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Thread: Test Drive Unlimited

  1. #1
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    Test Drive Unlimited

    The last one was ok, but this one could change everything. With the Murcielago Roadster making its 1st appearence and the presence of a Hawaii track, this looks great!

    Test Drive Unlimited
    Video: Pierre-Anaud Lambert Video Interview
    TRAILER:http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/7...92/vids_1.html

    Publisher: Atari
    Developer: Eden Studios
    Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation3, PC Version Planned after X360 release
    Genre: Racing
    Origin: US
    Release: EB Games Dates
    Xbox 360 - 11/15/2005
    PS3 - 4/30/2006
    GameStop:
    12/1/05
    Price: $60

    Cars:
    Aston Martin AMV8
    Aston Martin Vanquish
    Aston Martin DB9 Roadster
    Audi (To Be Shown)
    Dodge Viper SRT-10
    Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe
    Ferrari 360 Modena
    Ferrari Enzo
    Ford GT
    Ford Mustang GT
    Koenigsegg CCR
    Lamborghini Gallardo
    Lamborghini Murcielago
    Lamborghini Murcielago Barchetta
    Lamborghini Miura
    Lotus Exige
    Mazda RX-8
    Mercedes-Benz 300SL
    Mercedes-Benz CLK55 AMG
    Mercedes-Benz SLK35 AMG
    Mercedes-Benz SLR
    Nissan 350Z
    Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)
    Pagani Zonda C12-S 7.3
    Pagani Zonda C12-S 7.3 Roadster
    Saleen S7
    TVR (To Be Shown)

    Location:
    ~Hawaii Track

    A new Article Reveals some new info.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "In 1987, Test Drive was as much a romance as a driving game, an unabashed fantasy role-play of those twin American dreams: The open road and the gull winged supercar. Since then, the road racing genre’s priorities have drifted from leisurely affairs to epileptically intense speed dating, and the Test Drive name has languished in ill-fitting brand pile-ups such as Eve of Destruction.

    So while it may seem odd that the keys to a quintessentially American experience have been handed to a French developer, V-Rally creator Eden has produced a concept that looks back to Test Drives beginnings and ahead for the genre as a whole. This manifesto is apparent from the first glimpse of the game’s Hawaiian location, putting miles of clear pacific water between Unlimited’s tropical highways and the bleached urbanity of its competitors. Its an affluent driving paradise that stretches further than the lavishly modelled car interiors: Play opens not in a garage, but the carefully arranged lounge of your hilltop estate, where your custom avatar reclines overlooking blue sky and swaying fronds.

    Here, choosing your designer-label outfit is at least as important as choosing your ride, as your personal style will be on display both behind the wheel and in the multiplayer lobbies. Instead of impersonal text lists, Unlimited’s lobbies take the form of common drive in areas or player created VIP clubs dotted across the island, an approach to community that sees studio head Stephane Baudet reference World of Warcraft as often as he does Gran Turismo or Forza. “Most online driving games are an offline game with an online component,” he says, “and we’re doing the opposite.”

    As soon as a player pulls out of their driveway into the dauntingly large gameworld (recreating the entire island of Oahu with an eye for ‘enhanced gameplay experience’ rather than fastidious accuracy), They’re an online presence. Unlimited isn’t a true MMO, considering the gridlock that would ensue from the global population, but an ideal multiplayer world for each player, with server-side calculations displaying the 16 closest players with matching profiles. Flashing your headlights at one initiates an immediate duel, or you can tail them to a lobby area for a larger event: either way, it’s in setting the rules for these face-offs that Unlimited lives up to its name

    Races can be tracked anywhere across the islands roads, from a ten-second drag to the four-hour marathon of the coastal loop, chosen from among straight races, time attacks, speed runs, or capture the flag sessions, with or without traffic or police
    (In original test-drive style, police aren’t crazed dodgems but rather pace cars, immediately ending your race with a fine if they overtake you). “Each day we are finding new modes,” says Baudet, “like ‘No using brakes’.”

