The fate of all online-only/live-service games - Test Drive Unlimited 2 (2011) Retrospective
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- Time to check out what I thought would be a relaxing trip down memory lane! Test Drive Unlimited 2! A huge open world racing game with plenty of space to explore and drive around in, as well as plenty of cars to collect. However playing this game these days ended up being far more difficult then I expected, which as I find out in the video, is due to the game's always-online live service design...
Some patches/mods for the game I'd recommend. Unofficial patch is a must
turboduck.net/...
Also the offline launcher makes launching the game much easier too
turboduck.net/...
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/ bunkerdweller
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I agree. Death to online only.
It's genuinely fraud as far as I'm concerned
@@BunkerDweller My reaction of the Fallout 76 announcement: prequel, 4x size f4, bla bla bla online AAAAAND IMMA HEAD OUT ITS GOING TO BE SHIT
The game can be played offline but you won't be able to update the game and the club and casino won't work. 😅
45:52 Can i have a Drum roll please?
Ding ding ding
YOU ARE CORRECT!
I managed to get TDU2 working again online, with the Project Paradise 2 mod. Same for TDU, with the Platinum mod for content, and Project Paradise for online!
when i run it it tries for about a full 2 minutes before saying the server is down...
How is piracy unethical in this situation? Everybody already got paid, the profits from this game are now split between faceless corporations. The companies involved have done their best to make acquisition of the game impossible.
Pirate the game. It's fine.
I’ve been warning people about the dangers of online only for years and was ignored, one day when hell divers 2 and other online games are gone they will go “huh what happened?” While we have been warning them
me too, good to see I wasn't the only people whose opposed the "Always Online" aspect ever since The Crew 1 was first annouced it will be the case even in single player
Heh, I remember getting my hands on this game a few months after it was released without having played TDU1. There were a few things that kinda bothered me like car physics and the game lagging no matter the settings but it was certainly a lot of fun driving around such a big map. A picturesque world with a variety of cars. Great video, man! The servers are indeed down and last time I tried playing it, it wouldn't work.
Tdu2 has a mod for online play
Through the whole bit about TDU1 being inaccessible I was yelling "VIRTUAL MACHINE!" at my screen. Did you try that?
Didn't even occur to me, actually. I've used virtual machines to run smaller programs, but not something as intense and big as Test Drive Unlimited. I might test it out one of these days, although I'm not sure if it's necessarily a compatibility issue with modern windows or just my machine. At least it isn't TDU2 which has problems with modern graphics cards to the point of being unplayable.
@@BunkerDweller Even if it's your hardware, that shouldn't matter as the hardware will be emulated
I mean the guy doesn't understand the difference between 'than' and 'then', can you really expect him to understand anything about virtual machines?
@@JohnDaubSuperfan369 No need to be a prick
Thats pretty unrealistic tho i dont think you could run something like tdu
2:50
You can use your indicators ("blinkers") in Grand Turismo Sport; hazard lights too. I don't play racing games much, at all, but I just thought it was weird that you mentioned that you haven't seen *that* particular niche detail in a racing game; yet the only remotely modern racing game I own features it too.
Have a wonderful day.
I wish Forza had it too, i like too use turn signals in game lol. Especially using a BMW or Audi. 😂
i played this demo when i first got my 360 and was blown away when i suddenly saw another player drive around
Great video, as always. Although, about compatibility of this game. If you have NVIDIA graphics card, then you need to install DXVK, because newest drivers broken some of the DX9 calls, that this game uses. About the DLCs, I'm pretty sure, that there is a way to unlock those in the offline mode. Also, there is a mod for the PC version called Project Paradise, that brings back online features of the game on fan servers, so this game is pretty darn alive as of 2022.
BTW. You've mentioned The Crew and I would love to see you making a video about this game as a followup to this video and see, how those compare in your eyes with The Crew having bigger map and some improvements in formula in comparison to TDU 1 and 2.
I actually installed DXVK although the game still crashed occasionally for me (not as badly as it did before though, I used to not be able to run the game for more than 5 minutes). And yeah for DLCs there's plenty of ways to unlock them.
Didn't know about Project Paradise but might check it out, assuming I can ever find a way to make this game run smoothly.
Also idk about the crew. It's an alright game, while playing I could see similarities between it and Test Drive Unlimited, however I feel so many reviews and videos have been made about it I wouldn't really have anything new to say.
@@BunkerDweller Well, many people made videos on TDU2 and 1 and your review still was very different from those other reviews. I mostly liked, that you haven't showed any bias towards TDU1 as other YTbers do, because they look at this game through nostalgia glasses without seeing it's very big problems. So I'm sure, that you would have plenty of new things to say about The Crew. Actually, I've noticed, that it's a trend in your videos to show a new, unbiased perspective on games, that would be either loved or hated by other reviewers. You've really captured a lightning in the bottle, mate. Good work.
@@BunkerDweller there is alot more fixes on the project paradise 2 discord server.
I randomly got recommended your halo 4 review and have binged your reviews since.
Keep at this mate I'm sure you've got a big career ahead and I'll be here for the ride.
I really enjoyed this video but I respectfully disagree with what was said at 32:05 - getting a bootleg copy of a game that is no longer available through any official means and is no longer supported by the developers isn't what most people would describe as "less than ethical"; if anything, it's completely justified. There is a moral imperative to break rules when following them does not lead to justice.
Basically if you payed for a game, you should be able to preserve your ability to play that game however you see fit. But for most people, they aren’t getting the files to a game they own they are getting the files to a game they never got to play. A lot of pirates think they are owed the ability to play a game simply because it exists. That’s where I kinda disagree. I don’t rlly have a problem with pirating games you’ve never owned if there’s no legal way to play em, but don’t try to spin it into something moral.
I'm really hyped about Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. Like you said though, smaller streets make it a bit puzzling as to why they chose that location, but all I can think of is something like Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift 😊
watch some driving videos from there and you will see why it was chosen. super rich car culture there. beaaautiful location with cool and amazing streets. same dna with newer tech in a new wild location. right in line with what this series stands for
Hype still alive?
@@Wierie_ game still looks nice ^-^ runs bad though, but hoping for proper optimization c:
Consume product
@@tuningtunetuningtuningfunnyconsume meme you don’t understand
Ah, yes, Games As A Service.
I said this in one of the Accursed Farms videos (I, too, am a fan of his), in that limiting the argument ONLY to Games and not something like, say, Netflix's "Last day to watch on Netflix: (end of month)" policy is slightly hurting his argument - a wider audience that would agree with him, a less specific message, more traction in how far it will go, etc. I'm getting off-topic, but you know what I mean, right?
More racing games need the "Millionaires Challenge" like TDU1&2 had. Then again I'm a weirdo who misses the old Forza endurance races and makes and races 50 to 100 lap races in recent games for fun.
The game teeters on great and awful sooo much. The car physics are down right weird with a wheel but you get in to the flow of it after all the license tests. I loved the environment and the stupid story
wish you talked about the things lost without online connection i've never played the game before and i don't know what the game was like with online
With online you could explore casino, clubs, crc and do multiplayer races and co-op events.
the game is fun offline but online is what you want. in a true virtual world with other ppl driving around and being invited to ppls homes etc could spoil you.
If you are on pc you can play online with the project paradise mod
Is there a name category for what TDU1 did with the short introduction and then letting the player complete the game however they want to without much roadblocks?
The c-suite is smug and happy about the online only crap because it guarantees not only an ROI when it's sold, but future sales as well when they inevitably shut it down and make a "rerelease" or just a sequel.
Only gamers care about the loss of media, that's literally outside the care of men beholden to "investors" and "business ethics"
Oh god I never even thought about "rereleases", that's hilarious honestly. Instead of letting someone own their game just resell it every console generation or so
@@BunkerDweller how many consoles have "The Hunt" and "The Strike" been released on?
I just want to share that there is a nice online mod that many people are playing in 2022/2023. I have all these free roam driving games that I love like Forza Horizon, but I find myself on TDU2 Project Paradise 2 online mod the most. I was EXTREMELY excited when I found out about the Project Paradise 2 online mod for TDU2. I was really sad when the TDU2 main servers were shut down. The PP2 mod makes it fully online with a ton of features brought back like the house invites, clubs, casino, etc. It feels like how it was before and I’ve been having a blast playing online in TDU2 in 2023. A simple physics mod and some other mods like TDU2 unofficial patch, Hawaii/Ibiza Summer mod, etc.. make it awesome. Many people play it which is refreshing to see running into people around the map. Huge thanks to the Project Paradise 2 mod developers. They have done and are doing amazing things.
