On servers with this kind of behaviour, its good to have your mirrors setup well, and pay close attantion to them... you can usually spot if an idiot decides not to brake, don't corner as close to your limits in these situations so you can easily avoid the fool and watch him fly past you (hopefully not taking out too many other racers). Also when you know who's being an idiot, you can check where ther are in relation to you, and decide better where to position yourself at T1 entry for maximum safety (remember that any drivers he shunts are as dangerous as he is). I guess it's all about awareness, and in T1 it's as much about what's behind and beside as about whats in fromt
On Topic now:
I'm another driver who spends quite a bit of my racing time on demo servers... Often I can't find a populated S2 server running a combo I like, and one I do like is XRT BL1, so demo is good for a quick race or 10...
My personal feeling is that the quality of racing and the ammount of wrecking is pretty much as it was in the early days... maybe the first year or so '02 - '03, things were better as the community was so much smaller, but in my experience, it hasn't changed much since then...
still can get some good racing in demo or in S2 :-D
imo the folks who should get most respect are the ones who race hard but fair and are always courteous to others (including noobs!). There are too many (still a minority though) of very fast drivers who only respect other fast drivers... these guys don't deserve respect however fast they are !!
Mine are getting long in the tooth - long term memory is fading and they have begun to show signs of AD (artificial dementia)... I hope I can retire them soon and bring in a new team of better trained AIs who are up to date with the latest racing technology and rules... those old timers just can't cut it in the modern world of tyre temps, pit stops and aero...
Yep, whatever you do or say on the internet, there's always at least one picky nob shouting you down... like for example if you suggest that real life tracks would be cool in LFS...
Yep, I guess the only viable option for small sim developers (other than unlicenced community mods) is to do some sort of deal to provide a custom version of the game for the track owners to use at events as some sort of barter/exchange.
Another problem that may already exist, but if not, will surely happen soon is that console developers will buy exclusive rights to certain tracks - in that case it wouldn't matter if you could get the cash together...
How do YOU know what they have or have not been working on? let's have some evidence.
...
Yes people fail to see the big picture, but what annoys me is that they continue to refuse to see it even when it is explained over and over again. (Although there seem to be many times more people who do understand and are willing to be patient than there are complaining about the dev process or the devs workrate)
What hype did the Devs present about S2 alpha that S2 alpha has not lived up to ?
lol we get loads of updates, and compatible patches - Scawen has explained that he is working on non-compatible code but that when he codes something that can be added to a compatible test patch he does so... He has also mentioned that Eric is working on content for future non-compatible versions.
I'm sure Eric is working hard, and I think your insinuations are totally out of order - Anyway, why should they change the way they work to suit you ? They are developing a very good piece of software - it's already the best available, why would they change anything in their approach... if it aint broke, don't fix it...
(and if you think it is broke, you certainly havn't provided any justification for that belief or proof to back it up)
i wasn't trying to be ignorant, i was just pointing out that as you get older, yes you look at that particular aspect, but there are only a few elders who actually "game"
thats what i was trying to point out
No worries, I just know that the demographic for sim racing is somewhat different.
And I know many 'elders' who game - the thing is that they are too intelligent to waste their money buying the same game over and over again with slightly different content... so the corporations concentrate on the kids and the gfx card geeks
And it seems that even when folks do grow out of mainstream games, they don't grow out of sim racing... in fact, I would imagine that many gamers are more likely to find sim racing attractive as they get older and start to see things differently and appreciate the depth and value of a really good sim as opposed to the glitz and immediacy of a well produced arcade game.
Personally the only thing outside of Sim Racing that really gets me interested in the gaming world is what Nintendo does - they seem to be the only company that has anything of real value to offer gaming in the long term. They are the only folks willing to take chances and push the envelope.
Yeah that might be true, but I wouldn't put XCNuse into the category of the average 15 year old teen. He's done some pretty amazing 3D work himself. Pretty lame to be denegrating him just because of his age. He's probably more informed and sophisticated in these matters than most of us here.
Maybe you didn't notice but XCNuse brought the issue of age into this discussion himself - he seemed to be implying that because he is 18 and the other guy he was disagreeing with is 36 that his and his friends opinions are more valid/important with respect to LFS (and games in general) and its development strategy.... seemed like an ignorant jibe to me
I recently purchased lfs s2 and for some reason my computer won't connect to the master server, i have tried it hundreds of times to unlock s2 and no good
any answers?
Which version of LFS are you running ?
The master server was moved recently, and if you missed that and didn't auto update in time, maybe you need to download an update manually ?
Assuming this is the problem, there was also a thread recently with instructions on how to edit your system to point to the new master server.... but you shouldn't need to do that..
Absolutely, and the average age of the licensed LFS user is 26 IIRC (someone correct me if I'm pulling that out of my rear, but I'm certain I remember hearing that).
Sounds about right...(and thats only becuase the average age of the DorIFTOrz is dragging it down :razz
I did, I thought... hmmm he's basically still a kid, I should cut him some slack now that I understand why he has no awareness of subtlety or quality and no taste.
@rc10, i love LFS, i'm not hating it, but i'm pointing out to the thread starter that LFS hitting the top and being broadcasted everywhere as the greatest game in the world looking as it is.. its just not going to happen, it has no visual appeal, and thats what 90% of the gaming community wants
90% of gamers have no interes in Sims - they want games that are called sims but where you can go round a 90º turn at 100 mph without lifting, let alone braking (ok so thats an exaggeration, but you get my point I'm sure). Remember when GPL came out.. oh of course, you were a bit young then... it had the best graphics of any driving game and the best sound, it was miles better than everything else available, but it was a commercial flop for two reasons:
#1 more than 90% of gamers thought it was way to difficult.
#2 you needed a cutting edge system to get a decent frame rate.
Combine the two and you're talking about probably fewer than 10% of gamers with a cutting edge system... not looking good is it.
So just to be clear - what 90% of the gaming community wants is not relevant to the success of LFS.
Mind you my belief is that 90% of the gaming community would choose a new original and fun game over the same old same old any day of the week... remember when tetris came out ? oops of course not you're to young... did it have cutting edge graphics ? great sound? I think not.. HUGE WORLDWIDE SUCCESS ? sure of course, because it had what > 90% of gamers want and that is a great original concept and addictive gameplay... not wanky graphics effects...
(Remember the first of the Zelda games ? oh wait, you probably don't...
what about the massive success of some text adventure games.. no you won't remember those...)
The difference now is not so much that the gamers don't value original addictive concepts over graphics - it's that the game corporations are not willing to provide any new original ideas, so the only way for a game to distinguish itself is by being a bit glossier than the last one... marketing pushes this, and kids with no sense of history, taste or quality buy into it hook line and sinker... makes me sad
this reminds me of guys who dont want their wives to dress sexy once they get married. some of you sound like you're afraid LFS with better graphics would attract too many newbies. lfs looks okay with the AA and AF on, but it could be alot better.
there's also a similar vibe here to that of when fans of a small band are annoyed by all the new fans that come in when their band makes it big.
---------~~◄Ξ►3 >º ><
Hmm, I can't speak for anyone else, but as I have explained I do think that LFS has got very good graphics.... understated, subtle, low/medium poly, very high quality.
expanding your analogy:
One guy might want his wife to dress up in stockings and suspenders with fishnets and heavy makeup - like a cheap whore.
... while another may like his wife to dress in stylish sophisticated clothes (and under garments that suit her and make her feel good.
LFS has crap models, the cars in LFS have 1/4th the amount of polys cars do in today's gaming generation
Ah, so more polys == better models fewer polys == crap models
RIIIIGHT, I guess you don't really get the arguement for quality over quantity
if you think lfs looks real lol.. you might need to get off whatever you're on
there are no actual effects in LFS at all period.. and thats what make it what i consider.. crappy graphics
So why are effects required for something to look 'real' or 'good' ?
You need to justify your claims that LFS looks crap with a little more than just a poly count !
C'mon lets hear in a bit more detail what it is thats wrong with how it looks - and I don't mean what tech it uses or how many polys it uses - thats not really very important - what is it about the balance of colours or the aesthetics of the car shapes...
To me it seems that in LFS all the objects in my view at any time seem to sit correctly together - they look like they are all part of the same environment. Very few games achieve this to the same level and it has nothing to do with Poly count and fancy custom shader coding. It has to do with an eye for subtlety, a desire for quality and a high level of aesthetic maturity.
thats.. nothing to be proud about in this case... who *seriously* enjoys games these days that look like they were made in the mid 90s.. LFS is one of those games, it gets compared to N64 games graphically, its just.. bottom of the line for what it is currently its just.. not good
You can compare LFS to a C64 if you want - doesn't mean they are the same - to suggest that the graphics in LFS are technically at the same level as N64 games is ridiculous - that said, I would still play LFS more than any other driving game even if it did have N64 graphics !
people want stuff that looks real.. if it looks real.. it appeals to the senses and becomes more realistic in your mind, LFS can't do that because it looks .. like crap
Not to me - In my opinion, LFS looks very good. It doesn't have any of the annoying glossy synthetically shiny crap that so many other games do and I find that refreshing.
I agree that the sound needs work, but I would prefer that dev time was not spent on the graphics when so many other things that are more important to sim racing need attention.
...when it comes to the market, it really is what they call a nasty world, no one cares about computers that can't handle it, look at Test Drive Unlimited for an example, if you dont have a graphics card that is less than 2 years old, chances are you can't really play it, and that is actually pushing it in today's world (and i dont mean pushing it like.. you have to have the best, thats pushing it to where you just want more people to buy it)
My guess is that you are a 'gamer'. In mainstream gaming where there is a very large market, and a lot of customers who want new games to show off their (s)wanky new gfx cards games do need to sport all the fancy glittery bells an whistles.
In the Sim world things are a little different - the potential user base is much smaller, so you cannot afford to lose potential users by demanding a high spec system. Many of the users fall into a different demographic than mainstream gamers - I'm sure there are many LFS racers who don't do much 'gaming' - these folks don't want to have to spend hundreds every year upgrading their PC just to play LFS - which was just fine in the graphics department anyway...
no offense to the devs of course, i fully support them, but a 3 man team.. it takes miracles to hit the top with such a team, most gaming teams have hundreds of programmers and whatnot; this is more of a dream for LFS than i can imagine will ever be a reality
Not miracles but a clear vision, hard work and skill. Remember these guys are industry veterans, they know about the problems that large teams cause so they chose to keep it small scale, they also chose an game genre where quality wins out. (You should go and read up on the team dynamics of software development )
Of course there is the reality that LFS IS SUCCESSFUL despite the fact that it has employed none of the marketing that its competitors use and it eschews cutting edge eye candy in favour of quality simulation. This success suggests that they have got the balance right and that changing things would be a mistake - maybe they understand their project, their users and their potential market better than you do
Ahh......my bad then, I don't think LFS "sucks" per say, it is still the best sim there is, and this I think leads to complacency in it's development.
I don't believe for a second that there is any complacency in the dev team - these guys aren't just doing this for fun, they are doing it to feed, house and cloth their families... they are committed to their project and this community and work very hard.
What some of you seem to be missing is an understanding of software development and creative endevour in general...
When a project is new, a very small effort generates a large percievable change. As things develop, you need more work for a smaller percieved improvement.
As LFS matures, every update needs more work than the last for it to create an 'improvement' rather than just a change. As The simulation gets closer to what it is trying to simulate, it gets harder to notice the improvements, but at the same time it is much more difficult to implement those improvements.
I suppose its a little like learning a new car/track combo - at first your times drop quickly and significantly, but the closer you get to the world record, the more work you need to put in in order to see any improvement.... the final 0.5 of a second down to the world record will take way more time and effort than all the rest...
I guess you guys just need to take a break from LFS ?
Come back in a few months, and you might see it a little differently
That is of course unless you are one of those types who have bought into the 'gotta get the latest video card' mentality where if a game doesn't look better on your new card than it did on your last one then its a crap game
(BTW, I also want to see improvements, new features, improved diff, tyre model, aero etc. However I don't expect to see them until they are ready, and I know they will be ready as soon as they can be and that the devs are working harder than I would want them to towards that goal.)
Don't know a good thing when you see it?
Glass always half empty?
LFS is the best but it sucks because the dev process is too slow ???
LFS is the best because of the dev process !
If a more traditional dev process was used, LFS would be finished and finished with by now - yet another second rate play for a few weeks then bin it video game.
My guess is that rFactor was chosen by Intel because the rFactor producers are more flexible and willing to compromise in order to help out Intel... Scavier would not be willing to allow Intel to have any influence over their plans for the future development of LFS, so the likes of Intel will steer clear if they have an alternative. It's nothing to do with fantasy tracks or content, rather it is to do with politics (with a small 'p') and philosophy.
Another way to put this is:
Scavier are not willing to kiss corporate ass... I guess rFactor don't mind the taste as much