After trying the demo for a week or so I was ready to give up on it because the default car setups were just so unrealistic. (I was trying it with wheel & pedals, and had about 10 years of real-life race experience.)

Only the fact that there was this huge online community made me think there's more to this game than the demo conveys. And then, after finding a realistic setup, I realized *why* there was this big fuzz about this game and I ended up buying it within days.

So, I think, it is absolutely crucial to have the BEST POSSIBLE (i.e. realistic) default setups for the demo cars! People who sample a game will most likely not hunt through dozens of sites to finally find a setup that behaves like a real car. They give it a shot, it feels weird, and they drop it.

I don't find it very crucial that there should be 'real' race cars in the demo. After all, most people will have never driven one anyway. So there would be no way for them to tell what's realistic and what isn't anyway. But most will have driven cars like the XFG before, and will notice right away if something feels wrong, and judge the demo accordingly.

Quote from detail :

I tried to download a skin from the LFSworld, but the server outputs a message "Sorry, you can't view this skin. Only the owner can". But I have no other way to do this!
[...]
At least I want to get some skins from a particular replay. How to do this? Victor, maybe it makes sense to open http access to all skins? One can't reupload & overwrite somebody else's skin.

If you want the lo-res version (512x512) then you can either copy it from your skins_x folder into the skins folder (if it's one you've seen in a race alread) or, if you know the filename, enter it in the upload field in the "My online car-skins" in LFS Desktop, and then click "Upload skin". It will show you the skin in 512x512, and you can then download that image into your skins folder.

As fas as the hi-res version is concerned - I don't think that's available to anyone else but the submitter.

BUT, independent of resolution, keep in mind that some people may not *want* you to use their skins. So before you use someone else's skin online it may be a good idea to ask them first.

Quote from MaxHeadroom :

how can i find it on LFSWorld? the most related thing i can fins is "My online car-skins"

Enter the skin name in the upload field in the "My online car-skins" window and click "Upload skin". It will then tell you that the skin already exists, and show you the existing one (which you can save into your skin folder).

Quote from the_angry_angel :

You're running Win2003 on a 900MHz machine. Sorry, but thats just foolish, especially if its the server edition with shadow volume copy enabled. Doubly so if you're running it an Active Directory Domain Controller. Its going to be hideously slow, surely. If you're not running it as that, then whats the point? You might as well be using XP..

Actually, it's running just fine.
It is used as a test server for web-development, and it's doing a pretty good job at that...
(And no, I cannot run XP, as certain web-services require Win2003.)

But thanks for the rest of your (and NotAnIllusion's) advice. I'll try to put the dedicated server on the slower machine, and see what happens.

Quote from hrtburnout :

Maybe it's time to upload it?

It is already on LFSWorld.
Just look for XFG_MODELR.jpg.

I have two machines connected to DSL via a router (i.e. different IPs, but sharing the same bandwidth). One is an older PC (900MHz, running Win2003), and the other (my main workstation) is running at 1.8GHz, and Win2000.

What would be the better setup, performance-wise, if I want to run an LfS-Server?

Put the dedicated server software on the slower machine, and then play from my main PC, or just run a regular server on the same machine I play on?

I guess I could spread the workload somewhat with LfS running on two different machines, but what about the bandwidth? Will they end up 'fighting' for bandwidth among each other? (My connection speed is about 1200/600 kpbs.)

Thanks for all the kind words!

I was afraid that my skin might have gotten thrown out for being "offensive", so I'm glad it's not being held against me...

Unfortunately, now that I've gotten my S2 license I realize that nobody is really racing that car anymore. So I guess I'll have to start all over and pick another car to leave in some acid raind for a few decades...

But since that's gonna take a while here are some "un-crashed" pictures:

http://lfs.hopto.org/snap4.jpg

http://lfs.hopto.org/snap5.jpg

That's why we're introducing the new GTI Model-R, soon to appear in a rear-view mirror of yours (so prepare to shield your eyes)...

http://lfs.hopto.org/snap3.jpg

http://lfs.hopto.org/snap2.jpg

http://lfs.hopto.org/snap1.jpg

Unfortunately, the test driver had a slight mishap during the presentation lap, but the minor damage the car received shouldn't distract too much from our new style...

Yeah, I got some good templates (with the wireframes, shadows, etc.) and the viewer, but if you have a lot of stuff going on at those edges it's still quite a pain to do the alignments.

And I think I still have an old demo version of 3DSMax somewhere, but I'm not sure whether it's worth digging it out.

Well, I guess it's back to pixel pushing...

Thanks!

I'm sure I'll get my license soon. Just need a bit more on-track practice before I make a fool out of myself...

Just one more question - is there a tools available that would make it a bit easier to skin across edges? I find it quite a pain to align the roof with the two edges on the left and right, for example (I'm using Photoshop). Would 3DSMax or something similar make the job easier?

1. When should I use skinning, and when is rendering needed? Is rendering for creating a totally new car shape, whereas with skinning is for just changing the looks of existing cars? Or do I need rendering for more advanced skinning features (like defining materials, etc.)?

2. Once I have created a skin (and it works fine in my local copy of LfS) how does the skin become publicly available (so that other racers will see the same skin I do)?

3. If the skin is uploaded to some public server, can then anybody use that skin on their own cars as well?

I tried searching the FAQ, the LfS-Wiki, and even the old forum, but I didn't have much luck finding basic information like this. Did I just not look in the right places???

Last edited by Kronzky, Mon, 14 Nov 2005 20:00.