Quote from geeman1 :

PCIe bandwidth does not limit FPS with SoftTH that much.

TH2G does afford much higher frame rates than SoftTH based on the figures I've seen reported by users. I have a GTX260 and get 150 plus fps with the graphics maxed at 5040x1050. Even with seven viewports it still achieves 90 fps average, I haven't seen anyone report performance remotely comparable to that even with top end hardware when using SoftTH

So although TH2G may be pricey and limiting in what monitors you can use, you don't need the latest card to drive it to achieve good results and as for it working right out of the box I can't recommend it enough, it's a very solid solution.

Last edited by Glenn67, Mon 9 Nov 2009, 14:24.

Quote from Bokujishin :

I will need 2 or 3 more days of work on it to finish those blueprints.

I designed and built my cockpit in less time, but alas I guess it shows

Nice job on your design so far, very thorough and well thought out

Quote from KillaBOFC :

I was just woundering I seen a player on my server hitting times that seam imposable to hit making Perfect laps with no screw ups...IM sorry i put in 2whole days doing the same track with every DL set up I could find and tweaked mine and COULD not drive perfect laps every time times would change each lap and would loose RPMs in corners....This person held same line never lost RPMs or gained RPMs you would have thought it was a AI computer car I found it odd so I thought id ask

What you describe there sounds like nothing more than skill, don't forget there are many that have been driving LFS for over half a decade and have put in many thousands of laps on some combo's. For example I spent the best part of two years driving the XFG around BL1 when I started out clocking up god knows how many laps.

At one point I could consistently do within 0.5 of a sec off the WR lap after lap like a robot for 20 laps straight or more with the majority of the times no more than a tenth appart, and I am not the only one there were others that could and still can do lap after lap at even closer to WR times. It's just a consequence of much practise and dedication to the sport we love

Two days is not much time to get any speed at all unless you are already a highly proficient driver. So don't feel like others have an unfair advantage because they have more than likely done many hundreds of hours more than you in LFS and possibly even on a particular combo!

It took me a month or more to start to get some consistency and at least six months to get to what I'd call fast. It's taken several years to achieve that across many different combos. So don't get disheartened when someone joins your server and seems impossibly fast, instead be friendly towards them and learn as much as you can! More importantly see it as a challenge and have fun, then one day I'm sure you will also have the funny experience of being accused of being a bot that never makes an error

Quote from Ivo Georgiev :

Yes, I would also like pre-race settings (maybe in the setup) for what to do at every pit stop.

Problem with that is in longer races pit strategies rarely play out exactly as planned and need to be refined on the go.

I agree the current way of changing pit strategies on the fly is difficult though, but it can be made easier by scripts and possible at some point someone might write a useful insim app to handle pit strategies on the fly.

I would like to see additional outgauge packets to help in producing a virtual race engineer app, if tyre data and suspension damage could be sent to a virtual race engineer app via outgauge, the app could calculate pit strategies accordingly and then alter your pit strategy on the fly via scripts, along with informing you when to pit via a system message.

Last edited by Glenn67, Sun 8 Nov 2009, 02:19.

All servers are displayed as there is only one master server (internode) for the whole LFS universe

There is no way of filtering drift servers specifically, but drift servers normally are clearly named and usually have a certain selection of cars. So you can effectively create a filter for mostly drift servers by selecting rwd road cars as must have with all others as neutral or even selecting fwd cars as must not have for example.

Also make sure you have installed the latest patch as that uses a different internet protocol (UDP instead of TCP) as you will not be seeing all the servers otherwise. Also by default I think patch Z25 only displays the new UDP servers so if you check the TCP box you might see more choices. (eventually there will be no TCP servers remaining)

Last edited by Glenn67, Wed 4 Nov 2009, 10:24.

Quote from rockclan :

Sorry to be OT but...

Well it's probably something like this... A guy goes online for the first time and sees there are a few hundred servers but only 1 or 2 with low ping and they go wtf this can't be right. But alas it's true outside of europe the support for lfs has all but died Even at the peak over here we had less than ten servers occupied at any one time, now on average you'll find two at our peak playing time.

To the OP check what filters you have enabled as this may be blocking some of the servers you might be looking for. Also don't necessarily think that a lower ping will be better than a higher ping, try a few different servers that look of interest to you until you find one that gives smooth game play and a stable connection. Server's up to low 400ms ping can still be quite stable if they are located in good infrastructure and countries were we have good internet backbones to, were as other times a server with lower ping can be less stable if it is located on someone's personal PC or in a part of the world were the internet is less reliable.

Racing is entering a higher state of consciousness, becoming one with car, tyre and track. Being in perfect balance with the Universe, winning in your minds eye even before the lights go green and pitting your will up against the will of others.

Failing that its gritting your teeth, holding on for dear life and refusing to give in!

Quote from RasmusL :

or you have only half the advantage of 3 screens..

