Is Solar Crown Ready for Release? | Final Demo Thoughts/Review

[@kak8895]

Regional lock, limited lobbies and no cross-play for a supposed "MMO" racing game is beyond doom. This is why hardcores kept requesting more focus on single-player with the multi-player in the side.

[@FatherLamb]

THIS! I want it to be the same experience we had before so bad. Where Multiplayer just worked, but you could get lost in co-op with a friend or single player for HOURS!

[@awakeandwatching953]

the always online is about data collection not multiplayer. thats an after thought.. the move to online service over game is because user data is worth more than the revenue from games sales

[@Baguenaudeur]

@@awakeandwatching953 Plenty of games collect data and store them locally to upload them when the player enters an online mode, this is irrelevant to the always online choice.

[@AgyaggalambReloaded]

Also, all races are PvP. So if you are bad at the game on a competiitive level, there won't be any meaningful progression or the PvP rewatds are just going to be participation trophies? (I'm gonna also guess there won't be any proper matchmaking either. I bet they just want live service money without the effort. Yeah I see this will be a banger. /s

[@lightshadow3683]

@@Baguenaudeur But it is a reason though - always-online is enforced because it makes playing the game offline impossible, meaning you can't circumvent said data collection or modify the files in a manner to prevent it. It's also a method to control when the game is online if they ever randomly decide to discontinue it, and means they can extensively control modding in a single-player game to prevent the few people who might cheat or steal a couple microtransactions.

[@ZedNinetySix_]

Test Drive *Limited*

[@abhrasrepository1173]

Lmao

[@STRIDER_503]

Yikes...

[@TrueBlade-1889]

So there's no cockpit view ?

[@staffeyx]

Lmaooo

[@bp4861]

​@@TrueBlade-1889 WHAT?!?!

[@MrRawnch]

A game the requires online for every feature is dead on arrival.

[@STRIDER_503]

Fuck live service, give us proper single player games!! They might as well give up on being a game developer if they are so lazy to do proper DRM, and have to rely on "a game that will only work when connected to the server" BS.

[@secularbunghole]

Absolutely. Especially for a game that we know will be very grindy. You put all that time in to get the cars and then one day the servers will be gone. It's almost certain this game will not do well so it may get shut down much faster than something like The Crew.

[@emka9537]

Tdu was always like THAT

[@ashton9699]

@@emka9537no, it was not. TDU1 and TDU2 both did lose a lot of potential features if you were offline, but at least you can still play single player. Solar Crown won't work AT ALL without connection.

[@GoskaPL]

@@emka9537 Like what? I can pop in my TDU1 DVD, install it and play it offline e-z right here and now

[@DennisMangual]

i dont mind the graphics, for me, the world feels lifeless. The fact that they made the hotel your house, place to shop, meet up, etc., really gives you no additonal reasons to explore. Why would they not have house all over the map and stores spread out as well? it feels more like a very early beta or alpha. What happened to the tdu content from the old games??

[@5GTrevor]

people would complain about having to do anything and inevitably they would combine it all to on place anyways.

[@benn87]

The fact that you had to explore and discover everything in TDU 2 was a big part of the appeal for me. Wasn't it great when you went on a road trip and happened to come across other shops and activities that were previously inaccessible? But I think modern gamers are too impatient for that. They don't want to discover things. They want everything served up on a silver platter right from the start.

[@denn15m8]

This was the issue with the last games as well, they felt lifeless and no reason to explore or progress.

[@Perjoss]

personally i'm ok with playing the game as an early beta tester and watching it evolve over time, but I know tons of players will not be happy with a situation like this and they shouldn't be, especially if the game is advertised as a final release rather than an early access release. If the game isn't finished it will be much better for the studios reputation if they come clean rather than try and sell an unfinished game as a final release.

[@FatherLamb]

@@denn15m8 WUH? You HAD to explore and progress in that way in the previous ones. lol So this comment kind of... confuses me

[@z1dlukasw.666]

Like mentioned, It’s just weird that many of the good unique things to do from previous TDU’s are simply gone. (everything with houses, test rides / delivery missions, rentals, clubs [ps2 version], navigation system inside the car) The way clubs worked on the ps2 were just perfect. -Unlocked by buying a car (for example: one with stripes painted on them or muscle cars / european cars…) -had car restrictions, but rentals were also allowed. -and my favourite feature: the randomly generated races within the club. they merely had a starting point in the same rough area as the club and only one checkpoint - the finish line. races could be re-rolled by leaving and challenging the opponent again. It was the most perfect use of the large map of Oahu. never racing the same race twice within the clubs. And about Solar Crown: as expected the MMO / social aspect of the game is really not at all necessary / important / fleshed out. Hopefully they add modes for offline / online. Wouldn’t even care if these are completely different saves / profiles Just like GTA5 or NFS unbound Another random thing was, that apparently there wasn’t an option to modify the FOV when driving, especially annoying in first person. I use a 48” Oled tv as a monitor and the interior seemed larger than life-sized and I couldn’t even see out of the windows on the side, which combined was really weird and immersion breaking.

[@joescivic]

“We know that houses made an impression on TDU players,” Creative Director and franchise veteran Alain Jarniou wrote. “While this feature is not in the game when TDUSC launches, it is part of a long list of features we have already researched for future content in the medium and long term." I hope it does happen, and I wonder what the long list of features could be that he mentions. I'm really hoping to get the old TDU vibe in this new one.

[@NotSponsoredByEA]

They most likely won't add offline.

