When getting home from work I often fancy just having a virtual drive to unwind ... right now Test Drive Unlimited is looking appealing, but hows the driving experience?

On the TDU forums some people have said its halfway between sim and arcade handling (about right for what I'd like when not playing LFS), but there's problems when you change elevation (?)

I'd appreciate you views!

i haven't played it on the PC, but on the 360, it kinda sucks...bad. I got the demo of it, and all three of the cars in the demo understeer really bad. the motorcycle actually unsteered pretty badly too, but the fact that you could adjust your positioning on the bike and do wheelies and nose stands made the bike fun to drive regardless.

overall, i'd give it a rent/demo to see if you actually like it. i deleted the demo once the novelty wore off.

Got in on PC, and it's good for a semi-sim Hawaiian cruise if you're a car nut and want to save for a virtual Ferrari F430. I heard it's better on Hardcore too. Online is good as you can randomly cruise/chat with or race other players.

Oh, the elevation problems are negligible. Basically, the terrain map is a bit low-res in places which leads to the car being flung slightly to one side when coming over the crest of a steep hill (sometimes into oncoming traffic). But I don't think it's really unrealistic as if you jump a hill at 150mph, the car ain't gonna come down in a straight line is it?

Obviously, you've got the usual problems of commercial software: prone to bugs and crashes, non-linear steering (max 180deg), canned force feedback, you can't roll the car (40 degrees tilt MAX)... But it's worth it cos it's fun.

EDIT: It's fun because its so open. It suits your driving style whatever mood you're in. Want to drive safely and stick to the law? You can. Want to do stuff you can't IRL like weave in and out of traffic at 150mph? You can. Want to drive on a track? You can. Want to go offroading to reach your destination? You can. Etc...

I think TDU is excellent, if you just like driving around it's perfect. I have it for Xbox 360, and once you reach champion level and unlock the hardcore physics, it actually feels pretty good.

There's a rather large thread on it, you might want to take a read through it.

fun, but like every other game (bah LFS and BF2) its worn off

It's not bad but could do better. Most of the problems have been mentioned above but I'd like to point one other out. When you use the mouse to look around, its hard to get to center. I would also like to be able to zoom out in driver's view but that doesn't happen either. Also, its not good that you are able to go off the road and cross the forest to another road so easily. Still, it's not bad.

Its good fun when your bored, I've been having some trouble at the moment with the Island Tour race...anytime I get near the finish the game loses its network connection So I think I will do that race offline if I can.

The problem with the elevation changes is they're way too bumpy, and you get airborne hitting a simple freeway ramp at 90mph.

Overall the game has it's moments but is focussed on it's online modes. I would only consider getting it on 360. It's definitely suited to the couch (and I heard that the PC version need Colosuss to run properly).

Oh, BTW, about lagging, I don't get lag usually unless I'm braking...not good. Also, my sound lags horribly. When I'm braking, I hear my engine revving up and shifting up....man I need a better graphics and sound card.

i've got a 3700 KAB1E @ 3 GHz (think of it as an FX57) and a 7950GT and it works great with everything maxxed, its more about the CPU than anything else, and my PC is by no means a "collusus"

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When you use the mouse to look around, its hard to get to center.

I tap the 'Center' button, which I've got mapped to X on my DFP.

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Also, its not good that you are able to go off the road and cross the forest to another road so easily.

Why? To stop it would defeat the free-roaming idea. The fact that you CAN choose to go offroad is part of the freedom I like. If you dislike it because the trees don't damage your car, then that's an issue with the damage model not with the offroading.

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I've been having some trouble at the moment with the Island Tour race...anytime I get near the finish the game loses its network connection

Can you tell me how to change an online profile to an offline one temporarily? With my main profile, I HAVE to be online to use it, there's no option I can see to use it offline.

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and I heard that the PC version need Colosuss to run properly

Partially untrue. My 3200+, 1GB RAM, 256Mb 7600GS OC gaming rig gives me perfectly good framerates at 1024x768 without HDR or AA. HDR has little effect anyhoo and is mostly just blooming in TDU. AA? Meh, you're going too fast to notice and it's not ugly without it anyway.

I wold get it if i were you. I am preety sure i'm getting it in about 2 hours(b-day present). After watching 30 pages of google vidoes of TDU(only watched the good looking ones, about 5 pages total) the only poor quality things i saw were the low polygon roads, an annoying tire skid sound, the fact that on some systems the cars look really skinny, and finally there is no damage. Overall, it still looks as fun as hell.

Don't buy, it was released with knowing tons of bugs and some are making playing of it almost impossible to many players, it is pure luck if it works.

Read out first TDU Thread trough to get whole picture...

I have TDU for PC, it's fun, if you have a good PC. I have a AMD 64 4000+ @ 2.41GHz (need to overclock =P) which meets the required specs for CPU, but my 7300gs lets it all down. 800x600 low textures no aa/af.

Hardcore mode is fun tho.

Thanks for the feedback, guys I fancy trying something where I can weave through traffic, and just follow my nose ...

Quote from 96 GTS :

... once you reach champion level and unlock the hardcore physics, it actually feels pretty good.

How much work does it take to do that?

As for bugs, guess I'll take my chances; I've enjoyed some very buggy games (hmmm, Atari, lol). On my (laptop) rig I'll just be running it at 800x600 with everything off ... eye candy can wait till I get my next full size rig

I did read part of the big thread, but mostly saw the guys running Beta comparing notes

Then you are going to say YES to policy they have shows, pushing games out that are not even close to ready to release

It takes long time to reach to Champion level, really long long time, but there is some savegames you can maybe download and get somehow to work so that you can drive in that mode, I guess Niels knows more about that.

I believe that last 5 pages are most interesting ones in that big thread

Oh yes, it does not matter what details or resolution I set, it will run as badly still, release version also is same as beta, only timed limit is removed, every other bug seem to be in there, including unistaller bug that deletes files from root of C:\ and from some has deleted some files from windows dir too

It seems most pieces of big software are released buggy these days ... anyway, I'm going to give it a twirl next week

Is there any demo or anyway to test TDU (ideally legally definitely without downloading a whole DVDs worth of buggy software)

Quote from ajp71 :

Is there any demo or anyway to test TDU (ideally legally definitely without downloading a whole DVDs worth of buggy software)

I'm afraid that there is not, even beta was 3GB download of buggy software

As a sim, it does suck, but I dont think of it like that. For me its a game where i can just cruise about (more like boot it) and, when Im online, go on hugely long tours of the island with random people.

As a racing sim, it sucks, as a fun driving game, it is a good game.

Oh, and the motorbikes handle like shit. sensativity all the way up helps a little, but not that much.

Quote from JTbo :

I'm afraid that there is not, even beta was 3GB download of buggy software

Not changed then, cos the final release is 3gb odd of buggy software too

Long, long ago I remember this game called "Vette!"

It was supposed to model San Francisco. It was like a car simulator. But it was a slideshow and the clipping was horrible.

Anyway, I always wanted a modernized version of Vette! because I loved the idea of a car simulator where you can drive in traffic, get on highways, and freely go wherever you want.

When I first bought my MOMO this was the kind of driving game I was looking for--cockpit view, traffic, real roads, and freedom. What did I find?

Midtown Madness? OMG old graphics and totally arcade.
NFS: Porche Unleached? Ancient graphics.
NFS:MW? No cockpit view. Totally acrade control.

And finally there came TDU.

Great graphics. In cockpit view. Traffic. Real roads. Realistic car handling (not like LFS or GTR but good enough).

You may compare TDU to other games but no other driving game does what it does.

This is a driving-fast-in-traffic game. If you like the idea of weaving in and out of traffic then this is your game.

If you like racing other players then this is not your game. The online racing is poor compared to most racers. BUT If you like racing other players in traffic then this is your game.

Personally, I love it.

Quote from somasleep :

NFS:MW? No cockpit view. Totally acrade control.

sure there is...you just have to use the camerahack utility
http://www.nfsunlimited.net/download/?type=Utils&id=97

and i still think that porsche unleashed was the best NFS game to date.

and to the person asking about a demo, if you have a xbox 360, you can d/l a demo that limits you to 1hr of play time per session and 3 cars and one motorcyle.

I think it's awesome. I've spent WAY too much time with it already. My wife will testify. I just love cruising and exploring the huge island and beautiful scenery. Or just watch it go by in a blur. It's all I've wanted from a driving game. I'm actually glad it doesn't have LFS physics, cause that would make it too serious. Some of the races are pretty awesome too, even offline. The first 'around the island' race in the supercars was intense. I was a little slow and used 49 minutes on that one, in the koenigsegg. Averaged 232km/h over 49 minutes.. Even on good roads that took a lot of concentration. much of the race was spent well in excess of 320km/h. I had to wind down with a leizurely cruise in my caterham after that, I was all pumped up!

Quote from v4forlife :

Oh, and the motorbikes handle like shit. sensativity all the way up helps a little, but not that much.

Wish I could get the friggin bikes, but I have to do some lame thing like visit every car garage or something