I also have a 360 controller, but I have no idea how to get it to work, if it even can >_>.

Anyway, as the title says, would it be a worthwhile buy? I love the demo and I've been playing it off and on for years though (though I've never really gotten very good. I still screw up on Blackwood and my best time in the FBM is like, 1:15, though I don't have a setup, and I still really know nothing about racing or cars).

I've thought about purchasing a license in the past, as I'd imagine it would greatly improve options on things to do, but I only have a mouse and keyboard setup. The thing I hate about the mouse is there's no force feedback or anything, so you seem to be able to turn the wheel all the way with a small flick, and when you try to recover from an accident it can be a nightmare. Considering the cars only seem to get mostly faster yet harder to handle, I would like to know if upgrading to an S2 license would even be a feasible decision? I'd like to get a wheel at SOME point, but they're very expensive.

Thanks in advance!

You're not gaining anything by not buying now.

Quote from Forbin :

You're not gaining anything by not buying now.

What he said, although I bought LFS because I bought a wheel a month before.

What do you enjoy about LFS I guess would be the question..

I just love sim racers, and when they're online they're even better. It's a shame though, from what I've heard and read the community in game is starting to dwindle.

Quote from Rathalos888 :

It's a shame though, from what I've heard and read the community in game is starting to dwindle.

6 tracks 20 cars its not enough to keep most ppl glued to the monitor for years IMHO

They are ppl that use mouse/keyb combo and is fast as the ones who use wheels and vice versa

So, yes is worth the buy

Expensive? For an US citizen?

Shouldn't be that expensive to buy an used Momo on Ebay for $20~$30 because of the low or non existing shipping costs.

Unless you are very very good and experienced with a mouse I wouldn't recommend to go S2, it's very frustrating if you can't control all those cars in a decent way.

If you have a Momo and S2 though, you could go on with years of entertainment.

Some people are also extremely fast (and reliable!) with a relatively cheap Logitech gamepad.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/controllers/devices/288

But... There are also people very fast with a mouse/keyboard combo. There are people (like me) who can't master this way of controlling and even the very experienced still have problems with some cars or track combo's to do that well.

So I either recommend a wheel or that $13 gamepad with those analog sticks.

.

Yes, it's worth it. I have been playing LFS on a keyboard since I started in 2009 and I still love it. There are quite a few fast mouse drivers too. It's not like wheel users got an advantage over you.

Aye, Its fine with keyboard and mouse, played S2 with it for around 6 years! And almost one a championship or two

Quote from Rathalos888 :

I also have a 360 controller, but I have no idea how to get it to work, if it even can >_>.

Anyway, as the title says, would it be a worthwhile buy? I love the demo and I've been playing it off and on for years though (though I've never really gotten very good. I still screw up on Blackwood and my best time in the FBM is like, 1:15, though I don't have a setup, and I still really know nothing about racing or cars).

I've thought about purchasing a license in the past, as I'd imagine it would greatly improve options on things to do, but I only have a mouse and keyboard setup. The thing I hate about the mouse is there's no force feedback or anything, so you seem to be able to turn the wheel all the way with a small flick, and when you try to recover from an accident it can be a nightmare. Considering the cars only seem to get mostly faster yet harder to handle, I would like to know if upgrading to an S2 license would even be a feasible decision? I'd like to get a wheel at SOME point, but they're very expensive.

Thanks in advance!

On a side note I managed to get the 360 controller up and running in game but it requires use of an external program (XBCD) with its own replacement driver for windows to get running. Then you need to mess around with a lot of settings to get it all mapped and working correctly.

Once its all done the game handles pretty nicely with the pad though its still a little twitchy at times using the analog sticks... Nice thing is though you get analog accelerate and brake which makes a difference as you brake slowly into some corners instead of locking up which I found myself doing on keyboard often.

However I am a new player as well and purchased the game just the other day. Love it, well worth the purchase.... They developers created a real gem here... doing a 5 lap race with 20 cars is amazing... even if I spin or end up coming last or second to last its great watching how people take corners and every race you feel like you learn something new

JP

Rather not!

Quote from Dandy Dust :

Rather not!

Seriously though. Go for it, you won't regret it. As a mouse driver I had the same fear before buying S2, not being able to control anything else than slow FWDs. In fact I mainly bought S2 for driving the XFG on S2 tracks at first. Then I quickly gained some more experience and quickly got to know how to drive all sort of cars with it.

Obviously it is even slightly harder with keyboard... There are hundreds of decent drivers on mouse but not so many with keyboard. But I know two guys(andro. and Steelbeen, who seem to have posted there already) who is a true masters with it, maybe he would be able to give you some tips.

Quote from Rathalos888 :

I just love sim racers, and when they're online they're even better. It's a shame though, from what I've heard and read the community in game is starting to dwindle.

Then yes I would buy S2. Also look on Ebay or some place like that for a cheap wheel. I got one for $50 despite that fact that it was off brand. You don't have to get anything fancy for a wheel if you're willing to buy one. Just something that works.

There some really fast drivers with mouse/keyboard combo, so in that regard, you can be competitive.
But... without wheel, it's just not 'it'.
Really check e-bay or so for some used wheel.

As for 'is it worth? - yes it is.

You could buy S1 first to see if you like it. A wheel is a must as it adds to the immersion. good 2nd hand wheels can be found on many sites/forums

Thanks guys. Is there still a good amount of races going on daily? Or are there only like, 3 servers with anyone in them, and they aren't even racing, generally speaking, on a day to day basis?

Also, I have that Logitech gamepad that was mentioned earlier. With it would I still have t do all the stuff I had to to try to get the 360 controller working? Meh whatever, I'll try it out. Thanks again.

Quote from Rathalos888 :

Thanks guys. Is there still a good amount of races going on daily? Or are there only like, 3 servers with anyone in them, and they aren't even racing, generally speaking, on a day to day basis?

Also, I have that Logitech gamepad that was mentioned earlier. With it would I still have t do all the stuff I had to to try to get the 360 controller working? Meh whatever, I'll try it out. Thanks again.

Not compared to what LFS once was. While some good servers are still around, the amount of racers online has decreased significantly. This is even more evident because you're in the U.S. - you'll need to race around noon to be online when the most players are on.

Quote from Rathalos888 :

Thanks guys. Is there still a good amount of races going on daily? Or are there only like, 3 servers with anyone in them, and they aren't even racing, generally speaking, on a day to day basis?

Also, I have that Logitech gamepad that was mentioned earlier. With it would I still have t do all the stuff I had to to try to get the 360 controller working? Meh whatever, I'll try it out. Thanks again.

Well there may be only 3 servers a day with a full grid, but there are dozens more that will have 10+ at some point during the day. It's only during the middle of the night (east coast USA) that it's a graveyard. There may be 2-4 servers with any racing going on at all, and its like 6 drivers max.

Go ahead and get the full game, you'll be able to get more than enough out of it for it to be worth it.

I have a mouse, I race regularly and its cool, even fun! Better is beating people with G25, 27 and like that
But thats because I was close to addicted to the game, maybe they werent :P

Quote from Rathalos888 :

Thanks guys. Is there still a good amount of races going on daily? Or are there only like, 3 servers with anyone in them, and they aren't even racing, generally speaking, on a day to day basis?

Use LFS remote to get answers
http://www.lfsworld.net/remote/

If you are at the East Coast its OK I guess

Yes.. if you're on the West Coast.. you might have an even harder time finding good races at the times you like on week nights... If you like oval racing I'd suggest getting it if it is just for the sake of doing that. Of course you like road racing as well, and there's plenty of that on s2

It's been mentioned before: it can still be a lot of fun and a quite successful experience mastering the controls with keyboard/mouse.

However, a wheel and pedal-set (a "half-decent" one at that) will always be superior - that's a no-brainer!

That out of the way:
I started mouse-driving in the pre-alpha and S1-demo days. Got quite addicted and made some reasonable progress, later joined a fun-racer team and finally bought into S2 and at that point: my first wheel-set.

My motivation for "getting serious" about simracing was to learn more about driving dynamics, vehicle control and become an all-round more-aware driver. Further down that road it proved to be also a lot of fun and a rewarding experience that can occasionally get quite competitive at times.

To cut a long story short: I cannot think of a better way to explore a first look into racing and sports-driving while only sticking to mouse&keyboard controls than LFS. This ability to use the mouse for steering&gas/brakes in an efficient way - right out of the box - is what makes LFS unique among all the serious racing sims right from when it first appeared.

You can go a long way in getting to know your cars and tracks with using a mouse. Sadly though, the practical skill that you might reach using a mouse&keyboard won't translate to doing the real thing in a straight-forward fashion. Remember: Mouse-driving will always miss out on the forces transmitted through a wheel (be it computer-generated force-feedback or turning a real steering wheel on a car) and, of course, the various physical limitations that involve your level of health, your driving position, your comfort in a particular car and so forth...

Simply put, the advantages and disadvantages of mouse-driving:

++ unrealistically quick steering work can be done using mouse-steer, even in ever-so-rapid succession

++ nearly every computer user in the world already has access to a reasonably precise mouse, suitable for this kind of use

-- -- Track-style braking will always lack precision, consistency and modulation when using a digital button; On the other hand left-foot braking is equally impossible e.g. when mapping the y-achsis of the mouse to gas&brake - That's why I don't recommend the latter.

These limitations will get in your way - eventually. Depending on your effort and progress this will happen soon enough - or maybe a little bit later. Still: a "clean" mouse-driver will usually know a trick or two how to keep a wheel-using beginner in check.



Hence my final advise:

When is the right time to make the transition to a decent wheel?

Basically it's the instant you realize when and by how much you're losing significant time spent unavoidably drifting around some tricky corners. But that's clearly AFTER you get confident about the proper racing line, controlling grip-levels, tire-wear and weight shifts. I'd even go as far as to say some people never seem to get that far, at all.

Happy racing!

For god's shake ..you still play the game with a mouse...!
Really the only thing special about lfs nowdays compared to other games are its very good physics BUT you need a g25/27 or a fanatek wheel to appreciate how good lfs is.
They may be not cheap but that's the way it is if you really love racing games buy one as you can use it on some other amazing games like rfactor and the gtr games too.

I spent over 4 years playing LFS with keys before switching to a wheel about a year ago.

I've uploaded over 300+ hotlaps that I did with keys, a lot of which I can't match yet with wheel, especially the MRT5.

Some of the cars I find easier to drive with wheel (especially the TBO class), but I'm still beat regularly with some people who still use keyboard.

I also found some cars understeer when using keys, especially FXR/XRR/FZR, and I had to put a ridiculous amount of front wing on (20) with maybe only 1 or 2 rear wing.

If you do use keys, play around with the keyboard settings, as these can make huge difference to how smoothly you turn, and straighten after a turn.