But to be fair , is looking a bit haggared and in need of a re-bore
I dabble in Iracing and once you are out of the rookie cars its a blast , yes expensive but that keeps the idiots of the track .
Its really nice for someone that cant get past you to actually WAIT for a definate gap rather than just pushing past with a divebomb .
If you want serious racing ..and can afford it then it takes some beating , and Intrepid is right you just cant have the amount of infrastrucre in a game for free , so subs will be the way to go for serious stuff .
Lfs still great to pick up every now and then tho ... just my 2 cents
i Like Iracing because of the serious racing, statistics, racing with real cars, getting the feeling you are part of a group of drivers and not just one of the thousands that have bought a videogame. I like te realism of damage feeling when you scratch a wall or having a collission. In a LFS race the leaders fly away with 2 seconds or more each lap. in Iracing and special in the solstice the leader has a maximum of 20 seconds distance after 30 minutes racing. because you will be listed with drivers with skills that are almost the same as yours. i love the rating system, there are just a minimum of drivers that crash you for position or doing a kamikaze move, lets say like real. you realy have to practise and practise to get to the top of the field. and get the fastest laptime. on lime rock with the solstice i'm now close to 1.02 seconds after 200+ laps training. In LFS ( after 8 months brake ) i was close to WR in 4 races and back on my old level. It is a lot easier then Iracing to reach the top and stay there.
There are a few things in my opinion that can be changed like damage model and some physics but these guys are seriously busy with making it all perfect.
And about the money, yes it is a lot but you get a lot also. most of the time i use actions like a 3 month membership for 50% price. the cars and tracks cost a lot to but thats a one time spend. you keep them even when y'r membership is out.
I race LFS since 2005 and before that demo. i like the pick up races and everything LFS has to offer. ( drift, cruise, banger, demolition derby, autoX rallyX ) LFS is for me solid ground where you always can come back to have some fun races and competition. some time league .For serious racing i use Iracing.
At the moment i first need a new PC. mine is from 2003 and crashes everytime when it is getting difficult for him. after that a new membership for Iracing and the Ford Mustang FR500 + tracks.
I dont understand why people here believes that iRacing's tyre model is crap.
Seriously, Silverado trucks at Texas Motor Speedway. I drove like I drive in LFS. Flat out aggressive. After 10 laps my pace went from scoring fastest to near fastest laps to 2 seconds of the leader's pace.
How in the world is that a bad tyre model? I was absolutely shocked at how realistic the tyre wear was (as in NASCAR the guys cant maintain fast pace either on old tyres).
I dont know about road course racing cause despite getting a Class B license I havent raced much since upgrading to the V8 Supercar, but I cant imagine for that to be more unrealistic than the ovals since they are the same game.
Likewise:
IndyCar at Chicagoland. Same thing. Very loose at first, then after 15 laps so tight that I sometimes have to lift slightly just to keep it from getting into the wall
At the Kyoto 500? Yeah sure, I actually got faster on older tyres. In fact, through out the race I didnt even have to think about tyres very much. Just as long as they dont get cold you're fine and you can drive as hard as you want.
The only thing I don't like, currently, in iRacing is the feel. The tires themselves seem more or less fine (a couple of the car seem like they regain grip suddenly), but the force feedback is wanting. They actually use copious amounts of dead center spring! If you just sit in the pits you can turn the wheel 360 degrees and it'll just snap back quicker than if you were slinging it around in a drift.
And when the cars start to slide you lose pretty much all feeling. The bumps are nice though. It's like the FFB has 2 modes: dead cornering mode, and active straight line feel all the bumps mode.
Meanwhile, in LFS, I can feel exactly what the grip's like at all times and can properly anticipate slides.
I tried iRacing for about a month. I even did the big Talladega race in the NASCAR cars (that was the special offer at the time so I went for it to give it a try) and my god it was so so different to anything ive tried before. In LFS, driving around Kyoto is pretty dull after you get into the race.
Going around Talladega was always a challenge. Tyre wear, fuel going down changed the handling of the car so so much and it was a much more tiring experience driving around for about an hour and a half. Sadly, my inexperience showed and crashed whilst racing for 3rd in the final few laps.
But iRacing, imo, presents REAL cars better than LFS. But in my time at iRacing, I didnt find the races interesting and once I got into a routine, it did get boring after a while. LFS has a much more friendly community and I generally preffered to race on the lfs servers rather than race on iRacing.
If I had the funds, I mightve given it a real crack and got the better cars and better tracks. Maybe in the future eh?
I've known people that have bought a house then have decided it's not what they want and sell soon after. Does that make the seller a rip off bastard? If you paid out for a year before you knew for sure you would use it then it's your fault not iRacing Just like when people buy LFS S2 and later complain that its still not a full product
I bought a year because it was so much cheaper than paying per month. Like 50%. I stopped playing after 4 months because I had no way of racing my teammates and friends. It was BORING!... VERY
Now, they have finally listened and are trying to make it easier for a community/team to work, but it still is a cold, money making sim... IMHO
If you think my honest opinion is trolling, then maybe you should take a good look at yourself. I have tried my upmost to try to make iracing and a team/community work, but it simply doesn't atm. This is what makes LFS special IMO. The fact that we can access live data (for free), build websites around it, join friends etc, makes LFS a community SIM. iRacing is simply not that.
To say to LFS'ers, who dare to make statements of opinion on iRacing, in an LFS forum, as trollers, is bullshit Glenn, and you know it..
If you really think that the opinion of someone who plays LFS every day, runs a very active team, organises meets for the community as a troll, then piss off to iracing and don't come back.
