It's a very harsh system and I still can't fathom why the penalty is so high, especially since I've yet to see it actually punish someone who's deserved it! It always seems to affect either the noobs that pit without knowing the rules, drivers that are knocked into restricted areas due to another driver or the catapulting barriers or those who are disconnected due to something beyond their control. It's obvious that an attempt has been made to keep wreckers, etc, under control, but now that the method of punishment has been tested on the public, IMO it's obvious it should be modified.

Two days ago I lost my LX4 because, while taking the corner onto the bridge from the 'proper' direction, I bumped the wall, not particularly hard, and it sent me into a barrel-roll through the air, followed by about 1/2 a second of spastic mid-air gymnastics and a fine. According to someone spectating, I was nowhere near a marshall, so I still don't know what happened, but naturally I was pretty annoyed, having driven less than a dozen laps in the thing.

I've heard there's going to be a money-wipe coming up soon, hopefully a new version will be implemented that DOESN'T punish its users so harshly.

Another factor that I think contributes to people driving all over the road is the lack of centerlines around most of the track. I know the CLC crew has centerlines that can be downloaded and used, but personally, I don't wanna be hotlapping offline at another time and have those lines on the track! It's a shame there's no way to force the lines simply for the CC servers' use.

Well, what seems strange to me is that the rules state that all users should observe posted speed limits and yet the money system rewards fast driving. The faster you go, the more you get, so what do you expect people to do?

Personally, I tend to spend a lot of the time hotlapping in order to save up for the more expensive cars, but I keep an eye on the map and do my best to ensure that I'm not rounding a corner in the wrong lane and 99% of the time it all goes well. However, as has been said, a lot of people really don't give a sh*t. There were two idiots in CC #2 yesterday driving around in black UF1's and they were all over the place driving flat out and blatantly ignoring the rules dozens of times per lap. Every time I saw them lap me from the other direction they were cutting corners and in my lane. Sure, they were probably having a blast, but they weren't concerned with anyone else.

Last thing I wanna mention is that I'm also getting tired of people stopping in the middle of the road to chat, including on a NUMBER of occasions, the cops. If I'm approaching someone from behind and they're just cruising, I'll usually slow down and pass when it's safe, but that's not easy to do when the person suddenly slams on the brakes to finish typing their message. It's extremely annoying and has left me limping back to the pits many times. If you're going to type a message, check your map or mirrors, put on a turn signal and PULL OVER.

As people have said, a greater police presence helps control poor behavior and also makes crusing much more interesting. Do you guys need more cops? I'd be glad to join, it would be an absolute joy fining people that don't wanna play along and preserving the experience for those that do.

I was actually making measurements for cable when burN|TWEAKSTUR suggested a solution . It's too late to get a refund for my router/antenna, so i wasn't looking forward to spending even more money.

Well, my issues are resolved. Turns out that the Windows wireless service was treating my connection as though it was simply one of many possible choices, despite it being my regular home dedicated connection, and was searching for other wireless services in the area, which was causing lag spikes every minute or so. I just played for about 45 mins on the CC server and wasn't disconnected once and my little connection bar didn't start climbing at all. If anyone else is having issues while using a wireless connection, and plan on using the same one all the time, go into:

Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services>Wireless Zero Configuration

and 'Stop' the service (if you're already connected). This should stop the service from screwing around with your connection once it's been established.

This will need to be done every time you start Windows and establish your regular connection. If, while Windows is running, you wish to switch to another wireless service, or need to connect to your network again for whatever reason, you must activate the service once again to establish the connection.

Thanks to "burN|TWEAKSTUR" for the tip!

Last edited by DrDNA, Sat, 6 Jan 2007 22:14.

Yep, I started experiencing this a month or two ago. Everything will be running smoothly and then I'll get up to several seconds of stuttering, where my fps will drop to around 5 and I have to do my best to keep the car on the road. It doesn't happen very often, but it does seem to occur mostly around the pit area, although I've experienced it elsewhere.

I've also noticed some crazy warping as well. The lights will go green and the car in front of me stays completely stationary, making me swerve as though I need to avoid him, but a second or so later he's right where he should be. I also question every single incident in front of me, such as someone losing control and spinning, because often they'll warp back onto the track driving normally. It's annoying, yes, but luckily doesn't happen often enough to ruin the online experience, at least IMO.

I'm also having a similar problem, but I only seem to get disconnected from the CC servers. My little connection bar will slowly start to grow, during which time everything runs absolutely fine. Once it hits red, the chat stops being updated but cars still drive around. Then it'll either snap back to the bottom and a flood of chat will come through or, in the case of CC, sometimes I'll be disconnected. It takes about 15-20 seconds from the time the bar starts to raise until the time I'm disconnected.

I've found that I get little connection freezes in CS:S (which I've started playing again recently with a friend) every few mins that will last about 1-2 seconds, but that's the only other connection issue I've noticed. MSN stays connected, as does IRC and my downloads run perfectly fine. I use Windows Firewall for protection and have tried LFS with the DMZ enabled and the problem remains.

In CS:S it isn't that annoying because it literally happens every 3-4 minutes and is short enough to not really affect gameplay, but the process takes much longer in LFS and the connection will sometimes fail.

As a last point, I haven't been disconnected from any other LFS servers in months and months, not since I first got my WLAN set up.

On several tracks I've had the problem of the AI screwing up at least one corner as they get faster. On Fern Bay I had XFG's rolling one after the other over the curbing before the main straight. On some tracks the RWD cars do massive powerslides around certain corners until they eventually spin.

I just ran an experiment with a full field of BF1's at the oval and while they do get a lot faster after about 60-70 laps, they also develop that weird wobbling issue where they steer back and forth really quickly in a straight line until eventually they spin out.

Are there any combos where the AI doesn't hit a roadblock?

And I'm not complaining, I know the AI hasn't had the TLC it deserves yet, and to be honest I'd rather it get shifted down the list of priorities a bit. It's nice to have some AI to practice against offline, but like people say, LFS is about the online experience .

BurnOut69: I remember years ago having competitions with the AI to see who could train the fastest one. Your idea would be fun but I doubt it's going to happen .

Last edited by DrDNA, Mon, 1 Jan 2007 18:11.

Quote from Glenn67 :

I just don't understand that mentality myself even if I get caught up in the chaos at T1 it doesn't phase me as I see it then as a challenge to make the best of a bad start and see how many places I can make back

If the race is more than a few laps long then I'll gladly initiate a restart from a very favourable position if there's carnage at T1 behind me, especially if it involves the more experienced drivers I'm used to battling. I come online to race in a field of cars, not the two or three that managed to clear the T1 chaos with me!

I only really find restarts annoying when just one or two people crash and the races are short (3-5 laps).

Regarding a special forum, what ever happened to the Clean Racer's Club? I was a member years ago but soon after joining I stopped racing because my University classes took over. Any chance of starting that up again?

Thanks for the reply, mrodgers, but I'm not complaining that I'm getting disconnected at all. I'm not particularly surprised considering the amount of activity on the server! My only issue is the penalty for disconnects when they DO occur. I played on the test server for a combined total of literally 8 hours the other day without a single connection issue, with an average of 12-16 people connected during that period. That's how I was able to save up enough money to purchase an XRT. I only stuck around for a few minutes to do a few laps and then disconnected properly because it was after midnight and I obviously needed a break. Happy that I was patient enough to finally get a 'decent' car, I logged on the next day, waiting until the early evening hoping the server wouldn't be as busy because our european friends had gone to bed. Yet only a couple of minutes after joining the server I was booted while doing a lap. Several minutes later I tried again, hoping it was a fluke, and bought a UF1 to try to work my way back up the points again and this time I lasted a few more minutes before it happened again. A few hours later I joined the DSR server and raced for about 2 hours with zero connection issues, as always. Again, the ONLY server I have connection issues with. See where my anger originates from?

However, I've simply decided not to go back because I'm obviously going to be disappointed again in the future. Perhaps if things are further optimized then I'll try again, but I have a feeling that's it for me.

Good luck for the future.

It's usually just a case of inexperience, vehicle warping or over-enthusiasm (or all three). T1 can decide how the rest of a race plays out, so gaining any positions there can be a massive help. However, it also takes good judgement and driver skill in carrying out any overtaking maneuvers there because of the close-proximity of the other vehicles. I always take my foot off the gas before the braking point and apply just enough braking pressure to turn on my brake lights, just to coerce whoever is following into applying brake pressure earlier than necessary and avoiding any situations. Then I just concentrate on making it through. Once going through the corner I try to give any drivers beside me as much room as possible, often letting them pass to avoid incidents if it's too close.


A very useful technique I've found is braking softly just a split-second before the corner's braking point to shift the weight over the front wheels and then applying further force as necessary to match the braking of the leading car. It allows you to be in a braking situation before the leading car and gives you more control in deciding how to proceed, such as slipping up the inside if possible. It seems to me that noobs in general tend to hit the brakes when the leading car does and most of the time it ends in a crash.

Overall, though, it's about respect for your fellow racers and doing anything you can to avoid contact, even if it means letting someone by. You can always get them at the next corner if they're a slower racer anyway.

EDIT: I was guessing you meant the DSR server, too . It was pretty silly at T1, but people did seem to be crashing in weird places, yeah. There were a lot of 'less-experienced' racers there that I think contributed to some of the carnage. I usually race with names over cars so that I can keep track of the people who could be trouble...they tend to materialize during qualifying :P.

Last edited by DrDNA, Sun, 31 Dec 2006 07:31.

If there are still issues with stability then why is the penalty still so harsh for disconnects? I just lost a GTT and UF1 in a 5-minute time period due to disconnects only minutes after joining the Test server. That's what, 6-8 hours of driving wasted? Again, yours being the only server where I experience random connection problems. It seems as though the rediculous lose-your-car 'penalty' is affecting the supporters of this mod more than the detractors. Let us keep our cars and take a percentage of the money, or take our cars but give us more than 50% back, please.

CC can be a lot of fun, but being disconnected and losing your car is tremendously disappointing. The scenario I've run into each time so far is I'll save enough for an XRG, get to drive it for around for a few laps and then I'll be disconnected. Upon rejoining and having to buy a new UF1, I now have LESS money than when I first started and have to drive many more laps to even be able to afford the next best cars. Is it simply impossible to differentiate between random disconnects and choosing to leave the server when not in the pits? I don't have any disconnect issues with other servers, so I don't imagine my connection can be blamed .

DarkSideRacing has been hosting their own weekly BF1 League races and every day for the past (what seems like) 3-4 weeks they've had it set as BF1 only with extensive hotlapping to get everyone up to speed (har-har). Once you become accustomed to the acceleration, braking and cornering abilities then it becomes much easier going.

The problem with racing BF1s is usually the lag. Because the cars can increase or decrease their speeds so quickly it can be extremely hard when following another driver through corners. If it takes a split-second too long to show them braking then before you know it you're smashing into them. Or you get the effect of them warping back and forth between 10 and 30 feet in front of you. The result is that you need to brake very early and maintain a lot of distance between you and the leading driver, only overtaking when he makes a big mistake.

Personally, I don't think the sound system is as simple to work with as some of you seem to think! It isn't a matter of assigning a few variables and voila! a perfect recreation of an engine. I'm sure it's largely experimental and that at this point there are limits to what can be acheived. Manipulating synthesizers to sound like real engines with character takes some doing.

I agree that a lot of the cars sound similar to each other and several of them sound worse, but this is an ongoing process and things are simply going to get better from here on out. I do wish the BF1 and FZ50 sounded closer to how they were, though, especially since I've been putting in several hours a day with the BF1 in the past two weeks or so .

At least the newest sounds help mask the synthesized sound a bit.

Quote from lyd :

I think I'll try switching to the sequential stick and autoclutch on the FXR for a while and see how that goes.

I started using the sequential shifter when I first got my DFP and now I feel weird NOT using it . While it doesn't really have any mechanical feel to it it's a nice little addition and nonetheless adds to the experience.

Seems to me that GTRs should be running a sequential gearbox, a clutch used only used for accelerating from a standstill and downshifting, no traction control and a steering lock of about 270-300 degrees, while F1 cars have a sequential box with paddle shifters, same-use clutch, slightly less lock and somewhat mild traction control.

The other formulas will be identical to the F1 car, the difference being a lack of traction control and a stick-shifter instead of paddles.

I naturally welcome any corrections to my 'educated' guesses .

Quote from tinyk :

Our servers are up 24/7 Always have been, always will be if it's within my powers to make sure.

Sorry, I meant 'up' as in populated with other drivers . I set LFS to not display empty servers and more often than not I don't see any of yours displayed. But you already let me know that most members live in the UK and Europe, so it's just a timezone thang. That said, I've had lots of fun races there in the past and, after racing there for an hour or so last night, should go back more often .

I've had some good experiences on the Redline Racing server, but I just can't stand driving BL anymore and the formulas remain cars that are fun for a little challenge every once in awhile, not all the time (imo). However, it remains a great server because it always seems to be up and it always has lots of people driving! I just wish we were able to have several servers of its kind that each has its own combo types.

Anyhow, the best races I've ever had were on the dSRC and DSR servers, hands down. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the dSRC server up in quite awhile, so I've kinda adopted DSR as the daily server. Only wish we had some more competition, sometimes .

Well, when it comes down to it, we're all just pretending to be race drivers and it's the 'pretending' bit that seems childish or geeky.

Funnily enough, if you look at famous movie actors, they're adored and worshipped the world over and all they do is play make-believe themselves :P.

Luckily for myself, however, LFS is the only 'game' I regularly play anymore, but due to my current life situation I have plenty of time to play after work and I still manage to get out a few nights a week to knock back some pitchers with friends and flirt with the girls.

Nobody really knows how serious I am about my sim racing skills except the people I know online!

The secret to enjoying the RAC is to make a decent setup! I chose the RAC as a project car for finally getting around to learning the mechanics of a good setup. I never liked it either, so changing anything I didn't like about it really improved things. I eventually turned it into a drift setup when testing one afternoon and ended up with something that can outdrift a lot of the other guys and I'm a rare drifter . I've found that during oversteer you need to have nearly full opposite lock to catch it properly.

Still, would be nice to see it used more often!

After a couple of laps to familiarise myself a bit, I usually then go about memorizing which gear is best for which corner, followed by the rpm range I want. Optimum speeds come later when I can afford to look at the speedo while cornering. Mind you, I haven't really had to learn any new layouts in ages, but that's generally what I do when learning a new track/car combo. Also, having enough virtual miles under your belt with a specific car will make it much easier when switching to a new track. I can usually place in the top 3 laptime-wise after 5-10 laps on any given server when using a familiar car on an unfamiliar track layout.

I bought a DFP about 8 hours ago, actually . So far I'm impressed with the build quality and the performance. Plus, not having a wheel for a year makes it all the much sweeter!