I'm quite draconian in what I buy online (pretty much domain names and that's it).. but I've paid 5 times in total through LFS and never had a problem
I can understand your Mum's concern, but IIRC, LFS uses ProtX which isn't AFAIK based in Mexico (point being that it might be common practice there unfortunately, but _very_ unlikely to happen in this case).
I'd be happy to use my card details through the LFS payment system again without concern
Regards,
Ian
I guess there's 2 sides to the coin (ignoring that I personally do a lot of freeware / open-source stuff and prefer to work that way).
Atm, LFS is deserving of the alpha tag. God only knows when it might move into beta status, I've given up hope of a final release within the next 3 years.. so, on the plus side, it's a flexible demo and does allow for a lot of enjoyment (timescale wise). OTOS, I wouldn't buy a copy of Borland's C++ IDE for example at even beta stage, I'd wait for the full release.
All in all, as things stand currently, I think the demo is fine, but if it was myself, I'd probably look at changing it if / when a final release was born.
What I don't really get is how other players can get in such a hoohar about it.. it's not like veteran demo players are taking food off of our tables.. and very much leads to points I've made in the past, that too many people on this forum think that Scawen is their father when really, 99% of people here don't know him from Adam. I also wonder what the percentage is of people who have paid for LFS and are absolute zealots about it, and have cracked other software on their boxes.. my guess is it would be pretty high going by todays trends, which would make a lot of said people pretty hypocritical
While the community is kinda close to the dev process here (moreso than the likes of EA for example).. LFS isn't our game, why should we really sweat blood about it like it would appear some do (just general thoughts, not pointing fingers at anyone in particular ).
Regards,
Ian
Atm, LFS is deserving of the alpha tag. God only knows when it might move into beta status, I've given up hope of a final release within the next 3 years.. so, on the plus side, it's a flexible demo and does allow for a lot of enjoyment (timescale wise). OTOS, I wouldn't buy a copy of Borland's C++ IDE for example at even beta stage, I'd wait for the full release.
All in all, as things stand currently, I think the demo is fine, but if it was myself, I'd probably look at changing it if / when a final release was born.
What I don't really get is how other players can get in such a hoohar about it.. it's not like veteran demo players are taking food off of our tables.. and very much leads to points I've made in the past, that too many people on this forum think that Scawen is their father when really, 99% of people here don't know him from Adam. I also wonder what the percentage is of people who have paid for LFS and are absolute zealots about it, and have cracked other software on their boxes.. my guess is it would be pretty high going by todays trends, which would make a lot of said people pretty hypocritical
While the community is kinda close to the dev process here (moreso than the likes of EA for example).. LFS isn't our game, why should we really sweat blood about it like it would appear some do (just general thoughts, not pointing fingers at anyone in particular
).Regards,
Ian
30 days would be better than 24 hours, that's just stupid. Heck, one of my text editors allows for a 45 day trial.
People play games and don't like them for whatever reason sometimes quite quickly and say "bah, that's crap". The next person in the thread asks "how long have you played it for?" to get a reply of "3/4 of a day".
The next response is highly likely to be "hahahah you can't judge a game in that short space of time, retard.. GTFO".
I wouldn't buy a game with only 24 hours trial, especially something pretending to be a sim that really needs more indepth analysis.
Regards,
Ian
People play games and don't like them for whatever reason sometimes quite quickly and say "bah, that's crap". The next person in the thread asks "how long have you played it for?" to get a reply of "3/4 of a day".
The next response is highly likely to be "hahahah you can't judge a game in that short space of time, retard.. GTFO".
I wouldn't buy a game with only 24 hours trial, especially something pretending to be a sim that really needs more indepth analysis.
Regards,
Ian
Great track! I still have a copy of that on 12"
Currently running through 'Cream - 15 Years' :banana:
Regards,
Ian
And there rests the case for the defense, m'lord.
