:thumbdown: Test drive unlimited

Zirax · 27-05-2007, 20:11

Well seeing as I have some time this weekend I thought I would go through my collection of games that I haven't had time to play. First one is Test drive unlimited. People are raving about this on how it looks and the excellent screenshots you get from it.

Well I ran it on an x1900xtx @742/819 at 1920*1200, full hdr and 4x AA. I was getting a steady 30-31fps. Now I will grant that it does look good when you are driving around, but how does it "drive"?

In a word, ****

Let me give you some examples, bombing along at 140mph in a Ferrari and you touch the breaks
<screeeeeeech> eh?
Pull back slightly on the brakes (using analogue gamepad) <screeeeech> :undecided:
So, you lock up your wheels every single time you brake.

Now I come bombing up to a right hand bend, brake, turn, power on full for a nice bit of oversteer and a twitch on the way out..... nope, understeer straight into the wall. To actually do it you have to brake, handbrake, turn, then power on (the understeer automatically corrects the oversteer).

So you are now reduced to whaoh i'm doing 150 in a 50 through traffic <SMACK> ooooh those other generic cars are wrecked, but my Ferrari is fine, off we go then.

Its uninstalling as I type this, I completely fail to see the appeal. Ok so the game looks pretty and you could actually "drive" an enzo, not a "bonzo", but other than that there isn't much to the game. To give you an idea, you can be chased by police..... to get away simply drive in a straight line with your foot down.... because nothing else on the road can catch an Audi/Ferrari/Ford.

I had better find a good game soon or I'm going to be even more bored.

Daz · 27-05-2007, 20:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zirax

I had better find a good game soon or I'm going to be even more bored.

Cant comment on TDU (except to say Davey's played it a bit on 360 so it will be interesting to see a console comparison), but I'll echo that.

I pine for either a big sandbox game (read: Crackdown), or something with a truly interesting single player story. Give me a good plot! With twists! Please!

Desmo · 28-05-2007, 10:54

Funnily enough I was playing the TDU demo on the 360 last night. It's not a bad game at all but your points are still valid in the 360 version. You can smash and crash your way through stuff without any major effect. Although I do believe that in the full game you will lose money if you do this. Don't know if it affects the actual car at the time though.

Garp · 28-05-2007, 12:06

TDU annoyed the hell out of me in Beta... the physics model just felt wrong the entire time I was trying to drive. It seemed this odd mish-mash between arcady (NFS) and realisting (a la Grand Prix Legends) I'm told a wheel makes it better, but to be honest I'm not shelling out on a wheel when I don't play racing games that much.

Feek · 28-05-2007, 12:12

I'm thoroughly enjoying TDU on my PC using a wheel and pedals, especially once I've tweaked the sensitivity down. It is a shame that they had to turn off damage models as I understand the car manufacturers didn't want people to see their models in a smashed up state.

semi-pro waster · 28-05-2007, 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feek

It is a shame that they had to turn off damage models as I understand the car manufacturers didn't want people to see their models in a smashed up state.

I've heard that reasoning before for other games and it seems a bit stupid of the car manufacturers, if people can't differentiate between seeing a smashed up car on a computer screen and the real life article then quite frankly I suspect they aren't fit to be driving.

However this does give me the chance to pimp one of my favourite games ever (NFS Porsche Challenge) as that does actually have a damage model so you can see the cars deform to an extent and it does affect the handling.

Garp · 28-05-2007, 15:26

NFS Porsche is one of the best racing games I've ever had the priviledge to play

Davey_Pitch · 28-05-2007, 15:36

The TDU demo on the 360 was fairly poor I thought, but after plenty of people said there was a marked improvement in the retail version I gave it a whirl, and I was actually fairly impressed. The driving doesn't quite handle as I'd expect it to, the brakes do lock up at times in some cars (especially the Enzo, it's the worst for it), but with practise and a bit of patience I was okay with it. I actually need to go back and finish it off at some point, only have about 6 races and 4 time trials left and then the single player section is done.

Garp · 08-03-2010, 00:45

Necropost \o/

Grabbed a copy of this game and gave it a shot, as I knew it was based on Oahu.

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

"based" is probably a fair description. Oahu looks nothing like they make it out to. I drove up the Pali highway in to Kailua from down town and they've got this place as some generic waikiki copy, all high rises etc, which is so far from the truth it's laughable.
Downtown Kari and I struggled to navigate around roads we know like the back of our hands. Even Aloha Towers Marketplace is totally wrong. They've got the tower in the right place, but the market place is just a series of random shop blocks, not even in the right shaping, let alone position. Driving from there to Ala Moana was just baffling. It's like they've taken a map and found some random tall well recognised buildings and shoved them in, and then completely ignored anything resembling reality.
Don't get me started on the trees and how overly lush they've got it, nor the lack of buildings in general... so wrong, so wrong.

Feek · 08-03-2010, 07:32

I didn't realise it was supposed to be a street map? I never took it as anything other than a basic representation.

27-05-2007, 20:11	#1
Zirax Goes up to 11! Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 4,577	:thumbdown: Test drive unlimited Well seeing as I have some time this weekend I thought I would go through my collection of games that I haven't had time to play. First one is Test drive unlimited. People are raving about this on how it looks and the excellent screenshots you get from it. Well I ran it on an x1900xtx @742/819 at 19201200, full hdr and 4x AA. I was getting a steady 30-31fps. Now I will grant that it does look good when you are driving around, but how does it "drive"? In a word, *** Let me give you some examples, bombing along at 140mph in a Ferrari and you touch the breaks <screeeeeeech> eh? Pull back slightly on the brakes (using analogue gamepad) <screeeeech> :undecided: So, you lock up your wheels every single time you brake. Now I come bombing up to a right hand bend, brake, turn, power on full for a nice bit of oversteer and a twitch on the way out..... nope, understeer straight into the wall. To actually do it you have to brake, handbrake, turn, then power on (the understeer automatically corrects the oversteer). So you are now reduced to whaoh i'm doing 150 in a 50 through traffic <SMACK> ooooh those other generic cars are wrecked, but my Ferrari is fine, off we go then. Its uninstalling as I type this, I completely fail to see the appeal. Ok so the game looks pretty and you could actually "drive" an enzo, not a "bonzo", but other than that there isn't much to the game. To give you an idea, you can be chased by police..... to get away simply drive in a straight line with your foot down.... because nothing else on the road can catch an Audi/Ferrari/Ford. I had better find a good game soon or I'm going to be even more bored.

28-05-2007, 10:54	#3
Desmo The Last Airbender Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Pigmopad Posts: 11,915	Funnily enough I was playing the TDU demo on the 360 last night. It's not a bad game at all but your points are still valid in the 360 version. You can smash and crash your way through stuff without any major effect. Although I do believe that in the full game you will lose money if you do this. Don't know if it affects the actual car at the time though. __________________

28-05-2007, 12:06	#4
Garp Preparing more tumbleweed Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Hawaii Posts: 6,038	TDU annoyed the hell out of me in Beta... the physics model just felt wrong the entire time I was trying to drive. It seemed this odd mish-mash between arcady (NFS) and realisting (a la Grand Prix Legends) I'm told a wheel makes it better, but to be honest I'm not shelling out on a wheel when I don't play racing games that much. __________________ Mal: Define "interesting"? Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die"?

28-05-2007, 12:12	#5
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	I'm thoroughly enjoying TDU on my PC using a wheel and pedals, especially once I've tweaked the sensitivity down. It is a shame that they had to turn off damage models as I understand the car manufacturers didn't want people to see their models in a smashed up state. __________________

28-05-2007, 15:26	#7
Garp Preparing more tumbleweed Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Hawaii Posts: 6,038	NFS Porsche is one of the best racing games I've ever had the priviledge to play __________________ Mal: Define "interesting"? Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die"?

28-05-2007, 15:36	#8
Davey_Pitch I iz speshul Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Liverpool Posts: 6,296	The TDU demo on the 360 was fairly poor I thought, but after plenty of people said there was a marked improvement in the retail version I gave it a whirl, and I was actually fairly impressed. The driving doesn't quite handle as I'd expect it to, the brakes do lock up at times in some cars (especially the Enzo, it's the worst for it), but with practise and a bit of patience I was okay with it. I actually need to go back and finish it off at some point, only have about 6 races and 4 time trials left and then the single player section is done. __________________ Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

08-03-2010, 00:45	#9
Garp Preparing more tumbleweed Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Hawaii Posts: 6,038	Necropost \o/ Grabbed a copy of this game and gave it a shot, as I knew it was based on Oahu. Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. "based" is probably a fair description. Oahu looks nothing like they make it out to. I drove up the Pali highway in to Kailua from down town and they've got this place as some generic waikiki copy, all high rises etc, which is so far from the truth it's laughable. Downtown Kari and I struggled to navigate around roads we know like the back of our hands. Even Aloha Towers Marketplace is totally wrong. They've got the tower in the right place, but the market place is just a series of random shop blocks, not even in the right shaping, let alone position. Driving from there to Ala Moana was just baffling. It's like they've taken a map and found some random tall well recognised buildings and shoved them in, and then completely ignored anything resembling reality. Don't get me started on the trees and how overly lush they've got it, nor the lack of buildings in general... so wrong, so wrong. __________________ Mal: Define "interesting"? Wash: "Oh, God, oh, God, we're all gonna die"?

08-03-2010, 07:32	#10
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	I didn't realise it was supposed to be a street map? I never took it as anything other than a basic representation. __________________