I've been searching around, which is very interesting an' all, but... only a certain amount of time in the day, so sorry if any of this is old ground...

1. Shift Lock... LFS cars (in the demo) seem fairly immune to shift lock (unless you drop right down to first). Is this a common trait of the LFS drivetrain (autoblip is off, btw)?

2. Couldn't someone give the cars names? XRFSGTX whatever is such a pain to remember!

3. The AI cars are a bit haywire when Blackwood is reversed. Again, is this a common trait of LFS tracks or is there anything I can adjust to guarantee that my first place has been raced for, not just 'cause everything else fell off the track at some point?

4. Is there really no way to fast forward or rewind the replays?

5. My computer's a bit slow and can only handle three or four AI opponents anyway, so I'm not sure yet how it will handle a full online grid. But... Can anyone recommend a good demo server with regular (longish) races? I've looked at a few, but yet to find anything that'll test my computer properly.

On the last point - the list of servers in LFS tells you just enough about the what is going on, but doesn't tell you when a race will start or how long practice has left to run etc. Is this a limitation of the demo? Or is it just the way things work - turn up and wait for a race to end if one is in progress?

You're asking abit too much...
Point 2: Juz get used to it. Why bother about the names?? Go ahead and name them Tom or Jack or anything u want if the XRTs or FZ50s are not nice enuff. Ur a demo racer =.= How many centuries do u need to remember XFG, XRG and XRT?

For point 3, the AI cars are fine unless they bang each other (Remote possibility) and if u bang them and mess up their racing lines. Set them to pro and see if they're still "haywire".

About ur last paragraph, if all these things are added in the list would be so cluttered and so laggy. Juz look for a server wif a fair number of ppl, wif the right cars and right track, enter it and see how it's like, shouldn't take u more than 15 secs.

Again: you're expecting too much. Buy S2 first and see how much it offers. Im getting mine this Christmas =) Juz be glad that ur playing one of the best racing sims on the planet. Peace.

Quote from nihil :

1. Shift Lock... LFS cars (in the demo) seem fairly immune to shift lock (unless you drop right down to first). Is this a common trait of the LFS drivetrain (autoblip is off, btw)?

Although I have no idea what you mean with "shift lock", the drivetrain and clutch simulation is a bit simple in LFS right now, but that's bound to change, sooner or later. Remember, LFS is a WIP, and it is constantly being improved.

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2. Couldn't someone give the cars names? XRFSGTX whatever is such a pain to remember!

Well, that's simply how they're named. If you have a Mazda MX5, then you don't complain that "MX5" is no name and they should give it a proper one. If you need a car brand for all these fictional cars, well "Scavier" seems to be the most suggested one

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3. The AI cars are a bit haywire when Blackwood is reversed. Again, is this a common trait of LFS tracks or is there anything I can adjust to guarantee that my first place has been raced for, not just 'cause everything else fell off the track at some point?

The AI cars currently aren't finished (you should see them in more powerful cars - worse crashing than on demo servers), the problem is that they are literally in S1 state, so they don't know anything about tyre heat, wear and dirtyness, resulting in miscalculations of what to do. Fixing the AIs is one of Scawen's main points before he considers S2 "final", so you can be sure they will be updated.

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4. Is there really no way to fast forward or rewind the replays?

Fast forward (and slowmotion) yes, with F2 to slow down and F3 to speed up. Rewinding is technically not possible at the moment, because of how replays work (they actually run the simulation and "play back" the recorded inputs from the driver, instead of saving car positions for each frame). We might in the future get the possibility to jump back to certain key locations, like maybe the start of each lap or when a certain car passes a split. But that's just my guess.

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5. My computer's a bit slow and can only handle three or four AI opponents anyway, so I'm not sure yet how it will handle a full online grid. But... Can anyone recommend a good demo server with regular (longish) races? I've looked at a few, but yet to find anything that'll test my computer properly.

As far as I know, AI cars are actually more demanding to the CPU than multiplayer races. A full grid (11 on demo, 22 on S2, IIRC) might be a bit too much for it, though. No idea about the demo servers.

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On the last point - the list of servers in LFS tells you just enough about the what is going on, but doesn't tell you when a race will start or how long practice has left to run etc. Is this a limitation of the demo? Or is it just the way things work - turn up and wait for a race to end if one is in progress?

No, it's just the way things are. It's very easy and quick to join a server though, so it's not really a problem. Currently the overall race management in LFS is a bit wild and disorganized, so instead of practice-qualy-race sessions it's mostly race-race-race-race-... with maybe the odd qualification thrown in at times. As everything in LFS, it's not finished and we'll probably see improvements in that regard.

For further questions, the LFS Manual/Wiki contains pretty much everything there is to know about LFS.

Quote from AndroidXP :

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No, it's just the way things are. It's very easy and quick to join a server though, so it's not really a problem.

Actually in S2 server list you can click on a little "?" next to server name and it will tell you who is on that server and what lap they are on ect, so you can see if a race is midway through or nearly finished ect

SD.

:doh:
Actually I know the [?], I just never use it which is probably the reason I forgot about it

Quote from Alkanphel :

You're asking abit too much...
Point 2: Juz get used to it. Why bother about the names?? Go ahead and name them Tom or Jack or anything u want if the XRTs or FZ50s are not nice enuff. Ur a demo racer =.= How many centuries do u need to remember XFG, XRG and XRT?

I was joking.

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For point 3, the AI cars are fine unless they bang each other (Remote possibility) and if u bang them and mess up their racing lines. Set them to pro and see if they're still "haywire".

The race was set to pro - or can the cars be set independently? In the default direction they behave very well - good, agressive competitors. With Blackwood Reversed, all the AIs (XRT GT Turbos - or whatever they're called <--- joke!) but one seemed to have a problem with the esses, the uphill left, and the sharp left after the chicane. I can live with that - just seems a shame since Blackwood Reversed is fun (those blind crests aren't anywhere near as intimidating when you circulate in the other direction!)

If you think I'm asking too much, its just that I'm also looking at racing GPL online with iGOR, where the things I mentioned are very neatly arranged - even to the point of displaying the names, nationalities, and chassis chosen by drivers already logged on.

Whatever, I may see you on an S2 server yet.....

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Actually in S2 server list you can click on a little "?" next to server name and it will tell you who is on that server and what lap they are on ect, so you can see if a race is midway through or nearly finished ect

OK, cheers!

AI´s need a bit time to learn a track or car.
Just fill them up to 50% and let them drive arround. On mixed grids, lets say 3 of each car, they learn overtaking and stuff like that...

Quote from nihil :

5. My computer's a bit slow and can only handle three or four AI opponents anyway, so I'm not sure yet how it will handle a full online grid. But... Can anyone recommend a good demo server with regular (longish) races? I've looked at a few, but yet to find anything that'll test my computer properly.

Welcome to LFS.

For longer races try the Bremskiller server - it's usually on 15 lap races. However, the last time I was on there it was a magnet for crashers which is a shame. The only real way to deal with that is to buy the S2 licence - the standard of driving is better and the intentionally mischeivous are much rarer.

Hope you have fun.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

missed the shift and put it in neutral, then when I did eventually select a gear it turned out to be 2nd and the revs had dropped off a lot by then - the fronts locked, load transferred up the front while I was turning and the car went apeshit. But you have to be an especially bad kind of driver to do stuff like that.

LOL - yeah, that's exactly what I mean.

It just felt as if blipping the throttle is a bit redundant in LFS. I mean, it sounds great, but the reason you do it IRL is to match the engine revs to the wheel speed, avoiding "shift lock", and hence keeping the car balanced for the corner.

I did a couple of laps without bothering to blip, changing down quite quickly for the corners and it didn't seem to upset the car at all. I went back to giving the pedal a stab though... 'cause it just sounds right

Oh trust me, you don't want to miss that blip in the more racey cars. But it also depends a lot on the corner you're approaching. If you brake in a straight line on a flat track then even completely locked rears don't spin you around immediately, but if you have to brake during a bumpy downhill corner then you should better not push your luck.

The closest you can get to that is probably turn one on BL rev, though it's neither bumpy nor do you have to brake hard on the critical part there

South City on the other hand...