I voted "NONE - I will wait for more interesting designs". Though that's not my real answer. The only ones that look interesting to me are the last two (the black two-sided tee and the baseball shirt). Those are the only two that are visually interesting, but I'm not a big fan of black shirts.
I think I would be more inclined to buy a white ring tee with the LFS logo on the back and a small logo on the front. I would also be interested in a long sleeve tee, but only if tall sizes were available. I hope that when you actually do offer these shirts that you have pictures of a real shirt on a model. It's difficult to tell how long these shirts are or what the materials are like from such an artificial picture.
Baseball shirts are not just different colored sleeves. They're also cut different. Normal t-shirts have a seam down the trapezius to the shoulder. Baseball tees have two seams instead, one on the front and one on the back so sometimes they fit a bit differently.
I think I would be more inclined to buy a white ring tee with the LFS logo on the back and a small logo on the front. I would also be interested in a long sleeve tee, but only if tall sizes were available. I hope that when you actually do offer these shirts that you have pictures of a real shirt on a model. It's difficult to tell how long these shirts are or what the materials are like from such an artificial picture.
Baseball shirts are not just different colored sleeves. They're also cut different. Normal t-shirts have a seam down the trapezius to the shoulder. Baseball tees have two seams instead, one on the front and one on the back so sometimes they fit a bit differently.
While skinnable pit boxes would be cool to see, it seems like an awful lot of coding and bandwidth for something you'll rarely see anyway. I'd much prefer to just retexture the default pit box so I'm not constantly downloading "pit_x" files. Besides, in real life you're very limited on what you can do in the pits anyway. It's not like you can repaint the box or anything. Having a skinnable "banner" hanging over the pit box would be great though.
I was thinking the same thing when I saw this thread. But, rather than having four different driving suits to choose from or having skinnable suits it would be cool if you could just pick a primary and secondary color for your suit and the game would color it (similar to the way you pick two colors for your car). You could choose two colors for your suit (maybe even use the car colors for simplicity?) and your pit crew could use the same colors. That way you get a lot of variation of the pit crews and drivers without using umpteen different textures.
I've never used DXTweak but it sounds like it might be worth running. I'll give it a shot!
Not on my server you won't as you've just been added to the ban list. Thanks for saving me the trouble.
You know what I mean.
I've been using clutch and h-shift for a couple of months (though not all that much driving time until Xmas vacation hit). I find myself still making quite a few mistakes. I'm sure most of it is because there's not much "feel" in the clutch and shifter compared to a real car. Also, LFS seems to require the clutch to be depressed all the way (or very nearly so) where you can half-stroke the clutch in a street car. I find that I make fewer mistakes when I shift very forcefully and deliberately, but I also shift slower that way and have to spend more time thinking about shifting rather than driving.I'm sure it will all even out in the wash, but it would still be nice if it weren't a disadvantage at all.
I've dealt with you before on these forums and you seem like an honest guy. If I were running a server that was forcing h-shifter and axis clutch would you join it and try to cheat the system? My guess is that most users would not. They would rather go elsewhere where they'd be more welcome. That takes care of 90% of people right there. As I said earlier, anyone who WOULD cheat the system risks a ban and a bad reputation on this forum and the servers. You get caught once and you have a bad reputation forever. That would probably be enough to discourage most people.
$300 is affordable. It's not cheap. It's not mass-market. But it is more than affordable when you compare the alternatives.
This has absolutely nothing to do with materialism. For all you know I live in a cardboard box with a PC and a steering wheel and nothing else. Everyone has priorities and this one just happens to be one of mine. I don't have a ton of other hobbies so when I get some spending money I use it on stuff like a wheel for playing sims on my PC. I'm not broke, but i'm not living in a mansion and driving a Mercedes either. $300 is not an insignificant amount of money to me but I knew that even at $300 I'll get more than my money's worth out of this wheel. It's not about how much you spend, it's about what you get for your dollar. The combined price of LFS and my wheel, divided by the number of hours I've used them would probably work out to be cheaper than renting DVDs for the same amount of time.
If you can't afford to buy a wheel and pedals I'm sorry. But, quite frankly, that's not my problem. If feeding your children is the reason that you can't afford a G25 then it seems that is one of the sacrafices that you chose to make when you had a family. The complaint that person X shouldn't have something because you can't afford to have it too is not a valid argument. Eventually three pedal setups and h-shifters will be the norm. Where will that leave you? You're going to have to eventually keep up or be left behind. The same thing will happen when S3 comes out. You'll either have to get a new PC or not play. You can complain that you can't afford a new PC until you're blue in the face, but that won't stop progress.
I already don't want to go back to two pedals. I use three pedals and no aids ALL THE TIME. I just want to be able to host a server where everyone else who feels the same way can come and play without having other drivers who are using aids spoil the race (spoil it by having an unfair advantage). It's easy to say "it's no big deal" when you're on the majority side of the fence. What if you were racing on a server where you had the XRG and everyone else got to use the XRT? You wouldn't feel the slightest bit of resentment that every other driver on the server has an advantage over you?
Fine by me.
Fine by me.
While I agree with you, I still think it's a worthy thing to do. I view it as akin to the little locks people put on their luggage. It doesn't stop a determined thief but it "keeps honest people honest". In the same way not allowing auto-clutch wouldn't stop determined cheaters but it would stop the casual player from using that driving aid. If you ever found out that someone was cheating they'd have no excuse because it would be quite obvious they had purposefully worked around the server limitation. A ban in LFS can last for a very, very long time and once a person gets a reputation as being a cheater they can find themselves most unwelcome in the community.
Even with the current limitations the AI can be a lot of fun. I generally like to start at the back of the pack and work my way through the crowd. Yes, the AI tends to bump and nudge a lot, but with practice you can learn when to pass and when not to. The AI is basically worthless on tracks like Kyoto because of the banking or the Aston chicane, but they can be fun on tracks like Westhill and Blackwood. Give them a decent setup and run against 8 cars for 6 laps while handicapping yourself with a passenger or two. Great fun! Once they learn to take tire condition, fuel, and banking into account they should be a lot quicker. And once they can pit it will be possible to have really long races against AI, test pit strategies, etc.
Bring on the updated AI, Scawen!
Bring on the updated AI, Scawen!
This is pretty much true. I can shift nearly as fast using manual clutch and h-shifter as I can using auto-clutch and sequential on a DFP (not quite as fast, but pretty close). The big thing is that when shifting that fast it's very easy to make mistakes. One mistake can cost a lot of time. People using auto clutch don't make mistakes at all. They're infallible in this regard. THAT is where the big discrepancy lies. Auto-clutch needs to be a tad slower, but mostly the problem is that there is no risk of making a mistake when using auto-clutch.
edit: another problem is that LFS models compression braking really poorly. Using manual clutch is going to be a lot more difficult and slower if engine modeling ever requires proper blips on downshifts and heel/toeing. Right now you can easily downshift from any gear without worrying about matching revs or blowing up your engine.
Last edited by Cue-Ball, .
I can't speak for you but I'm very glad that there aren't many servers open to all cars. Having all cars allowed is an open invitation for some idiot to ruin a great XRT race by crashing in front of you in a BF1 they can't control.
If all two dozen of us that have a G25 all defected to our own server you'd still have PLENTY of servers to choose from. Two pedal setups are still the majority by far.
While it might seem like you're taking a lot of abuse for the tools that you've created you have to also look at the other side of the coin. Many of us really enjoy the things you've created. They add a lot to the LFS experience in a very positive way, even if some people are negative about them. People are afraid of change and some of the tools that you've made make HUGE waves in the LFS pond. Some people will bitch that the water should remain still, others will grab their surfboards with excitement. Unfortunately, it's often the former people who can cry the loudest.
I'm really bummed that people on these forums have come down so hard on you when you obviously put a lot of time and effort into making the game better for those who wish to use the tools. I'm doubly bummed that you suspended work on LFS Companion becuase I still use it a lot and was looking forward to seeing new features. If you REALLY want to get abused come up with a tool to prevent the use of auto-clutch on a server. I can guarantee that you'll be hunted down and hanged by the two-pedal mafia.
I'm really bummed that people on these forums have come down so hard on you when you obviously put a lot of time and effort into making the game better for those who wish to use the tools. I'm doubly bummed that you suspended work on LFS Companion becuase I still use it a lot and was looking forward to seeing new features. If you REALLY want to get abused come up with a tool to prevent the use of auto-clutch on a server. I can guarantee that you'll be hunted down and hanged by the two-pedal mafia.
Truer words were never spoken.
I would really like to see BOTH of these implemented. In addition, any auto-clutch needs to have at least a small risk of missing a shift or, at the very least, not being able to catch the clutch fast enough to prevent stalling the engine during a spin (this requires better clutch code and stalling, of course).
That's just the point. I don't WANT to use aids. I don't WANT to use auto clutch. I want to use a manual clutch and drive against others who are doing the same. This is part of the reason that the STCC servers are so popular with the fast guys. You can't use auto blip, you can't use auto-cut, you can't use auto transmission. Auto-clutch needs to be able to be turned off as well.
You can use your auto clutch all you want, just not on MY server. I should have the ability to determine who plays on my server and what driving aids they are allowed to use.
I think that the scripts that the STCC servers are running could be changed a bit and used quite widely across the LFS servers. For instance, people have asked for a server whitelist in the past. As it is now they rely on password protection which can be a bit of a hassle. The STCC servers use a whitelist (of sorts) and I'd bet that it could be fairly easily changed so that other servers could use it as well.
Personally I'd really like to see a sort of license or ranking system in LFS. It would be nice if you could tell at a glance how fast a driver is, on average, and how fast the drivers on a given server are. Even better if you could lock down a server so that only drivers of a certain caliber were able to access it. Halo 2 used a similar system which helped even out teams and prevented newbies from getting on servers full of 18-hour-a-day players. As it is now you can easily find an open server to drive on but it's a lot more difficult to find racers that are similar in capability to yourself. It seems like there are always two fast guys that beat everyone by 2+ seconds per lap, two or three new guys who are slow or crash every lap, and everyone else somewhere in the middle. I'd imagine the two fast guys would have a better time playing against 10 other fast guys and the slow guys would prefer to play somewhere friendly where they're not constantly being called wreckers or noobs.
And it seems like the people with only two pedals are terrified that they'll be left behind with nobody to race with when everyone else moves to a three pedal setup.
It's not my fault you can't afford a proper setup with three pedals. I won't buy you a G25 any more than someone else will buy me a new PC with a faster processor and video card, a track car, or a new Ferrari. It's up to you to decide what your priorities are. <shrug>
This has nothing to do with "elitism" at all. It has to do with making a level playing field and racing against other people who share the same interests. I have three pedals and a 720* wheel. My friends have three pedals and 720* wheels. We would like to play with other like-minded racers without having people using cheats...er, aids...mucking it up. I'm afraid I also must disagree with your statement about talent making for a good sim racer. While talent is a large portion of it, a lot of racers are fast because they know how to exploit the game. People are fast because they can shift in a millisecond with no risk of missing a gear. People are fast because they can downshift three gears without damaging the engine. People are fast because they find holes in the track which allow them to cut corners, ricochet off of walls, etc. People are fast because they explot flaws in the physics engine (the most infamous of which is now fixed - the "high nose bug"). So yes, talent makes for a good sim racer, but that's not the whole story. Having an automatic clutch means that you have one less opportunity to make a mistake than I do every single time you shift gears. One missed gear or flubbed shift could mean the difference between winning an losing. I'm taking that risk and you are not. That's not a level playing field or a fair race.
Someone said that they don't want to see the community fractured. That's a load of horse shit. Adding the option to enforce manual clutch wouldn't fragment the community any more than adding a car, adding a track, etc. If you want an "unfragmented" community we need to have one server running one track and that's it. Anything more and you "fragment the community". So, do you REALLY want a unified community if it means driving Blackwood for eternity?
The ability to determine exactly what, when, and HOW we want to drive and compete is what makes this game so good. Don't like the road cars? Drive the open wheelers. Don't like the short tracks? Drive the long ones. Adding the option to enforce different game options doesn't narrow the focus or appeal of LFS, it broadens it.
This is the chicken or the egg argument that can never be won. You don't want the option in the game until more people have the hardware. The people like me who have the hardware don't like using it without the option in the game.
Bad idea. A lot of people don't have time to race every single day or even every weekend. I managed to get in a lot of racing because of the winter break but now that I'm back to working 40 hour weeks plus full time school there's no way I'm going to be able to race more than a few hours per week. I shouldn't be stuck with a Copper license forever just because I'm time limited.
Now this is probably true. I'll use myself as evidence.
I think that perhaps it would be better if licenses were based on race times instead of race wins. I think I'm probably fast enough to be playing with the Silver guys (and I have my Silver license) but I really can't see myself moving up much futher. I'm sure I'll eventually get my Gold license, given enough time, but I'm not sure that I'll have gotten it though fast driving or simply through persistance.I'd rather see the licenses graduated based on overall speed (for full length races, not hotlaps). The WR setting guys would be the platinum group, WR+2% would be Gold, WR+5% would be silver, WR+10% would be Gold, WR+20% would be Bronze, and everything else would be copper. Now, these are just off the top of my head, but something like this would allow people to continually race against people of the same caliber. To get the next license up you would have to get faster, not just finish races. This would also allow people to race cars other than the road cars since you might hold a Silver license in the XRT/FXO/RB4 group, but a Bronze license in the GTR group. Of course, since the STCC doesn't use the GTR or open-wheel cars this extra benefit of such a system might not be of much use to them, but I think it would make for very compelling racing and an even playing field while still making use of tiered servers, new track/car combos, etc.
These two things are mutually exclusive. You can't make a realistic sim and have a manual transmission car with no clutch or people driving with a mouse and keyboard. It comes down to personal choice. If you want to allow keyboard racers and two-pedal setups on your server you should be able to. If you choose to race against people who have three pedal setups, steering wheels, etc. that should be your choice as well. I personally prefer the latter. If that's TOO hardcore for you, fine. There are plenty of other servers to race on and you can always host your own.
Only if you have the game setup to automatically record replays. If you record them manually it prompts for a name. If you don't enter a name it says "cannot save without naming replay" or something similar. It would be nice if it would give the same default name as used in automatic recording if you didn't specify something different. Or, maybe just save it without prompting for a name. We can rename replays now so it's not much trouble to rename them if you want to.
I completely disagree. The G25 and similar three pedal setups ARE the way forward. Two pedal setups are old news. Proper three pedal setups are the controls of today.
I want to play against drivers using similar setups as my own and I should have the freedom to do so on a server that I run. You can feel free to not like it, but on my server I should be able to dictate the terms. My terms would be axis clutch required and h-shifter required. You don't like the terms? Nobody is forcing you to play with me. End of story.
Scawen has already said that new GTR interiors are on the way. I'd wager that they're already done and are just waiting to be released in Patch W with a bunch of other goodies and non-compatible changes.
As for the XR, XF, UF, FXO, RB4, FZ, etc...they are road cars. Slightly modified, but road cars none the less. In all likelyhood they would have idiot lights, though probably not airbags (not that I want to see those in game, necessarily). If these were really race prepped cars they would have hood pins, window retainers, slicks, stripped interiors, etc. Nobody has a stereo and street tires on their race car, but plenty of people DO take their weekend car to the track and that's what I believe the devs were shooting for when they designed the road cars. The ONLY thing that makes these cars seem like race cars at all is the adjustability of the suspension and gearing which I'd bet money will go away sooner or later.
As for the XR, XF, UF, FXO, RB4, FZ, etc...they are road cars. Slightly modified, but road cars none the less. In all likelyhood they would have idiot lights, though probably not airbags (not that I want to see those in game, necessarily). If these were really race prepped cars they would have hood pins, window retainers, slicks, stripped interiors, etc. Nobody has a stereo and street tires on their race car, but plenty of people DO take their weekend car to the track and that's what I believe the devs were shooting for when they designed the road cars. The ONLY thing that makes these cars seem like race cars at all is the adjustability of the suspension and gearing which I'd bet money will go away sooner or later.
As usual, this type of complaint doesn't belong in the forum. You need to send a replay to the STCC and have them investigate. If he purposely wrecked you (and it wasn't just a mistake) then he'll probably be banned from the servers.
Like, not really. Like, you purchased the game and registered a username. I, like, doubt anyone is going to, like, want to take your username, even at a discount.
If you don't think the licensed cars are faster than the demo cars you may have some sort of speed perception problem. The GTR cars weigh less than the demo cars and have about three times as much horsepower. The BF1 and F08 are even more extreme. Before you dismiss the game maybe you should show us a fast lap around, say, Aston in the F08. I mean, if the cars are so slow it should be no problem, right?
Todd - You are far and away one of the most knowledgeable people on this forum about such things (not to mention physics engines in general) so I think most of us really value your opinion. I wonder if you could expand a bit on this and attempt to explain how LFS's longitudinal grip could be close to reality (enough that we wouldn't notice your suggested changes) yet cars still have more grip than one would expect when the tires are spinning - at the start of a race, for example.
While I agree with you on these points, the sad fact is that wishing for them doesn't do any good. 3D sound, EAX support, more varied sounds, more accurate sounds, etc. all have to be programmed by someone. In the case of LFS that someone is Scawen. As much as we all want better sound we also want about eleventy billion other things as well. There's only 24 hours in a day and we can't expect everything all at once. The new sounds have been very controversial and Scawen knows that they still need work. I fully expect that after his holiday break the sounds will be the first thing he works on since there have been so many comments about them. However; I definitely wouldn't expect to see 3D sound or EAX support in S2. That would require an entire rewrite of the sound code and while it would definitely be nice to have, it's certainly not a necessity. Better engine, transmission, and ambient sounds can go a long, long way towards satisfying everyone. Heck, GTR2 doesn't have 3D sound, 5.1 support, etc. and everyone raves about how great it sounds (even though it's not nearly as communicative as LFS).
I will agree with you on this point. I don't know if it's any worse than before but I've had a few races this week where I was running right next to another car, had a slight touch, then was sent flying. It's only happened a couple of times out of probably 50 races or more, so it's not a huge issue (and again, maybe no worse than before anyway). I think the key to fixing this is the same as the key to fixing "atmosphere barriers" - the cars need to absorb some energy when they hit another object instead of acting like a golf ball. Hopefully Scawen can address this when he does physics work in the future.
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG