[EDIT] Because I was having severe controller issues when I wrote this, some of the content, specifically in the First Things First section can be somewhat disregarded. The fact that I was having severe controller issues kind of supports the argument I put forth except for the fact that it was a different problem than I first thought. Thanks to the arguments in this thread I've sorted the problem. (With competing software, sorry Scawen.) I did ask iRacing first, they gave me no help. Yay, LFS forum. Anyway, on page five of the thread I explain how my opinion has changed ever so slightly.
I have said that I am not a fanboy. I'm really not. Especially when it comes to software. I hate ProTools, but I use it daily. I love Sonar. I use it daily. I ride Madd snowboards because they are the best for what I do. Should you ride one? That's up to you. You should certainly try one...
Anyway, this is my comparison of iRacing to LFS. It may end up looking like I am an LFS fanboy, but that's because LFS kicks ass all over iRacing. iRacing does have a couple of things over LFS however, and I think they are worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning is what ain't right about iRacing.
The better the physics get in simulators, the more important it is for the user to get appropriate feedback by whatever means. This is the crux of my issues with KaemmerWare, and I can't believe that after 11 years at the top of the sim chain, DK and pals refuse to even attempt to make it right.
First Things First
If we are to simulate something, we are to make as close a representation as possible. In the case of the type of automobile simulators that we are all infatuated with, not only do we want it to act like a car, but we want it to react like a car in real time based on our controller inputs. And this is where DK and crew have failed repeatedly over the years. Starting with, and most importantly, braking controller adjustment.
I remember the day the Monza demo came out. It was in fact a glorious day for sim racing. It was also the beginning of a long period of frustration for many sim racers. Here we had this glorious sim of a glorious sport in one of it's most glorious eras and within ten minutes I started hearing (or reading, rather) this:
“I can't tell when the brakes are on. I mean, there is no feel in the brakes.”
I'm sure all of us were giddy when first confronted by that deceptively simple calibration routine. Especially after Crammond's latest convoluted offerings. We all looked at the screen and thought, “That's it? Bad ass!” It wasn't long before we realized that simple and adequate can be two different things. DK's calibration scheme is exactly inadequate. Think about it. Knowing when you are braking, and by how much, is one of the most important aspects of auto racing. It's how we hit our apexes and if we choose to try a different line in a passing or defensive maneuver, we need to know how much or how little we are giving it. In sim world it is sometimes hard to feel the tires. Our next best defense is gaugeable and predictable controllers. What else, given the nature of ever changing sim technology, deserves so much importance as controller setup?
GPL started the era of tennis balls, rubber stoppers, dual springs, hydraulic actuators, ulcers, and just plain giving up. The Internet was riddled with ideas on how to change the slope of your pedal or at least, limit the movement to match the software. I'm going to repeat that because I think it's about the most silly thing I've ever heard. “The Internet was riddled with ideas on how to change the slope of your pedal or at least, limit the movement to match the software.” It's software! Just change some numbers!!! Fer cryin' out loud! I personally had a mechanical engineer redesign the push rod on my TSW to change the slope.
Well, it's 11 years later and guess what? Same calibration scheme. Same problems. My brake pedal has about three inches of travel. At 1.5 inches it starts to give some resistance. At three quarters of an inch travel the brakes in the iRacing car lock up. Without treatment, it is absolutely impossible for me to be consistent in iRacing. To be able to brake consistently in iRacing I need to: Open the Logitech applet and move my controllers to their extremes, start iRacing (which has to be done while connected to the Internet) and go to the controller setup page, remove the rubber stopper, recalibrate, replace the rubber stopper. This has to be done every time I start a new session. This is all after using DXTweak at darn near the highest settings to change the slope of direct input to raw data.
BTW, I am using the Momo. One of the most common pedals out there. (fanatec, fanatec, fanatec... gonna get me one O' them fanatec...) I had an email discussion with someone at iRacing. Just curious as to why they had not made the controller setup usable. I suggested that maybe the test crew had really cool pedals with adjustable ranges that feel like real brakes, coming on at the beginning of travel, but some of us did not. Software should account for the widest variety of users, eh? The responses I got were very carefully worded to include every possible fix besides DK and crew actually doing something. DX was blamed heavily for losing calibration and not having good slopes. iRacing is flawless software. Right... oddly enough, I have never adjusted the slope of my pedal for LFS. I have also gone months at a time without recalibrating. DX or no.
In 2003 I was in an NR2003 league with about 100 people I had known since GP2 leagues. They had become great friends and rivals. To this day, some of those races are the best races I've ever had. Really great battles with folks I knew as well as anyone. I still know their driving styles. We hung out, we raced, we hung out some more. I dropped that scene like a hot stone when S1 came out. I wanted to run with my friends, I did, I tried to talk them into following me. Some did. But I was soooo over not being in control of my car. I was simply happy to know that when I missed an apex in LFS that it was my fault. I got it wrong. Not my stupid pedal or software. The level of control, me being in control, is something I have always known in real cars. I want to be in control of the sim. That would be a true simulation. Me being in control to the same extent that I am in control of a real car.
To add to the general attitude of DK and Crew, there is only a simple wheel calibration utility and no lock settings in the setup menus. I have to recalibrate the wheel for every car. The Solstice works great with true calibration. But the Formula Mazda it a twitchy mother at the same setting. In tight hairpins I am still only turning the wheel 80 degrees or so. The effect is such that the car is upset simply by trying to drive it until I recal the wheel. At which point it acts perfectly normally. Really. Come on. A lock setting can't be that hard to program.
Sorry about that rant, but I hate, hate, hate the brakes in KaemmerWare. If you can tell, it really pisses me off.
Still The Same
There was a gripe about GPL and NR that I agree with. It goes something like this: “The car is too big for the road.” I feel that way when driving iRacing. Same as I did with the other two. When in the car, even a car that I know to be a little thing, I always feel like it takes up about two thirds of the track width. Looking at replays I can clearly see the car only takes up a sixth of the track. But in car it's dang near impossible to tell where I am on the track. This leads to sloppy performances that are, once again, not under my control. In iRacing I may gain or lose as much as two seconds a minute and have no idea what I did differently! You gotta be kidding me. In LFS I know when I gain two tenths. And I know it's two tenths at the time.
After 11 years... yadda yadda...
The SR rating
OK. This has nothing to do with LFS. But I think it's really cool. One of the problems with sim racing, and it's only a problem for those that wish to simulate racing a real car on a real track, is that there is nothing to lose. There is no pressure to be clean. In an effort much like that of many LFS servers and automated software running on them, iRacing has a system to make the racing more realistic. As a matter of fact, it is the primary focus of the iRacing software and community.
The Safety Rating is a system that penalizes you for putting two wheels off, cutting course, spinning, speeding in the pits, and hitting another competitor. It is automated and it doesn't take long to learn what the boundaries are. It is somewhat critical and you have to maintain a certain SR rating to advance out of the rookie field and into higher level races in higher class cars.
This is brilliant. The effect is to slow everyone down. How is that good you ask? Well, it means that people are more apt to learn the cars and tracks, practice, prepare, and run clean races. That's it. That's all it offers. For my taste in sim racing. It's a good thing. The driver approach on the servers is right up my alley. I like it. I subscribed to this fairly expensive service based solely on the racing atmosphere.
It sure ain't the physics that are keeping me racing iRacing.
The Physics
Really. When you think about it. Physics do not make or break good racing software. I've had great races with GP2, Indycar Racing, F12000, NR, GP4... even the odd NFS or Forza battle. It's about learning the limits, then finding control enough to be inventive and use your skills to one up your competitors. That being said, the only two racing games I play are LFS and iRacing because physics is very important to me. Nonetheless, without above said attitude, I would only be using LFS.
We already know the controller interface in iRacing sucks. I was about to give up when I learned a few things about how to make it tolerable. What about the physics?
Oh. My. God.
The delicious, gritty, sliding to the skirt, looking down the road, smallest hint of opposite lock, foot moving imperceptibly, squeezing, rotating, predictably biting, wondrous oversteer!!! Sideways is a term that describes my life. (I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I figured out what the movie was not about.) I slide everything. Pitched is a state of being for me. The luscious feel of skipping over the crown in the road knowing that you have exactly the right amount of lock and big toe to keep from spinning off as the car lurches over it's haunches then digs in and rockets you forward. That sensation when you know you are turning the wheel but to yourself and even a critical observer you can't see the amount of lock. The power and satisfaction that comes with knowing when and how much to put the pedal down. The strategic ability to make the decision between lateral and forward acceleration with only the notion that you are going to move your foot. The personal choice to get a better lap or just have some fun on a sunny afternoon.
Oh... the oversteer is magnificent in this game!
...and that's pretty much where it ends.
My brother and I spent a goodly portion of our childhoods sitting under a tree on the left side of the track at turn 6a at Laguna Seca eating hot dogs, drinking orange Crush, and watching all manner of action. In the days when Seca was 9 turns, 6a was the bottom of the corkscrew. The right hander. We watched as Mark Donahue ripped chunks off his Penske 917 every time he'd drop the car off that near cliff face. We couldn't believe there was anything left to drive by the end of the race. We saw Yvon DuHammel lay his Kawi down three times in one day. Always back on it and motoring down the road in seconds flat.
One thing we learned, even as little kids, was that you can't steer your car or bike if the front wheels are not in contact with the road. We saw so many people struggling to change course, front wheels skipping through the air, then the car would come down and whoop! Off they'd go. Same with the entry to 6. We'd see them flying off the track at the top of the hill. Trying to brake in the air. Too late! See ya!
iRacing is weird. You can feel all manner of things through the FFB and what you see and hear. But they ain't right. They tell you one thing, then eventually you find yourself in a situation where it is perfectly clear the thing was lying. Like understeer for example. It really feels cool. Every little drop in the road, every bump, you can really feel the car lift off the road. Then you are late in a turn, say, (what used to be) 6a and you instinctively turn the wheels more and guess what. The car turns effortlessly. Then you push farther, to see what the limit is and you realize that you can steer in the air. What?
Remember my celebratory paragraph about oversteer. OK. Repeat the same thing for understeer for LFS. But iRacing does not have it right.
I need to also add, that the oversteer in iRacing is great at medium high to high speed. But complete garbage at low medium to low speed. Since when does it take so much throttle to get a Radical SR8 sideways in a second gear hairpin? It's almost impossible. It's certainly not what I know about high power, low weight, traction limited formulas. Those things slide beautifully at low speed. The only way to get some of them around corners is to goose it a little and rotate the thing. And they are wonderfully predictable. If you try that in the iRacing sim it's a crap shoot.
And. The better the car, the harder it is to drive at moderate speeds. Wrong. Racing vehicles are a joy because they are precise. Spend a day in a shifter kart and your Ford Econoline acts like someone hired it to kill you on the way home. Sure, at the limit it's a knife edge, that's why Prost made the big bucks. But at 107%, even DeCessaris could get the thing sideways and survive. (Sometimes.)
In The End
In iRacing I feel loose and slightly out of control at all times. Not just when near the limit.
In LFS I know where I am at all times, even when slightly loose near the limit. (Not that I spend a lot of time there. I'm the Damon Hill of LFS.) (I know. I just called myself a ninny.)
iRacing is just not quite right in the physics department. As good as the rear of the car seems to be at certain times, it's probably a trick of perception. I have know way of knowing how a simulation works. I just know it's wrong.
LFS is the closest thing I've tried so far to driving a real car. It simply acts like one in more respects. And many more respects than any other I've tried. It's far more complete.
In iRacing I'm not making all the decisions. This is greatly due to shoddy controller implementation, weird POV, and 'not quite there' physics.
In LFS I make all the decisions. Good or bad. I cook my own goose and then I eat it. LFS is precise. That is the point to race bred vehicles and practice. Precision. It is the nature of racing itself.
iRacing has great RWD characteristics at high speed. I really realized how much I had been missing that in LFS. I have a hard time really saying iRacing is better. It's something more in the GUI I think. Some thrill factor. Some ability to read the car. It may even be that the physics are worse in iRacing that makes it easier to put the right foot down. On further investigation I think I decided that LFS acts more realistically, but due to the lack of feel in the computer representation the right foot doesn't have the same intention/result interpretation. It's easier in iRacing. More realistically or not.
LFS has better characteristics across the board and the RWD gets better all the time.
iRacing has cool content.
LFS has just as cool content, but more.
In iRacing the races are run on iRacing servers at regular intervals. If you want to pick up a race, you have to wait until it's race time.
In LFS you run when you want.
There are no leagues in iRacing.
There is no variety of events, championships, or points systems in iRacing.
I think iRacing has it's place. It's got a personality, that's for sure. The simulation aspect is not as strong, but it's close enough. It certainly is limited to what it is. It's good. It's complete in it's own way. It's worth paying for. At least for a while.
LFS by comparison seems unlimited in possibility.
Fanboy?
… sure... if that's how you need to call it.
[edit] Me and my girl broke up. I have tons of spare time. Can you tell?
I have said that I am not a fanboy. I'm really not. Especially when it comes to software. I hate ProTools, but I use it daily. I love Sonar. I use it daily. I ride Madd snowboards because they are the best for what I do. Should you ride one? That's up to you. You should certainly try one...
Anyway, this is my comparison of iRacing to LFS. It may end up looking like I am an LFS fanboy, but that's because LFS kicks ass all over iRacing. iRacing does have a couple of things over LFS however, and I think they are worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning is what ain't right about iRacing.
The better the physics get in simulators, the more important it is for the user to get appropriate feedback by whatever means. This is the crux of my issues with KaemmerWare, and I can't believe that after 11 years at the top of the sim chain, DK and pals refuse to even attempt to make it right.
First Things First
If we are to simulate something, we are to make as close a representation as possible. In the case of the type of automobile simulators that we are all infatuated with, not only do we want it to act like a car, but we want it to react like a car in real time based on our controller inputs. And this is where DK and crew have failed repeatedly over the years. Starting with, and most importantly, braking controller adjustment.
I remember the day the Monza demo came out. It was in fact a glorious day for sim racing. It was also the beginning of a long period of frustration for many sim racers. Here we had this glorious sim of a glorious sport in one of it's most glorious eras and within ten minutes I started hearing (or reading, rather) this:
“I can't tell when the brakes are on. I mean, there is no feel in the brakes.”
I'm sure all of us were giddy when first confronted by that deceptively simple calibration routine. Especially after Crammond's latest convoluted offerings. We all looked at the screen and thought, “That's it? Bad ass!” It wasn't long before we realized that simple and adequate can be two different things. DK's calibration scheme is exactly inadequate. Think about it. Knowing when you are braking, and by how much, is one of the most important aspects of auto racing. It's how we hit our apexes and if we choose to try a different line in a passing or defensive maneuver, we need to know how much or how little we are giving it. In sim world it is sometimes hard to feel the tires. Our next best defense is gaugeable and predictable controllers. What else, given the nature of ever changing sim technology, deserves so much importance as controller setup?
GPL started the era of tennis balls, rubber stoppers, dual springs, hydraulic actuators, ulcers, and just plain giving up. The Internet was riddled with ideas on how to change the slope of your pedal or at least, limit the movement to match the software. I'm going to repeat that because I think it's about the most silly thing I've ever heard. “The Internet was riddled with ideas on how to change the slope of your pedal or at least, limit the movement to match the software.” It's software! Just change some numbers!!! Fer cryin' out loud! I personally had a mechanical engineer redesign the push rod on my TSW to change the slope.
Well, it's 11 years later and guess what? Same calibration scheme. Same problems. My brake pedal has about three inches of travel. At 1.5 inches it starts to give some resistance. At three quarters of an inch travel the brakes in the iRacing car lock up. Without treatment, it is absolutely impossible for me to be consistent in iRacing. To be able to brake consistently in iRacing I need to: Open the Logitech applet and move my controllers to their extremes, start iRacing (which has to be done while connected to the Internet) and go to the controller setup page, remove the rubber stopper, recalibrate, replace the rubber stopper. This has to be done every time I start a new session. This is all after using DXTweak at darn near the highest settings to change the slope of direct input to raw data.
BTW, I am using the Momo. One of the most common pedals out there. (fanatec, fanatec, fanatec... gonna get me one O' them fanatec...) I had an email discussion with someone at iRacing. Just curious as to why they had not made the controller setup usable. I suggested that maybe the test crew had really cool pedals with adjustable ranges that feel like real brakes, coming on at the beginning of travel, but some of us did not. Software should account for the widest variety of users, eh? The responses I got were very carefully worded to include every possible fix besides DK and crew actually doing something. DX was blamed heavily for losing calibration and not having good slopes. iRacing is flawless software. Right... oddly enough, I have never adjusted the slope of my pedal for LFS. I have also gone months at a time without recalibrating. DX or no.
In 2003 I was in an NR2003 league with about 100 people I had known since GP2 leagues. They had become great friends and rivals. To this day, some of those races are the best races I've ever had. Really great battles with folks I knew as well as anyone. I still know their driving styles. We hung out, we raced, we hung out some more. I dropped that scene like a hot stone when S1 came out. I wanted to run with my friends, I did, I tried to talk them into following me. Some did. But I was soooo over not being in control of my car. I was simply happy to know that when I missed an apex in LFS that it was my fault. I got it wrong. Not my stupid pedal or software. The level of control, me being in control, is something I have always known in real cars. I want to be in control of the sim. That would be a true simulation. Me being in control to the same extent that I am in control of a real car.
To add to the general attitude of DK and Crew, there is only a simple wheel calibration utility and no lock settings in the setup menus. I have to recalibrate the wheel for every car. The Solstice works great with true calibration. But the Formula Mazda it a twitchy mother at the same setting. In tight hairpins I am still only turning the wheel 80 degrees or so. The effect is such that the car is upset simply by trying to drive it until I recal the wheel. At which point it acts perfectly normally. Really. Come on. A lock setting can't be that hard to program.
Sorry about that rant, but I hate, hate, hate the brakes in KaemmerWare. If you can tell, it really pisses me off.
Still The Same
There was a gripe about GPL and NR that I agree with. It goes something like this: “The car is too big for the road.” I feel that way when driving iRacing. Same as I did with the other two. When in the car, even a car that I know to be a little thing, I always feel like it takes up about two thirds of the track width. Looking at replays I can clearly see the car only takes up a sixth of the track. But in car it's dang near impossible to tell where I am on the track. This leads to sloppy performances that are, once again, not under my control. In iRacing I may gain or lose as much as two seconds a minute and have no idea what I did differently! You gotta be kidding me. In LFS I know when I gain two tenths. And I know it's two tenths at the time.
After 11 years... yadda yadda...
The SR rating
OK. This has nothing to do with LFS. But I think it's really cool. One of the problems with sim racing, and it's only a problem for those that wish to simulate racing a real car on a real track, is that there is nothing to lose. There is no pressure to be clean. In an effort much like that of many LFS servers and automated software running on them, iRacing has a system to make the racing more realistic. As a matter of fact, it is the primary focus of the iRacing software and community.
The Safety Rating is a system that penalizes you for putting two wheels off, cutting course, spinning, speeding in the pits, and hitting another competitor. It is automated and it doesn't take long to learn what the boundaries are. It is somewhat critical and you have to maintain a certain SR rating to advance out of the rookie field and into higher level races in higher class cars.
This is brilliant. The effect is to slow everyone down. How is that good you ask? Well, it means that people are more apt to learn the cars and tracks, practice, prepare, and run clean races. That's it. That's all it offers. For my taste in sim racing. It's a good thing. The driver approach on the servers is right up my alley. I like it. I subscribed to this fairly expensive service based solely on the racing atmosphere.
It sure ain't the physics that are keeping me racing iRacing.
The Physics
Really. When you think about it. Physics do not make or break good racing software. I've had great races with GP2, Indycar Racing, F12000, NR, GP4... even the odd NFS or Forza battle. It's about learning the limits, then finding control enough to be inventive and use your skills to one up your competitors. That being said, the only two racing games I play are LFS and iRacing because physics is very important to me. Nonetheless, without above said attitude, I would only be using LFS.
We already know the controller interface in iRacing sucks. I was about to give up when I learned a few things about how to make it tolerable. What about the physics?
Oh. My. God.
The delicious, gritty, sliding to the skirt, looking down the road, smallest hint of opposite lock, foot moving imperceptibly, squeezing, rotating, predictably biting, wondrous oversteer!!! Sideways is a term that describes my life. (I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I figured out what the movie was not about.) I slide everything. Pitched is a state of being for me. The luscious feel of skipping over the crown in the road knowing that you have exactly the right amount of lock and big toe to keep from spinning off as the car lurches over it's haunches then digs in and rockets you forward. That sensation when you know you are turning the wheel but to yourself and even a critical observer you can't see the amount of lock. The power and satisfaction that comes with knowing when and how much to put the pedal down. The strategic ability to make the decision between lateral and forward acceleration with only the notion that you are going to move your foot. The personal choice to get a better lap or just have some fun on a sunny afternoon.
Oh... the oversteer is magnificent in this game!
...and that's pretty much where it ends.
