The way I treat it is: as soon as the guy behind you is at a distance where he could try and pass you under braking at the next corner or soon after coming out of the corner (both areas where your cars are often difficult to manuever quickly) then you should get the hell out of his way, as in let him pass you by any means necessary, and do it before you get to the next braking zone.
Well, practice is helpfull but some basic instruction on racing 'techniques' such as understanding of the friction circle, the effects of weight shifting on traction and handling, and how much to properly turn the wheel for the given bend are all extremely helpfull for the newbie learning to race. I had to search around the web for weeks to find out about all these techniques when i was new to the game. I was allready able to get all the super licenses on gran turismo 3 so I was pretty experienced with going fast in a racing game but the more subtle and realistic physics of LFS made the application of advanced techniques necessary to even be competitive. For some reason there is practically NO information easily available for new sim drivers on these techniques. The racing guides I have seen on places like IGN.com or something are complete jokes and often give dead wrong information. Ive written out some long ass guides in forums before and whenever i see someone new online I allways take the time to personally coach them about things they need to change.
Actually understanding the techniques you need to be improving is when racing games get fun. Flying blind and going slow/crashing when you dont even know what your supposed to be TRYING to do is when racing games are nothing but frustrating. This is the reason I HATED any racing games for most of my videogame playing life especially sims, and this is a big reason alot of people still hate racing sim games (ie. the reason they arent more popular). Its a shame sim racing games dont introduce new players to the techniques needed to have fun with them. LFS does a better job than most at introducing beginner drivers to the techniques they need through the license tests but it is still not thorough enough.
Anyone know of a thorough guide for racing techniques that isnt a discussion on advanced physics that few people can understand? I think thats what this guy and all beginners need. That and a wheel or some other analog device.
Actually understanding the techniques you need to be improving is when racing games get fun. Flying blind and going slow/crashing when you dont even know what your supposed to be TRYING to do is when racing games are nothing but frustrating. This is the reason I HATED any racing games for most of my videogame playing life especially sims, and this is a big reason alot of people still hate racing sim games (ie. the reason they arent more popular). Its a shame sim racing games dont introduce new players to the techniques needed to have fun with them. LFS does a better job than most at introducing beginner drivers to the techniques they need through the license tests but it is still not thorough enough.
Anyone know of a thorough guide for racing techniques that isnt a discussion on advanced physics that few people can understand? I think thats what this guy and all beginners need. That and a wheel or some other analog device.
Abusive? lol. Learn to recognize friendly hassaling man.
Is just playing lfs geeky? I'd say no. Is buying a 100 dollar (or more) wheel for the game, and devoting huge chunks of time (id say anymore than an hour and a half a day) to the game which could be used for (real) social interaction geeky? Well duh? Embrace your geekdom people! Its not an insult like some of you treat it. Id go more into depth on this but taking the time to address this subject at all, as well as the fact its taking place on a friggin internet forum is geeky enough. 
That design you posted is badass Scawen. I cant believe noone has commented on how cool that design is.
T-shirts and other merchandise would be an absolutely awesome way of marketing for the game, plus you could make a direct profit off the sales at the same time.
T-shirts and other merchandise would be an absolutely awesome way of marketing for the game, plus you could make a direct profit off the sales at the same time.
Last edited by KurtG85, .
They say the human eye cant pick up on much difference of anything much over 60fps. As long as its at this or above at the start and through the race, your getting about the smoothest performance your brain can process.
Pitspotter is the only vital of any of those mods for me. Id run more but my comp can baaarely run lfs in the first place.
It should be like those old calvin klein commercials. A male model sleeking his wet hair back after coming out of the ocean, a chick with ribbons covering her bits writhing on the beach, a big eye staring right into the camera, and a tear of blood coming from the eye that drops onto "Live for Speed" carved into the sand of the beach. The games popularity would explode.
First off, I havnt played LFS for like 4 months cause ive been unable to use my own computer, so I havnt played the latest version with the new physics. If its the same in the new version, my brakes would be set up so that I fully depress them instantaneously while downshifting at the same time. This may also depend on whether or not youll lock your tires if you downshift immediately. In which case youll downshift a split second after you brake. Obviously you dont want to downshift too quickly that you lock your tires, but the point is that many people would be amazed at how much early down shifting you can get away with and how much braking distance it saves you.
I dont know about the coast lock thing as I never bother spending hours making setups. I just ask someone fast for theirs or get one from a website.
Again, things might have changed in the new version where you'll damage your engine enough that it slows you down or whatever if you downshift early, so this may all be moot.
As for if sliding your tires a tiny bit while braking makes you faster, id like to know that myself. Locking your tires significantly will of course slow you down alot.
Hope that helps.
I dont know about the coast lock thing as I never bother spending hours making setups. I just ask someone fast for theirs or get one from a website.
Again, things might have changed in the new version where you'll damage your engine enough that it slows you down or whatever if you downshift early, so this may all be moot.
As for if sliding your tires a tiny bit while braking makes you faster, id like to know that myself. Locking your tires significantly will of course slow you down alot.
Hope that helps.
Of course learning and mastering the perfect racing line is of the most importance, but something that i didnt realize for a looong time is how many very, very easy tenths are gained by braking extremely late and making sure your braking to the very limit. For me that usually involves getting a wr setup and tranny braking very very aggressively.
Its not some difficult math equation to simply not touch the brake with your left foot when your not supposed. I think its funny how people act like its some unconcious, unavoidable thing, again i refer to my last post. But whatevah.
If im repeating anything anyones said im sorry, havnt read the whole thing..
I allways left foot brake in games and on the road (in my automatic). I allways keep my left foot hovering just above the brake pedal whether its in game or on the road. That couple tenths of a second it takes you to move your right foot back up 5 inches off the throttle and over to the left 3 inches will make a significant difference over the distance of several laps and on the real life roads that tenth of a second can mean getting in a wreck or not, as well as in the game actually.
Just try tapping both your feet (as fast as you can) as if you were alternating putting full pressure on a gas pedal, letting off, and then putting full pressure on the brake with the other foot and go back and forth. Then try (imagining) putting full press. on the accel and then brake alternating using only one foot, its physically impossible to do it faster than using two feet unless your coordination is just horribly poor. Even if, amazingly, you think it is possible, you still must admit you dont have as much immediate fine control because your having to use a whole lot more muscles to get your whole leg to move instead of just 'tapping' your feet on the pedals by just rotating your ankles a bit and using a bit of your two calve muscles.
Why have one leg sitting there doing nothing when it could quicken the inputs by sharing the work load? Its just a matter of practising for a bit with both feet. Took me about 4 days in my car before it was second nature.
I allways left foot brake in games and on the road (in my automatic). I allways keep my left foot hovering just above the brake pedal whether its in game or on the road. That couple tenths of a second it takes you to move your right foot back up 5 inches off the throttle and over to the left 3 inches will make a significant difference over the distance of several laps and on the real life roads that tenth of a second can mean getting in a wreck or not, as well as in the game actually.
Just try tapping both your feet (as fast as you can) as if you were alternating putting full pressure on a gas pedal, letting off, and then putting full pressure on the brake with the other foot and go back and forth. Then try (imagining) putting full press. on the accel and then brake alternating using only one foot, its physically impossible to do it faster than using two feet unless your coordination is just horribly poor. Even if, amazingly, you think it is possible, you still must admit you dont have as much immediate fine control because your having to use a whole lot more muscles to get your whole leg to move instead of just 'tapping' your feet on the pedals by just rotating your ankles a bit and using a bit of your two calve muscles.
Why have one leg sitting there doing nothing when it could quicken the inputs by sharing the work load? Its just a matter of practising for a bit with both feet. Took me about 4 days in my car before it was second nature.
I did nothing but play socom us navy seals for like a year straight a few years back, and everytime before i started talking to someone id reach for where the circle button would be on the playstation controller (which is what you pushed to que the mic online). I also reach for the up button on my steering wheel when i look behind me. Its creepy.
Change the screen resolution to a lower res, and allways use the 'all you can see is the front wheels' view. Make sure you have ALL the graphic options turned to a minimum and then you can turn back on anything you want later if you find you can spare the fps. Oh, and put a fan on your computer to cool it, that raises my fps by a consistent 15 fps. I play on a pos laptop by the way.
Id love to see a touge track in S3. Put the god of all touge tracks in there as a matter of fact; dragon range from enthusia.
I totally agree it would be awesome to have the option for everyone to have the same setup. Obviously, it would make for a better test of actual driving skill instead of car setup knowledge.
I think it would be awesome if they made some sweet point to point tracks that actually appeared to be normal trails and streets like they use in actual rallies. Everyone could start at once and see ghosts of other drivers, or just have a bar that shows you and the other cars as dots that move further towards the end of the bar as they get closer to the finish. In addition, when you go through 'gates' it would show you how far behind the leader you are.
That would rock.
And yah, I would loooove to see an impreza/citroen/lancer rip off in the game, as well as some more exciting and longer rally tracks that are all dirt/gravel/snow/ice.
Imagine hanging that front inside tire out over the edge of a cliff as you drift around a turn to shave off seconds... and then the result of tumbling off the edge of a cliff on the final corner of the rally when you were way out front.
That would rock.
And yah, I would loooove to see an impreza/citroen/lancer rip off in the game, as well as some more exciting and longer rally tracks that are all dirt/gravel/snow/ice.
Imagine hanging that front inside tire out over the edge of a cliff as you drift around a turn to shave off seconds... and then the result of tumbling off the edge of a cliff on the final corner of the rally when you were way out front.
Thats what i thought. I just thought the article was saying there was no advantage, which didnt make sense to me. Its probably just the bad english.
Thanks for the reassurance.
Thanks for the reassurance.
Im sure ill have more questions, but as i read through this i was confused by the following statement regarding making a car lighter.
"Weight versus Downforce
But then you may ask a question: reduce the car's weight also reduce the grip generated by the tyres, so what's the advantage ?
Firstly, because the car is lighter, centrifugal force acted on it is smaller. In theory the reduced grip could exactly withstand the reduced centrifugal force. Secondly, we could use aerodynamic downforce to increase the grip without increasing the centrifugal force. As a result, the car can corner faster. "
Isnt this saying that the less centrifugal force acting on the car due to its lighter weight is exactly cancelled out by the fact the car has less downforce on the tires (downforce generated by the previously heavier weight of the car), and therefore its cornering ability is the same as a heavier version of the car?
Then it talks about adding aero downforce... but if you added the same amount of aero downforce to both the lighter and heavier cars wouldnt they both still corner the same?.... Im obviously confused by this...
"Weight versus Downforce
But then you may ask a question: reduce the car's weight also reduce the grip generated by the tyres, so what's the advantage ?
Firstly, because the car is lighter, centrifugal force acted on it is smaller. In theory the reduced grip could exactly withstand the reduced centrifugal force. Secondly, we could use aerodynamic downforce to increase the grip without increasing the centrifugal force. As a result, the car can corner faster. "
Isnt this saying that the less centrifugal force acting on the car due to its lighter weight is exactly cancelled out by the fact the car has less downforce on the tires (downforce generated by the previously heavier weight of the car), and therefore its cornering ability is the same as a heavier version of the car?
Then it talks about adding aero downforce... but if you added the same amount of aero downforce to both the lighter and heavier cars wouldnt they both still corner the same?.... Im obviously confused by this...
I was wondering why it would be so ridiculous for a driver to do this if he had his brake power setup so hes able to lock the wheels with little effort with only foot braking (and therefore threshold brake without help from the tranny)? Of course i can understand why you wouldnt put it in gear after turning in, but im wondering why it would be so insane to brake with just the brakes until reaching a safe speed to put it in the right gear for the corner, and then turning in?
If i dont have a track down nearly perfect in the particular car im driving, i simply drop to the back right off and let anyone that is obviously faster than i am pass with no holdup (when i get lapped).
I think servers should make that a clear auto-message-rule when you enter, and if you violate it you get banned.
It basically just comes down to relying on people to be mature. Especially the person who may get shunted into outer space on turn one by a newb.
The first time I played the game i caused a wreck and got cursed out by 10 people. Allmost turned me off to the game entirely because of the elitist attitude of those who had more experience and expected me to magically know all the etiquitte (sp), not to mention the obvious intimidating depth of the game itself. I didnt realize the extreme precision the game demanded. Its not like i was trying to ruin everyones race.
Having said that, i've never seen more people behave as maturely and calmly in an online videogame in my life than people do in lfs. Of course their still are some intentional morons.
I think servers should make that a clear auto-message-rule when you enter, and if you violate it you get banned.
It basically just comes down to relying on people to be mature. Especially the person who may get shunted into outer space on turn one by a newb.
The first time I played the game i caused a wreck and got cursed out by 10 people. Allmost turned me off to the game entirely because of the elitist attitude of those who had more experience and expected me to magically know all the etiquitte (sp), not to mention the obvious intimidating depth of the game itself. I didnt realize the extreme precision the game demanded. Its not like i was trying to ruin everyones race.
Having said that, i've never seen more people behave as maturely and calmly in an online videogame in my life than people do in lfs. Of course their still are some intentional morons.
Yah, bound to happen when youve got that wheel in your lap, right in front of the computer screen....
:monkey: :monkey:
Do you have a link to somewhere where hes described his opinions, 'at length'. Or if not could you give us the jist of what he likes, doesnt like about the physics?
Thanks!
Maybe this was allready suggested cause i didnt read all the posts here, but an instructional video for basic driving techniques would be awesome for beginners too. Basically just showing proper trail braking techniques for rwd/fwd/awd. Of course going back to more elementary techniqes and warnings im sure would be helpfull to newbs too. I never really 'got' racing games till i actually went online and had to look up how your actually supposed to drive. For instance at the age of 11 or 12 i thought that the best racing line was to always stay at the inside of the curb. Its not as common sense as most people think.
Havnt watched the vids yet but props for helping out newbs as well as the rest of us who might become 'victims' of them. 
Havnt watched the vids yet but props for helping out newbs as well as the rest of us who might become 'victims' of them.
Ive played in slickmod servers a few times with like 8 people racing. You just have to make some message presets that tell people EXACTLY what to do when they join in order to plat, and shout them out repeatedly as soon as they join, right before they get kicked.
When i try to run the pitspotter mod. I get the timeout message thing.
I made sure the folder my lfs files are in has no spaces in its title, but i didnt understand the other autorun adjustments that someone mentioned. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
When i try to run the pitspotter mod. I get the timeout message thing.
I made sure the folder my lfs files are in has no spaces in its title, but i didnt understand the other autorun adjustments that someone mentioned. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
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