Have I mentioned skidders and IQ levels before....... hmmmm
Regards,
Ian
Sounds just like another typical poncing thread :rolleyes:
Unfortunately, kids seem to be getting worse and worse for the "gimme gimme gimmes"
The demo does what it says it does, demonstrates the game, both road going cars and aero-enhanced cars of 2 completely different genres.
I bought a web control panel for £150 (annual license), the demo allowed me to configure one domain for one user. I wanted this for a multi-user commercial setup, yet I managed to evaluate the product just fine. You've got a taste of LFS, the demo isn't meant to be a lifetime investment.
Regards,
Ian
Unfortunately, kids seem to be getting worse and worse for the "gimme gimme gimmes"
The demo does what it says it does, demonstrates the game, both road going cars and aero-enhanced cars of 2 completely different genres.
I bought a web control panel for £150 (annual license), the demo allowed me to configure one domain for one user. I wanted this for a multi-user commercial setup, yet I managed to evaluate the product just fine. You've got a taste of LFS, the demo isn't meant to be a lifetime investment.
Regards,
Ian
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I've got a 35 mile trip each way to work and it takes me between 45 mins and an hour, depending on traffic. I leave home at 07:30 normally. If I have to do the trip by public transport, I have 2 busses I need to get, then a train, then another bus (or a 30 min walk). By the time I do that to and from work, I may as well set up a tent in the car park. It's an option for "emergencies", but certainly not something I'd contemplate ona daily basis. Likewise, obviously a cab is out of the question as I'm not made of cash and cycling isn't an option either as 8 miles or so is done on the M25 and about 15 on the A41 (dual carriageway). As for running, there's more chance of me being the next PM
Public transport is, to be blunt, bollox anyway. If it was halfway reliable in keeping times, it wouldn't be so bad, but alas.......
My littlen also lives 12 miles away that wouldn't be too easy to get to by train etc, least of all with the stuff he brings when he stays at weekends.. so when I add 1 or 2 round trips there n back a week to the fuel costs, it's a silly amount. I do on average 2 tanks a week
I really don't wanna trade the motor in for something "cheap n cheerful" but it may come to a point when I have to slightly reconsider my options in engines.
I do believe that the majority of it stems from gov. tax.. it certainly always used to. But something must be (semi-)flexible for garage brands (and even same brands in different areas) to have such a difference in prices. Oil costs the same in posh and poorer areas, and on small main roads and busy dual carriageways.. yet fuel prices (and of course, the companies annual profits) don't reflect this.
Regards,
Ian
Last edited by Ian.H, .
I heard they reckon we'll be paying between £1.50 and £1.60 per litre by the end of the year (when I started driving, it was ~£0.70).
I agree it's depressing, it's currently costing me £350-£400 a month in fuel just to get to and from work (~1200 miles per month)
The biggest problem, as always, is a greedy gov. Most of the expense is tax.. yeah, oil prices have rocketed, but fuel could still be cheaper. The other seems to be greedy fuel companies. Around here, BP for example is a fair bit more expensive than anyone else. The BP garage round the corner is set at £1.15, the Total garage across the road is now £1.12, yet half a mile away in opposite directions, the BP garage is £1.17 and Total garage is £1.10.
Got a result the other day when the local Shell garage dropped the price back down to £1.06 but then 3 days later, back up to £1.09.
I don't think there's anything we can do unfortunately
Regards,
Ian
I agree it's depressing, it's currently costing me £350-£400 a month in fuel just to get to and from work (~1200 miles per month)
The biggest problem, as always, is a greedy gov. Most of the expense is tax.. yeah, oil prices have rocketed, but fuel could still be cheaper. The other seems to be greedy fuel companies. Around here, BP for example is a fair bit more expensive than anyone else. The BP garage round the corner is set at £1.15, the Total garage across the road is now £1.12, yet half a mile away in opposite directions, the BP garage is £1.17 and Total garage is £1.10.
Got a result the other day when the local Shell garage dropped the price back down to £1.06 but then 3 days later, back up to £1.09.
