Good morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you may be.
I am brand new to sim racing. It has already become addictive though. My wife is wondering if I will ever come out of the computer room again...
I have been driving the FBM because of the training and I like open cockpit racing. I started with lap times around 1:24 and have worked my way down to the 1:17 range. I can sometimes get in the high 1:16's if I tie together a good lap. My progress seems to have come to halt though. Car adjustments don't seem to help me improve. Have tried a couple of setups from others, but my style hasn't adapted yet.
I do notice, when I spectate others running in the 1:13 - 1:14 range that they are leaving an awful lot of rubber on the road. I can't imagine someone really racing and scrubbing the tires like that. Even the fastest guys in F1 on a qualifying lap leave very little rubber except for the occassional lockup under braking and of course the smooth rub of being on the edge around a corner.
Am I missing something here? Do you have to "drift" the corners to be fast, kind of like running the cushion in a dirt car?
Anyway, it is great to be part of the community. Hope to see you guys out there. If I get in your way, it is not on purpose. It is really fun to race real people, even if they are faster than me.
Hi and welcome to a great game Joe Kumpf!
Be prepared to handle some conflicts with your wife soon !
Joke aside, I would like to ask you what those races you've been on so far look like in terms of lap numbers, qualifying sessions etc. Because, yes, you might get away with a few fast laps letting the tarmac eat your tires. However, when racing in longer sessions with more realistic stints (>20 laps), it is always a matter of conserving rubber (and clutch etc) - and that generally also forces people to drive more gently with the aim of winning the race. The world of LFS is very diverse, so you'll find short races (hotlap-like) but also longer, where you need to work out a strategy (the most fun in my opinion :nod.
Even though many fellow competitors are much faster than you at the moment, you should know, that it takes an awful lot of practice to be really fast, and you will eventually end up there one day if you are dedicated. It can seem frustrating after some time in LFS, but just by reflecting over my own experience, I'm sure you will notice good improvement with spent mileage. Also getting to know the individual tracks like your own pockets really pays off in this game. Just as in real life.
I enjoy putting in the effort. I would like to run longer races, but am staying with Blackwood GP and Formula BMW for now so I can become somewhat competent before I move to other equipment. The servers I have found seem to run short races of 4 laps or less. I did a 20 lap race on one of the servers, but I was the only one on at the time. I was hoping that by running a race it would attract others, but it didn't.
Is there a car/ track that you would recommend for longer races. At this point in my learning it would be especially nice if there were other racers there that were beginner or intermediate level.
I also wonder about my equipment. I do have a nice G27 wheel and pedals, but I am just using a small computer monitor. It is often hard for me to sense another racer beside me and the "look left/ look right" buttons are so distracting at this point that I am almost certain to wreck if I try to use them. Sometimes I do hear the engine noise though and leave a lane just in case. Do the fast guys use the three screen setups for better visibility?
Also, my wheel is just clamped to the desk, and I am in an office chair - so not the best driving position. Does taking a "racing position" have any good effect?
The Blackwood GP track is a very good starting point since it's fairly easy to teach the brain where the braking- , throttle- and apex points are. I still find Blackwood hilarious after many years of eroding the same racing line.
Well, that is a bit typical since you do not know exactly where to go, or have any LFS "friends" yet. Eventually you will know the quality of numerous servers and what to expect from ceratin "events" as you get to know more people personally. It seems like a jungle at first, but just relax, you'll fit in sooner than you know. It can be a good idea to race shorter races of 4-10 laps in order to learn the track and also you do not have to worry about pit stop strategy and fuel consumtion that much. Just driving.
For now, I cannot point you to a particular server (I'm sure others can), except for "Dead men racing" perhaps. Very friendly and mature - heaps of racers willing to share their tips and tricks. Like a racing school sometimes if it's no race going on. I should also mention we had a blast driving on the UFR Challenge server earlier this summer but it is down for the moment. Something similar might open up soon. As for car choice, I'd learn to drive the slower cars at first (XFG, XRG, XRT, RGT, FZ50 etc), finding racing lines in a slower pace and then work my way up. Since you like the open seaters, it might be good to stick to it and develop your skill from there . I couldn't tell.
With the G27 you will probably enjoy a lot of "wow" moments and I can really recommend you using its full potential (H-shifter, axis-clutch and appropriate steering range). It is very rewarding, even tho you might loose races (or place in the middle of the field), it is still tremendously more fun than going too much auto. Make sure to set up the cockpit so that you have a good view of the rear view mirrors. Especially the center one. I do have 3 displays so I have a good view of the left and right mirrors as well, but I'd say you can configure the center one to have a very good awareness of cars behind you. It takes some time to get real comfortable with the cockpit view. Try it out using the AI races.
Others can probably answer this. I use an office desk and a hard wooden chair. Some have the full rig and dedicate a lot of time into building a "home" simulator. I'm sure they'd suggest you do the same . For me, it's enough to sit comfortable with a steady lock of my G25.
I see you're from the states and that means it is not optimal for timing the peak of online races (European racers tend to be more frequently online), so that could be the reason why you did not attract any players on that server you tried.
Perhaps we could join up someday (night for me) and just enjoy some laps with the G25/27 trying to improve ourselves at a track we both like to practice on?
I agree with Ingolf completely, just a few pointers though.
If you want to win races and be fast, you should use the paddles on your G27, not the H-shifter or automatic (especially not auto). I do agree, however, that doing well with the H-shifter feels great, but not all cars work with the H-shifter.
Also, It seems I have a very similar setup to you. I have a G25, a fairly small monitor, a regular old desk that my wheel is clamped to, and an offfice chair, and I am still fast. All you need to do is set your fov a little wider and learn how to use the look left/right buttons properly, and you should never use any view other than cockpit view, as not only is it the most realistic, but it also is the fastest.
I'm David and I'm from Spain.
I joined this great community three years ago, I think it was September 2008, but I found Live for Speed in November 2007.
I thought that it would be great to make an official presentation that I hadn't done before.
As you can see on my profile, I wrote about 30 messages and I didn't introduce myself.
I would like to say that Live for Speed is really the greatest driving simulator I've ever had.
I bought S2 in January 2009.
There's nothing else to talk about myself. I hope I'll get on well with you .
Well hello there Valefor!
When to make introductions doesn't matter. What matter is you're here now and having a good time. I'm sure you'll do a lot better in me in races and also be a good racing mate!
Hi there. I'm Fabrizio. I'm half Italian half Polish so i know both languages. I've beene reading here for a long time, sice i was demo racer
My main interest is aviation (on these forums i'm Fabristunt http://simulazionevolo.altervi ... wtopic.php?f=38&t=353 http://simulazionevolo.altervi ... ewtopic.php?f=2&t=344 http://www.flightsimulatorx.it ... opic.php?f=56&t=18506 )
I mainly fly the 747 Cargo but i do some flights also on smaller planes as you can see. I fly online on a network called IVAO so i can have real atc and all that can be simulated. Have a look on Saint Google
But i also love cars: i get up on sunday at 7:00 AM to watch FIA GT I was looking for a driving sim with clutch and i found LFS a couple of months ago. After some time demo i saved for S2 and now i'm having fun. I can't live without it.
I made a video but i'm stiil finishing it so it will be ready in a couple of days.
Now i'm saving for a G25. Cheers from Italy.
If you want to see me, this was a forum meeting. I'm the one with blue
sweatshirt. www.flightsimulatorx.it/fsx_fo ... 5&t=18415&start=0
Fabrizio Barbierato
P.S. I and a couple of my friends (one still demo, the other S2 but not following the forum) were wondering about a small question: it is "Live for Speed with "live" meaning life or live like a live concert? Hope you understood
P.S. 2 Is there a way to put images in the signature like i have on the other forums (check what i wrote before)? Also only one. Thanks
Hello, I would like to say Hi to other racers:-)
I am Stepan from Czech Republic. I love cars, but I don't have enought money (I am a student) for a regular sports car, so I decided to buy a car simulator stuff and find some corresponding game. My equipment is G25 wheel and a seat from real car. In future I would like also motion cockpit.
I was searching for a good car simulator, tried almost everything(from arcade NFS to rFactor) and I ended with LFS. It's the best simulator which is public available.
That was the reason, why I joined. I tried demo a month ago and after some time, I tried it online. That was why I decided to buy an S2 license. So now I am one week licensed(a little anniversary :-) ). The online community is great and almost everyone tries drive as clean as possible and lot of them are friendly. I am really enjoying driving with other racers, but I am pretty slow and almost every time I lost the race...
I would like to start racing in some league or championship, but I am really slow, so if you can suggest me some, that would be very nice. Thank you and see you on some server :-)