Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Discussion Thread

[m355y]

I must admit, it's very disappointing if it's only multiplayer. I also didn't notice cockpit view in the trailer. You'd think it's something they would try to showcase with the game being released relatively soon.

KT love doing stuff like this, like removing all AI from the WRC games outside career mode and making it all online leaderboard only. They love to restrict how you can play their games. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[brotato]

Trailer looks good. But I'm slightly surprised it doesn't show cockpit view, unless I missed it? I hope it wasn't canned.

they showed cockpit view in the last trailer

 

[vrossi]

Don't worry gang...I found the cockpit view.

 

[ScottPuss20]

I'm not totally against online only if it's implemented properly.

 

[mistamontiel]

I truly hope TDU3 does not do season trend.. Tekken 8 revealed doing so so I left it RIP

 

[SestoScudo]

Remember in TDU when buying the Ford Mustang we can go to the tuner shop and turn it into a Saleen.

A lot of racing games miss this novelty feature.

I wish PD could adopt this so we can turn the R32 Skyline into a HKS Machine.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I truly hope TDU3 does not do season trend.. Tekken 8 revealed doing so so I left it RIP

It 1’000’000% will.

 

[Marty_Debiru]

I guess I will buy the game when it goes on sale.

 

[Tornado]

The Test Drive Unlimited you love, with 15 years of advancement in graphics hand in hand with 15 years of horrible live service garbage shoved into it.

 

[toastet]

The Test Drive Unlimited you love, with 15 years of advancement in graphics hand in hand with 15 years of horrible live service garbage shoved into it.

Always online since TDU1 + DLC + always other players in the world so nothing new.

 

[Terronium-12]

Always online since TDU1 + DLC + always other players in the world so nothing new.

The original TDU was not always online. It had an online component, absolutely, but you could play the game from start to finish (with AI opponents!) without ever establishing a connection to a game server.

 

[toastet]

The original TDU was not always online. It had an online component, absolutely, but you could play the game from start to finish (with AI opponents!) without ever establishing a connection to a game server.

On PC this wasn't possible without a hex editor after completing the "intromission". Maybe they fixed this later (at least with a last patch they did since still playable today) or after gamespy died but from the start you couldn't play offline.

 

[Terronium-12]

On PC this wasn't possible without a hex editor after completing the "intromission". Maybe they fixed this later (at least with a last patch they did since still playable today) or after gamespy died but from the start you couldn't play offline.

Have I gone crazy? Because I don't remember ever connecting online in the original game.

...Or am I conflating what an always online game is today with what it was then?

 

[toastet]

I remember players were there in the open world (ghostet if I remember correctly like in TC or FH today) and you could join multiplayer races but weren't forced to. Xbox (maybe PS3 too) were different du to XBL/PSN. Guess this will be (mostly?) the same in TDU 3 with maybe some races will have other players in the same race if available and rest ai-filled.

 

[Tornado]

Always online since TDU1 + DLC + always other players in the world so nothing new.

That's quite a funny thing to say because I have hundreds of hours into multiple versions of Test Drive Unlimited and literally never raced against someone online a single time.

 

[toastet]

That's quite a funny thing to say because I have hundreds of hours into multiple versions of Test Drive Unlimited and literally never raced against someone online a single time.

always online doesn't mean always multiplayer but that seems to be misunderstanding for some people in this thread

 

[05XR8]

always online doesn't mean always multiplayer but that seems to be misunderstanding for some people in this thread

Not just this thread. Gran Turismo is always online, but the World Circuit part of the game is referred to as “offline”.

 

[Tornado]

always online doesn't mean always multiplayer but that seems to be misunderstanding for some people in this thread

Yes. The most obvious example of that is right here:

Test Drive Unlimited 1 was not always online. That's not something open to debate or interpretation or argument. It just was not. The developers always intended you to play it online and have the game world be populated by other human players and have them filling events just like is the case with the Forza Horizon titles now and that was its entire main unique selling point in 2006, but you could play it easily without being connected to XBL at which point is was an entirely normal (albeit still ambitious) open world racing game just like any other at the time. The PS2 version even asked you outright at the title screen if you wanted to go online when booting up the game. You repeatedly insisting that it was an always online game by any standard (even to people who played it when it was new!) doesn't actually make it true that it was an always online game, but it does make you look like a fool.




Particularly when just a few days ago you were insisting that this one wasn't going to be an online only game despite the developer itself insinuating that there is no offline component to Solar Crown.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I can't say anything about the PC version of TDU1, but the Xbox 360 version doesn't require an established connection to play. I've been able to play it on on X360 long after the servers were shut down. And that includes all of the dlc packs I bought for it.

PvP gameplay was in TDU1 as an online race option, but the single player experience for the most part just had A.I. cars being driven around. I only saw other players when switching to online mode, though I only did that a couple times in my life. I didn't really have many friends that wanted to play TDU when it was active. Most people I befriended in high school were just about playing FPS games like COD and Battlefield.

For that, I am greatful that I can play that game without online connection allowed as TDU1 in my experience is fun for multiple playthroughs.

 

[Terronium-12]

Yes. The most obvious example of that is right here:

View attachment 1312347


Test Drive Unlimited 1 was not always online. That's not something open to debate or interpretation or argument. It just was not. The developers always intended you to play it online and have the game world be populated by other human players and have them filling events just like is the case with the Forza Horizon titles now and that was its entire main unique selling point in 2006, but you could play it easily without being connected to XBL at which point is was an entirely normal (albeit still ambitious) open world racing game just like any other at the time. The PS2 version even asked you outright at the title screen if you wanted to go online when booting up the game. You repeatedly insisting that it was an always online game by any standard (even to people who played it when it was new!) doesn't actually make it true that it was an always online game, but it does make you look like a fool.




Particularly when just a few days ago you were insisting that this one wasn't going to be an online only game despite the developer itself insinuating that there is no offline component to Solar Crown.

I can't say anything about the PC version of TDU1, but the Xbox 360 version doesn't require an established connection to play. I've been able to play it on on X360 long after the servers were shut down. And that includes all of the dlc packs I bought for it.

PvP gameplay was in TDU1 as an online race option, but the single player experience for the most part just had A.I. cars being driven around. I only saw other players when switching to online mode, though I only did that a couple times in my life. I didn't really have many friends that wanted to play TDU when it was active. Most people I befriended in high school were just about playing FPS games like COD and Battlefield.

For that, I am greatful that I can play that game without online connection allowed as TDU1 in my experience is fun for multiple playthroughs.

So I wasn't going crazy then. I knew the game wasn't always online.

 

[SestoScudo]

I can't say anything about the PC version of TDU1, but the Xbox 360 version doesn't require an established connection to play. I've been able to play it on on X360 long after the servers were shut down. And that includes all of the dlc packs I bought for it.

PvP gameplay was in TDU1 as an online race option, but the single player experience for the most part just had A.I. cars being driven around. I only saw other players when switching to online mode, though I only did that a couple times in my life. I didn't really have many friends that wanted to play TDU when it was active. Most people I befriended in high school were just about playing FPS games like COD and Battlefield.

For that, I am greatful that I can play that game without online connection allowed as TDU1 in my experience is fun for multiple playthroughs.

Bro I was one the only one in my school class who played racing games.

Not only that I was mocked by both Boys and girls in class they are like hahahaha you will never afford a Ferrari hahahaha you play a game while driving in circles.

Only games they played was either Cod or Fifa, World of warcraft and runescape.

It really felt lonely I never had anybody to play with when it came to multiplayer. But splitscreen with PS1 and Ps2 were the good old days for me when me and my uncle alongside my grandpa playing.

I loved Ferrari so much while my Grandpa was a big fan of Mercedes Benz.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

So I wasn't going crazy then. I knew the game wasn't always online.

Nope, you're not going crazy. I am, but for reasons that have nothing to do with this racing game.

Bro I was one the only one in my school class who played racing games.

Not only that I was mocked by both Boys and girls in class they are like hahahaha you will never afford a Ferrari hahahaha you play a game while driving in circles.

Only games they played was either Cod or Fifa, World of warcraft and runescape.

I'm sorry that you were mocked for that.

I can't say I had the same experience, though I was mocked for liking certain cars. There were kids I was friends with in high school that liked cars, but they seldom played racing games. If they did, it was Forza or NFS.

Though they typically liked Japanese Cars for European Brands. They hated on American brands for the most part and with me being a Ford guy; I had to defend it plenty. Though some of the comparisons they did were wild and kinda stupid. Like one kid compared a Cadillac CTS-V to a Nissan GT-R...

It really felt lonely I never had anybody to play with when it came to multiplayer. But splitscreen with PS1 and Ps2 were the good old days for me when me and my uncle alongside my grandpa playing.

I loved Ferrari so much while my Grandpa was a big fan of Mercedes Benz.

My dad used to play racing games with me when I was little and he was typically a Ford guy. Though he did like other car brands too, he's how I learned about certain cars as a kid. When I wasn't playing GT or looking at my car books of course.

 

[NLxAROSA]

I can't say anything about the PC version of TDU1, but the Xbox 360 version doesn't require an established connection to play.