Well that was exactly the situation before the current revamp of the multi-monitor system where increasing FOV over a large flat surface didn't give you a much greater imersive feel because it would also alter the perspective making you feel more disjointed.

Now with the multi view enhancements you can change actual physical screen angle and have a greater FOV while maintaning a natural perspective, both with how it now renders across multiple screens and the fact that you can offset the view port.

This does make it possible to use two screen much more comfortably than before for cars were you sit off centre and you use the cockpit view (still not a disirable setup for single seaters or central views) I've used custm view and cockpit view interchangably for the past few years, and generally revert back to custom view when wanting to be highly competitive. Now with the new multi monitor support I use cockpit view exclusively as it has so much better feel for depth of view than prevoiusly was possible. The improvement in multi monitor support really can't be appreciated unless you have seen the difference first hand, it is like chalk and cheese for me

Quote from Skytrill :

especially a better support for 2 as you can now Offset the main screen:eclipsee_

Yep and while there still is a limited number that have 3 - 11 screen set ups, it's well within the reach of a vast number of people to have a two monitor set up. Before the patch I would not have considered two monitors over one but now it would be easily better than one. Two monitors is really very useful for a lot of other computer type work also

Quote from aroX123 :

Could you explain how you made it faster?
Maybe noobs like me has issues knowing

I'm talking to Scawen of course

This post is were it started...

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?p=1283799

It now takes about 8 sec to bring up a list of 150 hosts for me from Australia, in the past that would take upwards of 40+ sec (seemed like an eternity when you are waiting) and to list 400+ host would take several minutes, something that I always avoided

The big question is how many extra hours race time will that give me in an average year!?

Last edited by Glenn67, Mon 26 Oct 2009, 09:30.

Quote from Shadowww :

It's hard to reinstall hundreds of texture packs after doing a fresh install and finding out it's not texture pack's fault.

Leave your old install exactly were it is, don't touch it. Install a fresh version of LFS in a new folder (e.g. \LFS Test\) run LFS Z20 without any non standard textures or add on's applied from that folder and see if you still have the problem.

If it runs ok from the new folder then it is likely that add on's have caused you problems and you will need to investigate further on your own which add on has caused the problem.

If on the other hand you still have glitches when running LFS from a fresh install it means it is likely to be a bug in LFS and or your system that warrants further investigation by Scawen and other testers. In which case a solution is likely to be found to fix your current LFS install without you needing to add all those add on's again.

If you can't/will not install LFS in a new folder and try then we (including Scawen) are all going to be just guessing what the problem might be and it is very likely you will not find any answers to you problem.

If you are not prepared to help with this process you should not be applying test patches or at the very least applying a test patch to a copy of your LFS folder rather than your actual LFS folder, which is what we all should be doing when we 'test' a test patch

Quote from BurnOut69 :

IMO it would be worth it, any increase of the speed getting the host list would be greatly appreciated

+1 I'm guessing all LFS users that live some distance from the UK would see a significant difference in how quickly LFS brings up the hosts list.

Quote from Napalm Candy :

I think you can use your TH2GO for the 3 center monitors, and use SoftTH to add up to 1 each side monitor... 1 + 3 + 1

I was thinking the very same thing, but it would need some serious horsepower I think. I get 150 - 180 FPS with three screen / three viewports and about 130 FPS with four viewports but it drops to 10 FPS when I stretch to the fourth monitor (all monitors set to 1680x1050, I got 30 FPS by reducing the resolution).

Running two graphics cards, SoftTH with the secondary card running two monitors and the TH2G from the main card might just work, and I'm awefully tempted to give it a go

@Scawen 3D would be nuts

Quote from Scawen :

Just wondering... how many screens are you using with your Eyefinity? I'd be very interested to see a picture of a setup with more than 3 monitors.

Not with Eyefinity just TH2G and fourth monitor on second video output of a nvidia GTX260+, looks great but kills my FPS and have only been able to get it too work in windowed mode so far.

Variable weather certainly makes it hard to predict who will come out on top wet an slicks is always a recipe for action

@ATC Quicksilver Oh us Aussies now all about shit

If you don't know Jackshit this may help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fTWQqj5UWY

The amount of ad breaks and safety cars is a bit annoying :/ been at least three times they have gone to an add break under full green then return to full course yellow and then go to another add break almost immediately... sun is coming back out again so should be more interesting pit strategy again

Lap 137 getting really interesting now

Safety car lap 141, I've got no nails left lol

154 Murphs praying for a safety car

Safety car at 157 gonna be chaos 1-2 lap sprint to finish :X Murphs in 6th with very good pace.

Murphs up to fourth 160 just missing podium finish by a hundredth

Very good finish, I hate safety cars but at the same time does bring a lot of action racing

Last edited by Glenn67, Sun 11 Oct 2009, 06:20.

I've used locked diff and max locking LSD diffs extensively in LFS and can only comment the opposite of the effects you feel max locking LSD definately has more give than locked enabling better turn in and drive down than pure locked diff. These days though I go for much lower locking LSD and once we get the new tyre physics I doubt I'll ever use a locked diff again I also firmly believe any inconsistencies between LFS diffs and real life equivelants comes down to the current tyre physics.

If you are refering to power down being planted more with LSD than locked then that is right, a properly set up clutch pack diff shits all over a locked diff when a car is not power limited.

A lot of FWD sets out there are made to be much more over steer sensitive than you might otherwise expect or normally be comfortable with on corner entry.

The way to drive those sets is to be getting off the brakes before turn in and deliberately getting the car into an over steer orientation prior to the apex (as if you were aiming to cut the corner don't get on the power till your sure the car has turned in well enough) and then power through the corner (just touching the apex curb will help the car hug the apex and getting a good exit also), you will find those sets feel a lot more stable when driven this way rather than trying to prevent over steer on entry.

Quote from Scawen :

I did spend the last three days on another important update to the views system. There are two new sliders in the multiple views system : monitor angle and view offset. This makes a dual head view quite reasonable now (see attached pictures). This is with a main screen FOV of 65 degrees, a side monitor angle of 30 degrees (the true angle of the side monitor relative to the main one) and a main screen offset of -0.5 (to move the steering wheel half way to the left edge of the main screen).

For triple head users the new system allows you to use a wider FOV without the need to set your side monitors at such a large angle. It took a while because the maths is a bit tricky - each view is not centred on its own screen but they must all line up perfectly along their edges. It gives a lot more flexibility with the views than the previous system.

Thanks so much for these improvements it's making a world of difference to me already, very much looking forward to testing the next patch with the additional view sliders

Curious did you have to pretty much rewrite a lot of the graphics subsystem or did you find an easier way, as I remember a few years ago you were thinking it was too much work at the time to create separate viewports.

Just finished watching the first two qualify sessions, going to be a very tight top ten shoot out tomorrow, promising to be edge of seat viewing

Quote from Woz :

lol at the slab per person per day limit... OMFG how do you drink a slab

One an hour with plenty of tucker an water in between I guess And no I'm not about to do that to my self I've been around individuals that certainly could stack them away though, like start on Friday afternoon and go through till Sunday morning before sobering up for a 5am Monday start back at work - then do it all again the next weekend. Its what they refered to as responsible drinking as they would remain 'relatively' sober during the week!
Amazing thing was that one guy I knew, who was a really hard old bastard (only one leg but still did rouseabouting, wood cutting, fencing etc) he would be able to carry out a perfectly clear intellectual conversation after being on the sauce for nearly 36 hours straight on home brew and I still wouldn't pick a fight with him then outback Australia has some colourful characters lol

Oh yeah Bathurst I'll be sure to catch some of the action on telli, could be the year we see Murph's qual time go down I still remember watching that lap live on telli as clearly as I remember watching the twin towers coming down live!

Quote from JasonJ :

[OT] would love to see a picture of someone using the new patch Z features with a photo taken from the correct viewing point to see what it looks like with the multi monitor features. ie: like your shot Bob, except the camera needs to be about 3 feet closer

would be cool to see it.

I'd need a fish eye lens for that well maybe I could pause a screen and shoot a panoramic shot

[Edit]
Well I took a few shots...
When I'm sitting at my rig the very left and right of the screens are just comfortably in my peripheral vision so when I'm driving the head rests are just obvious enough to help with motion cues but not at all obtrusive. Felt a little weird at first having the two outer monitors wrapping around so close to my head, but adjusted to it very quickly - I ran an hour and a half enduro on Sunday night with it without problems (although it is possibly making me feel a bit more tired with long usage, and I'd advise against using such a set up when you had too much to drink ).

Amazingly even with a massive 230deg FOV you can see that the middle screen is still very clear and in similar proportions to how I would have run a single screen with a FOV around 76deg. Overall I find it gives me an amazingly immersive feel with only previously dreamt of spatial awareness and excellent visual sense of speed.

Last edited by Glenn67, Mon 5 Oct 2009, 14:24.

Quote from Bob Smith :

I've updated my FOV calculator and stuck a link to it on my setup tools web page, with my 3x 22" screens and a FOV of 130° (equivalent to 100° with a single viewport), I need to angle my side screens by 51° (see photo)! I do find it more immersive than a single, very wide display. Not sure if I'll stick to racing with it though, as the back of my CRTs move into the magnetic field of my speakers, and the edges of the image warp and discolour, which can't be good.

I just tried the new multi-screen options and it feels great! A lot more immersive and somehow give the car the feel of bulk and weight. I found the best view for me was 230deg with the monitors angled at 60deg, this is with 3 x 22" LCD's on a TH2G.

Seeing the side of the head rests out of the corner of your eyes in the XRR gives an awsome feel and the whole experience feels far more 3D than before, a huge thumbs up from me.

I'll go one further if you get a drive in the supercars I'll come watch you drive Bathurst

Googled "DP1 car" and got this at top of list :P

http://gadgetopia.com/post/5538