Biggest bang for the development buck?
There are a ton of good suggestions in this subforum and I've made quite a few suggestions myself. But if anything is ever going to get done I think the devs need to concentrate on the improvements that would give the most benefit for the least amount of work. I'm not sure what they have planned for S2-full, but here are my suggestions about the most important improvements. Hopefully the devs will actually take a look.

The best way to make a good first impression: UI improvements and menu changes. Most people agree that the menu looks clean and nice, but the colors and layout need a little help. Some options are confusing and the colors are a bit cartoony. Clean this up a bit and rearrange some items to make it easier to navigate and understand and the sim would seem a lot more professional.

The most needed graphical improvements: I think LFS looks really good as it is, but there are a few small things missing that could make a huge difference. I think the biggest additions would be actual flaggers and corner workers instead of the generic "yellow flag" text. Even simple 2D animated sprites like GPL uses would add a lot of immersion. It would be really, really nice to see the marshal waving the white flag on the last lap and to see the checkered flag flying as you cross the finish line. And, obviously, a bit cleaner, higher res textures. Though it seems that the community is going to take care of that on it's own. Other than that, I think new GTR interiors would be the biggest improvement. But we already know those are coming so I won't dwell on it.

Most needed racing improvements: These are the things that I think would add the most variety to racing. Right now 90% of races are 5 lap sprints, cars rarely get damaged unless you plow into a wall, and once you get a setup that works you never need to change it to suit varying conditions. I think that adding proper clutch modeling (including stalling), adding variable track temperature, and adding overheating/blown engines would add a LOT to racing. No longer would people be able to run off the rev limiter for the whole race. No longer could you just default to S2 tires as a hotter/colder track would require a different compound. Spinning out or locking the brakes would be a lot more harsh if you had to take the time to restart the engine if you didn't clutch in time.

The best additions (and possibly best way to attract more racers and enlarge the community): LFS covers a lot of different racing types, but there are still many popular race series that LFS doesn't cover at all. I think that the single best addition to LFS would be a V8, RWD, four door sedan. This would fill a gaping hole in the car lineup and would allow people to recreate some of their favorite race series like NASCAR, Aussie V8 Supercars, DTM, etc (though, we'd still have to settle for fantasy tracks, but i can live with that ). Similarly, the addition of a banked oval (think: Indianapolis), a quarter mile dirt track, and a better rally stage or two would be great additions since all of the current tracks are road race or "hybrid" rally stages. LFS probably won't tear anyone away from GPL or RBR until we have real tracks, but it would at least allow us to approximate other types of racing.'

I think the above suggestions are the ones that seem to appear over and over again and which would have the biggest positive effect on the game as a whole, hopefully attracting new racers and allowing those of us who already love the game to enjoy it even more.
I hope the devs take a look that this post and topic because i think these suggestions would make lfs better.
a well thought out wish list

+1
Well put, too

I just have 1 comment, on the marshal thing - I'd like the generic "yellow flag" text to remain, or have a little yellow flag appear in the corner of the screen in addition to the animated marshals. We all know how hard marshals can be to see, and most people, they will not see them. Hell, many people don't even see the giant 'blue flag' text displayed across the screen as it is.

Great list of suggestions, +1 :up:
I hope we never see a marshal waving a white flag. The only place in the world where a white flag means "last lap" is in America. Everywhere else it means "slow vehicle on track", e.g. a damaged car making it's way to the pits, a recovery vehicle or ambulance. Why Americans need a flag to tell them when they start the last lap is beyond me, isn't that what pit boards are for?

Other than that, a well thought out list.
Nice list in general. Just a few comments.
Quote from Cue-Ball :It would be really, really nice to see the marshal waving the white flag on the last lap

The white flag is just an american thing, just incase you didn't know.
Quote from Cue-Ball :And, obviously, a bit cleaner, higher res textures.

dunno if thats a great idea, what about people who dont have a great graphics card? they cant run high res textures.
Quote from Cue-Ball : I think that the single best addition to LFS would be a V8, RWD, four door sedan. This would fill a gaping hole in the car lineup and would allow people to recreate some of their favorite race series like NASCAR, Aussie V8 Supercars, DTM, etc

theres a hugh difference between all 3 of those cars.... i'm just knit-picking now
Quote from Cue-Ball :the addition of a banked oval (think: Indianapolis)

Whats the KY Oval then?
Quote from Cue-Ball :LFS probably won't tear anyone away from GPL or RBR

We already have torn plenty of people away

I think overall most of your suggestions will improve the game. Nice list
If you were to read page 5 of Appendix H of the ISC, the white flag ONLY means slower viechle on track.
Quote from nikimere :The white flag is just an american thing, just incase you didn't know.

Well, I'm American so I'm used to seeing it. A pit board would be even better since it would show laps remaining. The current readout in the upper-right shows laps completed, but not laps remaining. Without someone in your ear telling you when to pit or how many laps are left it's easy to lose track.

Quote :dunno if thats a great idea, what about people who dont have a great graphics card? they cant run high res textures.

LFS only uses about 35MB of texture memory as it is. So the textures could certainly be enlarged quite a bit before it's a worry to anyone. In any case, the high res textures are being done now by the community. Though I still argue they'd be better if they came with the game as-is.

Quote :Whats the KY Oval then?

That's a tri-oval. Three corners, not four. I'm not a big oval track fan anyway, but there are lots of people who are. If we had a tri-oval AND a regular oval it would make the NASCAR lovers happy and would enable Indy-style racing in the formula cars. I would probably never drive the oval myself, but it has been requested by many others.

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