Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown was meant to be fixed. After an awful launch period and a myriad of problems the first major patch rolled out yesterday to fix a lot of things. At least, that's what KT Racing said.
Unfortunately, the game is still struggling to maintain acceptable performance. And we aren't the only ones having issues.
Cruising Into Trouble
TDU Solar Crown was meant to be a return to open-world racing glory. While we thoroughly enjoyed our time reviewing the game, since it became available to the public it has been one disaster after another.
Server login problems, progress tracking, graphics, performance... You name it, there was a problem with it.
Season 1 had to be delayed, and the patch that rolled out on Monday September 30 was meant to fix performance and graphics issues. Well, unfortunately not.
We logged into today and while dealership and garage progress was finally working, it wasn't long before the framerate dropped like a stone.
The PC we were using runs every racing game at Ultra without a problem. From Forza Horizon 5 to Assetto Corsa Competizione framerates are high and stable. TDU though? Nope.
As you can see from the screenshot above, we were getting a miserable 17 FPS in TDU, and this was after turning the graphics down to Medium. Even if you aren't in the "60 FPS or its trash" camp, a racing game at 17 FPS is simply unplayable.
It's disheartening to see a game with the potential of Solar Crown crumble like this, but KT Racing is clearly struggling to make this title work. An offline mode can't come soon enough, and will likely clear up a lot of the problems currently plaguing the game.
With Season 1 meant to start later this week, the future of TDU Solar Crown is seemingly hanging in the balance.