The online racing simulator
Real life Track licensing costs
Chances are slim that there is going to be a real life Track in LFS in the next couple of years. Probably real life Tracks will come as soon as Modding-Track creation will be possible in LFS, which could be 2, 3 or more years away. But how much does it approximately cost to license a track for a Game? Could LFS afford a GP Track or any other track in the future?
I do not think it is needed.
I've been wondering about this one for a long time.

I was thinking, if the Dev's opened a "Track Donation Service" where people could donate money, towards the licensing of a new track. I bet alot of people would gladly donate. I know I would!

Also, we could have votes on what track we would like to see. So people could choose whhether to donate or not, depending on the track.

*hopes the idea catches on*
#4 - JJ72
I forgot where was the thread, but last time there was a thread on the same subject, and someone actually go asked the track owner what is the cost for reproducing the track, and the cost is actually none - it's Snetterton if I remember correctly.
the biggest problem is the devs would have to make the track, it dont just happen overnight it take so much time to get every little detail right, and what happens if you start making heaps of $$$ off the track some other big developer comes along and sues you?

i just think the tracks we have are great we could do with some more configs, but what we have atm is the best for the sim atm. and the devs do a great job.
I don't see the point of real tracks. Racing is the same anyway, no matter if the track is real or not.
Adding a real track would probably just add people who complain how the track is not accurate and people who want more real tracks.
#7 - Davo
I tihnk an F1 team like BMW Sauber would have lots of info on real life tracks from telemterey etc that would be invaluable to designing a track. Combined with photos for the graphical side and some kind of blueprints it'd be possible to make it in game. How long it would take to recreate realistically though is another question.
I would like to see real life tracks. It's actually the only reason I also have GTR2 and Race installed. I downloaded the Nordschleife for GTR2 and this is really challenging. Spa-Francorchamps is also a nice track. Well I don't like these tracks (actually Nordschleife is none of my fav's but it's challenging nethertheless) because they're real-life tracks, but I likle them because of their layout (Same goes for Monaco, Spielberg, Old Hockenheim, Adelaide, Melbourne etc...).

I also like the LFS tracks, there are nice combo's.
Real tracks are, in a way, more of an attraction than real cars. It would certainly help out with sales and give LFS more 'credibility' among unbelievers.
I bet those people saying that real tracks aren't needed would love one to be put in. Driving any of the cars, especially one similar to your own, round a track that you could go and drive in real life would make this game even better. I know it isn't needed but you could say the same thing about fancy graphics which a lot of people still want.

Oh, and, I don't want the Nurburgring in LFS. I know it's like the most legendary track in the world but I don't really think it would fit in LFS with the small amount of players we have. It would also be absolutely rubbish for pick-up races. I mean, who wants to spend between 6 and about 20 minutes for 1 lap, especially when after the first few miles the grid will be spread out loads.

In summary, I would like at least 1 real track but not the Nurburgring, it would just go unused IMO.
I'm not really bothered about having real tracks at all. Not being a real racing driver, and only ever having been to one racing circuit ever (and that was Donnington, for a rock festival ) I have no idea what they are really like to drive.

With the amount of love and detail, and even backstory that has gone into tracks like Blackwood, they may as well be real tracks. When I first started playing LFS it was only the fact that I'd been told its a fictional track and that I'd not heard of it mentioned in real-life racing that stopped me believing that it was a real one.
I would also donate or pay for it, if we could have a real life Track in the future. Snetterton is a very nice Track as I know it from GPL. Snetterton, Goodwood, Brands Hatch or Silverstone, there are alot of good tracks in Britain were Scawen is from which would be awesome to have. It would be especially nice if the LFS F1 car could have a real GP Track to run on.

I really do like the different Tracks we currently have in LFS, they have nice Graphics and also the Track Layouts are fantastic (except for the Oval Track), but one or some real life Tracks would be great aswell.
I agree, Nürburgring is a two edged sword. I mean, I'd love to see that track included in LFS and it would draw in a good amount of new players, but it is an enormous amount of work for a track that will only be used in hotlapping or leagues. Just look at FE Black, or races with more than ten laps in general. On a public server you can expect an at least 50% dropout rate - the attention span of many people is just too short to bother with such long tracks/races.
#14 - joen
Quote from George Kuyumji :Probably real life Tracks will come as soon as Modding-Track creation will be possible in LFS, which could be 2, 3 or more years away.

Or it could never happen. Over the years the desire of some for LFS modding has evolved into a general expectation that it will become reality and people are discussing when, and not if, it will happen. While as of yet there has been no confirmation at all about LFS becoming moddable in the future.
So people who are expecting this to happen are potentially set up for dissapointment when it won't.
i would build fern bay in real life...... how about that lol
The Nürburgring Nordschleife costs about 25.000 Euro. Happy collecting.
as far as i know, the only license cost is the NAME. you can make nurburgring and name it different and you won't have any problem...
i will perfer to build my own blackwood track, will cost about 5 million in my backyeard but it will be worth it, and then i will invite everyone to race on it for real

back to the topic, real tracks will make LFS more.....hmm. say Aloneso or Kimi can do 1.27 on a real life track, and someone can do 1.25 in LFS (if the a real track is made accurately), then a fat arguement it will break out on who is the real WR

lol
Isn`t Blackwood a real track

In my mind it is
Quote from efast :back to the topic, real tracks will make LFS more.....hmm. say Aloneso or Kimi can do 1.27 on a real life track, and someone can do 1.25 in LFS (if the a real track is made accurately), then a fat arguement it will break out on who is the real WR

lol

Obviously, the time driven on the computer will be faster because you cant die.
I would love to see Oschersleben, the Sachsenring and the Lausitzring (Sachsenring probably being the most challenging and interesting track among those) in LFS, because those are the tracks I'm most likely to drive in rL. It's totally understandable that people want rL tracks, I think, but the amount of work (and money) that would need to go into that, puts it rather low on my priority list. First I want physics improvements and stuff like properly modelled clutches, diffs, stalling, engine damage etc.
I'd love to see some real tracks, like Oulton Park, Brands, Snetterton,Croft,Donington etc....ideal for the kind of racing LFS produces imo.
Argh, not again, I mean, I really don't understand some people point of view.

"LFS doesn't need real tracks": What? Of course you don't need a real track to make great races, but anyone who likes motorsports (and I think we are a lot here) would like to have some real tarmac to race on.

I'm starting to think it's a pretty fanboy attitude, just because other games have real tracks, they say LFS doesn't need them, and the same happens with sound, eyecandy, etc.

Come on, are you really saying to me you don't want to take the FZ5 out for a lap at Spa? Or the BF1 at Silverstone? (or whatever your favourite track is) I don't believe it
Quote from Eldanor :"LFS doesn't need real tracks": What? Of course you don't need a real track to make great races, but anyone who likes motorsports (and I think we are a lot here) would like to have some real tarmac to race on.

"Would like to have" and needing are two very different things. I wouldn't mind if real tracks would be added to LFS, but I wouldn't donate any money to get them. For me it does not matter if a track exists in real life. For sure it would be cool to take FZ50 around Spa, but it wouldn't be any cooler than taking it around one of the imaginary tracks.
Quote from geeman1 :"Would like to have" and needing are two very different things. I wouldn't mind if real tracks would be added to LFS, but I wouldn't donate any money to get them. For me it does not matter if a track exists in real life. For sure it would be cool to take FZ50 around Spa, but it wouldn't be any cooler than taking it around one of the imaginary tracks.

I made a difference between needing and wanting And in my point of view, it's way cooler to race on a real track than a fictional one.

It's like playing ISS Pro with fictional teams, or Call of duty in a fictional war, the games would still be fun, but "it's not the same" it's a small detail that makes things more inmersive.

Just my 2c of course And that doesn't mean I don't like current tracks

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