Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Discussion Thread

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Nothing from what I’ve seen so far, clips and all, has convinced me that Nacon will support this game beyond a couple of years at the most. That quote from the Belgium article claiming a decade’s worth of support a la GTAO is ridiculous.
 
Seriusly this game is going to be PvP only?

Welp… If driving physics, map and activities are good enough I still consider buying it. I like the atmosphere of this game, and not another „festival racing”
 
I haven't done much research about this game because I'm going to want for a big discount before I consider buying (or whatever the term is if the game will eventually become unplayable) it, but I have played The Crew 2 some without Playstation + and while it always requires an online connection, the ps+ is only needed to race other players. Other players still show in free roam, on leaderboards and the AI can still be raced against.
Maybe TDSC will go this route because I would assume if a subscription service is needed to play it whatsoever it would absolutely kill the sales and reception of the game. If the developers really want to keep the game alive for ten years, killing a big chunk of the possible player base before it even releases is frankly stupid.
 
Nothing from what I’ve seen so far, clips and all, has convinced me that Nacon will support this game beyond a couple of years at the most. That quote from the Belgium article claiming a decade’s worth of support a la GTAO is ridiculous.
Let's be honest. This game has a definite expiration date, and that date is whenever Forza Horizon 6 is officially announced.
 
Let's be honest. This game has a definite expiration date, and that date is whenever Forza Horizon 6 is officially announced.
Emmm no? I like Forza Horizon don’t get me wrong but first of all, not everyone likes festive atmosphere of Horizon and secondly if FH6 isn’t going to be multiplatform release (PS5 included) the TDU still has a great chance.
 
As an XBox user this no cross play news worries me about PvP. The Crew has a pretty small player count on XB compared to PS and PC. Now Motorfest is cross play and getting in a PvP event is as fast as you would expect. But Crew 2 is not and it was always a pain getting any PvP race to start. After 3 years PvP was dead. In the past 2 years I never managed to start a single PvP race. And I tried a lot since completing PvP events are necessary for Hobbies.
And I'm hearing a lot of YouTubers defending a rumor that you need 200 hours to unlock/buy a hypercar. I work 200 hours a month for a salary. How is doing a second job for a virtual car a good thing?
 
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I haven't done much research about this game because I'm going to want for a big discount before I consider buying (or whatever the term is if the game will eventually become unplayable) it, but I have played The Crew 2 some without Playstation + and while it always requires an online connection, the ps+ is only needed to race other players. Other players still show in free roam, on leaderboards and the AI can still be raced against.
Unless I’m completely misunderstanding the previews it says the races are all vs other players - the only AI opponents are to fill in unused spots in those - so they would require PS Plus. The only solo activities seem to be exploration/finding collectable parts, etc.
 
Emmm no? I like Forza Horizon don’t get me wrong but first of all, not everyone likes festive atmosphere of Horizon and secondly if FH6 isn’t going to be multiplatform release (PS5 included) the TDU still has a great chance.
TDU has no chance, not just against Forza but The Crew as well. The festival atmosphere isn't for everyone but I think everyone would rather take that than PVP online only. Horizon is a system seller.
 
Hang on so to play it on playstation you need a ps plus subscription?
Probably not, because the game has a system that fills the free spaces with AIs on every race, perhaps with that they can make it so that PS+ or Xbox Gold is not necessary to play the game and it could be played completely alone as if it were like a Crew game.

The problem is that if this is the case, those like me that are from PC are a bit screwed because we wouldn't have that alternative to play alone.
 
Xbox sales figures would suggest otherwise :lol:
He still has a point. I bought a XBone only for Horizon 3. After 4 years without touching any game. Same with Gran Turismo. Players are willing to buy an Xbox or PlayStation just for those games. I would probably never buy a console for any other racing game. Ok, maybe PGR.
 
There is a lot of informtation crusing around internet about Xbox going full multiplatform. Next Horizon on PS5 isn't totally unrealistic, lets wait untill everything clears out.
Which would be the death knell for TDU. If it ever gets going.
 
Having seen gameplay of this, I am convinced this was meant to be released on last-gen systems but was then delayed into oblivion
Nothing about the map, visuals or handling makes me think this is a current-gen game
Not to mention most of the gameplay I’ve seen seems to have perpetually wet roads like it’s one of those horribly oversaturated GTA 5 Raytracing shader packs
 
I checked the pics and video on the pstore for this, and ill eat my shirt if it looks as good, and runs as clean and smooth as in those.

Kt cant optimize 1 car on 1 road, ps4 versions of wrc games gave nausea even from bad frames.

Anyhow it looks like a consumerism trip type game more than anything.

Hope it's good but..
 
Any demo impressions?

Very interesting of KT to shadow drop a demo. Cool though, wish more games would do this prior to release. Hoping for a console demo/beta too please!
 
Any demo impressions?

Very interesting of KT to shadow drop a demo. Cool though, wish more games would do this prior to release. Hoping for a console demo/beta too please!
It runs pretty poorly.

1080p high with dlss quality cannot hit 60 (roughly 50, dips to 30) on a Ryzen 5 5600 + Nvidia RTX 2070 Super with 24 GB of ram running from a SATA SSD which should be close to the performance of a PS5.

collisions with destructible objects like fences and lampposts are wildly inconsistent, sometimes not slowing you down, sometimes bouncing and sometimes flipping the car

The handling model is quite decent, and consistent compared to NFS Unbound and Motorfest. Cars that start spinning usually cannot be recovered. Traction control at 50% or above is recommended. It is definitely simcade, but not as cohesive, consistent and natural feeling as any forza horizon.
The feed back on an XSX controller only happens when you car has almost spun out, or you are hitting a curb or going offroad. Not enough of it is there to tell you whether you are about to slide.

The driver cam is not great as animations for steering are abrupt and limited to 45 degrees either side.
Curbs are mighty dangerous and act like Monza's sausages at times.

AI is either rubberbanding hard or is desynced a lot with the servers. Not sure which.

traffic density is as low as horizon which is odd for a city based Map (dont expect any pedestrians)

Map is genuinely great through and through. The city actually feels like a real city (because it is). It's a shame that graphics let that the graphics are maybe slightly better than the first crew. The reflections are definitely broken. The game looks better with them on low.

There doesn't seem to be much to do other than circuit, sprint and domination races. Haven't tried domination yet. There are speed traps sprinkled about the map. FRIM lets you make small amounts of money by driving fast, drifting and near misses etc.
The showrooms kinda feel very generic and more like some sort of art installation. Kind of expected them to be more properly themed around the type of cars they sell.

The currency is not hard to come by. A simple 2-3 min race nets you about 20k.
However the cars are pretty inflated in price. A mustang GT 2018 is somewhere close to 150k. A Taycan CrossTurismo is 1.4 million. An M4 Competition is 750k. The new A110 is about 100k.

Lot of loading screens between race. Not very long, but they are not hidden. They are black screens with the solar crown logo at the centre.

Dont expect much in terms of external customization. Its basically only rims. The interior customization is nice with different color choices, but not close to what motorfest offers.

The car list is weird because a lot of cars are also in TDU2, mixed with a few brand new ones. So you have a 370z and an Abarth 500 racing against 2018 mustangs and Alpine A110.

The car sounds are pretty good.

Test drove an R35 Gt-R (2008) and it had horrendous body roll (not unlike a taxi in GTA 4). The 370Z starter, seemed fine on the other hand.
Have to say that there a lot of real buildings are replaced with generic ones.

I don't see much depth to this game so far. The map is pretty much the only reason to keep playing. But will play it as much as i can till the end of the demo, just to see whether everything else grows on me.

This is a nitpick but the radio is pretty much all English. Have not heard anything resembling local so far.
 
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It runs pretty poorly.

1080p high with dlss quality cannot hit 60 (roughly 50, dips to 30) on a Ryzen 5 5600 + Nvidia RTX 2070 Super with 24 GB of ram running from a SATA SSD which should be close to the performance of a PS5.

collisions with destructible objects like fences and lampposts are wildly inconsistent, sometimes not slowing you down, sometimes bouncing and sometimes flipping the car

The handling model is quite decent, and consistent compared to NFS Unbound and Motorfest. Cars that start spinning usually cannot be recovered. Traction control at 50% or above is recommended. It is definitely simcade, but not as cohesive, consistent and natural feeling as any forza horizon.
The feed back on an XSX controller only happens when you car has almost spun out, or you are hitting a curb or going offroad. Not enough of it is there to tell you whether you are about to slide.

The driver cam is not great as animations for steering are abrupt and limited to 45 degrees either side.
Curbs are mighty dangerous and act like Monza's sausages at times.