[@Perjoss]

TDU1 is still playable on an original xbox 360. TDU2 is still alive an well on PC thanks to Project Paradise 2, it does take quite a bit of setting up so you need a little patience but it even has multiplayer. Apart from some aged car handling I think both games still play great and still offer career modes that are unlike the other open world games we have now, todays games focus a bit too much on 'high energy racing' and insert dumb things into races like ramps/jumps and showdowns vs large sea and air vehicles, which are kind of fun but totally different to what the TDU games were all about

[@joescivic]

@Perjoss So if I pop in my disc, will it work on my Series X? I have the physical copy of TDU1 and TDU2. I'm curious if I can get backwards compatibility from it

[@z1dlukasw.666]

​​@@joescivicSadly not necessarily Tdu1 maybe (never had an Xbox so can't speak from experience) But around last year i played tdu2 for the very first time. It was on pc and because it already had some online server dependencies you need a special launcher just to start the game. ^ this is the future of gaming... At best, apparently Last month i re-played tdu1 while on vacation on my steam deck. It was through an emulator though since it was the ps2 Version, but otherwise it didn't need any modifications or internet connection About solar crown, we can just hope that they will follow through with what we, the potential players want.

[@szymonski1905]

So glad they made this always online. Everyone asked for it. It literally makes everything better with absolutely no downsides. So glad they removed player houses and basically ANYTHING which made TDU what it is, no one actually wanted a modern TDU game… oh yeah and it’s good that their always-online game only has 8-player servers, I mean why would anyone want an online game to be a proper online game with 32+ players in a server playing together? Also I’m really glad they aimed for a more sim driving model than Horizon but ended up with NFS physics - I LOVE using the handbrake and crashing into lampposts to go faster instead of actually driving the car… it’s great that their not-so-big open world is completely empty, I think we’ll all agree an empty world is better to not keep crashing into other cars!!! I mean, why tf would any other cars be on the ROAD?

[@NicestPS5]

This is unironically how every KZbinr trying to cope with how bad the game is sounds right now

[@valence_drive]

This is very well-constructed, thought out video that gives both a fair critique and defense of TDSC, but I hope you understand that the main takeaway I'm getting from this video is Kickflip! +100 PTS

[@HokiHoshi]

If there was anything that I wanted people to get out of this video, that was it.

[@malted.coffee]

lol I was not prepared for that

[@jarrodeaston6373]

I know that reference. Man, we need a new tony hawk pro skater game.

[@Hartbreak1]

This really deflated me, there's barely anything remaining from TDU.

[@STRIDER_503]

KT Games is doing an experiment and we are their white mouse.

[@nocommentaryjustgaming]

I had great expectations about the return of the series...but playing this demo...I will get it...at discount price after one or two years (if the game server is still alive). The game feels sad...and the fact of being always online...🤮 Thanks to KT Racing for this mediocre game.

[@RacingHermit]

​@@STRIDER_503 We?????? Not me, I'm not buying it.

[@STRIDER_503]

@@RacingHermit Me neither, buddy... me neither.

[@jadamane]

What’s tdu?

[@dabrainCH]

I really don't get how developers often just "forget" about all the cool features the previous games had and start from scratch.... the game stays on the wishlist for the foreseeable future for me....

[@KTR_ProrataEevee]

maybe because people idk, NEVER use them?! (In terms of their statistics)

[@eratoz5096]

@@KTR_ProrataEevee litterally all ive heard about tdu was all those cool feature that makes the world like a living one its litterally what made tdu popular this is forza with a better map and I think itll show in sales

[@KTR_ProrataEevee]

@@eratoz5096 I dunno, the game could turn out okay but the always online malarcy is probably going to be tdusc's Achilles heel (especially if its region locked like it is in the demo)

[@eratoz5096]

@@KTR_ProrataEevee tell me why would people play a game with physics a little worst than forza and the same type of content (only racing) if the game doesnt stand out plus it tries to be always online its like a recipe for disaster the game looks interesting but like I wanna buy a house and have my cars in my own garage that I bought from the dealership and do taxi mission and cruise around to feel like an actual world

[@RESPECTxORANGES]

They don’t keep previous features cus it’s never the same people working on the game. These devs get brought in for 6months to a year and then let go to cut costs

[@tescoshortage]

Is it ready for release? Hell. No. 3 months probably won't enough time for the game's optimization issues to be worked out. I expect this game to be like the recent Battlefield games, flopping _hard_ on release and slowly gathering a following over the course of years.

[@HokiHoshi]

If I were a betting man, I'd argue the same. I think the release will be rough and a lot of players will drop off, but a more dedicated base will still stick around...and then hopefully given some time and good updates, slowly people will come back and realize it's actually a solid game at that point. I know it's far too early to even say this because the game isn't even out yet, but I'd love for a No Man's Sky / Cyberpunk level turnaround 😅

[@neblolthecarnerd]

Apparently the build was months old so hopefully its not anywhere near as bad right now

[@jonesy66691]

@@neblolthecarnerd People said the same about the BF2042 beta, it's just turbo cope.

[@CarsOverPeople]

@@jonesy66691 I thot the same but that statement was said by one of the lead developers, apparently.

[@CampWeed]

That's been standard operating procedure for every game since 2010. Internet-connected consoles and their consequences have been a disaster for the gamer race.

[@CrashBandiii]

Remember kids...no pre-order

[@saultknutz1166]

Looks like KT needs the extra cash to improve the game #propreorder

[@vsm1456]

@@saultknutz1166 they don't. it's not a small indie studio, they are backed (and owned) by a publisher big enough to pay the studio for three months of their work

[@siddheshpillai3807]

​@saultknutz1166 that like giving money to autism speaks and just like autism speaks it product is terrible

[@saiko953]

@@saultknutz1166my guy its not kickstarter

[@Rockport1911]

Which is a shame, people will cancel their preorder because of this " demo". And we probably have to wait a year after release when they finally release all the DLC and extras in a GOTY edition for 50% off.

[@richeeze]

So... they made a TDU game,... without putting the things that made TDU games special, in it. This just seems more like somebodys experimental idea, that is meant to make money (thanks to branding), instead of an actual TDU game made with passion. Why are we going backwards, why are the games getting worse than like a decade ago? This is just depresing.

[@madfinntech]

Western society is regressing on multiple levels due to leftist politics. In games like TDU, we see them as ugly characters with no real personalization. Every woman is a flat-chested, man-like, unattractive thing without any real female clothing options to make them pop! Like you said, it's worse than a decade ago, and I agree. Look at female characters in TDU2 and compare them to this trash. I'd take TDU2 characters and clothing options any day over this.

[@indominusrex1652]

This wouldn't get this much hype if it was called Stock Car Racing Sun Tiara

[@BlackStar-di9jm]

@@indominusrex1652idk man that’s a pretty sick name you came up with, I’d buy

[@ArmadaAsesino]

Seems like a common trend. New games have less features, less to do, smaller maps than predecessors... oh but the graphics look better and now even the high end hardware chugs. Greeaat trade off... not.

[@vaporyphoenixgaming_5060]

New generations have no attention span, the companies focus on exactly what makes money or the main focus and leave off the extra stuff that brings in everyone. Really when you think about it if 60% of people buy it and you turn a quick profit it's better than spending more and taking more time to get 80% lol it sucks everything is about dollars but they don't mean shit anymore

[@rlas]

The city might also feel like a ghost town because a lot of roads weren't even mapped for AI. I tested this by pushing AI off highways into off ramps (its really not easy) and the AI rammed into the guardrail wall to get back on the main highway to the moment it flipped and despawned. Also a lot of the map parts make no sense city planning wise. A city that is representing something has to look functional. At least one alley leads you the wrong way into traffic, a 2 way avenue turns into a 3 lane one way highway that then joins a 2 lane highway with oncoming 2 lanes as well. They messed up some interchanges D:

[@117johnpar]

DOA is about the best description I can give. Feel bad for all those people who waisted so much time working on this game. The managers and design leads were clearly out of touch with what the game needed.

[@nordwind1841]

5:13 I feel like quality issues of this magnitude, where the reliability of a major component of the game (online) is essentially non-existant due to server issues, are things that should have been solved in an alpha, not a beta, not a demo, and certainly not release, and most people should not be okay with it. The game needs to be playable to...well, be a game. It is not even a problem with it being a live service game, it is a problem with the developer not solving very significant issues with it.

[@HokiHoshi]

Yeah this is largely the point I wanted to get across - server issues are expected in a stress test or early build or whatever, but to have such significant problems in a public facing demo this close to release is very concerning to me, especially when it's an always online game where server problems simply can't be avoided or ignored. The servers need to work for the game to work. I would 100% love to be proven wrong when the game comes out, but the demo just didn't give me a lot of confidence.

[@indmur]

The lack of lifestyle systems, how abandoned the city looks, and the lack of true singleplayer are dealbreakers for me. I mean, those are literally the BIGGEST selling points for a TDU game set in Hong Kong for me. But instead, we got abandoned soviet town vibes and Forza Horizon level lifestyle features, and always dealing with people online. I'm really disappointed with how this looks right now. I hope it can be improved post launch but man I was really looking forward to this but looks like I'll be waiting for Forza Horizon 6 before touching this game. Also at 26:24 I realized how damn different the cubemap is on the reflections vs the actual buildings, which makes it look really disjointed imo. I mean the perfect mirror reflection look on wet streets is so iconic to cities. I mean cmon guys fine no raytracing but can we at least use screen space reflections????

[@ardonjr]

I couldn't agree more. I will not buy this game based on promises that they 'might' add lifestyle systems later on.

[@machwiz]

Rest in piece Test Drive. You were fun while you lasted

[@theman47145]

DOA. Extremely disappointing. I'm sure loyal fans will try to get something out of this, but I can't see it being worth the time, even if I picked it up for free.

[@siddheshpillai3807]

so is racing games rest in piece both

[@jwhat1419]

After 40 years, this game is the nail in the coffin

[@BobBobson]

Always online is an immediate no for me. If I want to drive around by myself I should be able to do it offline. Just don't sync any of the single player records online.

[@aaronpike6902]

I like how people still think that a dev will fix anything after a demo or anything will be added etc... a demo is the finale build. they were brave letting this out

[@NicestPS5]

I like how people still think majority of devs even care and aren’t just doing it for money

[@Zy.Blurish]

@@NicestPS5 i know it's easy to blame the devs especially when most people don't have context of how hard it is to create a game.. But the focus on money and the pressure to direct a game in a certain way so it's profitable is a lot of times not the decision of the devs but the publishers. Devs need to follow orders of the higher ups that's just how it works in almost every job and you can't always blame them for that especially if we don't have context

[@kodakreeeam9971]

@zyblurish206 I'm so tired of this narrative that game devs are just an innocent party that are pushed to ruin by the evil higher-ups, the devs today are just not good man stop coping

[@siddheshpillai3807]

@@kodakreeeam9971 especially yandere dev agree

[@pardolagames8994]

DEI hires smh

[@TOTALLYANDOMNESS]

As a Hong Konger, I feel pretty hyped about the location. I just hope that they can populate the map a little bit more, or even make different levels of population an option. Maybe one for when you want to race the map, and another for 'realistic' Hong Kong traffic :>>

[@nihilodiem9591]

Seconded. A large part of Hong Kong is the population

[@JGYoutube0]

Check out a game called Rev to Vertex. Set in Hong Kong and made by Hong Kongers.

