Doing it in camera > doing it in photoshop.
Here's a few snaps from a couple of weeks ago when I went to Durham Botanical gardens. Nothing serious or requiring a lot of effort, I had no tripod or anything and it was far windier than would be ideal.
All shot with A700 and Tamron 90mm.
nice one. It's hard to imagine anyone not enjoying it, imho. It's up there with Toy Story 2, but with a lot more thought & development put into the characters.
It's hard to imagine anyone not enjoying it, imho. It's up there with Toy Story 2, but with a lot more thought & development put into the characters.Seconded. Watched it last night - absolutely frikkin brilliant. I even had a lump in my throat at the end, even though I was telling myself it's just a bloody animation about fictitious robots in the future! So cute though - poor lonely little robot - bless him.
I want WALL-E as a pet robot around the flat.
The point about spreading the players too thinly over too many different tracks is a good one. And it makes me think of another track/player issue.
Now, I'm very much for more content in LFS. Whilst the updates we receive are substantial steps towards a more "polished" product, and contain many useful changes, we've still got the same six environments. Three of them from 2003, and another three from 2005 when S2 was released. The content is so lacking that it's only the excellent physics and "feel" of the cars that keeps people racing, imho.
But, if you look at the populated servers list, with the exception of CTRA's automatic circuit rotation, nearly everyone else is just driving the same old bloody combos. How can we put our case across for more tracks when the vast majority of people will quite happily drive lap after lap after lap after lap after lap of the same track in the exact same car? I don't actually think the likes of ConeDodgers or Redline are doing LFS any favours by permanently running the same combos (sure, people would drive those combos anyway, but at least it wouldn't be fixed as part of the LFS "establishment").
I guess most new players fall into the AS3/GTR trap, I did at some point, but managed to get out and realise that there's so much more to LFS than driving everywhere with the throttle wide open in a super grippy car.
But why are people playing the same old combos again and again ad nauseum? If the community is bored of the tracks available, why are they making it worse by only ever using one or two combos?
On the forums there's all sorts of debate and opnions about what/why/how/when we need more tracks, and the general consensus is that people are bored of the tracks. Yet this isn't mirrored in practice.
Now, I'm very much for more content in LFS. Whilst the updates we receive are substantial steps towards a more "polished" product, and contain many useful changes, we've still got the same six environments. Three of them from 2003, and another three from 2005 when S2 was released. The content is so lacking that it's only the excellent physics and "feel" of the cars that keeps people racing, imho.
But, if you look at the populated servers list, with the exception of CTRA's automatic circuit rotation, nearly everyone else is just driving the same old bloody combos. How can we put our case across for more tracks when the vast majority of people will quite happily drive lap after lap after lap after lap after lap of the same track in the exact same car? I don't actually think the likes of ConeDodgers or Redline are doing LFS any favours by permanently running the same combos (sure, people would drive those combos anyway, but at least it wouldn't be fixed as part of the LFS "establishment").
I guess most new players fall into the AS3/GTR trap, I did at some point, but managed to get out and realise that there's so much more to LFS than driving everywhere with the throttle wide open in a super grippy car.
But why are people playing the same old combos again and again ad nauseum? If the community is bored of the tracks available, why are they making it worse by only ever using one or two combos?
On the forums there's all sorts of debate and opnions about what/why/how/when we need more tracks, and the general consensus is that people are bored of the tracks. Yet this isn't mirrored in practice.
Yeah, I watched it last night and found it quite enjoyable. Not quite as good as the hype had made me think, but worth watching.
Do you have permission from the skin creators to use any of the skins in skins_x?
When it comes to gangs of children knifing people and kids going feral on estates and destroying everyone and everything around them, then yes, lock em all up and throw away the key. Had enough of the liberal, whinging class moaning on about how it's all due to a lack of opportunities and deprivation or because we don't give them a chance or invest enough in them.
Bullshit. They're scum. And scum breeds more scum.
Scum isn't interested in education - you can't educate people that don't want to learn. They're not deterred by some soft-touch community service or supervisory order. Words and morals are not part of their life. Violence is.
Instead of the police going all PC and recruiting ethnically diverse men and women from all backgrounds, they should be recruiting large, strong young men, preferably ex-forces, that can not only defend themselves and others with ease, but also smash a few noses and break the odd bone. The legal system should come down like a ton of bricks on juveline delinquents, instead of allowing them to sue people who's property they're vandalising, or escaping serious assault charges on technicalities. Prison time should be hard and unforgiving - a nightmare filthy hellhole of a place with sadistic guards; a place that will frighten young people into avoiding a life of crime.
Sounds brutal? I guess so. But let's face it, the velvet gloves "ooh don't touch them, those poor deprived angels" approach is hardly working.
(EDIT) Forgot to add that the reason for that little rant is that I think the current epidemic of knife crime is an extension of the existing breakdown in law and order and respect for others.
Bullshit. They're scum. And scum breeds more scum.
Scum isn't interested in education - you can't educate people that don't want to learn. They're not deterred by some soft-touch community service or supervisory order. Words and morals are not part of their life. Violence is.
Instead of the police going all PC and recruiting ethnically diverse men and women from all backgrounds, they should be recruiting large, strong young men, preferably ex-forces, that can not only defend themselves and others with ease, but also smash a few noses and break the odd bone. The legal system should come down like a ton of bricks on juveline delinquents, instead of allowing them to sue people who's property they're vandalising, or escaping serious assault charges on technicalities. Prison time should be hard and unforgiving - a nightmare filthy hellhole of a place with sadistic guards; a place that will frighten young people into avoiding a life of crime.
Sounds brutal? I guess so. But let's face it, the velvet gloves "ooh don't touch them, those poor deprived angels" approach is hardly working.
(EDIT) Forgot to add that the reason for that little rant is that I think the current epidemic of knife crime is an extension of the existing breakdown in law and order and respect for others.
Last edited by STROBE, .
Good. Btw, you do realise that if Scawen ever turns round and says "that's it, it's stopping at S2 with few new features added because I'm getting bored of the complaining" that the community* would f*cking lynch you?
[size]* Yes, the community that you claim to represent. Go speak for yourself. I've posted before, on more than one occasion, about the lack of content in LFS. However there are times when such criticisms may be appropriate, but right now is a time when we should be grateful for what we do receive - as is the silent majority that Scawen refers to.[/size]
There's a Premier Inn on Newcastle Quayside which is pretty central and close to the station. There's also one on New Bridge Street which is also central to Newcastle. There's a Travelodge on the Quayside too. And a Holiday Inn just up the road from the station. Plenty of choice.
Yeah, how evil of them to tail and then stop people doing nearly three times the speed limit...
Awesome - if I need to outrun that fat sheriff, I just need to drive up a gently sloping wet piece of grass.
There's plenty reasons why they drive them. If they drove a UK police car the way they drive those Crown Vics, the tracking and steering would be knackered, the suspension shot, the bodywork wrecked and the structural integrity of the car compromised.
Crown Vics are built on a separate chassis - unlike pretty much any car designed in the last 20 years, there's no monocoque. This gives them the ability to bash, ram, and bend the bodywork to a fairly huge extent, then just take it off and bolt a new wing/sill/bootlid on. I suspect a Crown Vic can take the kind of abuse that defies belief of people brought up on modern, lightweight monocoque cars. The sheer size of the car is probably necessary when you consider how much larger many cars are that are native to the North American market. You also have to consider that the Crown Vics of some police depts (I'm guessing the inner city precincts and suchlike, not the highway patrols) basically have to run 24/7, which is unheard of for a UK police car.
It has nothing to do with agility, and everything to do with how much abuse they can take, and consequently how much it costs to keep the fleet running.
Congrats Dan - really inspiring stuff. I was aware of your training via the thread on here, but hadn't followed it that closely and didn't realise how much it had changed your life (or to put it rather more bluntly, how much you'd let yourself go. ). Well done on your achievements, you've a lot to feel rightly proud about. I'm a gym regular myself (well, sort of, injured knee at the moment) but am naturally slim and can appreciate what kind of a monumental effort you've put in to your running and weight loss.
). Well done on your achievements, you've a lot to feel rightly proud about. I'm a gym regular myself (well, sort of, injured knee at the moment) but am naturally slim and can appreciate what kind of a monumental effort you've put in to your running and weight loss.Nah, 'course they haven't. It's just a show car. It's a popular thing to do for some very cheap publicity - put some police stickers on a car and team up with one of the constabularies that need some publicity for a new initiative or suchlike.
There's been Esprits, Elises, Lamborghinis, Smart cars, and all sorts of wierd and wonderful stuff cosmetically dressed up as police cars over the years.
God knows. Or rather, Bernie knows. He's always had it in for Silverstone. But changing it for Donington? Well it's a great track and it's nice to see other venues getting a higher profile, but why move from a track where the facilities are allegedly substandard to one where they are agricultural in comparison?
I just hope they don't butcher the track too much. Maybe do something with the Melbourne loop, especially if it creates some paddock space, but leave the rest of the track alone...
n00bs who think that using DX9 or DX10 will automatically fill the game with eye candy and bling, that's who. (Nonetheless, from what I've read, I believe ultimately DX9's features will be needed to bring about the kind of graphical effects and lighting that people seem to expect for S3).
Thanks devs for the new patch. Although it's felt like a long time coming (and to be fair, it has been), it delivers some much needed/appreciated things. AA/AF, replay controls, new interiors, etc. Most of all, when I upgraded my main LFS installation tonight, I felt the urge to race again - something I've not felt with LFS for a while now. Maybe it's the AA, maybe it's the new interiors, maybe it's the further general refinements. Or maybe (most likely), it's a combination of all of them. I hopped on CTRA Race1 tonight in the XFG with it's new interior and had a couple of great races. Patch Z runs flawlessly on my machine and FPS is up while the game looks better - a rare feat for most games.
It's nice to see some sort of visual/content updates to match the technical/physics side of development. Hopefully these will continue to come as S2 begins to take shape and get closer to being final.
Now, if only there was a new track on the horizon...
