Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown Players Overdue Compensation

Cover Image.jpg
Image: Nacon
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown (TDUSC) has completed yet another maintenance period, and there are still no signs of compensation for players who requested it after the announcement of compensation for players who could not play the game at the start of September.

TDUSC seems to be in and out of maintenance week in and week out. The most recent patch has brought a handful of server changes and stabilisation, but outside of that, there is not much that has been improved with this latest patch.

The Halloween update added some more special races and a plague doctor costume. The community was not impressed and reacted as if the developers had introduced the actual plague into TDUSC...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1851740204375187502

So what can be done about all of this negativity that still surrounds the game? The answer is clear. Start handing out the compensation that was promised to the players who want it and continue to work hard and improve the game for those who are sticking it out and supporting the growth of TDUSC.

The game has lots of potential, but unfortunately, TDUSC is seemingly being left to die. The community feel as if there has been no positive change and those changes that could have helped turn the ship around are seemingly not on the list for implementation any time soon, such as a solely single-player campaign.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1851618262468972998

Is there a future for TDUSC?​

TDUSC will continue to exist and, at least for the foreseeable future, will continue to be updated throughout 2025 and beyond. However, with the game's reputation in tatters and the community behind it angry and unhappy for the most part, what needs to change at KT Racing and Nacon to start steering the title in the right direction?

The key takeaway from the comments on the latest patch is that people are still awaiting their compensation, as mentioned above, but people also want a single-player mode to be implemented. It has been at the top of the list for players ever since the fully online mode was announced, but we have not heard any news concerning this from KT Racing or Nacon.

1.jpg

Nissan GT-R R35. Image: Nacon

We want to know your thoughts. What is the best thing about Test Drive Unlimted: Solar Crown and what is the main thing you want to see improved, fixed or removed? Have you received compensation yet? Let us know in the comments down below!
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Connor Minniss
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

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Comments

Formula24
AgentRoo said:
Can't believe they didn't learn from the TDU2 fiasco and basically remade the game.

The original TDU was a classic, mostly due to its simplicity - buy cars and race them. Other than buying homes (and thereby garage dpace) in which to store said cars, that was all you needed to do.

None of this rubbish around buying clothes or going to casinos or any other baloney.

If TDU4 ever gets made, it needs to be back to basics. Buy cars and race them. Storage space can be an option as well, but just leave out all the non-essential stuff.

Probably save a few hundred hours of development time as well.
Click to expand...
Er this is pretty hilarious considering that's what TDUSC is for the most part. Very little lifestyle or non racing missions and no houses. The clothes are entirely skippable and there isnt a casino yet. But guess what every bodies number 1 complaint about the game has been? That its just racing and there isnt any of the lifestyle elements, so im gonna go ahead and say you are in the vast minority with your opinon
 
BorisK
My opinion is it's a good game, better than the latest NFS. But the same circumstance that destroyed Project Cars 3 worked here - an attempt to play on the loud name of the legendary series, not backed up by anything. Call it whatever you want, like “Hong Kong Nights and Days” or something like that. It is clear that such a title will cause much less interest, but also criticism is less aggressive. Everyone knows what KT Racing is and what they are capable of (that's praise), everyone knows who Nacon is (that's not praise), and expectations would be less inflated and criticism would be gentle. But Nacon decided it was better commercially, and yes, they wrote that the game was successful. 22 percent on Steam... “Nothing personal, just business.”
 
James Cook
Don't buy any game on day one, folks. Certainly do not pre-order games.

I don't know how many times this needs to be said.
 
GRaFkiyv
1. To enter the shops, you constantly have to switch from the keyboard to the gamepad. I'm waiting for a patch.
2. There are no MMO clubs by interests.
3. The mechanical damage system is disabled, which was at a decent level in WRC10.
4. There are no total accidents, torn tires and torn wheels and doors like in WRC10.
5. Car shops are too easy to find on the map.
6. The time-stretched set of points for buying hypercars, in 30 hours I don't have access to buying a Ferrari or Lamborghini.
7. Weak livery designer.
8. Waiting for "detective" missions: Track down bank robbers, thieves of luxury cars, corrupt police officers, pop stars, port thieves and the like.
 
