[p]Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday’s TDU fans! This letter is a short one, but that won’t stop us from making sure our community gets a cool Christmas car reveal! Let’s go over everything you need to know before 2025 comes to an end![/p][p][/p][p]Swipe to see more pictures below![/p][carousel autoadvance="true"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/d7084ba32b2918c12ac105072389b8a7db5cae42.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/36814cf09cfbbaf1eee29c31e3d20c70176ec41e.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/ce18ef86ae2e6ea1133e710ff41181f85537abde.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/a2d139ff7299322ce79662af562c7b7d0528f49b.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7a99848b4bfc20d4ebe0cb61b19cf6469cb0feec.jpg"][TAG-20][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/09cc0bbb7fd5ac6bafdeec6506a6474735d8926d.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/c3adfacd79d7c19f676e6df04fdca62d296991e8.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/1f32e793d6da6612c87a68074606ec17ad554865.jpg"]
What’s In the Letter?
[p]Season 5 Update 1 Details[/p]
[p]Season 5 Update 2 Details[/p]
[p]Season 6 Vehicles[/p]
[p]Pagani Huayra Roadster[/p]
[p]Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series[/p]
[p]Lamborghini Temerario[/p]
[p]Online Store[/p]
[p]Where To Find It[/p]
[p]Screenshots[/p]
[p]Networking Improvements[/p]
[p]Overview[/p]
[p]Test Drive Community Week Winners[/p]
[p]Livery Vote[/p]
[p]Race Vote[/p]
[p]Community Spotlight Winner - December[/p]
[p]Winners[/p]
[p]How To Enter[/p][p][/p]
📄 Season 5 Update 1 Details
[p]The next Season 5 update is planned to release within the first two weeks of January. We will have more news on this release date early next year to confirm. There may be a missed live event during the release schedule of the update. [/p][p]As usual, the maintenance for the release date will be announced in the Patch Notes post which will arrive a day or two before the release of the update. [/p][p]Make sure to stay tuned for all the details on Update 1 by following us on social media! [/p]
📄 Season 5 Update 2 Details
[p]The Season 5 update after Update 1 is planned to release in February. As usual, we’ll have more details on this in the next Solar Club Letter. [/p]
🚗 Season 6 Vehicles
[p]Season 6 is bringing brand new vehicles to TDUSC, and it's time we recapped what we have revealed so far, and tease a little more…[/p][p][/p]
Pagani Huayra Roadster
[p]Pagani returns to TDU! Season 6 will be the first season to bring Pagani to TDUSC, but it will not be the last. The iconic Pagani V12 sound is currently under development and our sound design team are really excited to show this off! [/p][p]The Pagani also has a new type of aero system. The active aero works as intended, but when turning the vehicle, the active aero should apply more angle to the left or right side of the vehicle. This new system is what we are currently developing, but it may not be ready at the launch of Season 6, which if it isn’t, players can expect this to be fully working in a later update. [/p][p]Oh, we can’t forget to mention, this car will be available in the dealership! [/p]
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series
[p]The king of Mercedes-Benz makes its debut in Season 6. This vehicle will be exclusive to the online store, but will feature additional licenced items in its bundle. We hope you’re ready to experience the aggressive V8 howl from this vehicle in Season 6![/p][p][/p]
Lamborghini Temerario
[p]Merry Christmas! We were originally just going to tease this car, but its unique angles make it very easy to guess, so here it is in its full form! One of the newest Lamborghini’s arrives in TDUSC during Season 6 as a part of the Solar Pass! This vehicle also boasts many manufacturer options, in fact, the most ever. You can customise the car with the following options:[/p]
[p]7 different manufacturer rims[/p]
[p]29 different manufacturer interior colour options[/p]
[p]39 different manufacturer exterior paint options (with some paint options allowing for carbon parts package, carbon roof package, or matte paint options)[/p]
[p]For now, enjoy the beautiful photos of this car![/p][carousel autoadvance="true"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/8d561b3b0a37d04ef92ea8c6ab13aeb026793ad0.jpg"][TAG-206][TAG-207][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/2b44af95e258aea2d1323b0ca92ffba9f6ae8fd6.jpg"][TAG-210][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/0e97c631be4fcd1c7288700bc815e3fe29604a75.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/41c4bf44b6e9b2e52de7851c1d20a665e43d00da.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/ce41d1d488651f39f9bc135d2a4bc6b50c5ea8c8.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/fd0de830f439bd8845c142f3b8ad1381c414f549.jpg"][/p]
🏪 Online Store
[p]As we finalise the Online Store, let’s see what it looks like! [/p]
Where To Find It
[p]The store can be found when opening the settings menu and navigating to the ‘Store’ tab. Here you’ll be able to buy everything using the Diamonds currency.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/8c468506bf2b3b9659d05cd0bf7deb41e1ed8a51.jpg"][/p]
Screenshots
[p]Let’s take a look at what the store looks like. Keep in mind, the pricing and items that are seen may not be final.[/p][p][/p][p]Bundles[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/91ba122f13703fec9d46559451c0712ce39d01ad.jpg"][TAG-250][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/da61f66137afd3d3a169754534b73c91c5e4921f.jpg"][/p][p]Rotational Store[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/99563924838d678ea5451f9c84c37280618f4832.jpg"][TAG-260][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/1fd7319b77c2a32ba9a9ee2d29ad5d1a6ed9ed2b.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/427bc42f7fd5ca3c7ceae115d2a0b147cd0ea1ae.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/809ce74ac8b7f576ad502ac08861b365a1eb4c08.jpg"][/p][p]Permanent Store[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/602fdee95b329ca603997876568ce041a28e1fa0.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/4a0e83a27e33e39417a06fd4e964a7d7df81bc23.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/f8e47e1b34bcdb4be643c5a035d4ef13638c9b96.jpg"][/p][p]Free Diamonds[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/82638e39659b956a8365d348c42f15340479c0c3.jpg"][/p]
🛜 Network Improvements
[p]Networking is a big part of TDUSC, and we know it isn’t perfect which creates a frustrating experience for our players, so let’s discuss what’s next for improvements.[/p][p][/p]
Overview
[p]The network team is hard at work on many projects regarding TDUSC. The most important one of course is cross region, but there are other things such as 8 player groups, Official Racing Center and the matchmaking playlist it will have, improving the instancing and matchmaking, and more![/p][p][/p][p]To discuss this in more detail, here is Guillaume to discuss it all! [/p][p]“We’re working on a lot of things to improve the online experience—specifically making sure players actually run into each other more in free-roam. We know that right now, even on populated servers, it feels empty. It’s an algorithmic issue that we are completely overhauling. It’s a major project that will take several months, but we’re confident it will lead to something great. This step forward will allow us to tackle cross-region play.[/p][p]In parallel, we’re still working on the Racing Center, the matchmaking rework, the 8-player groups, solar pass & live event enhancement and improving general server stability for a smoother experience.[/p][p]It's also important to note that every feature in TDU Solar Crown relies on online systems. As a result, the online team is working across the board, since they are affected by every single deployment and feature update! They are doing their best everyday to provide you the best experience.[/p][p]Send them love!”[/p][p]- Guillaume Guinet / TDUSC Game Director[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/9ddc1ac954a1d6768947f1b40c3835980009a454.jpg"][/p]
🎁 Test Drive Community Week Winners
[p]In Season 6, we are creating a community week live event! In the last letter, we had users submit and vote for their favourite fan made livery and races for us to add to the live event. That said, here are the winners![/p][p][/p]
Livery Vote
[p]Congrats to faucheureuse for winning the livery vote! They gave their Bugatti Veyron a nice Sharps style livery which you can see below![/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/e4126c4ebb94dcafc9e58b32a5bc22765b33d22b.jpg"][/p][p]We also want to give a huge shoutout to SylFR as our honourable mention with their amazing livery designs![/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/c22bd49083d92e7acdfef2b818c88900f82de64b.jpg"][TAG-360][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/5cb2ea8e98ee4c2bb5c49e0ab413036951b774c8.jpg"][/p]
Race Vote
[p]There were many races that players submitted for this event. Here are the 5 races which we will be choosing for the live event! [/p]
[p]Zworg’s ‘Crown Jewel Garnet’ [/p]
[p]Flaw’s ‘Joyaux De La Couronne’[/p]
[p]MrToadfun’s ‘Meeting Is At the Other Dealership’[/p]
[p]Watch Man’s ‘Ap Lei Chau Special’[/p]
[p]Takamisakari’s ‘Rollercoaster’[/p]
[p]We had to make some tough choices here as we used both the vote system and the understanding of developing the races sent with both development time and AI racer capability in mind. We will have more news on the arrival of these live event at a later date. Thank you to everyone who participated![/p][p][/p]
🖼️ Community Spotlight Winners - December
[p]Yup! It’s time to announce the winners for the month of December![/p][p][/p][p]First, the winner of the Alpine community photo goes to The Horizon Vault from Reddit! Congrats, and you win the exclusive Alpine clothing! [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/db175081a44763523b1968b875b4bed5c79fae96.jpg"][TAG-406][/p]
Winners
[p]There have been some amazing pictures sent in for this month's Community Spotlight, but here are the top 3 voted photos for the month of October![/p]
[p]Discord member Shmoogan wins this month's Community Spotlight with their amazing photography of the Alpine A110! Congrats, and your reward is 600 diamonds and Alpine clothing! [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/79eefc8eac6ef7e102bfffb2685b5fd0562778e1.jpg"][/p]
[p]Now this is a bit weird, but we have a 3 way tie, so we’ll disturbed these winners as one! Congrats to Axis-, SylFR, and Night Raven for your photos! You all win 300 diamonds each and Alpine clothing![/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/43f0846f111d3d34a4de961a3fb345d18ebfdb4a.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/6eb735b460bf9dd0a81a1e3408bb3d2184533986.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/ca74df55582af69711476ac76afd1bec6943e029.jpg"][TAG-430][/p]
[p]Congrats again to the winners![/p][p][/p]
How To Enter
[p]First, join our Discord which can be found at Discord.gg/TestDrive. Once you join our Discord, you’ll see a channel called ‘community-spotlight’. Here, you can send the best pictures you've taken in TDUSC! You aren't limited to cars, too. Feel free to send pictures of your liveries, cars, sceneries, garage, etc. The community will vote for the best photo to be featured in-game and win some prizes![/p][p][/p][p]Here are the rules:[/p]
[p]Pictures must be high quality and not edited outside of the game or taken with tools that are not native to TDUSC's in-game photo mode[/p]
[p]Only 1 picture is allowed in a post[/p]
[p]You are only allowed one post per month; however, you can delete your post and make a new one to replace it.[/p]
[p]The top 3 voted posts in the month will win prizes[/p]
[p]The most voted picture in the month will be selected to showcase in the in-game news section in TDUSC[/p]
[p]The thread will be wiped on the release of every Solar Club Letter[/p]
[p]Users can only win once every 2 months (including podium spots 1st, 2nd, 3rd)[/p][p][/p]
[p]Note: Posting in this channel means you allow your picture to be used by Nacon/KT for promotional use.[/p][p][/p]
❤️ Final Message
[p]Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays TDU fans! We are getting close to the next chapter of TDUSC in 2026, and we can’t wait for the road ahead. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, see you again soon![/p]
[p]Last month we released the largest content update to arrive since TDUSC’s release. Season 5 brought Poker, Taxi Missions, new economy, vehicle bug fixes and more. We then followed up 2 weeks after the season release to bring an important hotfix! [/p][p]That said, Season 5 is going to be the longest season in the game's roadmap, with a duration of 5 months, meaning Season 6 is planned to release in March. Before then, there will be 2 major updates. In this letter, we will discuss this in more detail. [/p]
What’s In the Letter?
[p]Update 1 Details[/p]
[p]Release Date[/p]
[p]Online Shop[/p]
[p]Bug Fixes and Improvements[/p]
[p]Update 2 Details[/p]
[p]Release Date[/p]
[p]Optimisation & Performance[/p]
[p]Sounds[/p]
[p]Upcoming Updates[/p]
[p]What’s Next?[/p]
[p]Our Stance On Cheating[/p]
[p]Recent Reports & Actions[/p]
[p]Improving Our Tools[/p]
[p]Test Drive Community Week[/p]
[p]Livery Vote[/p]
[p]Race Vote[/p]
[p]Meet the Team Series[/p]
[p]What Is It?[/p]
[p]When Will It Arrive?[/p]
[p]Community Spotlight Winner - November[/p]
[p]Winners[/p]
[p]How To Enter [/p]
🆕 Update 1 Details
[p]It’s time to recap and learn everything coming day one in Season 5![/p][p][/p]
Release Date
[p]Season 5’s Update 1 is planned for early January 2026. With the release of Season 5’s launch and the hotfix that arrived soon after, we want to make sure the next updates are polished, this meant that the release of Update 1 was pushed back a bit, however another reason is because to publish the update on consoles, we have to submit the update to the console platforms for certifications, which follows a Christmas holiday closure. This delay of Season 5’s first full update will not affect the release schedule for Update 2, or the release of Season 6.[/p][p][/p][p]That said, we want to remind you that Season 6 will be released in March 2026 and we will have a larger communication on the next Season release dates before the release of the Season. [/p]
Online Shop
[p]Although Update 1 will have various bug fixes and improvements, it will be also adding the online shop. In next month’s letter, we will be able to share screenshots of the store and explain how it works in more detail. However, we can discuss some of the content you will see in it, as well as some rules of how content will be added to the store.[/p]
[p]Bundles[/p][p]Each season, we will have bundles to sell in the store. These bundles will include the vehicle, a livery, and more! With bundles, they will be on a rotation in the store, and will be rotating between each set that is available.[/p][p][/p][p]To note, all of the vehicles can have their livery removed, and instead, players can choose to create their own livery or use a custom colour at the Workshop. We also know that some players may only want the vehicle itself, and not the bundle. We are currently working on developing a system where players can purchase the items in the bundle individually, but this will not arrive on day one of the Online Store, as we need to make sure the bundle is discounted based on what individual items you buy from the bundle.[/p][p][/p][p]We’ve revealed what these 3 are, so here are more details about them![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/583e8314e72e31ded0482f8d8cfac442dd1e7f9e.jpg"]This vehicle brings an exclusive livery and widebody kit to the current Nissan GTR in the game as well as a new sound file. What do you think?[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/13018e7723a78de81016950030627378ab873d60.jpg"][TAG-180]PUMA arrives in TDUSC’s online shop in the next update. This bundle brings a new sound file, a widebodykit, and more to the reimagined BMW M4 Competition! You will also be able to find some nice sets of PUMA clothing in the rotational store, which we will discuss a bit later.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/734e968a570ea039af1eda9679c39fd78ba71949.jpg"]We haven’t forgotten about the offroad fans! The Ford F-150 gets a lift kit and livery with some vehicle accessory modifications for that complete look! The outfit of course is here to compliment your adventures that can be found on Hong Kong Island and Ibiza! We think you’ll enjoy those hidden offroad paths more now![/p][p][/p]
[p]Rotational Store Page[/p][p]This is where you will see timed items for sale in the store. Sometimes, licensed clothing or items may have a limited time to be sold, and for compliance, we cannot add things to the permanent store, only to remove them later.[/p][p][/p]
[p]Permanent Store Page[/p][p]The permanent store is where you will find a wide variety of previous Solar Pass vehicles and cosmetics (rims, clothing, emotes, etc), previous Live Event rewards, and more. There is however a rule regarding this system, and when these items get added to the permanent store. This is how it works.[/p][p][/p][p]Solar Pass Vehicles - 1 season timed exclusive (example: Season 3 Solar Pass cars available Season 5, Season 4 Solar Pass cars available Season 6, Season 5 Solar Pass cars available Season 7)[/p][p]Previous Solar Pass Rewards - 1 season timed exclusive[/p][p]Previous Live Event Rewards - no season timed exclusive, will be added in the following season[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/c6853574a8860e617f16d8558f2f2ce1d672e4db.jpg"][/p][p]You can also find other exclusive content added to the permanent store exclusively.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/27d146c71f006a59605c7d21e32b700098e24a4a.gif"][/p]
[p]Free Diamonds Claim[/p][p]Another part of the online store is the ability for players to gain free Diamonds weekly. On the store’s front page, there will be a box selection where you can claim 10 Diamonds each week.[/p][p][/p]
[p]We understand there are also many questions regarding the pricing of the vehicles and other items in the online store. We want to assure you that we will make sure the pricing is an appropriate price for the players.[/p][p][/p]
Bug Fixes and Improvements
[p]Of course, the online store isn’t the only thing to expect coming in Update 1. We are working very hard on the next bug fixes to arrive not only in Update 1, but also Update 2 and Season 6 of TDUSC. Here are some examples of fixes you can expect to see.[/p]
[p]Dodge Hellcat SRT now has the correct 8 gear transmission[/p]
[p]Removed Gas Station Augment Reality (when you have AR feature off)[/p]
[p]Fixed The Tortoise and the Hare Race (removal of rock in race/freeroam)[/p]
[p]Fixed the custom ‘Quality Level’ setting for any upscaling method where it reverts to its default value every time the player restarts the game[/p][p][/p]
[p]And much more! We will have the patch notes arriving before the launch of the Season as usual. We expect much more bug fixes leading up to and in Season 6, especially those from the community reports such as Taxi Mission issues, Poker, map issues, vehicle and dynamic reports and more. [/p][p]Another thing arrives in Season 5’s Update 1, and that’s the ability to interact with the furniture in the world. Perfect for a real estate teaser![/p][p][/p][carousel autoadvance="true"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/6529462dffd1b9d7f9d1416b615c63c1d9a0e09b.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/be1e78bc1d5dce2ff88ca3f2d672d3e6d4b0fcbb.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/87999e073c02bc54eecebbe1936ef0f9ea42d08f.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/42996b1ce3b6fe6fde269e8316b57063625399ea.jpg"][TAG-300][/carousel][p]On the topic of fixes and this week's live event reward being the Alpine A110 ‘US Racing 2023’ livery, we want to let you know we are looking to give the possibility of appearance liveries to be customised with spoilers, rims, etc. just as seen in the screenshot below in a future update! We’ll hopefully have more info on this soon![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/2e5c589d6153d7a3420deae2b7716ec011b67300.jpg"][TAG-308][/p]
📈 Update 2 Details
[p]Similar to Update 1, Update 2 will feature bug fixes and improvements, but the main goal of it is to improve the performance and optimisation of the game further. Let’s discuss more about this! [/p]
Release Date
[p]Season 5’s Update 2 is planned to arrive early February, 2026. As usual, a patch notes and more information on the game’s maintenance on this update will be provided close to the release. [/p]
Optimisation & Performance
[p]We know optimisation and performance is a big discussion amongst the TDUSC community, and it’s something we continue to actively work on since the integration of the KT Engine update, which helps us achieve a better rendering pipeline, and in turn, helps us further optimise the game. Update 2 brings some more of these improved optimisations. We still plan to continue the optimisations of the game over the course of the new year, and as said before, we want to be able to release a new minimum recommended specification for the game when Season 8 arrives.[/p][p][/p][p]To let you know what you can expect on both PC and consoles for Update 2, Guillaume Guinet has this to say:[/p][p][/p][p]“As you may have noticed, the performances have slightly improved since the S5 release, especially on console; the Xbox and PS5 version has been stabilised. [/p][p]We continue searching for every team's solution to continue to improve the performances in various areas of the game such as map optimisation, AI, vehicle, traffic, KT Engine, etc. Everyone is on board, and we are putting all our effort on this subject.[/p][p]We can divide this task in two parts : [/p][p]- Stabilize the version as it is for now (Target: S5P1 - S5P2 - S6)[/p][p]- Redefine the renderer for each quality preset (PC & Console) to work with a target performance/configuration for each preset (S7+)[/p][p]Just a note: We apologize for the technical issues you have encountered at S5 release due to our work on our engine (HDR problems, reflection parameters, etc.). Changing the render pipeline on our engine was a lot of work on our side and we had a lot of things to fix. Some of them have not been seen. We are currently working to improve our QA testing.” [/p][p]TDUSC Game Director - Guillaume Guinet[/p][p][/p]
🔊 Sounds
[p]Sounds! We’ve heard some feedback on this, and we want to talk about it more again since the last letter. [/p]
Upcoming Updates
[p]The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 gets improved interior cockpit sounds, and the De Tomaso P72 receives an improved startup sound.[/p][p][/p]
What’s Next?
[p]We have seen recent player reports regarding the sound changes of the BMW M4 and the LaFerrari Aperta. We want to mention these vehicles recently had a change in vehicle dynamics, which seem to have affected the sound of the vehicle. We will work on fixing it in a future update. A reminder that based on the feedback from the community in a vote a few months back, these were the cars we think we can look into next:[/p]
[p]Mclaren MP4-12C[/p]
[p]Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato [/p]
[p]Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody[/p]
[p]Lamborghini Aventador SVJ[/p]
[p]Ferrari 488 Pista[/p]
[p]With more to be announced in the future [/p]
[p]Just as we said in the last letter, we can’t commit to a specific update date on when these will be fixed, but we will let you know in a future letter when we are working on them, and of course, when they’re ready! [/p][p]Currently, the sound design team is working on the new balancing of the sounds in the game. To detail this further, here is what Guillaume Guinet has this to say: [/p][p]“For now, we have a lot on our plate with the new content coming; the new cars, the detective mode and housing are taking a big part of the time of the Sound Design team.[/p][p]I really think you will love what is coming! Especially the return of a V12 on a Pagani...[/p][p]For now, we want to take our time to deliver good new content on S6.[/p][p]However, fixing the existing problems is still on our pipe and we will continue to deliver as many improvements as we can among the different patches in S5.[/p][p]We are looking at the mixing of the player with AI or other players. We are also looking to fix some car sound bugs like the DBS Superleggera one where the sound is very low when accelerating.[/p][p]We will take time later to work on redesigning some cars too, but as we said, it's a lot of work that we don't have for S5 or S6 but it's still something we have in mind. [/p][p]So no, don't worry, we haven’t forgotten the SVJ and the MP4-12C 😉! We love these cars, so how can we!?” [/p][p]TDUSC Game Director - Guillaume Guinet[/p][p][/p]
👎 Our Stance On Cheating
[p]Cheating is not something we stand for in TDUSC. Cheating is something that has plagued previous TDU games, especially TDU2, and we want to assure the community that we are taking the correct steps to prevent and action players who are ruining the game experience of others in TDUSC. Let’s discuss more about this. [/p]
Recent Reports & Actions
[p]There have been recent player reports that the community has submitted, and we have acted on all of them so far by banning the players from the multiplayer experiences of TDUSC, along with removing their times from the leaderboard. If any members of the community see something that is suspicious, use the in-game report function, and if you’re on our social media channels, be sure to let us know and we will look into it too.[/p][p][/p][p]A reminder, TDUSC is not the place to cheat, and we will act accordingly to those who go against this stance. [/p]
Improving Our Tools
[p]Another thing that we need to work on is improving our internal tools to catch cheaters more easily, and create a better flow for reports so we can more accurately track and action those who are cheating. This is something we are hoping to have ready for Season 7’s Official Racing Center release, and we will make sure to discuss this in more detail when we can.[/p][p][/p]
🎁 Test Drive Community Week
[p]In Season 6, we are creating a community week live event! For this event, we will be choosing 5 community created races for players to try out, and 1 community created livery for players to win as the reward! Let’s talk about this in more detail! [/p]
Livery Vote
[p]We’ve seen some incredible liveries the community has made over the past year since TDUSC has released, so it’s time we shed some light on that! Send us your best livery design in the Discord channel #community-week-livery and vote on which player has the best! We’ll have this as the reward for the live event! [/p][p]Important Note: The livery must NOT be a replica of a real life livery nor include real logos, however, a referenced recreation or individual creation is allowed. We will be moderating the submissions and any liveries that may not be allowed will be removed from the channel. A good example of a referenced recreation is below… hey, maybe you will see this reward soon too...[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/2a6b2dfd6572a4f2267cae896f31e8df9c827cd2.jpg"][/p]
Race Vote
[p]A livery isn’t the only thing we want to have you vote on! We want you to create a race design too! This can be done using the in-game multi-route GPS system, or create a route with the below high-res images of Hong Kong Island or Ibiza! There’s no limits to how long your race can be, or how crazy it is. Give us your best shot! Just don’t forget to give it a name and let us know how many laps you want it if it isn’t a point A to B race. Submit your race design in #community-week-race in the Discord![/p][p][/p][p]Discord.gg/TestDrive [/p][p]Winners will be announced in next month's letter![/p][p][/p][carousel][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/f9de225e4cf12e3fe96665c23344f7d453f6f96c.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/4426c43213e3d3d14ced55b480b8e2e01c887dd0.jpg"][TAG-540][p]Thanks to the community for the HKI screenshot! [/p]
🫂 Meet the Team Series
[p]We have an amazing team at KT Racing dedicated to working on Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’s updates, and we think it is something that should be highlighted more! With that, we’ve thought of the idea to create a new series within each monthly letter called ‘Meet the Team’. Let’s talk about it![/p][p][/p]
What Is It?
[p]Each month, we would like to introduce you to developers who work on TDUSC at KT Racing. This can be vehicle artists, level artists, gameplay programmers, UI designers, engine programmers, network developers, technical artists, sound designers, community managers, producers, graphical designers, animation artists, and much more! We want to highlight some of the great work our developers are doing, and we think this is a great opportunity to show it.[/p][p][/p][p]Side note, who knows, it may be possible to even get some behind the scenes looks at some future seasonal content that the developers are working on… so stay tuned![/p][p][/p]
When Will It Arrive?
[p]The first Meet the Team will arrive in a future letter, likely in February, but don’t worry, the next letter we plan to have ready for you around Christmas… and we of course, will make sure to leave a nice present for those TDUSC fans who want to learn more about Season 6…[/p][p][/p]
🖼️ Community Spotlight Winners - October
[p]Yup! It’s time to announce the winners for the month of November![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/74e52ae30b02c79ce06a8c4bc3622b3a5ce91441.jpg"]An honourable mention for the stunning De Tomaso P72 group photo by AndyGilbert![/p][p][/p]
Winners
[p]There have been some amazing pictures sent in for this month's Community Spotlight, but here are the top 3 voted photos for the month of October![/p][p] [/p]
[p]Discord member Watch Man wins this month's Community Spotlight with… yeah, the team was not expecting this, but by popular vote, the screenshot of an in-game ad poster for Solar Cream wins... So congrats and your reward is the exclusive Alpine clothing hat, shirt and pants, which won’t arrive to all players until a later season, and 2,000,000 Solar Coins!
[p]Discord member Leon_JHK takes second place in this month's Community Spotlight with their Aston Martin DBS Superleggera photo! Congrats! Your reward is the Alpine clothing shirt, pants and 1,000,000 Solar Coins!
[p]Discord member Cake comes third in this month's Community Spotlight with their La Ferrari! Congrats! Your reward is an Alpine shirt and 1,000,000 Solar Coins!
