I thought about this a few times, and now I want to know what others think about this:

What about changing some major specs of the LFS cars from time to time? And maybe even SLIGHTLY change the tracks every year or so (like a piece of tarmac that has a different grip level before or in a corner, or there's a new pothole).

When I think about real life series, I don't think there are many who face the exactly same conditions every single time they race on a track. The cars are constantly worked on (not only what we know as setups), and the tracks get weathered, patched or even redesigned (at least partially).

Pros (my POV of course):
- new challenge for everyone
- equalization of somewhat unrealistic advantage of years of practice & setup tweaking
- changes in car-specs most probably no big deal to implent
- "new" content

Cons (which I don't really care about)
- new challenge for everyone *
- equalization of somewhat unrealistic advantage of years of practice & setup tweaking *
- laprecords and stuff in LFS would have to be version specific (so what?)


*: you get it, right?



I included a poll to get an overview. Not really keen on counting "+1" and "-999" .


cheers.

No for the cars, 'maybe' for the tracks. Yes, tracks do get updated from time to time, but the only way cars get the same updates is if they get an evolution (which has been proposed here). Unless we're talking about completely new cars, then I really don't see how this would be realistic, let alone very interesting.

I think that that wouldn't be that effective as far as mixing things up is concerned, with the exception for your setup points and the road cars. I'd like to see road car setups limited to tyre pressures, tyre types and some other very basic things (brake bias, TC where appropriate and that would be the RB4, ABS and similar) - take them back to road cars.

It wouldn't do much to the racing cars and the tracks. There, I forsee the only way being more content, which is unlikely to be possible without getting the community involved (which isn't a bad thing depending on implementation).

Quote from boosterfire :

No for the cars, 'maybe' for the tracks. Yes, tracks do get updated from time to time, but the only way cars get the same updates is if they get an evolution (which has been proposed here). Unless we're talking about completely new cars, then I really don't see how this would be realistic, let alone very interesting.

interesting: because you don't do a gazillion miles with the exact same car.

realistic: where do you do a gazillion miles on circuits with the very same car year after year?

maybe you think that having 20hp less than the year before is unrealistic as you would improve your car over the years. but think about changes in the regulations. and usually the purpose of these changes are to mix up the field again and not see the same teams win over and over again. so it's realistic and interesting (*). some will adapt quicker to the changes, others won't.

*: Different strokes for different folks, but I really have a hard time understanding why change in any respect can be uninteresting. Maybe it sucks in your opinion, but being interesting is soemthing different.

I don't see a lot of point in changing the cars, the idea with the tracks is far more interesting though.

I'm just saying that if we're to get some updates on the cars, why not just make updated duplicates instead? For instance, you keep the old version of the car, but instead of just changing a few things on the cars like the horsepower, suspension and what-not, you evolve it into something you'd expect to have been developed as the new version of the car.

No, randomly changing a few things on the cars from time to time is not realistic. Evolving them is.

Quote from Bandit77 :

where do you do a gazillion miles on circuits with the very same car year after year?

Uh, most people who go track day do that. The most they'll do is change a few parts on it from time to time, but that isn't done in a random way: they're making it better. Increasing horsepower, suspension, handling, etc. This relates more to the car upgrades à la NFS, which aims at personally increasing your car performance's in the idea of making it better. Your suggestion is to upgrade everybody's car all at once, and not necessarily by making them actually better.

Besides, do you really think that, for instance, decreasing a car's hp by 20 would actually be that interesting? Yes, maybe some setups would require adaptation, and so would the drivers, but within a couple of DAYS it would all be okay, and it would be back to the routine anyway. To make any tangible and long-lasting changes tp the cars, you'd have to basically change everything about them, and at that point we're talking about completely new cars.

I like the idea. I've started to get bored with the tracks in LFS, but I hope to get something fresh soon. I enjoy South City a lot, but something either with more elevation changes or bumps would be fantastic in my opinion. I hope that we can see something like this implemented, but we would have different versions of tracks like "SO42009" etc... It would be interesting, but I'd rather see more modular tracks developed.

Too hard to do, too time consuming...

I really like the idea of deforming the tracks. It would really help us create better memories and better ourselves as drivers.

The cars, IMO, would be a better suggestion for league racing. I really don't think it's a bad idea though.

Your suggestion goes in the right direction, I like it - dynamic track conditions.

However I do not think modifying the layout / adding bumps from time to time would be my primary choice to achieve it (time consuming and spreading the racers database thin...).
I would rather have adherence / temperature conditions change, that would make each race / each run on a track unique.

I also agree with your analysis - just check how many servers run with the "no wind - sunny conditions". Simply add low wind and use a different light forcing the drivers to - slightly - adapt, and they complain about it

I may be an optimist yet I still bet on LFS being able to produce dynamic track conditions one day - that would meet your request I assume.

i like the premise, but it would probably be hard to implement.

Quote from boosterfire :

I'm just saying that if we're to get some updates on the cars, why not just make updated duplicates instead? For instance, you keep the old version of the car, but instead of just changing a few things on the cars like the horsepower, suspension and what-not, you evolve it into something you'd expect to have been developed as the new version of the car.

Although this somehow means more content and more content is always good, there's always the downside of "few" racers being spread over dozens of servers running an increasing number of different combinations.

That's the reason why I wouldn't want to keep the old cars / tracks.