Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown: New Dev Statement Promises In-game Compensation

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Statement announcement from the development team behind Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown. Images: KT Racing / Nacon
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown debuted severe technical issues , causing waitlists of upwards of 2000 players. Developer Kylotonn and publisher Nacon adressed these issues again while also mentioning compensation.

Still days away from the full release, TDUSC has already had a multitude of serious problems when it comes to servers and players being able to connect to the entirely online-based world. Thousands of keen players were met with long waitlists and a multitude of in-game issues and crashes once they did finally get onto the servers.

However, the TDUSC development team have released anothet statement, detailing new server success rate figures and most importantly for those eligible, compensation... sort of.

The Statement​

Today, we can finally inform you that the quality of most services has significantly improved since the official launch of the Early Unlock.

The percentage of players successfully logged in has increased from 45% just three hours after launch to a steady 96%.

We know that some players are still facing occasional connection or login difficulties, and we remain fully committed to resolving these problems over the coming hours and days. Our focus now is on race servers, which are currently the main remaining issue.

Temporary solutions for racing error messages​

If you see an error message at the end of a race asking if you want to return to the lobby or free roam, please wait and do not press "Yes" immediately. The game periodically makes requests to the servers, and it typically resolves itself within a few minutes.

Launching a Race:
Sometimes, it may be necessary to persist when trying to start a race. Keep trying if you encounter difficulties.

Onboarding Issues (Aberdeen first selection races):

If you have completed the second onboarding race but do not see the heliport on your map, please replay the first onboarding race.

If you do not see the second onboarding race after finishing the first, try replaying the first race. If it remains blocked, please request a save reset.

Compensation
We also understand the frustration this situation has caused, particularly for those who purchased the Gold Edition to access the game early. To express our gratitude for your patience and to apologize for the inconvenience, we will be offering in-game compensation to all affected players once these issues are fully resolved. More details regarding the compensation will be communicated at a later date.

Rest assured, we are continually optimizing the game to deliver the experience you expect from Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. This is just the beginning of the journey!

Lastly, seeing more and more of you enjoying the game when everything runs smoothly gives us even more energy to address these issues as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your continued support.
The TDU Development Team

Servers And Temporary Fixes​

The successful number of player logins has grown from 45% to 96%, an impressive jump but should that number be even higher than that by now? With the full game releasing September 12th, will the servers hold up to another even bigger influx of traffic?

However, the temporary fixes of just trying races multiple times until they work likely sound unacceptable to most players. They should not have to repeat races because there is a large percentage chance that the progress will just be wiped and not count, especially if it crashes the game. One issue is so game-breaking that the player must request a saved data reset if they encounter it.

Compensation​

The compensation they led the statement with is simply in-game credits or something or similar value rather than a real partial refund - the least many players have been calling for. After all, they paid extra money to access the game early, yet were not able to enjoy it.

Corvette.jpg

Gameplay image of the Chevrolet Corvette

An alternative could have been to refund a percentage of the extra money paid to access the title early.

The goodwill looks to be there and the team behind TDUSC are working hard to make the title playable for their audience, but a lot of players will not be happy with the idea of in-game compensation or the temporary racing bug fixes.

Have you been able to enjoy TDUSC in early access? Is it a title you will be playing on full release? Let us know on X @OverTake_gg or down in the comments below!
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Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

Comments

I don't understand paying a large sum of money to play a game in advance despite the hidden demo which was absolutely cathastrophic... and complaining.

Never buy day one, especially when you've had so many red flags (cathastrophic gameplay videos one year ago (?), cathastrophic early freebie not long ago).
I'm happy about the bad buzz, because if this kind of game works, it'll encourage studios to keep coming up with scandals like this (I hope Assetto Evo will be beyond reproach).

And paying to play early is an absolute ignominy.
We've seen it with forza motorsport, which after 11 maj offers a career that's still as empty as ever, AI that's as stupid as ever, filthy lighting in bright sunlight...
 
Ah the good old economics arguments...