[@NicestPS5]

Not gonna happen buddy, this game is a cash grab gonna be DOA

[@nachtengelsp]

This... Maybe they could really crank up the traffic density. Even if there's complications with AI pathfinding in the beggining, this can be something that could be worked out through future updates. I think there's no logic behind choosing recreate a megadense city in a megadense region like HK to put a countryside town traffic. Other thing that I saw on the video is the largeness of the roads. I'm literally on the other side of the world and I never gone to HK... But these roads feels like north american ones, they are huge, wide. You feel overwhelmed by it, you can develop speed with ease and make larger turns. Watching the video, you can see that you can fit three or four cars side by side in a 1 lane road or highway access. When in reality, in a dense environment, things tend to be narrow and small spaced. Little streets, backalleys, avenues with narrow lanes, things that make a city that lies between tall mountains and the sea, which could make racing more challenging and real.

[@ElderlyAnteater]

You might be missing the point about the visuals - the game's visuals could be forgiven far more easily if it had the performance to match, but it doesn't. You have a 4080 Super - it's easy to forget your PC is far beyond what most people could even imagine, and you shouldn't be downplaying the issue. 9GB VRAM usage on low settings causes performance drops for anyone on an 8GB or lower card, which is about 72% of everyone in the most recent Steam hardware survey. Yes, gameplay makes the game. But some people can't run said game because of how poorly optimised it is, relative to its visuals. I tried TDU3 on an RX6600 (a decent card) and had to use FSR to get the game near 60FPS, and at that point it definitely resembled a last gen title. If only it ran like one too.

[@vsm1456]

absolutely agree! easy to say the game looks good when you have top hardware, but for something more common you need to drop settings A LOT to get good FPS and then the game looks pretty bad but I disagree with you calling the game TDU3. it's a reboot of the series or maybe a spin-off, but not a continuation of the first two games and it will never be it, when you look at how they changed the focus of the game and what the devs/publisher see this game as

[@MagicAyrtonforever]

Even on my 4090 game looked a bit choppy despite saying 80+ fps.. @4K.

[@kodakreeeam9971]

People point out the game looks ass on every settings but the highest ones, then comes Mr.KZbinr to say "uhm actually the game looks gorgeous on my NASA computer so your wrong"

[@ElderlyAnteater]

@@vsm1456 Ah I'm sorry, I was going off what I'd seen others call it online (which I saw through researching how to fix the game so often lol)

[@Roalethiago]

Yeah, my 3070 got destroyed by this game, while on FH5 I can push ultra 4K and still get around 60, and definitely 60+ with DLSS. TDU is just bizarrely heavy for no reason whatsoever.

[@Aegethir]

Sorry, review was going well until I reached the part where we have to accept lower quality standards because the game was made by a smaller game studio. I am afraid that's not how it works.

[@RomeoKiloLimaWasTaken]

Thank you for the graphics rant. Solar Crown looks beautiful. Is it 100% true-to-life photorealism? Of course not, but that’s not what’s important. Neither is Forza Horizon. But they have a style that they’re going for. No one complains that GTA isn’t photorealistic, because it has a style. Hell Art of Rally is one of the best looking racing games out there because it has such a charming style. Solar Crown looks fantastic, its visual style is frankly the least of its issues so lets not get on the devs for that and help them work out the problems that *actually* need sorting out.

[@ileutur6863]

I don't think people are criticising the game for its lack of fidelity and detail, its the complete lack of style. Everything kinda just looks like plastic.

[@ghost_sniper0022]

@@ileutur6863I kinda agree with you, but also, the moment a game try to do something different, people can go crazy over how it’s not what they want…. Remember NFS Unbound?

[@mitchell-wallisforce7859]

I was one of the folks who called out the graphics and didn't realize what I was doing until later. The expectation of photorealism in modern gaming is just so ingrained. It looks beautiful - not perfect by any means, but gorgeous. And to the reply that criticized the game for having no style.....what? I can't tell for sure what they're going for with the open world, and it defo doesn't _bleed_ vibes the way Night Runners does, but they're definitely going for SOMETHING here. And Ghost Sniper's right too: NFS Unbound has the most distinctive art style and vibe of any modern racer - vibrant and colorful - and all anyone did was take a sledgehammer to it. No wonder games all look the same now. The moment they try anything, we go apeshit over problems that, at times, don't even exist.

[@RomeoKiloLimaWasTaken]

@@mitchell-wallisforce7859 Yeah I think TDU:SC’s style is just less obvious. But I think what they’re going for is something of a near-futuristic look that’s very clean. The shining, sculptural towers, the traffic stop lights inlaid in the road, the glowing signs everywhere. It may not be a super bright and colourful style, or even a really obvious one, but it *is* a style. And I think it looks good for it.

[@meraak1]

the problem with the graphics is specifically that they're going for photorealism and ignoring all style. it looks like its made by a single developer just placing down high fidelity unreal engine 5 assets and ignoring everything else. if there's one thing this game doesnt have it's style.

[@Rerags_]

the fact i can't play without an online connection already turns me off after seeing what happened with The Crew...

[@nocommentaryjustgaming]

Wise words. The Crew is indeed a great example to see what will happen to this game in a few years...straight to the graveyard.

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

the crew was an amazing game, it did not have houses but it did have a cool map of the US where you could drive from Miami to LA. The sequel was very weird and did not improve the game, only adding annoying UI and bizarre map interface. Shame the first game shut down for good.

[@NicolasSilvaVasault]

if this was presented as an early demo, i would have totally understand the situation, but we're super close to release, and is not looking good

[@mathewfitzpatrick5645]

The "PvP Olny" thing also isn't good. Player A never has a chance to win because they somehow are at the bottom of a skill bracket, Player B is in a sweatfest EVERY race because they're such a good player, Players A, B, and C are friends can't play together because of their varied skill levels and theyt always get matched up with B's skill bracket so B can't reverse boost of their friends.

[@WalrusFPGA]

Love that you included a link to the demo feedback form so folks can actively try and help get quality feedback to the team and make this as good as possible. Class act as always Mr. HokiHoshi. Thanks for doin' whatchu do.

[@hawken796]

Yeah this is the type of game you buy a year or two later on a deep sale after all the core features and quality of life updates have been added.

