What I miss about TDU1.

[Beolex]

What do I miss about TDU?

 

The storyline. You go to the airport, select a character, and fly to Hawaii. You land at the airport and get assigned to rent a car at a cool-looking rent-a-car place with decent "normal" cars, such as hatchbacks and 4-door saloons (something TDU2 needs more of). Then you got an apartment and money to buy your OWN "normal" car. Not too fast but enough to win a few races.

 

I miss the types of vehicles. TDU was launched at the beginning of a new era of supercars. Ferrari's old-school 360 and 575 were JUST being replaced by cars like the 430, 612, etc. I mean, the F12, FF, 458, etc. are impressive, but the 612/430/599/Enzo were seriously a new era. An era of advanced traction control, semi-automatic gearboxes, etc... but the game still retained the classics like the 360CS and 575M. It features the then-modern American sports cars like the fifth generation Mustang GT, Corvette C6 + Z06, and all of that good stuff. And not to mention Lamborghini... the Lamborghini dealer was always worth a visit, especially with the Megapack. The Volkswagen Golf R32 was the hottest hatchback of them all. What happened to Maserati? The GranTurismo and Quattroporte would fit perfectly in this game.

 

I miss the buildings (odd one, eh?). In TDU2 there are less and less "independent" dealers. Volkswagen and Porsche (well, RUF) are combined into "German cars", as well as Alfa Romeo/Pagani, and Corvettes/Saturns don't get their cool GM (General Motors) dealership anymore... lets just pack them into "American cars". In TDU1 pretty much every dealer was unique and interesting. In TDU2 all of the tunershops are retextured, but in TDU1, German, Japanese, etc. each had their own building. I miss those golf club/clubhouse buildings that you'd find on the East Coast. A nice place to park.

 

Online just seemed so much better as well. I remember the top left of the map... the light house was the daily (or weekly) meet for cars of all kinds... Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maseratis, you name it. Cars weren't as jumpy/laggy in TDU1 as they are now in TDU2. The network issues in TDU1 were present, but considering TDU2 has them the same, maybe even worse, they don't bother me that much anymore. But yeah, online seemed more cooler/purer back then... it just felt like there were more places to cruise/meet up at, which may sound ironic because TDU2 has more roads.

 

This next one is a bit of a common complaint, but the physics in TDU2 are sub-par. I thought TDU1 had bad physics, but TDU2 has them even worse. Correcting a car's oversteer is like an on/off button - you either correct it and gain control, or you lose control. There is no element of uncertainty or surprise. It's impossible to do real donuts, J-turns, burnouts, etc. Transmissions on semi-automatic cars shift so slowly... the quickest shifts happen when you have like 20% throttle applied and you are going slow.

 

Car sounds... in TDU1 they were more bearable. The 599GTO sounds annoying in this game, as well as most 4-cylinder vehicles. At least they were moddable in TDU1 though... I remember getting sounds for my Gallardo SE and Maserati coupe, they sounded kick-ass. Now, as far as I know, TDU2 sounds aren't moddable anymore.

 

Why are there missing features from TDU1 not in TDU2? The ability to have a custom radio... I remember playing my Pink Floyd in police chases. Those were fun times. Even TDU1 had a decent in-game radio, the classical station had some of the best classical pieces ever. Why did you guys remove the engine starter button? Why did you guys remove seat position adjustment? I can barely see out of cars, I use the hood view as a result. Why did you remove certain houses/areas?

 

In TDU1 achieving a dream garage was easier as well... In TDU2, I finished all of the races and I still find myself spending hours replaying that $20,000 speed run so I can rack up a decent amount of money in 80 minutes or so. And I still can't afford a yacht. TDU1 had better races in my opinion.

 

On paper, TDU2 should technically be better, right? But for some reason, it's not... I just had some nostalgia/spiritual connection with the original TDU that cannot be replicated with TDU2. Is it just because it was very unique for the time? Is it because it was the first exciting/challenging/adventurous driving game I played?

 

I don't know... I remember spending entire Saturdays playing TDU1... cruising Hawaii repeatedly in cars like the Lamborghini Murcielago - avoiding traffic while my palm was sweating on the joystick, trying not to crash. The online, and even offline experience, just felt so much better.

 

Eden Games bothers me because they have so much potential to create the best driving game ever but they sort of half-assed this game. I know its not easy to create video games, especially ones where you are working with satellite-data to create real-life islands with hundreds of kilometers of roads, but still... there are many easily-doable features that are missing.

 

I know Eden games underwent some company changes recently... but if you guys are still capable... please, try to research what made TDU1 so special and bring it back. Try to get licensed from Lamborghini, try to improve the physics (or at least make a realistic option), try to bring back some TDU1 features.

 

/rant

 

EDIT: This guy nailed it.

 

But the biggest thing that makes me miss TDU1 wasn't really anything surrounding either game's features or content. It was the sense of community around it' date=' in my circle at least. When TDU1 came out I had loads of friends who were playing it at the same time. We were all really in to it and we would often just spend hours going on pointless road trips together, just for the fun of it. Blasting down the highway watching the sun set in to the ocean with some great tunes on the radio with a bunch of friends was an experience that no other game has even come close to recreating. Even though I was able to try the same thing with some other friends in TDU2, it was never the same. In TDU2 people seem to be a lot more aggressive too. Whenever you drive up to random people there's always a good chance that all they'll want to do is ram you, or just ignore you. In TDU1 I would often just join up with randoms and go driving with them. There was this sense that everyone was friendly and just wanted to join together to soak in the atmosphere of the game. There was just something magical about that moment in my gaming career that was special and unique. I don't think I'll ever be able to experience that again, no matter what the game is or who I'm playing with. [/quote']

 

Forzamotorsport.net Forums - TDU1 vs. TDU2

[TIMELESS]

Well put. :nods:

[Minime891]

^ What he said. :)

[Beolex]

It's annoying that we have open-world driving games (TDU1), excellent driving game graphics (TDU2), and awesome vehicle-handling (Live for Speed, etc.) but we don't have a game that combines it all.

 

Hopefully some developer(s) will try to make a proper successor to the Test Drive Unlimited series... maybe the island of Sicily or something. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati (both new and old!). Proper storyline such as renting A7-type casual cars, and working your way up. More choice of houses, buildings, etc. Really. :S

[MadManCK]

I know Eden games underwent some company changes recently... but if you guys are still capable... please, try to research what made TDU1 so special and bring it back. Try to get licensed from Lamborghini, try to improve the physics (or at least make a realistic option), try to bring back some TDU1 features.

 

Eden Games didn't just change, they closed shop (since 1st of march). It is indeed ashame the full potential of this concept is not reached. That doesn't mean another development team can't do it. Maybe the Ivory Tower game will bring some of the original TDU vibe back.

 

There is a lot of stuff going on around Atari ATM. Maybe something good for the TDU franchise will come from that. Who knows.

 

:cool: