KT Racing has announced patch #2 for Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown which includes many bug fixes and improvements. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown launched on September 12 for PC and consoles and, at least according to Steam users where it currently has a mostly negative rating from just over 3,800 users, it has not had the best reception. Perhaps patch #2 for the open-world racing game where players can indulge in the elite lifestyle to compete with each other will begin to turn things around for KT Racing’s Hong Kong-based game that recreates the island on a 1:1 scale.
The new update is said to primarily optimize game performance on the PS5 while bringing numerous improvements to PC and Xbox versions. PlayStation 5 owners who’ve updated with the new patch should see “A more consistent framerate in Performance mode,” and “An increased resolution in Quality mode, from 1080p to 1440p.”
Per KT Racing (via news page):
- “This update primarily focuses on graphical enhancements for PS5. The patch also optimizes game performance on PC and Xbox Series. Additionally, it includes network upgrades, improved peripheral compatibility, and numerous bug fixes.”
- “Also, we’d like to take a moment to update you on where we stand and what we’re doing to improve your experience. We understand your frustration, given the difficulties that have been encountered during the launch of TDUSC. We are sorry for this situation and we want to acknowledge your concerns. We genuinely appreciate your patience and commitment to Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown.”
KT Racing reports that it is following up on user complaints ranging from AI difficulty and behavior, server stability issues, ranked matchmaking, and unusual car performance issues which have resulted from car upgrades causing them to become too powerful. It is working on them and hopes to have many things fixed by the launch of Season 2. The developers have also said that those who purchased the $79.99 (PC)-$89.99 (Console) Gold Edition before October 12 will receive an “exclusive ‘Adventurer’ off-road edition of the 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe” along with “a pack of 5 ‘Pioneers of the Solar Crown’ premium stickers” when Season 2 launches.
Patch #2 notes:
Servers/Network
- Fixed various login issues
- Performance/Stability
- Reduced shadow cost in performance
- Added various optimizations to improve memory consumption and overall stability
- Fixed a crash that could happen when entering a spot
- Fixed a crash that could happen when traffic spawned
- Fixed a crash that could happen while buying car parts
- PC: Fixed a crash that could occur when playing with certain AMD GPUs
- PS5: Reduced frame drops in performance mode
Graphics
- Improved global illumination performance
- Improved octree tracing performance
- Improved shadow quality created by headlights
- Improved SSR upscaling
- PC: Use DLAA instead of FSR TAA by default when available
- PS5: Improved quality mode resolution from 1080p to 1440p
Compatibility
- PC: Fixed binding and default preset on Thrustmaster TMX wheel
- PC: Fixed Logitech G923 default binding
- PC: Fixed Moza devices default preset
- PC: Fixed issue where FFB was lost when the mouse was moved
- PC: Fixed issue where FFB could still be present when navigating menus
- PS5 & XS|X: Added presets for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox 360 and PS5 controllers
- PS5 & XS|X: Added clutch binding to default steering wheel presets
- PS5 & XS|X: Added gear binding to default steering wheel presets
- XS|X: Fixed default binding on Logitech devices
- XS|X: Added Fanatec CSL Elite as a recognized device
Bugfixes
- Fixed a softlock that could occur when opening the map at the same time than various menus
- Fixed a softlock when pausing and accelerating at the same time during cutscenes with Vivian
- Fixed garage’s slot not updating when uninstalling and reinstalling DLCs
- Fixed various localization issues
- Fixed an issue where pause menu would be unresponsive if Alyss menu was opened before
- Fixed Aliasing of certain fonts
- Fixed fences sometimes not having collisions
- Fixed pre-order Ford DLC text
- Fixed start button POI on Lotus Evija
- Fixed license plate light turning on with reverse & brake input on Alpine A110
- Fixed dirt wrongly applied on Corvette C7 ZR1
- Fixed brake light animation while spoiler is open on Porsche 911R
- Fixed cases where NPCs could be run through
- Fixed various wall collision issues
- Fixed issue where french audio was not playing correctly
- Fixed pink pixel in dark areas
- Fixed RPM leds not resetting on the pause menu
- Fixed car color widget order
- Fixed the race “Fateful Confrontation” always being identified as a ranked race
- Fixed wrong highlighted races while having the secondary task “Ad Campaign” pinned
- Fixed DLCs vehicles appearing in the pause menu before unlocking them