In white, that Scirocco loosely reminds of a Volvo C30R that's melted a bit.
Not keen on the front end, and the back is a bit "meh"...
If they were to revive the Corrado VR6, that might be more interesting.
Not keen on the front end, and the back is a bit "meh"...
If they were to revive the Corrado VR6, that might be more interesting.
I'm sure I can't be the only one finding it a bit odd that you complain about the "state of LFS" and it's content (not without reason, imo) but then when we do get some nice new, immersive interiors, you complain because you can't go and alter their appearance?
I've had a quick spin in cars with new cockpits, and am suitably impressed. They look very appropriate for the cars - very immersive. The FOX dash looks a bit like something out of Blake's 7, but still cool.
That would be wonderful, and I hope you're right. But I don't think you will be. I think it's somewhat optimistic based on recent progress - progress which yes has included plenty of significant changes but hardly any large additions that draw crowds, bring back lost "old timers", or represent "milestones".
As much as I've got both feet firmly planted in the "lack of content is hurting LFS" camp, I feel that statement I quoted is too harsh. The updates to Blackwood and South City were pretty significant in terms of visual appeal, race tracks, all the kerbs fixed, corners revised and rescaled, etc.
Have to agree. There's no doubting the quality of what's going into S2, it's just that the pace of it doesn't give much to get excited about in the future.
Another issue is that away from coding, as the various models (mass, aero, physics, tyres, etc) get more advanced, the more research Scawen has to do, before he can even start coding. Learning so much must take some serious time and effort, especially in such specialist areas. After all it's not like you can wander down to your local library and pick up a book called The Varying Co-efficients and Centres of Drag and Downforce as they relate to Aerodynamic Undertrays of Racing Cars which has all the answers you need.
Like others, I think the answer to the thread title can be summed up in one word: no.
Imho, the slow pace of development is beginning to have an effect. Both on the community as a whole, and for me personally.
Imho, the fact that we still don't have modelled aero undertrays or engine heat (and thus, radiator damage) is disappointing. When S2 was released in 2005 I can't say I ever thought we'd be half way through 2008 and still not have such things. LFS is also lacking what I call "procedural" features. Like the ability to run a formation lap and have everyone park on the grid, or have a rolling start, or have a dedicated safety car option. The kind of things that aren't so relevant to public racing, but would be huge with league racing, or just more "serious" pick-up servers.
Speaking of a safety car model, the main problem for LFS at the moment, and the reason I can't get back into it properly, is the lack of new content. LFS is absolutely crying for some new tracks. Whilst an RB4 or FZ50 with a lightbar would be handy and novel feature as a safety car (although one that would require some rendering of light sources), what we really need is tracks. I know we're not entitled to any, as we knew what content was included when we bought our S2 licenses, but dammit, I'm so sick of doing the same corners in a variety of configurations. Yes, someone will come along and say, "well there's 8,389 combinations and you haven't mastered any of them". True. Maybe I don't want to "master" them in the sense of running at WR speed. Maybe I want to enjoy racing in a variety of tracks and environments, which is something that LFS is sorely lacking these days.
I really want ot be "into" LFS again, but it's just feeling stale at the moment, I'm afraid.
Imho, the slow pace of development is beginning to have an effect. Both on the community as a whole, and for me personally.
Imho, the fact that we still don't have modelled aero undertrays or engine heat (and thus, radiator damage) is disappointing. When S2 was released in 2005 I can't say I ever thought we'd be half way through 2008 and still not have such things. LFS is also lacking what I call "procedural" features. Like the ability to run a formation lap and have everyone park on the grid, or have a rolling start, or have a dedicated safety car option. The kind of things that aren't so relevant to public racing, but would be huge with league racing, or just more "serious" pick-up servers.
Speaking of a safety car model, the main problem for LFS at the moment, and the reason I can't get back into it properly, is the lack of new content. LFS is absolutely crying for some new tracks. Whilst an RB4 or FZ50 with a lightbar would be handy and novel feature as a safety car (although one that would require some rendering of light sources), what we really need is tracks. I know we're not entitled to any, as we knew what content was included when we bought our S2 licenses, but dammit, I'm so sick of doing the same corners in a variety of configurations. Yes, someone will come along and say, "well there's 8,389 combinations and you haven't mastered any of them". True. Maybe I don't want to "master" them in the sense of running at WR speed. Maybe I want to enjoy racing in a variety of tracks and environments, which is something that LFS is sorely lacking these days.
I really want ot be "into" LFS again, but it's just feeling stale at the moment, I'm afraid.
And you're also missing a licence that allows you to transfer it to a different machine.
Meh, I know someone who chose 4WD in his new Audi TT and the closest he gets to any slippy conditions is his multi-storey car park at work.
Some people are just stupid like that though, they see "AWD" as a status thing, not a functional thing.
You don't say.
What's this topic doing down on page 3? I blame the snakes. Anyway, here's some shots I took today of my hometown.
Views across the Tyne:
Views from by the Tyne:
Views from inbetween the two previous sets of locations:
Views across the Tyne:
Views from by the Tyne:
Views from inbetween the two previous sets of locations:
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG