Anyone take the plunge on Test Drive:Unlimited?

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:43 pm

From what I've seen the car deliveries are definitely the easiest way to make money. But once you've successfully completed them they're gone unlike some of the other missions which are repeatable. I've done three of the deliveries and a handfull of other missions to fund the purchases of my classic Camaro, Jag convertible, Viper, and Ducati motorcycle. Now I need to save up for another house because my current garage is full.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:49 pm

I'd definitely be interested in some racing on Thursday, if my schedule stays intact. Still have the f-class Alfa I originally bought, so I'd prefer to use the low-level cars. Not sure if I'll have much time to upgrade between now and then...

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:13 pm

Is there 8 classes of cars? If there is, I guess the idea is for you to get one car from each class? What about motorcycles or other cars? Seems like they would give you another way to store more vehicles. Sorry, just got this game yesterday afternoon.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:54 pm

Car deliveries are the best way to build it up at first and buy your first "fast" car. After that, some longer races give you fat payouts.

I did one that was a 37 mile run without a penalty meter...had to complete it in 20 minutes for $150,000. The deliveries seemed to open it up for longer races and bigger payouts.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:02 pm

Just went online at lunch and an update was required.

Here's hoping it fixes the online stuff.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:03 pm

I have 2 houses now, and 8 cars. I have cars in the B, C, D, F, G, and motorcycle A class I think. The houses seem to cost the same based on the number of cars they hold, for example two 4 cars houses cost the same as one 8 car house (depending on the locaiton of course, I've seen some houses in excess of $1,000,000). I may just get the 4 car houses as I need them.

I'm having fun picking up some of the classic cars, the Firebird is fun and sounds fantastic, I also grabbed a vintage Lambourghini that is a pretty cool ride. I've tuned 2 of my cars so far, and have painted a few of them also, which is cool in itself.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:08 pm

PRBoom wrote:Went to pick the game up this evening and each of the 3 stores I went to tried to sell me an opened copy at a new price.

Why do they look at me like I'm some sort of freak when I tell them no thank you?

I don't care that it's for display purposes or whatever. IMO if it's open it ain't fuggin' new and I refuse to pay full price.

Same here. I went out at lunch today and both EB and GS only had opened copies. The only reason I even went to an EB was because I want to trade NBA2K6 because it isn't worth crap on ebay anyway. The first clerk told me that she could prove to me that it was new because it had no scratches on it. I showed her my pristine copy of NBA 2K6 and asked her if I could return that as new since it had no scratches. She didn't get it. At the second place the guy told me that if I would preorder then I could guarantee an unopened copy. I told him it was an impulse buy and that I could easily guarantee a new copy by going to Wal-Mart across the street or Best Buy on the way home.

No wonder GME profit is down 60%. They are only going to be able to blame the next generation transition for so long.

Anyway, I should have the game tonight.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:11 pm

I gamefly'd it and I like it better than I thought I would as well, though I only have E and F class rides so far. It's got a 'keep it' price of $29 bucks for me, and I think I'm going to have a hard time passing that up. I'd like to see how online races go first, though, so please count me in for any racing this week. Thanks!

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:26 pm

Comments on some of the problems:

http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/sh ... p?t=538149

"We would like to thank all the players for playing Test Drive Unlimited and reporting issues.

Atari, Eden and Microsoft are working on a Live product update for TDU which will fix various issues found after release. We are also working on increasing the server capacity, which will improve the performance, reduce the Clubs problems and connection issues (“TDU server unavailable”). This will be done no later than the end of the week.

The main issues reported are as follows:

Problem of progression being lost

The problem occurs when you sell a house which contains a car that you’re trying to sell on the E-trade: this creates an issue and the player’s progression is lost.
In order to resolve this, the E-trade system has been temporarily deactivated. You cannot currently trade vehicles with other players, although you can still sell your vehicles via the direct selling option.
The problem is being dealt with as a priority and we will let you know as soon as the E-trade system is operational again.

Issues with CLUBS

During recent peak hours the demand on the servers reached unforeseen levels, resulting in some invitations for clubs being lost and players being unable to resend them.
We are working on increasing the server limit, as well as fixing this issue with an update. The fix will check for lost invites and allow you to re-invite a player if the invitation was permanently lost.

Connections issues (message « TDU servers unavailable »)

Players may have noticed some "TDU server unavailable" messages during peak periods. This is partly due to the number of simultaneous players growing very quickly in a short time.

We are currently tweaking our server to improve the performances, so connection issues will be greatly reduced. The extension of the server’s capacity will also help to solve these issues.

Difficulty to find Friends

This is partly due to the server becoming saturated during peak hours. It will much easier to find your friends when the server capacity is increased.

Currently filters work only on the map - they are not properly implemented while driving. This will be fixed in the forthcoming patch and players will then be able to see only their friends in the game if they wish.

There follows some additional guidelines to make playing with friends easier:

How to play with your friends:

1- The first player goes into a less densely populated area as shown on the map, then zooms in to the island. Other people that want to join him then select him from the map. Players will join a session that’s not full in this area, so the chances are high that this will be the first player’s session.

2- As an alternative, the MS game invite is a very powerful tool, and can be used from a multiplayer lobby as follows:
- create a multiplayer private session
- send an invite to your friends
- race as you want in the created session
- if you get bored of the race you're in, you can change for another one and bring the whole party with you (option available once race is over, before restarting another one)

3- Another way to play with friends is to create a club, meet at the club and start play from there.

Problem in Drive-in

The game freezes when the number of custom challenges in a drive-in is above 256. This is fixed. The maximum number of available custom challenges in a drive-in is now set to 255. This is a server based fix.
The Update will increase this limit so that anyone can post a challenge anytime.

NOTE: The first Update was released on Monday September 11 which deals with a number of issues, but does not include any of the fixes listed above. The first Update fixes a small number of gameplay exploits (loopholes). We’ll keep you posted about the second Update.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused. Please continue to send your feedback to Atari and thanks for playing Test Drive Unlimited.
"

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:45 pm

Okay...so this game is fun...really fun!

And addicting. They really did one hell of a job with this game. While not perfect, the concept is awesome and it's implementation is done extremely well considering the ambitiousness of the concept and that it is a first attempt.

It does take a while to figure everything out though...still trying to understand all the different things to do, how to do them, the icons, map system, ect... It just emphisises how much they have packed into this thing.

BTW...what are these "referral codes" you guys are talking about?

Wilk5280 · Post by **Wilk5280** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:14 pm

BTW...what are these "referral codes" you guys are talking about?

I guess you can unlock to free cars via marketplace by trading referral codes with somebody. Basically you refer somebody to buy the game and you each upload your code to a website. Once that happens you get a token to use on marketplace to unlock the cars.

haven't done it yet, so if anyone is looking to swap codes please hit me via pm.

Thanks

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:12 pm

Boom..sent you a pm.

Wilk5280 · Post by **Wilk5280** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:35 pm

Got it and replied

Theo · Post by **Theo** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:38 pm

One car that you need to buy is the Farboud. It cost's $150,000, but is one of the best cars in the game. It's has the highest top speed in the B class and it handles very well. It shares the dealership with the Mclarens and Nobles.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:52 pm

Okay so you guys all think its worth a buy?

Since Im too lazy to go through thread and wacthing Vikes /Skins...

Is it like Forza, GT or like PGR? or a cross?...or what?

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:59 pm

XXXIV wrote:Okay so you guys all think its worth a buy?

Since Im too lazy to go through thread and wacthing Vikes /Skins...

Is it like Forza, GT or like PGR? or a cross?...or what?

It seriously isn't like any other games. Read the thread man...it seriously is the most addicting game that has come out on the 360 so far...and I'm not even a huge racing game fan. It's literally crack...and it's only 40 bucks (31 if you rent from gamefly which I did).

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:07 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote: It seriously isn't like any other games. Read the thread man...it seriously is the most addicting game that has come out on the 360 so far...and I'm not even a huge racing game fan. It's literally crack...and it's only 40 bucks (31 if you rent from gamefly which I did).

Didnt know it was $40...Everyone loves it...Im getting it...

...

Wilk5280 · Post by **Wilk5280** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:51 pm

As soon as I get the $350K that is necessary to do so, I will create a Club for us, something like the DSP Motorcar Enthusiast Club or something; hey, if someone gets that $$ first, go ahead and get it started. Maybe a Club is a way to find each other online

If this is up and running, I'd like an invite please.

btmmayor · Post by **btmmayor** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:08 pm

Zeppo wrote: The Diners were active enough on Thursday for me to try a couple of challenges (very few restrict the class or car, so it was tough to find one I had a chance at). On Friday I was able to post my challenge, and drive it once, but since then either the diners don't appear at all (if "TDU servers are down") or if they do, the game freezes on me when I try to get the list.

I was able to get into Zeppo's DSP challenge yesterday. I raced it a few times missing the top spot by about 3 seconds. I drove over to the dealer to buy a new Audi, but by the time I made it back to the Diner the Challenges were no longer working.

Once they get that stuff ironed out though it is going to be fantastic.

Theo · Post by **Theo** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 10:12 pm

Has anyone from DSP created a club? The reason I ask is, I tried to create one tonight with the name "DSP Auto Club and it said that name is already taken. If not, I will create one tonight.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 1:08 am

Get me into whatever club you guys start. I LOVE this game! Mix and I opened up the paint shop option, and customized our '68 Camaros, then engaged in some old school muscle racing-it was loads of fun! I had guys in the world honk and stop to look at my Camaro...it looks really sweet!

This is one of the best games of it's kind I've ever played-heck, it's the only game of it's kind in the genre. Mix referred to it as 'World of Carcraft' the other night...that may be about right...

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 1:54 am

Theo wrote:Has anyone from DSP created a club? The reason I ask is, I tried to create one tonight with the name "DSP Auto Club and it said that name is already taken. If not, I will create one tonight.

I think Gurantsu started one by that name, so whenver the club stuff is fixed, it might be possible for us to join it.

Theo · Post by **Theo** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:15 am

I just created a club on the far left side of the island called "DSP Auto Zone". Should I get rid of it since we already have one?

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 8:33 am

Zeppo wrote:I think Gurantsu started one by that name, so whenver the club stuff is fixed, it might be possible for us to join it.

Yeah, I created a club called DSP Auto Club a few days ago. Once the fix comes out we should be good to go. If I'm not on your friends list send me an add request and I'll send out invites to the club.

Strange thing is, I got 2 new news messages last night, both of them saying that someone has left our club. It had a space for a player name in it, but it was blank. And at the moment I'm the only one in it! Wierd, but it could perhaps show that they are moving forward with a fix.

Oh, and the Camaro rocks, it sounds awesome! Mine is all painted up and ready to go. We'll have to make sure everyone in the club has one (hey for only $40K it's a steal!)

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 9:49 am

Gurantsu wrote:Strange thing is, I got 2 new news messages last night, both of them saying that someone has left our club. It had a space for a player name in it, but it was blank.

The same thing happened to me and I'm not even in a club.