[@U_C_G]

Theres almost no way this game survives two years or post development. This thing is going to have double digit active users within a couple of weeks

[@orcaoremig55]

@@U_C_G The perils of pvp only, you need to hit the ground running or its an uphill battle give it a good offline mode at the start to pick up some sales then hammer the pvp once you have some cash flow

[@Left4Coragem]

If this have less stuff than test drive unlimited, there's even a point for it to exist?

[@stachujones7820]

The biggest issue is it feels just like any NFS or FH game and doesnt have that differentiating TDU spirit. It needs to have more lifestyle components and reward exploration a lot more.

[@juzi68]

Thanks for being honest with your audience and not selling out. The original company that developed TDU and TDU 2 have no connection to TDU Solar Crown. Completely different developers and thus a different game. Its another corporate attempt for nostalgia cash grab. It wont work in this case because gamers have gotten smarter.

[@TheRacerG]

"Lifeless", is apt. Hong Kong looks like a ghost town.

[@Elwaves2925]

I got completely called out by blind fanboys for saying that before, even though I drove through the centre of the city, at midday, and only saw 4 cars, two of which were taxis.

[@ArtilleryAffictionado1648]

@@Elwaves2925 i'm playing early acess, this did not improve.

[@Elwaves2925]

@@ArtilleryAffictionado1648 Somehow I didn't think it would be cheers for letting me know about your experience. 🙂

[@ami_87]

First off, I don't trust any claims of old build, different fork etc. Game should be judged on what they've shown us. Graphics are fine. I don't know why some people are so hung up on the looks. There's much bigger issues here than graphics, namely performance and always online, and no play between regions. Honestly just one of those three issues is pretty much a deal breaker for me and the demo only reinforced FH5 as my mainstay driving game for the time being.

[@uhm175]

it's not just about polished graphics, the Ant-aliasing here looks quite horrendous, it makes the car models looks horrible, i've seen worse graphics with better anti-aliasing than this, they should fix this somehow (might be too late for them though)

[@ami_87]

@@uhm175 graphics graphics graphics graphics

[@KTR_ProrataEevee]

@@ami_87 I feel the problem is optimisation (I had played on medium on a BRAND NEW asus Zephyrus 14 and the game wouldn't start 75% of the time because the driver was "unstable")

[@TheBoostedDoge]

It looks like crap and runs even worse, if it ran better graphics wouldn't be a problem

[@djhgaming15]

The Always Online is the worst thing a game company can do.

[@abhijeetdey]

Seems like a great buy at 50% off with a bunch of patches

[@Perjoss]

You can already buy it at 47% off if you shop around, but also never buy until you've read some reviews, preordering is not a good idea especially if the demo feels off with less than 3 months until release day.

[@mynt253]

Thanks for mentioning the survey, I wasn't aware it existed.

[@adam10603]

I'm glad you talk about issues with controller input, it's such an overlooked topic. Most of the time if something doesn't feel quite right, people would usually blame the physics. Physics and input handling are separate issues though. The way a driving game processes steering input can absolutely make or break the whole driving feel, regardless of the actual physics / handling. It's nice to see this being talked about.

[@iamcarl4591]

I'm sorry As a Hong Konger This map looks nothing like Hong Kong. Roads are too wide Simplified Chinese everywhere. Not to mention the wrong road sign and LHD cars(Hong Kong only allows RHD cars if you're wondering) The physics, it's disappointing considering it's supposedly using the WRC8 game engine.

[@someonesuspicious947]

“Demo is an older version of the game” you know what else said that, battlefield 2042, and well, remember how that launched? I have a suspicion this is gonna flop at launch and MAYBE make a comeback as a “better” game

[@Wasper216]

Funny that TDU1 and 2 already had the SAME server issues. I especially remember TDU1 with its constant disconnects, friends didn’t appear on the map, server was down, etc. Guess they still haven’t learned - even with new dev team and new publisher.

[@HYDRARMOR]

The feel of speed in this game is amazing!

[@linktheordonianhero9098]

I will not be purchasing this if an offline patch is not offered.

[@Elwaves2925]

Then like me, you won't be buying it. I have several other issues with the game but online only is one of the bigger ones.

[@linktheordonianhero9098]

@@Elwaves2925 If I can boot up my 360 and play TDU 1 & 2 right now, with no issues, because they can be played offline, what's the new game's excuse?

[@Elwaves2925]

@@linktheordonianhero9098 They have no excuse. The only reason online only is being forced is because they are forcing it. It even makes me question their claim of "no microtransactions" as that would be a reason for them to do online only and turn it into a 'live service' after launch. I hope not as that would make the game much worse.

[@Wyn3e]

​@@linktheordonianhero9098that it isn't xbox 360 days and it's 2024 💀 (this isn't me supporting them but this is the only thing I can think off rn)

[@adlibbed2138]

​@@Wyn3efirst off, we're you dropped on your head as an infant or something? second, even if we thrown away "The Crew 1 and video game preservation" arguments out of the window, getting disconnected every few second in the middle of the race thanks for having dodgy internet gets frustating over time

[@tbmdd]

I just don't understand. The game industry needs a complete reboot.

[@ld9387]

Things need to get even worse before that happens

[@nismo97]

I'm so glad you touched upon controls and physics and how they're not the same. This is a thing many don't understand about racing games and leads to people thinking a good controller game needs to have simplified physics, and, by extension, simulators can't be good on a controller because the physics is too complex. Many arcade racing games we have today have acceptable physics models, but it's the controls where it all goes down the drain. NFS, The Crew, Wreckfest, Forza, you name it, they could all do with much better controls tuning, something that GTA 5 does surprisingly well and no one really notices it.

[@g00ndini46]

I hope they add singleplayer, i dont mind racing online but being able to race and collect cars while saving for a cool house in the game was always a fun feature to me growing up.

[@hars11itgupta]

Man the way you narrate your videos, you are simply one of the best out there. It's a joy to listen to you and get entertained!

[@MysteriousMatt89]

You perfectly summed up my feelings about the game, they can always add lifestyle/social features later, but multiplayer is probably more difficult to change down the line (group and lobby limits, region lock, crossplay) and that would be the biggest problem with it.

[@qasderfful]

Thanks for the form! They let you vote for offline features. Think we should take that vote.

[@Jamezontoast]

Paying for a game only for all of its features to be online-only made me refund my pre-order

[@seagullsays5831]

"It's a really old build." "This is very close to a final representation of the game." Can KT just pick a struggle and stick with it?

[@DustinEdenYT]

Really don't get why so many people are fixated on the graphics. Even going as far to say it "looks like a mobile game". What kinda mobile games have I been missing out on? :D For me personally, as someone who's mainly experienced TDU 2 offline, the joy of discovery was everything. You already mentioned the lack of store variety, such as clothing stores, hair dressers and club houses. But what I find even more damning is that every existing store is already marked on the map, you just have to drive to it to access it. When you boot up TDU 2 for the first time, the map is quite literally empty. A bunch of unmarked roads which can hide new car dealers, new clothing stores, new tuner shops or a car wreck nearby. There was actually something to discover on Ibiza and Oahu, whereas in Solar Crown you're already spoon-fed every relevant location from the start. TDU 2 also had a discovery level which increased with everything you found, unlocking stuff such as higher upgrade levels. While Hong Kong is a great map, I just don't think it is utilized well at all.

[@felipeferreira00]

Honestly i agree with you. It's a cicle. >Game launches >People complain about graphics >Devs put a lot more effort in graphics in a later release >Everything else suffers >People STILL complain about graphics, AND everything else. Also, while i didn't played it, knowing that everything already shows up in the map is really sad. Like, i get that some might not want to explore the map that much, but that takes away from the chracter of the game. Honestly, games are feeling like social media; where someone comes up with something different, and everyone else just copies it without caring if this will change the core caracteristics too much.

[@Kortex_Racing]

Actually tdusc also has this map marking feature. When you drive on hidden offroad paths, it will show up in your map after you've driven on them.

[@uhm175]

I don't think people are criticising the game for its lack of fidelity and detail, its the complete lack of style. Everything kinda just looks like plastic.

[@Kortex_Racing]

@@uhm175 plastic like crew motorfest?

[@Кто-то621]

As for me, it’s not graphics making it look like a mobile game, it’s the camera and UI (most of it) which gives this feeling.

[@vkermodekumav8949]

Thank you for having a more balanced take on the game. Some ither KZbins just ride the game like there is not much wrong with it. The only thing really stopping me from getting this game is the fact that its only online. Like seriously. Now knowing there are even LESS features than the base version of the previous game, it makes me sick to even think of paying money for this new one. Im having a blast playing the older game on my 360\ps3. If solar crown goes on sale for like $30. I will get it. But dude. Im just sooooooo tired of the whole , " we know the game isnt good at launch but we can fix it later! " Or even worse "you must be connected to the Internet to olay the game " im done dealing with that crap man.

[@X1erra]

The problems you've mentioned are exactly the worries I have for the game as well; I've conveyed it clearly in the survey. Thank you, HokiHoshi, and godspeed to KT Racing to make this game the best it can be. I've been waiting for this game for a long time.

[@BkSMedia]

This is a very fair critique of the game Hoki, great job. What I've taken away from it however is that the game still isn't ready for release, how can a game be a successor to a franchise that had so many unique features? Another thing that really bothered me is that the reflections aren't processed correctly. In foggy/rainy conditions you get "hot summer day with the sun shining" reflections and it just looks so odd. Case in point see 22:53 - 23:01. I get the feeling this game is DOA.

[@DastardlySnake]

It’s like if they had all the ingredients for a good meal in front of them, and they just grabbed one thing, cooked it, and said “Dinners done!”

[@mr.pritchard67]

This will be a game bought for $15 when it's been out for a year and has all of the content with it.

[@alexdetodt4971]

I would pay full price for a TDU2 remake without hesitating for a second. And so would all my friends from back in the TDU2 days. Just crusing with the TT RS cabrio along the hawaii coast. Memorys bruh. Imagine taking over a licensing, continue a game with such a great fanbase and actually do what players loved, then add the stuff or things you think you need to make your stock price go brr. Seems so easy to please everybody but apparently its not for CEOs.

[@CrashBandiii]

That kickflip graphic made me laugh far too hard

[@andreasmoller9798]

I am kind of looking forward to but with my only concern is with forced pvp if its going to be changed for full release. But with very little racing games releases lately i am always looking forward to a new experince.

[@nickc127]

Biggest thing that stands out to me is the lack of traffic. Tearing through an empty city in real life would be awesome, but the game needs traffic.

[@neblolthecarnerd]

I personally really enjoyed the demo but I do think there is a pretty long way to go with optimisation. With some handling tweaks and an offline mode this game could be the best open world racer in quite a while (at least for me).

[@indominusrex1652]

Online only = no buy since after what happened to the crew i will not risk this

[@dr.sivavignesh664]

Needing a 4080 minimum to get 60fps is ridiculous. (1080p with upscaling with other cards is just poor). The game needs to work on way minimum hardware for it to sell well. Offline mode should be compulsory.

[@forrest2457]

I wish they had some of the features that TDU2 had, buying houses plus customizations to the houses, character customizations, (plastic Surgery, clothing, haircuts) P.R.I.M system, the license schools were kinda lame though.

[@Lightning_aus]

i remember seeing the promo material and trailers and immediately knew it was going to go badly. seeing the insanely high targets, expectations, and graphics (among other things) immediately set off major alarm bells for me. reminds me of those tech demo trailers that look insane but turn out to be garbage in reality.

[@undmorte3706]

Spoiler alert: Hell no its not ready yet. Great video.

[@gregc9344]

Finally someone else people will actually listen to has said the physics aren't as good as Horizon, I play on a wheel and spend most of my time in driving games on Assetto and Beam and although I haven't played it about 8 months had over 1300 hours in horizon 5 so I was hyped to see an open world racing game coming that would be less arcade and more sim than horizon which is effectively a uncontested area of the market. Now I've been sceptical of these 'simcade' (I hate that word) claims since I saw the first gameplay because I could see there was more than just a weird camera going on there but was reassured by certain players who'd been in the playtests that it was just the camera and the game does actually have more realistic physics than forza. What do you know to my utter surprise playing the demo and even setting aside the fact cars have about 40% of the steering lock they should have which requires you to turn your wheel down accordingly for it to feel remotely like the right amount of input required and still no it doesn't feel remotely more sim like than forza but the monkeys in the discord will accuse me of only ever playing forza and not knowing what a sim should feel like.

[@kak8895]

Solar Crown Discord is a circle jerk of fanboys. You better not mention the name "Forza" on there if you aren't mocking it. Some of them are living out of reality.

[@ZA-7]

​@@kak8895I'm a big fan of TDU (not a fanboy) but omg, these people are on another level of delusion.

[@irvanray1898]

No wonder these people are so aggravating to talk to

[@Elwaves2925]

@@kak8895 I had one of them on YT tell me (in their first paragraph) that if I owned FH5 then my opinion was invalid. Even though I hadn't made a single comparison or mention to any other game with my criticisms.

[@Amvienttz]

Thanks for the survey link, hope they really do take on the feedback. This game/series has so much unrealised potential.

[@TheShugoBR]

for me here in Brazil, i had no server problems, i played with a friend all the time, no disconnects, no problems, but there wasn't many players in the server, and no one joined the races we entered, but was fun.

[@schizitoid53]

I had the same experience here, but eventually I decided to change the local of my pc to the US and had a better experience even with the disconnects. The leaderboards were more competitive and I could find people to race on the street. I really hope region lock is dropped, because it is my main gripe with the game now

[@Roalethiago]

Here was the complete opposite, for my 2 hrs of play 1.5 was trying to play together... Foi complicado kkkk

[@Elwaves2925]

@@Roalethiago The second time I played (UK based) I went on the motorway for a speed run. The servers were so bad that every 5 seconds of driving the ground textures would disappear, my car would pause while it loaded everything in for several more seconds, then it would continue. Completely unplayable. It wasn't my system because it played 'okay' in other areas of the map.

[@Roalethiago]

@Elwaves2925 that actually seems more of a streaming issue, was the game on a fast ssd?

[@ArmagedonaBG]

I really appreciate you sharing a balanced take! I agree with you, that it has some potential, I enjoyed the driving physics as well and I think there's potential there, if fine-tuned. And I absolutely agree with you, that the biggest issue is that this is a TDU game, it's an OK game, but a very bad TDU game. I especially dislike the "futuristic" style of the game. TDU was very grounded in reality, it was what a regular person would imagine the rich life would look like, whereas SC feels like a sci-fi movie, which makes it very disconnected from reality. And what's too bad is that this will not be changed for release for sure, which will guarantee that this game will have this feel. If it wasn't a TDU game, I think the reception would be a lot better.

[@MrDiarukia]

And in 9 years we get our "usage license" revoked.

[@LeoMessiBear10]

This looks like one of the most lifeless racing game worlds I've ever seen. BARELY any other cars on the road, and a total lack of pedestrians. Totally outshined by games that are nearly 15 years old, like Midnight Club LA. I'm worried about this one

[@current3109]

It’s like the devs are trying to kill this game. Are they only focused on graphics?

[@godlikeaisongs]

Agreed on absolutely every point. For me what I'd like to see put in asap is customizable player housing, Motorcycles, gambling and story mode with interesting missions - offline mode. If that stuff gets implemented I'd actually give the game a chance otherwise i''ll stick to Motorfest until then. Burnt out on buying games waiting years for things to be implemented into the game that should've been there from the beginning. Then when those things make it into the game, sometimes they end up not doing it right or the game is already outdated by then. Not going to sit around and wait anymore for these things.

[@TheHesK9]

It's just not TDU. No houses, no hairdressers/surgeons, no real estate offices (obviously). I feel like not having Oahu returning as the map, they really had to make sure the feeling of the game was like a Test Drive game, and they haven't. I think I'm going to cancel my pre-order. Allegedly, houses will be coming at some point, I might buy it then and hopefully other elements will return

[@lovelorrrn]

i just hope they'll have more traffic cars on the official release because i love cruising around

[@ReadyPlayerRyan]

Man, disappointing. The OG Test Drive Unlimited game holds a special place in my heart; used to play it with my brother when we were kids and have a lot of good memories of it. My brother passed away unfortunately, but I was hoping this game would fill a bit of a void. It's not looking good 😕

[@Perjoss]

looks like the dev studio (Kylotonn?) is going to have a really rough time from backlash when this game launches. When they say 'old build' this could mean anything, it could mean a build from 6 months ago (potentially many things fixed since then) but it could also mean its a build from 2 days ago and since then they fixed 1 very small texture glitch. I think they like to say old build to make potential buyers feel more comfortable spending their money on something that feels unfinished because they are more likely to think "release day version is going to be way better and totally fixed" which is hardly ever the case these days.

[@jlnprssnr]

There’s just no soul and focus in their products. I played WRC 6 & 7 when they came out and it was so obvious that they didn’t iterate on even the lowest hanging fruits to appeal to sim players. Same stuff is still visible in later WRC reviews I watched. Everything felt so stiff and hasted. I know game dev is hard, but they didn’t even flesh out the basics. No comparison to Codemasters at their prime

[@vladislave7826]

I will not buy another "always online" game.

