The online racing simulator
LFS Better Demo ??
(86 posts, started )
i bought S1 about 2 weeks after i downloaded demo i enjoyed it so much

just buy the game, for some people i can understand it may not be easy to pay for, but there is almost always something you can sell or work to pay for it

i still think we need a formula ford type car, and replace that in the demo with the XRGT (since there is the XRGTT)
Quote from Pablo.CZ :2 weeks are enough, but its waste of Scawens time make restriction like this, because it would be very quickly cracked.
FYI: Ive bought S2 1 week after downloaded demo.
I agree with Kerain, the demo is fine as it is.

I wouldnt imagine it would, as we all know the online side of the game is difficult (impossible?) to crack simply because it is routed through a master server.

Dan,
If you restrict the current demo, a lot of people wont have to time to 'get' the game and people who are umming and aarring about getting it wont bother getting it... right now those people also get slowly persuaded to buy it

On the other hand if you increase the available content even a little bit the amount of people just happy with playing the demo will increase dramatically!!

If the demo wasnt good enough as it is, why would so many people have bought the game already??
There's no way to limit a demo users time online because they are not tied to an account - they could just make a new one, restore their registry etc/etc. It's the account on the master server & your credit card that makes S2 pretty secure.

I bought S2 the first night I tried the demo, but I actually kept on racing demo for another couple of days. I really didn't fully understand or comprehend what i'd bought tbh. I thought the extra cars would be something I would progress up too in time - I just wanted to license so that I didn't have to start again.

I kept wondering how many credits I needed to unluck the next car...

*blush*
I played demo for about 3 months before buying S2. It took so long as at first i was so crap (this being my first n only racing sim ive played) then i got better. I then thought i might get it, but took about 2 months before havin spare cash to buy. So i think limiting the demo is a good idea, but i think maybe a month would be a better figure than 2 weeks. Although as said how would u stop people just creating another account.
Maybe an idea would b, something like - for 24 hours, a demo user could connect to s2 servers,but couldnt race. So would show off what racing goes on online. Problem again is would be cracked probably. I think the demo shows a taste of what lfs is, but not was s2 is like. I mean demo shows the physcis off, the net code etc but doesnt show off the good races can get on s2 as no wreckers and that people are polite etc. For me though demo could offer something to really show off s2, to really get the person drooling over it.
Overall - demo doesnt show off the s2 game and community as what it really is like, but the demo has nough content alredi so IMO i dont think anything needs adding to the demo.
OK yeah, the demo doesnt show off the best cars LFS has, but if you put a GTR into the game then you wouldnt get as many people buying S2 as they would have a taster of everything except the formula cars. Blackwood is probably one of the best racks, so its not like they havent been generous there either.
I played the demo for months as well. Actually I have played many LFS demos for years (since the first releases when it was free). But when S2 was released I started playing more.

2 weeks for a sim is not enough.
#33 - SamH
People are either going to buy LFS or they're not. The only other variable factor in there is time. Some people take longer to come to a financial decision, and others really WILL wait for S2 to be Beta'd and released before investing. That's a mind-set that holds true to me, for everything else other than LFS. Why it broke with me for LFS I'm not sure. Community, I think.

Every aspect of the LFS landscape seems to have been carefully reasoned and plotted out by the Devs. It's not something I have to worry about, fortunately. At the end of the day, I wholly believe the Devs have made the demo what it is because they've figured out what works.. the ratio of demo : licenced drivers at the end of the day is going to be managed by the Devs simply because they have the ability to mathematically calculate their income : outgo in relation to demo : licence.. something we can't do for them.

I like the demo as it is, tbh. I think the content is just right. It's generous, with 3 cars and 4 track configurations (rev and rally), and the fact that there's no time limit means that communities have time to build. If it takes 2 years for someone to realise they want to be part of an even bigger community, who does it hurt in the meantime? And if they continue to play demo, create teams, race competitively and nicely, and never decide to join the "big boys", they are at least advocates of LFS and ultimately will cause others to be inspired to buy a licence. Even people who never, financially, directly invest in LFS can do so ten-fold, indirectly.
Quote from Hyperactive :2 weeks for a sim is not enough.

dont think so ... took me about a day to decide the old demo test physics werent good enough to keep me interested ... another 2 days or so to decide i wont buy s1 when it came out and maybe a week of racing the gti in .5k to be convinced that i have to buy lfs
New car in demo would be nice
Current demo is leaps and bounds better than NKP demo. They're trying to sell and online only sim without being able to actually test the online piece. Retarded.
Quote from Shotglass :dont think so ... took me about a day to decide the old demo test physics werent good enough to keep me interested ... another 2 days or so to decide i wont buy s1 when it came out and maybe a week of racing the gti in .5k to be convinced that i have to buy lfs

It took me a number of weeks before I found a way to pay the LFS S1 lisence when it came available. I would have been very annoyed if I didn't had a chance to play the demo in the meantime.
I havn't bought rFactor because there hasn't been good demo available. The multiplayer test was very unpleasant experience. I'm not sure if I would by it even if I had a change to test it and two week test exprience is too short for me to test a car sim.
Quote from Pablo.CZ :Joke? LFS is ONLINE racing simulator and without trying online, I would never buy it. I need to check how good network code is, if my connection is good enough etc..

Same, if I never saw how many wreckers were in the demo servers I'd have never got S2 to get away from them all.
I'd like to see perhaps one of the current cars swapped out for maybe something with a 6 or 8 cyl engine...

The cars currently in the demo, sound terrible.... Do the rest of the cars sound as poor? Thats what I'd like to find out before spending $$, its the only aspect holding me back, the rest of the game seems fine, but the engine sounds in the demo are ANNOYING. Annoying enough that even with the best physics, best graphics, biggest boobs, i still wouldn't buy it.
ok heres what you do to make the demo better, same setup as now but you take out the two shity cars (XRG and XFG) and put in the RB4 and the FXO. that would show how the game handles all the drive layouts, this way you can get to know the game much better IMO.
I like how the demo players are posting wanting more

The demo shouldn't and probaly will not be changed. How do you think S1 licensed drivers would feel if the demo lot were getting access to some of the content which they had to pay for ??

@SKurjz
Why would the cars sound any different ... it's the same sound engine which doesn't use samples.

Keiran
Quote from Hankstar :It's pretty generous imho, considering it's playable online and has three cars, while most race-sim demos I've tried in the last year or so have had one car and no online content at all...
Like Gabkicks, I would like to see some suggestions as to how to improve the demo instead of all these people saying it just isn't good enough. A demo's meant to be a taste, a teaser, a demonstration after all...

The demo is great. It have everything the real game has, except all the cars and tracks, and LFS user names. Other than that you get 100% Live For Speed, you can use pit stops, you have damage and so on.
Quote from keiran :
@SKurjz
Why would the cars sound any different ... it's the same sound engine which doesn't use samples.

Keiran

Grrr... so what if its the same sound engine!! or are you telling me the larger engined cars sound the same as the 4 cyls?

If thats the case you aren't doing anything to help sales!

This is a relatively expensive game compared to most other games I purchase (After currency conversion fees etc), and the argument that its constantly under development blah blah blah counts for squat if there is an aspect I dislike which keeps me from playing it.

Now perhaps if the demo came with some replays of the other cars (of course inaccessible to drive) it might make the game shine a little brighter.
The demo is total bullshit IMO. Having online play in the demo is a huge mistake IMO because it is unregulated. I think either the demo should be IP only or a system should be put in place to only allow servers with a registered admin. Both these would cut the amount of demo racing but still allow enough for people to evaluate it.
Heh, while I don't think there should be a reduction in the demo's online capability, it doesn't reflect too well on the final version. Granted my experiences may have been more negative than many.

Cars with 2 ft of ground clearance, constant T1 restarts etc etc


There are other sims (different genre) with a lot more money at stake that give more away in the form of a demo and online play.
Quote from SKurjz :Grrr... so what if its the same sound engine!! or are you telling me the larger engined cars sound the same as the 4 cyls?

If thats the case you aren't doing anything to help sales!

This is a relatively expensive game compared to most other games I purchase (After currency conversion fees etc), and the argument that its constantly under development blah blah blah counts for squat if there is an aspect I dislike which keeps me from playing it.

Now perhaps if the demo came with some replays of the other cars (of course inaccessible to drive) it might make the game shine a little brighter.

uhuh... 48 bucks is a lot? HA! Most top brand games cost around £48 here, I don't count LFS expensive. Infact, I think it's a tad under priced, maybe it should be knocked up a few pounds. :P
I played the demo almost on a daily basis for over 2 months before S2 was released. I don't see any problem with it, it's in fact the best racing sim demo I've ever played. You have 3 cars, real races, you can tell your revs, speed, lap times, it's not buggy, and you can race online. Oh, I for got: it's free!!!

An apple pie with that sir?
Quote from P5YcHoM4N :uhuh... 48 bucks is a lot? HA! Most top brand games cost around £48 here, I don't count LFS expensive. Infact, I think it's a tad under priced, maybe it should be knocked up a few pounds. :P

$48 bucks plus currency conversions etc yes (of which I have to pay 2)

I don't have an issue with price so long as I like what I am buying... I've paid hundreds if not thousands for MMO's over the years...
Quote from SKurjz :$48 bucks plus currency conversions etc yes (of which I have to pay 2)

I don't have an issue with price so long as I like what I am buying... I've paid hundreds if not thousands for MMO's over the years...

As I do the other way, but how much you pay for that depends on the bank now doesn't it. It costs me £1 to make an overseas transaction. Which isn't a lot.

Well although I agree the demo isn't a perfect representation of the full game (infact I rarely use the vehicles that you get with the demo), you won't be disapointed after buying the full game. If you don't want to throw down 48 bucks, you could always just buy S1 and play around on that, if you don't like it don't spend anymore cash.
Oh notice you are from S****horpe! (spent 10 yrs in Barton not far from there)


Anyways, is there a schedule anywhere that lists the planned features, updates, improvements for each release?

I'd basically like to know if there are plans for the sound engine before S3...

LFS Better Demo ??
(86 posts, started )
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