We Are 10 Years Old Today! -- HOLY QWUACK!

[TurboDuck]

[headline]We Are 10 Years Old Today![/headline]

 

Oh my gosh I can't believe it, we bloody well made it to year number 10!!

 

Wow! Where do I start with this one then? I think starting at the start would be a good start, so that's where I'll start.

Before It All

Back in 2005 a trailer for a game showed at E3, this game was Test...

 

Read more on this...

[TimBud]

YEAH :yay::excited:

Great effort keeping this place thriving for so long!

[superhyper]

:omg:...10 YEARS?!

 

First of all, thanks for the read, it gave me all the feels

 

This is insane. What a ride it has been. This place has changed my life, I've met so many people in here and I really miss some guys that used to be active members back in the day. I hope I can meet up with some of you guys in the future. I sure didn't have any idea what was coming up ahead when I registered here under the nick SuperhyperTDU. It was July 2007 and I was 12 years old. I wasn't too active in the first year or two but oh boy..

 

From that point onwards, I've met some of my best friends ever, improved my social & language skills, found new interests and most importantly - for these past 10 years I've never had to think twice about a place where I can share anything that I'm excited about. If I just wanted to talk about something that's been on my mind - tduck. When I was trying to improve my photography skills both in games and in real life, this would be the place where I would get both positive feedback and constructive feedback. Anyone want to play this game with me? Gonna ask tduck.

 

TDU was and still is an amazing game, it still has loads of things that no other racing game in the past 10 years has got right. It's also the game that brought most of us here and that instantly makes the game quite possibly my all-time favourite game ever. The best memory has to be installing it for the first time (IT'S JUST ANOTHER EXCUSE!!) and playing it way later than I was usually even allowed to play videogames for. Or maybe picking it up on launch day for PC and not having a PC to play it with for a few days - those were some of the longest days of my life. I took the paper map out of the case and started planning all the things I would do once I'd be able to play the game. I remember being in a fever once and mom would only let me play for an hour a day and one day I used that hour to do the Millionaire's challenge and that was totally worth it. After that I went back to building a scale model Ferrari Daytona, a hobby that I've since dropped and sadly forgotten. During the last months of TDU's server life (I guess?) I had fun with @Ryzza5 - we would turn our HUD off and pick a destination. Both of us would then proceed to race to that destination using nothing but our knowledge of the island. I have to admit that Ryan won most of those races but I still loved them. I actually think I have some footage left of that somewhere on my HDDs, I'll try to look them up and upload them :D Maybe we could do that again using project paradise now?

 

Here's a few more all-time tduck-related favourites for me off the top of my head:

 

• Talking on MSN with @T1M and @Andreas¹ back in the day - we never did that all-nighter we talked about :lol:
  
• The TDU2 hype train - you can't believe how excited I was about the game
  
• The TDU2 hate train - you can't believe how much we ended up hating the game
  
• My NFS HP photothread - I put so many hours into maintaining that thing that it's ridiculous
  
• Diablo's drunk christmas messages
  
• The Forza events I've hosted with @Paladin Skylark - especially the ones we hosted back in Forza Motorsport 4 were pretty much the best gaming memories I've ever had. Racing league season 1 (especially the race at Motegi) - all time classics
  
• Teasing you all about my first car - iirc there were 5+ pages of discussion before I even told what the car was!
  
• Helping out with the site - I've been a proud member of the blue team since 2014, it was an honour for me when @Diablo contacted me about it.
  

 

I'm 22 years old now. (I say this every single year on this day -) I've been here pretty much half of my lifetime. Everyone has grown up, sadly that can be seen in the activity on the forums as peoples' interests have changed and some even have their own families now but I'm hopeful that we'll keep this community alive and even get it growing perhaps! Diablo, massive respect for keeping this place going for so long. It means a LOT.

 

Still can't believe it's been 10 years!! I can't even imagine what's happening 10 years from now. Wherever we may be then, I only wish the best for everyone :duck:

[The Compensator]

I don't have anything else to say other than it's been nice 8 years (for me) and hope that this place will still be alive and well by 2027 and beyond.

 

[Paladin Skylark]

Hard to believe I've been here for over half the time this site has existed. I've made good friends and I've really enjoyed hosting every Forza related activity with Santtu. Here's to at least 10 more.

 

:msuh3:

[hassan1995]

Dayum :clap: This place has played a big part in my life, made some great friends I hope to see in the future. I'll find you one way or another :evil: so many good memories here, to another 10 years :cheers:

 

Forza motorsport 4 had pretty much some of the best memories I've ever had, it was probably one of the first times I joined a party chat :lol: going up fujimi kaido and then Forza football was absolutely amazing.

[mau92]

Wow, 10 yrs already? I've been around here for almost 9 of them. I remember playing TDU for the first time on a friend's house. Since that first drive on an orange Corvette C6, I was hooked to the game. I remember not having a powerful enough PC to play it, and my first purpose built PC was mainly because of TDU. When I installed the game, it was like nothing I've ever seen before (But we can leave that for another post), and not too long after it, I found this site. I shared my first ever pictures of a racing game here, a 288GTO. It was always so good to visit the picture thread for updates and encounter so many works of art (This still happens today, though).

Sadly, I've always been outside the TDU meet ups, because I had a pirated copy of it. Getting PC games down here, in Argentina, was difficult and too expensive in those times. Also I've always been outside FM races, because I've never had a xbox, actually, that console officially "arrived" here no too long ago. But, despite of it, I always came back here again again, to check pics, and then mods... Oohh I remember the hype around tool831's Audi R8, the level of detail in it was awesome. But Forza models arrived shortly after, expanding the variety of high quality cars exponentially. And after that TDU slightly faded away, but many other games appeared, keeping this site alive.

Somehow, with mine and the site's ups and downs, I always end up here. Seeing photos, reading about some user's problems, arranging to play any other game... It's always a pleasure to be here, and we all enjoy being a part of it. The site grew up, their users grew up and of course I'm no exception. During my almost 9 year-stay here (With no check out date) I have: Finished High school, obtained a driver's license, obtained a boat driver's license, obtained a pilot's license, got a girlfriend, split up with her and met my current girlfriend, traveled through 4 continents (Haven't met any of you guys so far, I hope to revert that in July) and clear half way of my engineer's degree. During that time, I have always checked this site, and saw how it morphed from a dedicated TDU site to a racing gaming site, with new functionalities, new contests, new users and so much more things, I can't recall.

Wow, what a ride! Let's hope it just keeps going!

 

Cheers!

[TIMELESS]

Oh man, freakin' 10 years. 10 YEARS.

 

Some time around 2007-2008 (ish) I was browsing YouTube, on my first personal computer, and I came across a video of a driving game. It was literally everything I'd dreamed of since I started playing driving games like Gran Turismo when I was maybe 5 years old, back on our PlayStation 1. Cockpit camera, massive open roads, loads of cars, beautiful scenery, even a Sims-like character and home customisation, it was my dream game. My memory is a little fuzzy now but I'm 99% that video was actually one of Diablo's, with his link to 'tdu-central' in the description.

 

Well I bought the game, or rather begged my dad to buy me the game, initially for the PS2 in fact as that was the only console I had at the time. Shortly afterwards I started lurking on TDUC, it was full of useful tips and resources that helped me find certain dealerships and tuning shops, etc. At some point (well, 8 years ago) I signed up to the site and met a bunch of great people who invited me to play with them, so I saved up my monies and got an Xbox 360 and the 360 version of TDU. It was so much better. The graphics and all the other improvements of what was then the "next gen" version were fantastic, but even better was the ability to play my favourite game and meet like-minded strangers from all around the world, people of all ages, and of course cruise with the wonderful people I'd met on this site. It's still a great highlight from my teen years, and I'll never forget the fun I had nor will I forget how kind and welcoming people were, even though I was a pain in the ass! :p

 

I've got some amazing memories that I wouldn't have had if it weren't for this place. In fact this site helped me through a really crappy time in my life, and I'm so grateful it exists. I've made some great friends here, even though we've all grown up, our lives have changed, and we're maybe not as close as we once were ("the MSN era"), I still love you all.

 

In the present day things have changed a bit. TDU is still alive, amazingly, thanks to some very talented people. However TDU is over a decade old now, even its long awaited and (IMO) disappointing sequel was released 6 years ago, a lifetime ago for most games. Turboduck has changed with the times, which is the only way we can move forward, and we've experienced the joys and disappointments of Forza Horizon, various Forza Motorsport games, The Crew, and numerous other games that have yet to fill the void left by our beloved Test Drive Unlimited. However we'll continue to struggle on, waiting for our next TDU and enjoying what we've got in the meantime, because thankfully due to the efforts of Diablo and the rest of #TEAMBLUE who came before me this site is still with us today, 10 years on. I don't know what the future holds, but if we give it a bloody good go, maybe turboduck can be around for another 10 years. I hope so.

 

Happy birthday TDUCK.

[hassan1995]

I need to buy and frame both Tdu games, :lol: If it wasn't for those two games I wouldn't have found this website and my life I feel would have been a lot more boring and different.

[Loek]

Compared to y'all I'm the newbie here, found this site in 2013 and registered in 2014, because of TDU2 mods interest. Yes, TDU2, a game I love (and you will hate me for it) brought me to this site.

 

Been stuck on the TDU2 subforum for two years. Then I bought FH3 and the forum started to unfold for me; finally I found a game I can actually tell people about without getting flamed :D

 

The appreaciation lead to more in-depth conversation with you guys, with which I found a nice home to stay in this forum. It's nice to have that as a nice social aspect of the forum.

 

You folks left a good impression for a young pleb like me, which is very positive, keep it up and up to 20 years!

[Andreas¹]

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years, and I've been here for 9 of those. I still remember the day I went to town and bought a physical copy of TDU, then installing it and buying a blue Audi TT as my first car before being mesmerized by the huge open world that felt so different from anything I'd ever played before it.

 

This place and the people here have had such an impact on my life, sometimes I still ponder what would have been had I not picked up TDU that day 8 or 9 years ago. Life is so different these days, I'm sure that applies to everyone else as well but we're still here together and that's amazing.

 

Thank you Diablo and everyone here who have helped make these 10 years what they have been, drama and good times alike. :)

[TIMELESS]

I still remember the day I went to town and bought a physical copy of TDU, then installing it and buying a blue Audi TT as my first car before being mesmerized by the huge open world that felt so different from anything I'd ever played before it.

 

I still have a place in my heart for my white Audi A3. It sounded a bit like a diesel (what up Eden?), it wasn't fast, probably not a great choice, but I liked it all the same.

[Eudemon]

:hmmm: I'm really struggling with whether I should be banning people for joining before they were 13. :susp: :evil:

[superhyper]

Hey hey HEY! I was turning 13 that year so it counts! :leaves:

 

I also realized this thread made me run out of my daily likes for the first time in ages :happyspin:

[Milli]

As some other members already said, Tduck is also a special place for me. I've been here for good 7 years, joined in January 2010, after lurking this forum for a while.

 

As Scott, i also got first the PS2 version of the game. I knew about Test Drive games, and when i saw this Test Drive Unlimited, for PS2, with a cool cover of the mirror of an yellow car, i had to try it out. I bought a pirate copy for my PS2... not ashamed of that, untill then i had never ever had any original games, because they were so expensive! And i got hooked. I loved playing it in my PS2... until i found out that the PS2 version was incomplete. It lacked Ferraris, and a lot of other things were missing. I had to get a computer copy of the game.

 

Asked as a birthday gift, TDU PC was the first original game i ever had, but i didn't have a powerfull enough computer to run it, only in my grandmother's house i had access to a good computer, which was my uncle's one. I picked so much on his head, for months, untill he finally installed the game for me. It was pure bliss. Still remember my blue A3 i first bought, because the A3 didn't exist in the PS2 version. I played this game for hours and hours, even through the night, i remember to get back home at like 5am because i've been playing the game for 7 hours. My mom getting worried that i was doing something wrong, as it was the only reason i could stay for so long through the night in front of the computer, calling me an addicted and etc. :lol: TDU was also my first contact with online gaming and meeting with people from other countries and places around the world.

 

Since i was a fresh girl in the internet like that, having contact with people who have never seen me before, i can tell it was a hard time. I've been accused of a lot of things, people lied and many many times i didn't feel welcome and have been banned from some other forums, and then i found this place. I still remember how i felt welcome here, even though my english skills were extremelly low. People had patience, nobody really judged me, as Santtu said, it was a place i knew i could go and talk with people. It was like a cosy home.

 

Sure i had rough times in here, because i know i am not an easy person, as a result, i got into a lot of arguments, but that is also something that quite helped me, helped me to realize that i might be the problem and the cause of my own issues around here. Many of my friends i made here opened my eyes to that, and i am extremelly thankful for that.

 

I can say Tduck helped me, not as a gamer, but as a person. People here taught me lots and lots of things, things, that i still carry with me. I am thankful to each one of you, and i will carry you guys and this place forever, deep inside my heart, because this is an important part of my life.

 

Even though i might argue and cause troubles times-to-times, i love you guys. Thanks to Diablo, for running this place like it is, thanks to all actual and past blue team, thanks everyone, for making this place, what it is and have been. This will always be my cosy home on internet.

[TDUFREAK500]

huge congrats on making a community that is still around and thriving after 10 years, I have been on forums that didn't last anywhere near as long before slowly dying off, so to still be around and thriving is awesome! It's absolutely insane to think that I have been a member for over 7 years now, I still remember buying the game from a local game store back in 2009 because I thought it looked cool, I had no idea how big a part of my life it would become. I stumbled upon the forum one day a few months after getting the game, I can;t remember exactly why, but I was probably looking for some help with something, and then I discovered the mods section and I was hooked on this community and signed up immediately. I then discovered how much fun the community was, and how much everyone loved to joke around, and I enjoyed it even more, and over seven years later I'm still here and still visit every day.

[Ryzza5]

Something that I I think many of us might not realise and therefore take for granted is that there aren't really any other forums like ours. I'm not talking about goat washing, nugget of the week, squirrel mafia, and so on. I once went looking just for other forums that were primarily about racing/driving games in general - and there simply aren't any alternatives. The closest you will find are sim-racing forums which my occasionally embrace certain arcade games, or car/tech forums with a much smaller general gaming section. For the most part, other forums are focused on one subject/game series.

[Ozzmcom]

Something that I I think many of us might not realise and therefore take for granted is that there aren't really any other forums like ours. I'm not talking about goat washing, nugget of the week, squirrel mafia, and so on. I once went looking just for other forums that were primarily about racing/driving games in general - and there simply aren't any alternatives. The closest you will find are sim-racing forums which my occasionally embrace certain arcade games, or car/tech forums with a much smaller general gaming section. For the most part, other forums are focused on one subject/game series.

[Ryzza5]

To keep me in? I never knew you cared so much.

[CarMadMike]

:gmc: No one's mentioned me at all Sorry for not getting around to replying to this yesterday, but I do feel being a bit late is probably more TDUCK-y anyway so it's fine :susp: 10 years is a sizeable chunk of anyone's life, so why have we all stupidly wasted it with each other? I jest, kind of. I was 2 months late joining TDU-C, and at the time I was concerned I'd missed the boat and that a tight knit community had already been established. I was painfully unaware I'd still be bitching at you all 10 years later. I do have quite an awful memory so maybe I'm just remembering the good bits, but I wouldn't even say it's been that much of a rollercoaster, this community has consistently been a good escape from the real world and being able to log on and take out my teenage angst on people such as @TIMELESS and @Camel has probably gotten me through a fair bit of crap (this isn't an apology guys). Initially I was involved with the gaming aspect of the community but that quickly dwindled as my offline life took precedent, so the disappointment of TDU2 never really bothered me that much, and I still haven't gotten around to playing The Crew. Thanks for keeping this place going throughout the past decade Andy, I've seen the amount of blood, sweat, Irn Bru, money and Whisky you've put into this place and I hope you know it's appreciated. Here's to the future, whatever it holds :)

[Soul Challenger]

Excellent read Diablo! Huge congratulations and thanks for your work! :)

[Camel]

Can't believe I missed the big 10! That's almost like a decade old, right?

 

Got this place to thank for many, many good memories and some truly awesome people over the last 10 years. Glad to see the name changes still going strong as I have no idea who some people are.

 

Hope everyone is still doing well. :)

[Stories]

happy birthday TDUC :duck:

 

https://media.giphy.com/media/l46CwgcMQr6Si3uGk/giphy.gif

 

(and thanks especially for works in TDU1&2)