best entry in the series so far in terms of roads, Forza Horizon 4 still does not really have fun roads like this. The road in the above clip looks way more fun than anything from the Forza Horizon universe. Look at the sharp elevation changes at or near corners, the car really moves around a lot. There's corners over crests. There's corners at dips. There's off and on camber corners. The road is genuinely bumpy, intentionally or not. The rollercoaster nature of that road is something completely missing in any FH road I can think of - all of FH roads are glassy, Hermann Tilke-like racing circuits....none of them feel responsive to real topography/grades. The switchbacks near ambleside feel so contrived - straight, 180 degree curve with X radius, straight, repeat. Even the switchbacks at Fortune Island feel way too smooth and uniform...designed to drift up without upsetting the car. Here's hoping the maker of a WRC game doesn't forget what makes those games so fun...

I geuss the roads in Forza really are boring and dull. I hate how wide they are, narrower roads could be nice, provide some extra challenge, making you actually have to slow down if there are cars coming the other way. But I guess it's supposed to be ultra-arcade-ish, appeal to the masses, and that would bother the impatient.

I also noticed something in the video, I like how when you get to an event, it's just an overlay on the mini-map telling you to enter it, not a big text covering good part of the screen, obscuring your vision. The visual in the world is busier than in Forza though.

 

[Morbid65]

I feel kinda bad going off-topic with Forza Horizon stuff, but I suppose the mistakes/disappointments of the leading open-world driving game are somewhat relevant to the future of this one?

You're probably right. I do remember RRC being fun. FH1 was such a refreshing game...it's a real shame that they haven't tried to improve the formula at all. I think the lack of continued development/innovation is the most disappointing thing about the entire franchise. It's beyond stale.

Agreed... same thing has happened with the Forza Motorsport franchise as well. They start with a good formula/base, and then don't make any significant improvements to it, instead just making it shinier and adding little features like racing suits and other gimmicks instead of focusing on the core.

Turn 10 have fallen so far behind with the Forza Motorsport series that catching up is going to be a monumental task. To Playground's credit, while not everything they were doing ended up being steps forward, it did sorta feel like they were advancing things more over the first 3 Horizon games relative to the Motorsport series... But Turn 10 didn't set a high bar to surpass.

I geuss the roads in Forza really are boring and dull. I hate how wide they are, narrower roads could be nice, provide some extra challenge, making you actually have to slow down if there are cars coming the other way. But I guess it's supposed to be ultra-arcade-ish, appeal to the masses, and that would bother the impatient.

Part of the problem with the road situation is FH4s lean towards faster classes. The game heavily favors S1/S2 racing, and even with the roads as wide as they are now, they are filled with contact. While I too would like better more technical roads, little Tommy and his middle school friends want to go 200mph in Lego hypercars, and that seems like the crowd they are catering to.

 

[Wolfe]

I feel kinda bad going off-topic with Forza Horizon stuff, but I suppose the mistakes/disappointments of the leading open-world driving game are somewhat relevant to the future of this one?

There certainly seems to be more than a couple of us in here crossing our fingers that this TDU game could at least offer a "good enough" alternative to Forza Horizon, The Crew, or Need for Speed...regardless of our feelings about TDU or TDU2 and the cringey tacky "high-end lifestyle" spin they put on things.

I am sure that is coloring expectations for this game.

...Turn 10 have fallen so far behind with the Forza Motorsport series that catching up is going to be a monumental task.

What a joke how 9+ years ago -- from FM2 to FM3 to FM4 to FH1 -- it seemed like Forza was only getting better, and that they were committed to iterating Forza into a thoroughly realistic console sim in the neighborhood of PCARS2 or AC.

Part of the problem with the road situation is FH4s lean towards faster classes. The game heavily favors S1/S2 racing, and even with the roads as wide as they are now, they are filled with contact. While I too would like better more technical roads, little Tommy and his middle school friends want to go 200mph in Lego hypercars, and that seems like the crowd they are catering to.

It has always been an uphill struggle to attract people (of all ages) to slower cars or more technical tracks in every racing game with online multiplayer, going back to dial-up modems.

 

[MrRaahzeel]

Im really stoked about the game i remember having TDU 1 on PSP and TDU 2 in 2011 on PS3 to see that game making his return it's so cool.