The PC version doesn’t either. I just installed it and the online bit is completely optional.

Same thing for the PSP version that I played a lot back in the day.

 

[Mirai]

Ah yes, Forza Horizonlike #32792810
Spectacular

 

[Ande3200]

I think its a shame that they force pvp on all races, it looked intresting otherwise, but pvp just kills it for me, unless this is changed i have no intrest buying this game, it feels like single player in racing game is dying in general

 

[KiroKai]

So I wasn't going crazy then. I knew the game wasn't always online.

This isn't quite right. Both TDU1 and 2, only on PC to my knowledge, asked you to decide at the very start if you're creating an offline or online profile. If you chose offline, you could never play online, while if you chose online, it was tied to your Atari/Gamespy account and you always had to be connected and signed in to play. There was no official way to switch between the two, instead you had to edit your save file (like this) and hope it works.

toastet is still completely wrong, of course. Seemless multiplayer doesn't require the game to lock you out without permanent server connection, an incredibly anti consumer practice and frankly a big incentive to pirate the game. Just look at the news of The Crew 1, with no way to play it offline it's being deleted on 31 March 2024.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Also, going crazy vs always online are not mutually exclusive @Terronium-12

 

[toastet]

Hope everyone is happy now "winning" over my lacking memory of a game from 2006 -17 years ago - and we can go back to topic on TDU Solar Crown 🤟

I'm just hoping for a big fat collectors edition with a modelcar in it for preorder very soon.

To continue on topic I like multiplayer racing so I'm fine with it having real people in a career race. The game beeing always online to avoid pirating is absolutely fine as long as it's beeing removed in a final patch when servers going offline and gamesupport ends.
Regarding the Ubisoft situation with killing TC1 off due to always online/multiplayer I'm pretty sure that won't go down well with french + EU laws or maybe even US laws (not sure which part of Ubi finally sold it to us) and we will soon hear about a offlinepatch since the last word isn't spoken yet on this case. We just had Google refund everyones Stadia-stuff (including the hardware) which I don't think they'd have done if not kind of forced to. Even if a bit different but I guess Ubi is facing kind of the same and a offlinepatch can prevent them from refunding or loosing future customers.

 

[ImaRobot]

Hope everyone is happy now "winning" over my lacking memory of a game from 2006 -17 years ago - and we can go back to topic on TDU Solar Crown 🤟

Very weird thing to say when it's not really being made out that way. Easiest way to move on is to literally do just that and stop mentioning it. You were wrong, and insisted on doubling down on it instead. It's fine to just accept it without trying to be a victim.

As for the only online aspect of it, I'm very indifferent to it but I've honestly had this same feeling since the announcement of this game.

I'm pretty sure that won't go down well with french + EU laws or maybe even US laws

I don't think anything in particular is going to happen, in this regard. I'd be willing to bet there's even a clause for it in the ToS. If it even is issued an offline patch, it'll likely be more towards good faith than any kind of outside forces. What Google is doing is very much not the norm and likely done for PR reasons.

 

[toastet]

Very weird thing to say when it's not really being made out that way. Easiest way to move on is to literally do just that and stop mentioning it. You were wrong, and insisted on doubling down on it instead. It's fine to just accept it without trying to be a victim.

As I said I couldn't directly remember the offline mode on the many years ago published pc-version. So yes I was wrong but it's also splitting hairs since I was absolutely right that there was something fishy with TDU1 and the always online feature was in there if you wanted to experience the full game. Like Kai pointed out you had to decide before starting the game to choose offlinemode without multiplayer at all or onlinemode with always online mandatory and other players freeroaming on the map even if you didn't took part in multiplayer events. But with many races both online and offline available there were exclusive onlineraces. All these on/offlineprofile shenanigans without a way to switch from on- to offlinemode or the other way round without loosing all your progress without a built in solution. Normal users definately weren't able to use a hex editor for this switch. Using the onlineprofile you were unable to continue the singleplayer career if gamespy was down/to crowded/etc. or your internetconnection wasn't working. Exactly what I experienced multiple times back in the days so that this experience in my memory lead to the assumption that it was always online. It was indeed right when starting a online profile and enjoying the individual selling point of TDU1 as M.O.O.R. (Massively Open Online Racing) the game and all available content it was always online.
So if you ever wanted to maybe experience multiplayer for exclusive races later in your gameprogress and going after 100% completion and/or all trophys on PS3/X360 you had to choose onlinemode with always online. I'm pretty sure this lead to nearly everyone with a broadband connection in 2006/2007 beeing always online in TDU1.