Test Drive Unlimited 2 slammed with game-breaking launch bugs

by Mike Schramm on Feb 11th 2011 11:30PM

Bad news for those who picked up Test Drive Unlimited 2 this week: the game is apparently falling apart, thanks to a few game-breaking bugs across various systems, including "permanent loading screen" problems and issues where the game's save file will get corrupted or not load. A number of network-reliant game components have been taken offline already, and the official Twitter account says the Eden Games team is working as fast as it can to sort things out. Programmers have been pulled in from other projects with the dev promising that "no one is going home until we get this working."

So, if you bought the game and encountered these issues, sit tight. If you were thinking about picking up the game this weekend, it might be prudent to wait until everything gets sorted out. In the meantime, there are lots of other games to play, or there's even this thing called "outside" we've heard about, whatever that is.

Update: The producer has posted on the forums to say that most issues have been fixed, and all content should be back online. Enjoy virtual Ibiza -- "outside" isn't that big a deal anyway.

[Thanks, Tony]

Source: @TDU2, TDU2 Forums

Tags: bugs, fixes, launch, microsoft, offline, patch, pc, playstation, problems, ps3, Test-Drive-Unlimited-2, xbox

Reader Comments (51)

Not having any HUGE issues on the PC side. Other than shaky framerate at times.

@Cleric That's the only issue I've had on PS3 too. Though now I'm having second thoughts about playing, just in case my save file is corrupted.

I wish this article said what the issue was on specific formats. Guess I'll have to begin researching.

@Muhammad Oli I had a corrupted file with this game. It was the first ever I encountered. I know how it happened. When I quit the game the game crashed my PS3 I guess my progress was being saved at that moment.

Thanks for the heads up! Was about to purchase this on steam, before coming across this. I'll just wait a week or two now.

Game seems to be working fine as of an hour ago on xbox... I actually enjoy it about as much as I did the first, wasn't expecting Forza or Burnout.

"Outside", Isn't that the incredibly bright place where the provider delivers brown packages?

@Cobra4455

I know what 'outside' is - It's this thing I pass through when going from my gaming fortress to the game supplier of said gaming fortress. ;)

@Cobra4455

Outside is so overrated:

http://www.comediangamer.ca/POTD/rlgame.jpg

I still don't understand how this happens.

I really don't.

Was looking to pick this up soon. Guess I'll wait a bit.

Xbox 360 version is working fine on my end.

I sense a tad bit of hyperbole.

@KungFuChaosNinja

Actually, yes and no. There were indeed legitimate issues that actually prevented the game from starting altogether for most of the day due to server issues. Users could still play offline, but there was no way to know that unless you went online to find out... Anyhow, the game seems to be fine at the moment :)

Heads up to 360 gamers! Disconnecting from live gets the game working again (offline obviously) and I bet it will do the same for the ps3 version.

Whew nice save there I was about to purchase it this Saturday since I'll be waiting I'll just go ahead and finish Dead Space 1.

wow. didn't this game get delayed to make sure things like this wouldn't happen .. maybe it was for polishing details.. i dunno ... oh well I'll stick with getting GT5

@HardBoiled2009 yeah, like GT5 online wasn't broken when it was released... O_o

How come they don't test these games before release?

@Ubereem
They don't test any games before release anymore. Congratulations, the laziness patches bring in.

@Ubereem

It's hard to test against the thousands of people connecting to the servers all at once when a game is first launched.

@This Little Man Says His Name Is

No, its not hard, that's why there's a stage in Beta Testing were servers are stressed out. Killzone 3 for example had this issue, TONS of player trying to log in, it was hell, hotfix was launched server side, now everyone can log in, and believe me so far i feel the game somehow lagfree

@UnnXandros

Unless they release a beta demo, I'd quiet like to see them lining up thousands of consoles/PCs so that they can stress test it.

The weather never changes while playing offline. Besides losing an interactive environment element (wet pavement drives differently), you lose the chance to complete the photography missions, since a change of weather is required.

There is also an issue with the blue discovered lines not showing up on the roads. (The game marks a road as blue, once you've driven on it, and the game builds on these discovered areas, as they are similar to exp in an RPG)

Beyond a few other technical issues, this game not having a backup save system, or at least multiple save slots is the real design flaw. For having tiered challenges and a game based on exploration, you kind of need that, or else you are putting all your eggs in one basket, and just asking for the worse.
People without a second storage device are playing with fire, and most likely will get burned.

im shocked they didnt just blame it on jailbroken ps3 like mw2 and modern combat like to do.

Could the companies not spend a little more money on testing, or testers don't be so lazy? The games released with important bugs are growing fast :S

Big name game is released, suffers from tons of bugs. Nothing new here.

What happened to make sure your damned game WORKS before shipping it?

This ain't like a small visual glitch, or a funny AI bug. If the damn thing can't load, that's a show-stopping bug, literally.

@Drakkenfyre

It can't load if you're connected online, which is most likely in part due to the servers getting so many connections as people log on in the first day.

Without themselves connecting thousands of connections to the server they can't exactly test against things like that.

This game is shit. The graphics looks like ps2 even on the start screen the pagani or Benz have haggles everywhere. At least that could been pretty. Character design is also ps2 sharp elbow. Stiff awkward walk and lips aren't synced with voice.
Then there's the driving!!!! The contols are way to twitchy and unpredictable. Every turn is a random situation u don't know what's gonna happen till it's too late. Driving in saints row is more fun and consistent than this game. How this game is getting decent reviews is beyond

@Notme2

It's not as bad as you're making it sound. The game is an MMO exploration racer-- it's not a sim like Forza, and it's not a high-speed arcade racer like Burnout. It's more about exploring the islands, buying cars and houses, etc. Yes, it's kind of trying to be a jack of all trades--and thereby not a master of any of them--but it's definitely not terrible.

I'm not surprised. I was in the beta but they would never let us play the damn game. 1 hr beta windows in the middle of day...

wow i feel bad for the programmers. especially the ones that were pulled from other projects and had nothing to do with this.

""no one is going home until we get this working." i would hate to hear my boss say that to the team... :(

@theydidntnameme
As a programmer I have to say, while it would be kind of annoying, I'd probably stick it out to try to help in whatever way I could. No one wants to work for a company that releases shitty software.

@Raquor

then how do all these shitty disney games keep coming out?

Jesus Christ people, don't freaking release an unfinished game!

ALL of the issues (excpet maybe the save file one) are online related, so there was no way to truely test that, at least on a major scale, until release. Maybe, as stated, there should have been more beta hours, but apparently all the issues are only on the consoles, so that wouldn't have helped much. The clubs are offline due to a exploit which there was really NO way they could have found in testing. It is an exceptional game, and is still FULLY playable (just not always online). The casino being down more often than not sucks, but everything else is great. And, actually, there's one thing that is MUCH easier to do when you are offline...

I take full responsibility on this one guys !
i did get an Open Beta Key and did only play for 2 hours or so, then deleted it and did not report a single bug because i thought the game is utterly rubbish compared to the first (awesome!!!) game.

Did not Pre-Order for the same reason.

So any bugs that you encounter... kinda my fault ;P

and remember it is ATARI: All Titles Are Released Incomplete!

@Z3R0B4NG

You son of a...!

@ForeverAndEver yep it got delayed and i was a beta tester on the pc for this game and the forums were full of bug reports like this??? and it is released not finished. Whats the point in testing a game if they don't fix the bugs we report BEFORE it comes out

Bought it yesterday and im loving it, having some realy strange fps problems at times but nothing gamebreaking so far for me.

But the news about save files going corrupt is scary...might just stop playing it intill they fix it.

But so far I realy love the game!

@(Unverified)

lots of companies do this. its nothing new. hell Kmart gave away a $20 psn card if you bought dead space 2 the first week.

@FdUmCh
Because Beta testing is NO LONGER for testing. The only purpose the Beta Test phase serves any longer is for advertising. It's been that way for years now.

I've done several Beta's over the years and without fail, the game breaking bugs that the test forums overflow with... are ignored.

wasn't this game a turd anyway?

someones going to get their spuds kicked...unlucky

@Slippyblade I bet publishers don't care anyway. And wouldn't have given them the time to fix anything.

I picked up the 360 version and tried playing yesterday for the first time around 2pm PT, and the game would not load. It said a save game file needed to be created, and once you acknowledged yes, you were treated to endless music and the same few static screens over and over again.

I checked with the forums and found that others were posting the same problem. And then I came across TDU2's twitter account that basically said everyone in the US was down and they were working on it.

This is the first time I've purchased a game that simply would not start. Anyway, I haven't tried it since yesterday. I'm hoping they work whatever this is out and have it functional by the time I try again.

This is why developers need to pretend like there's no possibility for post-release patches. I really doubt the dev team thought "eh, this is shipping broken but we'll fix it later", but at the same time I really don't think it would've been this bad had the team been under the pressure to release it in working condition on launch day.

It's part of the reason why I really hate the post-release patch trend in consoles lately. It's not the fact that developers DELIBERATELY release unplayable games, it's that they're not 100% sure that the game will work exactly as intended.

"there's even this thing called "outside" we've heard about, whatever that is."

i've tried it. that game totally sucks.

http://www.comediangamer.ca/POTD/rlgame.jpg

MMO game suffers with problems at launch?

*gasp*

That's never happened, like, ever!

i have found that if you're stuck on a loading screen, go to XMB and then come back, and it'll start working again.

I had the load problem on 360 midday yesterday (UK time).

I find it very odd that it's coded in such a way that being connected to live was stopping it from accessing the HDD to create or load a save game. I've not played another game whereby if Live isn't available then you can't load up to play offline.

Guys? You've been punked. As of 9:45 tonight, dev on the forums replied to another server problem report with:

Hey Everyone,

We are currently working on resolving the issue. We are sorry for the delay.
In the meantime feel free to visit these links for further updates:

Xbox: http://forums.testdriveunlimited2.co...splay.php?f=95
PC: http://forums.testdriveunlimited2.co...ad.php?t=23911
PS3: http://forums.testdriveunlimited2.co...ad.php?t=24424

The link to the PS3 forum hasn't been updated since YESTERDAY.

PR smoke and mirrors, the note from the producer means nothing. Just checked, everything on my PS3 is identical to before, NO CHANGE, NO UPDATE.

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