I opened this thread to see what people thinks about fixed setup events.
My idea to implement this feature is simple: On server options a "Force fixed setup" option. Must be fun to see drivers fighting on track with same setup, means its all about the driver, and not the setup. In LFS a perfect setup brings a enormous advantage IMO. Also few sims have this feature. Maybe it's time for lfs aswell

Could be great addition indeed. Argentina Turismo guys implemented a manual system of Fixed Setup on last years "Turismo Nacional C2" championship, wich was one of the best experiences I had in LFS so far, driving the "same car" as everyone else.

AT´s system consists in after finishing every Official Session, everyone MUST have to send their Setup to an Admin, and if someone has even a minor change, it gets an insta DQL of the session, but this takes too long for grid of 30 cars, and having a "fixed setup system" by default in LFS would be amazing.

YES

Would love to see a server option for that in the future. Some leagues (like xpablo mentioned above) would benefit a lot from it

Yes it'd be nice to have a fixed setup option. Of course some settings would need to be open (like brake bias and some steering config) but having a mostly locked setup would be good.

Quote from Yasso7up :

My idea to implement this feature is simple: On server options a "Force fixed setup" option.

Also some F12 settings should be blocked, it's important for events with required pitstop.

I am all for this feature. How would it be decided what setup would be the fixed setup? Some default setups that cars come with are just bad to race with.

very cool feature ! for sure ! we talk about it since long time without solution

but effectively : how this setup would be decided ? many times, the very fast drivers' setups are hard to handle for casual drivers (slippery)

Quote from Tomfuel :

very cool feature ! for sure ! we talk about it since long time without solution

but effectively : how this setup would be decided ? many times, the very fast drivers' setups are hard to handle for casual drivers (slippery)

My guess is to force everyone to the [default] setup.

Quote from PopnLochNessMonster :

I am all for this feature. How would it be decided what setup would be the fixed setup? Some default setups that cars come with are just bad to race with.

For mods should find a solution to have a decent default set, but bad or not, atleast you know everyone has the same setup.

Quote from PopnLochNessMonster :

I am all for this feature. How would it be decided what setup would be the fixed setup? Some default setups that cars come with are just bad to race with.

Server specified setup.

If it were possible for InSim to send and receive setups, we could not only code up a more automated version of AT's current "send your set for checking" system, but allow a whole raft of other things too. It's not quite as plug-n-play as a server setup option, but it's definitely more flexible. (We could allow ranges of values, we could allow freedom in aspects of setup we don't care about, etc.)

It would probably be less work for Scawen, too.

Quote from Tomfuel :

very cool feature ! for sure ! we talk about it since long time without solution

but effectively : how this setup would be decided ? many times, the very fast drivers' setups are hard to handle for casual drivers (slippery)

ez, the cars would just need a setup for each track, think it's only about 1200 combos

Quote from Racon :

If it were possible for InSim to send and receive setups, we could not only code up a more automated version of AT's current "send your set for checking" system, but allow a whole raft of other things too. It's not quite as plug-n-play as a server setup option, but it's definitely more flexible. (We could allow ranges of values, we could allow freedom in aspects of setup we don't care about, etc.)

It would probably be less work for Scawen, too.

yeah would be nice to have some freedom to change stuff such as brake bias or brake pressure. but i think the most difficult thing is gonna be wich setup is the one to use, for mods its "easier". as I said for AT´s champ, there were 3 mod cars with the same setup and no one was allowed to change stuff (except brake bias and brake pressure, forgot to mention that in previous post ), but the 3 cars were completely balanced in terms of gear ratio, cambers, suspensions, differential, etc.

Fixed setups might be a great idea for the casual racing scene!
I like the InSim idea a lot… however I could also think of a solution similar to autocross layouts: to have a list of setups on the server and where you have commands to load a fixed setup or to store one. Once you are on the server the user downloads the setup and can only join the session with that setup.

(If the opinion of someone who displays 0km on the odometer does not belong here, you can delete the post )

Fixed setups are a very good idea. Many people are waiting for it to come or come back online.

If the goal is to increase server traffic by attracting new pilots (it could be something else, like staying with friends on private servers), something simple and understandable by novices would be good, with a special filter in the server list, well reported and well documented. With name that defines this type of races. Maybe like:

https://www.iracing.com/series/rookie-legends-cup/

for example.

The question of the fixed setup arises today because the options of settings of LFS are too permissive for the cars of series. The dexterity of the elders in handling the setups discouraged those who did not have the time to devote themselves to it and/or to train enough. LFS has become professional and sharp (not a bad thing) but it has also produced a form of elitism (which unfortunately sometimes borders on sectarianism). A game that is too elitist ceases to be fun and popular and disappeared from the radar. [off topic: No need to look any further ]

The step is much too high between the demo and the licences. Many licencers prefer to have fun in demo. Races with fixed or limited setups could constitute a clearly identifiable intermediate category (and accessible only to licensees) between demo and professional racing, with dedicated categories from modding and Tweak Mods (easier than configuring all the combos). A place where everyone can connect, whatever their level and rediscover the magic and fun of the origins. To exaggerate a bit, any car with good tires is fun to drive and easy to handle in LFS.

The main pitfall of a fixed setup is to risk producing races that are too linear. Also keeping a strategic but "egalitarian" dimension can't hurt. Having multiple cars of the same category is one option (perhaps the easiest?). Having the choice between 2 or 3 setups for the same car is another, or even limiting the number and range of settings. But you have to keep a minimum of choice and flexibility for it to work "massively".

I believe adding an easier, more streamlined way in which to enforce fixed setups could make league racing more accessible and more popular.

Setup making is a barrier to joining leagues, I am certainly not the best setup maker, and I know many others aren't so good either, we often rely on others to share. If you are part of the community this is fine, you can as team mates and friends, but if you are new, setups are more difficult to source. Fixed setup racing is attractive to new players who are learning the game and joining the community.

100% Agree, fixed setups should be added immediately!!

agreed, skipping setup optimization would save a lot of time when preparing for league races
it could work well with an general race setup like race_s for road cars and [hard track] for racecars

I wonder if this is something easy for the devs to do or if it's a complicated addition, I can't think of why we wouldn't have it already.

one reason i can think of is making 1000 sets that don't suck (:

(of course you don't have to make all of them from scratch)

Quote from johneysvk :

one reason i can think of is making 1000 sets that don't suck (:

(of course you don't have to make all of them from scratch)

It is certain that talking about 1000 setup makes the idea impossible to realize.
It would be enough to have some good modded cars with 3 general and adjustable configurations within coherent limits, and we could quickly see if the races with limited or fixed setups attract people.

I just searched for this, great minds and all that 😄, it really needs to be done! Maybe if the Devs were somehow able to implement it so that server admins could chose a setup for everyone to use, I've no idea how easy it would be, but it would make races much more even (and more enjoyable imo), any idea if this is possible Scawen?

IMHO too, fixed setups would certainly make online racing more attractive again. Cheating, especially clutch cheating, must also be made impossible. Under these conditions, perhaps new racing challenges would appear and replace the interest-free cruises

Fixed setups are attracting more and more people elsewhere. Races with fixed settings are multiplying on Iracing. Why wouldn't this work on LFS? Especially since it is a recurring request from part of the community!

Of course, you shouldn't remove advanced settings for setup professionals, and maybe leave a little wiggle room of settings for limited setups. But fixed setups would provide a playground for those who can't or don't want to stay in the garage for days on end for online fun.

Below is an interesting article on the challenges of fixed setups and the resistance of virtual engineers.

https://www.iracing.com/fixed-setups-and-iracing-empowering-your-inner-driver-or-frustrating-your-inner-engineer/

Don't worry. I'm sure the devs will go in that direction for the next big update.

Quote from Avraham Vandezwin :

Fixed setups are attracting more and more people elsewhere. Races with fixed settings are multiplying on Iracing. Why wouldn't this work on LFS? Especially since it is a recurring request from part of the community!

Of course, you shouldn't remove advanced settings for setup professionals, and maybe leave a little wiggle room of settings for limited setups. But fixed setups would provide a playground for those who can't or don't want to stay in the garage for days on end for online fun.

Below is an interesting article on the challenges of fixed setups and the resistance of virtual engineers.

https://www.iracing.com/fixed-setups-and-iracing-empowering-your-inner-driver-or-frustrating-your-inner-engineer/

Don't worry. I'm sure the devs will go in that direction for the next big update.

This is a 14 year old blog post.