Had the same problem, used the same fix. With the external monitor view disabled, everything runs smoothly. If it's turned on, I get all sorts of hitches in the graphics.
Agreed. I couldn't care less if the new tire physics are EVER done, because I'm pretty satisfied with the tire physics we've currently got. They're not perfect, but they're better than rFactor, nKpro, etc. What peeves me is that we've had virtually no OTHER updates in three years. No new dashes for the cars, no new textures, no new cars, no new tracks, basically nothing for years. I would much rather have seen some new content, ambient air and track temperature changes, better graphics and animations, etc. than two years of "Scawen is working on the tire model. Please hold". I also find it pretty comedic that the current tire physics are good enough for a Formula 1 car, but supposedly not good enough for an econobox grocery getter.
It's great that Scawen is trying to make the most realistic handling simulator on the market, but at what cost? In virtually every other area LFS is falling behind the competition.
I'd gladly trade the upcoming tire physics for a stadium truck and track... or dynamic shadows... or temperature fluctuation... or a rally car and rally stage track... or a hill climb track... or about a million other things that would have much more impact on my enjoyment of the game.
No offense to you personally, but I think that is a total load of crap. There is SO much stuff in LFS that is not even close to perfect, or simply hacked in.
Let's see you stall a car in LFS. Can't do it, because the clutch and engine haven't been modeled to allow stalling.
There's a drag strip, but it doesn't actually allow you to stage or redlight, doesn't have 60-foot times, 1/8 mile times, etc.
There's a big "BLUE FLAG" text when someone is going to pass you, but not a single flag waving marshal on the entire track.
You can plow headlong into a concrete barrier and drive gingerly away with no engine damage, no broken neck, and often without any damage whatsoever to suspension components.
You can pit in any stall you like and your car will be magically fixed in mere moments, regardless of damage.
I could go on for ages. To even pretend that LFS doesn't institute something until it's perfect is, frankly, laughable. Just like everything else listed above, most everyone would rather have a flawed system than nothing at all.
To be honest, I don't really care all that much about racing in the wet. It could be fun, yes, but it's not a big selling point to me. What IS a big selling point is that the track surface changes. Grip changes from lap to lap. Grip is better on the racing line than off it. Weather can be hotter or colder which affects tire selection and engine tuning. THESE are the things I think LFS really needs. My biggest complaint about LFS is that it is always the same. The track never gets hot and never cools off. The ambient temperature never changes. You can't overheat your car if you draft too much. You don't have to worry about preserving your tires from one race to the next because there's always a fresh set of tires waiting for you in the pits.
It's these types of things that truly make for a fun racing experience, to me. Wheel to wheel racing is tons of fun, and even hotlapping is a lot of fun, but it's significantly less fun when nothing ever changes and there are no new factors to deal with. Is KRPs implementation perfect? Probably not. Probably not even close. But it at least adds some flavor to racing and rewards you for staying in the groove and punishes you for getting out of the groove, just like real life. These are areas in which LFS is sorely lacking.
Bumping this old thread since I just found out about this sim yesterday. Haven't even driven it yet, but I downloaded the demo today and hoping to give it a shot tonight after work. What really got me interested were the following videos:
In addition, it has rain and dirt build-up on the driver's visor, limited tire sets (and re-use of old tires), tear-offs (limited in number!), max-ping option for multiplayer, ambient temperature changes, etc.
I can't help but notice that ALL of these things have been requested for LFS, yet this game I've never even heard of has them already, and it's only been around for a year (beta 4 came out at the end of October). Heck, even the vaunted iRacing doesn't have most of this stuff, and it's the "premier" racing sim these days. If the programmer making this sim can stick to it and continue making these sorts of improvements, it looks like this thing could be really, really good in the not too distant future. I'm crossing my fingers that once he gets to a non-beta stage he'll take the engine and all of the features and add in proper cars and bigger tracks (it seems he already has both).
Go on lfsworld and look at the number of racers online for the last few years. The numbers increase around the time of each big patch, then drop off afterwards. So, while some of this is assumption and supposition, it's based upon factual numbers.
I'm sure that this sim is a huge undertaking for just one programmer. But that means nothing if people stop buying licenses. No excuse in the world can make up for not having paying customers.
We still have LFS, and it's still being actively developed, so I think it's reasonable to assume that Scawen, Victor, etc. are making enough money to not have to go back to working for The Man just yet. However, it definitely seems to me that the number of users has fallen, and that the number of new users is almost nil. I suspect that's why there's a sudden push to get the next patch out the door and get people interested again (and likely move on to S3 shortly).
If it ever gets to the point that people are no longer buying licenses, then the devs will either have to change things to attract more users or go back to working "real jobs". I'm sure they would be just as unhappy about working for a big development house again as we would be about LFS development halting.
While your question is valid, it has absolutely no bearing on the situation. A modern automobile is thousands of times more complex than a car from the 60's, but that doesn't mean that Ford can release a new vehicle every 20 years instead of every three and still expect to get customers.
It doesn't matter if LFS is the most complex program ever devised by man if progress is so slow that nobody bothers buying a license. I'm not saying we're at that point yet, as I've got no idea what license sales are like. But my guess is that things are probably rather slow right now, as far as sales are concerned - which might explain the announcement that we'll be moving on from S2 soon.
Of course, this isn't the first time the "LFS is getting stagnant" issue has come up in these forums, and it probably won't be the last. Scavier will do what they do, and as long as they can keep putting food on their tables I don't think they're bothered to much if we think development is slow.
I'm a fan of LFS, as I said, but that doesn't make me any less bored. I also love House, M.D., but I'm not going to rewatch the same eight episodes day after day for four years.
Everyone gets bored eventually, and needs something new to relight their fire. It's pretty obvious that new cars, new tracks, and physics changes do this for LFS. The last major patch (Z) was over a year ago (July '08), and it didn't include new cars, new tracks, or major physics changes. The last time anything of the sort happened was in December of '07 (Patch Y) - almost two years ago. I personally welcomed the physics changes, but couldn't care less about the BMW. The last patch that I remember really, truly being excited about was Patch X in June of '07.
I'm not saying that LFS needs to develop faster (though I think most everyone here would enjoy it if that happened). I'm not saying that the devs owe me (or anyone else) anything. I'm simply saying that I'm bored of LFS. The upcoming physics changes will probably bring me back into the fold for a few months, but without new cars, new tracks, or substantial additions to the race experience, I'm sure I'll be feeling this same way again a year from now.
What's wrong with wanting a new challenge every now and then? Many people have been playing LFS, essentially unchanged, for 4+ years now. Sure, we get a new car or track layout every now and then, but many of them simply aren't appealing. If you don't like F1 (I don't) and you aren't fond of FWD cars (I'm not), then the last new car and the upcoming new car are essentially worthless.
Let's also not forget that laps in LFS are basically always the same. Other than the wind option, there's no real change in the tracks...ever. Go drive a lap on Blackwood with the XRT today. Do it again tomorrow. Do it again a month from now. It's always going to be the same experience. There are no air or track temperature changes, no real reason for tire changes, no formation of a racing line, no marbles, no shadows, no wetness, no oil spills, no tarmac resurfacing, etc. If you manage to stick with a car and track long enough to perfect your technique, then where do you go from there? You can't modify your car or move up to the next league since there are no car modifications in LFS (not necessarily a bad thing, I'm just sayin') and there's no "career" mode or anything like that.
I'm a huge fan of LFS. I think it's the best racing sim on the market, hands-down. But that doesn't mean that it can hold my attention indefinitely. As good as it is, some of us need *something* new to keep our interest. Hell, even banging Christie Brinkley gets old eventually (just ask Billy Joel).
I check this forum at least once a week, and almost daily when test patches are actively being worked on...hoping to see something new and fantastic to suck me back into the game. The new tire physics sound promising, but to be honest, I doubt it will keep me entertained for more than a few weeks. When Forza 3 was previewed at E3 I thought it would completely replace LFS for me, but it seems Turn10 has cocked that up - so I'll probably be back to LFS for at least a little while. But, just like most people, the infatuation will likely be fairly short lived until Scawen and company add something new and cause me to dust off my driving wheel once again.
That really sucks, and is making me reconsider buying the game. The thing I was most looking forward to were spec races and races where in-car and clutch use was enforced. The only way to do this now is through private races. I don't know about everyone else, but the chances of me having 7 friends online at the same time to play is slim to none.
Taking away the option for publicly accessible custom races is a huge, huge mistake on Turn10's part.
The G25 pedals have an RJ connector, no HID chipset, no VID/PID, etc. The only way you're ever going to get those pedals to work on the Xbox is by wiring them through a device that does have a HID chipset, VID/PID, Xbox specific ID, etc. (ie: connecting through a Fanatec wheel or disassembling an Xbox controller and wiring the pedals to it). Plugging into the Fanatec wheel requires no modifications, and disassembling the pedals and an Xbox controller is quite a bit more than "some modifications". Even if you managed to do the latter, you'd still be stuck using the thumbstick to steer, and you wouldn't have an analog clutch.
The G25 pedals will work with the Fanatec wheel, but it's not like you can just plug the pedals into the Xbox and they magically work. The pedals themselves don't have a USB device ID (nor do they even connect using USB), so you need a device with the proper connection (either USB or wireless) and a device ID that the Xbox recognizes.
I'm jealous. I ordered my wheel slightly late, so I don't expect to receive it for at least another week or two (but hopefully I'm wrong about that). Playing with the controller just isn't cutting it.
I have to agree with you. I'm completely looking forward to this sim, but it seems like they really glossed over any potential pitfalls of the game. I was looking forward to SRT's review because I thought they would be more "hard core" and point out it's flaws (compared to titles like LFS and iRacing that us hard core simmers are used to). Instead, it seemed like a lot of fluff. You can't destroy the cars, but the physics got an almost perfect rating? You can't stall the car, but get "most realistic clutch in a game"? "Ultra-sim everything" when you can't even manage fuel?
Perhaps Sean and Darrin were just smitten by the good looks and massive amount of cars, but their review does seem over the top to me.
I hate, hate, HATE that! But it's just the tip of the iceberg for things about Forza 3 that bug me.
"Arcadey" pit stops.
No fuel strategy.
The damage is mostly cosmetic (Sure, you can damage your engine or make your steering a little wonky, but 120 mph into the wall and you can still drive away).
No yellow flags, full course cautions, or pace cars.
No staging, red lighting, burnouts, etc. on the drag strip.
No racing line or marbles.
No weather or temperature effects.
8 cars per race maximum (single or multiplayer)
Maybe I'm spoiled by LFS (which also is missing many of these things), or maybe my expectations are just too high. I'm sure I'm going to love the game, but these things all really bother me. I'd rather have 1/10th as many cars, but the above additions. Considering the time, energy, and money that's been put into making the physics possibly the best on the market, it's a shame that these things haven't been addressed in three major iterations of the game.
I was jazzed to see some new video, but man...these guys are a pair of toolboxes. I want to watch the footage, but listening to them makes me want to stab myself in the ear with a fountain pen.
edit: "I don't know why anyone would play a driving game with the cockpit turned on". You've got to be freaking kidding me. That's one of my main requirements when looking at a driving sim, and the reason why I never bothered with the last two Forza titles.
While that's totally true, how hard would it have been to implement staging and a tree? Both things are already there, they just don't work. Such a shame.
Of course, the same thing can be said of LFS. The drag strip has been there forever, but the only way we got working staging lights and tree was through an insim add-on by a community member.
Unfortunately, it looked horribly fake doing it. There was no weight transfer, no droop in the front tires, etc. Ugh. Add to that, the fact that you can't red light, can't do a burnout, and don't get to stage...they might as well have just left drag racing out, because all of the stuff that makes it fun, interesting, and challenging has been removed.
I will go out on a limb and say that Forza 3 will be the sim that finally makes me give up on PC racing sims. I've kinda gotten tired of LFS, I can't bring myself to like GTL/GT2 (even though I've tried and tried!), and I refuse to pay a subscription fee to race (iRacing).
None of the past console sims has been good enough - mostly due to lacking damage and not having a cockpit view. It looks like Forza 3 is going to change all that. Cockpit view? Check. Damage? Check. Tons of awesome cars? Check. Real world tracks? Check. As long as the physics are at least as good as Forza 2 or the Gran Turismo games, I think LFS is a thing of the past for me.
In fact, I ordered my new Fanatec wheel yesterday. Hopefully it'll arrive before I'm old and gray.
No. Not only would you wind up missing some stuff (scripts, AI color files, AI knowledge files), but any custom textures that you've installed wouldn't be copied over.