"If the consumer was smarter we'd have better blah blah blah"

The consumer just had to be sold an idea and they'll buy it and wait... Give the consumer the idea of "exclusive early access" and they'll buy in even without a shiny trinket... Even more so in the Youtube age where clicks on a new titles review are worth the purchase...
 
The "people in charge" in the videogame industry should have learned from the countless disaster releases since several years, but well, whatever... A shame developers get their work ruined by business people who have no clue how to secure and please their customer base!
 
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Ah the good old economics arguments...

"If the consumer was smarter we'd have better blah blah blah"

The consumer just had to be sold an idea and they'll buy it and wait... Give the consumer the idea of "exclusive early access" and they'll buy in even without a shiny trinket... Even more so in the Youtube age where clicks on a new titles review are worth the purchase...
Some of these developers create some confusion around early access.There is a lot of difference between Kunos early access for ACC,Le Mans Ultimate,Forza and this mess.I signed up for early access for ACC and AMS2 to support the game and developer because they are loyal to their players.Forza and TDU show no such loyalty and produce over complicated titles with missing or broken features.They are unresponsive to the player base and everyone should steer clear of their games until they are released and reviewed and are in a finished state.LMU is slightly different because if he title was not supported it would not exist in the future without early support.Ultimately these titles live or die by how good they are after a few months of proper release.
 
Ultimately these titles live or die by how good they are after a few months of proper release.

So ACC and AMS2 are surviving because?

We're years into both being properly released and we're still getting game changing updates to fix issues that have turned people away from both products... Or looking at those game breaking issues remaining when the developers move on, like Kunos did with AC and will most likely do with ACC... Both also fall into the "titles with missing or broken features" class to this day...

It's just the way game development has been over the last decade plus... As long as you have enough people buying into it, it really doesn't matter how bad your customer service or quality control is...
 
How gullible do they think consumers are and how desperate are they to not provide an actual refund for a service that they didn't actually provide (at the agreed accessibility date within the point of sale)? Might as well give out monopoly money. If a dev / publisher can't deliver then don't offer, or failing that take accountability for your failure.

Such a sad state that the gaming industry and governing of is.
 
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I guess that they should consider virtual purchases for playing their game too, I'm sure I could whip up a few virtual coffees in exchange for a go at their game... but, if I don't like it I'll need the virtual cups back. :coffee:
 
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I think its about time one of the bigger countries stepped in and put in some regulations around shipping entertainment software that isn't fit for purpose. Instant refunds guaranteed and drive early access (beta testing) back behind closed doors. Make it so all games have an offline mode and cant be killed by the devs.

Multiple companies are just using the goodwill of the customer base to provide crap and treat them with contempt.

They are screwing themselves, all of us, and the entire industry.
 
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For everybody complaning about Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown as it is now; you don't have to buy it. Just wait to see some people have had a great experience with it, and before that, have a lot of fun with racing games which you do like.
 
We dont need to buy it but we can still complain about such software accidents coz they have bad influence for potentional other games.
This way of delivering a game to customers is no go.
You have paid for a service which should work directly from the first minute.
Sure, maybe a downtime of 1h is acceptable but not days.
So dont defend such things.
 
Its Stockholm syndrome at this point how the gaming industry is still being supported by us. They dont hesitate to burn us. We want to just pay for a fun AAA racing game that works!
 
Its Stockholm syndrome at this point how the gaming industry is still being supported by us. They dont hesitate to burn us. We want to just pay for a fun AAA racing game that works!

To me it's more a reflection of how bad the real world is that so many of us are this desperate to escape it... It's certainly far more fun ranting about a video games bugs than watching the news...
 
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To me its a reflection that these companies prioritise short term cash flow over long term reputational damage.

This indicates multiple levels of poor management and strategy, and ignoring or ignorance of some of the most fundamental business risks. Or perhaps its just desperation. Either way its driven by incompetence and arrogance.

And we are all poorer for it.

Its happening often enough that a trend is established, and that trend is becoming a common practise. To the point that some people are not only accepting of it, but also trying to legitimise and defend poor product, poor service, poor value. Just blatant disregard and disrespect for the paying customer.
 
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