Test Drive Unlimited 2

Gameplay looks good. Massive Online environment. 40 bones on steam.

The only issue is... nobody seems to be able to play at a decent FPS rate.
Even desktop I7's with crossfire 68xx series cards are barely squeaking 40-50fps.

The mechanics have also been called into question.

Anyone playing this yet?

StevenX

 

what is your computer specs and framerate

direct2drive never sent me a notification for my loyal preorder. Ill never preorder from them agaain

 

Haven't purchased it yet. Just reading forums on other sites. Curious to see if any of our regulars who do a great job covering games has some gameplay experience with this new title.

BW, StevenX

 

I did since last year and Im genuinely pissed D2D let me down without notification of my preorder. I would have probably not checked up on TDU2 until maybe March or if I see ppl talking about it otherwise cause March was a release date being thrown around.

Damn i hope my core2 quad with 1gb vid ram can take this

 

I pre-ordered TDU2 on steam. While the graphics are good, the mechanics is not greatest you will see for a racing game. Sometimes the cars turn too much and sometimes they don't turn at all and crash. If you play the NFS series, you will notice a difference between the two for the mechanics part.

As for the performance, I am getting a decent gameplay with everything set to high.

Apart from these, the world in the game is massive with lots of races and cars plus real estate to take care of. If you love racing games, this one is worth getting. Its more of simulation type racing (NFS Shift) rather than arcade type (NFS Hot Pursuit).

 

I belong to a gaming forum where some members are already playing TDU2. In a nutshell it's TDU only bigger. If you loved the first game you'll love this one as well. If you were put off by the simplistic driving model it's not any different in TDU2.

Keep in mind this is a console port to the core, just like NFS Hot Pursuit and F1 2010. That's the trend nowadays, consoles get all the love.

There are many reports of framerate problems especially on some ATI cards. 5870CF performance badly in Test Drive Unlimited 2 - Guru3D.com Forums

I saved myself the headache and ordered the game from Amazon for the 360. Btw I did love the first game.

 

I thought about getting it, then I figured I'd wait for some reviews and user opinions. So far I haven't been really impressed so I'll just wait for Shift 2: Unleashed at the end of March.

 

I preorderd it and so far its not that bad, I don't follow frame rates but its more than playable, heck for me its running better than TDU1 (C2D P8700 + Nvidia GTX260m). Im not dropping below 30 fps for sure with settings at medium + high. My main gripe is handling could have been better but like TDU1 I expect it to be fixed in the future.

The biggest downer is NO full screen (natively). You have to press ALT + ENTER if you want it to go full screen.

Quality of graphics... its pretty much improved TDU1.

 

Would i be able to play this game in high with i7 740 and gtx460m?

 

Actually that is one of the reasons people like games like TDU or GT, because it is more realistic. If you are used to NFS or initial D type games obviously this feels wierd, but in reality NFS type games have physics that are much further away than the physical reality just like how CS isnt realistic at all.

 

the car handling is worse than TDU1

and ultimately, NO LAMBORGHINI.

 

Depends on the car right? Im sure they will patch it up soon enough. Also, some people like it realistic (i.e. poor handling at 100mph duh), especially for those who enjoy the hardcore mode in TDU1.

Oh really no lambro? That kinda sucksish. Did they lose the license or are they gonna release as a paid DLC later? Almost guarenteed they will release a DLC with more cars tho. I mean the price is only $40 now wher emost new games are higher and plus theyve done it before

 

I believe they couldn't add Lambo's due to some licensing issue.

 

Well GT5 dont have Porsche, but loads of slow japanes cars

Is it much Audi in TD2?

 

Car companies really need to spread the love on the game licensing because it only helps boost the percieved value and desire of their cars. They need to be more head strong against game companies seeking exclusivity because guess what, game developers cant play too hard ball on exclusivity, as worst case they can choose not to feature a car company in their game lineup and risk the game sucking.

 

I love my slow japanese cars, TDU2 has a lot of euro cars, which I wish there were more imports.

Played the game for a couple of hours, it is not bad so far. The controls are fine, I put mine on sport mode. The game runs anywhere from 40 to 50fps for me. Rarely do I see it dip to 30 fps, but to get those fps I had to turn off AA, enviroment to low and eveything else on medium running at 720p.

Anyone who has this game add me as a friend my sn:
falcon64z8

 

You love your japanes cars in GT5?. Well anyway i like the Europeian cars best exept a few Japanese and Americans.

Mmmmm alot of Euro cars in TD2, sounds it a game for me then. I have TD1 on 360 but dont remember the cars.

 

Please you the sticky for specific questions like this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...ard-comparisons-here-read-before-posting.html

This thread is more for general game discussion and experiences (as dictated by the OP).

