LFS may have a mathematically correct physics engine, great force feedback, etc. but feedback in computer games and simulations is a lot more complicated than that. And LFS seems to have neglected how important other forms of feedback are.
My experience in software design, film making, and video game design have taught me that the age old saying that "effects and graphics don't matter" isn't 100% true. There's a lot of important feedback you can give the player through what they see and what they hear, which I think would enrich LFS massively. And what's more, the performance hit and development costs wouldn't be excessively high for a low budget team like yourselves.
I've observed the effects some of these things have had myself on my friends and family, by watching them play various different racing games, then trying to figure out whether differences in the games have any kind of contribution.
When I first started playing racing simulators, I made a friend of mine who was skeptical about these games have a go of Race 07. And one of the things he mentioned while he was playing it is that his mindset had changed completely once he was playing. He was amazed by how involved with the car he felt while he was driving. And I believe the visual and sound design in the game is responsible for this, as well as the steering feedback.
Head movement
Games like Race 07 and Need for Speed Shift implement the driver's head in the cockpit view as a physical object suspended from the driver's body. It has mass, momentum, etc. Just like any other body. When this is translated into cockpit camera movement, you've suddenly got a great sense of the car's changes in momentum. Things like cornering forces, acceleration/braking forces, bumps in the road, they all register on a much more subconscious level, and help the driver feel engaged with the car.
In LFS on the other hand, the head movement isn't implemented as a physical object. It is instead directly proportional to the acceleration of the car. And I don't think this gives the player a good sense of the car's momentum. Certain movements can shake the view and bring it back to the middle much too quickly. Seeing the entire view tilt forward for 10ms and then go back doesn't provide a good sense of momentum in the driver's head.
What players really need is a physical object with mass, because this seems to be an easier way for them to read the cornering, acceleration/braking forces, bumps and crests in the road, etc. And it would also be much smoother. It would do away with those quick, erratic movements too.
Sound design
In Race 07, Forza Motorsport and rFactor, there's a lot of sound effects going on which most people won't even notice. Things like the brakes squealing whenever you use them. I think these register subconsciously to provide information on how hard the driver is pushing the brakes, whether they can push harder, or whether they're pushing the brakes too hard. The result being that they're far more stable on the brakes, even in low grip situations such as wet weather.
In LFS, on the other hand, there is no sound from the brakes. And without that sound, they don't have the same feedback. And without that feedback, they become more prone to locking the wheels, and even losing control of the car due to it.
I think the same applies to the engine noise. In both LFS and Gran Turismo 5 (two games of varying realism), the engines all sound very weak. Like they're not being pushed hard enough. When the engine sounds like it could be pushed harder, people will press down on the throttle harder to help maintain their speed. But of course, this quickly turns out to be too much throttle, so they spin out.
In games where the engine noise sounds much 'stronger' like Race 07 and Forza Motorsport, this occurs a lot less. I think because the engines sound like they're working as hard as they are in the simulation, people's throttle control reflects that. They'll be more careful on the throttle, less likely to push too hard, and ultimately end up far more stable.
Implementation
I can't say anything about the implementation of improved sound effects in LFS, as it's a field where I know very little. However I think the head movement could be improved with very little work load. And the result would make the game look far better in motion too. I'm very confident that it would be a far more valuable improvement to the game for how much it would cost to implement it. Especially compared to things like Direct3D 11 HDR motion blur shader effects and 2048^2 texture maps.
My experience in software design, film making, and video game design have taught me that the age old saying that "effects and graphics don't matter" isn't 100% true. There's a lot of important feedback you can give the player through what they see and what they hear, which I think would enrich LFS massively. And what's more, the performance hit and development costs wouldn't be excessively high for a low budget team like yourselves.
I've observed the effects some of these things have had myself on my friends and family, by watching them play various different racing games, then trying to figure out whether differences in the games have any kind of contribution.
When I first started playing racing simulators, I made a friend of mine who was skeptical about these games have a go of Race 07. And one of the things he mentioned while he was playing it is that his mindset had changed completely once he was playing. He was amazed by how involved with the car he felt while he was driving. And I believe the visual and sound design in the game is responsible for this, as well as the steering feedback.
Head movement
Games like Race 07 and Need for Speed Shift implement the driver's head in the cockpit view as a physical object suspended from the driver's body. It has mass, momentum, etc. Just like any other body. When this is translated into cockpit camera movement, you've suddenly got a great sense of the car's changes in momentum. Things like cornering forces, acceleration/braking forces, bumps in the road, they all register on a much more subconscious level, and help the driver feel engaged with the car.
In LFS on the other hand, the head movement isn't implemented as a physical object. It is instead directly proportional to the acceleration of the car. And I don't think this gives the player a good sense of the car's momentum. Certain movements can shake the view and bring it back to the middle much too quickly. Seeing the entire view tilt forward for 10ms and then go back doesn't provide a good sense of momentum in the driver's head.
What players really need is a physical object with mass, because this seems to be an easier way for them to read the cornering, acceleration/braking forces, bumps and crests in the road, etc. And it would also be much smoother. It would do away with those quick, erratic movements too.
Sound design
In Race 07, Forza Motorsport and rFactor, there's a lot of sound effects going on which most people won't even notice. Things like the brakes squealing whenever you use them. I think these register subconsciously to provide information on how hard the driver is pushing the brakes, whether they can push harder, or whether they're pushing the brakes too hard. The result being that they're far more stable on the brakes, even in low grip situations such as wet weather.
In LFS, on the other hand, there is no sound from the brakes. And without that sound, they don't have the same feedback. And without that feedback, they become more prone to locking the wheels, and even losing control of the car due to it.
I think the same applies to the engine noise. In both LFS and Gran Turismo 5 (two games of varying realism), the engines all sound very weak. Like they're not being pushed hard enough. When the engine sounds like it could be pushed harder, people will press down on the throttle harder to help maintain their speed. But of course, this quickly turns out to be too much throttle, so they spin out.
In games where the engine noise sounds much 'stronger' like Race 07 and Forza Motorsport, this occurs a lot less. I think because the engines sound like they're working as hard as they are in the simulation, people's throttle control reflects that. They'll be more careful on the throttle, less likely to push too hard, and ultimately end up far more stable.
Implementation
I can't say anything about the implementation of improved sound effects in LFS, as it's a field where I know very little. However I think the head movement could be improved with very little work load. And the result would make the game look far better in motion too. I'm very confident that it would be a far more valuable improvement to the game for how much it would cost to implement it. Especially compared to things like Direct3D 11 HDR motion blur shader effects and 2048^2 texture maps.