Since this topic was raised once again in LFS discord server,I would like to post this under official improvement suggestions for public discussions,suggestions and brainstorming. Of course adding this option straight away would lead in huge mess in world record standings,so there should be some limitations to ensure quality over quantity.

One of the key points are mod updates - current system allows users to update their mods at any time,where updates can include big changes in performance. To avoid this my proposal is to add possibility to mark mods as "finished". Once marked such,updating these mods should be possible only through mod reviewers (sorry,more work for you ) and update may include only minor visual fixes without affecting performance in any way. Exception may be when the physics generally in LFS are changed (for example new tyre physics launched) as then hotlap charts are reset anyway.

Once finished,the mod could be applied for inclusion in official hotlapping system,which would go into public voting (for S3 users only for obvious reasons),where each month the most popular car would be officially added to hotlap charts. It's up to discussion here if such charts would be mixed with standard LFS cars or displayed seperately.
* Alternativelly application to such voting could be similar to marking "finished" and inclusion to hotlap charts would disallow updates.

Of course to ensure quality,mods should fill certain criteria - like overall 3D model quality including all LODs,realistic performance and aerodynamics values (no 150hp cars that can reach 260km/h as they have a drag of a bicycle or 2 liter engines with torque of a cruise ship because "diesel"),suspension quality and realism. Alternativelly maybe only approved status cars as they should fulfill highest standards - allthough some does not as these were approved before raising the standards.


So feel free to add your thoughts and suggestions here. Adding mods to hotlap charts would add a little more competition there and also give some more competition to those not living in timezones with most active online racing,while it also would give extra motivation to create quality cars and maybe even bikes - that would be also something new in hotlaps charts.

Each month new car seems too fast in my opinion. but I like the overall idea.

Quote :

Alternativelly maybe only approved status cars as they should fulfill highest standards

Maybe limit it to "Staff Pick" cars, currently 14.
Or maybe just pick from that pool, not add all at once.

There is also the question of tracks, not every car/bike is suitable for every track.
With official cars there was only the distinction that some cars could not be hotlapped on rallye or Westhill karting.
With mods, now there are some very low-powered slow cars/karts. It might make sense to limit their hotlapping to suitable short twisty tracks. (Hadraplan on Oval is as useless as GTR on Kart tracks)

Quote from manolixsvouros :

Each month new car seems too fast in my opinion.

Yea,maybe that way the list could get cluttered too fast. Once per 3-4 months? Still - it's just a start of idea,let's see if devs can make anything out of it.

Quote from Gutholz :

There is also the question of tracks, not every car/bike is suitable for every track.

Once a car becomes eligible,it surely should get "checked" only on tracks that suit it.

don't think any mandatory set time interval is a good idea and there's some headaches concerning the mod hotlaps in general

I think if anything everyone can agree on a class with base rules and have the unlimited record be based on that. Say 700kg weight, parts must realistically fit, max hp 1500. Max tire width 1500mm combined total. Cog height minimum ? Just spitballing. Min drag 0.9 combined, max downforce at 300kmh 7000kg?

Quote from manolixsvouros :

I know if this gets noticed it will fall down pretty fast on the priority list, but...

Will mods be ever allowed on hotlapping mode? And could it be a very time consuming task?

and if so, maybe just allowing approved CAR mods will be a logical step? for obvious reasons (no pickups, trucks or buses) but bikes could be debatable since there's some crazy skilled people on them worthy of a 'official' space to showcase their laps.

Mods including approved mods, can get changed or deleted.
to keep it fair you would have to wipe leaderboards each time this happened and personally i am not interested in spending time on laps only to know they might get nuked at any time.

Also no for bikes, besides all the above, they're more of a proof of concept that kinda works in current physics rather than something properly developed.

So all in all, no from me, keep hotlaps only for the official content.

edit: also this would mean a total redesign of LFSW hotlap interface would be needed to accomodate dozens of new cars.

Quote from Eclipsed :

Since this topic was raised once again in LFS discord server,I would like to...

I think if this gets ever implemented, mods should have a separate ranking, right under NUTTER rank; could be called MODS rank, or ALL ranks? (to include mods+official cars ranking mhr, nutter?)

this new rank should either include whatever the most hotlaps uploaded a driver has with mods, or the official cars hotlaps+mods hotlaps (that'll be 1284 hotlaps plus the amount of car mods that are added officially)

though everything else should probably remain the same (WR holders charts and such)

In my opinion, just cars and bikes should be added (only approved ones), as they're logically the best to display skill naturally.
Trucks, buses or any other kind of vehicle that isin't considered a CAR, makes no sense for me and could be considered a joke; this could include RC cars, mopeds, vans, buggys.

I really hope this gets noticed and implemented, cause hotlaps have been a bit abandoned lately, and this will be a good injection of activity to this side of the community.

Can't want to see some players like Gabor or sidus players doing crazy laps on newer FORMULA models, players like Simox that are crazy fast on bikes... or what's possible to achieve in such mods like the PROTOTYPE 2 car, and actual rally intended cars like the Acosta Starlin or group B inspired and many others that are equally interesting, you name it; bikes, muscle cars, electrics, sedans, etc.

I also know this could create problems that arent acounted for, but this should definetly be higher on the priority list , atleast until major update is done.

i like this idea of hotlaping maybe instead of display times in lfs world or make all those regulations to mix with official (probably a lot of work) how about keeping mods separated from official lfs cars.
maybe an extra tab below multiplayer in lfs main menu "weekly Online Time Trials" with timer that display how much time left "ends in..." and it reset every week. u click the tab and it display mod picture, name and specs on top left the top right u see the track configuration, bellow that u have the leader board and its important that it display the mod current version, the idea is to use only approved mods (no bikes cuz its still beta, no bus, no truck..).
it can be single event or multiple events at ones maybe 3 or so, the mod and track config will be selected randomly every week meaning it happens automatically, if mod selected the "author" of that mod will not be able to update or delete it in till the end of the event.
i think this can bring a lot of fun into lfs but also will be usefull to learn how make better mods and improve setup handling, physics and quality of a mod base on community feedback.

I would do hotlapping in a bus but I'm weird so.