Quote from mikey_G :

Wow, at the start that guy acted like a, whats the word again, ohh yea, a meathead

tell me about it. I don't have the balls to do that... even in the sim world.

Quote from dontsimon :

The engine sound system is sample based, but they are small samples which are then randomised using some algorithm.

I thought so. In one of the solstice vids I posted you can hear a few small crackels and pops from the exhaust but it only happened at one point in the video and seemed completely natural unlike other games where it happens repetitively.

Quote from Mattesa :

A little O/T, but would you be able to tell me what issue that was (issue #, date)?

EVO mag had a similar opinion about the new MX5.

Don't remember, sorry. You can probably search the forum on miata.net and find it. That's where I remember seeing it first.

Quote from Ahriman4891 :

I have a feeling that many folks think Solstice is "boring" because it's American. However, according to this video, the platform is really not bad--the only complaint Tsuchiya had was overly long gears, which as I understand is fixable as soon as your safety rating is a bit up.

Yeah I've seen this video and the results aren't surprising. While the new Miata may have more sporty gear ratios, it's also designed for americans The suspension is soft even on the sport model and it has more cup holders than most 4 door cars I've been in. Grassroots motorsports ran a comparison with the second generation and found the older model was quicker on an autox track even though it has 30-40 less hp.

I'm hoping iRacing will eventually have something like a spec solstice series with large fields. Whether it's a solstice, miata, it doesn't really make much difference although the lighter miata would be more enjoyable.

You have to admit this looks like fun:
http://www.specmiatavideos.com ... os/mcollins_smpt_4_06.wmv (133MB)

I like the LFS sound engine in it's current state. I think sampled sounds are better for iRacing though since they're only modeling real cars. For instance, you can definitely tell the Formula Mazda is a rotary - something I think would be pretty difficult to do with the LFS sound engine.

Sorry for stirring up trouble... please go on with your regularly scheduled iRacing bashing..

Bump.. Great interview on SRT Piddy I figured I'd bump this thread because your post really deserves more attention. It would really be nice to have some quality content come from of our talented community members.

I'm sure multiple S2 accounts are fine, but not a demo and S2 account (on the forum anyway).

Quote from T.Kaneda :

Why yes I do intend to purchase it. I've already been nominated. Thanks for your concern! As to your other point, I have been doing more than evaluating the LFS demo for a few months; I've been enjoying the full game since 2004. Thanks for your concern on that front too! And why on Earth would I take offense? I mean, it's not like you were trying to be an obnoxious prick or anything, right? *kiss kiss* ****

I'm sorry my post was a bit rude. Some people have been playing the demo for years with the excuse that they can't afford it. According to your user account, you've only been playing 3.5-4.5 months yet I found it ironic that you were complaining about how long it was taking for you to be able to purchase iRacing...

But I don't really understand your reply. If you've been playing the full version since 2004, you might want to explain yourself before your T. Kaneda account is banned. Multiple accounts are not allowed.

Quote from T.Kaneda :

You know, this new phased rollout of the phased rollout is starting to make me lose interest and enthusiasm about the product.

Why? Do you plan on purchasing it? You've certainly evaluated LFS demo long enough (and it only costs 1/1000 of what iRacing costs)! No offense or anything.

Quote from Mackie The Staggie :

Just a thought, but how long do you think it is till we get Icruising and Idrifting.

That's pretty obvious. Never.

Too late for invites now. They were turned in last friday. There's either going to be a second round of invites or they'll just do a full release.

Seriously, a used spec miata is $13k which is fairly cheap. Still, that's no where near the cost of actually racing it. $13k will pay for 83 years of iRacing

You don't really need a good setup to be competitive with most people unless the server is for only one car/track combo. I've been using basically the same setup (pretty crappy one at that) since I started but I still post basically the same times as everyone else except for the top few drivers.

Probably just needs to be recalibrated... ?

I've been tossing around the idea of getting triple projectors. If I can find a solid 720p projector that I can buy ~$500-$600 do you think it would be worth it?

I was thinking about using three ~40-50" screens. I don't want the display to be larger than life.

Positives
Seamless display if projectors are aligned properly and bulbs have same age
Display size
Cost (compared to using three 40-50" LCD's)

Negatives
Ambient light
Heat (my home theater projector gives off alot of damn heat)
Bulb life/cost. I've been using my current projector for 2-3 years without any issues.

What do you guys think? I'm currently using a single S-IPS panel @ 1600x1200 and I'm worried that I may be wasting my money due to lack of resolution of cheaper projectors.

Good points - the biggest being elitism. I'm not sure if the LFS community is big enough for this to work well. As it is, while there's hundreds of servers (which might be a problem in itself) there's only really a few well populated ones at the times I race.

You can race by yourself (if that's what you consider "offline"), but you must connect through their online service. And since you do not "own" the game, you cannot play by yourself once you subscription is over.

I have not played the game yet, so I may be wrong.

Exactly, it would be an option - it's not forcing anyone to do anything. My guess is that anyone who hosts a server that intends it to be used for "racing" would want this feature.

Hosts that want people going down the track backwards and crashing people in pit lane can turn this option off.

When I click "Multiplayer" and query the master server for hosts, one of the options can be "Safety Rating (On/Off/Any)". So if I felt like joining the wreckers (or drifters/cruisers) I can simply choose off.

Good points and they all seem to be reasonably easy to implement.

The safety rating feature that iRacing has doesn't seem like it would be too difficult to implement in LFS. I think if it's implemented within the core of LFS it will encourage better driving. Instead of matching you up with other drivers like iRacing, server hosts can have the "option" of only allowing drivers with a safety rating of X or higher to join the server.

I think it would also be good marketing wise. People right now can justify paying more money for iRacing because there will be less wreckers. If this feature is implemented, they no longer have that excuse

CTRA has a similar feature, but perhaps it would be better/more noticeable to those outside of LFS if it was a built in and slapped onto the front page of lfs.net. I can see this being a major improvement to the demo servers.

Quote from dontsimon :

Can you see anything positive at all about iRacing?

I can say one positive thing about iRacing. NO FWD CARS (yet...). Finally, everyone will be forced to drive a real car I won't join a race full of 30 cars and be the sole RWD car on the field...

Quote from Shotglass :

oh and yay their single seater damage model is every bit as bad as lfs'

http://www.vimeo.com/1153763

In this vid, one driver is from Switzerland and the other from Slovenia. Damage/collision model looks pretty impressive.

Quote from mikey_G :

thanks for posting those videos.

No problem. Although I didn't create the vids I just found them at Team Redline's site here:

http://www.teamredline.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=119

Quote from mikey_G :

the amount of detail in that sim is just amazing

Agreed

Quote from diablo21 :

I can't really be bothered to read all the thread, is this worth it? I've seen it's NOT cheap..

I think it's worth it. But you will have to use your own judgement.

These vids look awesome:
http://rapidshare.com/files/121475907/sols_seca.avi
http://www.kolumbus.fi/martin. ... e/iso/sols_lime_wreck.avi
http://www.kolumbus.fi/martin.bror/crusse/iso/mazda_lime.avi
http://www.kolumbus.fi/martin. ... russe/iso/mazda_wreck.avi

The LFS devs really need to update the interiors of some of the base cars. The Solstice interior is really nicely detailed (see the sols_lime_wreck video). The sound is also very good. Both of those combined definitely add to the immersion factor. The XRG interior on the other hand looks very amateurish. Considering it's the first thing people see when they jump into LFS, I think it should be one of the devs top priorities.

I don't think you would have to buy all of them, just enough to compete in. You don't need to participate in every race either. Alternatively, you might be able to just purchase one track, and do time trials to earn the license points - but I'm not certain. As far as a higher level license using tracks from previous series I have no idea.