The luxury environnement and so will be so cool can't wait about the upcoming news about the game and the feature

 

[Normalaatsra]

I like the idea of a bay-type city island as the setting as it brings a new environment unlike the resort settings of Oahu and Ibiza that are tropical and Mediterranean respectively. All the metropolis islands are in Asia so having Singapore or both Hong Kong + Macau would be great choices, albeit smaller than the impressive scale work done on TDU's previous islands.

I disprove the idea of Guernsey simply cause it's not a luxurious place that the rich lifestyle TDU demonstrates, it would be more regal themed and TDU hasn't come to that point yet where we'd own castles instead of yachts.

Reminds me of how Isle of Man was long requested during TDU2's heyday as a new island due to being literally 1sqm^2 larger than Ibiza, it would be a nice drive but I don't know if it's worthy of being in TDU. I disagree with Jersey too for that matter. I speak with bias as I've never been to a British crown dependency or even UK to see what wealthy lifestyle is like there.

 

[Wolfe]

...I disprove the idea of Guernsey simply cause it's not a luxurious place that the rich lifestyle TDU demonstrates, it would be more regal themed and TDU hasn't come to that point yet where we'd own castles instead of yachts.

Hey, now that is a form of extravagance I could get behind. 💡

Please just let this game skip pretend-social-media-followers cringe, at the very least...

 

[Scaff]

I like the idea of a bay-type city island as the setting as it brings a new environment unlike the resort settings of Oahu and Ibiza that are tropical and Mediterranean respectively. All the metropolis islands are in Asia so having Singapore or both Hong Kong + Macau would be great choices, albeit smaller than the impressive scale work done on TDU's previous islands.

I disprove the idea of Guernsey simply cause it's not a luxurious place that the rich lifestyle TDU demonstrates, it would be more regal themed and TDU hasn't come to that point yet where we'd own castles instead of yachts.

Reminds me of how Isle of Man was long requested during TDU2's heyday as a new island due to being literally 1sqm^2 larger than Ibiza, it would be a nice drive but I don't know if it's worthy of being in TDU. I disagree with Jersey too for that matter. I speak with bias as I've never been to a British crown dependency or even UK to see what wealthy lifestyle is like there.

Jersey and Guernsey are both tax havens, so would fit the theme quite well (as well as Hawaii does), but I don't think it will end up being either of them.

You could also add Manhattan as a metropolis island in the list as well.

Here's a left-field one, how about Zanzibar!

 

[Famine]

I've gone back over all the TDUSC information, and there's one notable piece of assumed information I can't actually find - but several sites carry as fact. That's the setting being an island.

The original video featuring Alain Jarniou is the only place where an island is mentioned, and it's not specifically connected to Solar Crown. He says "To add more realism to Test Drive Unlimited we created an island at 1:1 scale", but it's in the middle of a piece where he's talking about the series rather than the new game specifically.

Checking out the Steam listing doesn't help. "Discover a brand new vast and vibrant real-world location that’s been built at 1:1 scale", it says. No mention of an island. The location isn't even mentioned in the last press release - "a richly-detailed world" is all you'll get!

 

[warp9engage]

I've gone back over all the TDUSC information, and there's one notable piece of assumed information I can't actually find - but several sites carry as fact. That's the setting being an island.

The original video featuring Alain Jarniou is the only place where an island is mentioned, and it's not specifically connected to Solar Crown. He says "To add more realism to Test Drive Unlimited we created an island at 1:1 scale", but it's in the middle of a piece where he's talking about the series rather than the new game specifically.

Checking out the Steam listing doesn't help. "Discover a brand new vast and vibrant real-world location that’s been built at 1:1 scale", it says. No mention of an island. The location isn't even mentioned in the last press release - "a richly-detailed world" is all you'll get!

I, personally, think that it's more of a stretch to think he's not referring to TDUSC, then to think he is referring to the new game.

Think about it: if he's talking about the series as a whole, then they didn't create just one island, at 1:1 scale, they made two: Oahu and Ibiza. And I don't see why he would single out the original TDU, specifically, in that context.

There's also a reason why TDU games take place in islands: they are surrounded by kms upon kms of open sea. TDU is about feeling as 'Unlimited' as possible, as you drive. The model of "you can see it, you can drive to it". But since creating entire countries or continents, with 1:1 fidelity, would be an undertaking and a half, they have to restrict themselves to smaller territories. In a landlocked, or partially landlocked, location this would mean creating artificial barriers to prevent players from leaving the map, like indestructible fences, invisible walls, terrain with zero traction so any car can't move further than a certain point, etc. TDU gets around this issue by using the vast sea as a natural barrier to keep players in the designated map area, and this is how it avoids "cheating", in how it restricts the map.

 

[Famine]

I, personally, think that it's more of a stretch to think he's not referring to TDUSC, then to think he is referring to the new game.

Think about it: if he's talking about the series as a whole, then they didn't create just one island, at 1:1 scale, they made two: Oahu and Ibiza. And I don't see why he would single out the original TDU, specifically, in that context.

Nonetheless, that is exactly what he says.

He refers to Test Drive Unlimited specifically, Test Drive Unlimited 2 specifically, and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown specifically throughout the segment. In that sentence he says "Test Drive Unlimited", not "Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown", and uses the past tense. Here's the full segment, and that line comes at 28'21:

There's also a reason why TDU games take place in islands: they are surrounded by kms upon kms of open sea. TDU is about feeling as 'Unlimited' as possible, as you drive. The model of "you can see it, you can drive to it". But since creating entire countries or continents, with 1:1 fidelity, would be an undertaking and a half, they have to restrict themselves to smaller territories. In a landlocked, or partially landlocked, location this would mean creating artificial barriers to prevent players from leaving the map, like indestructible fences, invisible walls, terrain with zero traction so any car can't move further than a certain point, etc. TDU gets around this issue by using the vast sea as a natural barrier to keep players in the designated map area, and this is how it avoids "cheating", in how it restricts the map.

I concur - natural barriers have always been the ideal way to limit the size of game worlds, and islands are the most natural feeling of natural barriers.

However it has not been specifically stated that TDUSC will be on in island as many outlets presume; it may well be, but it hasn't been stated yet.

That means that places such as Hong Kong - which is also a small (too small; 30 square miles, compared to 600/800 of the previous two games) island within the larger (400 square mile) territory - are not yet ruled out by virtue of not being islands.

 

[Nowax]

I have a feeling the game is not going to be pushing visual boundaries if it's also being released on switch. I mean...the game is being released on everything which kind of suggests it will be buggy and not optimized on anything.

edit: the number plates seem to suggest coordinates of 22 north and 114 east...which appears to be Hong Kong

being more liberal with the GPS coordinates landed me out in the ocean near Cabo, out in the middle of the Pacific, or in Western Australia. So I think Hong Kong is it folks.

edit 2: My earlier Macau comment might be apropos...I'd be willing to bet that its included too.

edit 3: if you interpret the first number plate as 0.2N rather than 22N, you end up on the Island of Borneo...but that's 287,000 square miles, so I'd rate that as highly unlikely

Hong Kong? This interests me!

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I've gone back over all the TDUSC information, and there's one notable piece of assumed information I can't actually find - but several sites carry as fact. That's the setting being an island.

The original video featuring Alain Jarniou is the only place where an island is mentioned, and it's not specifically connected to Solar Crown. He says "To add more realism to Test Drive Unlimited we created an island at 1:1 scale", but it's in the middle of a piece where he's talking about the series rather than the new game specifically.

Checking out the Steam listing doesn't help. "Discover a brand new vast and vibrant real-world location that’s been built at 1:1 scale", it says. No mention of an island. The location isn't even mentioned in the last press release - "a richly-detailed world" is all you'll get!

Hong Kong...confirmed?

 

[warp9engage]

Nonetheless, that is exactly what he says.

He refers to Test Drive Unlimited specifically, Test Drive Unlimited 2 specifically, and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown specifically throughout the segment. In that sentence he says "Test Drive Unlimited", not "Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown", and uses the past tense.

He talks about having worked on the first TDU and then that he also worked on TDU2. The next time he mentions the franchise by name, he says. "This new Test Drive Unlimited game (...)". So he's talked about the past of TDU, and his involvement in it, now he's going to talk about what's to come to TDU. That, to me at least, seems like the logical structure of the presentation. The fact that he says just "Test Drive Unlimited", could be simply because saying the whole name could be a mouthful, and these speculation questions, sometimes, end up having the simplest of answers. Furthermore, just because he talks in the past tense, doesn't mean he is referring to a past game. At the point in which the presentation was made, the team may have very well already built an island, for TDUSC, with the same scale as the real one. "But there wasn't enough development time", remember he said they built an island, 1:1 scale, he didn't mention anything about the detail level of the island or whether it was even populated with objects/vegetation. That's definitely doable in the "several months" he claimed they had been producing the game.

Summarizing: semantics is interesting.

That means that places such as Hong Kong - which is also a small (too small; 30 square miles, compared to 600/800 of the previous two games) island within the larger (400 square mile) territory - are not yet ruled out by virtue of not being islands.

Oh yeah, it certainly can be any island. Independent or part of a larger territory. Personally, I just don't see Hong Kong being the best of ideas, right now, but time will tell.

 

[Samus]

The problem of using a city like Hong Kong is that it is BUSY in the central areas. With Oahu and Ibiza they got away with that by virtue of them being tourist spots with no real major traffic areas, you could get away with them being mostly empty and it was believable.

So do they realistically model jam packed Hong Kong streets to make racing impossible or do they create a ghost city that would just be a bit odd?

 

[Normalaatsra]

Bali would be a good guess.

• 0.27x larger than Oahu, also a tropical resort island. If the old islands aren't returning at least the original TDU setting theme stays.
• Supports the longitude theory. Bali is a straight line south of Hong Kong, and retains the 1114 E coordinate.
• Supports the white-on-black plate colour theory.
• The way the Land Rover's plate was formatted is very close to the licence plate format used there.

What could dismiss it:

• Plates issued there aren't of European-like dimensions nor are they glossy and flat.
• Doesn't support the latitude theory, unless the 0222 N coordinate needs to be re-evaluated.
• Gambling is illegal in the country so no casinos exist there. I'm pretty sure some creative licence would be required to depict it in such a setting. TDU2 Casino islands were fictional.
• It has a lot of rural roads and not many stretches. A hallmark of racing games is a place to reach top speed. The island does have a small toll road. Unless their airport runway could be accessed, it could serve that activity.

I'd love it to be Bali as an Indonesian but I'm reserving my excitement for the reveal. Ah, back then I would imagine Phuket or Jeju as island expansions.

 

[Nessy]

The problem of using a city like Hong Kong is that it is BUSY in the central areas. With Oahu and Ibiza they got away with that by virtue of them being tourist spots with no real major traffic areas, you could get away with them being mostly empty and it was believable.

So do they realistically model jam packed Hong Kong streets to make racing impossible or do they create a ghost city that would just be a bit odd?

As much as i'm looking forward to the new TDU, (played both but the second is my favourite), i have the same concerns as you mention above, about it being in a busy traffic packed city.

What i'd love to see is a moderate level of traffic (think maybe half of GTA levels), and non interacting NPC's pedestrians, to make it seem somewhat more believable. Obviously we're not going to get that, and racing would be far more difficult (or near impossible), than it is now. But i think it would be a quite immersive experience if some developer ever manages to pull it off.


I think what would make the perfect TDU experience for me, would be to have it set in the principality of Monaco. Houses could be bought in the surrounding areas outside of Monaco (apartments in the city itself). And the mountainous roads and routes outside of the city limits, is where the majority of racing and other missions would take place.
Further along in the Solar Crown event, could see you participating at special historic race weekends, held on the actual F1 GP track. With options to drive various cars from your own collection, and also special cars from the history of F1, (thinking historic race cars from 1930's - 1970's).

I know this isn't a wish list thread, but my mind is overflowing with the possibilities of having such a game as TDU (or FH), based in and around Monaco. It's being partly fuelled by currently watching the Monaco Historique qualifying session. And watching a YT vid of a guy taking his wedge TVR, to Monaco back in 2017.

[EDIT]
To add, it would be cool to race small hot hatches and even lower powered cars, around a quiet (due to pandemic perhaps?) Monaco city streets. Again, thoughts of this are being fuelled by the past kind of. I have fond memories of playing the old arcade game, GTI club.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Always had a sweet spot for the TDU series. The first game was really defining a new genre. What I liked about the first one is the sense of freedom and they didn't waste money on a crappy backstory. The second did add a crappy backstory, but being able to walk around a dealership/cars and get in/around the cars and test them out: amazing.

So I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt until we know a bit more. I mean, based on expectations in this thread, I think it can only impress.