    Between competitive sessions there are solo challenges to be discovered, and random point-to-point driving missions such as ferrying female shoppers between malls, or delivering hitchhikers to the airport. There’s also the sheer joy of driving, with the combination of an expansive draw distance, Open environment and the ability to drop the electric windows and pump-up the radio with a flick of the D-pad proving sinfully luxurious. But exploration can be costly – not due to the originally intended feature of having to refuel, since pulled due to ‘being boring’, but in discovering the car dealers and mod shops supplying Oahu’s virtual economy.

    Cars and car parts are ranked in rarity, including limited editions that fleetingly appear on the market before being taken out of production. It’s a similar set-up to collectible card games, something Eden has obviously considered, as the current UI displays parts as exactly that – trading cards, which are dragged into spare slots on a car to apply the modification. Trading with other players is performed over an ebay-styled auction system, including the requirement that you supply virtual photographs of your goods to accompany that crucial all-caps headline. “Forza introduced the trading concept, but I found it a little impractical. This is the next-generation version,” Baudet explains. Its mentioned that ebay itself has been approached to lend its appearance to Unlimited’s virtual version; the issue of bidding real-world money on virtual sports cars, though, remains undecided.

    Its testament to Unlimited’s intoxicating vision that it can take until the final paragraph of a preview to mention how it actually drives, and in its current state – largely still the E3 build – this aspect requires, and is receiving, attention. Handling seems both cold and slightly samey among the available cars, and is unfinished on the bikes: incomplete physics further complicate matters. Now rescheduled to be fashionably late to the 360 launch, though, there’s time for Eden to make good on that Test Drive dream, and springboard it back to relevance for a generation which might need a little open-top dreaming more than ever."

    ~IGN

    Ok, so it seems that you'll be able to either rent, tune and buy a car. Many new elements are going to be in this, and according to the makers, they are going back to the original concept.

    I"ll be sure to update this info as much as possible. I am so siked!

    The dealer and interior pic are amazing!
    And now info!
    * Experience more than 125 licensed vehicles from exclusive

    * Manufacturers including Lamborghini, Ducati, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Saleen, Shelby, and Jaguar

    * Enjoy the most realistic cars and bikes: amazing render quality and unrivalled interior details including full car functions such as radio, electric windows, horn, wipers and more

    * Create your own challenges or races on 1000 miles of open Hawaiian

    * Roads from more than 50 game rules and settings. Upload your created challenges online to become part of the player community

    * Create or join a club to talk, chat, trade, race or organize club-based competitions and tournaments

    * Participate in extracurricular activities such as expanding your garage, getting clothes and fashion accessories for your avatar, helping hitchhikers catch planes, chasing car thieves, and escaping from a psychopath
    This is an open free roam game according to many magazines meaning the islands of Hawaii are open to you, no boundaries!

    More Previews in Next Post
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    Last edited by F1_Master; 10-11-2005 at 06:36 PM.
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  2. #2
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    Most of the previews say the same thing, but a few have some nice views and info. Recommended read for all fans. CAR CLUBS BABY!!!
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    For one thing, when was the last time you created a character in a racing game? We don't mean just entering a name, we mean designing a racer from the ground up, including body type, hair color and even clothing style. See, unlike most other racing games, Test Drive: Unlimited will allow you to go to your house, walk around your living room, check out your rides in the garage, and so forth. In a way, it's a lot more RPG-like than any racing game we've ever seen, and it's things like this that'll help to set it apart from the pack.

    Another way it'll do this is by having a persistent world to race around. The developers at Eden Studios have created a digital representation of the entire island of Oahu in Hawaii just for Test Drive: Unlimited. One thousand miles of roadway are yours to cruise at your disposal, ranging from narrow, cliff-side paths to the wide boulevards of Waikiki. For those that have never been to Hawaii, it'll be a great chance for you see what everyone's raving about. And you won't be alone! Thanks to the 360's networking capabilities with Xbox Live, you'll be able to race the island with thousands of other would-be roadsters, resulting in a completely interactive matchmaking service. Let's say you're cruisin' on the highway, and some jackass cuts you off. Normally, all you could do (that doesn't involve jail time) is curse under your breath and honk angrily. In Test Drive, you can challenge that person to a road race, so you can see just who deserves to own the road.

    Atari looks to offer around 150 licensed cars and motorcycles for this Test Drive, modeled so closely to their real-life counterparts that even the interiors look identical. We don't know if damage modeling will be included in this (car companies are notoriously picky about seeing their designs get demolished), but we can hope for at least a little bit of damage to discourage players from ramming anyone that comes their way.

    Test Drive: Unlimited looks like it'll make for a very interesting racing game when it releases. The character creation and open-ended island filled with online racers is enough to make us salivate over its potential. Granted, the franchise has been a little rocky over the last few years, but if anything has the power to bring it back to former glories, Unlimited can.


    UGO Preview 9-7-05!
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Racing games have seen some evolution since their early beginnings, but nothing that really takes them to the next level. Games like Burnout, and Need for Speed Underground introduced different aspects of the racing scene, but it's still mainly racing. Atari's upcoming Test Drive Unlimited for the Xbox 360 is looking to take the racing genre in a new direction as one of the first massively multiplayer online racing games.


    First and foremost, the game encompasses a lot more than just racing. You create a custom avatar that other players will see driving your vehicles. At home you can change your character's clothes and other attributes to better match your personality. You can even take a spin down to the local clothing store and pick up some new gear. If you've grown tired of your surroundings, you can buy a new house as well.

    Feel like you need a change in your ride? No problem. Take a spin down to the car dealership and pick up a new car to add to your garage. You can fully customize all of your vehicles and then make a living by selling them online via the in-game auction system. It will be very similar to eBay in that other players will be able to see what you're selling and bid on it. If you set your price too high, you won't get many bids, but set the price just right and you'll bring home the bacon. Everything uses in-game credits, so don't think you'll be spending any real cash.

    New aftermarket parts, cars, bikes, clothing and apparel will become available via downloadable content every month. And with over 125 licensed vehicles from Lamborghini, Ducati, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Saleen, Shelby, Jaguar and more, endless replay value would be an understatement.

    While all of the extras will add more depth to Unlimited, the real fun will come in the free-drive mode. Here, players will be able to hop in the car of their choice and drive around Hawaii. The game will feature over 1000 miles of Hawaiian road to traverse, meaning that you'll always have someplace to go. You'll see random traffic, but more importantly, you'll see other human players. A map will indicate which cars are controlled by humans, and with a simple flash of your lights, you can engage in a quick race with them. You can create challenges and races with over 50 different rule settings and even upload your custom challenges for other players to use.

    Being an Xbox 360 title, the game is graphically looking very good, even at this early stage. The car models are all extremely detailed and will only look better when the development cycle moves to the final dev kits. Atari has gone the extra mile by fully rendering the interiors of each vehicle as well. Players will be able to control the radio, honk the horn, play with the automatic windows, turn on your wipers when it rains, and more. The environments are also large, and fairly detailed. From the looks of things, Test Drive Unlimited could end up being the best looking racing game on the 360.


    Car club enthusiasts will be happy to know that players with similar driving tastes can form online car clubs. Car club members will be able to talk, trade, race and even organize competitions against other clubs. It's the perfect clan system for an online racing game. Division-based rankings will help separate the good players from the casual car enthusiasts, and help to create the most comprehensive online racing experience to date

    -GameDaily
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    While it's never achieved super popular status, the Test Drive series has been around for a long time, dating back to systems most of us have never ever heard of, let alone owned. So when Atari announced the latest in the franchise, Test Drive: Unlimited, for the Xbox 360, it wasn't too much of a surprise.
    For this latest Test Drive, the developers decided to take advantage of the graphical power at their fingertips to create a tropical world -- specifically, Hawaii. The entire landscape that you can drive around is one giant island (Oahu), filled with vast open grassy areas, cliffside roads perfect for one-on-one races, and the occasional downtown area for when you feel like racing between skyscrapers.

