Problems getting server running
I've tried setting up a server on a spare machine, but so far can't get it to work. When I try to connect to it I receive a message saying something along the lines of "Server using different code version". (I can't recall the precise wording, and I've unistalled it now.)
I was connecting via the "join specific game" option since the server wasn't showing on the public list - but I know this is just an issue with opening the right port - surely this wouldn't have cause the above problem.
I've tried installing the main game files, the patch, then the dedicated server files, and also in the order: game; dedicated server files; patch.
Can anyone suggest a solution please?
I was connecting via the "join specific game" option since the server wasn't showing on the public list - but I know this is just an issue with opening the right port - surely this wouldn't have cause the above problem.
I've tried installing the main game files, the patch, then the dedicated server files, and also in the order: game; dedicated server files; patch.
Can anyone suggest a solution please?
I would much prefer to omit the ability to change the side of the driver in cars, and instead have the driver's position fixed in the correct (or at least the predetermined position).
Thus, the UF1 and UFR, based very obviously on the English Mini, would be considered a RHD car. The FXR, based on a German Porsche (arguably with a bit of Italian Ferrari in the mix too) would be a LHD.
After all, how realistic is it for a racing team to say to themselves:
"Gosh, we're racing the Kyoto Oval reversed tomorrow. Let's take out the driver's seat, the steering column, the steering rack, the dashboard, the brake, clutch and accelerator and swap them over to the other side for the race."?
Thus, the UF1 and UFR, based very obviously on the English Mini, would be considered a RHD car. The FXR, based on a German Porsche (arguably with a bit of Italian Ferrari in the mix too) would be a LHD.
After all, how realistic is it for a racing team to say to themselves:
"Gosh, we're racing the Kyoto Oval reversed tomorrow. Let's take out the driver's seat, the steering column, the steering rack, the dashboard, the brake, clutch and accelerator and swap them over to the other side for the race."?
I put it off for as long as I could...!
Voting to restart/end race
This could start a little bit of controversy and discussion...
There's a trend which I know I'm not the only person to have noticed, namely the "SHIFT+R after the first disaster" syndrome. I've been in, or spectating on, numerous races where the starting grid has looked liked a battlefield after a war, or the first corner has turned into a butcher's shop and suddenly everyone who was involved in it starts yelling for a restart. Enough SHIFT+Rs and soon enough the race restarts.
However...
This is incredibly frustrating and very unfair on the racers who've actually avoided spinning the cars on the starting grid, or have been just a little bit more careful in the "first corner dash" and have made it out the other side and are now involved in a sensible race.
Of course, it's true to say that sometimes the best racers get unavoidably caught up in the initial carnage through no fault of their own. But most of the time it seems that the racers calling for restarts are the ones that cause the crashes and spins. So why should their mistakes penalise the good racers that have got through?
My suggested solution:
Allow a vote against a race restart.
It could be done one of two ways. Either enable a new SHIFT+key combination, so that once someone has pressed SHIFT+R, the racers who want to continue the race can vote against it with SHIFT+(whatever).
Or deal with it similar to the "vote to ban" option. The vote is started by the first SHIFT+R. then other racers press 1 to vote for, or 2 to vote against the restart.
As a "gut feeling" I think a two-thirds majority to restart should be required. Obviously this figure is very debatable, and would be relevant no matter what method of restart procedure was used. (And simply increasing the majority needed may well do away with any need for a "vote against" procedure at all!)
Gentlemen, the motion is tabled. Let the argument commence!
There's a trend which I know I'm not the only person to have noticed, namely the "SHIFT+R after the first disaster" syndrome. I've been in, or spectating on, numerous races where the starting grid has looked liked a battlefield after a war, or the first corner has turned into a butcher's shop and suddenly everyone who was involved in it starts yelling for a restart. Enough SHIFT+Rs and soon enough the race restarts.
However...
This is incredibly frustrating and very unfair on the racers who've actually avoided spinning the cars on the starting grid, or have been just a little bit more careful in the "first corner dash" and have made it out the other side and are now involved in a sensible race.
Of course, it's true to say that sometimes the best racers get unavoidably caught up in the initial carnage through no fault of their own. But most of the time it seems that the racers calling for restarts are the ones that cause the crashes and spins. So why should their mistakes penalise the good racers that have got through?
My suggested solution:
Allow a vote against a race restart.
It could be done one of two ways. Either enable a new SHIFT+key combination, so that once someone has pressed SHIFT+R, the racers who want to continue the race can vote against it with SHIFT+(whatever).
Or deal with it similar to the "vote to ban" option. The vote is started by the first SHIFT+R. then other racers press 1 to vote for, or 2 to vote against the restart.
As a "gut feeling" I think a two-thirds majority to restart should be required. Obviously this figure is very debatable, and would be relevant no matter what method of restart procedure was used. (And simply increasing the majority needed may well do away with any need for a "vote against" procedure at all!)
Gentlemen, the motion is tabled. Let the argument commence!
Cycling through car horns
At the moment it appears that the game cycles through HORN1.raw to HORN5.raw when you press SHIFT+G, then starts the loop again at HORN1.
I've recently created a custom horn sound for a friend; using it in the game requires that one of the existing horn files be replaced (duly backed up first) and that the new file is renamed to be one of the HORN1-5 files.
What I'd like to see is the game engine scan the /snd directory when loading up to discover how many HORNx.raw are present in it, and then cycle though them accordingly. Thus, I could name the new file HORN6.raw and subsequently pressing SHIFT+G would cycle through 6 horn sounds without needing to overwrite any existing ones.
[slight digression time]
A few relevant points occur to me:
This would allow for 9 horn sounds, which is surely plenty for anyone. To extend it, it would be tidier to have a two digit integer for each horn file (HORN01.raw, HORN02.raw, etc).
The other point is of course the possibility of sharing custom sound files in a similar way to sharing car skins. At the moment only my friend can hear the custom horn (which is fine). For someone else to hear it they'd need the same sound file (which makes sense, obviously) plus it would have to be renamed as the same HORNx.raw file to hear it at the same time.
However... is sharing sound files like this desirable on a larger scale? They'd need to be uniquely named (like skins) for it to work (otherwise everyone would be overwriting everyone else's HORN06 and HORN07!). Plus, more likely to be a problem would be the ability to use the function for abuse.
[/end of slight digression]
But... Getting back to the original point:
Please can we have a system where custom car horn sounds can be added as HORN6.raw or HORN06.raw etc, or by filename? (The latter would probably require a dedicated directory so that car horn .raw files are identifiable as such by the game engine.)
I've recently created a custom horn sound for a friend; using it in the game requires that one of the existing horn files be replaced (duly backed up first) and that the new file is renamed to be one of the HORN1-5 files.
What I'd like to see is the game engine scan the /snd directory when loading up to discover how many HORNx.raw are present in it, and then cycle though them accordingly. Thus, I could name the new file HORN6.raw and subsequently pressing SHIFT+G would cycle through 6 horn sounds without needing to overwrite any existing ones.
[slight digression time]
A few relevant points occur to me:
This would allow for 9 horn sounds, which is surely plenty for anyone. To extend it, it would be tidier to have a two digit integer for each horn file (HORN01.raw, HORN02.raw, etc).
The other point is of course the possibility of sharing custom sound files in a similar way to sharing car skins. At the moment only my friend can hear the custom horn (which is fine). For someone else to hear it they'd need the same sound file (which makes sense, obviously) plus it would have to be renamed as the same HORNx.raw file to hear it at the same time.
However... is sharing sound files like this desirable on a larger scale? They'd need to be uniquely named (like skins) for it to work (otherwise everyone would be overwriting everyone else's HORN06 and HORN07!). Plus, more likely to be a problem would be the ability to use the function for abuse.
[/end of slight digression]
But... Getting back to the original point:
Please can we have a system where custom car horn sounds can be added as HORN6.raw or HORN06.raw etc, or by filename? (The latter would probably require a dedicated directory so that car horn .raw files are identifiable as such by the game engine.)
Last edited by Prodromoi, .
Do read the post before replying. I'm not asking for a list of features to include; I'm suggesting the actual LFS dev list be displayed with a vague idea of priority as a sticky.
Personally, I like big brutish RWD Yank Tanks. I'm not sure that they fit the 'flavour' of LFS though - certainly not as it is at the moment.
An add-on 'muscle car pack' would be fun, and I'd download it, certainly. Probably doesn't warrant being a high priority development though. (Wonder if the devs would be amenable to users submitting quality meshes and profiles to this end, however...)
A lot of the current LFS tracks would be... challenging... for such a car, methinks! A filter to identify this class of car for servers would be vital too.
A very basic point, but important of course is that if any more cars are introduced, the car selection screen will need to be changed to accomodate them!
An add-on 'muscle car pack' would be fun, and I'd download it, certainly. Probably doesn't warrant being a high priority development though. (Wonder if the devs would be amenable to users submitting quality meshes and profiles to this end, however...)
A lot of the current LFS tracks would be... challenging... for such a car, methinks! A filter to identify this class of car for servers would be vital too.
A very basic point, but important of course is that if any more cars are introduced, the car selection screen will need to be changed to accomodate them!
Second set of pedals
A question...
I've very recently bought a wheel (a USB Logitech Wingman) which has a two-pedal base. If I were to buy a second wheel and pedals set (something cheap off eBay for example), would I be able to plug the second wheel/pedals in (to another USB port, or even gameport) so that I had four working pedals? (Thus I'd have a clutch pedal, plus one other which might remain unused if I can't think of a sensible use for it...)
I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this... Does it work?
I've very recently bought a wheel (a USB Logitech Wingman) which has a two-pedal base. If I were to buy a second wheel and pedals set (something cheap off eBay for example), would I be able to plug the second wheel/pedals in (to another USB port, or even gameport) so that I had four working pedals? (Thus I'd have a clutch pedal, plus one other which might remain unused if I can't think of a sensible use for it...)
I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this... Does it work?
Given that I create skins, I'd very much like to see the number of uploadable skins increased. Yet I'm obviously aware how much this would eat into the server storage; my 30 skins are currently taking up at least 12MB on the server. Multiply this by lots of S2 licenses and you've soon got a very full set of drives!
19 out of 30 skins have gone to team skins (18 cars plus a helmet). This only leaves 11 slots left, which quickly filled up with other skins I've created. I haven't got any room, for example, to put up 'guest' team cars without names on.
How many would I like? 40 - until I fill those up. Then 50, until I fill those up. And so on.
The solution? First - how many people do most players use/need? (Not skin designers, but normal racers.) Is thirty enough for most people?
If so, then I'd like to see a 'gentleman's agreement'. For those people who need extra skin slots, they send an application to a mod via an online form in the LFS desktop requesting extra slots and why they need them (perhaps including some skins to illustrate they're a skin designer). If the request is accepted (I'm not suggesting judging on artistic merit - that's totally unrelated to this issue) then bingo, their number of skin slots is increased.
Obviously (unfortunately) this is open to abuse.
The second option, less open to abuse, is to be able to purchase extra skin slots. Say, a couple of pounds to double the size of your upload capacity. Thus, if you want the extra space, you've paid for it.
However, the downside is that this effectively penalises people like myself who're putting time and effort into the game and creating extra resources.
Anyone got a better idea?
19 out of 30 skins have gone to team skins (18 cars plus a helmet). This only leaves 11 slots left, which quickly filled up with other skins I've created. I haven't got any room, for example, to put up 'guest' team cars without names on.
How many would I like? 40 - until I fill those up. Then 50, until I fill those up. And so on.
The solution? First - how many people do most players use/need? (Not skin designers, but normal racers.) Is thirty enough for most people?
If so, then I'd like to see a 'gentleman's agreement'. For those people who need extra skin slots, they send an application to a mod via an online form in the LFS desktop requesting extra slots and why they need them (perhaps including some skins to illustrate they're a skin designer). If the request is accepted (I'm not suggesting judging on artistic merit - that's totally unrelated to this issue) then bingo, their number of skin slots is increased.
Obviously (unfortunately) this is open to abuse.
The second option, less open to abuse, is to be able to purchase extra skin slots. Say, a couple of pounds to double the size of your upload capacity. Thus, if you want the extra space, you've paid for it.
However, the downside is that this effectively penalises people like myself who're putting time and effort into the game and creating extra resources.
Anyone got a better idea?
Last edited by Prodromoi, .
Request for sticky thread - development priorities
I would like to see a sticky thread in this section, viewable by all but updateable only by the devs and mods, listing the current priorities for S2/S3 feature development. It would make it much easier to see what's in the pipeline and would also make searching easier and hopefully reduce the number of "how about including [whatever] cool feature" threads.
It needn't be a time-consuming task for the devs or mods, just needing to be updated every now and then when there's a noteworthy change to the development schedule. I'd suggest listing the the priorities as "Definitely in", "Probably in", "Would like to be in if possible". Maybe a "Definitely out, this time round" section too, but I'm not sure if that's necessary.
For example...
High priority (definitely in):
Weather and track surface physics (rain, oil etc)
Server option for "no Shift+S back to pits".
Medium priority (probably in):
Engine temperature effects
Rewind facility on replay viewer
Low priority (possibly in):
Pit strategy saving/loading
Sparks from bottoming out
Zero priority (maybe one day, eventually, down the line):
Pit crew during pit stops
Motorcycles
It needn't be a time-consuming task for the devs or mods, just needing to be updated every now and then when there's a noteworthy change to the development schedule. I'd suggest listing the the priorities as "Definitely in", "Probably in", "Would like to be in if possible". Maybe a "Definitely out, this time round" section too, but I'm not sure if that's necessary.
For example...
High priority (definitely in):
Weather and track surface physics (rain, oil etc)
Server option for "no Shift+S back to pits".
Medium priority (probably in):
Engine temperature effects
Rewind facility on replay viewer
Low priority (possibly in):
Pit strategy saving/loading
Sparks from bottoming out
Zero priority (maybe one day, eventually, down the line):
Pit crew during pit stops
Motorcycles
Last edited by Prodromoi, .
Reason : (Daft typo!)
If the main idea of this is more towards learning the tracks and improving your line and speed, then a better idea surely would be for a "racing line overlay" to be extracted from the .spr or .mpr replay file of a race. (The data would be in the replay file anyway, no extra processing during the race is needed.)
Then, you drive the circuit with the overlay enabled. You get a red line from the position of the "ghost car" showing on the tarmac, along with a vector arrow which should account for any drift there may have been in the original lap. A small window shows the original car's speed, gear, throttle and braking.
Thus, you can extract, study, learn and improve your own line round a course, and you can indeed ask someone to see their lap overlay for a given course/car to learn from theirs.
Since a picture is alledgedly worth a thousand words, I've put together a very quick mock-up of the sort of thing I mean.
Then, you drive the circuit with the overlay enabled. You get a red line from the position of the "ghost car" showing on the tarmac, along with a vector arrow which should account for any drift there may have been in the original lap. A small window shows the original car's speed, gear, throttle and braking.
Thus, you can extract, study, learn and improve your own line round a course, and you can indeed ask someone to see their lap overlay for a given course/car to learn from theirs.
Since a picture is alledgedly worth a thousand words, I've put together a very quick mock-up of the sort of thing I mean.
Mad Max car skins (5)
This thread, in the XR skins section includes the other car skins from the (first) Mad Max film that I've just done. I've used the FXO GTR as a base for the March Hare car, on the basis that it was a less powerful car than the other interceptors (it was a V6 whereas the others were V8s).
(Note for movie buffs... I'm not 100% certain that the roof number is MFP 10, but it's the best estimate I have so far. If anyone has a photo that clearly shows the roof number, please let me know!)
Al
(Note for movie buffs... I'm not 100% certain that the roof number is MFP 10, but it's the best estimate I have so far. If anyone has a photo that clearly shows the roof number, please let me know!)
Al
Mad Max car skins (4)
The Big Bopper, the rather ill-fated pursuit car involved in the chase at the start of the film.
Mad Max car skins (3)
Max's interceptor (unnamed, as far as I know) from the start of the film.
Mad Max car skins (2)
The infamous black interceptor, the Pursuit Special.
Last edited by Prodromoi, .
Last of the V8 Interceptors... be a shame to blow it up
Mad Max meets Live for Speed!
A few days ago it occurred to me that it would be fun to create some 'Mad Max' Main Force Patrol skins for the major vehicles you see in the film. Obviously the LFS cars aren't particularly like the Fords and Holdens used in the film, so I've kept the flavour of the original colour schemes, modifying them as little as possible to make them fit the newer car styling, but some changes have been necessary.
I've done Max and The Dark One's (unnamed) Interceptor, The Big Bopper and of course the famours black Pursuit Special interceptor as XRRs, and the March Hare as an FXR.
After much thought I decided to add some details to the black interceptor that aren't faithful to the film. No excuses, except simply that a plain black skin is hardly a challenge and a little bit dull. And of course it's easier to take off the new decals on the car than to put them on! I also decided against adding a fake blower and side pipes, because I really don't like decals trying to represent items that are very 3D. (They never look right...)
Here are some previews, and I'll put the skins in a separate post for each car. The March Hare skin is in the FXO/FXR thread here.
Hope you like 'em.
Al
A few days ago it occurred to me that it would be fun to create some 'Mad Max' Main Force Patrol skins for the major vehicles you see in the film. Obviously the LFS cars aren't particularly like the Fords and Holdens used in the film, so I've kept the flavour of the original colour schemes, modifying them as little as possible to make them fit the newer car styling, but some changes have been necessary.
I've done Max and The Dark One's (unnamed) Interceptor, The Big Bopper and of course the famours black Pursuit Special interceptor as XRRs, and the March Hare as an FXR.
After much thought I decided to add some details to the black interceptor that aren't faithful to the film. No excuses, except simply that a plain black skin is hardly a challenge and a little bit dull. And of course it's easier to take off the new decals on the car than to put them on! I also decided against adding a fake blower and side pipes, because I really don't like decals trying to represent items that are very 3D. (They never look right...)
Here are some previews, and I'll put the skins in a separate post for each car. The March Hare skin is in the FXO/FXR thread here.
Hope you like 'em.
Al
Last edited by Prodromoi, .
Very pretty. I'm impressed. And it doesn't seem to affect the framerate on my fairly modest machine (1.4GHz Duron with a 128MB graphics card).
Ah... of course! I should have thought of that.
Many thanks.
Presetting wheel colour in car skins
Basically, is it possible, and if so, how?
Id like to be able to predetermine what the wheel colours for a given skin should load up as when first imported. (Of course, they could be changed afterwards by fiddling the sliders.) But I'd initially like to be able to have the skins load with the right wheel colour rather than having to tell someone "oh yes, and it's meant to have red wheels"...
Id like to be able to predetermine what the wheel colours for a given skin should load up as when first imported. (Of course, they could be changed afterwards by fiddling the sliders.) But I'd initially like to be able to have the skins load with the right wheel colour rather than having to tell someone "oh yes, and it's meant to have red wheels"...
Do AI cars pit?
I was curious, so I set up a eight hour race with a handful of AI cars to run while I was out one evening. When I got back they'd all run out of fuel and were parked on the circuit. I was half expecting them to have refuelled by the "AI repair" option, but no, they just ran their tanks dry.
Do AI cars not pit at all? Or if so, how do I enable whatever setting is required to make them pit in long races?
Do AI cars not pit at all? Or if so, how do I enable whatever setting is required to make them pit in long races?
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG