Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown trying to fix the bad launch of the game.
Welcome to Dudley’s Hub website you have come into Dudley’s Blog my name is Daniel Dudley known as Unlucky Dudley. I have been playing video games most of my life and it has been racing games. I grew up with the internet to where it is now, I have seen good and bad things with the internet.
If you have been following my youtube channel and blogs you will already know about my background with the game but if your new to my blogs welcome I have been playing Test Drive Unlimited 1,2 and 3 which is Solar Crown, I was one of the very first beta testers and played beta on PS5 and Xbox also tried to help with the bugs from the early game from the 05/09/24. From the 09/09/24 to 14/09/24 I have been talking and finding out more about the game and what they have been working on and this next update of theirs they say will fix a lot of problems I shared with all the other players, I was one of them players who pre-ordered the game on PS5 for the 05/09/24, It seems like the PS5 had the full ball of the problems, But I believe the PS5 is the most used for video games after computer, Sadly my computer is not good enough for new video game so have to wait on that but if the betas anything to go by the game is better on computer, But not everybody is a full on gamer some people just like TDUSC and just want to play for fun and in the spare time, Them player can’t play on computer so the best back up is PS5 or XBOX there’s days both run good it’s just goes by the player I am more of a computer gamer but I had to re-build my gaming setup after 2019 if you want to read about that please click here it shares what happens, But back to this, I am one of them who has to play on PS5. I am doing a comeback to gaming and with that I am on all social media and youtube and also doing blogs, I will do my best to do more blogs on the TDU.
I did my best to share my gameplay the way I played the game too, So click here and you will be able to watch the playlist. I know I am not the best youtube or gamer but I don’t cheat my video’s are from what I did and what I think.
If you want to read there real post you can here I just want to share what I think and what they told me.
The Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown has been out for all the players now from September 5 the main game came out on the 12 of September on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. If you haven’t seen it yet, they have done a video of there launch trailer I will but the link in the photo on top of this.
It’s been 14+ years from TDU2 came out, But the team who like the game to for TDUSC have been working on the game for the past six years of development and over 90 developers, animators, designers, artists, and many others. But it’s now time to ask the players revisit most of the topics raised by the community with you, while also sharing information on the next stages of development.
Lets do the good news first (What is Coming up)
They are saying in the next up coming weeks they will be busy, What should be coming what I believe is a update in-game for both to improve your gaming experience and to offer you exclusive new content. The email I had to was sharing about this they told me the update will fix the main big problems like the propleemsblem will still be there sadly but I will be happy to just power on and be able to play so small bugs can stay just hope they will be fix soon too, But they also told be they have but long hours into fixing a lot of bugs what other players have said.
First major patch
First major patch will be available for all PC, PS5, and XS|X players. This update will include
300 fixes
They had 300 problems to fix, They are saying because of the feedback the in-game might have a face lift, They may concern visual issues on Hong Kong Island or the different interfaces, but also gameplay balancing for AIs or races.
Beyond these fixes, this patch will also significantly improve game optimization (framerate) on all platforms. The minimum and recommended configurations will be updated accordingly. It will also improve the compatibility and functionality of certain peripherals (steering wheels, shifters, pedals, etc.). As a reminder, you can check the list of compatible peripherals as well as known issues here.
This patch is currently undergoing thorough checks and intensive tests to ensure everything is functional once applied to the game and to reduce risks during deployment. We will share detailed information and the release date on our various social media channels.
Dev Diary in preparation
They are saying at the moment to try and fix everything they that are currently have teams watching closely and monitoring players feedback on there social media like Discord, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and Steam, as well as from content creators like YouTube/Twitch more broadly. This helps them better understand players feedback on the game itself: gameplay, features, balance, etc.
Very soon, Alain Jarniou, Creative Director at KT Racing, will return with you in a "Dev Diary" video to discuss the game’s launch and the main topics at the heart of community discussions (optimization, offline mode, balancing, AI, etc.).
Post-launch content announcement video
For those who haven’t seen it yet, They have already announced most of the updates you can expect in the first year after launch: the return of Ibiza, clan wars, the return of the casino, and answers on topics eagerly awaited by the community: real estate, motorcycles, improvements to steering wheel rotation, etc. I have also done a blog on this with a video too.
Time to talk about the main problem and that is the Servers
As you know I was one of the players who was playing the game in the dark times and came out of it with the game I was burned out after fed up with the game but I am still playing now, But from September 5 marked the start of Early gameplay for Gold Edition player. Beyond this Early gameplay, players also got to discover 6 drifing cars in their garage, 3 exclusive sticker packs, and 3 unique legendary outfits most of it was unlocked after level 20 mostly the car’s.
However, the Early gameplay launch did not go as they would of hoped. Many of player experienced connection and/or game access issues. From day one, They focused all there efforts on improving the game services to allow most players to enjoy the long-awaited Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown experience.
As mentioned in our previous official communication regarding the server issues, we continue every day to work tirelessly to resolve these problems once and for all. Today, although the majority of issues have been resolved, there are still persistent cases in certain regions/platforms, including an issue related to saves, which is currently being fixed. Several reasons explain this: I also asked about this in the email but got nothing just the same as what they say on the internet, I just think they have messed up somewhere and in places some players can’t save or keep the roads unlocked.
They are saying, Everyday since September 5, new milestones of simultaneous players have been reached. This pushes the servers and the game’s databases to face new technical challenges, leading to unprecedented network issues. Although the previous playtest and beta phases helped us anticipate and prevent many imbalances for the launch, some technical scenarios could only be discovered with the player volume present at launch. Certain technical solutions also require extensive internal testing before deployment to ensure they don't cause side effects or additional issues. They prioritize "smooth" and "transparent" solutions for players as much as possible, rather than large maintenance periods that make the game unavailable and disconnect all players for several hours.
They are now confident in resolving the main issues encountered and still consider the improvement of technical services a priority. Every day, new fixes are applied In the coming days, larger operations will take place to deploy more profound fixes. These may sometimes require server maintenance or even the download of a patch. In any case, you will be informed in advance through our various social media channels! Also If it’s a update or something big it will also be on here become a free member,
Compensation
I can’t wait to see how they can do this and what is coming, Please remember I am one of the gold players and I did reported and help as much as I can, I also did my best to keep the bad news aways from blogs and video but also trying keep the news. They have mentioned in lots of ther previous official communication regarding the server issues,
The confirm that compensation will be sent to all players who experienced incomplete gameplay due to connection/server issues.
They are especially thinking of Gold Edition owners who could not fully enjoy the Early Unlock starting on September 5.
Many of the players are wondering about the nature of the compensation. They are considering compensation that matches the frustration caused by the issues encountered, while ensuring they don’t create unfairness for unaffected players or disrupt the unique progression balance of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. I can’t share a lot with you because they only share this to me and that’s all, But I do hope it real money only if it £30 its better then having in-game money it will help if they also did that but no wont get good another we spent over £80 and when we could fully play the game everybody was on and then gold players was only level 30+ and the roads and bugs just made it unplayalbe
Although it is too early to confirm what this compensation will be, rest assured, it will not simply be a number of Solar Coins or an Avatar cosmetic
Optimization & Graphics
Beyond connection/server issues, optimization (framerate) and graphics on PC or consoles are also causing reactions. Although optimization and graphical quality have been greatly improved since the first playtests or the latest betas, some of players feel there is still room for improvement. Rest assured, they are working hard on these aspects.
A major update aimed at further improving the visual experience is currently in progress. They will share more details soon.
In the meantime, here are some important tips to ensure the best visual experience possible in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown.
For PC players - First, ensure that your PC meets the official minimum and recommended requirements listed here. They also remind you that an SSD is mandatory to play the game. The read speed of an HDD is unfortunately not enough to display all the map textures and significantly lowers the framerate. So, make sure to install the game on your SSD. Also, feel free to use the various in-game graphic settings to find the best quality/performance balance, particularly through NVIDIA DLSS or AMD's FSR technologies, which can help you achieve this. Updating your graphics drivers is also highly recommended.
For console player The PS5 and Xbox Series X|S offer two interchangeable modes at any time:
A visual quality mode, allowing you to play in 1440p 30fps
A performance mode, allowing you to play in 1080p 60fps
Don’t hesitate to experiment with both modes to decide which suits your gaming experience best.
These modes will continue to be improved through updates to ensure an ever-higher/stable framerate, while optimizing graphical quality so you can enjoy Hong Kong Island and your cars in the best possible conditions! I do think like most players we should have 4K and 60FPS both PS5 and XBOX can run it also HDR.
Graphic optimization, like the game servers, remains a development priority for our teams, even after the game’s launch, in close collaboration with specific hardware manufacturers.
I hope this has helped you and please comment what you think what we might be getting. Must be big like I said Players who had the gold should be at level 40 and with the bugs I was at 15 and the game was unplayball but on the 2nd week of it been out the game is getting better but that is bad on them, Sadly I seen players leave and get the main game when its been out 4 week they saying or players just left it’s sad to see becouse the game is good well great and fun just driving around, But I do hope the players come back and play after players like myself doing stuff like this and shareing my feedback and gamplay helps bring them back.
Thank you for coming and reading
Unlucky Dudley know as Daniel Dudley