First and foremost I have to say that I absolutely love the LFS engine. We have best physics (real-time deformation of tyres, what the heck!) and best netcode. That’s basically recipe for most fun racing under the sun. Well and then there’s the community, which is... I really do not want to repeat myself but it is best I know of.
One of few downsides of LFS is the lack of cars and tracks. To be honest I feel like I knew every inch of every track like my pocket.
Some other simulator solve this with modding.
Now that’s quite a topic because most of us know rFactor and the mess of mods it is tangled in... We certainly do not want that, it’d suck.
But somewhere halfway between user-generated content and developer generated content lie moderated mods.
Imagine that you start LFS in three months and you can download one new track and two new cars handpicked by Scawen and the moderators or other authority. This would solve the main problem of modding: abundant quantity of low-quality half-arsed work.
Imagine, we’d get just creme de la creme, just the best. There wouldn’t be overwhelming mass of incompatible mods, but high-quality tracks and cars. What I am talking about quality-wise is something like 4th GTR class car, the Orions Raceabout GTR:
Or the laser scanned track rFactor players got not so long ago:
I know, that Scawen and company generates his revenue not through the engine, even major updates are available for free, but through new content.
I’d like to pay for the content! And I know that I am not alone.
Either the moderated mods would be available just for people with pre-paid S3 licence, we’d be charged per track/car or we’d buy subscription, but these are mere suggestions. What I really want to say is that Scawen can make his living even with moderated mods.
And I haven’t asked any lawyers yet, so there is still a question. Could we avoid the ridiculously high licencing fees for tracks and cars this way? (I think so, look at rfactor guys racing pretty much every reallife track you can name)
And then: Is this whole moderated mods a good idea?
We had quite a discussion about this topic on the Czech forum and this came out as the best thing to do, so please share your opinion!
Vitek Mistina aka windmouse
edit: this surely was posted before, but I could find the thread, sorry for that...
One of few downsides of LFS is the lack of cars and tracks. To be honest I feel like I knew every inch of every track like my pocket.
Some other simulator solve this with modding.
Now that’s quite a topic because most of us know rFactor and the mess of mods it is tangled in... We certainly do not want that, it’d suck.
But somewhere halfway between user-generated content and developer generated content lie moderated mods.
Imagine that you start LFS in three months and you can download one new track and two new cars handpicked by Scawen and the moderators or other authority. This would solve the main problem of modding: abundant quantity of low-quality half-arsed work.
Imagine, we’d get just creme de la creme, just the best. There wouldn’t be overwhelming mass of incompatible mods, but high-quality tracks and cars. What I am talking about quality-wise is something like 4th GTR class car, the Orions Raceabout GTR:
Or the laser scanned track rFactor players got not so long ago:
I know, that Scawen and company generates his revenue not through the engine, even major updates are available for free, but through new content.
I’d like to pay for the content! And I know that I am not alone.
Either the moderated mods would be available just for people with pre-paid S3 licence, we’d be charged per track/car or we’d buy subscription, but these are mere suggestions. What I really want to say is that Scawen can make his living even with moderated mods.
And I haven’t asked any lawyers yet, so there is still a question. Could we avoid the ridiculously high licencing fees for tracks and cars this way? (I think so, look at rfactor guys racing pretty much every reallife track you can name)
And then: Is this whole moderated mods a good idea?
We had quite a discussion about this topic on the Czech forum and this came out as the best thing to do, so please share your opinion!
Vitek Mistina aka windmouse
edit: this surely was posted before, but I could find the thread, sorry for that...