B
Times have changed and pretty much everything today is utter crap, be it movies, music or video games.
It's all about reboots, remakes and remasters.
No originality, no authenticity, just reuse the assets and copy paste.
Cause people don't really care about anything anymore.
No soul, just sell. Just buy. Just consume. All work and no play.

I've had a chat in the YT comment section with the guy who made the physics for TDU1.
The guy is a hardcore simmer:

He said they initially wanted to make TDU1 as a hardcore open world driving sim, but the company(Eden Games at the time) had no wish to backup the developers' passion so they had to tone it down.

But nevertheless, TDU1 in Hardcore mode with the Platinum mod is still the greatest and most realistic open world driving game of all time, if you don't count ETS2 in the equation.
It is dangerously close to rFactor1 in the handling and physics department, and I'm having an absolute blast with it.
And you what's funny?!
TDU1 is still online, there are so many players on that gigantic map any time of the day.
The game is 18 years old! And the servers are running flawlessly.

In your face, Solar Crown.
 
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R
GRaFkiyv said:
3. The mechanical damage system is disabled, which was at a decent level in WRC10.
4. There are no total accidents, torn tires and torn wheels and doors like in WRC10.
5. Car shops are too easy to find on the map.
6. The time-stretched set of points for buying hypercars, in 30 hours I don't have access to buying a Ferrari or Lamborghini.
7. Weak livery designer.
8. Waiting for "detective" missions: Track down bank robbers, thieves of luxury cars, corrupt police officers, pop stars, port thieves and the like.
Click to expand...
For sure, if you expect featurzz that have never been part of a TDU game 1nd announced, you can only be disappointed. You can get the detective missions in some of the old Crash Time games, the unfortunately unavailable Driver San Francisco. Considering how obscure these games are, the detective formula is probably not the most successful one. And it requires a stort or, at least, a context. In TDUSC, we are just entering a racing competition, nothing to justify such detective missions.
 
R
bozakn said:
Times have changed and pretty much everything today is utter crap, be it movies, music or video games.
It's all about reboots, remakes and remasters.
No originality, no authenticity, just reuse the assets and copy paste.
Cause people don't really care about anything anymore.
No soul, just sell. Just buy. Just consume. All work and no play.

I've had a chat in the YT comment section with the guy who made the physics for TDU1.
The guy is a hardcore simmer:

He said they initially wanted to make TDU1 as a hardcore open world driving sim, but the company(Eden Games at the time) had no wish to backup the developers' passion so they had to tone it down.

But nevertheless, TDU1 in Hardcore mode with the Platinum mod is still the greatest and most realistic open world driving game of all time, if you don't count ETS2 in the equation.
It is dangerously close to rFactor1 in the handling and physics department, and I'm having an absolute blast with it.
And you what's funny?!
TDU1 is still online, there are so many players on that gigantic map any time of the day.
The game is 18 years old! And the servers are running flawlessly.

In your face, Solar Crown.
Click to expand...
Be careful, the servers aren't the original ones, these have been shut down.years ago. The current ones are financed and maintained by these cool modders. So not.in the face of TDUSC. I remember TDU1 having surprisingly quiet realistic physics compared to other open world racing games, but not great graphics. I assume that with the Platinum mod it is much better. How does it compare to TDU World for TDU2?

About remakes, reboots, recreations, copies, it is unfortunately a realiry. Since people have fully become addicted to ads and communication, and globalization erasing identities, brands and names are the most crucial selling points of any product. Brands have always been a thing but they became almost religion. Why paying some addidas campus 3 times the price of the generic addisas shoes which have the exact same quality (bad nowadays). Why preordering a game which, 15 years later, obviously will have nothing to do with the previous games, just because it is labelled "TDU"?

