Earlier this year, Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown was released in a pretty bad state. People complained about bugs, broken servers, and other serious issues across console and PC. Things have improved a bit since then, but the game is still in a rough place. As an apology for all this, players are being given a single free car.
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, which had three different release dates depending on how much money you spent on it, arrived in September to negative reviews from critics and players. For some who forked over nearly $100, for the fanciest version that provided the earliest access, the game was basically unplayable due to server issues for days. Other players shared videos of physics and graphical bugs. In other words, Solar Crown’s launch was a big mess, and now, for those early players, the developers are offering a free (digital) Porsche as an apology, alongside a large update.
On November 4, Test Drive publisher Nacon and developer KT Racing posted an update to Steam thanking players for their “patience and support.” And to help win people back, those who logged into Solar Crown before October 12 will automatically receive the “Adventurer” edition of the 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe after Season 2 launches.
Meanwhile, Nacon and KT Racing announced that on Tuesday the second major patch for TDU Solar Crown will be available on all platforms. This patch is focused on improving stability and performance on Xbox, PS5, and PC. The patch also promises to fix many of the server login issues players have been encountering since September.
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve worked hard to roll out multiple maintenance phases and hotfixes aimed at enhancing the game,” explained Nacon. “We know there’s still work to be done, and we hear you. Please know that your feedback is invaluable, and our development team is fully dedicated to addressing the issues you’re encountering as quickly as possible, while also refining features to ensure a smoother, more enjoyable gaming experience for everyone.”
Will a free car and the promise of more fixes be enough to win players over? I’m not sure. So far, the game’s Steam review rating is still standing at Mostly Negative. So there’s still a lot of work to be done if Nacon and KT Racing want to turn this car around.
Here are the full patch notes for Test Drive Unlimted Solar Crown’s new major update:
Servers/Network
Fixed various login issues
Performance/Stability
Reduced shadow cost in performance
Added various optimizations to improve memory consumption and overall stability
Fixed a crash that could happen when entering a spot
Fixed a crash that could happen when traffic spawned
Fixed a crash that could happen while buying car parts
PC: Fixed a crash that could occur when playing with certain AMD GPUs
PS5: Reduced frame drops in performance mode
Graphics
Improved global illumination performance
Improved octree tracing performance
Improved shadow quality created by headlights
Improved SSR upscaling
PC: Use DLAA instead of FSR TAA by default when available
PS5: Improved quality mode resolution from 1080p to 1440p
Compatibility
PC: Fixed binding and default preset on Thrustmaster TMX wheel
PC: Fixed Logitech G923 default binding
PC: Fixed Moza devices default preset
PC: Fixed issue where FFB was lost when the mouse was moved
PC: Fixed issue where FFB could still be present when navigating menus
PS5 & XS|X: Added presets for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox 360 and PS5 controllers
PS5 & XS|X: Added clutch binding to default steering wheel presets
PS5 & XS|X: Added gear binding to default steering wheel presets
XS|X: Fixed default binding on Logitech devices
XS|X: Added Fanatec CSL Elite as a recognized device
Bugfixes
Fixed a softlock that could occur when opening the map at the same time than various menus
Fixed a softlock when pausing and accelerating at the same time during cutscenes with Vivian
Fixed garage’s slot not updating when uninstalling and reinstalling DLCs
Fixed various localization issues
Fixed an issue where pause menu would be unresponsive if Alyss menu was opened before
Fixed Aliasing of certain fonts
Fixed fences sometimes not having collisions
Fixed pre-order Ford DLC text
Fixed start button POI on Lotus Evija
Fixed license plate light turning on with reverse & brake input on Alpine A110
Fixed dirt wrongly applied on Corvette C7 ZR1
Fixed brake light animation while spoiler is open on Porsche 911R
Fixed cases where NPCs could be run through
Fixed various wall collision issues
Fixed issue where french audio was not playing correctly
Fixed pink pixel in dark areas
Fixed RPM leds not resetting on the pause menu
Fixed car color widget order
Fixed the race “Fateful Confrontation” always being identified as a ranked race
Fixed wrong highlighted races while having the secondary task “Ad Campaign” pinned
Fixed DLCs vehicles appearing in the pause menu before unlocking them
Fixed a case where the avatar could fall underground during onboarding in the first car dealer
Fixed rewards depreciation enabling itself when abandoning or being disconnected from races
Fixed a case where the wrong garment were applied to the avatar preview when switching rapidly from one category to another
Fixed issue where car livery were not applied on other player’s cards
Fixed High Stake event’s rush hour sometimes not triggering
Fixed an issue where beard were not displayed properly after adding a mustache
Fixed wrong car thumbnail ratio when using an ultra-wide monitor
Improvement in AI behaviour while close to the player
Fixed yellow floating lines
Fixed GPS voice still talking when set to off
Fixed issue where parts of the avatar would turn grey
Fixed “Roof” selection on radial menu when driving a car with no roof
Fixed issue where cars could change color depending on the distance
Fixed ghost sometimes not being visible in Time Attack
Fixed rain in the pause menu
XS|X: Fixed black blinking during races
XS|X: Fixed crash when reconnecting Logitech wheel
XS|X: Fixed issue where wheel angle was being wrongly reset on Logitech devices
Misc
Updated matchmaking value for toxicity
Updated camera settings in shops
Added F13 shortcut for ping display on Nvidia Reflex