The fact that Scawen/Victor lets you talk about iRacing should tell you something. The fact that you are posting in the LFS forum should tell you something. The fact that when you simply don't have the time to commit to iracing 24/7, you WILL feel as ripped off as I did, should tell you something.
Right, it's the same problem with P2P MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. When you buy a subscription and find out that you dont have time for it then you'll feel ripped off.
Your complaint is very common among any subscription based video game or service. But I will have to say that it is your fault for not utilizing iRacing. You paid a fee and you can utilize as much of it as you want. If you suddenly dont have time for. Well that's the gamble you took when you paid a fee.
Also, iRacing has a friend system atm So I would say that your problem was fixed recently
Your exused because that is a very well thought out and constructed response of which I agree with
Definately iRacings biggest issue in compariosn to LFS is the structure and feel of community interaction both online and off. I'd have to say that that is the one thing (if I had to name one thing) that did keep me in LFS for as long as I was and is still an attraction. iRacing is improving in that area but has a long way to go to catch up - LFS is light years ahead in that area you will get no argument from me
Your choice to buy a year though instead of a shorter time frame is still a risk you choose and therefore I still think it is a bit rich to call iRacing rip off bastards for the choice you made For anything you buy in life if you buy quantity you get a better deal, why should subscription racing be any different? That's the only issue I had...
@lizardfolk - it's good that they are making an attempt with the friend system but it is still very awkward to use in comparison to LFS...
I paid £90 for my subscription. I paid £210 for content. I am not ALLOWED to play my content without keeping my subscription going. World of Warcraft does not rip you off in the same way, not at all. You don't pay £210 for weapons in WOW so you can enjoy the game. You pay your subs, that is it... iRacing is taking you for suckers....
True that does bother me a little if iRacing closed its doors tomorrow I'd have nothing.
If LFS closes its doors tomorrow I'd still have the game to drive but possibly not be able to drive online (although I can't see scavier closing doors entirely ever, for as long as they continue to get enough new lic purchases to cover the Master Server costs it wouldn't make sense)
Same can be said for iRacing though the revenue stream that iRacing generates pretty much garrantees it will be around for a few years at least, the only reasons for it to cease to exist is poor management of the company and lack of new content/inovation. I think they have that pretty well covered for the time being and therefore don't see that as a huge risk.
What you don't mention is that you can continue your subscription at a future time and not repay for all that content again.
I'd highly recommend anyone contemplating iRacing to test the waters first by going with a promotional offer and avoiding the temptation to buy extra content. If you absolutely hate the base content I wouldn't go further.
I liked the solstice and spec racer ford. Spec Racer Ford is still one of my favourite cars only being beaten by the V8Supercar and possibly equal to the CV6 in terms of pleasure of driving.
Anyway as with any purchase you make in life it is your responsibility to ensure you carry out due dilligence other wise you do run the risk of being ripped off.
Can we seriously shut up about other games/slow development. First of all. This has nothing to do with lfs. This should be moved to off topic. Second. :feedtroll:feedtroll
Eh, it's the exact same thing. You cannot access any content or play any character without being logged in with an active subscription (this is what PSs are for ).
Could someone please take some time to write a list of good / bad things about the SIMs, and then compare it? I have heared a lot about Iracing but have only briefly tested it. I would be much thankfull if someone tok the time writing the goods and bads about the two above in one post.
Sounds very much like you are clipping your FF output. What is your FF settings ingame and in the drivers?
What happens when you clip your FF output is this:
Let's assume the sim sends a signal to the wheel how much force to apply. -255 is full left, 255 is full right force. The drivers for the wheel interpret this number and scale it based on your settings. If you have your wheel set for 50% force, it will scale the signal from the sim accordingly.
The forces in the sim are calculated to a hight precision, regardless of any FF and wheel settings. Going down a straight the forces can be pretty low, there is almost no forces acting on the steering column, the suspension geometry is 'neutral', so you are not fighting the wheel at all, just the bumps transmitted through the wheel. When you turn the car the forces build up fast, the suspension is loaded, you are fighting the rubber on the road, and at the same time there are still bumps on the track, maybe the camber changes a bit, you start to slide, maybe hit a curb or whatever. The forces from the tires and suspension is much larger than the subtle forces from bumps, so the actual force number is much higher. The bumps are still there, and all the subtlety, but the overall force is much higher, with the subtleties 'on top'.
The sim then takes this calculated force number and scale it to something useful for the wheel drivers. This number can vary from wheel to wheel, and with driver settings and such. There is also a slider in the sim that will scale this number. If your FF is set to 50%, the output number is half of the actual calculated force.
So, you have your wheel set at 100% force, and the sim is set for a pretty high wheel force, because you want to feel the bumps down the straights. The sim sends feedback from bumps and grip, but there is no big forces acting on the steering since you are going straight. Let's assume the signal varies between -1000 to 1000 from the bumps, scaled to -100 to 100 through all the settings. Then the forces build up to -10.000 -2000, because we are turning right and the wheel fights that. This number is scaled to -1000 to -200 through the settings and drivers. But wait, the wheel has a useful range of -255 to 255, so the excess is trunkated, giving us a force feedback that varies from -255 to -200, giving a strong turning force, but no subtlety and 'feel'. Also, even if you hit a bump or curb while turning, the excess force will be clipped and you won't even feel that!
So make sure yo have your insim FF low enough so that little or no clipping occurs, and I'm sure the 'feel' will return.
Why arent you guys go and do the 1 month free trial!?!?!? http://www.radicalsportscars.com/racing/virtual-racing
Imo Iracing offers some realism i miss in LFS sadly and its fun but LFS do have more of a people to race with and no annoying waiting
So both have some issues you just have to deal with cos those are in for long time
(this is what PSs are for 