AI is either rubberbanding hard or is desynced a lot with the servers. Not sure which.

traffic density is as low as horizon which is odd for a city based Map (dont expect any pedestrians)

Map is genuinely great through and through. The city actually feels like a real city (because it is). It's a shame that graphics let that the graphics are maybe slightly better than the first crew. The reflections are definitely broken. The game looks better with them on low.

There doesn't seem to be much to do other than circuit, sprint and domination races. Haven't tried domination yet. There are speed traps sprinkled about the map. FRIM lets you make small amounts of money by driving fast, drifting and near misses etc.
The showrooms kinda feel very generic and more like some sort of art installation. Kind of expected them to be more properly themed around the type of cars they sell.

The currency is not hard to come by. A simple 2-3 min race nets you about 20k.
However the cars are pretty inflated in price. A mustang GT 2018 is somewhere close to 150k. A Taycan CrossTurismo is 1.4 million. An M4 Competition is 750k. The new A110 is about 100k.

Lot of loading screens between race. Not very long, but they are not hidden. They are black screens with the solar crown logo at the centre.

Dont expect much in terms of external customization. Its basically only rims. The interior customization is nice with different color choices, but not close to what motorfest offers.

The car list is weird because a lot of cars are also in TDU2, mixed with a few brand new ones. So you have a 370z and an Abarth 500 racing against 2018 mustangs and Alpine A110.

The car sounds are pretty good.

Test drove an R35 Gt-R (2008) and it had horrendous body roll (not unlike a taxi in GTA 4). The 370Z starter, seemed fine on the other hand.
Have to say that there a lot of real buildings are replaced with generic ones.

I don't see much depth to this game so far. The map is pretty much the only reason to keep playing. But will play it as much as i can till the end of the demo, just to see whether everything else grows on me.

This is a nitpick but the radio is pretty much all English. Have not heard anything resembling local so far.
Are the racing events playable vs. AI? I mean I know it's an MMO but I love being able to practice.
 
Are the racing events playable vs. AI? I mean I know it's an MMO but I love being able to practice.
Seems like people playing alone are having trouble starting races (as it cannot find other players for whatever reason). I don't think there is any option to start a race purely against ai.

I played with my friend. So it would put us and 6 ai drivers in the race.
 
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These are some pretty absurd system requirements for a game that barely looks any better than TDU2 and runs terribly anyway. Did they hire Game Freak to make this? Why even release a demo if it's just going to give everyone a bad impression when the game already had a bunch of hurdles to overcome?
 
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Well, another racing game does interest me, since the only ones I play with any regularity are FH5/FM, with Grid Legends from time to time. Rally/F1/Assetto Corsa games do not interest me. So, I want to give a fair assessment of the demo, which I'm downloading right now from Steam.

I've already watched some gameplay footage, but I'll reserve muy opinion on that after I've played the demo.

Update: I'm having a very positive first impression. The gameplay gets good after you start removing assists, different from FH and more in line with the base settings in The Crew: Motorfest. Very manageable with the controller, this will attract many casual players.

On the physics side I like the feel of the ABS and traction control when you tune it down. The handbrake is not overtly touchy, and you can do easy 180 turns and catch the rear. There is traction, but you can't really feel the tires making contact with the road. The steering feels realistic too and not snappy.

On the graphics side, I'm running it at 1080p at medium settings with shadows on high and I get between 60-70 fps cruising. In competition the frame rate dips to the high 50's, but here's the catch: No stuttering or screen tearing detected, so the image remains smooth. Even the mighty FH5 gets stutters in my rig from time to time!
Now, the game claims that at those settings is using more VRAM (over 9 GB) than I have available (8 GB), but it doesn't seem to be taking from the system memory. Also, no crashing or freezing so far.

FYI: My CPU is an Intel Core i5 12600KF (no overclocking) and my GPU is a RX 6650 XT, 32 GB of DDR4 RAM (3200 MHz, CL 16) and the game is running from a 1 TB PCIE 3.0 M.2 storage unit.

Update: A second gaming session was still fun, but not so good on the performance side. I had one race where framerates went to the 30-40 fps range, and I also had my first race in the rain, and the effects are not very good, specially inside the car... On the outside the cars don't have a spray and that is visually lacking. Handling does change in the rain, as braking distances become longer and is easier to lock-up the car or slide. Again, fun game, but I'm beginning to think that 8 GB graphic cards will struggle in medium to high settings without an upscaler.
 
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