    One of the key features in Unlimited is how you can customize your character. The idea is that the developers wanted the player to be able to put him- or herself into the game, so you can select your clothes, head model, glasses, etc. to create an avatar that looks like yourself. Then, when you go out driving, you will see this model in the car driving around in impressive detail.

    Further continuing the customization aspects, players will be able to set up their own house, sort of along the lines of what you can do in a lot of recent football and basketball games. That's where you get the news, meet up with other inline players, store your car collection, etc, and it looks to add further to the relaxed setting provided by the game.

    Naturally, as Unlimited is a 360 game, one of the most important issues is how the graphics look, and the answer is pretty darn good. No one specific frame of the action blew our minds or anything, but the draw distance in the early version we tried was incredible. At one point, we stopped playing, and the developers used dev tools to zoom out on the island from where we had stopped our car, and almost the entire island was just as detailed as the part right around us. The scale of detail is very impressive.

    Perhaps this kind of scale will be necessary due to the game's broad range of online modes that let many players be around at any one time. While all the minor details haven't been ironed out, it looks like it will be very easy to find competition and set up different types of race challenges by driving around.

    Our hands-on time with the game was mostly spent driving around, getting a feel for the handling, and seeing just how far we could go in the wide open environments. The limit? Basically right until you get to the foot of the mountain in the background. In essence, you can go anywhere.

    The handling is decent as well, though definitely a bit less arcadey than many recent driving games, so if you're looking to hold down A and just turn when something gets in your way, you may want to look at some of the other 360 racing options. But for those with a bit of driving knowledge, there are a ton of great spots you can find on the island where you can set up races.

    Though the developers are also planning a PC version of the game, they say the 360 version is where they are putting their focus right now, and they expect the game will be out by the end of the year.

    ~1UP

    E3 Video
    Watch for short clips of the Ford GT, Aston Martin, and Dodge Viper SRT-10.

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  3. #3
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    Hot off the Press

    September 16, 2005 - Our first experience with Test Drive Unlimited was ages ago at Atari's 2005 pre E3 event. The game was running on one of the G5 alpha kits and was extremely early in its development cycle. The version on the floor of TGS was fully playable, but not drastically different in terms of visuals.



    Our experience started just outside of a mansion on the island of Oahu Hawaii. As we've previously reported, the game allows players to customize their collection of cars and their driver from the comfort of a dream house on the Island. The geography has also been replicated from satellite imagery and includes all of the major buildings and landmasses on the island.

    We pulled out of our driveway in an Enzo and sped off down the twisty highway. The interior of the cars have been created down to the wood grain on the stick shift and this becomes very apparent with some of the interior views. Players can drive from behind the wheel, the front of the car, a third-person mode, or with a transparent HUD.

    Test Drive feels like more of a simulator than an arcade racer. Players are able to reach some incredible speeds on the highway, but taking turns requires quick breaking and delicate handling. We shot off of the road on numerous occasions and kicked up grass and dirt as we plowed back towards the highway.

    TD is mostly structured around a massive online component that allows player to cruise the island and look for people to compete against. We played the offline version and had to explore the street until we reached an icon that entered us into a four person point-to-point race. Our opponents appeared on the line in extremely hot cars, and the race tour through some residential areas while passing a series of checkpoints.

