I want to say that I think this game should be used a a template for any other games in development.
For a few reasons:

The graphics are so smooth. Yes, they are not the same detail as say Project Cars, but they look absolutely fine, they really do. This is due to the way they have been implemented I guess. Great looking, bright sky, with everything else just Very clear and functional. The anti aliasing works well too. The Frame rates I'm able to achieve with maxed out settings is incredible. I've also heard great praise for this game for its Oculus Rift support - also a famously smooth experience, so people with limited power computer may even be able to enjoy the experience too.
So, that's lesson one - Brilliantly optimized graphics.

Lesson two would be the incredibly good interface. So many options available and all pretty easy to navigate.
The graphics settings can be changed ON THE FLY, which is just GREAT. So many other games require you to restart the game even if you change just one setting - this makes the whole tweaking process very cumbersome.


I've also had no problems at all getting online and into a race pretty fast.
The skin modding process is so easy, even I can do it !
The game feels quite relaxing and enjoyable when driving around too - a nice atmosphere.

So, there are a few other lessons.

Anyway, sorry if this sounds too much like a review - I just wanted to add my comments on this excellent game.

I had the demo game for a while, and very recently upgraded to S3.

Great game.

Cmon lets dont become a bunch of apologists, yea the game is smooth and all ( from a 13 year old engin running on modern pc what more do you expect ? ), but don't tell me RB4/FZ5/UF1 etc interiors are the finest details in gaming industry or Aston is a realistic track, LFS deserve a way better representation because of the solid base!

Fanboyism will not fill up the server lists or make the game more attractive.

Welcome to the forum

Quote from lfsrm :

Cmon lets dont become a bunch of apologists, yea the game is smooth and all ( from a 13 year old engin running on modern pc what more do you expect ? ), but don't tell me RB4/FZ5/UF1 etc interiors are the finest details in gaming industry or Aston is a realistic track, LFS deserve a way better representation because of the solid base!

Fanboyism will not fill up the server lists or make the game more attractive.

I'm just giving my opinion.
I have a pretty powerful 970m sli laptop.

I can play Assetto Corsa and Project cars on high settings pretty easy.
I still think LFS is great.
I've no idea about 'the finest details in gaming', that's probably project cars graphically right now.
Project Cars is fun too.

I'm saying Live for Speed is also fun and everything just works well.

And for people who can't afford a massive rig for a next gen VR experience, LFS's solid VR support is great too.

I also agree that LFS got this "polish" feeling that AC and PC doesn't have. RB4 look like an early 2000 model because it is, they really should make an overhaul of these cars but once you're on the track looking around, especially new Westhill and Rockhinham, it feels crisp and clean and runs like butter unlike other racing sims I own. I got a constant annoying glitch with shadow-draw distance in Assetto Corsa on my Radeon card that has never been fixed and probably never will because.. DLCs are top priorities.

Changing any options on the fly is also unique as far as I know. With every other sims (maybe not iracing I haven't played in ages) you have to quit a server to change pretty basic stuffs while in LFS you can even change them as you drive if you feel like it.

I don't think of LFS while brushing my teeth. Whenever I feel like sim racing right now I'm on AC so I'm not biased toward LFS despite loving it's atypical approach and making things user-friendly but once the holy grail tire physics will come out (and hopefully a few tracks to fatten the S3) this game hopefully is gonna take back it's spot where it belongs.

Quote from lfsrm :

Cmon lets dont become a bunch of apologists, yea the game is smooth and all ( from a 13 year old engin running on modern pc what more do you expect ? ), but don't tell me RB4/FZ5/UF1 etc interiors are the finest details in gaming industry or Aston is a realistic track, LFS deserve a way better representation because of the solid base!

Fanboyism will not fill up the server lists or make the game more attractive.

Honestly I don't know what the devs are thinking. Their making all these updates (idk if anyone else thinks their minor/unnecessary), but they lost almost all of their audience. I used go to on the website to see at least 1,500-2,300 online. Check LFS world and their are under 600 online from a day to day basis....What I'm trying to say is I don't see much of a goal. I feel like their only continuing because its something interesting to do on a weekend.

*Don't want to start anything negative, and honestly idk why I chose to quote this...*

EDIT 1: Pretty much to me. The devs are just winging it and it doesn't really sound like they have a specific plan.

EDIT 2: For the past year there have been a total of 293 Daily Licensed Racers, and 480 Demo Racers.

I don't know how many people play it, or if it's loosing popularity.
All I know is it is a pretty polished game if you ask me.
Smooth, with a massive amount of easily accessible options.

I'd love to see some of the options available in this game in the other racing games I play, that's for sure.

I discovered another gem earlier.
When I download the car set up files, I can just double click them and they go straight into the game just like that.

It's touched like that that help make this game what it is.

And as my original title says.

It's a lesson to developers on how to do it right.

Graphical tweaks on the fly, extensive option interface, buttery smooth game play - the graphics may not be next gen, but maxed out im getting over 300fps, that's massive since the graphics look pretty good anyway, not so ancient. And if the graphics engine is prety old, they've manage to do a great job with it, the design, bright colours etc.

My project cars game for example stutters , I don't think it has anything to do with the quality settings... it just doesnt sync right with my monitor.
I've tried allsorts of workarounds.
Assetto corsa also sometimes has those issues.

So, LFS seems well optimised to me also.

I've also only just joined this forum and only just bought the game.
So I can't tell you if the devs are lazy and have not produced enough over the years.
Maybe I will feel the same if the game is hardly updated in the next year or two.

As I say, all I know is it has a great interface and is buttery smooth.

Totally agree. It ruins other games for you.

The main reason why it is so refined is Scawen's approach, which a lot of people seem to resent him taking. It is clearly a double edged sword but you can't deny that what is there is a fantastic piece of software.

Agreed, I think this shows how fundamentally different approach is taken to software development by different teams/people. I like Scawen's approach better because of the previously mentioned reasons and just look at multiplayer implementation in LFS and Assetto Corsa for example.

LFS has very few limitations in multiplayer, you can spectate and join mid-race, choose any car with any skin with any setup and edit layouts on the fly and these things are in LFS from the start basically. The result of that kind thinking can be observed in all parts of LFS which makes it a great software to use.

In Assetto Corsa you can only select from predefined cars with predefined liveries and if the slot is taken on the server you are out of luck.
Kunos says that this is by design and they won't rewrite that part of the game. As I have some development experience I can understand that you have to make compromises to make things happen but I still think that it's a poor design not just compared to LFS but compared to other older multiplayer games as well.

And while I like LFS approach better it does have its limits at this complexity level with only one developer.

And yet it's us who are losing ground to the other simulations.

That must be something that isn't as perfect as you described, I think we can call it: Attractivity.

Yes I think the only think that are killing LFS is the graphics and contents, solid base won't be enough sadly.

Quote from lfsrm :

snip

Please tell me, why Aston track needs to be realistic?

I just really want your honest opinion about that, because unlike you, I am quite opposite about that. I got curious about that. No need to give a singe brick or any, if you want so, tho, because after all, it is matter of taste.

Quote from UnknownMaster21 :

Please tell me, why Aston track needs to be realistic?

I just really want your honest opinion about that, because unlike you, I am quite opposite about that. I got curious about that. No need to give a singe brick or any, if you want so, tho, because after all, it is matter of taste.

Graphics side mostly, nothing wrong with the track layout itself, I think the physics mesh are too flat too.

The guy is new to LFS, so its pretty normal that he is hyped with the sim. I agree it has so many simple and yet functional features that ruined us for all other sims, BUT, you can't ignore that it works that way because its extremely limited.

Yes graphics can change on the fly with no restart of the game...but rememeber LFS was "recently" upgraded to directX 8 or 9 , something already explored 10 years ago minimum. So on this end, you have pretty limited graphics to tweak ( although the game is still pretty playable ).

Skinning and setup wise, its brilliant, so simple and effective. But again, the skining is so simple because the cars are simple. No over the top details we are now used to in AC or other new "sims".

Just give him a couple of years, when he will probably be still waiting for the new S3 content, and tired of not having enough servers to explore and battle against other drivers on a regular daily base, or get fed up by driving the same combos over and over..... then i can almost bet his speech will be diferent!

LFS was great, once upon a time, now its just slowly dieing as the devs care less and less about it, and a great part of the active comunity just migrated to other sims. And its really sad, beacuse this still has great potential, but the people running the show just dont care enough. Proof of that its the latest S3 patch, where people paid 15€ ( give or take ) for one track, and are still waiting for more content to come...just dont hold your breath.

Enjoy LFS while you're hyped, m8, but dont come here here lecturing about how its better then this and that, we know about it, we lived it through the good times! Now you just can't compare an old simple game with the new complex and detailed rivals, because they are not even in the same league.

Yes, I agree with you MysticReverie. LFS is a solid piece of code/art. That's why it's been going strong for so many years. Welcome to the forum!

Quote from lfsrm :

Graphics side mostly, nothing wrong with the track layout itself, I think the physics mesh are too flat too.

Well, now when you mentioned like that, I kinda agree, yes. Not sure about the mesh is too flat, hmmmm...

Quote from JBiturbo :

... the people running the show just dont care enough. Proof of that its the latest S3 patch, where people paid 15€ ( give or take ) for one track, and are still waiting for more content to come...

That's some pretty piss-poor proof - much as you'd expect for ass-gas passed off as fact. The reason S3 is 'just one track' was explained at the time, and ad nauseum since.

Hi Racon, i didn't want to get to the details, since its common sense ( or maybe not ) what happened with S3, but i'll explain.

The reason i say that S3 is proof, is that since 2008 they been talking about it, rockingham and scirocco and the tyre physics, and you know the rest....blablabla its 2016 and you only got the one track ( that was done 8 years ago), and a statement that cleary says the devs are not promissing anymore content, but they will try to release more as the time goes by.

S1 and S2 where worth the money, S2 was a great improvement on S1 as it brought more cars and tracks on diferent categories. S3 however was a total disapointment, you payed the same for only 1 track and, who knows, maybe even false expectations ( but thats what i think, thats what history taught me ). So S3 was a big let down, 8 years and the devs managed to release only 1 track and charge the same!

If that isnt proof enough that they just dont care anymore, i dont know what is....and coincidence, S3 was released right before Xmas, cause maybe money was tight and they need to raid their faithfull LFS fanboys for a last loot for Xmas presents! But thats my theory, doesn't mean its the truth.

If the devs really cared about LFS, we would be in S5 or S6 with a rich content sim and a healthy comunity full of people and servers. I mean whats really stoping them? They have a gold mine here, but they just decide its not worth it. Sad really, such a great sim, its a shame.

Have you seen what happens when they make what are clearly not promises, without explicitly specifying that they're not promises?

Did Scawen wake up one morning and find critically acclaimed VR-support on his pillow?

Quote from JBiturbo :

S3 however was a total disapointment, you payed the same for only 1 track and, who knows, maybe even false expectations ( but thats what i think, thats what history taught me ). So S3 was a big let down, 8 years and the devs managed to release only 1 track and charge the same!

Quote from JBiturbo :

and coincidence, S3 was released right before Xmas, cause maybe money was tight and they need to raid their faithfull LFS fanboys for a last loot for Xmas presents! But thats my theory, doesn't mean its the truth.

That's a pretty serious accusation



https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/1898432#post1898432

Oh my...

Quote from JBiturbo :

The reason i say that S3 is proof, is that since 2008 they been talking about it, rockingham and scirocco and the tyre physics, and you know the rest....blablabla its 2016 and you only got the one track ( that was done 8 years ago), and a statement that cleary says the devs are not promissing anymore content, but they will try to release more as the time goes by.

They have been talking about S3 pretty much from the first time they decided to sell LFS in stages. You have seen what happened when the devs mentioned a new content which they then failed to deliver in the way expected by the community. Personally, I think that stating point blank that there may be no new S3 content coming in the release announcement was very decent of Scavier.

Quote from JBiturbo :

S1 and S2 where worth the money, S2 was a great improvement on S1 as it brought more cars and tracks on diferent categories. S3 however was a total disapointment, you payed the same for only 1 track and, who knows, maybe even false expectations ( but thats what i think, thats what history taught me ). So S3 was a big let down, 8 years and the devs managed to release only 1 track and charge the same!

If wasn't just the S3 content what was released after S2, was it? The tire physics already got one massive update somewhere around 0.5P, there were InSim improvements, VR headsets support, 3D engine got ported to D3D9. Do you not recall Scawen reworking a considerable part of the networking code when there was a hack available that could get anybody admin access to a server? IIRC Scawen jumped on the issue a few days after it went viral of the forum, showing that he clearly DOES care.

Quote from JBiturbo :

If the devs really cared about LFS, we would be in S5 or S6 with a rich content sim and a healthy comunity full of people and servers. I mean whats really stoping them? They have a gold mine here, but they just decide its not worth it. Sad really, such a great sim, its a shame.

You cannot possibly know this. The devs have only so much effect on the state of the community. In a way the community is only as good as its members make it. For instance, I believe it would help a great deal if someone were to revive CTRA but that is completely out of the devs' control.

Quote from hda :

That's a pretty serious accusation



https://www.lfs.net/forum/post/1898432#post1898432

"Yeah we're working on something but don't expect too much from a release standpoint"

Don't you think it's a little bit contradictory ?

Scawen clearly stated that you can buy the actual ingame Rockingham ( for those who want ) but you can't buy his promises, so good luck to defend your "donation".

That mean by buying the s3 you're not forcing him to work on further contents, thats why the remaining of LFS racer consider it as a gift or donation.

To be fair they have been open and honest about it from the start, everyone who bought S3 knew there was no guarantee of new tracks in the near future... if at all, although I doubt that very much as it has been posted already that work is in progress.

So what if they needed a cash flow boost, I'm not surprised, they can't have been selling many s2 licences prior to S3 and all the VR work. As posted it looks like plenty of people will gladly put there £12 in the pot to help, I really don't see it as buying one track, you are simply helping fund the future of LFS, which has to be a good thing for everyone here surely.

Quote from MadCatX :

Oh my.......out of the devs' control.

So can you explain to us how on earth such a perfect sim with continuous developement pace got close to no racing servers available right now ? and why 98% of the racers community moved to the other "bad sim" ?

As I said fanboyism will not miraculously revive LFS.

Fanboyism won't save LFS I quite agree, but what will? No one buys any more licences the money will eventually run out then no more LFS full stop. We all know it desperately needs content but that is out of our control.

What would help is getting some hype built up and keeping things moving at a consistent pace, for example the Westhill update, then Rockingham release both great but they where too far apart with no previews or anything in between so interest peaks up then fades away again shortly afterwards.

A true progress report every few months, even every 6 months showing some previews into what is being worked on (content wise) would really help put some faith back into the community and get people talking about LFS again.

Quote from JBiturbo :

If the devs really cared about MONEY, we would be in S5 or S6 with a poorly made content

Fixed for ya...