Well call me crazy, but I feel this is another one of my whacky ideas.... but somehow I think it could do wonders for the LFS online play. Here we go...

Mileage:
Mileage on your engine... What if we had a mileage gauge on our dash? Well so far we have our distance recorded (not sure if it is 'per car') but it could be nice to see mileage measured, which affects your engines performance. So, fix the rev limiter so we get engine damage back again, and pretty much force people to lift on upshifts and be careful on downshifts. (Would be dependant on the type of car too of course).

Engine Damage:
If people drive aggresively, their engines will goto dust (they would still be driveable, but the power output would be terrible). If you are a fairly good driver, the engine would last quite a long time, but over time (distance/mileage) it would get worse. But how would we be able to get a fresh car?

Credits system could have a purpose:
Well... we have credits don't we? Put them to good use!!! Oil changes and engine replacements. Gah! Now hold on before you give me the whole "OMG ricer/upgrades speech", hear me out. This may sound like what other racing games do, but this feature focuses on one of the most important and common 'tune-up' you do to a car, especially a racecar. So, I'd say if you were able to finish in the top 3 of a race, you'd have enough credits for an oil change. If you finish first maybe... 20 times, you have enough credits to get a new engine (maybe even dependant on the type of engine for whatever car you need to fix -- road/race). That is just a brainstorm for the credits system, and to put it to good use.
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This all ties into the engine damage aspect of the game (which we really need back from the rev limiter being so easy on us), and the fact that people flatshift. I prefer lifting and shifting like I would in a real car. These tune-up options would be accumulated of course, so you have some spare ones if you need them, and it would be a quick click while in the garage offline for any given car. (If you did it online, Endurance races wouldn't be the way they should be -- or maybe not)

And how does this tie in with making the online play better? Well, I was thinking that you have online credits instead, and can get these credit unlocks only by racing online. Or, you also have the option of doing it all in Singleplayer, but it would take longer. I don't think it would be hard for anyone to get credits anyways, and we'd probably end up with plenty of credits to maintain our cars... but it would teach everyone that the engine damage is a very sensitive aspect of your car, and you'd have to drive properly to be faster in the long run.

I haven't quite thought ALL of this out, but it is just an idea. The fact that it sounds like an arcade game feature and that fact that you 'unlock' something still scares me, and I know some will reply with that usual quote... because these kind of suggestions never get any other positive thoughts put into them from the public. But seeing how we could use the credits for something such as a performance/laptime factor, the credits could become very valuable, unlike ever before

These isn't like upgrading your car with 'NOS', or faster turbos, or any other silly stuff like that, this is primarily something for your engine which would tie into having a well maintained car on the track, while using your credits so you can be a mechanic yourself .



Or just forget about it and disable the credits system. I'm trying to find a use for it... since we don't have anything at the moment.

Some may say it singles out slow drivers, but something could be done to make easy on anyone that is starting to play the game or a beginner. Possibly the rate at which you can do the tune-ups would be very fast, so you can learn that taking care of your engine while racing is essential. Overtime, the tune-ups would require more credits, so every driver will have learned that it is important to have a healthy car.

I'll continue with a CON argument, saying that this may also diminish LFS' "get up and go" race ability, where you don't have to worry about the car other than tires, fuel, and getting fast times.

That and... a credits system sounds silly for a racing simulation. But... this kind of simulates some real-life aspect at least.

And, quite simply, I still think we need the old engine damage back if this is too far fetched. Anything to prevent people from flatshifting in the cars that shouldn't be able to do such a thing, I am all for it -- a proper way to shift

Quote from Tweaker :

If you finish first maybe... 20 times, you have enough credits to get a new engine (maybe even dependant on the type of engine for whatever car you need to fix -- road/race).

So you mean that we can swap the FZ50 engine into the UF1? Or just replace a broken engine?

Quote from Tweaker :

And, quite simply, I still think we need the old engine damage back if this is too far fetched. Anything to prevent people from flatshifting in the cars that shouldn't be able to do such a thing, I am all for it -- a proper way to shift

Maybe like Forza, or was it GT4, in one of these games you have to lift the gas pedal when you shift.

Replace.... Just for the presenting a performance aspect with the 'life' of the engine, where redlining would lower its performance over time (not instantly). Would somewhat prevent flatshifting in road cars for example (which also ruins the gearbox/transmission, but we dont have a feature like that yet).

Also, just think about one of the features that we could at least have... The odometer to give us the distance readout

I dislike the idea with engine performance being dependant on mileage.

I'd rather have server side car limits to make people drive more carefully:
You get, for example 2 cars per race weekend (Qualification and cace, restarts do not reset the used cars. Only when a "weekend" is finished, you get resupplied) and if you damage one, you only have one single car left, so you better watch out.

But then the damage and repairs in the pits would have to be overhauled: Seperating in repairable damage (wheels), improvised fix (like removing the bumper that is hanging to the tarmac) and unfixable damage (suspension, engine).

Quote from Tweaker :

Well call me crazy, but I feel this is another one of my whacky ideas...

Agreed. Also, you are crazy.



Seriously: Until all freak physics bugs aren't sorted out, such a system would just be frustrating. Also, it would ruin the stunt servers, so atm, it gets a big NO from me.

Engine damage (all damage!) is a good thing, but it needs to be server specific setting.

Then the stunt boys have no problems, and everyone who wants the most realism can have it!

Yayness for uber realism!!!!

But make sure some people can have a less realistic experience (but only mildly!)

In some aspects I quite like Tweaks' and ColeusRattus's ideas, but they'd need, as I'm sure you're all aware, very careful implementation.

Credits as they are implemented now have few use except telling a "just downloaded S2"-rookie from a "already did some laps on blackwood"-rookie. When I want I can get thousands of credits in a short time.
It's labour, not fun.

On the "limited exchange-cars per server"-idea:
Yes, I like it. I like it to the point that I even suggested it myself in the past. This is definitely needed as a server option.

Vain

Well you've gone through some thinking to find a use for credits, but they are best left to die. They never provided a challenge or added to the enjoyment of the game, and detracts from its sim ideals.

Agree, good idea

Only oil changes. (EDIT) For now

Quote from Tweaker :

Also, just think about one of the features that we could at least have... The odometer to give us the distance readout

oh.. that was so my idea to begin with buddy lol

Keep it a level playing field, causes enough confusion trying to get small grids of around 5 organised in rFactor with the right mods/tune ups. Real race cars are built to what the rules allow for a particular engine/chassis there is none of this 'stick a turbo on' or 'lets add a carbon bonnet' crap, the differences in performance come from fine tuning and balancing the cars and engines as well as replacing worn components (in small single seater racing the same tires can be used for 3 races or a season depending on budget, likewise for engine rebuilds). So whilst there would be some validity in this system I think it would further extend the gap between the fast guys and the 'noobs', which no one wants.

it would be cool to see how many miles/km you have driven with each car, but keep it at that..

i hate flatshifting but everyone else does it. i feel pressure to do it sometimes in races.

I wish that the GTR class cars would have a much faster autoclutch system like in real life. I got used to using manual clutch pedal to shift a long time ago but i think a faster autoclutch would make it more realistic for the gtr cars. or am i wrong?