YES, you are wrote it very nice, I absolutely agree with you
Now used (old one, because there is prepared the new updated physics model) is BEST on the simulators market! Scawen (1 man only!!!) do very nice work with core of the LFS, opposite the all other big simulators makers companies with many people. Of course I don't forget other 2 people Eric and Victor who also do very nice work with other parts of this very nice simulator software (graphics, sound, music, web, etc...)
JazzOn 5+ years ago when s2 was released it featured vertex deformation on cars (something that was featured for first time in carmageddon 2 and later first time in a sim in viper racing in 1998....) -Now its nothing special but it was something more than other sims at that time.
Also little details like good physics head movement in cockpits,bouncing tire walls,large grids made it a very solid sim.Also all other sims used dx8 or even dx7 so it didn't really matter that it used dx8.(Gtr 1 was released a little bit after s2 and had dx9 support but it didn't use neither shaders and neither bloom/hdr lighting. )
But nowdays...technology has evolved and so are other sims.All other sims nowdays use fully dx9 (shaders and bloom/hdr) .All other sims have some great cockpits and animations.All other sims feature some nice damage...Some sims even have some great weather effects that are depended on temperature,wind and humitidy...All other sims can have large grids and i could go on and on...
Admittedly, LFS was something quite amazing and unique at the time (even by the time i found it) and heck, still, there are people find out about it and are just as amazed.
I don't deny that it lacks in alot of areas and every one last player (or fan, if you will), every single one of them wants it be even more "awesome", but the first to know about that are the developers themself, don't you think? After all, they are obviously not retarded and made it what it is now, which is also still providing realistic racing online with easy access.
So, all the talk about how "it is dying" or "will be forgotten" is pure BS.
It's been said that there will be a rewrite of the GFX-engine, but not yet. (Ofcourse that would lead again to the argument that more devs would speed up things, seeing what seem to hold back is the unfinished tyre-formula, and you know the answer to it too - everybody knows)
Maybe that day it will again be ahead of its genre-"competitors" for whatever it is worth, which is nothing really.
Weather effects? night racing? Who's gonna play F1 2010 (talking about the awesome rain-effects) in 1 year and who's gonna play LFS (not saying that the next patch/upgrade will come in the end of this year )?
All other racing games that actually are a simulation and not fake or simply arcade, still don't do those things that good yet. True, it is better than nothing, but in the end just slightly fancy.
Bottom line is, all the moaning and stating smartly obvious things won't change a single thing in a positive direction, quite the contrary more likely. How can one keep himself motivated, when all the feedback comes from smartass, short-sighted "kiddos" claiming to know the answers while actually having no clue - And now say the devs don't care about the community (players actually have no truble to find servers and can pretty much rely on LFSW nevetheless).
They are working on it and it will probably be out when it's done. Everyone who is into simulatuions will inevitably come back when the email notification arrives.
No sim has all of these, so essentially you have a choice of sims which excel in a couple of usually eye-candy related things but don't have the physics etc backing it up.
hi guys/admins/mods/devlopers, just wondering if there are any real updates from the devlopers themselfs? the search function seems to have failed me, and im sure other lfs fans want to know too.
cheers
To justasimfan: I just remember Scawen said on LFS it must be generated as racing simulation not screenshot generator LFS is generic when it comes to PC Graphics its not their major thing to set it up LFS Reacts like real Tyre Physics and some other things not Graphically Matters here
I believe it's because Rockingham is S3 content, and S3 licence needs at least one TRACK and CAR, of which the car hasn't even been annunced yet (Scirocco is S1).
And no, devs haven't quit LFS. Scawen is finishing the physics and Eric is modeling. (or I hope so)
But that doesn't explain the lack of interior updates.
The last reply from Scawen in this forum was on 19th August 2010. This is 8 weeks ago.
I wonder why Scawen could not post a quick "hello, i'm alive and i inform you in one sentence to the actual progress..."??
Making a post takes a few seconds of time, so nobody can tell me he is working so hard on the tire physics, that he has not 10 seconds to reply to this thread.
Leaving us alone here is not the "British Fine Art"!
That's true, but a small (or dammn very small :nod status report would really reassure the public, i think. So a lot of people here in this forum could be out for the count !
Let us enjoy what we have and when or if a new / updated LFS comes then we shall rejoyce. Regardless where we are with S3 we can not wish it into excistance.
As i said before why you are stack with the concept of either Graphics OR Physics ??
Technology the last few years has evolved at an incredible rate to the point where an average computer runs lfs at 500 + fps....(mind you the human eye barely notices any difference over 60 fps and you need a capable monitor that has a high refresh rate.)
And i always laugh when i hear the term "Screenshot generator "
Its probably among the oldest and more commonly used excuses for inadequate graphics....
And again as i said before 5+ years ago when s2 was released was actually pretty good looking for its time.It wasn't "OmG!! " stuff but it was nice never the less.Some nice physics based head movement along some nice cockpits ,large grids,interesting tracks,tyres flying when hitting tyre walls and some interesting vertex deformation were at that time making a very solid looking game.
But nowdays no matter how you put it the graphics are looking very dated.
And yes there are some nice high res textures from Lynce and Electric Car that improve the game but still the truth is that it looks dated.The dx8 render is missing shaders effects and bloom/hdr lighting effects.Shaders are crusial to have "warm tarmarc","wet reflecting tarmarc ",real time reflections,metallic surfaces actually looking like metal etc...
Then there are effects like normal mapping that is a better bumpmapping texture effect that makes surfaces appeal that they have depth.
And the difference some bloom and hdr lighting does is like night and day...
You don't need dx11 or even dx10 to archieve the above effects.Dx9 is more than adequate for the above effects.And no the game will still run at 300+ fps on a decent computer.As much as i love fls and it still has the second best handling(the best in my opinion is netkar pro) it is surpassed on many levels but newer sims like the recent gtr evo/race on combo,rfactors latest mods(with real feel) and i can only imagine how it will compare against the upcoming rfactor 2 and Gtr 3 .....
Do you seriously think the Dev's or any player don't know? ATM it obviously isn't their high priority and as a matter of fact, there are people who have trouble to run LFS fine. Not every LFS player is a hardcore gamer who updates his system every year.