The Test Drive Unlimited series will be returning to Ibiza in December.
With the latest instalment, Solar Crown, released in mere weeks, publisher Nacon has explained how seasonal content will work in the open-world driving game. It has also detailed future DLC plans.
This will include a whole new environment, the Iberian location harking back to the location of 2011’s Test Drive Unlimited 2. The main location for TDU SC remains a one-to-one recreation of Hong Kong Island.
Solar Pass
As is the trend with contemporary live-serve video games, KT Racing’s latest title will feature a pass system – think F1 24’s Podium Pass or EA SPORTS WRC’s Rally Pass.
Simply drive in events, earn experience points and level up the Solar Pass. Levels will include unlockable cosmetic items, and for the first edition, the Audi e-tron GT quattro can be unlocked at some point through the progression.
Then, after the first season, the pass refreshes and you start again at zero with new items to collect.
This sits alongside a Solar Crown competition, analogous to a league system. Solar Points help you rank up, going through seven levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Solar Court and Sold Queen/King.
Three-month seasons, islands and casinos
A season in this year’s Test Drive Unlimited series release will last for around three months.
For the first season, at game launch, there is the aforementioned Solar Pass.
The first significant new content will arrive in season 2, landing in December 2024. That’s when Ibiza arrives, which the development team claims will evoke the real-world location, with recognisable landmarks.
At the same time as the Spanish island, the level cap for Streets or Sharps clan progression will be extended by 20 further stages. Simultaneously, new clothing stores will be added alongside two new cars.
These will be joined by five further ‘Selene Edition’ vehicles – pre-tuned and modified versions of existing models.
In seasons three (March 2025) and four (June 2025) there will be a clan war activated for the former and an in-game casio (with new cars on the line) in the latter.
Purchasing Real Estate
A much-requested feature since Solar Crown was unveiled, existing fans of the 18-year-old series were a little deflated that a true house-buying experience was not set for the latest game.
Now, creator Kylotonn has confirmed that a real estate economy will be on the way post-release, but with some changes.
“We know that real estate was highly demanded by the community,” said KT Racing Creative Director Alain Jarniou.
“It was something in TDU 2, where you could buy houses, apartments and even yachts.
“In Solar Crown, you have your hotel room, but it’s not really your property.
“This is something that requires serious consideration. I don’t think we should just repeat what was done in TDU 2… It was a bit of a solo experience.
“It’s still a concept we need to evolve, but of course, it’s something that marked TDU’s history and we’re definitely going to work on this for the future of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown.”
Steering wheels animations
One critique we had with the game to date, through demos and testing at Gamescom, was the interior steering wheel animation stopping at around 90 degrees of rotation.
It is at odds with the inputs, and something games like CarX Steet and The Crew Motorfest manage to avoid by implementing an arm-over-arm animation.
Mercifully, alongside some work-in-progress footage, this will be modified at some point after launch.
Motorcycles return
A feature of both prior Test Drive Unlimited games, motorcycles have been notable only by their absence so far in Solar Crown.
This will change further down the line, and while the specific models were not discussed, Nacon has experience with the motorcycle genre – creating (with RaceWard) three Isle of Man TT games, plus an upcoming MXGP motocross title.
“You cannot imagine how massive we are going to be in the next year. I think maybe I haven’t seen a game give as many things to players as a service game,” said Game Director Guillaume Guinet to Traxion in our recent interview.
