I realize it's quite a stretch to think that the team will go out of their way, and budget for a current-day track liscense to include them in LFS, yes yes.

but what about a track that no longer exists? Hard to rather trademark and copywrite that eh? Riverside California, for example. that would be a righteous circuit to have, honestly. I know there are other fantastic circuits of the like that could be modelled fairly well?

if I could have a current day track though, I'd vote Lime Rock Park.

way off topic. what's everyone think of that idea?

That's cool and all, but the main points against it are going to be the same, like it's nearly impossible to accurately reproduce--someone is going to gripe when it's not perfect--and it would probably take too much time compared to a made up track. But... if it could be done, it'd put a smile on my face (as would any new track--key problem).

The logistics involved in reproducing a real life track accurately far outweigh the benefits of having that real life track in LFS, IMHO. Irrespective of whether the track is currently being used or has been abandoned the amount of time and effort involved in mapping it, taking positional data, elevation changes, cambers, bumps etc will be huge. As we all know, the dev team is tiny and I think their time could be better realised without spending a huge amount on mapping a real life track. Perhaps in the future when other, more important, things have been completed they might want to put in a real track, but if that were to happen it would be far in the distance.

Hiring contractors to perform the mapping is an option, I suppose, but considering the way the mechanics of LFS have been coded by one person I would assume it would be very difficult for an outsider to come in and provide an easily usable package.

I think on a general note that some people are somewhat lacking in belief in the abilities of the dev team. I have total belief in their abilities that they will, over a period of time, deliver to us a fully finished product which is even more rich in features than LFS is currently. Yes, it's going to take some time, but I believe it will be well worth it when we do get it. I'd rather have something which is well thought out and well executed than something half-arsed and rushed, just to meet the demands of a community.

I'd be very surprised if you couldn't buy or lease telemetry data for almost anywhere in the world. So in theory it should be possible to accurately recreate any piece of land to within millimetres.

But as usual, the big problem is expense. Obviously an old unused track isn't going to cost as much as a new one, but it's still an unknown quantity as far as cash goes.

Quote from Dajmin :

But as usual, the big problem is expense. Obviously an old unused track isn't going to cost as much as a new one, but it's still an unknown quantity as far as cash goes.

I heard 10 grand for MSV tracks, 50 for Brands. Maybe a track like Thruxton could be cheap to licence ...

Erm.... Riverside, ... is now a mini-mall, ... and some housing complexes.

*shakes fist at californian bastards*

Quote from Voided :

Erm.... Riverside, ... is now a mini-mall, ... and some housing complexes.

*shakes fist at californian bastards*

Pretty hard to map out the track now, eh?

If this were a route that was even possible, why not a good track? Like Westwood. That place looked like a lot of fun... until it was sold for residential property. [cough]

Instead of "old" tracks, what about tracks that no longer/don't hold big events?

I'm thinking Castle Combe, Thruxton (owned by BARC, not Jonny Palmer), Saschenring, Le Luc etc.

Quote from Mike85 :

I bet that even if we found a track which needs no license, LFS team wouldn't want to do it. Because of whatever reasons they have.

All permenant tracks would need a license - they could do any street circuit that wanted but under a different name ...

The current tracks are OK, we have 53 tracks, some more would be good and we will get more in S3 - if a real track licence would be able to be got for free, the devs would certainly consider it - the next patch will include some South City updates FWIH

Quote from duke_toaster :

Instead of "old" tracks, what about tracks that no longer/don't hold big events?

I'm thinking Castle Combe, Thruxton (owned by BARC, not Jonny Palmer), Saschenring, Le Luc etc.

MotoGP still runs at Sachsenring, which, while not as big as F1, is certainly very well known worldwide. Not to mention it provides for a much better show.