TDU2 may look better, but TDU1 is just more freeing. Much more fond memories for me personally from the first game as well. Cool video, made me quite nostalgic! Might hook my PS2 back up xD
I just prefer tdu1 because of the handling but nostalgia is big on that game too, it was my favorite game as a kid by far haha
Oh boy... watching this in the summer of 2024, and I wonder what you would say about the Crew not just losing online aspect, but just point blank not playable!
Yeah Solar Crown will be online only too apparently.....
A really good dive into the history of the franchise and highlighting some critical points to MM games, It's worth noting that there is ongoing work to keep TDU as a franchise alive, TDU World is the original revival project for TDU2, with fully working patches and a lot of improvements to keep the game alive and well for everyone to enjoy, if you fancy checking that out.
I have downloaded TDU1 multiple times and one of those times was on Windows 7. I used steamunlocked every time and it works perfectly without any issues.
If you ever want more content on games that’re unplayable, Accursed Farms has plenty of content on such dead games.
Oh yeah I've been following him for a while. I first heard about TDU from one of his videos which began my fall down the rabbit hole of these two games
For me, TDU2 is starting to revive (thanks to Project Paradise 2), but it was a great video, just to see your point of view about the game :)
Loved this game back in the day
Live-service games are sneaky tools to make us play what devs want us to play. And no, I´m not making it up. They say "Okay, have fun with this for few years. Then we pull the plug and you HAVE to pay and play our next game - no matter how shitty it is".
And then, when there is internet outage, we can play with marbles or go outside (which isn´t that bad to be honest) - but I prefer offline gaming, which I can play when and how long I desire.
Live service games are like devils balls, which we are forced to play with.
As someone who started playing TDU2 for the first time on the 360 it's even harder to recommend over the potential troubles getting the PC port to work. People have gotten online mostly working again on PC but on console you can't even buy DLC cars anymore even if you *own* the content.
...65p was wasted on hoping I could ride a Ducati bike...
dang, thanks for this man. had no idea this existed as ive been a complete junkie with gran turismo. but that game became such a grind now that im totally willing to explore this one when the thrid one comes out. keep up the great work!
37:36 couldn’t have said it better myself. I love playing test drive to this day (360) but I can’t play it for much longer than an hour before it gets too “liminal spacey.” I find it’s the worst around the cobblestone Caribbean villages it’s so alive but so dead at the same time. Even when the servers were alive those areas felt extremely liminal. It’s painful to play sometimes you’re left with only memories. Every time I see an orange or green icon, the community racing center, the casino, popular spots, shopping for houses thinking which has the best views for homie… wait, no homies that’s right. See what I mean?
3/4ths in Andy turns into Ross Scott
What the hell? I'm running my TDU1 on a Windows 11 PC and it's been running fine ever since.
Try TDU World, its make the game working and working better also it have working online mode. Its awesome. i am playing it and smiling like in 2011 :D
Haha yeah, not sure if anyone else remembers this specifically, and it's been YEARS, but yes there was one specific event in TDU1 that paid a ton, and you would actually complete it by driving in reverse the second it started.
Again, its been years since I played so I don't recall the context, but I remember it made you so much money so quick that way.
it was like a gumball endurance race. god help you if you failed that lol. shit makes horizons version feel like childs play.
There was two actually! Tour of the island which is a bit shorter and paid 200k and the millionaire's challenge which was longer where you went around the whole coastline and paid 1m$. I loved it as a kid especially when i first discovered their existence
@@observantmonkey4055they were kinda easy if you had the right car just so you don't lose them and get mad i guess lol
Loved playing the first one back in the day on the xbox 360. Good times.
i would grind the 120mph into oncoming traffic mission from TDU and make like 9k and just do that over and over again and i would buy all the houses and cars. Memories
Wait, this game is an online only live service? I have a copy for my 360 and I’ve been playing it fine so far, I hope it doesn’t turn out that half the single player content is locked away or something.
Give it a test. I guarantee the multiplayer portions of the game are locked to you. However assuming you're using old Xbox 360 hardware it'll probably still be playable. Honestly I might get a 360 copy of this game in the future before this game becomes unplayable on PC.
Also, it's *technically offline compatible, but so much of the game is dependent on online services that it's impossible to get up and running on a modern PC without fan patches. For example to even download the game you gotta use an online launcher which literally doesn't work anymore.
@@BunkerDweller ohhh, but that’s the multiplayer. The multiplayer being dead is a common thing, I wouldn’t call a game online only unless even the single player requires being online, like SimCity was at launch. But wow, that pc version is crap, I can’t believe they’d do that. I’m glad it’s fixable with fan patches though as it’s a great game. I had a similar issue with Deus Ex Human Revolution, they delisted the original pc port and replaced it with a busted up directors cut and I wanted the original, but I couldn’t even buy a used copy due to the steam requiring DRM so I was forced to pirate it.
TD Solar Crown, eh? Set in Hong Kong, eh?
Something tells me that's gonna be Always Online as f*ck
I Rented this game back in 2011 via Blockbuster's Ill-Fated Mail Rental Service, I loved it; but i haven't played since.
TDU1 is my favorite game in history. I'd toss all Forza Horizon games for it
you should try out Project Paradise 2 mod for TDU2 as it brings many online features
I do still play these games occasionally on xbox 360. There is nothing like it!
29:20 There is also such a race in TDU but around Hawaii of course, granting $1M IIRC taking the bigest part of an hour driving something like a Koenigsegg. Great game, in my oppinion better than 2, altough that one has collectables and 2 islands, only those characters really annoy me XD
Tdu 2 is being revivied by modding communities.There are three online mods Tdu world,Tduniverse and project paradise 2.
You can actually run TDU 2 with Project Paradise 2 Launcher. It reactivates the online features and you can actually play with someone. That said, there are 20 players online at best.
At the same time, TDU 1 Project Paradise is absolute b o n k e r s. Not only it's online with 100+ players, it actually adds nearly 700 new cars to the game with new challenges. Literally Gran Turismo levels of content.
I remember playing it with friends during C*VID back in 2020 and it was a blast.
Fun fact - technically you can still buy TDU 2 DLCs on Xbox 360, but since they require activation with TDU2 Server - which is offline - yea, that's a fun way to waste your money...
Actually its not if you go to the car either under or above the DLC car and scroll up or down you can buy it this works without buying the DLC but once you Leave and rejoin you lose the car and the money spent on it and instead of the car you get a Mustang Fastback but if you have the DLC and leave and rejoin you can keep the car forever
TDU runs on a HP EliteDesk G3 with an i5 7500 with the integrated Intel 630 video card.
I love it with the Platinum mod, been playing it on PC with Logitech G25 in 2006 and G29 nowadays.
A word about TDU2 - once you drive on every inch of street in Ibiza, you can take a plane to Oahu island.
I still feel TDU is better than TDU2.
Im hearing that Rally championship 2000 OST I love that game
Remember Darkspore? It's another old example of a dead live service.
Your comments on live services are absolutely true.
see accursed farms yt channel
@@BrainDamageComedy I know them. They speak a lot of truth in that sense but otherwise I'm not a fan of their content.
8:14 So sir, was TDU 1 or TDU 2 that you cannot run? I believe that I instead having problem with running TDU 2 on my laptop and sometimes the TestDrive2.exe file or the other .dll file would erroneously detected by Windows Defender or some antiviruses as malicious software but I find out that it wasn't and when I tried to boot, nothing else happens. None of my important files got stolen, lost or corrupted thankfully. And I mostly able to run TDU 1 without issues when first trying out and same thing with TDU 2 I guess and yeah...
The next time you end up hitting a wall with compatibility you may want to consider emulating an older version of windows to play said title instead.
Again, didn't occur to me. Might use it for TDU1, but for TDU2 I'm afraid I'm out of luck. I know TDU2 has problems with modern hardware, not necessarily the OS it's running, so PCs with older low-end graphics cards can have an easier time running it.
I bought the motorcycle DLC for this game, and since the devs never fixed thier bugs it was simply impossible to use it, 6 bucks down the drain.
What's strange is that Test Drive Unlimited 1 has run better for me on Windows 10 and 11 at native 4k just fine with Project Paradise. But with TDU2 it crashes more often and took a whole lot of effort just to get it to work, it's really weird.
Try TDU World or Project Paradise. Both are mods that add back multiplayer racing and some other online features.
TDU 2 is actually still available to buy on the 360 store
This is why I buy physical media. It's the only way you own a game. But even that is being phased out. Thankfully a lot of Xbox 360 games have a stable version on the disc. I have my copy on Xbox 360. And it looks like that will be the only good way to play this game.
NFS Porsche also had blinker controls
Did you imply Forza Horizon took its decal editor feature as inspiration from TDU2? You are aware there were 3 other Forza games prior to that with the same decal editor?
you should have showed off the E you had to drive through and it would tele you to the isle off hawaii it was a little track with a crusie ship docked was a popular hang out back in tdu 1 days :D
Did you deleted d3d9.dll from TDU folder? 🤔
i wish we could just have a remake 😢
Some local games stores still sell Online Only Xbox 360 games with no online functionality for $10-$12, it’s kinda dumb
The internet part is very true. I’ve been trying to get the game for the longest time but I’m unable to so much so I plan on buying an Xbox 360 since I already have a copy of it for the 360
Actually with your example of how future live service games will be, forza horizon and the motorsports games are a perfect example of that, especially given the good developers of those first 4 games, and the two good horizon games have left and they wont give the old ones the time of day, let alone a rerelease, just given how much more superior they are to the modern ones.
and just look at NFS heat, payback and the like, a new NFS comes about, and what used to be a monument in racing game history is now just a meh
which I say as black pantha is literally playing the latest version that is due to release in 3 days, and I honestly cant say I care.
TDU 2 can be play completely offline in fact the only thing you cant do is visting the casino and the clubs are locked.The game cant update which is the only downside.
You can update game by dragging files
How it works on ps3?@@JakubixIsHere
@@therealfreshprince1993 The game on the PS3 will alway download the update patch as long you have internet connection I know cause I have
The new test drive isn’t set in Hong Kong
It’s Hong Kong island. Which is not where the main part of Hong Kong is.
Hong Kong island is 30 sq miles lol so it’s less than 10 times the size
Infogrames also made the Robot Arena games
Played tdu2 earlier today
Test Drive Unlimited 1 and 2 can still be played online because they are community run servers for these games. 😂
I hope TDU3 is going to be great !.
If I were you I wouldn't be interested in Solar Crown. Nacon is a AA game publisher with mostly meh games.
True you got a good point there but the physics and handling engine is pretty good from me playing wrc games currently it's a worry as the trailers didn't really show that much and plus games nowadays are just not as good as it should be so for sure I am worried alot.
Can also use your blinker in the Driver series
Option 3: buy a 2000s comouter for 50 bucks, or get one from a tech recycling plant
Hey Man the XBOX 360 version doesn't crash, That's why i love my console versions,
at least if they take the game down, And shut the server down, Or whatever.
you can still play the game. So Im'e glad i kept my whole 360 collection from back
in the day, Cause i'de be in the same pickle as everyone else. although i did install
my PC version a few weeks ago, And it still let me activate the game, And it still lets
you play it off line to, So that's something i suppose mate.
Stalker game music ❤ (intro)
Some games do like you using indicators, you can do it in the original Driver.
the game has cars
TDU 1 map wasn't scaled down
god i want test drive unlimited solar crown to drop already
Wait until you find out about the best part of 2.
The casino.. when you had a friend group that was as good as the game itself.
Oh and in pre-race lobbies you could actually walk around like a car show around other peoples vehicles outside.
Cruising and meeting up with other groups of people.
Buying cars from the used car dealership.
The hype for this game was unreal, one of the last games I can remember making me get that anticipatory feeling like when I was a child.
One of the few times I wasn't disappointed by modern games.
Wow, I never heard about the GT7 drama. Why aren't our pitchforks out already? That has to be one of the worst examples of live service fraud i've ever heard of
TDU works fine for me on Linux though :>
might want to get in touch with Ross at accused farms yt channel - he and subs are very against games as a service/ online only
Makes me laugh because people spend hundreds and thousands on microtransactions then.. poof, games irrelevant or offline now 😌 serves them right for ruining the industry, your money if fueling it, stop blaming them as a business for making money
weird on my win10 works fine :)
32:11 how is it less than ethical to pirate a game that's literally abandonware? 😂 I'm sure both games can be simply downloaded already cracked and patched.
Total GaaS Death.
I hate bloom
10:14 amongus track
Ibeefa
Whenever Test drive unlimited solar crown comes out they better not tie everything to goddamn servers if the game doesn't do well and important parts of the gameplay are tied to servers it's fucking dead
car
WoW and Destiny disprove you hypothesis.
I know this is a retro channel but check out the forza horizon games. Forza horizon 5 is pretty big and open
YEH1 Don't tell me. Test drive 3 Will be, you guessed it Baby. ON LINE ONLY,
BOO Flipping HOOOO. If it Is I will not be Buying it, they can stick it up there
BLEEP man as far as it will go. I agree with you man150% buddy. Im'e fed up
of online only games man.
First!