 

the point is not realistic vs. arcade.

the point is if the handling of TDU2 worse than TDU1, then what's going on?

it's not like TDU1 is realistic in any way.

does GT5 has RUF?

RUF is often used in games as Porsche when there's licensing problems.

 

They will work on it Im sure. I havent tried it yet, but like all games it takes user experience and feedback for improvement.

No, TDU1 is not realistic, but TDU1 @HC mode (even non HC mode) is by far more realistic than any NFS game so its better of the bunch.

Maybe you should be more specific about poor handling because that is as generic and tells as many clues as someone saying they had a bad day. Are cars getting too much grip, not enough? State specifics why you think handling is sucky right now.

 

The game and its about as real as CS. NFS shift was closer to realism. The off road, its like glass but the physics simply are off,its also way too smooth off road. TDU2 = arcade not sim. For something more realistic try WTCC 2007 (probably one of the most realistic modernish game) or NFS shift.

EDIT: Another bug, zooming on the map doesnt exactly work...

 

The current NFS Hot Pursuit is an arcade style game... it was even announced as such, you can't expect realistic driving physics from this game...

Nevertheless drifting with about 175 mph is great

Don't know exactly about the older NFS games but I guess it was similar.


Test drive looks nice... maybe I get it.

 

Pretty much everything but shift is arcade > sim. Shift woud have been better if it had pitting and longer races like WTCC 2007 or Toca Racer 3.

Note graphics in TDU2 are not that great. GTA SA modded cars have better poly counts, textures and lights. The lights in the cars in TDU2 are play abysmal, honestly it looks like a game from 2005-7 if you simply look at the cars.

 

even the most anal perfectionistic of game developers, blizzard, releases games with bugs and tweeking balance issues.

they just released it a few days ago, im sure if people press hard enough they will fix it.

for tdu1 you guys really need to play on hard core mode with traction control turned OFF. this is the way I roll and it is the most 'realisitic' as you can get it for tdu1

 

Already do play with everything off, and they wont release a fix unless people complain on their forums. It was the issue with TDU1, enough people complained on their forums so they changed handling after saying it was fine.

 

I think they might change. I duno if they are as receptive as blizzard is to popular opinions to the point of annoying (like continuously and exclusively screwing protoss and terran hard for zergs benefit) but it might get fixed

however atari has a bad rep for long term support, as TDU1 promised DLC and online content and all this, but nothing was delivered at the end, except a paid DLC and then nobody heard from them again

lets hope 2nd times the charm

 

Shift 2 Unleashed promises to be a lot more sim-like than Shift 1 so I'm waiting for that.

 

LOL i just tried TDU2 for a bit. OMG is all I have to say. Quite a bit of work is needed. Seems like a different bunch did this? A lot of things that are there in TDU1 is missing for TDU2. E.g. where is the ignition key? LOL all you have to do is shift to gear 1?

Also their hardcore mode is crap.

So many complaints. Ill prob readup more on some forums first but im not too happy with it lol

and how do you redeem your preorder special car lol?? I put in the code for my account but do I still need to buy it or can I just go and collect lol?

 

if u were in the beta test, you probably notice there are quite some bugs since beta stage didn't get fixed for retail.

and also I won't call blizard "anal perfectionist." Maybe in terms of earning money; but in terms of game quality? no.

 

Am I the only one finding the game kinda dull? I turn on the music just to keep my concentration, the engine noises are week even in higher cars and there is a general lack of excitement... points to more than corny story line and the people saying the same thing... moreover beating out every race etc by 12 seconds with everything possible to make it harder... hardcore and using the worst car in class... boy they really need to change the game

 

yea i think the game really sucks tbh.

A lot of customization options are missing and noobed up. Like there is no ignition yet you can choose left right indicator lights? if youre going for realism go crazy do the whole deal, dont do some and not others.

this tdu2 is like tdu1 but with bugs as there is no improvement in graphics whatsoever. I am also shafted out of my preorder car cause I cant find it anywhere I duno wt the deal is.

Honestly i had more fun playing tdu1 and the cars drive a lot better too. It feels way too arcadeish

Right now a few days after release I give it maybe a 3/10 tbh. I think I will stop playing this for a month or two and come back. We will see if they can patch things up in the future. I still gotta findout how to get my preorder car.

 

you get it once you unlock the regular version in the game or something. I actually just fell asleep during a race.... fell 20 seconds behind and somehow won it... so unreal.

The only graphical improvement I have found that are textures being slightly better and the roads look nice. I dont like how i have to hold the gas for like minutes straight... my right index finger is getting sore from pressing RT...

 

so that means i have to find the jaguar dealership you mean? I heard it should just showup at the used car dealership though. And shouldnt it be free also. Id really hate to have to pay money for it as I only have 2500 right now

Yea the roads are slightly better, but they look kinda cartoonish. i mean its been a few years. I can handle everything maxed at highest res on the desktop but fps is noticibly lower whereas tdu1 I had everything maxed with no lag, so obviously computer requirements is higher but I dont where the improvement went at all. To me it looks the same except with more road textures which themselves look cartoonish.

the daytime thing is also stupid cause I actually drove through a night time in like 10minutes real world time or something. . I'd rather they use real world time for the in game daylight. I dont know pick the real spot and base the game time on that and go with it, including weather too.

TDU is a nice idea, but it seems TDU2 is a big letdown cause I expected hardcore realism and graphics

no i wasnt in the beta.

well blizzard is more perfectionist than most

 

Headlights are also ridiculously weak!!!!!!!!!! and cockpit view compared to say even grid (arcady) is abysmal. It slike /look down oh the wheel is below me, they put you far too close to the wheel and far too high in the seat.

Ill add the landscape is boring compared to TDU1, its kinda all brown, almost no green

 

Yea, actually thats another thing missing for TDU2 in the options and customization. in tdu1 you can change how far you sit.....but missing in tdu2.

more customization is always better than less. tdu should be less like nfs

 

If you notice my sn, yes I love japanese cars. Anyways, I never played the first game so maybe I don't know the specifics of what was good about the first game, but I am enjoying this game very much. Just crusing and enjoying the righ, also trying to climb to the highest mountain peak in a GTR is fun . What made me like this game more is when you get chase by the cops too many times, real life human players are able to chase you. Which is fun, because I would zig zag through the woods and lose them and the intensity is increase due to not trying to crash while going 200mph.

I do have an issue with sounds, in that the whole game sounds low when I boot up the game and when I exit my system sounds goes back to normal.

 

About the sound problem, if youre running windows 7 you can try two things:
While in game go back to desktop,click the speaker icon near the clock, click on mixer. You should see tdu2 app now beside the system sounds sliders. Adjust it to the max.

If that doesnt help, start the game as normal. Before hitting play button, notice that theres a settings option on the top left corner. Click it and set the sound options from XaAudio to DirectSound.

 

Thanks for the tip, the first one worked after about 10 times... it just kept resetting, still fairly low but significantly better!

 

I am not asking if my "notebook can run it". I am asking what notebook models you have (specs), what game settings you are running and what your FPS is?

Everyone, please chime in here...!

Thanks so much!

StevenX

 

Alrighty, I am definitely going to steer clear of this game...

 

Thanks man, now it works perfectly!

O and I just beat some guy in my GTR against his mustang GT. I had a few races in the past and lost due to getting lost or taking a wrong turn during the race, lol.

 

Check my first post in the thread. Pretty much says it.

Is it just me or is the arrow huge and does it say you are at the intersection although you are like a good few hundred meters away?

 

Thanks X2P, I am also looking to see how others are faring as well. Thanks for the responses. Best wishes, StevenX

 

Nah the arrow is not too large for me, but yea when they say turn left its like a few hunderd meters aways and I usually turn too early, lol.

 

I do that too dont worry, most games have better ones if you use the map. The problem is you really need the map in this game since you dont have tracks memorized, I could drive laguna seca or Spa blind folded but this is hard.

Anyone else having trouble zooming? Im using XBox 360controller settings and ALT + ENTER to full screen and I cant zoom on the map

 

Yea that zoom function on the controller is bug. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. As for alt enter I only needed to do it once and it stay fullscreen eveytime I played it.

Also, have you found a tuner shop anywhere, I mean one that customized body kits not just the engine?

 

Pre-ordered the game hoping that it will be a big improvement over TD1. IMO it wasn't.

Graphics compared to what EA is producing (Shift 2, HP) is a thumbs down, the Physics are better in the first TDU, and the engine sounds, though better than TD1 are still inaccurate and low quality. I'll definitely be working on a sound mod (for the cars that need it) when I have time.

 

Just me or is overall audio quality ridiculously low?

 

Ok folks.. Im chiming in now. Purchased retail disc copy and installed. I reloaded my m15x on Monday/Tuesday night so with a fresh load and drivers I installed the game. I haven't finished optimizing the OS yet but I can say this game runs just fine on my system. All settings on high, vsync on (smooth frames), 1280x720 (xbox 360 setting), 2xAA/af (again xbox 360 setting) Minimum 30-55 fps all day. No issues and no lag. My settings in sig.

Game uses 5-6 threads out of 8 without core parking disabled.

Reminder - this is 100 percent console port. So keep in mind that as you try to go above 720p its going to really impact your game experience. I can completely understand why some are having it crawl playing at 1080p or higher.


Played for about 2 hours so far. Will post more after a few more hours of gaming.

StevenX

 

I never realized it would be that big of an impact. Im running fullscreen 1680x1050