Test Drive Unlimited 3 (TDU3)

[RobikV3]

But you know Hawaii is 50th state of USA? And it might not be a spiritual succesor but the map is a lot larger than Hawaii and it features different localisations from big aglomerations through deserts to snowy mountains, whats not to like?

[TDUZoqqer]

And this also won't be a fictional map, it's a copy of murica. Just a bit smaller.

[Eudemon]

The Crew is almost a direct representation of what "spiritual successor" means, it is a game that takes on many of the traits of a past IP and does a number of things in it's own way too. If you could technically call your game by the name of another but copyright prohibits that then you more than likely have a use for the term.

 

Bioshock was the same for System Shock.

When a developer creates a game that could be perceived as a new instalment in an existing franchise that they've worked on before, but doesn't share the same name due to licensing issues or other reasons, it's called a Spiritual Successor.

 

giantbomb

[Baldy]

Well lets hope its a spiritual successor to Tdu and not tdu2

[TDU3FTW]

But you know Hawaii is 50th state of USA? And it might not be a spiritual succesor but the map is a lot larger than Hawaii and it features different localisations from big aglomerations through deserts to snowy mountains, whats not to like?

 

Yes, of course I know that but I was talking about the scenery in itself. E.g. Hawaii and Ibiza have this exotic, tropical and mediterranic feeling to them, they are "charismatic" locations, the kind of places that we usually associate with "good life", they have their own "personality" in the same way each country has its own specific vibe or atmosphere.

 

I'm not saying that the US doesn't have beautiful landmarks, but have you seen how many open world games with a real or fictional world map have been released in the last few years based on the generic US scenery type? (Forza Horizon, NFS The Run, NFS Rivals, NFS Hot Pursuit 2010, NFS Most Wanted 2012, Driver San Francisco etc). I mean, enough already... TDU was a breath of fresh air in the genre because of its world map, location and "spirit". Even the first NFS's before the 2005 Most Wanted were attractive because of the locations they tried to portray in their closed tracks.

 

Diablo: to me a "spiritual sucessor" is something that shares the same principles, "spirit" and "charisma" of the previous installments. And a TDU set on the US doesn't feel exotic at all, feels more like a NFS really, something which I've been hearing quite a lot. Anyway, to each his own, this is only my opinion.

 

BTW, I would like to hear people's opinions/suggestions about where TDU3 should be set. ;) To me don't know why but any surf paradise spot seems to fit TDU, Galápagos Islands, Easter island, Micronesia Islands etc.

[Eudemon]

If TDU3 gets made and they want to go bigger again I think they will maybe go for Corsica as it was rumoured as one of the spots they had looked to for TDU2. One thing is for sure if it is being made we probably won't see it till 2016/17 and that could be risky as that's prime for The Crew 2 and a Horizon 3 timeframe.

[Ryzza5]

I don't really want TDU3 (Atari) to be honest. They've stuffed up and now there are new studios filling the gap.

 

NFS haven't been international (outside the USA) since 2001 (Hot Pursuit 2) by my reckoning. It's a trend that needed to change 5 years ago, and hopefully it's a trend that Forza Horizon 2 will start (i.e. others will follow suit).

[Eudemon]

Well unless they sell the IP it's going to have to be Atari and they could always do something crazy and get SMS on to do it. :D

[Nikki]

I doubt Atari will do another TDU game. They cant even keep the TDU2 servers up...

[Ozzmcom]

who bought atari? I thought they went bankrupt

[Nikki]

Noone. They keep theirselves alive with doing Mobilegames now.

[Eudemon]

The brand still sells, the games are mobile focussed so what that means for their main IP's; who knows?!

[Ryzza5]

Well I think with Asphalt, Real Racing, and Reckless Racing/Getaway we're fairly well covered for mobile driving games as it is.

[TDU3FTW]

Well, I might be a little late but it seems that even the guys making Forza Horizon 2 understood precisely what I was pointing out in my last post (they even used the same words):

 

"The Southern European setting seems like such a logical choice; a no-brainer that really taps into the fantasy of threading absurdly-expensive supercars through the French and Italian countryside. It’s the sort of thing you might see the hosts of the BBC’s Top Gear doing every other week..."

“We wanted to go somewhere a little bit exotic, somewhere that felt like the greatest summer road trip,” says Fulton. “I think that necessitates coming away from America. Not because that it isn’t a very fertile place for games; I think because we just thought we’ve been driving around North America in open-world games quite a lot over the last couple of years. Southern Europe just felt fresh, it felt different, it felt new, and it was a gimme for us.”

