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Test Drive Unlimited; And various musings
Topic Started: May 4 2006, 07:45 PM (530 Views)
Juz
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Apologies if there's already a thread on this but the search thing wasn't too pucka.

Anyhoo - only been keeping a very small eye on this since its announcement, but suddenly, after reading some hands-on stuff about it and hearing about the whole persistent world thingy I kinda found myself getting a bit of a semi for it......until, that is I read the following from TeamXbox:

Spoiled my excitement...bastards
 
We’re unsure if car damage is in consideration, but at this time it was not implemented. The lack of car damage in this build skewed the physics a bit, as vehicles would bounce oddly off of objects that would normally be run over by any normal weighted auto. We were a little concerned with the framerate too, as it made high-speed driving quite daunting, even with a stability controlled vehicle.


Now....I'm sure that the...uh...less 360 enthusiastic members of this forum are gonna jump on this, and I'll be kinda with them. It's entirely possible that the framerate will get sorted for release (Christ, another framerate-unstable 360 game would really piss off us Graphics Whores(tm)), but the damage modelling? Would they really hold that back from public consumption with only 3 months to go?

After playing PGR3 a bit moe, I REALLY feel like I need a TRUE next-gen racing game and, more importantly, one which has really brutal crash physics. OK, so this would sux0r online but that could be easily toggleable (is that a word? Is now). You know: when you're racing side by side with the AI, one good sideswipe from you would send him into a properly physics-implemented smash up. Burnout doesn't count cos that's ALL you do - I wanna "proper" racing game with realistic crashes. Is that too much to ask, Mr. Scrooge? Hell, you can even dock me points/Kudos/little gold stars or summink, but I want, nay demand no more bouncing off shit at 200mph like my car was made by Durex. What I don't want is some uber-anal driving sim where the slightest nick makes my car undriveable - maybe a respawn after a write-off....oh fuck it - now I see why they don't do it; it's fuckin impossible to get the balance right innit? Respawning is about as unrealistic as you can get - D'OH!

Shit - I really didn't think this through, did I? Or do any of you mentalists have any ideas of how the correct balance could be achieved?

EDIT: That GTR looks kinda promising, but I had the demo on PC and just driving in a straight line woulda made Stephen Hawkings scratch his head (metaphorically) in perplexedelia.
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Aru
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Juz, Eurogamer have got a interesting hands on preview up, might answer some of your questions.
It does mention that the sensation of speed is really good, and no mention (I did skim it, so could have missed it) of framerate issues.


GTR (and even more GTR Legends) on the PC are games that I wish I had the patience to be able to play properly, but as you pointed out they are so realistic, it takes ages just to do one lap, but I imagine are very rewarding once mastered.
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Juz
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Aru
May 4 2006, 08:10 PM
Juz, Eurogamer have got a interesting hands on preview up, might answer some of your questions.
It does mention that the sensation of speed is really good, and no mention (I did skim it, so could have missed it) of framerate issues.


GTR (and even more GTR Legends) on the PC are games that I wish I had the patience to be able to play properly, but as you pointed out they are so realistic, it takes ages just to do one lap, but I imagine are very rewarding once mastered.

Yeah Aru, I actually read the Eurogamer thingy first, but that made no mention of damage modelling, hence why I went to TXB. Thing is: if TXB mention that there's framerate issues (and they are, let's face it, XB fanbois) and Eurogamer don't and they both played the same build then the misery guts in me (I couldn't spell pessem...pissemist...pessermi) is kinda inclined to listen to the TXB one.

As for mastering GTR - yeah, I dig what you're saying but I (like you) ain't got the time nor inclination to put that much effort into a racing game.
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Diddly
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I thought it sounded really cool when I first read about it, but if the handling ain't right it'll probably end up like Midtown Madness 3, with weirdos just sat around using it as a chat room, and no one racing at all. The past record of the Test Drive games and the fact that it comes from the developers of V-Rally 3 doesn't exactly indicate a killer driving game either. Anyhoo, looks like we'll all be able to get a decent taste soon enough:
Quote:
 
TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED SCREECHES ONTO XBOX LIVE MARKETPLACE

- Exclusive Demo To Be Available On Xbox Live Marketplace For Week of E3 2006 -



LYON, FRANCE – 5 May 2006 – Atari today announced that an exclusive demo for the highly anticipated racing game, Test Drive Unlimited, will be made available to users of the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, via the Xbox Live® Marketplace.  The demo will be available to download from 8 May until 14 May 2006 as part of Microsoft’s plans to bring gamers closer to the E3 experience and offer of free Xbox Live Gold membership for the week. 



The demo grants players an exclusive chance to get behind the wheel of Test Drive Unlimited and sample some of its online and offline challenges along 40 miles of Oahu’s beautiful open roads.  To add a bit of spice, players will be able to replay all of the challenges as many times as they wish in order to shave valuable seconds off their time-challenge records, or set about thrashing either human or AI competition in the races before heading to www.testdriveunlimited.com to view their global ranking. 



