If we took the best bits out of nK, rF, GTR(2) etc, user interfaces won't be one of them. Whilst LFS' look might not be to all tastes, at least it's not slow and clunky with pointless bling all over it like the above (excepting nK, which for some ridiculour reason has over 312 different exes for the user interface, game, pitlane, garage, settings, server browser, bugs, crashes, low fps stuff etc)...
F1 and rF cannot be considered 'great sims'. rF is closer, but (and I've been playing it a lot recently learning Castle Combe, not that the crap physics are teaching me much, but at least I appreciate LFS so much more again) still not 'great' by any means.
Scawen sometimes does put out lists for patches. But all they do is slow developement of that patch, even if it's just for 5 minutes whilst he types it. Knowing what we're getting won't make it happen any quicker... Roadmap of development - there is no fixed plan. One day he might decide to improve the brake modelling on his incompatible version, the next fixing a bug in a compatible test patch, the next playing with advanced aero in a test simulation he knocks up... How can he predict that?
LFS has lots of potential, but whether we are united or not, Scawen is doing it, and he can't be un-united with himself can he. We're just players and beta-testers...
I think the reason he doesn't want part time programmers is because he wanted out of the horrid game creation business with meetings after meetings, and different people pulling in different directions at different times. If you don't like his method play something else, or write your own code. Simple...
Scawen has made, in my opinion, the best user interface for a sim so far. Not perfect - could do with some more options in places, and perhaps a little prettying up, but it's far from bad.
A thread for specialists? What, so someone (anyone) can post there silly pointless ideas of how having a movie in the background or little shines on the buttons makes a UI better? You click the buttons to get into the game and set it up. At the moment you can do that quickly and easily. More bling means slower development, slwoer loading times, and hence less track action - a complete waste of our and his time in short...