First... I'm 50+... and never been much of a gamer. Messed with the Papyrus Nascar thing a few years back. Mess with MS's Flight Sim occasionally. LFS has me hooked. Spent a few bucks on a cheap video card yesterday just for this game. The onboard video was ok but this game deserved better.

The Mouse - I'm using a wireless mouse. I read about drag braking. Is this done with just the mouse or mouse+kb? Are there optimal mouse setups like cars have? I can do 1:38's now at BW which seemed impossible a few weeks back. 1:35's are a dream at this point. Found a good car setup but now I need to refine gas/brake in the corners. What view do most drivers use?

LFS S2 - Makes me drool but I'm not sure if a casual driver like myself would enjoy it. In the demo version I find races have noobs like myself and it can be extremely competetive even if we're doing 1:40. Soooooo.... better to refine driving in the demo then get S2??? In short can a noob that's doing 1:38..39...40.. at BW find close racing in S2? What's the average amount of servers up on S2 at a given time? Kyoto oval looks good. Many races there?

100 more ?'s but for now appreciate any thoughts on these.

Well here's my answer there are hundreds of servers up, all at different racing levels so you will find people faster, and slower than yourself, S2 obviously offers you more cars which means it won't get boring plus the added tracks and a lot more mature people to race against, all in all £24 for a game that will last you forever and is constantly being updated is a drivers dream, also if you buy a cheap wheel maybe a DFP you will enjoy the game a lot more.

Cockpit View (steering wheel off though cause i hold one in my hands ) and i think the majority drives like that.

I wouldnt recommend a Mouse to have close and fast races, wich is btw happening all the Time in s2 servers ^^

About the oval: there`s a buch of guys who like to hang out there 24h
They drive basicly the fast OW`s and the GTR`s there. Its fun too for a while.

PS. there are also a few 50+ guys racing around

Ye, my dad plays LFS

Howdy, and welcome to our world

First off, trail braking with a mouse/keyboard. Sorry but I'm not able to help there, been using a wheel since the year dot. I have heard something about the button refresh rate being fairly vital tho if using the KB. There are quite a few threads on here about it. A wee search should suffice

The average amount of populated servers seems to be about 50-70 based on 1800-2300 GMT. These are obviously the peak hours in Europe whilst other spikes occur for Australasian and North/South America. So it will kind of depend upon what time of day you frequent LFS.

Most folks drive in cockpit view or wheel view. I jump between the two depending on circumstances.

I would seriously recommend purchasing a cheap FF wheel and pedals ($30-40) as well as S2($50??). There are plenty new drivers entering S2 each day, so don't worry about being left behind! It is also the place to come to get set ups and assistance from more experienced racers. We're normally a pretty friendly bunch, honest

CTRA Race 1 would be a good place to start your LFS career. A good mix of driving abilities and folks to learn from. There is also a really good reporting facility in place which helps to keep the server from being inundated by wreckers

And yes, theres always a few oval servers running. Just make sure you know the correct decorum

Quote from AMB :

Well here's my answer there are hundreds of servers up, all at different racing levels so you will find people faster, and slower than yourself, S2 obviously offers you more cars which means it won't get boring plus the added tracks and a lot more mature people to race against, all in all £24 for a game that will last you forever and is constantly being updated is a drivers dream, also if you buy a cheap wheel maybe a DFP you will enjoy the game a lot more.

You must be good at being a real estate agent

S1 seems like a weak link. From what I've read S1 is very low on servers running until a new patch is released. More tracks and cars are great... less servers than the demo is not something to make me spend $25 U.S. Any idea when the patch will be released. S2 seems the only choice for now.

I downloaded some skins and amazingly they worked. I know there's tons of places out there to get them. What's the better sites?

Back to the keyboard ?. Are people turning 1:33's...34's at Blackwood with just a mouse and keyboard? If so are they using both together?

For other noobs that read this check out this link... cool LFS video. It should be a promo link on their homepage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAvj0iY1Zig

Quote from hawkusa :

Back to the keyboard ?. Are people turning 1:33's...34's at Blackwood with just a mouse and keyboard? If so are they using both together?

There's quite a few that's been using mouse/kb for a while that can do 1:33-34. Really fast keyboarders "only" are rare, but mousers are more common. Most mousers I would think uses a combination of mouse/kb. Like mouse itself for steering, mouse buttons for throttle/brakes, and keyboard for
upshift/downshift/handbrake and maybe clutch. I would suggest lowering mouse sensitivity and remove acceleration in Windows if using mouse, that will make it more easier to drive with. There's some more hints in the following thread: http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=12336

Quote :

The average amount of populated servers seems to be about 50-70 based on 1800-2300 GMT

why do i never see more than 20???? and i mean ever

Quote from Spils :

why do i never see more than 20???? and i mean ever

88 last night when I logged on Might depend upon the filters you have active?

I have all cars enabled, the search only ignores empty servers, private servers and cruise servers.

Quote from hawkusa :

LFS S2 - Makes me drool but I'm not sure if a casual driver like myself would enjoy it. In the demo version I find races have noobs like myself and it can be extremely competetive even if we're doing 1:40. Soooooo.... better to refine driving in the demo then get S2??? In short can a noob that's doing 1:38..39...40.. at BW find close racing in S2?

It took me months to decide whether to go licensed or not, more or less because I thought 'I suck too much to get any enjoyment from this'.

Now that I'm on S2, I think for the most part it might be easier to find a fair opposition on the licensed servers.

In the demo everybody is using the same track and three cars, when there are 1000+ combos to choose from, ppl are less focused (they get bored more easily )

I would suggest lowering mouse sensitivity and remove acceleration in Windows if using mouse, that will make it more easier to drive with. There's some more hints in the following thread: http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=12336[/quote]

Thanks... I'll read that through,

Made a skin today. Smart enough to make it and have it work but not smart enough to figure how to show others. (a screen shot from the game or some other method).
Once I get the pic captured and saved I could post it no problem.