My brother and I spent a goodly portion of our childhoods sitting under a tree on the left side of the track at turn 6a at Laguna Seca eating hot dogs, drinking orange Crush, and watching all manner of action. In the days when Seca was 9 turns, 6a was the bottom of the corkscrew. The right hander. We watched as Mark Donahue ripped chunks off his Penske 917 every time he'd drop the car off that near cliff face. We couldn't believe there was anything left to drive by the end of the race. We saw Yvon DuHammel lay his Kawi down three times in one day. Always back on it and motoring down the road in seconds flat.
One thing we learned, even as little kids, was that you can't steer your car or bike if the front wheels are not in contact with the road. We saw so many people struggling to change course, front wheels skipping through the air, then the car would come down and whoop! Off they'd go. Same with the entry to 6. We'd see them flying off the track at the top of the hill. Trying to brake in the air. Too late! See ya!
iRacing is weird. You can feel all manner of things through the FFB and what you see and hear. But they ain't right. They tell you one thing, then eventually you find yourself in a situation where it is perfectly clear the thing was lying. Like understeer for example. It really feels cool. Every little drop in the road, every bump, you can really feel the car lift off the road. Then you are late in a turn, say, (what used to be) 6a and you instinctively turn the wheels more and guess what. The car turns effortlessly. Then you push farther, to see what the limit is and you realize that you can steer in the air. What?
Remember my celebratory paragraph about oversteer. OK. Repeat the same thing for understeer for LFS. But iRacing does not have it right.
I need to also add, that the oversteer in iRacing is great at medium high to high speed. But complete garbage at low medium to low speed. Since when does it take so much throttle to get a Radical SR8 sideways in a second gear hairpin? It's almost impossible. It's certainly not what I know about high power, low weight, traction limited formulas. Those things slide beautifully at low speed. The only way to get some of them around corners is to goose it a little and rotate the thing. And they are wonderfully predictable. If you try that in the iRacing sim it's a crap shoot.
And. The better the car, the harder it is to drive at moderate speeds. Wrong. Racing vehicles are a joy because they are precise. Spend a day in a shifter kart and your Ford Econoline acts like someone hired it to kill you on the way home. Sure, at the limit it's a knife edge, that's why Prost made the big bucks. But at 107%, even DeCessaris could get the thing sideways and survive. (Sometimes.)
In The End
In iRacing I feel loose and slightly out of control at all times. Not just when near the limit.
In LFS I know where I am at all times, even when slightly loose near the limit. (Not that I spend a lot of time there. I'm the Damon Hill of LFS.) (I know. I just called myself a ninny.)
iRacing is just not quite right in the physics department. As good as the rear of the car seems to be at certain times, it's probably a trick of perception. I have know way of knowing how a simulation works. I just know it's wrong.
LFS is the closest thing I've tried so far to driving a real car. It simply acts like one in more respects. And many more respects than any other I've tried. It's far more complete.
In iRacing I'm not making all the decisions. This is greatly due to shoddy controller implementation, weird POV, and 'not quite there' physics.
In LFS I make all the decisions. Good or bad. I cook my own goose and then I eat it. LFS is precise. That is the point to race bred vehicles and practice. Precision. It is the nature of racing itself.
iRacing has great RWD characteristics at high speed. I really realized how much I had been missing that in LFS. I have a hard time really saying iRacing is better. It's something more in the GUI I think. Some thrill factor. Some ability to read the car. It may even be that the physics are worse in iRacing that makes it easier to put the right foot down. On further investigation I think I decided that LFS acts more realistically, but due to the lack of feel in the computer representation the right foot doesn't have the same intention/result interpretation. It's easier in iRacing. More realistically or not.
LFS has better characteristics across the board and the RWD gets better all the time.
iRacing has cool content.
LFS has just as cool content, but more.
In iRacing the races are run on iRacing servers at regular intervals. If you want to pick up a race, you have to wait until it's race time.
In LFS you run when you want.
There are no leagues in iRacing.
There is no variety of events, championships, or points systems in iRacing.
I think iRacing has it's place. It's got a personality, that's for sure. The simulation aspect is not as strong, but it's close enough. It certainly is limited to what it is. It's good. It's complete in it's own way. It's worth paying for. At least for a while.
LFS by comparison seems unlimited in possibility.
Fanboy?
… sure... if that's how you need to call it.
[edit] Me and my girl broke up. I have tons of spare time. Can you tell?
.
(i was going to do this anyway..)
