ONLINE GADABOUT TEST DRIVE !
Unlimited wants to detail Hawaii’s Oahu in Google Earth density, from Waikiki’s white sands and high-rise glitz to the wave-smashed and somewhat seedy North Shore. Such accuracy doesn’t conflict with the demands of designing raceways, says producer Ahmed Boukhelifa: “You don’t need closed circuits to enjoy driving, and we began breaking boundaries in our previos racers, V-Rally and Need for Speed: Porsche lleashed. Plus, this place is the perfect setting.” Island variety—valleys bracketing Koolau’s volcanic spine and one-road-wide communities of run-down housing and rickety storefronts— bears him out. “We have, however, simplified the interstate network in one important respect,” he reveals. “We’ve eliminated annoying dead ends. The remaining 1,000 miles of pavement recreate Oahu’s more pleasurable routes.” Reflecting the postcard-pretty scenery
Turtle-Waxed carbon fiber, TDU’s lineup licenses Aston Martin, Pagani, McLaren, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, and other ultracar manufacturers. “Our cockpit cam, a Test Drive tradition, offers unprecedented detail,” says Boukhelifa, citing the dashboard gauges, working windows, and normal-mapped steering wheels that make a skin-deep difference. “When you want to invest in a vehicle, you drop by the actual dealer and choose a model, along with all the true manufactuner’s options,” he says. “Rims, body and interior colors, materials such as carbon, alcantara, burlwood—you name it, we got it.”
Lifestyle branding takes a backseat only to fahrvergnügen…and barely. According to Boukhelifa, “Test Drive encompasses the entire automotive experience: driving cars, collecting them, cherishing them, gazing at them. We’ve made every design choice with that in mind, and the island offers many places to live the life: clothing shops to pick up apparel for your character, realtors to invest in better houses with bigger garages….” We wonder whether PC players will much mind this less conspicuous consumption (at least to other online players who can’t see your Guccis on the aluminum pedals), but if paper-doll play in detached menus cranks your shaft, then more horsepower to ya.
Instead, player-to-player interaction rides on wheels. “When free-riding online, you can see and chat with the nearest players who fit your preferences (friends list, skill level, and so on),” Boukhelifa says. “Essentially, you’re in an eight-player peer-to-peer session that dynamically and constantly updates as you move.”
Competing against CPU-controlled bots and plugged-in people nets cash and pink slipscapital in an emerging market economy—and Boukhelifa sees trade areas, accessible from your house, as a sort of stock exchange: “You can pick one of the cars you own and make a sell order at the price you wish, and you can also scan all of the cars other players are selling (it’s possible to monitor prices on TDU’s website, too). And even though vehicle dealers vend recent makes and models, less recent rides might be more difficult to track down—in which case, contacting other players about that Aston Martin DB4 Zagato might be the more convenient and cheaper option.” /Shawn Elliott
"ON- AND OFFLINE EXPERIENCES INTEGRATE SEAMLESSLY. EVERYTHING YOU OWN ONLINE CARRIES OVER OFFLINE; EVERYTHING YOU DO OFFLINE COUNTS ONLINE.” —AHMED boukhelifa, producer
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