    Test Drive still has some visual kinks to work out, but it was promising to see it playable on the floor of TGS. We'll have more information on this game as it approaches launch.
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  4. #4
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    it looks very cool. Unfortunately i was scarred for life by the last one so i will rent this one to see if its good
    halo 2 - november 9

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    w00t, looks pwnage!
    All bowlers need a 'Hammond Step-up'

    "Do you think we'll actually find a communist Car that we actually like?" - James May

  6. #6
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    I think I missed one or two...
    Well: after the FANTASTIC TD6, which episode came? Thanks
    (I remember some photos I downloaded some years ago - I think the pics showed a Aston Martin & a Viper - but then...nothing)

  7. #7
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    It isn't going to be on the Atari 2600 console? wtf?
    pondering things

  8. #8
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    i cant wait for the PC ver...
    Reach for the moon! Even if you miss, you'll still be among the stars!

  9. #9
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    The last Test Drive that I enjoyed was Test Drive 2: The Duel. I still have it around somewhere, I was about 7 or 8 when I was playing it. That's also where I picked up my love for the F40 and the Porshe 959, which would be beyond awesome if they were in this one. All I hope is that it has a physics engine worth playing, something akin to the GT series. Realistic enough to requre skill, but just nuts enough to be fun.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by pimento
    The last Test Drive that I enjoyed was Test Drive 2: The Duel. I still have it around somewhere, I was about 7 or 8 when I was playing it. That's also where I picked up my love for the F40 and the Porshe 959, which would be beyond awesome if they were in this one. All I hope is that it has a physics engine worth playing, something akin to the GT series. Realistic enough to requre skill, but just nuts enough to be fun.
    You mean something like this?
    "Test Drive feels like more of a simulator than an arcade racer. Players are able to reach some incredible speeds on the highway, but taking turns requires quick breaking and delicate handling. We shot off of the road on numerous occasions and kicked up grass and dirt as we plowed back towards the highway."
    2007 Acura TL Type-S (AEM V2, R-V6 Race/J-Pipe, ATLP Quad Exhaust)
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  11. #11
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    I like the sound of that, I like it a lot!

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    In-Game Footage 2

    New video I found.
    In-game video of the player heading home.

    It appears the sim aspect is correct.
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  13. #13
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    I know you guys aren't to keen on racing games like this, but bere with me. I think you'll like it.

    ~Car list update with the following
    Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe
    Lotus Exige
    Aston Martin DB9 Roadster

    ~Homes
    There are 64 homes in the game, each with its own cut scene for your car coming out of and pulling into the garage. There's also a building you may go to to buy homes. It too has a short cut scene.

    ~Dealers/Cars
    Dealers go in the same manner and every car is test driveable. You have a limited amount of space in your garage, so you may have to move cars to a new home as well when you buy them. Each car has a look around interior very similiar to PGR3. Dealers and garages will allow you to walk around in.
    Also, you can rent cars, paint cars, hell, even WASH cars!

    ~Online
    Let's save the best for last. 1st off, there are 2 servers. European and American. 2nd, there are 2 types of competitions. Car clubs consisting of 16 players and the individual drivers. The options allow you find people with the same car, same skill level, or such.
    Good news!
    When selling your car online, you will be given a photomode in which the pictures will go into the ad. No word on if the mode doesn't have to be used in the ads.

    ~Unlocking!
    Driving 1,000 miles. How long do you think that takes? I'll tell you....9 hours. That's right, 540 minutes, or 32,400 seconds to discover everything. When you find something, you are prompted and soon, an icon will come on the map letting you know you can come back.
    We are also told cars are available as Downloadable Content every month. Yes, every 30-31 days, you, the players, get a new car to download!

    http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/driv...ted/media.html
    Don't forget to check out the pictures as well.
    Another video! Gameplay footage of the SRT-10 Coupe Vs. Lotus Exige.
    http://www.xbox-attitude.com/videos.html

    Enjoy!
    2007 Acura TL Type-S (AEM V2, R-V6 Race/J-Pipe, ATLP Quad Exhaust)
    2011 BMW 328i Coupe

  14. #14
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    I am speechless. I am going to buy the 360, for this game. This is the kind of racing game I have wanted. It's gonna be soo awesome!
    "Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." -Warren Buffett

  15. #15
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    the graphics certainly are better the test drive 6...

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