Quote from JTbo :

This video shows tyre deformation of low profile performance tyre, I think most tires should deform more in LFS as profile is higher, but judge by yourselfs.

Another important factor in this video is that the tyres are stretched over a wide rim, which stiffens the sidewalls up a lot to improve things for drifting. The combination of this and the low profile means they will not flex a lot...

Quote from Sticky-Micky :

swain drift is the best IMO

I like this one a lot too. I also like drifting on circuits at higher speeds, but I probably enjoy drifting on layouts in the autox area most.

To be honest, I am not hugely smitten by either. I have never been a big fan of the Maserati. I absolutely loved the DB9 when it first came out, and whenever I see it in the skin, it does remind me how pretty it is. But, and I can't put my finger on it, there is just something about the DB9 that I am not hugely keen on. Sometimes I'll see a pic of it and it just looks perfect, other times I don't love it so much. It just doesn't make me melt every time I see it, like some of my absolute favourites.

Yeah, $55 seems like quite a lot, but most PS & Xbox games are $50-70 these days. And I've spent more time on LFS than all my PS games combined

Interesting. Yeah, I've tried selecting from the list and also choosing "other" and browsing for the LFS.exe, with no success so far.

Patussay, that's interesting. I don't understand how that would make it work, but if you say it's worked for you then it's worth a try.

Edit: I created a file "LFS S2.exe" in my LFS folder, as suggested by Patussay, and sure enough once I set the files to open with that, they're working. Thanks for the tip. I wonder if this is required due to a change in how things are done with the last patch?

Last edited by Michael Denham, Fri 2 Feb 2007, 16:49.

I have just tried the File Associator, and it appears to work, as in it shows the LFS icon on the file types I selecetd. But when I double click the file, I still get the error box saying this is not a valid Win32 application. I check in LFS, but the file has not been copied. Hmm. Anyone else experienced this?

Thanks.

Do I mind when someone joins midrace, keeping out of the way of others who are racing? No.

Do I mind when someone pulls out of the pits infront of the action, holds people up and then tries to race people who are several laps into their race already? Yes.

Generally I don't find it a problem, people are usually pretty respectful. Now and then though, it can be really annoying!

This isn't directly relating to your comments about sense of speed, but one reason sense of speed feels lower in LFS is that on a circuit (compared to the street), there is a lot more space, decreasing the sense of speed. I know you're talking about how the car feels when you're going quickly, but this is another important thing to look at regarding sense of speed.

Yeah, in the past I've not needed to use this program, I've just been able to select LFS from the list of programs to 'open with', and this has worked. For some reason I've not managed to get this working lately. I guess it's a problem with my PC as I doubt anything has changed in LFS that would have any impact on this.

Thanks, I will give that a go later.

Yeah, so it means you don't drive on it. But what's wrong with other people liking the oval? Obviously people do. I find nascar a snoozefest but I don't try and tell the people who watch it they're wrong for enjoying it. Good for them. I wish I enjoyed it, then I'd have something to watch 95% of the time on Speed channel. Anyway, I don't see the point in telling people they're wrong for liking something. It's all subjective...

I remember a while back, there was the fantastic little feature where if you double clicked on a replay (while on your desktop, not in LFS itself), it would open LFS and play the replay. When you did the same thing with a setup, it would copy the setup to your 'settings' folder in LFS.

Lately, when trying to do either of these, I have run into problems. I have tried setting 'open with...' to LFS, and this appears to have worked. However, the icon on the file does not change to the LFS icon, and when I click on the file (whether it's a replay or setup) it brings up an error box saying the file is not a valid Win32 application. Also, when I click on the file properties, at the bottom, under security, it says 'This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer'. When I click 'unblock', it doesn't make a difference.

I hope this helps and someone is able to give me some advice on this, as it's a fantastic feature, and I hope I can get it working again!

Thanks.

Quote from BrandonAGr :

I wouldn't want to ride on something like that where one programming glitch and it can smash you into the ground and kill you.

Yeah, or a hydraulics failure or any number of potential things like that...

Interesting post Niels, thanks for the input. Although I wasn't hugely fast at GPL (8:07 at the 'Ring), I had no troubles without FF. I agree the DFP is slow and heavy when you're trying to turn the wheel quickly. For the most part though I find it alright. Hopefully one day we'll have the speed and precision of a decent non-FF wheel with FF.

I think the FF discussion is an interesting one. I raced GPL from when it came out without FF, and LFS from when it came out without FF. The first time I used FF was maybe 2 years ago. Since then I got a DFP, and I'm not sure I am any faster than I was without FF, but I do feel more involved and I enjoy it more. I am probably more consistent too. I do agree though that you can be just as fast without FF.

I had been following the track usage for a while, noticed last week I think that Blackwood went past the oval. Kind of nice to see Another one I've been keeping an eye on is the LX4 vs LX6 use. LX6 was about 20,000 laps behind the LX4 for a long time, then it got a lot closer quickly, now the gap has spread further, and the XRG jumped above the LX6 also.

Even the was not enough to save you from having to explain your post! Ah well.

This problem is a lot more common than you'd think, but a lot of guys are shy in stepping forward and speaking to someone about it. So good on you, Notanillusion, for posting this. Hopefully it will raise awareness and more people will feel happy getting help.

Quote from JamesF1 :

this was originally intended to prevent premature detonations.

Thanks, I had been looking for ways to prevent premature detonation. Perhaps this will be my answer.

Quote from dropin_biking :

Some Vtecs, some inline 6's (Supra style) Maybe some rotarys. It would also be nice to see some v12 sports car style engines.
~Bryan~

I agree, Vtec would be nice. I also think a few more larger, normally aspirated road car engines would be welcome, as we are quite heavily focused on small high-revving units or turbo'd engines right now.

Don't feel bad, I've been playing since the first demo came out, August 2002, and I only found out how to add colours last month!

Quote from Vain :

Exactly that's what I mean. You can digitally learn which line to drive. But you shouldn't learn where it's safe to brake or where you can accelerate. Real life will be different from that.

Vain

Yeah, of course you need to understand the limits of using a game to learn a track....but as long as you just focus on learning the track and the lines, I don't see what's wrong with putting a lot of time in on a game like GT.

Quote from Vain :

My personal tip:
Don't "learn" it with a videogame. Use onboard-footage to memorize the corners. Drive it with some sim once or twice to see wether you remember everything well, but don't burn down 20 laps in any simulator, it'll hurt your perception because of the deficiencies of the game.
For onboard-footage: www.renn.tv

Vain

I think if it's not a very good representation of the track, this would definitely be true. But I learned the lines of the current day circuit on GT4, and did a lot of laps, comparing lines to those in videos. I found in GT4, my lines were very close to in the videos I've seen, and the lines I observed experienced drivers do when I visited.

I think the problems come when people who play GT4 go there and expect to match their video game laptimes There are some variations between the GT4 track and real life, but on the whole it's very close and good enough to learn reasonable lines to get around on your first go there.

I learned it on GT4 before going there a couple of years ago. I had played it a lot on GPL but with the more accurate, present-day version on GT4, I was able to really get some of the lines down. I also spent a lot of time watching on board videos.

As for your doubt that it will help... it definitely will help in my opinion. You should have a reasonable idea of the line and a good idea of where the track goes when you get there. This means you can focus more on motorbikes and quick cars flying up in your mirrors, and on changing conditions on the track, etc.

Whatever you do though, take it easy when you get there. You should have an idea of the line, but the individual bumps aren't all accurate in GT4, and some of them will have a much bigger effect on your car in real life, the tarmac is a lot more slippery in some places than others, and in the morning, shaded areas may be frosty, etc. There is always the chance of coming round a corner to an accident as well (we saw one pretty much every lap).

If you're sensible though, you'll be fine! And knowing the track a bit makes it a lot more fun. We were driving a 1.8 litre Mercedes convertible rental (best they could give us...) and we went past 911s, Impreza STis, Escort Cosworths and Focus RSs quite often because we knew where we were going and a lot of people didn't...

Yeah, providing you're smooth with something like the DFP or G25, you shouldn't need to do as much correction. I have the force fairly low on the DFP, and I don't really have any problems correcting quickly enough. It's not perfect, and the FF can be notchy when it weights up, but for all intents and purposes it does the trick pretty nicely. I bought mine new and my Dad bought a reconditioned DFP off ebay, and interestingly, his feels smoother than mine. It's not gone wrong in the year he's had it either. Mine has been fine for the two years I've had it, too...