 

Source: IGN (just go to the "Forza Horizon 2 Announced" thread to see the link for the article)

 

After all it seems that Forza Horizon 2 will be the true "spiritual scucessor" of TDU, which isn't a surprise as the first Horizon "borrowed", copied and tried to reproduce TDU's philosophy in many ways, at the time a lot of people made that comparison. The game philosophy, location, even the radio stuff they go through in this article is based on the TDU concept. Unfortunately this won't be released on the PC.

 

P.S. How do you like someone's post? (I'm new around here, only see the +rep button)

[The Compensator]

And what's the point of this discussion?

[Ryzza5]

TDU1 was all exotic sure, but it was also about being able to cruise and chill with friends for hours without getting bored. Forza Horizon doesn't have that reputation yet. Even if it does have amazing roads, handling, and engine sounds if it doesn't have a large enough map and geared towards 'unlimited' gameplay options then it just isn't going to last (just like the first one).

 

Round the world race in TDU1: ~45 minutes to complete

Round the world race in FH1: ~7-10 minutes

Round the world race in TC: ~4 hours

 

If FH2 is 3x the size as as FH1 it's still going to be less than TDU1. Not terrible but it's a bit last decade still. Let's hope the quality makes up for any lack of quantity.

[The Compensator]

Ok, since Ryan posted some facts let me too.

 

Here's what The Crew and Test Drive Unlimited have in common:

- huge map located in the USA

- police

- you can go everywhere you want

- interior colors and trims to choose from (hopefully rims as well)

- tuning

- radio stations

- French quality

 

So if I understand you correctly, you think The Crew is not a 'spiritual succesor' to the OG TDU because it is based in the USA again, am I right?

[Nikki]

TDU1 was all exotic sure, but it was also about being able to cruise and chill with friends for hours without getting bored. Forza Horizon doesn't have that reputation yet. Even if it does have amazing roads, handling, and engine sounds if it doesn't have a large enough map and geared towards 'unlimited' gameplay options then it just isn't going to last (just like the first one).

 

Round the world race in TDU1: ~45 minutes to complete

Round the world race in FH1: ~7-10 minutes

Round the world race in TC: ~4 hours

 

If FH2 is 3x the size as as FH1 it's still going to be less than TDU1. Not terrible but it's a bit last decade still. Let's hope the quality makes up for any lack of quantity.

 

4 hours? Thats incredible. The map must be very large.

[Tobberian]

1:1 location was a big factor in tdu.. for me anyway. Although I'd been happier if they hadn't adapted the map for arcade driving (and if tdu had been non-arcade).

 

(Some other crew so so's).

[Nikki]

(Some other crew so so's).

 

As every other modern MMO (if you call it that) they will deliver alot more cars over the time. Of course as premium items in their virtual currency store (if they use one) and they will be OP as most premium items are.

 

Moneygrabbing via Microtransactions is common in the gaming industry now. Why give people the whole game for free at release day when you can sell it to them piece by piece with later patches. That way they catch two flies with one flap.

 

- Keep people motivated by announing more better and cooler cars

- Grab money

 

So much win!

[RobikV3]

Not really the already stated that its not going to be pay2win, microtransation are optional everything is possible to unlock via progressing, sure there might be future DLCs but they rather be like Forzas DLCs, not like War Thunder or any other MMO you can think of, after all its not free2play game.

[Nikki]

Sounds like a right approach from Ubi. There are already enough Free2play-Pay2win games on the market.

 

If it is like on TDU2 that you can purchase DLC cars for a small amount I can live with that.

[Ozzmcom]

 

If it is like on TDU2 that you can purchase DLC cars for a small amount I can live with that.

 

this is the problem, it has become acceptable to pay a full price for a half of a game and then pay more for dlc's.

Not that consumer can do anything about it, it's basic game theory. Every company does it, no one loses except consumer.

[RobikV3]

Yeah thats the problem, we could stop buying but there are always people who will buy it just like they buy EA products no matter how broken they are.

[Ryzza5]

The only difference with TC is the cars take forever to model because of all the mechanical parts that also need to be modelled AND animated.

 

Given how man people here were willing to pay to keep TDU1 alive you'd think this wouldn't be such a massive issue this time around.