Hi,

haven't found this idea yet in the forum. And last time I checked, it was not possible to use a locked (demo) version of LFS to play a S2 replay.
Since we upload the replay of our league races to our website, it would be nice for demo drivers to have the possibility to see, what is going on in a league race. And as a result he or she is hopefully motivated to purchase a S2 version and join us on the racetrack.

Maybe not the most revolutionary feature and most effective sales pusher, but maybe cheap to implement.

kr
Lion


+6 / -3 so far ...
www.liveforspeed.at

Been suggested before and ruled out due to the security issues. As far as I can remember LFS would have to unlock S2 content to make this work.

I'd suggest a dedicated Replay Watcher, like the Skin Viewer... Surely that would be less of a security risk?

Very good idea IMHO.

In this way demo users can get a good impression what S2 is like (the cars, the tracks, and the online action). It's a better way to show off S2 than movies, because in a replay you can see all sides of the race. And, unlike other "improvements for demo", it does not tempt them to stay on demo forever.

I wish I had it when I was still on demo.

Quote from keiran :

Been suggested before and ruled out due to the security issues. As far as I can remember LFS would have to unlock S2 content to make this work.

Theoretically it would not make any difference. The content is already present in the demo, and AFAIK it's not encrypted. But i can imagine that this would require a rewrite of the unlock-checking code in LFS, which would mean a lot of work plus a risk of new cracks.

Why not go one step further and have an official race watcher like Becky's program? Seems like a better idea to me where anyone new to LFS could watch in 3D, online races in S1/S2.

Quote from bbman :

I'd suggest a dedicated Replay Watcher, like the Skin Viewer... Surely that would be less of a security risk?

+1.. Ever time I want to see a new car, sound or track I need to search at youtube.

+1

Quote from keiran :

Why not go one step further and have an official race watcher like Becky's program? Seems like a better idea to me where anyone new to LFS could watch in 3D, online races in S1/S2.

Problem is, .mpr-streaming still is in its infancy, while you can take the code needed for a dedicated replay watcher straight from the full version (ok, slightly edit it) and download .mprs no problem...

Quote from bbman :

Problem is, .mpr-streaming still is in its infancy, while you can take the code needed for a dedicated replay watcher straight from the full version (ok, slightly edit it) and download .mprs no problem...

Not talking of .mpr streaming

As far as I'm aware Becky's program uses the Relay to find out the position of the cars. To me it makes more sense to show Demo racers what happens on S2 servers than let them watch replays.

Dedicated app to watch S2 replays for demo users is a complete waste of time.

It would require the devs to maintain another app along side the S2 code base and probably structure some parts for reuse in both apps etc.

Why slow down the dev on S2 for people who refuse to purchase full app.

big big big -1 for me

-1 from me too, there are plenty of videos and there are always new ones for anyone to watch.

As today, you need the full game engine to show a replay, because of the way, a replay is saved. So, this makes it a little hard for an external replay viewer.
But if you set up the project clever enough to reference to the same source files for the same code needed as in the game, the additional effort shouldn't be neckbreaking. Of course, the player needs to be tested at least once a new patch comes out.

Other solution would be to move the security checks from loading the s2 content to e.g. starting a race and steering controls (as backup). But this leads to the security discussion already mentioned by keiran.

The holy grail to almost all replay issues is again to change the replay recording format to something, that does not depend on the game engines physics. This would result in an independent replay engine, that can be allowed ro read S2 content, since you cannot use it for driving races.
But this is definitely a lot of work and I guess, the replay files also would get much bigger.

Maybe +1 but official collection of good gameplay movies would do the same trick with less security issues...

Sure, you can give them a movie to watch, but then, why do you play LfS? Go get some racing footage and watch that! I know watching a replay isn't the same level as playing, but you still have control over what to watch...

Perhaps somebody finds a particular racer, who uses a bit more angle, interesting and wants to stay with him for a while? In a replay, you can do that... In a movie, you only get to seewhat somebody else thought might be interesting to watch...

How about showing all the real-time inlets, from tire heat/wear to suspension screens? You can do that in a replay, which lets you show the attention to detail and the massive amount of potential of LfS...

Last but not least: How many of you got rigs that can actually produce good quality ingame-videos? Who of you got the time and the skill to make good videos? I've only seen a few who really stood out from the vast amount of crappy "my first video featuring me and the thing I crashed into"-vids... And you know what? None of them really showed what it's like to be in a race, they were heavily edited action/music videos and used the LfS-engine just as a base for that...

Quote from Woz :

Why slow down the dev on S2 for people who refuse to purchase full app.

Perhaps because S2 licensed people do not make the devs make money, while demo users who decide to purchse do?

Would have loved that feature when I was a demo user. And I don't really see a security issue, as LFS S2 is crackable anyways. So unless the license content isn't encrypted (or only available via a different download), I don't think it would make matters with crackers worse. Those who crack do it anyways, and those who don't would get a legit insight into what they miss.

Uh, -1. In fact, I don't think that the demo should include replay capabilities at all! A demo is an evaluation version, not free version.