Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown Delayed.

User avatar
Bez
Global Mod
Global Mod
Drift King
Drift King
Posts: 6145
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:48 pm
Gender: Male
Location: The Garden of Eden
Contact:

Dear TDU fans,

This is the first article in a long series where we will be sharing information on the game's development and some of the exciting things you will experience in Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown.

In this blogpost, we'll be sharing more details about the clans in Solar Crown: the Streets and the Sharps. But first, the most important bit of news is that the game will now be releasing in 2023. With so much support from fans of the series, we know many of you will be disappointed, but our goal with Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is to make it the most polished gaming experience in the franchise by spending more time on its development. We therefore want to thank the fan community for your support and daily involvement on the game's official Discord channel and within communities on the various social media platforms.

Striving for an authentic and exciting experience
Regarded by many players as the most comprehensive open-world racing game experience, the Test Drive Unlimited franchise has a rich and complex DNA: the environment reproduced at 1:1 scale, beautifully recreated cars, a realistic driving experience, social interactions with other players, a wide variety of races and game modes, and a major "lifestyle" component that goes beyond simple street battles on wheels. Test Drive Unlimited is more than just a racing game, but rather a game about the joy of driving your car, the car that reflects your style and the one you have chosen over all the others. Buying a car from a dealership, listening to the radio while driving, putting the top down when the rain stops, using the turn signals properly, and even simply opening the window are all details that millions of players have fallen in love with. Our goal is to meet those expectations and to stay true to the franchise's DNA by including all those details. But we also want to go further and offer new experiences. We want to make all of Hong Kong Island and its 550km of roads to be a no-limits playground where the fun never ends.

The clan war has already started
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown offers a new vision of racing competitions where style and reputation matters as much as race victories. In our game, the Solar Crown competition on Hong Kong Island is contested by wealthy enthusiasts of luxury cars, for whom their vehicle is an extension of their personality. As you have seen on our website, two visions of luxury have emerged in the city and two clans have formed: the Streets and the Sharps.

Each clan wants to impose its style on the city. Players can therefore choose to align themselves with a clan and help to champion its lifestyle. While respect for the rival clan remains, there is always a determination to show off their superiority behind the wheel. Each clan also has its own HQ for gathering, celebrating victories together and finding new missions. Whether your vision of luxury is refined and elegant or provocative and rebellious, you always have the chance to showcase it. The Streets – whose culture has a more underground, nightclub vibe – gather in an old building they have taken over for the Solar Crown competition. It is located in the industrial district of Wan Chai on the northern-central part of the island. As for the Sharps, they have privatised the top floor and balcony of a luxury building in the Western District to the west of the city. A more subdued and sophisticated atmosphere reigns in this HQ. Each of the HQs has a "public" area that can be accessed by all players, whether they are a Street or Sharp, but the more interesting part is the VIP area, which is only open to clan members who have proved their allegiance. In this area, out of sight of non-members, meetings are held and missions are assigned with the aim of destabilising the rival camp.
Beta testing phase planned
We also want to take advantage of the extra development time to optimize the game and get you more involved. We are currently working on a schedule for closed betas. The more impatient among you will get the chance to test the game long before it releases. This phase will allow us to gather your valuable feedback so we can keep improving the game's quality until it releases, while also staying in more regular contact with you. Finally, with the aim of making the most of the technology in the latest consoles and maximising the overall quality of the game, NACON has decided to no longer develop Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown for PlayStation®4 and Xbox One.

Until our next communication, we would love to see you join the amazing driving community we've built across our socials. Come and join in the dicussion!
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app ... 9825395531
Image
Image
Image Image
dpuff
Mechanic
Mechanic
Posts: 764
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:39 pm
Location: New York, Brooklyn

Not surprised at all and it's for the best. Looking forward to testing the beta.
User avatar
Bez
Global Mod
Global Mod
Drift King
Drift King
Posts: 6145
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:48 pm
Gender: Male
Location: The Garden of Eden
Contact:

dpuff wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 7:12 pm Not surprised at all and it's for the best. Looking forward to testing the beta.
Same here, I've been saying this for weeks about the release date and hadn't even announced the beta yet. :roll:

Also pleased they have dropped support for PlayStation®4 and Xbox One as this would of only held the end result up. :D

Don't know how they are going to select testers for the beta yet as they state it will be a closed beta (at first ) I hope they don't just pick random people on discord. :roll:
Image Image
User avatar
MadManCK
Admin
Admin
Champion
Champion
Posts: 14108
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:17 pm
Location: Amsterdam
Contact:

PS4 and XB1 are "older" platforms and developing for them would only limit the overall appearance and graphics of the game.

I have no issue with a longe development time, as long as it is no excuse for other issues. Projects like this do take time. And we all know what happened with TDU2 that was rushed because of a publisher that went into titanic mode.

I think social is highly overrated, just look at the recent "bots" discussion. Real players with real feedback are found in here. :smoking:

If they really only have one location, even with 550 km of roads, it might be underwhelming for the spoiled TDU vets. But i rather have 500+km with action packed events, than an empty mega map. Or add a good level editor and custom race creator.

:twocents-02cents:
PC Player Image TDU, GRID, Assetto Corsa, pCars, NCG, The Crew, Dirt, Forza: MadManCK Clubs: TDU2: Luny's Fair Friends (VP-Exec), GRID AS: TDUDT (Pres) DT-Racing Team: Team Leader

Image Eden Games Can Kiss My Mustang
User avatar
DonnieBrasco
Rookie
Rookie
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:32 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Hallewood Germany
Contact:

So it will be another "no cruiser"-open world racing game. nice :facepalm: After reading it has only 550 km roads i am everything but not excited about it any longer. This was the last hope to bring my club back together for some evening cruises, but i am very sure that was buried with todays message.

At least there will be some betas to test it before buying it.
Image
Cruising is not a crime
dpuff
Mechanic
Mechanic
Posts: 764
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:39 pm
Location: New York, Brooklyn

Bez wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 7:24 pm
dpuff wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 7:12 pm Not surprised at all and it's for the best. Looking forward to testing the beta.
Same here, I've been saying this for weeks about the release date and hadn't even announced the beta yet. :roll:

Also pleased they have dropped support for PlayStation®4 and Xbox One as this would of only held the end result up. :D

Don't know how they are going to select testers for the beta yet as they state it will be a closed beta (at first ) I hope they don't just pick random people on discord. :roll:
My guess is they will most likely pick a bunch of Twitch and YouTube streamers first for the exposure given how they've been mostly silent and no gameplay at all. They will need lots of exposure this year, especially if NFS is coming out this fall. :shock:
User avatar
Bez
Global Mod
Global Mod
Drift King
Drift King
Posts: 6145
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:48 pm
Gender: Male
Location: The Garden of Eden
Contact:

DonnieBrasco wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 9:14 pm So it will be another "no cruiser"-open world racing game. nice :facepalm: After reading it has only 550 km roads i am everything but not excited about it any longer. This was the last hope to bring my club back together for some evening cruises, but i am very sure that was buried with todays message.

At least there will be some betas to test it before buying it.
Yea it's like when The Crew was announced i was really hyped for it but after a while of playing it i soon realised it was not for me. :(

Don't get me wrong The Crew is a good game but i was expecting it to be the next TDU and that it is not and the more i here of TDUSC I'm also loosing hope of it as well. :roll:

They are being very quiet about the concept of how this Clan thing is going to work in game and we all know what happened to the same thing they introduced it the early stages of The Crew :wolves: :bears: :crocodiles: :eagles:

I honestly think they are still making thinks up as they go along and haven't yet got a full grasp of how they are going to plan things out in the finished game and that's why we are not getting much info as yet. :twocents-02cents:
Image Image
User avatar
MadManCK
Admin
Admin
Champion
Champion
Posts: 14108
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:17 pm
Location: Amsterdam
Contact:

I'm pretty sure they have a very good idea of what TDU is all about and what direction to go.
Alain Jarniou was the creative director at Eden games and i had the pleasure of doing a short cruise with him and David Nadal. :smoking:

All our feedback from the Atari forums have been collected and evaluated. They were already doing that in the Atari days.
So i do not worry too much about the real TDU vibe in TDUSC

With a more powerful and stable team behind the developers things can only go upwards IMHO.

But i still do hope they will return to their roots one day and add Oahu as a bonus location. :mrgreen:

And i do not recall the driving miles exactly, but was Ibiza not 180Km of roads and Oahu 300km?
I guess we are all spoiled with massive open world games these days.

Just as important as the actual distances you can drive are scenery and interactive environment and traffic.
TC2 totally ruins every good road trip with super annoying traffic. Not to mention intrusive weather. :roll:
TC1 was a better cruising game in that regard, also with the type of roads and without the forced added turns.

Things like weather and traffic should always be a feature in a driving game, not a constant nuisance. :twocents-02cents:

And a realistic 1 to 1 map is a huge undertaking. Especially if all the roads are genuine the same too.
From what i get so far, is a focus on quality over quantity. And i like that.

Having said that, we can only judge after a (test) drive :mrgreen:
PC Player Image TDU, GRID, Assetto Corsa, pCars, NCG, The Crew, Dirt, Forza: MadManCK Clubs: TDU2: Luny's Fair Friends (VP-Exec), GRID AS: TDUDT (Pres) DT-Racing Team: Team Leader

Image Eden Games Can Kiss My Mustang
User avatar
Bez
Global Mod
Global Mod
Drift King
Drift King
Posts: 6145
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:48 pm
Gender: Male
Location: The Garden of Eden
Contact:

MadManCK wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 7:32 pm I'm pretty sure they have a very good idea of what TDU is all about and what direction to go.
I guess i will file that quote away till release and we will see. :loll:
Image Image
User avatar
MadManCK
Admin
Admin
Champion
Champion
Posts: 14108
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:17 pm
Location: Amsterdam
Contact:

Bez wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 8:52 pm I guess i will file that quote away till release and we will see. :loll:
As the Boss, i have the right to kick in more open doors than the Teutul Family (American Chopper) :mrgreen:
PC Player Image TDU, GRID, Assetto Corsa, pCars, NCG, The Crew, Dirt, Forza: MadManCK Clubs: TDU2: Luny's Fair Friends (VP-Exec), GRID AS: TDUDT (Pres) DT-Racing Team: Team Leader

Image Eden Games Can Kiss My Mustang
Post Reply

Return to “Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown”