I think it'd be nice to have a server option that when enabled, would remove racers subjected to impacts of high enough g-forces to kill a person in real life.

Say some tard behinds you rear ends you at 160 mph, or another idiot was a little too enthusiastic whilst trying to pass you on the inside of a turn, and Tboned you at 90 mph. If the server option was enabled, then they'd be pulled from the race.

I'd imagine it could aleviate a lot of the stress that comes from Turn 1.

I've been getting rear ended quite a lot online, and I think I figured out why tonight.

I was racing on a CTRA server, doing pretty good, when some guy rear ends me as i'm slowing down into a turn.

I figure "no biggy, i'm not perfect either, and I wasn't thrown off of my line. I won't say anything".

Then as soon as the race finishes he tells me "sinkoman, LEARN TO DRIVE".

I reply "what the heck man, you REAR ENDED ME!"

"LEARN TO DRIVE SINKOMAN! YOU BRAKED!"

"NO CRAP I HIT MY BRAKES! Learn to ANTICIPATE! I had complete right of way man!"

"Nobody brakes at that turn, LEARN TO DRIVE!"

Ok, so what i'm wondering is, let's say i'm following pretty closely to the rest of the pack, and I can see that i'm coming into the next turn at an off angle, so I hit my brakes and drop speed just a smidge, something that nobody else is doing. I apparently just misjudged, and didn't realize I could make it.

Yet the guy following slams into me at full speed.

Who's "fault" would you say that was? Mine or his?

I've been under the impression that whilst following, it's YOUR responsibility to correct your line for whatever odd actions the driver ahead of you may make, exactly like in real life, but i'm a noob, so i'm not entirely sure on this :\

While i'm loving the LFS community, I really have to disagree with you.

Halflife2.net has got to be the most welcoming, kind, and intellectual community i've ever had the pleasure to become a part of.

I'm noticing that a big portion of the LFS community is retarded, apparently failed english, and are overly defensive.

This is going off of not only in game, but also the boards.

I'm curious what the PROPER starting procedure is, to get not only a fast start, but to also not damage the car.

What I usually do is just rev the engine a few times to keep the RPMs up, and then right as the chrismass tree hits green, I floor it.

This used to work just fine in the demo, and i'd always start pretty high up in the pack, and without too much wheel spin, but i've noticed that in S2, everybody seems to just redline their engine and wait for the christmass tree to hit green.

I was under the impression that this would not only damage your engine, but also give you a slow and wheel spin laden start, but this hasn't been the case. Consistently, using my starting procedure, i've been falling to the absolute last of the pack, and having to hope that either turn 1 takes out enough people for me to get a reasonable place, or to just full on fight my way to the top.

So, what is the PROPER way to start? Does redlining your engine off the grid not damage it or something?

I was wondering, for those of you that own a wheel with both paddle shifters, and a sequential knob shifter, which do you use?

I picked up a Momo today, and still can't figure out which I like better.

Wouldn't Flat-Shifting in real life pretty much destroy your engine?

Gets irritating really seeing people do it in the demo just to get the upper hand. I'm hoping that significantly less people do it in S2 (which I hope to purchase this weekend )

Quote from Jacob_B :

I looked there and only found 1 person who had one... and they didnt have a guide on it

Shouldn't be too hard.

Strip all the mechanics off of an old petal, and mount a suitable lever to one of the pots whilst the pot is resting in the lowest impedance position possible (just use an ohm-meter to check).

Put the rest of the PCBs and other random electronics in an enclosure of some sort, and mount your little lever and pot setup onto something.

Then just plug in the contraption and mount the axis you want to use as a handbrake.

What if when you pitted, prior to the pit, you could select exactly what you wanted to be changed on your car.

Say your tires are going out and you're low on fuel, but you don't mind the tire wear too much, and don't want to waste time changing them. Three or so turns before the pit, you pull up a menu that lists all the things on your car that will be changed next pit, and can disable whatever you wish.

Pull into the pit, and they only change what you've asked them to.

If you really don't care what they change, then you just never open the menu.

Quote from tristancliffe :

What is a potmeter? Something that measures pots?

Perhaps he decided to abreviate POTentioMETER to POTMETER.

Btw, you'd use an Ohm Meter to measure the current impedance of a potentiometer.

Quote from Blackout :

Well if you have your drawer full of money, go with G25 and S2!

Well, I have my mental limits

I'll be purchasing LFS in a few days, and was thinking, it'd be really easy to organize point to point races via timed auto cross runs on very liberally designed auto cross tracks.

I mean, after all, the whole thing with rallying is the "point to point" style, and lack of prior knowledge of the setup.

I figure it'd be fun to set up a ventrilo or teamspeak server, and have a bunch of channels for each driver/co-driver pair.

Then have somebody pre-design a series of 20 or so very eventful autocross tracks, then either get somebody who's experienced with pacenotes to run the track and make a .txt to distribute to the racers, or just have the co-driver run the course and do his own style.

Co-Driver prints the pacenotes and sets his view to "spectate" on his teammate's car (in cockpit view of course), then have the driver drop a passenger into his setup.

Driver Co-Driver pairs run each autocross track in rally style, using ventrilo to communicate, then switch to the next track, rinse repeat.

Add up the times, and you have a rally

Do any leagues currently do anything akin to this?

If not, i'd REALLY enjoy seeing this organized

Last edited by sinkoman, Tue 15 May 2007, 08:53.

Quote from sam1600 :

At the risk of stating the bleedingly obvious, have you tried looking for a wheel in the local paper, for example?

I'll take your word on the shipping costs, but sourcing one locally solves that problem.

Yes actually, i've checked mostly local listings. Maybe not as low level as the paper, but I have checked fairly area specific sources.

People here are generally not very computer literate, so I only need to check 2 or 3 sources pertaining to the area to confirm with mysefl that "no, nobody has one, nobody here probably knows what one is".

Well, I have found one or two MOMOs on craigslist, but they were WAY overpriced.

Last edited by sinkoman, Tue 15 May 2007, 08:38.

Quote from sam1600 :

Well, it's relative, isn't it? Seeing as they are $USD129 brand new, $USD30-40 plus shipping is cheap. And it's about the same as what you would pay for a MOMO, but you get a better all-around package.

Anyway, if money is the issue, someone has already offered you a wheel for free including shipping. My advice is TAKE THE BLOODY WHEEL! Who cares if its got no FFB? IT'S FREE! He's even offered to pay the shipping costs!

Buy S2 with the money you didn't spend on the wheel, get a feel for driving with a wheel and pedals, enjoy all the new S2 content, then decide whether it's worth saving up some more money for a FFB wheel.

You get to have your cake and eat it too, plus your drawer full of cash is only $USD47.57 lighter (based on current exchange rates).

Actually, I can get a DFP brand new for about 100 USD, and considering that I live in Hawaii, shipping usually will average a wheel going for 60-70 out to 100 USD.

But on your advice I took ONE more look at the ebay auctions (I was watching them pretty closely for a few weeks then gave up on ebay), and found a wheel, only around one dollar at the moment, ending in about 15 hours.

Will keep an eye on this

And I wouldn't want to take his wheel because who knows, maybe he'd be better off giving it to a younger family member, or somebody else who doesn't care about force feedback.

I realize that it was FREE, but I really wouldn't want to put him through the energy of something i'd really prefer an upgrade to. In the end, i'd just feel bad for him, spending his time and money (rates to Hawaii aren't cheap) to get me a device I don't really wan't

Quote from sam1600 :

Don't mess around with the MOMO, get a second-hand DFP rev. B.

They are cheap now as a lot of DFPers have switched to the G25.

Second hand DFPs are FAR from cheap. At least on Ebay.

Sure they start at maybe 30 or 40 dollars, but they usually end in the 70's and 60's, and that's not including SHIPPING

Quote from Burnzoire :

whoah... that's a close poll!

I voted S2, eassssy. Get a logitech dual analog gamepead for pocket change and have heaps of fun in S2 No wheel doesn't stop you playing all the cool combos with the cool kids - S1 does though!

oops, i take it I voted a bit too late!

Not at all

In fact, partly because of the poll being so ****ing close, and after a bit of thinking hard...

I have a drawer full of money, CASH now, that i've been saving for a few years. As of now, it's between 300-400 USD. I've been saving the money for something, something BIG.

But i've never really had "something BIG" that I really felt was worth the money (largely in part because I used to have a big problem with spending money, which i've been trying to keep myself from). Because of this lack of something BIG, the drawer usually just devolved into a little bank I could pull 20 USD out of on the weekends to go see a movie, or spend on... COUGH otherthings COUGH.

But now, NOW, I HAVE something BIG that I REALLY want.

So I figure, "HELL, why not reach WAY into my pockets, and get them both???"

I figure that if the combo ends up not being worth as much as I thought it would be, it'll be EASY as pie to sell the MOMO for just as much as what I bought it for (considering how MOMO auctions tend to go on Ebay).

Thoughts?

Thanks for the opinions guys . If not for them, I wouldn't have realized what i've been missing out of on both fronts.

Oh, my GOD D: D: D:

I finally played a few races online, and I have to say...

It was the most INTENSE, most FUN, most EXCITING gaming i've ever done. And this is only with maybe 7 racers.

One of the only times my heart actually felt like it was going to JUMP out of my chest as I worried that i'd hit the fourth turn on Blackwood GP (right after the chicane) too quickly!

I didn't realise how intense turn one would be either. It's like a ****ing deathmatch, everybody, inches away from everybody else (and oftentimes hitting everybody else), trying to hit the closes to perfect line possible.

And then leading the pack and watching a single racer slingshot out of nowhere and overtake you!



Oh my god. I might to put the MOMO on hold

I'm still wondering though, how many west coast servers might I find online at once?

Quote from JasonJ :

He he, I thought you didn't want the mouse as it has no centre-zone feel and you never know where it is without the virtual steering guage on and there is no "spring back to centre" That's the reasons I couldn't get the hang of mouse. Well anyways... those setting might make the mouse easier to use as well. Glad your getting somewhere with it.

Yeah, but with the steering being allot less sporadic, I can actually monitor where the wheel is whilst using the mouse.

Still not as good as a joystick though :P

I tweaked the curve type for my controller (the curves were set custom so that the steering was allot more subtle, but now that i've gotten then analogue fix options up I no longer needed it), and managed to lap 1:30 a few times.

I was pretty close to around 1:29-1:28 a few times too, but I kept hitting the third to the last turn too quickly.

Thankyou so much

Curious, how well do you usually lap on Blackwood?

Quote from JasonJ :

Well, to try and smooth out the jerking movements your getting from the old stiff pad try these settings:

MISC Menu:
Analogue Steer smooth: 0.9 (max)
If this was set to 0.0 then this is your biggest problem.

Controls:
Wheel Turn: 90 degrees
Wheel Turn Compensation: 1.0
Then in the AXES / FF Tab
Click Recalibrate Axes (then do a couple full circles of the sticks and release to centre)
Does anyone know whet calibration lock [no] / [yes] is for? I used [no]


Each time You restart LFS you must make the car sit somewhere and do a couple full circles of the sticks to recalibrate first time within then game. Eg: The two seconds on the start grid is sufficient time to do this. ONly need to do this once every LFS session.. not every race. You don't need to access the menu to tell LFS to recalibrate. LFS will automatically adjust itself to see where your Stick limits are.


If you find the front wheels turn too slugishly now... try reduce the Analogue Steer Smooth to 0.8 or perhapse even 0.7 to suit your required responsiveness. If it was originally 0.0, you may have solved your grief at a higher value. Good luck.

D:

If it were medically feasible for me to carry your children, I would.

Your tips haven't improved my times by much (I'm getting about 1:31 fairly consistently), but controlling the car feels so much less like a battle now.

Maybe I can actually use the mouse to steer now.

Quote from rubberbrush :

Hey brother,
I have a Logitech wheel I'm not using, it's all yours.
It's not ff but it works like a clock.
Shoot me an email (I sent my address to you)
I'll even pay the shipping.
We LFS'er have to stick together.
DD

Thank you for the generous offer, but i'll have to decline. I really want a nice Force Feedback wheel, and I really wouldn't want to waste your time, energy, and money, sending me a wheel that i'd probably end up upgrading asap.

As for the decision, i've been thinking, and i'd GLADLY get S2 if I could figure out how to lap more competitively with my controller.

At the moment, I currently do around 1:32 on Blackwood (regular), in an XRT Turbo.

What tips do you guys have for improving my times with my gamepad?

I'm also wondering, how many west coast servers are there? I live in Hawaii, so I really don't want to spend my money on a game that i'll never find fair pinging servers in.

Quote from axus :

Axes are stuck like this in LFS, no matter what I do:

Looks like what happens when I forget to calibrate my gamepad.

Tried that?

GAH, I tried my gamepad for throttle/break, and my mouse for acceleration, and I just can't race with my mouse.

It's the fact that there's no sensual way to center the wheels, you just have to look at the screen and guage where you're at, and how many clicks away from center you're at.

I NEED centering of some sort, whether it be being able to actually see the centering (ala a racing wheel), or just let go of my steering and let it snap back to center, (ala my gamepad).

I'm really thinking, maybe I don't need a MOMO or a DFP. LFS and GT every so often are the only racing games I play (although I hope to get GTR soon), and i'm not even playing LFS to get a world reccord or sommat, just to race and have fun.

Well, it's not that the joypad is "faulty", but it's as i'd imagine how all joypads are (amplified by its age), with the steering being inconsistent.

On a wheel you can just kinda tilt the wheel to either side a smidge, and make minute adjustments that are REPLICATABLE. On the wheel, you can see, in three dimensions, the exact same thing as what's happening on screen.

The joypad however, is nowhere near as consistent or replicatable. I can make VERY minute movements, but it usually is guesswork as to how much I need to move the joypad again to do the same thing.

And i'd LOVE to use the joypad for analogue accelerate and break, but I don't know how i'd do that. In game, the control options list "kb/mouse", and "wheel/joystick".

There's no option for me to turn my mouse into a useable axis in the wheel/joystick setting, and there's no option for me to turn my gamepad into an axis in kb/mouse.

If anybody knows how to do this, i'd greatly appreciate help

Quote from Shotglass :

my advice is dont use a pad instead use the mouse if you dont have a wheel

Why's that?

Why was the OP replaced with "useless"?

Quote from JasonJ :

My PS2 pad was all 'finicky' as well. Until I figured out how to calibrate it and lower the sensitivites. After I did that, the game pad was quite easy to use.

This may help configure it if you haven't done so already: Guide: Using a Gamepad with LFS.

Get S2..... 32 Simultaneous Racers..... sign me up !

The original poster of that thread removed the guide and replaced it with the words "[useless]".

The problem is not in the calibration of my PS2 pad (which is just fine), it's just that the pad, being its age, is a little... Sticky (dunno how to explain it really).

It's really really hard to make minute movements with the joystics, because the pots aren't as smooth as they could be, so the joystick will be smooth for a few milimeters, get thick and hard to move, then, from the pressure of trying to move it in the "thick" spot, it'll JUMP to a location, further than I wanted it to, and I have to jerk the joystick in the opposite direction to get my car back in control.

(by the way, to give you an idea of this pads age, it's an ORIGINAL PS2 pad. As in, literally, a pad from a Playstation 2, back when they FIRST were available in the US, wired to a parallel port).