hi, when i run a server, what does packets per sec/smoothness used for? is it for the anamation smoothness for each car? What should I set it to, 3 or 4 or whatever?

its.. for smoothness for everyone; not animation persay

it is what its called, packets.. per.. second

Its how many location packets the server transmits to the clients. The more you transmit, the smoother the client's experience (as the prediction engine has to do less work).

as said.. the more you transmit the more information that is sent to the client and the gameplay is simply smoother.. just dont forget the higher the PPS the higher the bandwidth usage

thanx guys. appreciate that! so what setting is recommended? 3 is too small yeah? 4 or 5 maybe? I only have a 512/128 ADSL.

Also I noticed, when I'm serving, a message says "New Guest Timed out" or similar every now and then, does that mean there is someone trying to log onto my server but did not get on? Does that mean he/she has a slow connection/high ping rate so he cant get on? Can I fix that by lowering the PPS setting to 3 or something?

It's recommended to use 4 packets/sec over internet for best balance of smoothness and bandwidth. Use 6 on a LAN for best smoothness.

Quote from drift_apprentice :

thanx guys. appreciate that! so what setting is recommended? 3 is too small yeah? 4 or 5 maybe? I only have a 512/128 ADSL.

Also I noticed, when I'm serving, a message says "New Guest Timed out" or similar every now and then, does that mean there is someone trying to log onto my server but did not get on? Does that mean he/she has a slow connection/high ping rate so he cant get on? Can I fix that by lowering the PPS setting to 3 or something?

make sure your ports are setup properly. And i dont think 128 up is very good for hosting servers so maybe try setting it with the number of ppl you want to join first, and then set the pps so it doenst overlimit the bandwidth

Quote from drift_apprentice :

512/128 ADSL.

If my numbers are right, 128mbit upstream could hold 8 racing cars at 3 pps, amount of cars drop by 1 car each step up in pps (4 pps 7 cars, 5 pps 6 cars.. )

http://lur.h1x.com/blaha/lfspps.php

Quote from P1lot :

It's recommended to use 4 packets/sec over internet for best balance of smoothness and bandwidth. Use 6 on a LAN for best smoothness.

with patch R (or is it S?) or above you can do 12 on lan