EDIT : I'm pretty sure most of the so called TDU fans haven't played the original games and have just heard, more probably watched, about a supposed cult game. These weren't great games in their time, not cult at all. The franchise aquired this status thanks to youtubers who needed to find racing games to make views on their channels, and who copy each other, nothing more. That's how the legend has been built, making the name a thing in the head of the manipulated minds.
 
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I
Thenextinline said:
Honestly, this whole "refund" thing should be abolished. That way people will think twice about spending money for anything and DEMAND good quality. It will have a positive effect, not only in the videogaming industry but on any industry. Just wait and see what happens. Wait for the first reviews. Wait some more for the first updates/fixes. It's that simple. There's plenty of games to play until the first feedback arives.
Click to expand...
If refunds didn't exist then we should start demanding demos to come back.
 
R
Inkta said:
If refunds didn't exist then we should start demanding demos to come back.
Click to expand...
Bring back the sharwares CDs!!! :D
Joke apart, demos should be mandatory and great games could be more successful. I remember having not been interested in Dishonored.when.it came out, although I had enjoyed a lot the previous Arkane's games. Watching videos I wasn't impressed at all. As the reviews were all positive, I bought it on sale 2 or 3 years later. Playing the game myself, it looked and felt absolutely different, it was amazing and it became one of my favorite games ever. It is just one of those games you can't perceive the depth and the level of immersion if you just watch videos (the same wiith Arkane's Prey by the way). With a demo, I would have paid full price, not waiting so much time to play it.

By the way, there is an Automobilista 2 demo. Raceroom provides free content and all cars can be tried for free. Some are listening to us...

EDIT : the issue with demos is that they have to always be updated. When a game comes out in a terrible state and needs a lot of.updates, that's a lot.of.work. but who would release a demo showing the game is in a broken state? :D
 
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B
roadyroad said:
Be careful, the servers aren't the original ones, these have been shut down.years ago. The current ones are financed and maintained by these cool modders. So not.in the face of TDUSC. I remember TDU1 having surprisingly quiet realistic physics compared to other open world racing games, but not great graphics. I assume that with the Platinum mod it is much better. How does it compare to TDU World for TDU2?

EDIT : I'm pretty sure most of the so called TDU fans haven't played the original games and have just heard, more probably watched, about a supposed cult game. These weren't great games in their time, not cult at all. The franchise aquired this status thanks to youtubers who needed to find racing games to make views on their channels, and who copy each other, nothing more. That's how the legend has been built, making the name a thing in the head of the manipulated minds.
Click to expand...

In terms of graphics, don't expect miracles from a 2006 title, but with the Platinum HD tweaks, it can look pretty stunning on a giant 4k TV. It shows it's age but damn, there's just something in those old games color palette that is much more convincing than everything produced today. At least in my eyes.
As for TDU2 World, I just couldn't stand the abysmal physics and car handling, so I never drove it extensively. Tried it, but didn't like it at all.

Not sure though if I can agree with you regarding your take on the game's cult status.
Yes, youtubers tend to hype things, and yes, TDU2 was a massive disappointment.

But man, when TDU 1 came out in 2006, I remember it like it was yesterday.
I was blown away with the freedom that gigantic map brought to the table.
It was so groundbreaking and revolutionary.
I was hooked and I still am.
Almost 20 years later, I'm running the damn thing on a direct drive wheel with track IR and a Buttkicker.
Doing heel n' toe in super cars of the old, driving around Oahu with whoever comes along.
Catching a slide in a Ferrari Enzo with full opposite lock.
It is so fun and addictive that I'm completely neglecting circuit racing and simracing.
And it's not nostalgia goggles.
Nothing can compete with that experience, not even Assetto Corsa with the best free roam maps.
1500 miles of open roads with pretty convincing FFB and car handling. Clutch simulated better than in rFactor 2.
Incredible.
 
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Oubaas
Yikes! I'm glad I missed out on this! What's going on with developers lately? I think I'll stick with the old sims.
 
R
bozakn said:
In terms of graphics, don't expect miracles from a 2006 title, but with the Platinum HD tweaks, it can look pretty stunning on a giant 4k TV. It shows it's age but damn, there's just something in those old games color palette that is much more convincing than everything produced today. At least in my eyes.
As for TDU2 World, I just couldn't stand the abysmal physics and car handling, so I never drove it extensively. Tried it, but didn't like it at all.

Not sure though if I can agree with you regarding your take on the game's cult status.
Yes, youtubers tend to hype things, and yes, TDU2 was a massive disappointment.

But man, when TDU 1 came out in 2006, I remember it like it was yesterday.
I was blown away with the freedom that gigantic map brought to the table.
It was so groundbreaking and revolutionary.
I was hooked and I still am.
Almost 20 years later, I'm running the damn thing on a direct drive wheel with track IR and a Buttkicker.
Doing heel n' toe in super cars of the old, driving around Oahu with whoever comes along.
Catching a slide in a Ferrari Enzo with full opposite lock.
It is so fun and addictive that I'm completely neglecting circuit racing and simracing.
And it's not nostalgia goggles.
Nothing can compete with that experience, not even Assetto Corsa with the best free roam maps.
1500 miles of open roads with pretty convincing FFB and car handling. Clutch simulated better than in rFactor 2.
Incredible.
Click to expand...
Ok I'm convinced! I'll try the Platinum.mod! I must admit it was impressive to get these interiors in an open world game but I was disappointed by the general.look of the game, trees, trees and trees with a few white buildings. I rapidly stopped playing.it. At that time I was more interested in urban environments, like NFSU2, which is still one of my favorite maps, and I think TDUSC map is the first one to match its variety and in a larger scale. I was interested in TDU2, for the better visuals and Ibiza, but the reviews pointed out the downgrade in physics. TDU world claims that the physics has been fully reworked, but it is far from being sim-like.
 
Alexandre Costa
bozakn said:
In terms of graphics, don't expect miracles from a 2006 title, but with the Platinum HD tweaks, it can look pretty stunning on a giant 4k TV. It shows it's age but damn, there's just something in those old games color palette that is much more convincing than everything produced today. At least in my eyes.
As for TDU2 World, I just couldn't stand the abysmal physics and car handling, so I never drove it extensively. Tried it, but didn't like it at all.

Not sure though if I can agree with you regarding your take on the game's cult status.
Yes, youtubers tend to hype things, and yes, TDU2 was a massive disappointment.

But man, when TDU 1 came out in 2006, I remember it like it was yesterday.
I was blown away with the freedom that gigantic map brought to the table.
It was so groundbreaking and revolutionary.
I was hooked and I still am.
Almost 20 years later, I'm running the damn thing on a direct drive wheel with track IR and a Buttkicker.
Doing heel n' toe in super cars of the old, driving around Oahu with whoever comes along.
Catching a slide in a Ferrari Enzo with full opposite lock.
It is so fun and addictive that I'm completely neglecting circuit racing and simracing.
And it's not nostalgia goggles.
Nothing can compete with that experience, not even Assetto Corsa with the best free roam maps.
1500 miles of open roads with pretty convincing FFB and car handling. Clutch simulated better than in rFactor 2.
Incredible.
Click to expand...
I never heard so many good things about TDU 1. I never tried it as when it was released I was a "sim only" person, how short sighted I was. I'm almost trying it. Please tell me that a modder managed to put VR on it.
 
B
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B
roadyroad said:
Ok I'm convinced! I'll try the Platinum.mod! I must admit it was impressive to get these interiors in an open world game but I was disappointed by the general.look of the game, trees, trees and trees with a few white buildings. I rapidly stopped playing.it. At that time I was more interested in urban environments, like NFSU2, which is still one of my favorite maps, and I think TDUSC map is the first one to match its variety and in a larger scale. I was interested in TDU2, for the better visuals and Ibiza, but the reviews pointed out the downgrade in physics. TDU world claims that the physics has been fully reworked, but it is far from being sim-like.
Click to expand...
This post may be of some help when it comes to getting the game to work.
 

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