[@schizitoid53]

I found that to improve handling installing the off road suspension helped a lot. Ironically it drops your rating. That is because it improves weight transfer and doesn't seem to have a penalty on grip. You can induce rotation a lot easier with it. I'm really glad you talked about region lock. It's my main problem with the game. I live In south america where the servers were empty and the leaderboard was not very competitive. I ended up changing region to the US and had a better time, even with the disconnects. Also I think the developers have confirmed some things like delivery missions and casinos, at least in some older material. I'm interested though how they will handle the streets vs sharps thing. In the demo there was some UI that suggests there will be a lot of content related to that

[@rapidvenom199]

The demo certainly has lowered my excitement for the game but I do hope it can build itself to a good game to give some more competition to the horizon series. I've only recently gotten into tdu 2 (SC servers wouldnt work) and I do hope many of its features make its way to Solar Crown that make TDU stand out from other racing games.

[@neptunedirect129]

I feel TDU2 was so ahead of its time. If they simply remade that game with new graphics, physics and story it would be such a hit.

[@rlas]

Thanks for linking up the form. Had no idea that existed. There was no disclaimer in-game, right? Huge flaw

[@saultknutz1166]

Yes there was a disclaimer on screen the entire time...

[@rlas]

@@saultknutz1166 alright. Didn't notice that there was a QR code or link

[@RGT85]

It's like the Rapture happened and everyone is gone. Or aliens.

[@HansGruberX1]

The Map/City is absolutely amazing. The part on the huge Highway where you have huge Skyscrappers on your left and right looks stunning!! You can also see a City in China over the Coast. It really feels like a real Island unlike in most games.

[@rlas]

The issue we have to this date is that people will buy this and other games no matter the flaws cause publishers can market their crap like the biggest and best thing ever despite endless bugs and issues from their side. Boycotting such games would be the only solution but there will always be someone that just accepts the demise of gameplay quality for sales or is too naive to grasp the entire issue

[@irvanray1898]

Racing fans just become too desperate for a "messiah", they will prop up something new as the next big thing.

[@evilyamii]

How is the npc on your server be doin tricks man 😭 Might as well make an alternative title called TDU:SC = Testdrive Unlimited Skating Car

[@HokiHoshi]

The devs got confused when they heard people like the "Underground" games and thought they were talking about Tony Hawk's Undergound, not Need for Speed

[@kevinlovescars]

Also, there is a lack of innovation or a unique selling point that sets it apart from its competitors which are established and strong. This was a great opportunity for them to make this a social racing game, interact, and make new friends.

[@1998lemuel]

KT had the license and physics for WRC, idk why they didn't just use that.. Their tarmac and gravel physics are pretty good and intuitive. Instead we get this weird arcadey sim-cade physics.

[@tryydent2598]

i'm sorry comparing solar crown to night runners is kinda a handicap to solar crown, night runner is being made by ONE person. granted solar crown looks like its going to be a fantastic game (when it works) i do think the always online aspect is a massive fault.

[@BEAR_ITS]

I know that TDU isnt known for in depth customization but I was hoping for something on Par with Forza Horizon or the Crew, especially with how car culutre is currently seen

[@uhm175]

People will still buy the game, only to cry out later, people never really learn, i won't be buying this at launch, and possiblity will skip it

[@siddheshpillai3807]

Velma and mf ghost situation all over again

[@Freezorgium]

7:15 I don't criticize games for not looking like AAA blockbusters; I criticize games for failing to reach the graphical fidelity of Assetto Corsa with CSP (esp. with linear color space on). It's not about the quality of textures or models or fancy RTX, it's about colors and lighting. But my biggest complain is how dead the city feels, how few traffic cars there are. Can devs please please PLEASE stop making street racing games if they don't have the balls to have dodging traffic be an essential part of the skillset? Fuck I miss Midnight Club (esp. II). Stop doing the forza cope where you sprinkle in a few cars here and there and call it a day.

[@0mnil0rd]

The game itself looks fine, the map is fine, the physics are also fine. The always online and no option for single player is a deal breaker for me. I never liked how Horizon forced me to play online to get the seasonal rewards in FH4. Too many rammers, even in team activities. Back to FH5, maybe some NFS Carbon Redux since the new update came out.

[@klein2252]

I remember being a busty Latina in TDU2 wandering around the casino getting dudes to give me money in poker 😂

[@StackBundle]

At this point I would probably enjoy a TDU2 remaster for newer consoles more than I'd enjoy this.

[@eriolsito]

I totally complete the feedback. It's a shame. We need this game to get on track. What social aspects can we have?, I don't think they are legally allowed to put a casino again. So that's out.

[@kspectre21]

I really hope they still work on this over the release period and afterwards. From the looks of it the launch isn't going to be a massive success and that may cause the publishers to cut away some support considering the development issues that have been plaguing the title for so long. I really like the idea studios offering demos and if they are truthful about it being old then hopefully on release it's a much smoother experience but I fear the damage has already been done. I'm also still not onboard with the Online-only requirements and their inconsistent servers just keep reinforcing my beliefs there, if they can't handle the pre-release PC Demo numbers then I doubt they'll be able to handle all the players on other platforms at release despite the lack of crossplay. The Region lock is especially stupid and I hope it's one of the first things to be changed. I do however really like the map and overall environmental design outside of AI traffic and pedestrians. The city already looks absolutely fantastic and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the map as it gets fully revealed, I'm especially excited for the offroad areas with the little shrines showcased from some of the promo shots.

[@worthy7834]

The Hype for a new Racing game is palpable, the doubt that things will go even remotely smooth, astronomical.

[@cooky187]

solar crown licence plate put me off already lmfao