Test Drive Unlimited

Test Drive Unlimited

Developers
	Eden Games
Publishers
	Atari
Engines
	Twilight 2
Release dates
Windows	March 16, 2007
Reception
Metacritic	79
IGDB	81
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Open world, Racing
Vehicles	Automobile, Motorcycle, Street racing
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Oceania, Contemporary
Series	Test Drive Unlimited

Test Drive Unlimited
Subseries of Test Drive
Test Drive Unlimited	2006
Test Drive Unlimited 2	2011
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown	2024

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Test Drive Unlimited is an open world racing game in the Test Drive series, and the first entry in the Test Drive Unlimited sub-series. The game allows players to drive a variety of sports cars and motorcycles around a recreation of the Hawaiian island of Oahu that features around 1,000 miles (1,609 km) of roads.

General information

Official website

TDU Mod Shop - Dedicated modding forum

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM v7.30.0015

This game is not available digitally.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Megapack	No longer available for purchase.

Essential improvements

Patches

• 1.66A is the latest official patch (required for 2.00A, along with Megapack)
• 2.00A (fan-made) is the latest unofficial patch to fix some of the game issues that were not addressed by the last official patch

Compatibility patch for the Polish version available here.

Skip intro videos

Instructions
Go to <path-to-game>\Euro\Video. Delete or rename Atari.bik and Bumper_EDEN_TDU.bik.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Test Drive Unlimited\savegame\<user-id>\

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Test Drive Unlimited\savegame\<user-id>\playersave\

Video

Video settings

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Use the -w command line argument. Disables HDR and AA.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 4x MSAA.
High-fidelity upscaling
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Enabled by default. Syncs to a higher number than specified.[citation needed]
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Exceeding 90 FPS introduces traffic bugs. Set monitor refresh rate to 60 Hz to fix; see Weird traffic behavior.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.

Input

Control settings with Xbox 360 controller settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Keyboard must be used to initially map the controls.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers

Tracked motion controllers

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		DInput only.
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Default audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 5.0.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Korean				Language file is in the sound folder, but unselectable during installation or in-game.
Polish				Polish retail release only, later re-releases only use Polish subtitles with English voiceovers.
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation; download.
Russian				Localization by Akella
Spanish

Adding custom music

MP3 and WAV (44100 Hz 16-bit PCM) formats are supported. M3U files can also be used.

Windows shortcuts can be used for the desired music.

Adding custom Radio Stations
Go to the configuration file location. Open or create the Radio folder. Create a new folder within Radio. Its name will be the name of the custom radio station. Add desired music files to this new folder. Notes Up to 4 folders can be created within Radio, with 32 files in each. Each folder appears in-game as a separate radio station. The game will display the file name when playing the track.

Add to existing radio stations

Go to <path-to-game>\Euro\Radio. Add music files to the desired radio station folder. Go to <path-to-game>\Euro\Bnk\Sound\Radio. Open <NAME OF RADIO STATION>.station with any text editor. Add the file name, artist, and track name to the file in the same format as the existing tracks. Save and close the file. Notes The game will display the song artist and track name as defined in the <NAME OF RADIO STATION>.station file.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play		8	The official GameSpy service has been shut down on September 29, 2012 use Project Paradise is required to play online after the shutdown of GameSpy.

Issues unresolved

Game failing to launch on Windows 8 and higher

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3 and as administrator.

Issues fixed

Game freezes during free roam

Delete the dynamic advertising database
Go to %PROGRAMDATA%\Test Drive Unlimited. Delete or rename radial.cdb. Notes radial.cdb is hidden by default. To view it, be sure both hidden files and system files are shown.

Crash on Windows 10

Disable display scaling on high DPI settings in <path-to-game>\TestDriveUnlimited.exe

Weird traffic behavior

Exceeding 90 FPS introduces traffic bugs: invisible cars, weird spawning, very fast line changes or stopping when the player's car is near.

Limit the frame rate to 90 FPS with the proper tools

Set monitor refresh rate to 60 Hz

Map event information is not being displayed and is replaced with grey box when using a controller

Unbind the map controls for the controller in the controls settings
Go to Controls Settings, Map section. Unbind Up, Down, Left and Right controls for the map.

Installer finishes instantly

The installer in a Polish release of the game fails to launch properly on Windows Vista and newer.

Launch the installer with a Transform file attached.
Download Fixed install scripts. Extract the archive and launch setup.bat. Insert the game DVD and press any key. Navigate to and select the Test Drive Unlimited.msi file on the game disc. Install the game as usual.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Devices
Tobii Eye Tracking		Works with Tobii EyeX tracker or Tobii EyeX 4C and 5 headtracker plugins for FaceTrackNoIR.
TrackIR

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	2.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	Inria Audile
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.8.18.0
Multiplayer	GameSpy	Shut down in 29 September 2012. Project Paradise is required to play online after the shutdown of GameSpy.

Mods

Test Drive Unlimited Platinum

New physics, over 880 vehicles, correct color names, dedicated camera for each vehicle, new weather - HDiR compatible, new map textures and new radio stations.

Optional Russian language.

Additional toolkit.

Incompatible with languages other than English, Russian and Polish (for compatibility with the Polish version, download this file).

Test Drive Unlimited PS2 UI Sounds

Meant to be used with the PS2 menu music.

Test Drive Unlimited PS2 menu themes

Meant to be used with the PS2 UI sounds.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	2000	XP, Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon XP 2800+	Intel Pentium 4 3 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	8 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT ATI Radeon 9800 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	Nvidia GeForce 7600 ATI Radeon X1600 512 MB of VRAM