I’m wondering, what is your experience in Motorsport and Race Sims to call other opinions brabbeling? You base your opinion on some Indoor Karting and LFS 8 lap Sprint Races on Public Servers perhaps?
I have Raced Race-Karts and Formula 2000 cars, which is the FOX, I have also driven small front wheel drive cars like the XF, rearwheel drive BMWs like the XR on Race Tracks, and a Lotus Caterham Super Seven, which is the LX4 in LFS but this one „only“ on Public Roads and not on the limit. In August I will have Testdrives in a Formula 3000 car which is kind of like the F08 in LFS, so thats another car I can compare from real life to the Sim, and I cant see anything brabbeling what Richard said. My thoughts are the cars in LFS give a good impression Physics wise, but the Formula cars are to easy to drift, they are to forgiveable over the limit. That doesnt mean bad Physics but room for improvement. I had quite some side-aways moments in Formula cars, I would not call it „drifting“, more like snap-Oversteer moments, or fishtailing experience. The degree at which you can put the LFS FOX sideaways without problems is overdone, the car got to much grip, thats why some people corner entries look very unnatural but it is still fast. For example, the 90 degree right hand corner after the long straight in Blackwood is sometimes driven at extreme angles without problems, some people drive the FOX like a Go Kart, putting it way to much sideways before the turn and going understeering threw it, but it is still fast and they rarely lose it. The car allows to much on and over the Grip limit.
It is also annoying that one can brake hard on the curbs and drive over them completely like they are not curbs but normal Road asphalt. Riding over the curbs like we do in LFS should upset the car as there is alot less Grip on the curbs, the energy the springs have to absorb as you go over the curbs are undermodelled. I’m not quite sure were the Grip comes from that allows for the drift angles in the Formula cars, I got the feeling like the weight transfer is modelled to low and the tyres Grip slip curve drops to slowly and late, which allows for to much sideaways driving. Overall I think LFS is of course a superb Sim with a great Physic Engine, and also the Formula cars are quite nice that could get some improvements.
You should have been more precise with the Options.
Under "NASCAR", alot of people think you might mean the EA Sports "NASCAR" Game, but others might think you mean the "NASCAR" Racing Simulation by Papyrus which is still used today from Professionell NASCAR drivers as a Training Tool.
A LFS World Record driver a 'console graphics whore' *lol*
Richard Towler rules guys! I'm a Fan of him
Richard, is it true that you left the VR Racing League, were you led the Championship standings, to go and live in Hull? And is it really the worst place to live in the UK?
The way NASCAR Racing 2003 Season got so expensive was awkward.
Awkward in a sense that a Software gets more expensive over time.
The way it happened was that one year after its release Vivendi who owned Papyrus lost the NASCAR license to EA Sports.
So from 2004 onwards Papyrus/Vivendi was not allowed to sell NASCAR Racing 2003, and EA Sports kept bringing out NASCAR games that truly sucked. Even the Arcade Mode in NR2003 is better.
Anyhow, due to its popularity, NASCAR Racing 2003 by Papyurs was still selled on ebay and other such places.
The demand for the Sim kept high and rose, while there were no more new copies to buy, that way NASCAR Racing 2003 kept on getting more expensive threw the years.
They were alot of people buying NASCAR Racing 2003 at the end of 2003 for bargain price like 5 Dollars, to be years later selled at ebay for 150 Dollars and above.
Papyrus, the creator of it, who selled it for 40 Dollars at the Release, went bankrupt with Vivendi.
By the way Richard Burns Rally is the best Rally Sim, anyone with only a slight interest in Rally should get it as soon as possible.
Okay, but dont be scared of the price, it doesnt get sold anymore in shops, and anyone who got it doesnt want to sell it it seems, so Prices for NR2003 at ebay are around 100 - 200 Dollars, but it is well worth the money, I have bought two copies just to be on the safe side , 4 and a half years old and still very popular online and still beeing used as a Training Tool for some real NASCAR drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. got his own League for example.
Do also check out these Mods:
NASCAR Grand National Cars
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks
NASCAR Cup 1970
Open Wheel Mod
Grand Touring Car Mod
GTP Mod
You can also get a nice Magny Cours and Spa.
The good thing is, the move to go from LFS to a Papyrus Sim and / or back, goes rather comfortably and fast, thats because both Sims are excellent in Physics so it doesnt take much time to adapt.
Richard is one of the best Sim Racing drivers in the World, having won the NASCAR ESCORS BallRacing Championship, and dominated numerous other Simulations and leagues.
He is on a level with Greger Huttu and the likes. He is also the guy in this very nice LFS World Record Video
You will find 300 people Racing NASCAR Racing 2003 at the best of times..US Prime Time, there are about 400 - 500 rFactor Racers every other day..... 50 GPL Racers............... and a WHOPPING 1000 Players in LFS.
'nuff said
I agree I should have put the first post into the LFS News Thread, if any Moderator wants to move it, feel free to do so
Members of the German Sim Racing Club (Virtual Racing) have helped making a 4 Pages Report about LFS in eGames.
eGames is a PC Games Magazine which can be bought in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Thanks to Hans Hanraths, Michael Wieczorek, Conrad Wegener for making it happen. It is an overlall very good Report, only some errors have made thereway into print, like Screenshots in low resolution and without Anti Aliasing, a sentence said the LFS Demo only got one car instead of three, and one sentence gave the impression that only few people Race LFS, while infact it is the most popular Online Racing Simulation in the World. But besides of that its a nice read, so look for the eGames Magazine if you can get hold of it.
You do not mean me and my original question about the planned LFS development?
I'm not critisizing or questioning the way LFS is developed, I just asked what the development Path is. It's just a normal question.
For me LFS S1 was a good Sim already by itself, LFS S2 improved so much of S1 its like a whole second Product, so its like "LFS 2" for me.
Nobody bashed Geoff Crammond when he created GP2 as a follower of GP1, and LFS S2 is like the following Sim to LFS S1 to me so I have no problem here.
S2 Alpha Patch 0,5 V6 or whatever it is called were we are now, is already a more finished Sim with more content and features than alot of other "finished" Sims.
Welcome to the most popular Online Racing Simulation in the World with thousand drivers Online Racing every day.
You should also look for a league, that adds alot to the fun and experience in Sim Racing.
By the way you should also check out LFS World, its a driver database, statistics archive, hotlaps storing site, really alot of stuff is there, it's something every Sim should have. Every Lap you do online will be recorded there. Dont hesitate asking any questions and have a nice Ride
So, as far as I know, LFS S1 was released in July 2003. S2 Alpha was released in June 2005. At the moment we have LFS S2 Alpha Patch V6.
We progressed from Patch S2 Alpha Vers. 0,5 ? "W" some weeks before, so the letters give a little indication of the progress. I'm wondering will we have reached S2 beta when were at Patch Z? Or do the letters of the Patches stand for something else?
Do not turn this into a LFS Development is right/wrong discussion, I'm just asking to know how the development path looks like
I know Hundreds of NASCAR Fans Online for years, and I have NEVER EVER seen a Oval Fan bashing Road Racing. But I have seen countless times some foolish Road Racing Fans thinking Oval Racing doesnt demand any skill, is easy, boring and just bash it altogether.
Thats why the question was raised.
Well of course you can find people from both sides that fit both descriptions :rolleyes:
But most NASCAR Fans do also follow Road Racing, even NASCAR itself has Road Racing, while alot (that doesnt mean all or close to all) Road Racing Fans especially in Europe do not follow Oval Racing, infact alot of them are F1-only watchers.
"A serious simulator obviously requires a very good physics simulation to provide the thrill and fun of real racing. This is done by simulating all aspects that are important to racing. LFS S2 is the second step towards our vision of what the sim must become and already does a very good job in simulating real racing."