Test Drive Unlimited (PC)... DO NOT BUY!

[LukeBird]

I'm sure I will be!

[Marc W]

I will be if I'm around, although it picked up a strange habit of crashing when it tried to save over the weekend so hopefully that won't long term.

[3sixty]

I bought this on release after having played the Beta. My PC wasnt great so the options had to be turned down and I generally lost interest. I've moved house (and I know this is always the 'dodgy' response) and lost the disc. I've since bought a new super PC and looking to play it again. If I download it off Steam, can I re 'activate' my old account and thus not have to buy it again? or to download it off steam in the first place do I need to buy it?

Edited by 3sixty on Monday 29th September 13:10

[Mattygooner]

You will never get a fantastic driving sim/game unless the poeple who are making it have a real passion and demand for perfection on every single peice. That is why you look to the smaller developers of Simbin/Blimey, Iracing etc because they want it to be as real and as perfect to real life as possible. TDU will never be this because they have a budget and a target to reach, deadlines, and have to appeal to a broader audience. Support was pretty pants, the game was buggy as hell and for PC did not get sorted, totally ignored infact.

Just have a look on RSC forums for the chap who went to see Blimey and this new Ferrari project that has been very secretive and that i have been banging on about. Apparently, it blows Iracing/Rfactor/GTR/GTL out of the water, Graphically it is using a tweaked version of their new Lizard engine (currently most sims use Gmotor2 which was around during the cuban missle crisis) and knowing their attention to Detail coupled with Ferrari's demand for perfection, i will say that this is the driving game to watch out for in the next Year or so.

I cannot see TDU ever being what we want it to be, i mean, how much research did they do at Mercades to make it sound like a High revving Ferrari, do they not watch the Grand Prix? The selection was very nice, Classics around an island was great fun, but if they were 50% more accurate in terms of sound etc, it would have been so much better.

Thinking of perfection, has anyone seen the onboard comparison of Iracing's Sebring? about as good as a track can be.

[Mr Whippy]

Yep, a sound, gear ratio, and price patch, would make TDU loads better.

The C6 Z06 with super short ratios makes no sense, nor does the Merc SLR running a flat plane Ferrari V8

So close, but so far.

I feel sorry for the artwork personally... same with the NFS series since NFS Porsche Challenge... just downhill, with HP2 being rushed and un-finished, and everything since been beautiful artwork, models, textures, tracks etc, wrapped in dog-turd physics and absolutely terrible UI's, no doubt 'optimised' for consoles while making absolutely no sense for a PC driven by mouse!


Arghhhh!

Anything console ported is ste!

Dave

[Marf]

Just reinstalled this on my new PC, looks and runs great, but I cant get online

Is anyone else having problems or is it just me?

[Mr Whippy]

Marf said:

Just reinstalled this on my new PC, looks and runs great, but I cant get online

Is anyone else having problems or is it just me?

It was everyone running behind a router, yet the developers, in their infinite wisdom, chose to give NO details about the ports you need to open to get proper access.

Have a google around, there are about 5 or 6 ports to open to actually get other cars connecting and visible...


Yours might be another problem, but the above will need resolving too

Dave

[Marf]

Mr Whippy said:

Marf said:

Just reinstalled this on my new PC, looks and runs great, but I cant get online

Is anyone else having problems or is it just me?

It was everyone running behind a router, yet the developers, in their infinite wisdom, chose to give NO details about the ports you need to open to get proper access.

Have a google around, there are about 5 or 6 ports to open to actually get other cars connecting and visible...


Yours might be another problem, but the above will need resolving too

Dave

I forwarded all the ports necessary last night, still no joy. Also tried making a new gamespy account, and re-authenticating the mega pack, but the bugger still wont let me online.

Edited by Marf on Wednesday 8th October 09:50

[Mr Whippy]

I almost gave up totally with this game a few times. It really isn't very well optimised at all for setting up and just playing.

Alot of that does centre around the very lame Gamespy account setup system.

Are all your registration/game codes good and ok? I found I had to remove them manually from the registry before re-installing AND using them with a new gamespy profile (yes, another dumbass feature)

Also, before you un-install, remember the still un-fixed 'feature' of the uninstaller that deletes all loose files in the root of C drive!

