I've been scanning the forums but can't find anything existing post that covers this exactly. I just downloaded LFS about 2 weeks ago - tested it for a week, loved it and bought it on the 22nd.

I installed it fine and have been having great fun, but today when I go to use it, it says that it is the demo version, and I have no unlocks left???

Now my 6 year old son has been playing LFS as he is a (virtual) petrol head too. When I asked him he said he was playing with the lock/unlock button (as kids do) so I think he has done this somehow, but it doesn't seem right to me for the following reasons:

1. How could my game go from unlocked to locked? Is there really a "lock" button? If so, why is there a 'feature' like this? I can't check this myself because it is locked at the moment

2. How could he have used up my locks when he doesn't know the passwords? My in-game driver name is "Ben" (different to my license name) and my son doesn't know either my game or my web passwords (which are not the same). It doesn't make sense to me that my unlocks could be used up by someone who doesn't know my passwords.

3. Could my account have been hacked? My wife said that my son was racing online the other day so I suppose it is possible, but I think unlikely since my son doesn't know my passwords. Has this happened to anyone else?

BTW, I've just emailed the devs with the above info and a request for a new unlock (I'm impatient and don't want to wait for Dec 1). But I'm very confused as to how I could have ended up in this situation. I don't want to stop my son from playing LFS because there is a risk he will lock it, and frankly I don't see why he should be able to...

If anyone has any answers to the above I'd appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Ben (FunkyGibber)

Yes, there's a lock button.

Sounds like your son just clicked lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock. And there you go, that's your unlocks all used up!

The lock button is so that someone who unlocked to S1 level, but now gets a S2 license, can lock it then unlock again to S2. Or to lock a computer to stay within the license agreement that allows two computers to be unlocked.

The game password stays there when you use the lock button. So he didn't need to know your password, to unlock again on the same computer, as long as he didn't exit LFS in between locking and unlocking.

It's no great loss to lose an unlock, so there's no reason to make it more secure. The important thing is to have a secure and different web password, so your account cannot be hacked.

I think the Password and Account-Name in the Lock/Unlock Screen should be set to empty when locking the game back to demo-version.

I take LfS and my wheel with me when I visit my friends. I copy my LfS-Version and unlock it with my account. We all have a great time and when I leave i lock the game to demo-mode. AND I have to clear Username and Password.

Great idea, isn't it?

Just lock then exit LFS - now it is cleared.

Quote from Scawen :

Yes, there's a lock button.

Sounds like your son just clicked lock, unlock, lock, unlock, lock. And there you go, that's your unlocks all used up!

The lock button is so that someone who unlocked to S1 level, but now gets a S2 license, can lock it then unlock again to S2. Or to lock a computer to stay within the license agreement that allows two computers to be unlocked.

The game password stays there when you use the lock button. So he didn't need to know your password, to unlock again on the same computer, as long as he didn't exit LFS in between locking and unlocking.

It's no great loss to lose an unlock, so there's no reason to make it more secure. The important thing is to have a secure and different web password, so your account cannot be hacked.

Wow, thanks for the quick reply. This community is great!

One more question...

If I want to prevent my son from unlocking the game again (he's promised not to do it, but I also have a 3 year-old who is less reliable ;-), can I unlock the game with the new unlock you gave me, and then change the game password so that next time he tries to lock it, the stored password is different and the unlock won't work?

I kind of guess the above will work, but the problem is that he can lock it and then I need to use up an unlock, so it "works" to prevent someone using up one of your unlocks, but it doesn't prevent them making you need an unlock because they locked your game

I think I read another thread that says you can zip up your LFS directory and if anything goes wrong you can restore it and it will be unlocked. Will this work? I believe it will, provided (as will be the case) that it is unzipped back into the same directory on the same PC. If this will work then I think I will be safe if my kids go click-crazy on me again...

Thanks again to you and the rest of the community.

Cheers,
Ben

Quote from FunkyGibber :

I think I read another thread that says you can zip up your LFS directory and if anything goes wrong you can restore it and it will be unlocked. Will this work? I believe it will, provided (as will be the case) that it is unzipped back into the same directory on the same PC. If this will work then I think I will be safe if my kids go click-crazy on me

You can copy the contents of your "data\misc" folder to a safe location, then copy them back if it gets locked again.

I don't think this will work.

As I said above, i burned my LfS-Directory on CD and copied it onto the computers of my friends but the game was always locked and I had to unlock it.

Edit: But maybe it works on the same PC where you made the backup...

why not config an user account for the kids in windows?

Quote from --==Gogo==-- :

Edit: But maybe it works on the same PC where you made the backup...

should be like this!
cause the unlock depends hardware...

Quote from --==Gogo==-- :

I don't think this will work.

As I said above, i burned my LfS-Directory on CD and copied it onto the computers of my friends but the game was always locked and I had to unlock it.

Edit: But maybe it works on the same PC where you made the backup...

Yes it works on the same pc but not on a different one, but after you reinstall windows or add hardware you need to reunlock again even on the same pc.

Keep training those two sons! The more the merrier! :laola:

Quote from Vendetta :

Keep training those two sons! The more the merrier! :laola:

As well as my 5 yr old daughter .

We could start a 10 and younger LFS League! First they could start out with the little UF1 car, and work their way up to the FO8. Just imagine 5 year olds driving around at 180 mph! Sounds splendid! :bannana_p

I am only 11 years old, YOU BET

Quote from Lible :

I am only 11 years old, YOU BET

:eek: Are you really?

just copy your whole lfs folder ... as long as it stays on the same pc youll have 2 unlocked lfses
that way your son can play as much as he likes and if he decides to mess with the lock button again you can just make another copy and he has an unlocked version again (as long as he doesnt lock your lfs folder too at least)