- Fixed a case where the avatar could fall underground during onboarding in the first car dealer
- Fixed rewards depreciation enabling itself when abandoning or being disconnected from races
- Fixed a case where the wrong garment were applied to the avatar preview when switching rapidly from one category to another
- Fixed issue where car livery were not applied on other player’s cards
- Fixed High Stake event’s rush hour sometimes not triggering
- Fixed an issue where beard were not displayed properly after adding a mustache
- Fixed wrong car thumbnail ratio when using an ultra-wide monitor
- Improvement in AI behaviour while close to the player
- Fixed yellow floating lines
- Fixed GPS voice still talking when set to off
- Fixed issue where parts of the avatar would turn grey
- Fixed “Roof” selection on radial menu when driving a car with no roof
- Fixed issue where cars could change color depending on the distance
- Fixed ghost sometimes not being visible in Time Attack
- Fixed rain in the pause menu
- XS|X: Fixed black blinking during races
- XS|X: Fixed crash when reconnecting Logitech wheel
- XS|X: Fixed issue where wheel angle was being wrongly reset on Logitech devices
Misc
- Updated matchmaking value for toxicity
- Updated camera settings in shops
- Added F13 shortcut for ping display on Nvidia Reflex
Discussion (13 replies)
Join Discussion →That game was horrid when I tested it. Completely negated any interest in had in the IP.
Yeah, the reviews haven't painted a good picture for it. Such a shame.
I enjoyed the first one on the xbox 360... this one felt like... it belonged on the xbox 360....
I played I-III and probably tried a few others over the years but never felt like going back. NFS has had better ups and downs but it too has really taken a dive imho. It seems like they just can't find a decent middle ground anymore. Either too focused on racing to the point its not fun or ridiculously stupid and dumbed down.
You mean Test Drive Unlimited? That was the first of the Unlimited games, but faaaar from the first Test Drive game. There were maaaany Test Drive games before it. But yeah, TDU was pretty decent. I remember playing it at a friend's house before I had my own X360. I think the Forza Horizon games, like 4 and 5, have largely taken the crown for open-world racers these days.
Yea test drive unlimited.
The first TDU was the best open world racing game, it is a shame it has come to this, a low-rent buggy forza horizon clone. But of course the developers of this has nothing to do with the people who made the original TDU. So it was always a tossup whether this will be any good.
I've actually been playing Gran Turismo 4 Spec II recently, I don't really need any other racing game, in fact it is hard to imagine anything modern competing with it.
Spec II is a community mod released in September that adds various QOL improvements, balance fixes, and new features to the game including brand new more realistic sound effects for hundreds of cars. With the improved rendering and 4K resolution thanks to pcsx2 it almost feels like a modern game.
OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAATTT...
I was going to ask, but you immediately provided info. Just released this past September? I'm sure that's one reason why I hadn't heard about it.
GT3 was the last GT I really liked. I tried to get into 5 and Sport, but couldn't do it. Never played 6 or 7. I've been all over the place with Forza Motorsport series. Loved 1, hated 2, didn't play 3, 4 is my favorite, hated 5, barely got to play 6, didn't get to play 7, and I've been hearing 8 is not great. I didn't care for the Forza Horizon series at first. I ended up having some fun with 4 and 5, but it wasn't what I was looking for in the end. Assetto Corsa, Project Cars, and various others couldn't command my attention. I still have fun with Dirt Rally 1.0 and 2.0, but overall, realistic-ish racing games just don't grab me like they used to. I wish I could use my Logitech G27 controller more, but I need a proper seat setup for it.
I have a whole bunch of PCSX2 testing I need to do at some point, so I guess I'll throw this GT4 Spec II onto the list, and give it a whirl.
I loved GT1 and GT2 despite only playing both on emulator that was struggling to keep 15fps at the time. I skipped GT3 entirely since GT4 was already out by the time I managed to get a hold of a PS2 Slim. I never even had any other game for that console.
I was already working by the time GT5 came out so it was not a huge issue to get a PS. I was kind of middle of the road about it, didn't love it but didn't hate it either. However GT6 was a big big letdown. For me that's when the series really went downhill, GT6 lacked lots of features why I loved GT games, and is also missing half of the tracks from previous games. But at least it still had single player campaign unlike Sport at launch. I experienced Sport as an insult to all fans of GT. Although they added single player content to it in patches it never got a true Gran Turismo mode.
And finally GT7 was a total mess, which I experienced as even more of a let down since it was proof that the creators were now completely out of touch with what old time fans of the series wanted. It contained very little single player content at launch, all of it from the hand holding variety. And the physics were messed up too which they later improved in patches but not to my full satisfaction. Not to mention the ridiculously overpriced unattainable cars in it, which they said was to simulate their exclusiveness. But for crying out loud I play the game because those cars I'd never be able to even get close to IRL, let alone drive them. And now I can enjoy not driving them in a game too. Thank you. Geez. I sold my PS4 Pro and my copy of GT7 soon after it came out, and vowed I'm done with the series unless it comes to PC. To this day I consider GT4 to be the best of the series: GT4 -> GT2 -> GT5 -> GT1 -> GT6 -> GT7 -> Sport If I took the release pre-patches version of GT7 then it would flip places even with Sport. I'm not ranking GT3 as I've never played it properly.
I am not a Forza Motorsport Fan to put it mildly, only tried one or two and always found the physics to be really weird and unrealistic. Not arcade unrealistic but outright unpredictable unrealistic which is the worst IMO. On the other hand I did enjoy FH4 which should be the more arcade game, it actually had better physics than motorsport. I just found it to be ridiculously short and the map too small.
My favorite realistic racing game on PC currently is Project Cars 2, it has the right variety of tracks and cars. For rallying still RBR reigns king, but I have not played it for at least 15 years.
PCSX2 works out of the box now, well except you still need a PS2 ROM to use it, but aside from that setting it up is pretty straightforward.
Getting the mod to work however is an entirely other case as it is a patch that needs to be applied to the ISO of GT4 with a special patching tool which you need to download separately. And the ISO can't be any random GT4 rip either it needs to be of a special beta test version, which you need to acquire. Here is the official page of the mod: https://www.theadmiester.co.uk/specii/ Good luck.
My faint memory is telling me that this is probably true.
Same.
Good to know. I probably won't ever bother to grab it.
I don't even know what the f*ck they were thinking with GT Sport. That was an odd product in and of itself. I paid $10 for a brand-new physical copy, and it turns out I paid way too d@mn much.
Woooooooooooooow!
Honestly this is one of the biggest tings I don't get. Even Forza Motorsport eventually came to PC. It makes no sense for Gran Turismo to not be on PC.
Agreed.
I actually haven't played that one. I'll have to give a whirl at some point.
I'm inclined to think RBR is still the top, but I too have not played it in many years, probably longer than when you last played it.
Well I'm pretty familiar with PCSX2, been using it for years, but I have yet to use any version past 1.6.0 (except some of the nightly 1.7.x dev build releases). I want to see how any of the newer builds past v2.x.x handle a lot of the games I had problems with in previous versions. I was gonna test 2.0.0 and then 2.0.2 and now they got 2.2.0 out. I have a ton of PS2 games to try, I just need to set aside some time for testing.
Cool. Thanks for giving me a direction to head in. Not sure when I'll get around to all this, but I definitely plan to.
I haven't been keeping up with GT news since I quit the console life 2 years ago, but there were some rumors about GT7 coming to PC, but nothing materialized. The game is still a big success, but it serves the role of a Sport 2, rather than a GT7. It's all about online racing and esports.
I forgot to mention that at one point it was the lowest ever rated PS game on metacritic based on user score, which is quite a feat to piss off your audience so much.
It was underrated and poorly received because it is not as much a hardcore sim, not in terms of physics those are pretty realistic imo, but the game structure is more arcade style and less focused on track racing. But I have some bad news if you don't already have it you can't buy it anymore, it was de-listed on steam years ago due to licenses expiring. Maybe if you can find a physical copy.
Project cars 3 is still available but avoid it like the plague it is an awful arcade game with cartoonish graphics and terrible physics having nothing in common with the previous two.
Ugh. Count me out. Plus doesn't it have an always-online requirement?
A "community demo" would also suffice.
Ironically I was gonna ask about that game too, which I also know nothing about.
Just wanna say I finally tested out PCSX2 v2.2.0, and yyyeeeaaahhh, I think this is gonna work out very nicely as a PS2 replacement now!