Dave

[Marf]

Mr Whippy said:

I almost gave up totally with this game a few times. It really isn't very well optimised at all for setting up and just playing.

Alot of that does centre around the very lame Gamespy account setup system.

Are all your registration/game codes good and ok? I found I had to remove them manually from the registry before re-installing AND using them with a new gamespy profile (yes, another dumbass feature)

Also, before you un-install, remember the still un-fixed 'feature' of the uninstaller that deletes all loose files in the root of C drive!

Dave

I might reinstall it then, to be honest though I dunno if I can be arsed to start the game afresh with a new online profile.

Edited by Marf on Wednesday 8th October 10:20

[Mr Whippy]

Yep, thats the problem. Considering for the most part the offline 'AI' cars act much like half the real humans online playing the game, I think it's not essential to have an online account. I was in two minds when I setup the account before because of all the extra hassle it caused, but I did create it online (fingers crossed it won't break) and it's been ok. Just making sure the system is 100% totally clear of the damn program before install, and knowing 'the process' means it should go ok


As I've probably said in a few posts before on this thread, the game is a bore to start again from a fresh install. I've done it maybe 6 times now (but probably twice as many installs) and each time I've gone less further into the game than before...

I'd just wait for TDU2 and get ready for a totally new session of hair pulling and shouting at Gamespy account creations

Dave

[Marf]

Mr Whippy said:

I'd just wait for TDU2 and get ready for a totally new session of hair pulling and shouting at Gamespy account creations

Dave

Haha yeah thats what I am thinking, do you know if a sequel has been confirmed?

I tell you if they do release a sequel and its got any of the same bugs I am personally gonna put a severed horses head on the pillow of the CEO of Atari.

As I've said before in other threads TDU could have been so much better than it is.

Edited by Marf on Wednesday 8th October 10:36

[Rebuilda]

Well I THINK I'm online but can't see anyone on. It also only shows up as tdu beta for some reason.
I think I'm off for the drive around the island in about half an hour, meeting at the ford garage anytime, not taking the caterham as it just cant keep up even though it tries really hard. 171mph is a bit excessive with an aeroscreen and no bash hat

[Mr Whippy]

The Caterham is THE car for the city delivery missions etc... so quick and narrow the missions that were otherwise hard in a Murci or Zonda are just a piece of cake.

Does anyone have the addon pack? The CCR and Edonis are pretty nippy... still impossible to drive quickly though

Dave

[Rebuilda]

i think my main pc needs the ports opening as gamespy cant see the rest of the gaming world at all.
Love the nippiness of the caterham, but it gets so twitchy at speed.

[Rebuilda]

tour of the island 50'51"80
poxy chevrolet corvette of all things.... came second by three tenths of a second...




gutted

[Marf]

Well even after reinstalling it I still cant get online

[Mr Whippy]

Marf said:

Well even after reinstalling it I still cant get online

Did you clear the registry of the codes for your copy of the game?

Also I think the game installs things in the My Documents for your user...

I can't be sure of course, but I remember having issues re-installing with the old bits kicking around, with it trying to remember/use my old logon details etc, even on a fresh install/gamespy account (yes, another area they failed to even TEST, the uninstaller... lamers!)

Dave

[Marf]

Yup, removed the registry keys, backed up my save games and deleted the folder where they sat. Then tried to get online without restoring my savegames and nothing.

Stupid piece of crap

[Mr Whippy]

Pants.

You see, if the game just 'worked' then when it didn't work you'd probably be able to work it out using some logical deduction.

But because it's oh so very tempremental over the most odd settings/files/remnants of old installs and passwords and gamespy settings, it's nigh on impossible to do anything.


That said, C&C3 was worse for me. It just stays on the logon screen no matter what I do. I registered my code on gameste, done all that, and nothing. Just nothing.

I blame gamespy. Games like rFactor, GPL, and things through Steam, just work, like magic. No ports messing, no nothing, just works.

Clearly we can see who invest money, and who just get a gamespy junk crap account


If you buy any online game with gamespy powering that element, it is DOOMED to failure or weeks of trial and error to get it bloody working. HOW hard can it fecking be?

Lame ste!

Rant over

Dave