As a way of letting players find out for themselves what a Massively Open Online Racing game is, the Test Drive Unlimited demo will allow players to set up as many instant challenges as they wish.  Players driving along the road can challenge other players to a one-on-one race, define their own start and end points for the race, and power through the lush Hawaiian scenery at break-neck speeds.



With a choice between the Ford Shelby GT500, Lotus Exige and Lamborghini Gallardo, a luxury-laden Lamborghini dealership to visit, and a beautiful house for each player who logs in, the demo offers players a mouth-watering taste of Eden Games’ forthcoming automotive masterpiece.



Test Drive Unlimited is racing reinvented.  For more information and to view global demo rankings visit www.testdriveunlimited.com.



- ends -

Subtitles are available on Teletext page 888
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Juz
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Diddly
May 5 2006, 04:22 PM
..... it'll probably end up like Midtown Madness 3, with weirdos just sat around using it as a chat room, and no one racing at all.

Lol - that's all Volt, Zai (and Ste? Or am I on crack) and me ever did....well, not just sat around - we used to go to that loop the loop and jump up onto the rooftop and play at "mock the plebs below us", followed by bouts of "accidentally knocking off said usual suspects so they had to do it all over again."

I haven't touched a Test Drive game since the first or second one, and that was a horribly soulless affair.

In this age of "the most powerful console on earth" a lack of damage would seem ghey beyond belief, as would a less than stellar framerate - guess we'll see in the demo eh?
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DC-ARENA
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Just played the demo. Crap.com :D
XBox Live: DC ARENA | PlayStation Network: DC_Cha_Cha_Cha | Steam: DC ARENA
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Diddly
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"Crap" is kind of harsh - I kinda like it. Good car models (although nowhere near PGR3's) an excellent sensation of speed, and I like the handling - it varies significantly between the 3 cars and particularly from the in-car feels a lot like PGR3, right down to the framerate. Could be great fun although the graphics could do with a tweak - the shearing in the showrooms is ridiculous, and like all Eden's other games, you don't want to look at the scenery too closely. And why is it that when you pile into traffic at 150Mph they get damaged, but you don't?

Subtitles are available on Teletext page 888
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DC-ARENA
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Diddly
May 9 2006, 11:03 AM
"Crap" is kind of harsh - I kinda like it. Good car models (although nowhere near PGR3's) an excellent sensation of speed, and I like the handling - it varies significantly between the 3 cars and particularly from the in-car feels a lot like PGR3, right down to the framerate. Could be great fun although the graphics could do with a tweak - the shearing in the showrooms is ridiculous, and like all Eden's other games, you don't want to look at the scenery too closely. And why is it that when you pile into traffic at 150Mph they get damaged, but you don't?

Like I said, crap.
XBox Live: DC ARENA | PlayStation Network: DC_Cha_Cha_Cha | Steam: DC ARENA
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Juz
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Hmmmn - I kinda liked it too. The idea behind it is solid (so long as they avoid a monthly fee), and if they get the framerate up to a real next-gen-should-really-be-standard-60fps (fat chance) and iron out a few graphical glitches (and have damage on your car) then I'll be looking into parting with some groats for it.
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Diddly
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Completely unrelated to DC's rant, but it is another title he rates highly, this made me smile:
Quote:
 
Test Drive Unlimited for the Brazilian National Football Team

- Samba Kickers are road-testing Atari’s upcoming Racing Blockbuster -



FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY – 30 June 2006 – In order to keep the members of the Brazilian National Football Team entertained between matches, Atari and the Kempinski Hotel Falkenstein have provided a games lounge for the players. The Brazilian Football Stars are first in line to have the opportunity of road-testing a pre-release version of the Massively Open Online Racing Game (MOOR) Test Drive Unlimited. Microsoft has provided Atari with five Xbox 360 debug kits for this purpose.


Maybe we should lobby that the Portugal (oooh ooh and Germany, Argentina, France, Italy and the Urkraine) get it too, prolonged play might make their eyes go funny so they can't see Rooney running circles round them or just how crap Frank Lampard really is... :huh:
Subtitles are available on Teletext page 888
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Zaichik
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Could this be the most fucking annoying thing ever:

http://www.mcvuk.com/newsitem.php?id=24191

Apparently, we will pay more for TDU because we're "less advanced" than the US! :angry:
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merrick
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Takes the piss that does. I totally refuse to pay their stupid over-inflated prices and just get my games from CEX now, a few weeks after release I can usually get a £50 X360 title for a far more reasonable £35.
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Zaichik
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New demo up on Marketplace apparently.
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Pedro
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Along with a Just Cause demo ;)
PSN ID: PedroUK
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Zaichik
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Ooh - must give that a try to see if we really did bag a bargain from Game's misprice. ;)
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