Test Drive Unlimited Interview (con't)

FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the storyline for the game?

Ahmed Boukhelifa: I already gave you some hints before. We wanted to recreate the perfect car fan fantasy. The story’s build around that: you fly to Hawaii, land at Honolulu airport. Rent your car, go to realtor and car dealers to buy your first house and car… and you’re set to live the life. Explore the island and enter offline challenges to progress through the solo mode – and meet hitch hikers and shoping girls, or wealthy owners who’ll ask you to transport their expensive ride - or go straight for online face-off in instant challenges and online lobbies. Or maybe you’d rather just hit the road and make the big car dealer tour…


FiringSquad: We have heard there is a sort of MMO style of gameplay design to Test Drive Unlimited. Can you go into more detail on that?

Ahmed Boukhelifa: Test Drive Unlimited is going to be the first Massively Online Open Road (M.O.O.R.) racing title. What that means is that an unlimited number of players can drive around the island of Oahu at the same time, although you will only see eight cars on the screen at any one time. You will have the option to create clubs (guilds) and invite your friends to join. There will be various meeting spots, like diners, around the island where players can meet up and chat or arrange races. When free-roaming the island, if players that meet your skill level or preferences are nearby, you will be alerted and you can race them on the fly if you wish. You can also trade cars with other players online, arrange your own races with your own specific rules and meet new friends and rivals. The M.O.O.R. aspect of Test Drive Unlimited is one of the title’s major drawing points and is shaping up to be something very new and exciting.

FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the vehicle line up in the game?

Ahmed Boukhelifa: Test Drive Unlimited will feature more than 125 licensed vehicles from some exclusive manufacturers like Aston Martin and Lamborghini. The vehicle lineup will feature some classic cars, some current models, some concept cars and some vehicle models that have yet to be released. Vehicle types range from stylish sports cars to raw power supercars. In short, Test Drive Unlimited’s vehicle lineup aims to have something for everyone. And as an added touch, all vehicles will be fully customizable with parts that come straight out of each manufacturer’s official catalogues. Not all vehicles will be included at first, we plan to add more cars later.


FiringSquad: How will the car physics be handled for Test Drive Unlimited?

Ahmed Boukhelifa: As in most aspects of Test Drive Unlimited, it will be your choice. Do you want to go for that extra second you long for and hit the world series? Then you’d rather remove all helps (like ABS…) – the car handling will be realistic, and therefore more difficult to master, but will allow you to master it perfectly. If you don’t want to go for that extra performance, and just want to hit the road with arcadey pleasure, then increase the help level: gear ratio change won’t be so effective as when you tweak them perfectly, ABS will get your car to drift less… You choose the way you want to play – but remember mastering your car will be necessary if you want to shine in online competitions.


FiringSquad: What will the tracks and settings be like in the game?

Ahmed Boukhelifa: 1000 miles of roads. That’s more than you need to offer the most complete combination of tracks to race on – from highways to coastal road, from downtowns to moutain roads… Choose between game modes (race vs AI or online players, speed, time). Add in many parameters like : do you want traffic, do you want cops, number and distance between checkpoints, penalties for leaving the road or hitting other cars, vehicle category authorized,… You already have hundreds of unique challenges, evry single one offering a new experience. And when you’ve done it all, access the game mode editor and create your own challenges!