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Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown | Nacon Connect 2022 Teaser (yes, *another* teaser)

Senua

Member
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Turk1993

GAFs #1 source for car graphic comparisons
repost

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Where is the gameplay? WTF is this shit show. I waited 40 min for this trash trailer with all those low budget pre alpha games. FFS atleast put a 1 min trailer with in game footage from different locations and cars to get some hype. They have nothing to show and this was supposed to release this year before the delay.
 

Pantz

Member
They teased this trailer months ago and TDU fans in chat were pissed. Disappointing for sure but they need to chill a bit.
 

CamHostage

Member
Never coming out. Not even sure it really exists. Getting GTR3 vibes here.

Oh, I don't know if I'd go that far, to say it's never coming out. It's a Nacon game, on the WRC/TT Isle of Man engine (though it's a separate KT Racing team, to some degree,) I don't think there's anything to stop them from shipping a product that they know will sell.

It might not exist yet, though, that is a possibility (despite the planned original 2022 date.) And nothing is stopping it from sucking, or not being the type of TDU that fans are hoping for in a third game. But I don't believe in a scenario where they drop the project.

Nacon is a weird Euro'ey type of company who work pizzazz-forward and hope they have the products to back it up. This Nacon Connect that the new trailer came from had almost 20 minutes of talk before showing any games. TDU Solar Crown itself is soaked in tuner culture and location gambling systems, and they probably think that's going to sell it just as well as gameplay. (And gamers have now tuned in for, what, three teasers, with 10 seconds maybe of a car driving straight for "gameplay"? They haven't lost the audience yet.) Eventually gameplay will be shown and then it would be harder to do these "Imagine a world..." intros of gameplay systems, so they're gambling that this will work for now and that when it is time to show gameplay (maybe once the engine is actually ready to work as promised,) all the prelude will fall away and they'll be in a gameplay-oriented hype session. And since the game isn't out until next year, they have time... even though they are gambling with our patience.
 

nikos

Member
Really looking forward to this. Can't wait to see actual gameplay. Hopefully it delivers a good experience with a wheel.

The trailer actually shows a decent amount about some of the cars and environments.
 

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
It's a much lower budget game, what do you expect?
It's not a small indi dev too. And Test Drive games are know to be at least nice looking games, some would even say they where beautiful (and they would be right imo).
I expected better, but it's labeled alpha so well see.

Two more pictures:

test-drive-unlimited-solar-crown-screenshot-06-min.jpg
a3m4k7jny6a91.jpg


And 1:1 scale Hong Kong Island is gonna be very cool!
 

Alandring

Member
When I saw this video titled "gameplay trailer" without any gameplay... 😅

But I don't think the game is a scam. I just think they don't want to sell it for its gameplay, but for its "lifestyle" elements.

This Nacon Connect that the new trailer came from had almost 20 minutes of talk before showing any games.
Yes, it was the pre-show.

It's not a small indi dev too. And Test Drive games are know to be at least nice looking games, some would even say they where beautiful (and they would be right imo).
I expected better, but it's labeled alpha so well see.
Test Drive Unlimited is AA, Forza Horizon AAA.
 

CamHostage

Member
Yes, it was the pre-show.

Heh, nope.
If you want to call it "the pre-show" (that's what they've labeled it in the reuploaded stream,) that's your call, but I had to sit through it and it's the ACTUAL show in my book! That whole stretch where they did that reveal-an-image game and had guys sitting on the couch jabberjawing, that all came after the 10AM PST start time advertised, you can check my timestamps on the liveblog. They didn't get to a single reveal (which was not a game, it was a controller, although it is Nacon and they're a hardware maker) for 15 minutes after their advertised start time. (No reason why they couldn't have put the pre-show in the actual pre-show where they did the countdown, btw.)
It was maybe the most painful 15 minutes of this gaming summer stuff yet...



But whatever, they ran what they did and everybody expecting gameplay I would hope knew from previous TDU Solar Crown presentations that there was a chance there'd once again be no gameplay. So, it happened that way.

Also, I'm with you that it's likely not being held back because it's still all smoke and mirrors; I'm sure something of it in-engine exists. KT Engine can't be that hard to get a game up on, they've made like 30 games on it. (It'll take some doing to make an open-world game with it, but it has proven to be flexible tech up to now.) This is just how they want to market it, with a focus on the frills and systems and style.

Test Drive Unlimited is AA, Forza Horizon AAA.

What are we, grading eggs here? 🍳

"AA" and "AAAA" aren't things, they're just marketing terms. "AAA" really doesn't mean anything even, at least not in proper business terms. Gamers and PR/recruiters have kind of shaken out a loose set of terms from how things have been described in the past (mostly because publishers love calling their games AAA in marketing, hoping that the press will jump up for coverage,) but there's no formal definition of any of these terms and they won't appear in any production contract or budget.

If it helps you to use these terms, then fine (it's probably applicable here, though we don't actually know the budgets of either TDU or Forza Horizon,) but let's not throw these terms out as if they're consecrated fact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(video_game_industry)
 
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KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
When I saw this video titled "gameplay trailer" without any gameplay... 😅

But I don't think the game is a scam. I just think they don't want to sell it for its gameplay, but for its "lifestyle" elements.


Yes, it was the pre-show.


Test Drive Unlimited is AA, Forza Horizon AAA.
Why are you bringing Forza? I don't give a shit about Forza, I'm talking about this TDU. As I said, Test Drive games are know to be at least nice looking so I don't know what you want me to say.
And yes, the graphics where a big part of the enjoyment when driving around Oahu for example.

Finally, you don't know the budget for this game, so you don't know if it's AA or AAA.
Bugbear is made of eighteen person, they struggled to fund their game (Wreckfest) and it has one of the most advanced physics in a racing game and it is looking quite good.
Meanwhile, there is 150 person at Kylotonn, the dev of this TDU. So indi or AA game my ass.

Again I'm not asking for the most stunning game ever made, but yes I expected better.
Nothing that will stop me from playing this tho.
 

Alandring

Member
Heh, nope.
If you want to call it "the pre-show" (that's what they've labeled it in the reuploaded stream,) that's your call, but I had to sit through it and it's the ACTUAL show in my book!
Yeah, maybe they should have communicate better about the pre-show and the post-show.

What are we, grading eggs here? 🍳

"AA" and "AAAA" aren't things, they're just marketing terms. "AAA" really doesn't mean anything even, at least not in proper business terms. Gamers and PR/recruiters have kind of shaken out a loose set of terms from how things have been described in the past (mostly because publishers love calling their games AAA in marketing, hoping that the press will jump up for coverage,) but there's no formal definition of any of these terms and they won't appear in any production contract or budget.

If it helps you to use these terms, then fine (it's probably applicable here, though we don't actually know the budgets of either TDU or Forza Horizon,) but let's not throw these terms out as if they're consecrated fact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_(video_game_industry)
I think the bigger budget ever for a Nacon game was something like 10M (The Sinking City when it released, maybe they have some games with a bigger budget now). I don't know what is the budget of Test Drive Unlimited, but I doubt it is much bigger.

Why are you bringing Forza? I don't give a shit about Forza, I'm talking about this TDU. As I said, Test Drive games are know to be at least nice looking so I don't know what you want me to say.
And yes, the graphics where a big part of the enjoyment when driving around Oahu for example.
But the last one was released ten years ago. Development costs are much higher now.

Meanwhile, there is 150 person at Kylotonn, the dev of this TDU. So indi or AA game my ass.
150 persons maybe, but they have released three games since 2020 and will release another one this year. So they don't work only on this game.
 

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
But the last one was released ten years ago. Development costs are much higher now.
150 persons maybe, but they have released three games since 2020 and will release another one this year. So they don't work only on this game.
I'm sorry but none of that is my business. I'm judging based of what I'm shown, and it's not impressive.
It doesn't mean the game will be bad, I can't wait to see more (especially how is the driving, this is THE most important thing if you ask me) and I expect the game to look more and more polished as we get closer to the release date since this is alpha footage.
 

Hip Hop

Member
I just think the name carries big ambitions, huge map, lots of customazation options, big online feautures.

It has to be an ambitious title by default and I think they are way over their head. Even their track record, it doesn't look impressive at all and it also doesn't strike confidence.


I expect a huge bloatware game with terrible car physics.
 

CamHostage

Member
Today was a Nacon event but the game won't be featured what the fuck is going on???

They did say ahead of time that TDU: Solar Crown would not be there, and although that is disconcerting (particularly since Nacon Connect was going to be most/all of their 2023 games, of which TDU is/was supposed to be one of,) the Solar Crown hype pipeline has not been dead. In fact, starting on March 1, the publisher started a monthly newsletter about the development of the game. So you'll get something of the game every month leading up to its eventual release, whenever that is.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1249970/view/3639508923218266317

This first newsletter does have lots of Showroom screenshots and details about gameplay and customization features. No new gameplay maps, no shots of live racing gameplay, and no new video. (Which I guess I'm fine with for now since I don't know if I could handle yet *another* teaser.)

67fb6cfec2f82865d712495b53a25927e3b17562.jpg


Not showing in Nacon Connect is a bad omen for potentially another delay to push it into next year, but then again, this is the one game in the Nacon roster which could easily book its own dedicated stream and be worth tuning in for, if the game happened to still be on track for 2023. They say in the first newsletter, "2023 will be full of revelations, answers and unique experiences" - and also, a game, or...?
 
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Perrott

Member
They did say ahead of time that TDU: Solar Crown would not be there, and although that is disconcerting (particularly since Nacon Connect was going to be most/all of their 2023 games, of which TDU is/was supposed to be one of,) the Solar Crown hype pipeline has not been dead. In fact, starting on March 1, the publisher started a monthly newsletter about the development of the game. So you'll get something of the game every month leading up to its eventual release, whenever that is.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1249970/view/3639508923218266317

This first newsletter does have lots of Showroom screenshots and details about gameplay and customization features. No new gameplay maps, no shots of live racing gameplay, and no new video. (Which I guess I'm fine with for now since I don't know if I could handle yet *another* teaser.)

67fb6cfec2f82865d712495b53a25927e3b17562.jpg


Not showing in Nacon Connect is a bad omen, but then again, this is the one game in the Nacon roster which could easily book its own dedicated stream and be worth tuning in for, if the game happened to still be on track for 2023. They say in the first newsletter, "2023 will be full of revelations, answers and unique experiences" - and also, a game, or...?
That screenshot looks terrible. It gives me the feeling that the game is some sort of car metaverse bullshit (like GTAO). I think it isn't, but still.
 
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