[p]Congrats again to the winners! By the time you see this letter, restart your game if you’re already logged in, and you will see your rewards! Post you outfits [/p][p][/p]
How To Enter
[p]First, join our Discord which can be found at Discord.gg/TestDrive. Once you join our Discord, you’ll see a channel called ‘community-spotlight’. Here, you can send the best pictures you've taken in TDUSC! You aren't limited to cars, too. Feel free to send pictures of your liveries, cars, sceneries, garage, etc. The community will vote for the best photo to be featured in-game and win some prizes![/p][p][/p][p]Here are the rules:[/p]
[p]Pictures must be high quality and not edited outside of the game or taken with tools that are not native to TDUSC's in-game photo mode[/p]
[p]Only 1 picture is allowed in a post[/p]
[p]You are only allowed one post per month; however, you can delete your post and make a new one to replace it.[/p]
[p]The top 3 voted posts in the month will win prizes[/p]
[p]The most voted picture in the month will be selected to showcase in the in-game news section in TDUSC[/p]
[p]The thread will be wiped on the release of every Solar Club Letter[/p]
[p]Users can only win once every 2 months (including podium spots 1st, 2nd, 3rd) [/p]
[p]Note: Posting in this channel means you allow your picture to be used by Nacon/KT for promotional use. [/p]
❤️ Final Message
[p]We are getting close to the next chapter of TDUSC in 2026, and we can’t wait for the road ahead. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, see you again soon![/p]
[p]The TDU Team[/p]
Season 5 Patch 1 - Hotfix Notes
[p]The first hotfix for Season 5 is here and it brings some very important fixes to the game since the launch of the Season. The update will be live on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. All the details can be found below. [/p][p]Maintenance Confirmation: We will be starting the server maintenance at 9:30am CET and the maintenance could last up to 6:00pm CET. We will keep you updated on our progress during the day. [/p]
🛠️ General Fixes & Improvements
[p]Fixed HDR settings not working as expected[/p]
[p]Added optimizations to reduce GPU hang issues[/p]
[p]Re-enabled claiming the Solar Pass using tokens[/p]
[p]Ensured the Lamborghini Urus is added to the inventory after claiming the Solar Pass[/p]
[p]Fixed live event rewards not being added to the inventory properly (Solar Coin Bonus)[/p]
[p]Changed the date of the end of the season displayed in the Solar Hotel[/p]
[p]Fixed crash when starting game on Ibiza between 12 am and 12:30 am on some timezones[/p]
[p]Fixed time when returning to freeride after Taxi mode[/p]
[p]Fixed crash when a remote player opens his vehicle window[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where the application crashes during the loading screen on selecting the 'Continue' option after the Initial Interactive Screen, when the user travels to the solar hotel and re-launches the application[/p][p][/p]
🃏 Poker
[p]Fixed crash when joining poker room during a reveal action on any table[/p]
[p]Fixed action buttons being displayed while watching own cards or board cards[/p]
[p]Fixed action timer freeze when stop watching own cards or board cards[/p]
[p]Fixed possible crash when entering poker room[/p]
[p]Fixed crash when leaving table while second player has been kicked out of table[/p]
[p]Fixed dealer button not moving between players[/p]
[p]Fixed reveal camera not switched when player folds during reveal[/p]
[p]Fixed timer synchronization between client and server[/p]
[p]Fixed wrong token count when leaving poker table[/p]
[p]Fixed token count in rebuy popup[/p]
[p]Fixed being able to rebuy when having no tokens left[/p]
[p]Fixed poker chips balance display not being updated after exiting from a table[/p]
[p]Enhanced player experience during poker sessions[/p]
[p]Fixed multiple possible crashes during poker sessions[/p][p][/p]
🖥️ PC
[p]Added vram usage table for fidelityFX (FSR3)[/p]
[p]Added vram interpolated calculation for fidelityFX custom mode[/p]
[p]Added support for FSR3 in settings screen[/p]
[p]Fixed DLSS option not being active[/p]
[p]Moved dynamic probe from high to ultra in "SSR" option[/p]
[p]Fixed a crash when using AMD graphics cards from series 9000[/p][p][/p]
🌐 Network
[p]Better Stability and Performance[/p][p][/p]
🏗️ Other Details
[p]More details on the next fixes will arrive in the November Solar Club Letter. This letter will discuss the release date for Update 1, as well as some planned fixes we have for it.[/p][p][/p][p]There are some bugs we could not yet fix in time for the hotfix, some of this including the Poker gameplay freeze and the PS5 random crash (however, some may experience a crash fix based on 'Fixed an issue where the application crashes during the loading screen on selecting the 'Continue' option after the Initial Interactive Screen, when the user travels to the solar hotel and re-launches the application'). You may also see the following issues as well:[/p]
[p]An overall illumination problem that dyes the screen green or red can always happen rarely. In some cases, a workaround for this can be opening the photomode, and closing. This should however, be fixed on XSX/S and PC.[/p]
[p]When a player leaves a poker table during the card dealing phase, the other players are stuck on that phase of the game (you have to leave the table when this happens).[/p]
[p]On PC, the option that uses the XeSS causes the user to crash when selecting an upscaling value.[/p]
[p]On PC, selecting a value for all upscaling modes is reset to 50 at launch of the game without saving the chosen value[/p]
[p]Please continue to report any issues you have on the MyNacon Support Page and we will make sure to follow up with any other issues you are experiencing. Update 1 and Update 2 are planned to have more bug fixes, with Update 2 focusing a lot on optimisation for all platforms.[/p][p][/p]
❤️ Our Final Message
[p]We thank you for your patience and understanding with the release of this hotfix. We are continuing to work on improving the release of the next Seasons. See you soon in the November Solar Club Letter![/p]
[p]The TDU Team[/p]
Solar Club Letter: October 2025 - Everything To Know About Season 5
[p]Season 5 is the largest content update to arrive in TDUSC so far, so let’s recap all of the details we discussed on the recent showcase stream, and more![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/2d09a3a20f186b80e78f90583953d2b63146823e.jpg"][/p]
What’s In the Letter?
[p]Season 5 Details[/p]
[p]Release Date / Maintenance Details / Length[/p]
[p]Stream Recap[/p]
[p]Taxi Missions[/p]
[p]Poker[/p]
[p]Before/After Map Changes[/p]
[p]KT Engine Improvements[/p]
[p]Construction Sites[/p]
[p]Economy[/p]
[p]Vehicle Improvements[/p]
[p]Live Events[/p]
[p]Update 1 Details[/p]
[p]Update 2 Details[/p]
[p]Known Issues[/p]
[p]Sounds[/p]
[p]Upcoming Updates[/p]
[p]What’s Next?[/p]
[p]Community Spotlight Winner - October[/p]
[p]Winners[/p]
[p]How To Enter[/p]
[p]Coming Up Next[/p]
[p]November Solar Club Letter[/p]
[p]December Solar Club Letter[/p][p][/p]
🚕 Season 5 Details
[p]It’s time to recap and learn everything coming day one in Season 5![/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1249970/view/521980066604781304"][/p]
Release Date / Maintenance Details / Length
[p]Season 5 is releasing October 29, 2025. We will be starting the server maintenance at 10:00am CET and the maintenance will last up to 6:00pm CET. We will keep you updated on our progress during the day.[/p][p][/p][p]Season 5 will also have a 5 month length, with Season 6 releasing March 2026. Before Season 6 releases, we will have a larger communication on the next Season release dates. The content of each Season will however remain unchanged.[/p][p][/p][p]This change also means Season 5 will get 2 updates. This longer period will help us focus on polishing and bug fixing various areas of the game that the community have mentioned, as well as creating a dedicated update for optimisation within Season 5. Details on Update 1 and Update 2 will be discussed in the letter below.[/p][p][/p]
Stream Recap
[p]On October 23, Community Manager Alex VII and Game Director Guillaume Guinet went live on the Nacon Racing YouTube channel to showcase all of the features coming to Season 5, as well as answering some questions from the community. Below you can find the following details[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We also created a gameplay only video showing off the game in a stream highlight fashion with timecodes, so if you’d like to watch gameplay without the talking from the stream and see the game in it’s max quality, check the link below![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There were many questions asked during the stream, and we wanted to clarify our answers on some of these subjects. Let’s take a look at some of the most common questions asked![/p][p] [/p][p]Q: Will we expand Ibiza?[/p][p]A: Ibiza is something a lot of the community is asking for, and we know it is something that we want to bring in the future, but we don’t want to make any promises on this until we have a dedicated team working on this. At the moment, our art teams are working on year 2 features, the most important one being Season 8 Housing. This feature requires a lot of work from our level designers and environmental artists. Another reason why we aren’t working on this is that right now we're focused on optimization. Optimisation means to create new processes to build the world. We cannot work on new processes while adding areas to the world using the old ones.[/p][p][/p][p]Our plan on this would be to update Ibiza in sections, rather than the entire island at once, especially as we want to add content to the expanded areas of Ibiza as they arrive. When we have a dedicated team working on the expansion of Ibiza, we will be able to communicate this with you.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: Will we implement DRL’s/high-beam/low-beam?[/p][p]A: We’ve seen this request a few times, and it’s something we think we can integrate into TDUSC, but it requires a new lighting structure to set up the differences between all 3 light modes, as well as integrating the feature into the KT Engine and following each car's DRL setup. That said, we can’t communicate on this improvement yet until it’s something we start working on, but we believe it fits TDU perfectly![/p][p][/p][p]Q: When will crossregion/crossplay arrive?[/p][p]A: We have currently prioritised crossregion over crossplay. It will require a lot of work on our network to adapt for this system, but we have a dedicated team working on this feature. We do not have an update on specific ETA for this feature, but we hope to have it completed by the end of 2026.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: When can players expect more optimisation for TDUSC?[/p][p]A: Our next large optimisation update will arrive in Update 2 of Season 5. We will detail this in this month’s letter in the ‘Update 2 Details’ section![/p][p][/p][p]Q: When will steering animation delay be fixed?[/p][p]A: This is a bug report we are currently working on. We have found the issue with the system, and we hope to have this solution by Season 6.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: What are our plans for customisation for TDUSC? (rim size, rim colour, bodykits, spoilers, brake calipers, etc)[/p][p]A: We already have more customisation options arriving in TDUSC in future updates. We think it’s something that can help elevate the personalisation aspect of TDUSC, however we also know a lot of the TDU fanbase prefers more TDU-DNA derived customisation options like just simply changing caliper colour, or rim size, rim colour, etc. We’ll keep you in the loop on these improvements throughout Year 2.[/p][p] [/p][p]Q: What are our plans for a realistic tachometer UI (like TDU2)?[/p][p]A: This is something we’d love to have in TDUSC. We have made a few samples of this concept to get approval from manufacturers on the design. Once we have feedback, we will evaluate our next steps on this feature. We can’t confirm for sure we’ll be able to bring this feature into TDUSC yet, but if it is something we can do, we will look into adding it into our roadmap plans.[/p][p] Q: Can we see GPS navigation added into vehicles?[/p][p]A: Similarly, this feature will require feedback from the manufacturers. When we know the next steps on this feature, we will be sure to communicate to you on it![/p][p][/p][p]Q: When can players expect 8-player groups?[/p][p]A: We have made progress on this feature since we last communicated it to you, but we want to make sure this feature arrives well polished.[/p][p][/p][p]We are aiming to have this ready for Season 6 but we will confirm with you closer to the launch of Season 6 if this feature will be ready.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: When can players expect a photo mode update?[/p][p]A: Good pictures from the community can write a game's success itself, and we know we can do better with the photo mode in TDUSC. We don’t have any plans to work on this feature soon, but we think it’s something that could go well with housing. It’s a big work though, because it requires taking the KT Engine a step further in how photo mode renders and works. When we have better visibility on this, we’ll let you know![/p][p] [/p][p]Q: When can players expect a livery editor update (grouping of stickers, sticker material, etc)?[/p][p]A: There is a lot to do to the livery editor in TDUSC, and we don’t think we will be able to do a complete overhaul in Year 2, but we are looking into bringing some QoL features to the editor in 2026. We’ll communicate this when we have better visibility on the subject.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: When can players expect more details on camera improvements (seat height, turning off camera shake, etc)?[/p][p]A: Camera improvements in TDUSC will arrive in the future for sure. We know players want to customise this experience of TDUSC, but similarly we cannot provide a concrete date on this feature.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: When can players rotate the camera during rim purchases/vehicle purchases?[/p][p]A: This is a feature we hear often from the community. We believe it is something we should work on for TDUSC, and we’ll share news on this in a future update.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: Can players expect to see more weather scenarios added to TDUSC (rain on Ibiza/thunderstorms with lightning)?[/p][p]A: We have worked on improving many scenarios of weather in the Season 5 Hong Kong Island timecycle update, but we have not added a scenario for severe thunderstorms with lightning. [/p][p][/p][p]We think the addition of rain to Ibiza would be nice, and we have also thought of adding a cycle in Ibiza called ‘Calima’ (learn more about it here), but we have a lot of other things to focus on at the moment.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: Can players expect more Casino game modes in the future?[/p][p]A: Before bringing more gamemodes to the Casino, we want to focus on features that all players can enjoy, as there are restrictions for many countries that prevent players from accessing the Casino in TDUSC. We are also going to look into the possibility of opening up the Casino to more countries where government rules may be discussed further. More news on this will arrive when we have more to share.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: When can players expect JDM vehicles? Sedans? Wagons?[/p][p]A: Players can expect a JDM filled Season in Season 7. All vehicles both in the dealership, online store, and Solar Pass will be JDM.[/p][p][/p][p]Recently, we also had the community vote on a vehicle which fits such description, so we know its something you all want to see! We don’t want to reveal too much yet though![/p][p][/p][p]Q: Will other TDU2 features be returning?[/p][p]A: There are many gameplay elements to TDUSC so far from TDU2, but we think there is always room to improve and adapt more. We cannot comment specifically on what we plan for the future of TDUSC outside of the already communicated Year 2 content, but we have some great ideas to evolve TDUSC in the future.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: Are there plans to change the design of dealerships and workshops?[/p][p]A: This is something on our minds as it helps us reach the end goal of a more realistic and cinematic experience with TDUSC. We however are not working on this yet, as the art team is working hard on the ORC, houses, race layout improvements, and more! Rest assured, it’s something we want to bring to the world of TDUSC in the future.[/p][p][/p][p]Q: Are there plans to add a police mission system to TDUSC?[/p][p]A: Adding a police system for TDUSC would be nice, however we don’t think it is something we can commit to yet. Such a feature would need to be like TDU2’s. Both singleplayer and multiplayer, the feature where it calls other people on the map to join the session, associated licenced police themed vehicles with the livery/appearance being rewarded to players, and more. This making the feature complex would take us some time to create, and we are currently full on our Year 2 roadmap. This is something we could discuss for an update after Year 2, possibly bringing back another ‘Community Voted Season’ concept.[/p][p][/p]
Taxi Missions
[p]The flagship feature arriving in Season 5 is Taxi Missions! This feature previously in TDU2, was given immense depth for its reveal in TDUSC. In Season 5, you’ll be able to pick up and drop off passengers in 50 different scenarios. Within each of these are different client profiles, and within that, different questions and requests from them! Let’s quickly recap everything you need to know about this feature![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/0f8158893e214e89f8739a27392dd3b605c18fab.jpg"][/p][p]Private Driver[/p][p]Taxi contracts are driving missions in which you need to fulfill the needs of clients to earn a good final rating. Depending on the client profile, you also need to arrive at the destination by a certain time. The difficulty of this will also change depending on the mission. Get a 5 star rating to achieve the maximum earnings, but be careful, once you reach 0, the mission ends, and you cannot restart![/p][p] [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/16497879596fe9da4e4a7473a08470b3d3b94e2c.jpg"] [/p][p]Client Profiles[/p][p]There are 4 different client profiles. Fulfilling their specific needs will improve your rating, but accidents and careless driving can have the opposite effect. Pay attention to the mission page UI and see what your passenger will take note of. For example, some clients might want you to not follow the speed limit, and get them to the destination on time, however, some might want you to follow the speed limit and drive very smoothly while obeying traffic rules![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/1127f94db143dd155100843f21ecb583be778236.jpg"][TAG-470][/p][p]Questions and Requests[/p][p]Pay attention to your passengers throughout the journey because they may have specific requests that you weren't expecting. Some may ask you to turn on the radio or put your windows down, however there are questions that are a bit more in depth, and may require some thinking from you so make sure you answer them correctly, as they will affect your rating score![/p][p] [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/0a5be8260ee97d7e3e0dba80599886372b6d00c0.jpg"][/p][p]Gameplay[/p][p]We have uploaded various gameplay footage of Taxi Missions in action, check the link here at the following timecodes to see how they work![/p][p] [/p]
Poker
[p]Poker is finally arriving in the Casino in Season 5! Let’s again recap what you can expect from this new Casino gamemode.[/p][p][/p][p]To start, head to the Casino and enter a Poker room. Here, you have 3 rooms to choose from. Emerald features a 1,000 Solar Coin buy-in, Sapphire features a 100,000 Solar Coin buy-in but you have to win 15 hands in Poker to unlock, and Ruby features a 500,000 buy-in but you have to win 50 hands in Poker to unlock.[/p][p] [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/b1548772326dad704dc16dbe6b5b719011888fd2.jpg"][TAG-508][/p][p]Once you’re in, you have 3 Poker tables, with a maximum seating capacity of 8, so you’ll have 24 players in a lobby for Poker rooms, slightly less than the 32-player lobby in the Casino hall. Next, head to any of the 3 tables and join a game! [/p][p][/p][p]All that’s left to do is look at your cards, and make the right moves! Don’t forget, there is voice chat, so use it wisely if you think you can trick other players into calling your bluff! [/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/317fca456d75357eb27f8337fbc597cfbafb54bc.jpg"][TAG-520][/p][p]We uploaded gameplay of Poker on the Nacon Racing YouTube channel, so feel free to take a look at how it goes![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We also want to discuss some issues with Poker. Below are some known issues that are being worked on and fixed for Update 1.[/p][p] [/p][table equalcells="1" colwidth=","][tr][td][p align="center"]Summary[/p][/td][td][p align="center"]Note/Comment[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]The current total of chips is not updated when leaving a poker table. It's only a visual issue and the total updates correctly when buying more or reloading the game.[/p][/td][td][p]Workaround: Note that re-entering another poker table will not update the displayed amount either. To work around this bug, after leaving a table, buy any amount of chips to have the correct amount refreshed.[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]When using the buy-in option after not having any chips to continue, the number of chips granted from the balance is incorrect.[/p][/td][td][p][/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Sometimes, when having multiple possible winning hands, the lowest one is displayed on screen. Note that the highest one is still taken into account correctly.[/p][/td][td][p][/p][/td][/tr][p] [/p]
Before/After Map Changes
[p]Another improvement coming to Season 5 is a large amount of map improvements to Hong Kong Island. Quarry Bay had some of these improvements in S4P1, but it gets the final touches in Season 5![/p][p] Let's take a look at Stanley's prison area, which had a massive change![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/d89a172f4b53a28add3e1e171876733cf86cb794.jpg"][TAG-602][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/d4b0bd5956877e086c9b3f7e564444f723896e2a.jpg"][TAG-604][/p][p]We did this to create a better feel of Hong Kong Island and make a more accurate map feel.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/d8c1477f453dc4ac4542d2e871ecd87ce292ce66.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/6446392794f2bf11b2e480a59cc1cd33eef8a59b.jpg"] [/p][p]Here are some more photos of what players can see.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/231522e14f01019069c46a09326a536c95fd2914.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/39a015e8d3e402de6d4e8f5009306c8123edbd75.jpg"] [/p][p]We have also created a video showcasing all map changes coming in Season 5. Check the video out below![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]To discuss this change in more detail, Stéphane Cambier, the Art Director for TDUSC has more to say![/p][p][/p][p]“While a small team is dedicated to optimizing and developing future content, another team is focused on improving specific areas of Hong Kong.[/p][p]These areas required additional attention to capture the mood of their real-world counterparts, as they currently lack key details. Our primary focus has been Aberdeen and Stanley, with northern districts next on our agenda.”[/p][p]- Stéphane Cambier / TDUSC Art Director[/p][p][/p]
KT Engine Improvements
[p]The KT Engine gets a lot of improvements for Season 5. You can find improved reflections, timecycles, effects, and more! [/p]
[p]Hong Kong Island Screenshots[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/ac8571d6effefde365641fe73defb8fd9765c50d.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7688eebb9056ef952234ff4a4860feb4d7e88430.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/69ec579c5895f670069d0511ea0f5e9b90f06697.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/2cccf03a76271ba91f3fe226529918b4c3f1386c.jpg"][TAG-690][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/6334dafe4307de43e1fdde64522e9be5360b8177.jpg"][/p]
Construction Sites
[p]The first two construction sites appear in Ibiza! These locations do not represent the full shape of the house, but if you look closely at the environment, you can have an idea of the garden or scenery around the location once it arrives in Season 8![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/592b34009b9873b17a703fe5bee9d619cc222942.jpg"][TAG-706] [/p][p]More construction sites will arrive throughout the next Seasons, so keep your eyes peeled![/p][p][/p]
Economy
[p]Big changes arrive in Season 5 for TDUSC’s economy! Bigger race payouts, improved FRIM, and car selling![/p][p][/p]
[p]Race Payouts: We’ve increased the payouts of all races found on both Ibiza and Hong Kong Island. Crown Jewel races now pay as they should based on the risk/time, so some of them can payout sums totalling over 1,000,000 Solar Coins.
We’ve also improved Live Events, as they will now pay an additional Solar Coin bonus on top of the cosmetic reward, which is based on what the reward is.[/p][p][/p][p]We are excited to see your feedback on this new economic change, and we will be on the look out for further feedback to continue evolving TDUSC![/p]
[p][/p]
[p]FRIM: FRIM has a lot of changes arriving in Season 5. Here are some of the improvements:[/p]
[p]Updated levelling system for 99 linear levels[/p]
[p]Removed max number of cash-ins per day[/p]
[p]Removed tricks max occurrences[/p]
[p]Added reputation, influence and Solar Pass exp as rewards[/p]
[p]Updated Clean Driving trigger (100km/h)[/p]
[p]Removed Burn and 0-100 from actions list[/p]
[p]Tweaked timer for cashing-in (you can cash in whenever you want)[/p]
[p][/p][p]This new system will allow players to earn more in the freeroam mode, and level up FRIM the way they want. Whether you’re cruising, drifting, or having some reckless driving, FRIM will be for you![/p][p][/p]
[p]Car Selling: Head to the front desk of the Solar Hotel or the Selene HQ to sell your cars! Once you open the menu, you’ll be able to sell your vehicles, with the sell prices varying depending on the odometer distance, upgrades, and vehicle options you have added at the dealership or workshop. [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7dfafef20b19b7e7e935b4a44ccc68c0280f2dab.jpg"] [/p]
Vehicle Improvements
[p]We’ve done a lot to vehicles in Season 5, and we aren’t stopping there. Let’s take a look at all of the improvements coming to TDUSC’s vehicles in Season 5![/p][p][/p]
[p]Cruise Control: Cruise control will be available in missions and free-roam! There are also new bindable settings in the game control menu to allow you to map this to your wheel.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/d27e9ee651c7adb22e9aa9898efe9908a5fda894.jpg"][/p]
[p]Speed Hold/Cruise - In this mode, the vehicle's acceleration will stay at the assigned speed. You can increase and decrease this speed in the same Alyss menu. Coming to a stop will automatically turn the cruise control off.[/p][p][/p]
[p]Speed Limiter - In this mode, the vehicle's acceleration is controlled by you, and the assigned speed is the limiter. You can increase and decrease this speed in the same Alyss menu.[/p]
[p][/p]
[p]Bug Fixes & Improvements: In Season 5, we tackled a lot of issues surrounding our vehicle models, and below are just some of the improvements you will see in Season 5. [/p]
[p]Fixed Alpha 5 max speed[/p]
[p]Fixed battery on 918, I8, LPI800 and LaFerrari[/p]
[p]Fixed acceleration on Veyron 16.4[/p]
[p]Fixed power handbrake on Buggy[/p]
[p]Fixed tires size on F40[/p]
[p]Updated rear and side light of various cars[/p]
[p]Fixed dashboard UI text[/p]
[p]Fixed Porsche Carrera & Carrera Bodykit cockpit camera[/p]
[p]Corrected Aston Martin Valour base power/torque[/p]
[p]Added Super Sport suspension to Aston Martin Valour / Removed All-Road suspension from Aston Martin Valour[/p]
[p]Fixed the spoiler of the Pininfarina Battista where it fails to auto-engage while driving at high speeds[/p]
[p]Fixed the spoilers of all the McLaren manufacturer cars where it fail to auto-engage while driving at high speeds[/p]
[p]Fixed the spoilers of all the Bugatti manufacturer cars where it fail to auto-engage while driving at high speeds[/p]
[p]Added Super Sport suspension to the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series[/p]
[p]Please continue to share any discrepancies you see with the vehicles in TDUSC. We will be focusing on this throughout Season 5 and will be bringing more vehicle fixes in Season 5.[/p][p] [/p][p]We also have the following fixes arriving in Update 1 and Update 2 of Season 5:[/p]
[p]Miura correct headlight animation[/p]
[p]SRT Hellcat gets 8-speed transmission to accommodate the automatic transmission car model[/p]
[p]Unlocking the customisation of ‘Special Edition’ Appearances in the Workshop[/p][p][/p]
Live Events
[p]Season 5 is where live event rewards are improved. You will receive a large sum of Solar Coins in addition to the cosmetic reward; with the actual amount dependent on what the reward is. You’ll also find, no more stickers will be present as live event rewards. Here’s a reminder of some of the rewards you can see.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/de11e9582b4beaa58a99c162f7384262ec3e9d98.jpg"][TAG-1034]The Alpine A110 Légende US 2023 Racing livery arrives in a Season 5 live event![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/baca08599ac338769a037de455f6b92431d79e95.jpg"][TAG-1042]Licenced PUMA clothing arrives in a Season 5 live event![/p][p][/p]
Update 1 Details
[p]Update 1 will bring more bug fixes and the online store. We will discuss the store in more detail in next month's Solar Club Letter with some images of the content you’ll be able to find. However, here’s what you’ll be able to find in the store: [/p]
[p]Previous Solar Pass Vehicles: There will be a timed exclusive on Solar Pass vehicles arriving in the store. For example, Season 3 Solar Pass vehicles will be available in Season 5. Season 4 Solar Pass vehicles in Season 6. So on and so forth.[/p]
[p]3 New ‘Special Edition’ Vehicles Each Season: These vehicles can be special licensed or unlicensed bodykits of existing vehicles in-game, or they will be completely licensed special models of existing vehicles in-game. An example of this is the licenced Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series, arriving in the online store in Season 6, or the Nissan GT-R ‘The Tyger’ unlicensed widebody kit arriving in the ‘Season 5 Update 1’ update. In Season 5 Update 1, you can find these 3 special editions arrive in the store![/p][p] [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/40dc56b54b06ce55b80b4280beaf6cee3300042b.jpg"][TAG-1068][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/8402ae743e689595229c211331a27e58d8d59307.jpg"][TAG-1070][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/f062b92651f976b39c73580f5ddb58993423c026.jpg"][TAG-1072][/p]
[p]Previous Live Event Rewards[/p]
[p]Emotes[/p]
[p]Rims[/p]
[p]Liveries/Paints[/p]
[p]Clothing (Licenced and Unlicenced)[/p]
[p]& More…[/p][p][/p]
[p]With the online store, we will also have a system in place that will give players 10 Diamonds per week for free. You will be able to claim this in the online store menu weekly.[/p][p][/p][p]You’ll also find sound improvements for the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and the De Tomaso P72. We’ll detail this more in the ‘🔊 Sounds’ section of the letter.[/p][p][/p]
Update 2 Details
[p]The most important update of Season 5, will be update 2. This update is focused on optimisation and performance for PC, XSX, and PS5. To understand what to expect more, here is what TDUSC’s Producer and Technical Director have to say.[/p][p][/p][p]“As we said in our last communication, a dedicated team is now working on resolving the performance issues reported by our community. Because this is a huge task, we needed to subdivide this objective into smaller various ones. The first one is to improve the performance on both consoles, and that's what we have been doing recently. It doesn't mean that it doesn't impact the Steam version at all, it always indirectly does, just that we're focused on specific issues degrading the experience on consoles (e.g the FPS drops when inside the Streets headquarter or during races in heavy lighted areas).We will continue to do so for Update #1 of the season.[/p][p]For Update #2 we plan to have more global improvements which can be appreciated by all players of all platforms. We're already working on a few ones but these take more time to deploy as we need to update the various components of the world while making sure no negative impacts are found. Rest assured we'll continue to work on this topic for the following seasons and until we and our community are satisfied with the result.” [/p][p]- Niels Coueffe / TDUSC Producer[/p][p] [/p][p]“A particular effort is currently underway to optimize the game for Update 2 to make the gaming experience smoother and more enjoyable, regardless of the platform. We are working on this along two main lines:[/p]
[p]Globally: Season 5 saw the arrival of a heavily revamped rendering pipeline, which is just one step in an engine enhancement program. We are continuing to make improvements, particularly in performance, that this new pipeline allows us, notably by more efficiently using CPU and GPU resources.[/p]
[p]More Specifically: We are working to identify and correct all points causing in-game performance drops that concretely harm game quality. Corrections can be either in the code or in the data, which sometimes needs to be reworked in depth. This work involves all specialities within the TDUSC team.[/p]
[p]Although this update is mainly focused on game experience, framerate, and erasing the framerate drops, if we can add some nice enhancements to the KT Engine that improve the graphical and render ability further, we will look into doing so too.”[/p][p]- Fabien Fumeron / TDUSC Technical Director[/p][p][/p][p]Similar to the launch of Season 5, we will be showcasing gameplay of this update and discuss the specific improvements on framerate and performance.[/p][p] [/p]
Known Issues
[p]Season 5 is our largest update yet, and there are many fixes we are currently working on to increase the polish of the game. Below are some issues we’d like to be transparent with and address, as well as mentioning some workarounds. We plan to have all of these fixed, and more, in the Season 5 Update 1 update[/p][p][/p][table equalcells="1" colwidth=","][tr][td][p align="center"]Summary[/p][/td][td][p align="center"]Note/Comment[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Possible crash when using Graphics mode and driving around specific areas on Ibiza Island.[/p][/td][td][p]Workaround: Set Performance Mode[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Rare crash when using Graphics mode and playing through various events on Ibiza Island.[/p][/td][td][p]Workaround: Set Performance Mode[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Often, after terminating the game while inside the Solar Hotel in Graphics mode, the next time the player continues their save a crash will occur.[/p][/td][td][p]Workaround: Set Performance Mode in the Main Menu before pressing Continue.[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]On consoles, sometimes, there is a global illumination issue where the world can appear red or green in free roam.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Sometimes, for some players at the table, the card dealing animation does not display at the start of a poker round.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Rarely, after leaving a poker table, a server error occurs when attempting to rejoin the same table.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]The current total of chips is not updated when leaving a poker table. It's only a visual issue and the total updates correctly when buying more or reloading the game.[/p][/td][td][p]Workaround: Note that re-entering another poker table will not update the displayed amount either. To work around this bug, after leaving a table, buy any amount of chips to have the correct amount refreshed.[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]When using the buy-in option after not having any chips to continue, the number of chips granted from the balance is incorrect.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]When not enough chips are possessed to pay the small or big blind, a number of chips is incorrectly given to the player.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Rarely, attempting to enter a poker room leads to a server error.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]In Poker under specific circumstances, it may happen that during the showdown phase at the end of a round the round doesn't end.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]The default PR value of cars are seen in this menu instead of the upgraded one.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Sometimes, when having multiple possible winning hands, the lowest one is displayed on screen. Note that the highest one is still taken into account correctly.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]In specific situations, the buy-in option is erroneously displayed when the chip balance is insufficient.[/p][/td][td][p]N/A[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]When a passenger requests a window to be opened/closed, only using Alyss will fulfill the request, not using a custom keybind.[/p][/td][td][p]Workaround: Use Alyss to confirm the request[/p][/td][/tr][tr][td][p]Some specific clan races on Ibiza Island have an holographic racing line that goes outside of the road, also leading AI opponents to lose time.[/p][/td][td][p]The three concerned races that were discovered: 'Highway to Heaven', ' Shopping in Ibiza Town', and 'Night Drive in the Marina'.[/p][/td][/tr][p] [/p]
🔊 Sounds
[p]Sounds are of great importance in a racing game, so let’s go over what’s happening next.[/p][p] [/p][p]Upcoming Updates[/p][p]So far in Season 5, we’ve confirmed the De Tomaso P72 and the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 will be getting a sound improvement in Update 1. The P72 will have a more accurate growl from its V8, and the Vantage GT3 will have a much improved interior cockpit sound to match its accuracy.[/p][p][/p][p]What’s Next?[/p][p]Back in July, we shared the results of the sound design survey in which players had the opportunity to vote on what car sounds they’d like to see improved in the game and some of their thoughts on our audio design. One of the issues we got was the muffled sound of the cockpit, or the audio mix of other world elements. We are currently working on the mix of all AI vehicles in the world, including your opponents. [/p][p][/p][p]Based on the community votes, here are some example vehicles we think we can work on next:[/p]
[p]Mclaren MP4-12C[/p]
[p]Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato [/p]
[p]Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Widebody[/p]
[p]Lamborghini Aventador SVJ[/p]
[p]Ferrari 488 Pista[/p][p][/p]
[p]We can’t commit to a specific update date on when these will be fixed, but we will let you know in a future letter when we are working on them, and of course, when they’re ready![/p][p][/p]
🖼️ Community Spotlight Winners - October
[p]The Community Spotlight is back! It’s time to announce the winners for the month of October![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/79be71c06f10e48d28e042f65e5ccfb35aaed101.jpg"]An honourable mention for the beautiful Ibiza scenery picture by ISO77![/p][p] [/p][p]Winners[/p][p]There have been some amazing pictures sent in for this month's Community Spotlight, but here are the top 3 voted photos for the month of October![/p][p] [/p]
[p]Discord member PovverfulOz wins this month's Community Spotlight with their amazing photography contrast! Congrats on getting over 60 votes (the most votes ever), your reward is Aston Martin DBS Superleggera when Season 5 launches!
[p]Discord member Destroyer-GT takes second place in this month's Community Spotlight with their amazing livery on the Huracan Sterrato! Congrats! Your reward is 3,500,000 Solar Coins![/p][p] [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/c103f99061e9a613cb1480cc860601f25a4151fd.jpg"][TAG-1510][/p]
[p]Discord member Rei comes third in this month's Community Spotlight with their La Ferrari parked by the sea! Congrats! Your reward is 2,000,000 Solar Coins! [/p][p][/p]
[p]Congrats again to the winners! You will receive your reward within 48 hours after Season 5 releases![/p][p][/p][p]How To Enter[/p][p]First, join our Discord which can be found at Discord.gg/TestDrive. Once you join our Discord, you’ll see a channel called ‘community-spotlight’. Here, you can send the best pictures you've taken in TDUSC! You aren't limited to cars, too. Feel free to send pictures of your liveries, cars, sceneries, garage, etc. The community will vote for the best photo to be featured in-game and win some prizes![/p][p][/p][p]We have also changed the rules to allow for a more fun and fair experience.[/p][p][/p][p]Here are the rules:[/p]
[p]Pictures must be high quality and not edited outside of the game or taken with tools that are not native to TDUSC's in-game photo mode[/p]
[p]Only 1 picture is allowed in a post[/p]
[p]You are only allowed one post per month; however, you can delete your post and make a new one to replace it.[/p]
[p]The top 3 voted posts in the month will win prizes[/p]
[p]The most voted picture in the month will be selected to showcase in the in-game news section in TDUSC[/p]
[p]The thread will be wiped on the release of every Solar Club Letter[/p]
[p]Users can only win once every 3 months (including podium spots 1st, 2nd, 3rd)[/p]
[p][/p][p]Note: Posting in this channel means you allow your picture to be used by Nacon/KT for promotional use.[/p][p][/p]
⏭️ Coming Up Next
[p]What’s next on the communication agenda for TDUSC? Let’s take a look![/p][p] [/p][p]November Solar Club Letter[/p][p]The November Solar Club letter will go over some behind the scenes development of TDUSC and showcase more of what Update 1 will offer.[/p][p] [/p][p]December Solar Club Letter[/p][p]The November Solar Club letter will go over how the online store works, and further detail Update 2 for Season 5.[p]
❤️ Final Message
[p]We hope you enjoy what Season 5 has to offer as we lead into the last Season before 2026. We’re excited to see your reactions on the largest update to TDUSC yet! See you soon!
[p]The TDU Team
Season 4: All You Need To Know
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/edbfeb74595686091f55d04efea31110df784491.jpg"][/p][p]The Casino arrives in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown! In Season 4, we bring the Wintory Casino and other various improvements and features. We will also be adding more content to the game in the mid-season update, so let’s go into all the details![/p][p][/p][p][/p]
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
[p]New Features (Day One)[/p]
[p]Casino[/p]
[p]Stock Restriction Races[/p]
[p]Group Ping[/p]
[p]Revamped Worldmap and Filters UI[/p]
[p]Reworked Active Spoilers[/p]
[p]Sound Improvement (Apollo IE)[/p]
[p]Reputation Level Increase To 70[/p]
[p]Mid-Season Update[/p]
[p]New Vehicles[/p]
[p]Patch Notes Overview [/p]
🆕 New Features (Day One)
[p]The Casino isn’t the only feature arriving in Season 4 that players can enjoy. We added a new style restriction for races, improved the UI, adding a new way to cruise with friends and more! Let’s see what features we added.[/p][p][/p]
Casino
[p]The Casino will be located in Macao and accessible via the helipad at the bottom of the map in Hong Kong Island. We have also been able to increase the number of players in this social hub to 32, which should be really cool to see when the players visit![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/4308474dfa4bad08d69e69d14bc8d1f1e60b46cd.jpg"][TAG-90][/p][p]Inside the Casino you will find a few activities available to you. First, head to the cashier to cash in your Solar Coins to Casino Chips, which will be possible at a ratio from 2 Solar Coins = 1 Casino Chip. Although you cannot cash back your chips to Solar Coins day one, we plan to add this in the mid-season update![/p][p][/p][p]Once you have your Casino Chips, you have a few choices on what you’d like to do with them. You can either:[/p]
[p]Head to the clothing store in the Casino to purchase some luxurious clothing to fit your needs. [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/d7c5c65fabd10ce5a41585266b713d5b5cafa99e.jpg"][TAG-102][/p]
[p]Head to the car part store in the Casino to purchase an array of rims or licence plate customisation options. [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/ef2ba75d3a2a18ae73a3dfbaa0b5bde3f6895f9d.jpg"][TAG-108][/p]
[p]Head to the Macao Lights slot machine and try your chance at winning the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series as the main jackpot, or 77,777 as the secondary jackpot. [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/01d20cf8ddc7e55bcb3ab55eebc692d039a0c0e7.jpg"] Using the jackpot is pretty easy, and you have the ability to bet more money on the slot machine with the bonus of being able to win more as more lines are considered. In short, the more you bet, the better your reward can be. [/p]
[p]We plan to add Poker and a second high-payout slot machine (1,000,000 Casino Chips) in the mid-season content update, but we will go over this later in the article with more details.[/p][p][/p][p]For players who are located in restricted countries and cannot access the Casino, we are working on a solution for you in regards to the ability to acquire the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. We do not have the full details on this yet, but we will let you know before the launch of next season. [/p][p][/p]
Stock Restriction Races
[p]After seeing players enjoy the low PR restriction races we did in our live events, we decided to take this a step further by adding 40 stock restriction races in Season 4. Stock restriction races can be found in both Hong Kong Island and Ibiza. We added 20 new races, and we changed 20 existing races to have a stock restriction to create 40 total. For Ibiza, you will see this added to the rotation of races. The events will make you race your vehicle the way it was meant to be, which can create some fun and balanced races for players![/p][p][/p]
Group Ping
[p]This new feature allows you to create up to a 4-stop itinerary and send this itinerary to your other group members which can create some very fun cruise experiences around Ibiza and Hong Kong Island. To improve this feature, we also improved how the 4 player grouping works by improving our networking. We added this to our Patch Notes article yesterday:[/p]
[p]Improved the gathering of people from the same group.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where players of a group wouldn't end up in the same session[/p]
[p]Fixed the calculation of the session's score for a given player, now properly handling the members of the group already present and the reserved slots for the group[/p]
[p][/p][p]Now you’ll be able to create groups a lot more easily and meet each other in free roam a lot more easily too! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/05219bd21f8fef1a69fd2c79f6217bfdc516e385.jpg"][/p]
Revamped Worldmap & Freeroam UI
[p]One of the first things you probably can’t wait to do in Season 4 is remove that ‘voice chat’ icon in TDUSC, so that when you remove all UI, you can finally have a nice clean look! [/p][p]We also wanted to bring a feature from TDU2 into TDUSC that we think will be very useful to seeing other players on the map. You can now see player cards no matter where they are on the map (up to a 3km distance), but you can adjust this feature in the settings menu with 3 options. [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/40da5a2ceb267cf024620e4ceaf95e3213238244.jpg"][/p][p]As for our world map, it was cluttered and it was hard to sort through various sections of it. In Season 4, we have improved this massively. You can now filter through tabs showing your map, tasks, and other players, and you can also manage the POI’s found within the map itself too.[/p][p] [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/5aa072c0fb4fbe1c4e98497686c0a1b5e2505f18.jpg"][/p]
Reworked Active Spoilers
[p]Whether you enjoy the airbake in your Mclaren MP4-12C, or the low drag mode in your Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, you’ll find your favourite vehicle’s active aero has been faithfully recreated, and we unlocked the spoiler option on cars that previously only allowed you to see it automatically! We did this to every car in the game, while also improving existing vehicles' aero systems that were not working at all, such as the Ferrari 488 Pista. [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/0cb968a4f32def7bbd5a2b8bf1c0f95c8fbe334b.jpg"][/p]
Sound Improvement (Apollo IE)
[p]Based on the community feedback in the sound survey, we realised we needed to work on the sound of V12’s. One of the first cars to get an improvement will be the Apollo IE which we also improved further in the mid-season update with more crackles and pops. [/p]
🃏 Mid-Season Update
[p]The mid-season will bring a lot more bugfixes, improvements and even more content. Let’s quickly cover what you can expect to see in this update. [/p][p]New Casino Content - In the mid-season content update, we will be bringing some new ways to play in the Casino! We’ll go into more detail on this when the time comes but as you learn about it in the recent Season 4 and Year 2 reveal video, we’ll quickly recap it here. [/p][p]The Golden Dragon slot machine will be a high-payout slot machine which can provide a jackpot of 1,000,000 Casino Chips.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/abf28464d10ae0207bce23ead01fffc0725ee90f.jpg"][/p][p]Poker will give you a choice between 3 different rooms based on buy-in price. Once you enter, you can start a game up and play! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7dd5f473c0266414e3d30854cd5074d11d2df156.jpg"][TAG-220][/p][p]New Vehicle Sounds - Other than seeing a further improvement to the Apollo IE, the Lamborghini Diablo VT will also have an improved sound! [/p][p]Important Fixes - Although we are working on many new features for TDUSC, we also need to work on fixing some issues players have experienced in the past. Here are some of the few important fixes we have worked on coming in the mid-season update for TDUSC! [/p]
[p]Achievements Unlocks: Achievements not unlocking for them despite completing the description.[/p]
[p]Empty Friends List: Players on all platforms may run into the issue where they cannot see players on their friends list.[/p]
[p]Time Trial Leaderboards: Players have mentioned that they cannot view the global leaderboards.[/p][p][/p]
[p]Other bug fixes and improvements will be announced closer to the release of the mid-season content update![/p][p][/p]
🚗 New Vehicles
[p]In Season 4, you’ll find quite a few new vehicles arriving, so let’s take a look at what the players can be expecting! First, let’s welcome the Aston Martin Valour in the dealership to all players![/p][p] [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/f5e13f08881d0c85b369095802f9975265839172.jpg"][/p][p]The Aston Martin DB11 Volante is another car that will be arriving in the dealership, ready for you to drop the roof for those nice sunny days in Ibiza! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/8036a1a7bf1d6b37edbc501274631a4ce426454c.jpg"][/p][p]If you’re feeling the need for speed, pick up this Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ and you’ll be able to feel an acceleration like no other![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/e0e0343214645a15fa621d0d93e8fe407d307807.jpg"][/p][p]Our first custom bodykit arrives in TDUSC. This Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe VR Widebody Kit has a widebody kit that was created by the devs at KT, and it won’t be our last either… [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/5a821f8087733e4be8326770d48a46da350793a8.jpg"][/p][p]An incredibly rare car to see, and a vehicle that unfortunately, will not make it into production, so you could say that it makes this extra special! Say hello to the Delorean Alpha5! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/960c9071fd2171225d86edaa77d87b6812908b1f.jpg"][/p][p]Always wanted to offroad your Huracán? Well now you can! Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato arrives as the level 50 reward for this Seasons Solar Pass! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/4a38a1221a3eae634dee516737ed37e5659e3ea5.jpg"][TAG-300][/p][p]And last but not least, the Mercedes-AMG GT Black series will join this update as a reward vehicle through the Macao Lights slot machine![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/3d18438699b27b217db4edf5e6e32d86b369e4b8.jpg"][TAG-308][/p]
📰 Patch Notes Overview
[p]If you missed it, you can find the full patch notes list for Season 4 linked below! [/p][p][dynamiclink href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1249970/view/538859942242682797"][/p][p]If you want a quick highlight of some changes and improvements we did in TDUSC for Season 4, we will list a few key bug fixes below.[/p]
[p]Deleted ‘All Road’ suspension upgrades on some supercars and all hypercars[/p]
[p]Some cars' PR's may have changed due to fixes on suspension, gearbox issues, clutch, etc.[/p]
[p]Supersport suspension has been added to various supercars and hypercars[/p]
[p]Fixed suspensions height on stock McLaren MP4 12C[/p]
[p]Suspension PR changes[/p]
[p]Before, we applied a flat PR amount when installing suspension, but this is not the case anymore and it was misleading with the behaviour of the specs gauge. Now a suspension can make you lose or gain PR and the referential is always the behaviour on asphalt[/p]
[p]New progressive clutch[/p]
[p]More torque to idle constraint[/p]
[p]Use acceleration to allow slipping torque at low speed[/p]
[p]Should give you the ability to park your car easily as long as you use throttle[/p]
[p]No block when accelerating at middle RPM value (the reported bug where RPM’s stay at a certain value while accelerating has been fixed)[/p]
[p]Hazards will no longer turn on automatically.[/p]
[p]Improved sound on Apollo IE[/p]
[p]We will increase this vehicles crackles and pops and its signature transmission whine in the mid-season update for Season 4[/p]
[p]Updated dynamic resolution clamp value to improve performance stability (Xbox/PlayStation)[/p]
[p]Players should no longer have stutters[/p]
[p]Improved the gathering of people from the same group.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where players of a group wouldn't end up in the same session[/p]
[p]Fixed the calculation of the session's score for a given player, now properly handling the members of the group already present and the reserved slots for the group[/p]
[p] And of course, the full detailed patch notes list is now live, and you can see all the details at the link provided above![/p][p][/p]
❤️ Our Final Message
[p]Enjoy the Season 4 update and we’ll see you next month in August to discuss the mid-season content update in more detail in the following Solar Club Letter![/p]
[p]Season 4 will be arriving tomorrow on July 23 and will come with the Casino, new races, features, and various improvements and quality of life fixes! Some important things have been done to the network to improve the grouping of players, and you’ll find all the details below. We also worked heavily on vehicle dynamics so be sure to check out that section too! We will have a dedicated Season 4 launch article to explain what you can expect this Wednesday but you’ll be able to find all of the details in our developer documentary that was released yesterday![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Maintenance Confirmation: We will be starting the server maintenance at 9:00/9:30am CEST and the maintenance could last up to 4:00pm CEST. We will keep you updated on our progress during the day.[/p][p][/p]
🆕 New Features
[p]Casino[/p]
[p]32-Player Social Hub[/p]
[p]Cashier - To buy Casino Chips (withdrawing added in later update)[/p]
[p]Slot Machines - 1 type (another added in later update)[/p]
[p]Car Part and Clothing[/p]
[p]Stock Restriction Races[/p]
[p]Added 20 new races, changed 20 existing races to stock restriction[/p]
[p]Group Ping/Shared Route System & 5-Route Planner[/p]
[p]Revamped Worldmap and Filters UI[/p]
[p]Reworked Active Spoilers[/p][p][/p]
🆕 New Content
[p]New Cars[/p]
[p]Aston Martin DB11 Volante (Car Dealer)[/p]
[p]Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (Casino)[/p]
[p]Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe VR Widebody (Solar Pass)[/p]
[p]The Solar Hotel now displays the car at the last level of Solar Pass[/p]
[p]Improved player race line generation[/p]
[p]Merged calendar and news menu[/p]
[p]Fixed a crash when completing 'Highway to Heaven' in IBIZA island[/p]
[p]Fixed a crash when completing the Sprint race 'Skyscraper Parade'[/p]
[p]Fixed a crash when completing the Time Attack race 'Into the Docks'[/p]
[p]Fixed crash when quitting game with an active message box[/p]
[p]Fixed a crash when adding multiple photos as favourite[/p]
[p]Fixed car clipping with the delivery car in 'Delivery - M4 Competition' contract[/p]
[p]Fixed NPC and player's character sometimes clipping with the ground during car delivery's cutscene[/p]
[p]Added facial animation during the end of the race podium[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where avatars would not appear on the end of the race podium.[/p]
[p]Improved various NPCs animations in HUBs[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where collision SFX were played when running into a displayed car in any HUBs[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where texts would disappear in some menus[/p]
[p]Updated rarity on several car skin appearances[/p]
[p]Resolved various clipping issue on clothes[/p]
[p]Updated car delivery missions spot images[/p]
[p]Added Solar Pass quick access on main menu[/p]
[p]History now show if the player has already been solar king[/p]
[p]Fixed issues where reputation gain was delayed[/p]
[p]Improved render of cars and clothes thumbnails[/p]
[p]Share more information between group players ( league, money, gender, etc.)[/p]
[p]Added SFX related to Solar Pass reward unlock[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where traffic would change lane abruptly[/p]
[p]Added photo download errors handle[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where the rain drops would fail to fall on the interiors of any open roof car[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where the 'Time to beat' text in the info card of race lobby failed to match the 'Time to beat' text in the race initial cutscene[/p]
[p]Show a default thumbnail when when the 'Hide Custom Liveries' option of the 'Streamer Mode' settings is turned on[/p]
[p]Fixed a camera issue when changing vehicle while in cockpit view[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where some clothes could change the avatar's skin colour[/p]
[p]Added new spot Images for each gas station on HKI[/p]
[p]Fixed voice chat controls not visible when default channel is disabled[/p]
[p]Fixed photo in full screen being download all over again[/p]
[p]New lighting on Hippodrome race track on Hong Kong Island[/p]
[p]Fixed various clipping issues with vehicles and steering animation[/p][p][/p]
🚗 Vehicle Improvements
[p]Updated Koenigsegg Agera RS dashboard[/p]
[p]Fixed suspensions height on stock McLaren MP4 12C[/p]
[p]Fixed accessible suspension upgrades on Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series & Mercedes-AMG SL 65[/p]
[p]Updated hitboxes of all cars[/p]
[p]Improved LED blinkers rendering[/p]
[p]Updated aero flaps and wheel on Ferrari 488 Pista[/p]
[p]Added bumper Spoiler on Lamborghini Huracán Performante[/p]
[p]Fixed bumper holes on Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.[/p]
[p]Added new aero system to Lamborghini Centenario[/p]
[p]Added new aero system to Lotus Evija[/p]
[p]Added new aero system to Pininfarina Battista[/p]
[p]Added new aero system to Ferrari 488 Pista[/p]
[p]Added new aero system to Lamborghini Countach LPI 800 4[/p]
[p]Added new aero system to Lamborghini Huracán (All editions)[/p]
[p]Activate the rear wipers when going in reverse[/p]
[p]Fixed suspensions on Buggy[/p]
[p]Added semi slick tires on Alfa Romeo Mito[/p]
[p]Deleted ‘All Road’ suspension upgrades on some supercars and all hypercars[/p]
[p]Some cars' PR's may have changed due to fixes on suspension, gearbox issues, clutch, etc.[/p]
[p]Super Sport suspension has been added to various supercars and hypercars[/p]
[p]Suspension PR changes[/p]
[p]Before, we applied a flat PR amount when installing suspension, but this is not the case anymore and it was misleading with the behaviour of the specs gauge. Now a suspension can make you lose or gain PR and the referential is always the behaviour on asphalt[/p]
[p]New progressive clutch[/p]
[p]More torque to idle constraint[/p]
[p]Use acceleration to allow slipping torque at low speed[/p]
[p]Should give you the ability to park your car easily as long as you use throttle[/p]
[p]No block when accelerating at middle RPM value (the reported bug where RPM’s stay at a certain value while accelerating has been fixed)[/p]
[p]Hazards will no longer turn on automatically.[/p]
[p]Improved sound on Apollo IE[/p]
[p]We will increase this vehicles crackles and pops and its signature transmission whine in the mid-season update for Season 4[/p]
[p]Improved sound on DeLorean DMC12[/p][p][/p]
🖥️ PC
[p]Enabled SARD Anti-Cheat[/p][p][/p]
🔵 PS5
[p]Updated dynamic resolution clamp value to improve performance stability[/p]
[p]Players should no longer have stutters[/p][p][/p]
🟢 Xbox Series
[p]Updated dynamic resolution clamp value to improve performance stability[/p]
[p]Players should no longer have stutters[/p][p][/p]
🌐 Network
[p]Better Stability and Performance[/p]
[p]Improved the gathering of people from the same group.[/p]
[p]Fixed the issue where players of a group wouldn't end up in the same session[/p]
[p]Fixed the calculation of the session's score for a given player, now properly handling the members of the group already present and the reserved slots for the group[/p][p][/p]
🏗️ Future Fixes & Improvements
[p]In this section of the patch notes, you will find some things that we are working on improving for future releases of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown as our commitment to be more transparent. Understand that there are priorities given to some topics over others, and some are harder to investigate and solve than others, so no timeframe can be given currently unless otherwise specified. That said, here are all the future fixes and improvements we are working on:[/p]
[p]Achievements Unlocks: Achievements not unlocking for them despite completing the description. (Example: VISIT ALL DISTRICTS, GPS COORDINATOR) ETA: Bug solved, gone to Quality Assurance (Mid-Season Patch)[/p][p][/p]
[p]Empty Friends List: Players on all platforms may run into the issue where they cannot see players on their friends list. ETA: Bug solved, gone to Quality Assurance (Mid-Season Patch)[/p][p][/p]
[p]Time Trial Leaderboards: Players have mentioned that they cannot view the global leaderboards. ETA: Bug solved, gone to Quality Assurance (Mid-Season Patch)[/p][p][/p]
[p]Logitech G920 Wheel FPS Issue: Players mention while using the Logitech G920 wheel, the game causes extreme FPS drops. ETA: Under Investigation[/p][p][/p]
[p]Steering Filtering/Animation: Vehicle steer animation is behind player input which affects keyboard and controller inputs. ETA: Under Investigation[/p][p][/p]
[p]Missing Rims: Players mention the American Racing VN507 Gloss Black rims are missing from their inventory. ETA: Under Investigation[/p][p][/p]
[p]Logitech G923 Wheel PC/PS: Players mention the Logitech G923 wheel does not work correctly when using the PC/PlayStation version. ETA: Under Investigation[/p][p][/p]
[p]Moza Wheel: Players mention their Moza racing wheels cannot change the in-game rotation angle ETA: Under Investigation[/p][p][/p]
[p]Paint Change Server Error: Players mention they cannot upgrade or change the paint on their vehicle and they are met with a server error ETA: Under Investigation[/p][p][/p]
[p]We of course also have many other bug fixes and improvements we are working on, and we will continue to give you further details in future communications![/p][p][/p]
⛔ Casino Restricted Countries
[p]Africa[/p]
[p]Algeria[/p]
[p]Egypt[/p]
[p]Libya[/p]
[p]Mali[/p]
[p]Mauritania[/p]
[p]Morocco[/p]
[p]Sudan[/p]
[p]Tunisia[/p]
[p]Latin America [/p]
[p]Argentina[/p]
[p]Brazil[/p]
[p]Cuba[/p]
[p]Ecuador[/p]
[p]Asia and the Middle East[/p]
[p]Afghanistan[/p]
[p]Azerbaijan[/p]
[p]Bahrain[/p]
[p]Bangladesh[/p]
[p]Bhutan[/p]
[p]Brunei[/p]
[p]Cambodia[/p]
[p]China[/p]
[p]India[/p]
[p]Indonesia[/p]
[p]Iran[/p]
[p]Iraq[/p]
[p]Israel[/p]
[p]Jordan[/p]
[p]Kuwait[/p]
[p]Lebanon[/p]
[p]Malaysia[/p]
[p]Maldives[/p]
[p]Nepal[/p]
[p]North Korea[/p]
[p]Oman[/p]
[p]Pakistan[/p]
[p]Qatar[/p]
[p]Saudi Arabia[/p]
[p]Singapore[/p]
[p]Sri Lanka[/p]
[p]Syria[/p]
[p]Taiwan[/p]
[p]Thailand[/p]
[p]Türkiye[/p]
[p]United Arab Emirates[/p]
[p]Vietnam[/p]
[p]Yemen[/p]
[p]Europe[/p]
[p]Bosnia and Herzegovina[/p]
[p]Czech Republic[/p]
[p]Greece[/p]
[p]Iceland[/p]
[p]Montenegro[/p]
[p]Poland[/p]
[p]Portugal[/p]
[p]Serbia[/p]
[p]Slovakia[/p]
[p]Slovenia[/p]
[p]Ukraine[/p]
[p]Oceania[/p]
[p]Australia[/p]
[p]Fiji[/p]
[p]Papua New Guinea[/p]
[p]Samoa[/p]
[p]Tuvalu[/p][p][/p]
❤️ Our Final Message
[p]We hope you enjoy the fixes and features coming in Season 4 and all of the Year 2 information you have learnt in the ‘Behind the Scenes: The Future of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’ video yesterday! We will see you again for the mid-season update which will bring Poker, a second high-payout slot machine, and the ability to cashback your Casino Chips should be present along with any other fixes and improvements to the game.[/p]
[p]The TDU Team[/p]
[p] [/p]
Solar Club Letter: Season 4 & Year 2 Reveal Recap
[p]Today we showcased to the world our next steps over the next 12 months to bring the Test Drive Unlimited franchise passion back into the hearts of many! If you’ve missed the video, we highly recommend you check it out as you’ll see a lot of gameplay and behind the scenes footage of some of the future features we are working on![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]That said, let’s go into all the details about what the future will bring for Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown![/p][p][/p]
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
[p]Year 1 Retrospective[/p]
[p]Season 1[/p]
[p]Season 2[/p]
[p]Season 3[/p]
[p]Season 4[/p]
[p]Important Topics[/p]
[p]Cross-Region[/p]
[p]8 Player Group[/p]
[p]Car Selling[/p]
[p]Year 2[/p]
[p]Season 5[/p]
[p]Season 6[/p]
[p]Season 7[/p]
[p]Season 8[/p]
[p]New Brands[/p]
[p]Beyond [/p]
🗝️ Year 1 Retrospective
[p]Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown launched on September 12 2024, however, it was not a strong launch for us as we had issues with the games servers and it was not representative of the TDU DNA the players wanted to see in the game, but it is something we look back on to move forward to continue to improve the game. So before we talk about the future, let’s talk about the past![/p][p][/p]
🎬 Season 1
[p]Season 1 was the launch of TDUSC. It brought over 100 cars at launch with dealerships, workshops, the Solar Hotel which came with 4 liveable spaces, a 6 car garage and an island recreated at 1:1 scale, Hong Kong Island. It also brought the first Solar Pass, live events, and other features. Players often mentioned the physics and car sounds of the game were well created, and it’s something they saw was a good base that we needed to improve on.[/p][p] [/p]
🏝️ Season 2
[p]Season 2 brought Ibiza! It was faithfully recreated at a 1:1, but only the town of Evissa was made. This created a great contrast between the two islands, similarly to what TDU2 offered for players. Ibiza welcomes back an old character from the Test Drive franchise, Tess Wintory, and her brand known as Selene which had 6 vehicles customised. It brought a new social hub, clan stores, rotating races, and an increase in the clan influence level cap. We also brought an improvement to the wheel animation with 900 degree steering![/p][p][/p]
🚗 Season 3
[p]Season 3 was initially planned to be the Clan Wars update, but after player feedback, we decided to delay this update theme and instead bring highly requested features by the community to change the direction of the game. This is where our future started. In Season 3 we brought back:[/p][p] [/p][p]Car Delivery Missions - A highly requested feature from the past TDU games that is essential to improve the TDU DNA. In this new game mode, you are able to deliver vehicles for customers to the location of their request. We dressed some of these contracts (the name for missions in TDUSC) with some props to make it feel more immersive, especially compared to the previous TDU2 car delivery missions. Players seemed to enjoy this new method of playing, as it took them away from the racing.[/p][p] [/p][p]Navigation Races - In this game mode, the player GPS and map HUD are disabled and the player must make it to a location and park the vehicle before the timer ends! It gave a new way to race from point A to B in TDUSC as it meant learning the map was your advantage![/p][p][/p][p]Quick Pause/Restart - A feature that was also highly requested was being able to pause and restart races quickly. We delivered this day one in Season 3.[/p][p] [/p][p]Ability To Race Solo - At launch, every race you did in TDUSC was grouped into multiplayer and races would populate with AI for the players who did not join. We finally gave players the ability to launch solo or multiplayer versions of each race. [/p][p][/p][p]Selectable AI Difficulty - AI difficulty selection as another largely requested feature, and we delivered this in Season 3 to the community![/p][p][/p][p]Customisable Licence Plates - We gave players the ability to have more ways to customise their vehicle with custom licence plates they could dress their cars in![/p][p][/p]
🎰 Season 4
[p]Season 4 will be released on July 23 with a planned maintenance. More details on this will arrive in tomorrow's patch notes article! Season 4 introduces the Casino, an eagerly anticipated feature coming into TDUSC that is a part of the TDU DNA. So let’s discuss the Casino, and more![/p][p][/p][p]Casino - The Casino features will be split into two updates, so let’s talk about what you can find in both![/p]
[p]Day One Update (July 23) - At launch, the casino will offer two stores; a car part store where you can purchase rims and licence plates, and a clothing store where you can find luxurious clothing items. You will also find a slot machine in which you can earn a reward of a Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series as the main jackpot, or 77,777 Casino Chips as the secondary jackpot. You’ll be able to buy Casino Chips at a ratio of 2 Solar Coins = 1 Casino Chip. [/p][p] [/p]
[p]Mid-Season Update (late-August) - The mid-season update arriving in late August will bring a high-payout slot machine (1,000,000 Casino Chips), and poker which you will have a choice between 3 different buy-in rooms for! We also aim to bring the ability to cashback your Casino Chips to Solar Coins in this update.[/p]
[p] [img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/abf28464d10ae0207bce23ead01fffc0725ee90f.jpg"][/p][p]Poker will give you a choice between 3 different rooms based on buy-in price. Once you enter, you can start a game up and play![/p][p] [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/36b945cf2118a0d7e0f4e2a8ce4dcca35bf558b9.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7dd5f473c0266414e3d30854cd5074d11d2df156.jpg"] [/p][p]Group Ping - Group ping is finally here! In the launch of Season 4, we improved the ability to group with 3 other players as we improved our network infrastructure. With this, we brought Group Ping, which allows you to create up to a 4-stop itinerary and send this itinerary to your other group members. Now, you can create the perfect multi-stop cruise in Season 4, and we can’t wait to see some of the cruises done with this feature![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/05219bd21f8fef1a69fd2c79f6217bfdc516e385.jpg"][/p][p]Active Aero Improvement - Finally, your Bugatti Veyron’s will have their accurate active aero modes and airbrake! In Season 4, we went through every vehicle on the current car list and faithfully recreated their active aero features, so you can enjoy your vehicle the way it’s meant to be seen![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/0cb968a4f32def7bbd5a2b8bf1c0f95c8fbe334b.jpg"] [/p][p]Freeroam UI Improvement - We have improved two main areas of this. First, you can now finally remove that ‘voice chat’ icon in TDUSC, so now when you remove all UI, you can finally have a nice clean look![/p][p] [/p][p]Another improvement we did is player cards. You can now see player cards no matter where they are on the map, but you can adjust this feature in the settings menu. This should help you find other people in the world similarly as you did in TDU2![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/40da5a2ceb267cf024620e4ceaf95e3213238244.jpg"][/p][p]World Map UI Enhancement - Previously, our world map was cluttered and it was hard to sort through various sections of this world map menu. In Season 4, we have improved this massively. You can now filter through tabs showing your map, tasks, and other players, and you can also manage the POI’s found within the map itself too.[/p][p] [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/5aa072c0fb4fbe1c4e98497686c0a1b5e2505f18.jpg"] [/p][p]Stock Restriction Races - We found that the upgrades in TDUSC do not provide an optimal ‘TDU’ experience in TDUSC, and players enjoyed the low PR restriction races we did in our live events, so we decided to take this a step further by adding 40 stock restriction races in Season 4. Guillaume had this to say in the developer documentary:[/p][p] [/p][p]“Test Drive DNA is like using your car in stock, no upgrade, and another part of the thing is to do more balanced races between players because we know that some cars are meta by keeping upgrades in these things. 20 other races from the progression will change and become stock races too. So in total, we have 40 races in the game with stock restrictions now”[/p][p] [/p][p]These 40 races will be found throughout Ibiza and Hong Kong Island and we are excited to see you try these out at the launch of Season 4![/p][p] [/p][p]New Vehicles - In Season 4, you’ll find many vehicles arriving! Here are all the cars you can expect to see at the launch of Season 4:[/p]
[p]Aston Martin Valour (in dealership)[/p]
[p]Aston Martin DB11 Volante (in dealership)[/p]
[p]Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ (in dealership)[/p]
[p]Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe VR Widebody Kit (level 1 Solar Pass car)[/p]
[p]DeLorean Alpha5 (level 15 Solar Pass car)[/p]
[p]Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato (level 50 Solar Pass car)[/p]
[p]Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (casino car)[/p]
[p] [/p]
❗Important Topics
[p]Now, it’s time we discuss some very important topics and future features that we have heard players discuss on social media. A lot of what we will discuss in the section we don’t have a release date on, but we are actively looking into and working on it for the Year 2 roadmap! [/p]
🌐 Cross Region
[p]One of the most important ones is cross-region; the ability to play with others from other continental regions, cross-play; the ability to play with other platforms. Currently in TDUSC, we do not have either of these features, which we know diminishes the MMO and player interaction experience in TDUSC. Cross-region implementation has a higher priority in our view compared to cross-play, especially based on player feedback on social media.[/p][p][/p][p]That said, we can confirm we are working on cross-region, but being able to solve this requires a large change in our current networking infrastructure, and with that, it means a quick fix will not be possible, however we know it’s something the community has requested greatly, and although we can’t give you a solid release date on it yet, we will make sure we keep you up to date on our progress on these features in the coming months! Watch out for our monthly Solar Club Letters for updates on these features as we continue the development of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown.[/p][p][/p]
🧑🤝🧑 8 Player Groups
[p]This is a special one! We heard from the TDU community (and specifically DIMONEYMAN on Discord), and we will be bringing 8 player groups into TDUSC in a future season in Year 2! We don’t have a release date on this, but we are making progress on its current testing on our developer build. We will inform you when it's ready! [/p]
💰 Car Selling
[p]Of course we need to bring this highly requested feature to the community! We don’t have a specific season on when this will arrive, but it will for sure be in the Year 2 roadmap![/p][p][/p][p]Selling your car will work similarly as it did in TDU2, however, the price of your vehicle will depend on how much distance you have driven it for. So make sure you haven’t driven the car you want to sell much when this feature arrives![/p][p][/p]
🖥️ Further Optimisation, Graphics & Performance Improvements
[p]Of course Season 5 will improve the graphics and performance, but that won’t be the end of our engine enhancements. Here is what our Technical Director Fabien has to say:[/p][p][/p][p]“Season 5 will see the arrival of a revised version of our rendering pipeline, allowing us, among other things, to better balance between the CPU and the GPU. This is a first step, in a larger campaign of optimization and we plan to build on this pipeline reorganization to make further optimizations over the next seasons. But the rendering pipeline is not the only area we are working on to improve quality and performance. We continue to optimize the code in general, the VFX, the physics, the AI, new rendering options, and more… to make the game even better and of course, we are also continuously working to improve the stability and performance of our servers and online services” [/p][p]That said, we will keep you informed in the future Solar Club Letters as we continue to work on the improvements coming to TDUSC! [/p]
🔊 Further Sound Improvements
[p]A couple of months ago we created a survey form for players to give us their feedback on the current vehicle sounds in TDUSC. Based on this document, we will be working on some vehicle sounds over the next seasons. We have some of the results of the poll here below. [/p][p][img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdWSFG7yLpZpZ8JfYWNZgC-BaEFg0X6KaHiKDKl8pLEUrns_QrQUj4soDzb1y8TtCeWu5A2DaVb4gIhA4tvOltdGn2xFjeFbkL7U2ukD0An2bYgLyiaqw2c2H0pmd3dfNnUB0h7GA?key=vGZjZ4TgmWMseUpvJKuVDg"][/p][p]As you can see, we have already fixed the DeLorean DMC-12, Apollo Intensa Emozione, and the Lamborghini Diablo VT. Our sound designers are currently working on the vehicles arriving in Season 5, but rest assured the improvements on sound is something we will continue to work on over time. There are some vehicles that are not voted high that we think also need a larger attention, such as the Mclaren MP4-12C.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfBRaorWufMGAFhiEqzs53vJ_PTfmdqGjtJgpIOWoE7p-Zp4--jYvaXxMH_W9Zv_3zTUn2vWeA6DmjBs64NW9vJSjp0ZJC3esZSKDZWqy7ziohThcNj7LFonw1WvULJIup7wF-cNA?key=vGZjZ4TgmWMseUpvJKuVDg"][TAG-400][/p][p][/p][p]The Apollo IE will also see an increase in its crackles and pops and its signature transmission whine in the mid-season update for Season 4. [/p][p]Guillaume also mentioned in the developer video that things such as more sliders is something we can look into adding in the future too. We hope the TDU community continues to give us their feedback over the next seasons, and we appreciate your support! [/p]
🆕 Year 2
[p]Year 2 is our love letter of improvements and features to the TDU community and this is where you’ll see the TDU DNA come alive! Let’s get right into what you can expect to see over the next 12 months! [/p]
🚕 Season 5
[p]Season 5 is another heavy hitter into the world of the TDU DNA and improvements coming to TDUSC. Not only are we bringing Taxi Missions back in a lot more depth when compared to TDU2, we are bringing physical clothing stores, and enhancements to the KT Engine, and more! Let’s get into all the details coming in Season 5! [/p][p]Taxi Missions - These new missions will arrive day one in Season 5! You will be bringing a client from point A to B but there is a lot more depth to this. The players will try to do it while respecting highway code, so they won't be allowed to drive recklessly as usual. They’ll do this by having to respect the speed limits, signalization, etc. They will have to not shake the clients. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Every client has a unique persona, and every client won't be sensitive to the same stuff. So a client in a hurry will let you drive a little faster, but a sick client won't want to be shaken. So they will really be unique and the players will have to adapt themselves to them.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There still will be a restriction about cars but, the way you dress will come up, and some clients will expect you to dress nicely, elegantly, or maybe more chill. This will be completed by a new dress code UI system that will be implemented in Season 5![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]There will also be requests, so clients will ask you to open your windows, close your windows, maybe switch on the radio or change your radio station. They can also ask you questions. So, every now and then they will ask you some daily stuff and you have to think about the persona of the clients and the right answer is the answer they expect.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We will have a full gameplay of this closer to the launch of the season! [/p][p]KT Engine Enhancements - Season 5 will be the start of the continued improvements over multiple Seasons in Year 2 to improve the optimisation and graphics in TDUSC. Let’s discuss what players can expect to see in Season 5 [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/817b610585f55f57fb0d5ea9814c826e45d8eb7b.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/a04f922e47942ae1e329245718b44eacf1b104ea.jpg"][/p][p]To start, the world time cycles have been reworked, the city, the lighting in the cities, the bouncing lights, the rendering on the cars, and a lot of technical stuff has been changed drastically to render the lighting in the game. [/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/144457457b1b61a790db58a4b494309dbb978ac5.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7650af6d8db149c2a39bfb94dab0bd6547cb4e27.jpg"][/p][p]Another thing we have done, especially seen from player feedback, is it will rain less and the rain puddles will appear less on Hong Kong Island. So now, you’ll only see puddles appearing when it rains. [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/e875c7d6814c8fe4d6920b5d2381589ad6552e03.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/266dd6c9ab0d308aff0b78720e07f5d6a3bd2fd1.jpg"][/p][p]For those looking for FSR 3.1, we will not have it ready for Season 5, but we are working on it. We are also working on XeSS from Intel and we'll keep you informed as soon as it is ready for release.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/1f62c599fe4d090679427c09540eb05d23ec543b.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/870f4b2d290e55a93fdc224ca98181ddc2bd2597.jpg"][/p][p]Reflections on water are also a large issue in TDUSC, and we are happy to say that we completely reworked the water shader to be able to have a much better rendering. [/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/b13d0c55b216f35e2043006f66460edafa349ef5.jpg"][/p][p]We also have some special treatments for the beaches. This gives us access to more parameters so the artists can get as close to the references as possible. We also reworked the beach foam and it looks more visually appealing to the player. [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/2d8abd9d6ba2854833b6bc532701c99a80355298.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/0de8c33eebd372a9a7b3cb2a7f05921c5774acb9.jpg"][TAG-500][/p][p]We also worked on shadows so they have a much better dim light.[/p][p][/p][p]We will share specific performance gain details when we are closer to the release of Season 5. We will also let you know of other improvements to the KT Engine that will arrive when we are closer to Season 5, and of course any Seasons after![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/ec76ae603f47030f7b0c66723c7995381ab82ce9.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/26d26617c3b484d1fd4ac702b9aa8ee5e990916f.jpg"][/p][p]Physical Clothing Stores - Remember that tease we did before the launch of the developer documentary? Well this was it. In Year 2, we are going back on some already released features and bringing them into the TDU DNA light. One of the first things we are doing is turning the current menu-based clan stores into physical, walkable locations! Here are some work in progress screenshots of the locations! We still have some lighting work to do, but rest assured, our lighting artists are doing an incredible job on the final iteration of these stores, and we are excited to see the doors open in Season 5![/p][p] [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/e396680e8cb1f61c55c12336227d5c3cc3f2bd3a.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/3dc16c4791d1fc9e7201576936e953a7b58e32c6.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/0288cad435763e9d092d072f4f70cd3340559cbb.jpg"] [/p][p]Economy Improvements (Phase 1) - In Season 5, we will be bringing a vast amount of improvements to TDUSC for its economy. This will be ‘phase 1’ of the overall economic improvements in TDUSC, and a ‘phase 2’ and ‘phase 3’ will follow. As our game director Guillaume mentioned in the video:[/p][p][/p][p]“We had a lot of complaints about how the economy is actually balanced. We know there is a reason behind it and, for sure, the community is telling the truth here”[/p][p][/p][p]That said, let’s discuss what players can see in Season 5 first.[/p]
[p]Phase 1 - Season 5 will improve a lot of areas of the economy, and players can expect to see the following.[/p]
[p]Levelling & Solar Coins increased by at least 50%![/p]
[p]Increased Crown Jewel payouts; 1,000,000 Solar Coins (before bonuses).[/p]
[p]Balancing the degradation of rewards according to position in races.[/p]
[p]Revising how FRIM works.[/p]
[p]Increased gains on collectibles, speed traps and discoveries.[/p]
[p]Added Solar Coins when completing Live events in addition to the reward.[/p]
[p]The percentage of gains from driving aids will remain unchanged.[/p][p][/p]
[p]Any other improvements will be confirmed closer to the release of the season.[/p][p][/p]
[p]Phase 2 - In the second phase, we plan for this to change how some features are working such the speed traps and the replayability of speed traps or other features that have a core relation to the games economy. These have to come at some point because it improves the minute by minute reward. [/p]
[p]Phase 3 - This has to come in the free roam. We can’t talk a lot about this as we currently have some game designers working on it. This phase may not be in Year 2, but as we mentioned above, we need to improve the minute by minute reward, not letting the people go in the races and have to repeat the race over and over again to [/p]
[p]As usual, you will be able to find other features and quality of life improvements along with bug fixes arriving in the Season. More details will arrive closer to the release of the Season! [/p]
🫂 Season 6
[p]Season 6 is where we involve YOU, the community! As mentioned in the video, we have given you a choice of missions to feature in Season 6, and you get to vote on which one arrives! Let’s go into all the details about this now. [/p][p]Community Mission Request - We have given you a choice between 4 different missions that you can have added to the game for Season 6. It is worth noting that if the mission you chose doesn’t get chosen, it does not mean that we will not consider the mission for a future update, and there is a chance we can bring it into the game at a later date! Let’s go into the details of each of the missions.[/p]
[p]Detective - This will be a game mode that's actually oriented towards, a bit of the tail mode, as we called it in TDU2, but it's a slightly more fun tail. This will be done by looking for clues, etc. We'll have a whole cool dimension around the game mode before getting into the tailing. It's not just the car part, there will be a small investigation part too. The thing that's important in TDU is also the story side and we will really bring back the notion of telling a story through the game mode. [/p]
[p]Delivery - In this game mode will be orientated around the multiplayer in TDUSC, by moving from point A to point B, or other different cases. It's a rather special contract that will take place in free roam where the goal is really to play with others and try to make deliveries together. So that's a game mode that can be quite cool, that's quite new, and it will avoid having to enter a lobby to be able to do things together. [/p]
[p]Photography - This is going to be similar to the game mode found in TDU2, but with more depth. As an example, we have a prompt, we ask the player to go take a photo in free roam, and they have to go take it. This will also come with a large advancement in the photo mode camera in TDUSC. [/p]
[p]Adrenaline - This is another game mode that people will be familiar with as it comes from TDU2. The concept was you can drive anywhere on the map during the mission, but the goal is to raise an adrenaline gauge as high as possible and burst it. You do this by high speeds, drifting, passing in between cars, etc.[/p][p][/p]
[p]How To Vote? - To vote for the mission, follow the link below. Voting will end August 4, 2025 at 12am CEST! We will be posting the results in the August Solar Club letter which will come in the following week or so after! [/p][p]VOTE HERE![/p][p] As usual, you will be able to find other features and quality of life improvements along with bug fixes arriving in the Season. More details will arrive closer to the release of the Season![/p][p][/p]
🏁 Season 7
[p]Season 7 will bring a large improvement to how the gameplay loop will be performed and a vast improvement to the matchmaking system in TDUSC. Let’s go into all the details about Season 7’s features now! [/p][p]Enhanced Live Events & Solar Pass - Although it sounds small, it's really important we change our Live Event and Solar Pass dynamics. We have to change that because on the Solar Pass side, it's about the grinding part that is problematic. With Live Events, the problem is that all the content is centered around racing. So we have two problems here, and we want to change that. For Live Events, we want to create other ways to complete them by adding different challenges by playing with the car of the event like we do for the race, but apply it to some other features in the game. For the Solar Pass, finding a way to stop the repeated grind for the content, and then raise the income of the Solar Pass, although we already did this in Season 4. This feature and what it entails is still in the game design stage, so we can’t give you all the details, so stay tuned for further communications about this feature for more information.[/p][p][/p][p]Official Racing Center - The Official Racing Center is going to be very important to the launch of Season 7 and the community playing TDUSC. This walkable interior space located at the Hong Kong Island racetrack known as the Hippodrome, will allow players to load into a playlist. You will be able to boot into ranked, or unranked races here. We are working on another feature to come with the ORC, which we are going to keep a secret for now, but as we get closer to the season, we’ll be sure to tell you! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/04ca627fec3dbbb22e31b790313292ecc163ebde.jpg"][/p][p]As usual, you will be able to find other features and quality of life improvements along with bug fixes arriving in the Season. More details will arrive closer to the release of the Season! [/p]
🏠 Season 8
[p]The big one, houses! As expected, the principle is that players, in addition to buying cars, will be able to buy houses, and obviously, houses that are bigger and bigger are more and more expensive. Above all, the house ultimately becomes a bit like your headquarters. Compared to past TDU games, we really went all in on this, so let’s take a look at all the details! [/p][p]Houses - In TDU SC, we're still going to keep some things from TDU2. For example, you'll have to buy your house from a real estate agency that is walkable of course. So you drive over to the real estate agency, look at the listings, and then buy your house, but this is where we take real estate to a whole different level compared to TDU2. The customisation part. When a player buys the house, it will be empty and the player will have to customize their house by placing furniture. So, the customization won't be the same for everyone and they can place the different objects anywhere. The goal is to have spots in certain places where they can place these objects, however, the goal is to still be able to control the area limits so that players can still move inside. [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/b9ccd3b8896a405d56ec54071e8d7d10e4a0a706.jpg"][TAG-710][/p][p]The same goes for other areas of the housing. It's the walls that are white, and that's it, so it is now up to you to choose the décor for the walls, the floors, and then place the furniture you want to see in your house. This means friends who may have bought the same house in the same place will have a completely different house. So it makes even more sense to go visit the houses of your friends. [/p][p]We aren’t going to stop there though. The goal is that we want to extend this customisation feature to the garden, although this specific garden customisation feature may not arrive on day one of housing.[/p][p][/p][p]Regardless, we really give the impression that you have something unique in your house. The other part is, of course, the garages because when we talk about TDU houses, we're obviously talking about garages. Similarly, having a small house, it's a small garage, having a medium house, it's a medium garage, having a large house, it's a very large garage, and then you can take pictures in it, show them to other players, so you can really expect what you got in TDU2, but a lot more! It is also the reason we are taking a long time to develop the housing feature in TDUSC.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/ae9b518fbd906cb93e925330cb4a7366fcdd3dea.jpg"][/p][p]Another thing coming with housing in Season 8 is that you can finally be able to do things with your friends, more than what we could do before in TDU2. Depending on the size of the house, you will have the opportunity to see the cars of our friends at the house on your driveway![/p][p][/p][p]To further this feature and the immersion, while we continue to develop the houses, players will already be able to see the map evolve a little and see where we'll build the different houses. This is taking a page from TDU2’s book where before the arrival of new locations we would discover places under construction with cranes, players will be able to see them [/p][p]The principle is that houses arrive in the game and that will encourage players to even re-explore the island a little, so they can discover where the houses will arrive and then when they want to buy them. That is everything you need to know about Season 8’s houses so far, and we can’t wait for the TDU community to have fun with this feature when it releases, and we truly appreciate your patience as we work hard to bring you the best houses ever! [/p][p]As usual, you will be able to find other features and quality of life improvements along with bug fixes arriving in the Season. More details will arrive closer to the release of the Season![/p][p][/p]
✍️ New Brands
[p]We are bringing many new car brands into TDUSC for Year 2! Let’s quickly recap what those brands are![/p]
[p]Pagani[/p]
[p]DeTomaso[/p]
[p]Mitsubishi[/p]
[p]Mazda[/p]
[p]Puma[/p]
[p]Michelin[/p]
[p]& more…[/p][p][/p]
[p]We have also confirmed 2 new vehicles which will be arriving in Season 5. The DeTomaso P72, and the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera! [/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/cadb11518eec866e213168bdd437b4fe75e191c7.jpg"][/p]
🔮 Beyond
[p]Of course we won’t stop there. We have many plans to exceed what the TDU franchise offered to players previously, and we hope you enjoy this exciting ride ahead for TDUSC’s future improvements. We are thinking about many things to come into TDUSC after Year 2. From bikes, to yachts, and much more. Continue to leave your feedback on our social media as we grow TDUSC further, and further! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/5a0a76ab8d5552024a8b152f5aabe0518af7468b.jpg"][/p]
❤️ Our Final Message
[p]We look forward to seeing you experience Season 4 on July 23 with the patch notes arriving the day before. See you in another Solar Club Letter in the future, and we thank the community once again, for your continued support! See you soon…[/p]
Watch Our Season 4 and Year 2 Roadmap Reveal Tomorrow!
[p]Hello TDU fans, [/p][p][/p][p]Tomorrow we showcase to the world our next steps over the next 12 months to bring the Test Drive Unlimited franchise passion back into the hearts of many! Below is the link to the YouTube premiere! The video will be in 4K, however due to YouTubes premiere feature, the video will be 1080p during the premiere. Please refresh the page after the premiere ends to see the video playback in 4K![/p][p][/p][p][/p]
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
[p]Time Zones[/p]
[p]Quick Tease[/p]
[p]Giveaway Details[/p]
[p]Season 4 Patch Notes Release [/p][p][/p]
⌚ Time Zones
[p]Those of you who may not be using the CEST time zone, please use this time zone guide below to know when you can catch the live premiere of the future of TDUSC![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7b7dcb752755517e976e26aee7b7971e55d54e63.png"][/p]
❗Quick Tease
[p]As a bonus, here is the tease posted on the official Nacon Racing social pages! Even then, we have a lot of surprises in store for you during the developer documentary! [/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/6f56d053c64a83ad4ac5faa6596f67254dadd5b7.png"][/p]
🏆 Giveaway Details
[p]Don’t forget, during the premiere, head over to our Discord at discord.gg/testdrive and discuss with other community members for a chance to win the following:[/p]
[p](2) Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series(must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) Aston Martin Valour(must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) 250,000 Solar Pass XP (must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) 5,000,000 Solar Coins(must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) Gold Edition of TDUSC[/p]
[p](2) Silver Edition of TDUSC[/p]
[p](1) Regular Edition of TDUSC[/p]
[p]We’ll be picking random members and announcing the winners the following day in the Discord! [/p]
🗒️ Season 4 Patch Notes Release
[p]We’ll be releasing the patch notes for Season 4 July 22 at 6pm CEST, and as usual, you’ll be able to find a ‘future improvement’ section of the patch notes to address some confirmed fixes arriving in the mid-season update which is set to release late-August. [/p]
❤️ Our Final Message
[p]We look forward to seeing you experience the future of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown during tomorrow's developer documentary! See you soon![/p]
Season 4 and Year 2 Developer Documentary Date Announcement!
[p]In 10 days, you will learn everything that is coming in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’s future in a dedicated ‘Behind the Scenes’ documentary! You’ll be able to find the ‘Behind the Scenes: The Future of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’ documentary streamed on our Nacon Racing YouTube. Subscribe now to make sure you don’t miss it![/p][p]Nacon Racing YouTube[/p][p][/p]
WHAT’S INSIDE THE LETTER?
[p]When?[/p]
[p]10 Day Countdown Details[/p]
[p]First Tease[/p]
[p]Season 4 Release Date[/p]
[p]Casino Cashback Confirmation[/p]
[p]Season 5 and Year 2 Car Reveal Tease[/p]
[p]Community Highlight Series[/p][p][/p]
📅 When?
[p]As mentioned above, the ‘Behind the Scenes: The Future of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’ documentary will be streamed on the Nacon Racing YouTube in 4K on July 21st, 2025 at 6pm CEST. To see what time that is in your timezone, we already have you covered! Check the graphic below for your timezone![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/c68a3d4ff15228fde7c5beab3407e9c168ac5495.png"][/p][p]Also, we will be giving away some stuff during the livestream to give thanks to our community! During the event, we will be choosing some players to win:[/p]
[p](2) Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series(must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) Aston Martin Valour(must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) 250,000 Solar Pass XP (must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) 5,000,000 Solar Coins(must already own TDUSC)[/p]
[p](2) Gold Edition of TDUSC[/p]
[p](2) Silver Edition of TDUSC[/p]
[p](1) Regular Edition of TDUSC[/p]
[p]These will be given out at the launch of Season 4 in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown! To have a chance at winning, please join our Discord at discord.gg/testdrive and we will be announcing the winners after the ‘Behind the Scenes: The Future of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’ documentary ends![/p][p][/p]
⏲️ 10 Day Countdown Details
[p]Over the next 10 days, you will be learning more about what’s to come in the documentary. Follow our TDUSC and Nacon Racing social media pages to make sure you don’t miss out on it. Each day, we will be teasing gameplay of the Casino, showing what’s coming in Season 5 and much more before the release of the developer documentary.[/p][p][/p]
📰 First Tease
[p]Our first tease is a large one! Take a look at our Year 2 roadmap, with some hidden and blurred material! Can you guess each Season?[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/d1aa423b1fded2113964e008a379be4eb5c6358b.png"][/p][p]Each Season in Year 2 will also feature other Quality of Life improvements and other features which we will cover in the developer documentary. Even then, we weren’t able to cover it all and we will continue to be more thorough in the upcoming Solar Club Letters, so stay tuned![/p][p] [/p]
🎰 Season 4 Release Date
[p]The release of Season 4 is still set to release in the following week after the release of the developer documentary with an exact date being given next week! The mid-season update which brings the second slot machine, poker, and more bug fixes and improvements will arrive at the end of August. We’ll be providing more details on this in the August Solar Club Letter.[/p][p][/p]
🃏 Casino Cashback Confirmation
[p]Some good news for Casino fans! We can confirm the ability to cashback your Casino Chips to Solar Coins should be arriving in the Season 4 Mid-Season update, just in time to get your earnings from playing Poker with friends or the high payout slot machine![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/8be1e194a0e4446f22b2ad5431ccb9789c20b04f.png"] [/p]
🚗 Season 5 and Year 2 Car Reveal Tease
[p]It’s not a new letter without a tease! Season 5 is the next Season arriving after the Casino in Season 4. It’s early, but we’d like to announce one of the first cars that will be arriving in Season 5, so say hello to the first right-hand drive vehicle – and not the last, coming to Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera![/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/cadb11518eec866e213168bdd437b4fe75e191c7.jpg"][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/5c688681103f91e629a2888e1d93300af3a1063c.jpg"][/p][p]As we mentioned in the last letter, you can expect many new brands to arrive in TDUSC’s Year 2, well good news, one of the first new brands arrives in Season 5! You will learn about what vehicle it is in the upcoming developer documentary, but you’ll see it teased during the 7 day countdown too! [/p][p]Also coming In Year 2, a Season dedicated to Asian vehicles, with 2 new brands arriving![/p][p][/p][p]Throughout Year 2, you’ll see some exciting vehicles revealed that have been highly requested from players, with some not seen in open-world racing games before. We have plans to continue this beyond Year 2 by using your feedback.[/p][p][/p]
🖼️ Community Highlight Series
[p]As usual, it’s time to show the two winners of this letters community highlight series!
[img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/7ae17999dc1a0d76b8e3e9845ac79560d0eb60d2.jpg"][TAG-206][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/38247908/32f10babd60b97146e475c1d4d3328b9e796576f.jpg"][TAG-208][/p][p]Congrats to DIMONEYMAN and ItsGuarav_1 for winning! Head over to our Discord and share your photo in the TDUSC-PHOTOS channel for a chance to appear next time! We will also start involving in-game rewards to the winners of the series![/p][p][/p]
Our Final Message
[p]We are finally happy to reveal the date of our upcoming developer documentary for TDUSC! Don’t forget, you’ll be able to find the S4/Y2 documentary released on our Nacon Racing YouTube. Follow now to make sure you don’t miss it![/p][p]Nacon Racing YouTube[/p]
