Warning, this became a pretty long post.
If you are not interested in the discussion that has been started in here apart from the "in ten years stuff", jump to [JumpSite 2].
My personal opinion can be found under [JumpSite 1].
To all the others, have fun reading and replying.
a) I bet almost every moaner here has at least one car, he has barley driven, or a track config on which he/she has done just a few laps.
If you put it together, LFS has an incredible amount of combos to try, but most drivers just stick to their usual combos and start moaning..
Get on a server with an unusal combo and start driving. Just drive around the track, get used to the car, learn the breaking points and stuff. No hotlapping yet, just simulate you get in a real car the first time and drive around an empty track. It can be a thrill with any car.
b) Many people here moan about the little fixes like languange support. Well, a language pack can be done by native speakers and be included in a day or two, so that is something you can do besides your main work-life no problem. And it is exactly those tiny little things, that get the devs a little extra money as it opens up new markets of players.
c) The Barrier/Physics Bugs: Well, for a University Project we once started developing a simple Driving "Simulator". I know first hand, that it is pretty difficult to deal with such a thing as a Physics-Bug.
We implemented an Editor with which you can place objects in the world. A Barrier you can Place in the Editor is simply a different story than the fix Barriers denoting a track.
It is something your Physics Engine produces. It is not dealt with in a week, as it can require massive restructuring and sometimes even a complete rewrite of the Physics Engine.
d) Bugs
You bought an S1/S2 licence for not even an beta Version of a game that in the current state works pretty flawlessly. I mean, I bought full developed games (at much higher prices) that had a lot more bugs and a lot more bugs that lower the fun of the game and constrain the functionality. Then one or maybe two patches were released that didn't solve a thing and the game was declared final and the next part of the series is produced...
Cause no money comes in from releasing patches..
and yes, this goddamn ****ing world runs on money. I hate that also, but at this point of time, I can't do a thing about it. That will change 2012of course , but that's not now yet....
The only major bug I can detect in LFS that constrains the functionality is the Barrier/Physics/Collision Thing. But hey:
1. Collisions between cars are naturally influenced by Lag. You will find that in any game and yes, the fact that LFS is peer to peer does not make it better. But hey, you knew that prior to buying the License, and if you didn't, well, tough shit as 510n3d has already said. The ones who can read have a clear advantage.
2. Barrier
I don't really see the problem with the Barriers really...
You are not supposed to hit them. Imagine you are sitting in a real car. You would drive a lot more careful, as hitting a barrier would cost you a lot of money. Just consider that when driving in LFS. It even increases the fun and immersion of realism IMHO.
(I for example, like to get on our Fun Server, choose a combo for an hour of qualification, exit the pits and try not to have to shift+p (that is not to wreck the car) the whole time (of course for setup changes, but I DRIVE to pit-boxes first then).. Try it out, it is a lot of fun)
e) Speed of development:
As said earlier, you bought a license to an alpha version of the game (alright the not so long members for a beta... is it beta already.. dunno actually). You agreed to the game as it was. Everything else coming for free is a gift to you.. (Yes, that was said earlier.. had to mention it again, though).
If you don't like it, get lost.
The devs develop the game at their speed, as it is their piece of software. They own it. You only bought a license to use it. Remember that. The devs decide what they do with the software. And if they decide tomorrow that they stop developing and supporting it, tough shit, nothing you can do about it, get a life..
f) Opening up the game for mod-development (rFactor-Style):
Look at the server list in rFactor. There are about a million of servers with about 500 000 different mods/tracks running, and I cannot join a single one of them, because I don't have the mod and cannot find a server, that is running the mod/mods I have. I played rFactor for 2 or 3 months, almost never found a good server to play on, uninstalled it and have not touched it since.. IMO rFactor is more dead than LFS is.
[JumpSite 1]
g) I personally think, that when they came to finish the Scirocco last year, they realised, that the current state of the game can not support the improvement they were ready to implement in the game. So they had two choices:
1. They could implement it on a sloppy basis, just to have it work for the moment and have people then moan about flaws it includes (like the whole engine has with the Barrier Bug) or
2. They could postpone the whole thing, strip the game-engine down to the essential parts and basically start from scratch with all the knowledge they earned in the past years of development. That of course can not be done in a couple of months.
The outcome then might be S3. With all the stuff you guys ever wished for. Day/Night Racing, Rain, No Barrier Bug, New Cars, new Tracks, etc.pp
I personally vote for the second one. Even if I would have to pay again then. I'll gladly do it, cause the couple of bucks I payed for LFS have paid them off in over a thousand hours of fantastic racing experience. IMO LFS is much more valuable than the money a license costs.
[JumpSite 2]
So, to sum it up, I think in ten years from now we will have S3 with more cars and tracks, night racing, rain and a lot more to come. It will be the best simulator out there, as the devs are highly dedicated in achieving that, no matter how long it takes. Or we might not. That is up to Eric, Victor and Scawen.
PS to Plaztik: I totally agree, but this post is totally way too long already to even start scratching your post here.. Sorry.. We can have a chat about that on vent... oh no TS3 that is...
PPS. Merry Christmas to you all and like we in Germany say: Guten Rutsch!