I don't think there's anything we can do unfortunately
Regards,
Ian
If you're going to type with such a large font face, I suggest you learn to spell / use correct grammar, as you've just made yourself look pretty stupid in the process too
Regards,
Ian
It's no more of a bug than being able to use the non-racing driver models. It's just a hack of the colours file to increase the intensity of the wheel spoke colours, pretty much the same as LPH works with driver models.. the fact you can hack these values beyond the scope of the internal min / max settings doesn't mean it's a bug.
If I code an app that requires a file in say, the windoze dir, works fine just as it is.. and you then open the app in a hex editor and change the lookup code for locating the windoze dir, is the app buggy?
Regards,
Ian
Then why bother? That all but cancels out your point below about immersion.
Then let the users skin them themselves, rather than some server admin thinking he knows best as to what we (users / racers) want to see. We can make the billboards as immersive as we want then, no ifs, no buts, and no stupidly "misplaced" (unrelated) ads.
Then I'm sure you'll go upwards and me downwards when our days are over
And ads on a server will be shown directly to my screen, regardless how many racers are connected to the server at that point in time... just like ads on web sites.
Awww.. ah, ah... oh no, I thought I could almost feel my heart bleeding then
Maybe he should get a job instead, like the rest of us instead of thinking the world owes him a favour.
I doubt I'm too honest.. I'm no angel, there's just way too much advertising in the world already.. why do some want even more in something that should just be some recreational fun other than that they're either too lazy or lack the IQ to get a real job.
Regards,
Ian
It's not a case of having a closed mind. I have a very open mind to many things, just not forced advertising where some monkey who can't be arsed to get a job thinks he can plaster ads everywhere to make up for it. Simply principle.
Regards,
Ian
How would it not be? If they're served by the server and there's no 'disable IGA' option in LFS, you _are_ forced to look at them, directly or indirectly.
You're seriously missing the point. It's not the content, it's the principle.
Not really. Spammers don't know me or most others they try to spam from Adam.. hardly personally targeted.
Some may, most would just block them.
Why can't people just do things for the enjoyment of doing things these days? Everything has to be about money and earning a "quick buck".. it's pathetic.
Regards,
Ian
Still just greed, IMO. There's simply no reason for it.
If you can't stand the heat (read: can't afford a server), then get out of the kitchen (you know how the rest goes).
I've run and paid for my own server etc for the past 7 years. Never once have I considered advertising as a low-life method of generating revenue. I go out of my way to filter _all_ advertising I come across on the net using various methods including 300+ domains as DNS null zones.
I spent many hours coding various tools for the community, many hours creating 3DS scenes for renders, many hours offering help / advice on 3D stuff (not that I'm an expert, but people asked me (or at least on our team forum) as I created the scenes I guess). I also spend many many hours maintaining filtering for e-mail for various family members and friends. Have I ever asked anyone for a penny? or do I stick ads all over the place where I know people will look to get info / downloads? No. I want to run my sites, want to run my own server. If it comes to a point where I can't, I'll remove my server from where it's colo'd and think of something else to do.
Either way, I will circumvent their attempts and make the result publicly available if it ever becomes a reality.. maybe have it use a white / black list.. and of course, CTRA will be blacklisted by default
Regards,
Ian
If you can't stand the heat (read: can't afford a server), then get out of the kitchen (you know how the rest goes).
I've run and paid for my own server etc for the past 7 years. Never once have I considered advertising as a low-life method of generating revenue. I go out of my way to filter _all_ advertising I come across on the net using various methods including 300+ domains as DNS null zones.
I spent many hours coding various tools for the community, many hours creating 3DS scenes for renders, many hours offering help / advice on 3D stuff (not that I'm an expert, but people asked me (or at least on our team forum) as I created the scenes I guess). I also spend many many hours maintaining filtering for e-mail for various family members and friends. Have I ever asked anyone for a penny? or do I stick ads all over the place where I know people will look to get info / downloads? No. I want to run my sites, want to run my own server. If it comes to a point where I can't, I'll remove my server from where it's colo'd and think of something else to do.
Either way, I will circumvent their attempts and make the result publicly available if it ever becomes a reality.. maybe have it use a white / black list.. and of course, CTRA will be blacklisted by default
Regards,
Ian
Heh. An open-source version would be sweet! No forced ads, open code and non-elitist development attitudes would pretty much make CTRA servers null&void after a short period I think
I think it'd be one of the more popular tools I'd have coded if it becomes needed. Will be funny to see how quickly the thread gets removed from here when it gets announced, and by who
Me neither.. and this topic was already brought up on this forum ~6 months or so ago IIRC, and got pretty much the same responses too.
Other than marketing retards and "can't-be-arsed-to-get-a-job" layabouts, no one else likes or wants to see advertising.. but these monkeys just don't get it. So out of touch with the real world it's laughable
Regards,
Ian
I wonder...
Of all the people thinking this bullsh!t is a pro rather than a con, how many of you use absolutely no filtering for spam in e-mails? Be it your own solution (mailwasher type apps) or server-side (DNSbls / SpamAssassin etc).. or, if not under your control at all, have you contacted your mail host provider to ask them to whitelist _all_ mail to your account?
Regards,
Ian
Of all the people thinking this bullsh!t is a pro rather than a con, how many of you use absolutely no filtering for spam in e-mails? Be it your own solution (mailwasher type apps) or server-side (DNSbls / SpamAssassin etc).. or, if not under your control at all, have you contacted your mail host provider to ask them to whitelist _all_ mail to your account?
Regards,
Ian
Please tell me how having someone pay you to rent a server makes for better TV deals.
You seriously need to get your head out of your arse. CTRA servers are "just another group of servers". If you think they're some kind of high n mighty elite version of everyone elses, that's your hangup. Someone else will create such a system if it's in demand, and quite possibly won;'t be trying to scrounge off the community to support it.
Everyone else has managed for years to run their servers without bludging off of the community. People get flamed (and rightly so) for begging for S2 licenses.. to me, this is no better, infact worse as you're trying to eliminate the choice of whether the 3rd party is willing to participate or not.
Go on.. do it, it'll give me a coding challenge to filter your scumware
I think Becky has hit the nail on the head, Sam needs to get a real job instead of playing games for a living.
As for thinking it'd be mean to block ads, that's just pathetically hilarious!
Regards,
Ian
Sounds like you think advertising makes or breaks visual situations.. news flash.. it doesn't.
Car art can yield high results without company names / logos if the artist has a bit of imagination with a paint brush. Likewise, if armco was just plain armco, what difference does it make? How many racers do you think drive round the track and think 'oh, a Marlboro ad on that 10' piece of armco, I must get me some of them on the way home'.. get real.
If you can't afford to run a server without trying to bludge off of the community to support it, there seems to be one simple answer.............
Regards,
Ian
Car art can yield high results without company names / logos if the artist has a bit of imagination with a paint brush. Likewise, if armco was just plain armco, what difference does it make? How many racers do you think drive round the track and think 'oh, a Marlboro ad on that 10' piece of armco, I must get me some of them on the way home'.. get real.
If you can't afford to run a server without trying to bludge off of the community to support it, there seems to be one simple answer.............
Regards,
Ian
Sorry to piss on a bonfire.. but since when do you have beta versions of installers!?
Sounds like right now, all it does is adds a pretty picture (UI) to the front end of a self-extracting archive... a bit like coding a text editor, but making the editor part read-only until v0.2
Regards,
Ian
Sounds like right now, all it does is adds a pretty picture (UI) to the front end of a self-extracting archive... a bit like coding a text editor, but making the editor part read-only until v0.2
Regards,
Ian
Nope. Never will either
Cool! I'll start charging per-download from my various sites hosted on my own equipment (yup, server is bought, not rented).
I _never_ charge for my stuff, I'm far from being rich, and have never and will never place advertising on any of my sites.
e-mail is not a marketing medium, neither are game servers!
Again I state, people wanting this who run servers and see it as some kind of way palming half the bill onto users is nothing less than simple greed.
Regards,
Ian
PS: Even if "forced", there will be ways around it.. and if it does become forced, I will spend time to get around it and publicly publish a how-to.. hell, I'll code a proxy if I have to and release it, that much I promise
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[Yawn]...........................
Some people really are starting to use this place like the average council estate stair well.
Regards,
Ian
Some people really are starting to use this place like the average council estate stair well.
Regards,
Ian
Probably horses for courses. Inno was the first I tried on 32-bit windoze back in win95 days after toying with WISE on win3.1, heh.
It comes with an optional 3rd party GUI tool (ISTool) as part of the Quickstart Pack download which makes it _very_ simple click-click-click to build a (basic) installer.. but for me, the scripting is far simpler as it uses a Pascal engine (NSIS seems more like ASM, which I haven't looked at since 16-bit days). I didn't know any Pascal previously, but as it's very similar to Delphi, which in turn is just like backwards C++, picking up the basics wasn't too difficult. All the tools I release are packaged with Inno and 99% of the time simply use the point-n-click options within ISTool to create them. I Only really touch the scripting area when I need to create something a bit more funky.
Agreed on this. Being a FreeBSD "fan".. I'm more than happy to work with archives.. but an installer does add some elements of professionalism and simplicity (for the most simply example, shortcut icons and a simple uninstall method without requiring the user to dig into the filesystem.. we all know what some (l)users can be like).
I'd be happy to share the .iss script file for Inno that I used to build the installer I did some time ago or even sort out a pre-compiled version (as well) if wanted
Regards,
Ian
Last edited by Ian.H, .
Only works for some archivers / archive types. IIRC, LFS uses a self-extracting 7-zip archive due to the LZMA compression being better than most others for some file types. This also has limited features of what can be done when the unpacking process happens. Zip / RAR however, can be pretty much customised to whatever you want.. but possibly at the cost of some bytes in filesize.
Out of all the installer programs I've used over the years, from my own concoction using C++ and a zip library to InstallShield, the one I've always settled on is InnoSetup. Free for both commercial and personal usage and although not as feature packed as InstallShield, _definitely_ much lighter and still very powerful (not that an installer for LFS requires complex procedures, I've already built one with InnoSetup in about 20 mins)
Whether it's warranted, or "the people" / devs want an installer available however is a different kettle of fish
Regards,
Ian
Out of all the installer programs I've used over the years, from my own concoction using C++ and a zip library to InstallShield, the one I've always settled on is InnoSetup. Free for both commercial and personal usage and although not as feature packed as InstallShield, _definitely_ much lighter and still very powerful (not that an installer for LFS requires complex procedures, I've already built one with InnoSetup in about 20 mins)
Whether it's warranted, or "the people" / devs want an installer available however is a different kettle of fish
Regards,
Ian
Hi niki..
Drop me a PM with an e-mail addy in and I'll send you a PHP class I wrote a few years back to upload files if interested
Regards,
Ian
Drop me a PM with an e-mail addy in and I'll send you a PHP class I wrote a few years back to upload files if interested
Regards,
Ian
I still have an Amiga A500+ here, although my A1200 and ~8,000 disks were scrapped when my ex moved
Also still have my Sinclair Spectrum 48k (with rubber keys!) and some old tapes with games.
And to top that off, I also still have my old Sam Coupé (that hardly anyone has ever heard of)
Regards,
Ian
Also still have my Sinclair Spectrum 48k (with rubber keys!) and some old tapes with games.
And to top that off, I also still have my old Sam Coupé (that hardly anyone has ever heard of)
Regards,
Ian
Last edited by Ian.H, .
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