The online racing simulator
the GT5 Prolouge thread
(400 posts, started )
I'm sure the devs monitor developments in the car simulator/racing game scene and are well aware of the shortcomings of their own and competing products. They got their niche of the market and they'll look after it as good as they can. Which is way better than many other developers do.

As for value, for me there is no doubt that LFS is the best value piece of software I ever bought. Its given me countless hours of fun and wheel to wheel racing action. It raised a desire to learn about car setup and racing.

OP, you may have some valid points in your rant, but its all been covered before. And some of your points are just plain wrong:
  • The devs do respect their customers
  • The devs do tell whats going on, as much as is wise
  • The devs are honest about their "intentions/ mentality/ strategy/ ambitions"
  • The "intentions/ mentality/ strategy/ ambitions" have not been lost, they may have changed slightly, but are still there
  • I know what LFS is going to be
  • Plenty of racers in Australia
Most of these points are self evident if you browse the forum enough.

Ok, so it didn't click for you and you're leaving LFS, well, bye then.

Don't burn any bridges, when GT5 has faded (as surely it will) you may want to come back.
Quote from mr_x :Lets play a game... called... 'Spot the fanboys'

I'd love to keep playing that, but I've ran out of ammo.
It's funny how some of the same people who are calling him just a fanboy are just LFS fanboys. A lot would probably still be defending LFS as the best ever even if development hadn't progressed past S1.

I'll wait to actually drive in gt5 but it being a console game I wouldn't get my hopes up. I'll just keep waiting for more content for LFS.
I got GT5 from japan a few months back and while it's good visualy and has real cars and tracks the handling is just pathetic. I've spent a lot of time on the track and on the road and the cars handle nothing like real life. LFS is so much closer than any other game at copying how a real car handles.

I don't understand how people can't see that GT5 handling is really very very poor. (Feels like the cars are floating.)

Plus how can you complain that LFS has limited content when GT5 prologue is basically a demo you have to pay for.

No matter how many threads like this appear it won't make scawen & co change their development strategies.
Quote from Alric :I don't understand how people can't see that GT5 handling is really very very poor. (Feels like the cars are floating.)

It's because of the graphics.

They see bling, they think the rest of the game must be up to the same 'standard'. Therefore the sound is awesome (even though it isn't), the handing is amazing (though of course it isn't), the AI are super-real (though of course they aren't) etc.

Oh, and because GT5 has crazy graphics that are a mixture of unrealistic effects but nice textures and models, people assume that the problem with LFSs graphics (easily the most realistic graphics on the PC racing scene, although nK gets close occasionally with a huge FPS hit) is that it's not DX10, as though DX10 is some saviour, and turning it on suddenly makes it better?

I'm pretty sure that anyone who mentions LFS needing DX10 doesn't really know what they're talking about.
Maybe he's got "good handling" mixed up with "easy"???? The only way you can compare handling in any sim to real life is if you've driven in race conditions yourself. I take more from the comments of someone who actually races or has raced in real life than a teenager who has never driven a car or has just been sent their provisional by the DVLA.
In a couple of weeks, once the GT5 gloss wears off, the thread starter is going to eat a huge slice of humble pie.
The one thing I agree on is there has been a decline on australian servers for racing. The drift scene seems to gaining momentum with plenty of people doing their thing. And although I can get away with racing in 200-300 ping servers I do get a little laggy which must hinder the fellow racers. When I first come on the LFS scene there was at least 10 or so servers, now I'll be lucky to get 2 or 3 for racing. I'll still love the game but it would be nice to have more home grown racing. And credit for those that can drift, because I can't and don't wish to, but I would like to see things turn around and have the drifters disappear and the racing grow.

I don't want to upset the drifters, the last comment was tougue in cheek.
Quote from BrandonAGr :It's funny how some of the same people who are calling him just a fanboy are just LFS fanboys.

Not sure if you were referring to my post, but if you were, you got it upside down big time
Quote from seinfeld :I didnt know what LFS was, or was going to be, nor did anyone else, and I can say that in my country Australia that showed with a massive user drop to almost zero, all that was available was drift servers, no racers, they were bored and fed up with LFS and still are.

Got a source for your little nugget there matey? Almost zero hey? So that would make me the only active Australian LFS'er out there I guess. Whatever you do, DO NOT speak on behalf of me! I totally disagree with pretty much everything you have said.

Firstly, when I first started with LFS (back in patch E days) I was demo for ages, but played it all the time. When S2 got released years later I decided that was the time to get the whole kit & kaboodle and bought my licence the same day (or maybe the next day after) S2 went beta. I had done enough research, reading of forums and such to know what was going to happen and how. I KNEW what I expected from the game and what was to come and the development time frame and what not, and anyone who says that they didn't know what it was all about IS AN IDIOT. I love LFS, its the only PC simulator I have played non-stop almost. I have GTR, GTR2, RFactor, Need For Speeds (several versions), Test Drive: Unlimited and have played them. Nothing makes me fire up the PC like LFS does and I barely even touch the other games anymore (unless an interesting mod or track comes along for rFactor or something).

Secondly, I am also a HUGE Gran Turismo fan. I have every version since GT1 on the PSX. Yes, the graphics are amazing. Fantastic. Yes, the content is incredible (albeit a little repetitive). In fact I was trying to talk my Harvey Norman computer franchisee into giving me a copy of Prologue this afternoon as he had the copies on his desk ready to go on the shelf tomorrow. I have been looking forward to this for a LONG time. But, it is by no means a hardcore simulation. It is probably the best of the mainstream simulators, but unfortunately no real match to LFS. Are you saying that tyre deformation is unrealistic? Since when can you get blown tyres in GT? And if you think the full version is coming in December, you are sadly mistaken. More like December 2009! These games always get pushed back pushed back, never on time like you mention. At least the dev team for LFS dont set unrealistic time frames that cant be met.

And if you seriously think GT5 Prologue took ONE YEAR to create, you are delusional.

And thats my 3.5c

Damo
Even tho it compares LFS and GT5 with eachothers, why is this not in off topic sector?

Anyway, I don`t agree with what he said, but I think there are too many fanboys of LFS here, that thinks they are like god`s themself since they can drive a lap around BL without crashing.

IMO lfs has better physics than GT5, but GT5 has a lot of good things LFS should have, and one of them is variety. LFS lacks that atm, and slowly it will lose players and fade away if they don`t show us some new work soon. It`s been way too long with the currents tracks, and makeing an extra track layout every 3th year isn`t great eighter. I wonder what they actually have done about the track section the last years.

Anyway, that post whent off topic, got carried away, but I`ll rest my case. LFS isn`t superior, and neither are you. Too many of you thinks that any other racing game is crap, because you belive LFS is the closest to the real thing a racing game comes to atm. I don`t blame you, I`ll agree with you, but I`m tired off all this flaming everytime someone actually have a constructive veiw on a other game and maybe points out negative things with LFS.

That was my 2 cents.
I would also like to add that im a big GT fan, I have had every version (even the concept and motor bike one TT, I even have a new sealed version of GT1) But these games are a totally different to LFS different platform/market/budget so i would not try to compare them or say that any one of them is the be all and end all of racing games. I play LFS when i want to race and GT when i want to muck about with my mates.
Perhaps I should mention I have every version from GT1 to GT4 too (apart from concepts and prologues because I don't want to pay for demos).

And they are awesome fun when I'm drunk! But I get fed up of them in a day or two because they are too easy, too unrealistic, the AI makes LFS look clever, and once you've won a couple of races you can just buy success, so it's no challenge.

The only reason I don't have 100% in every version is because other games are better.
Before I got into LFS, I was a total GT fanboy having completed 100% of the GT1-4 series and loved every minute. Spending weeks perfecting the 'Ring in the M3 in sub 7 min was a dream at the time!!

I'm actually quite intrigued by the GT5 (not the daft limited prologue) and can see me nipping out to buy a PS3 when the full version arrives. But I'm also waiting on the next GTA game as well.

When those two appear I'll be out there kicking the doors down! And also something to do with blue-ray HD blah, whatever

Still, I am more interested in the next LFS patch, but quite frankly if it revolves around improved AI and cockpits I will be mighty disappointed as they wouldn't bring anything to my gaming experience.

NB - I ordered RBR from Amazon last night, £3.84 +P&P woo hoo
:woohoo:
I can't believe that someone who has been around in LFS for 2.5 years is actually convinced that GT5p is anything close to realistic. Okay, I've not played this version, but I still doubt that it counts as a "simulator". You notice how they've dropped the old "the real driving simulator" tag line now as well - that should tell you something.

I can't add anything that's not been said already, but I think it's just down to the fact that it's new, pretty and has more content. Will anyone play it online? Can't say. Whill they ever be allowed more than cosmetic damage? Can't say. Will it ever rival LFS in term of realism. Just no.

Oh, and let me point out that you're paying £20 for a preview of a game you'll pay another £40 or £50 for later. I smell a rip-off. I don't think they'll give you that money off when (and if) the full version is released.
#93 - aoun
Simulator or not, as well as LFS, GT series taught me a bit about racing lines, braking points and turning points and turns etc. LFS taught me in depth, RL taught me everything even more .
I don't really care tbh, it looks great (no-one can argue that) and it ill be fun. plus since the upgrade fw I have had no problems online, F1 and FIFA both providing no lag in a 8 player race/game....

so things are looking up!
my bro wants to get a ps3 and gt5. the way he will hook it up, i can connect my g25 to it (we'll have a desk). Its a very pretty game, but i love the LFS atmosphere. Also, if its only simulation mode that feels real, than thats retarded. It should be the whole game.
btw, prologue includes closed races, so whose up for a LFS race on GT5Prologue?
Clearly the answer is for Scavier to buyout Polyphony Digital and take the GT5:P graphics, tracks and car models and combine them with the LFS physics model.

Seriously though, I've had the Japanese version since a couple of days after release (and played every GT title to completion including all the prologues) and it was dissatisfaction after a month or two that led me here to LFS (which I read about on the GTPlanet forums). Yes the graphics are astounding but the shortfalls left me wanting for more - namely some form of damage, more realistic tyre modeling and to be frank, a community of people who are actually into racing rather than playing dodgems online.

Too many comments to reply to but here are a few thoughts;

- I wish people would stop calling the GT Prologues "demos" - they've always been intended as a "teaser" to keep people keen throughout the seriously extended development cycle (GT5:P in 1 year? You must be tripping!). Granted GT5:P is being used as a beta for the online functionality but what better way to iron out the issues?

- The GT series has always been plagued with delays. The OP wants to believe that the full GT5 will be on time but it's already looking like the AU, EU and NA versions will slip to early 2009.

- I've got a sneaking suspicion (or perhaps it's just wishful thinking) that the last big delay in GT5 (the one that pushed it back about a year) is due to the implementation of a damage system. Kazunori has said it'll have to be perfect (not just visually but physical modeling of damage and the impact to handling) and while perfection is in the eye of the beholder, it'd be nice to finally shut those Xbox360/Forza retards up! :P

- £30 for 2 1/2 years of play? £30 for nearly 50,000 miles of online racing? That's £1 a month, £1 for more than 1600 miles. I've been playing computer games of one sort or another for more than 25 years and in all that time I've never seen a single game that can give as much playability for such an extended period for such a small amount of money

Never before has so much been given by so few for so many?

- GT5:P online will be as good as useless until private races are possible - too many idiots. Are they actually confirmed for release? I don't believe so.

- I'd agree that more Australian based LFS racing servers (or at least one or two that are up the whole time) would be nice. I'm tossing up the option of colocating a box I've got sitting spare and running one myself - we'll see.

- The fact that the GT series will be played predominantly by people with sixaxis controllers means that the physics model HAS to be dumbed down so that cars will accept the all on or all off brake and accelerator. Yes you can run with simulation mode and a G25 but the underlying physics remains suspect.

Example: The first evening after I got LFS I was going for a spin around SO4 in a LX6 and every time I jumped off the accelerator (as you'd need to do in GT5:P with a controller and as I got lazy and used to doing with a G25) at the dip before the first first bend I'd lose control but after a lap or two I started to drive "properly" and ease off rather than snapping off and of course I went faster through the corner and maintained car control.

I'm also of the belief that the limitations enforced on PD through having to primarily support steering using a sixaxis (be it buttons or analog stick) are the reason that donuts and figure eights aren't possible.

Quite simply GT5:P doesn't have that level of detail in the car physics that LFS has. GT5:P is more forgiving and it needs to be to keep the "average" console GT player happy.

- I still haven't completely finished the GT5:P Japanese version as I've been playing LFS instead.

- I'll be picking up GT5:P Australian version tomorrow to checkout the new functionality and cars and will play for a while but expect I'll be back on LFS before the end of the night and really only go for a spin in GT5:P when I want the eye-candy.

- "People" are a bunch of whingers no matter what you do. Just witness the bitching and moaning on the GTPlanet forums about the lack of smoke, tyre marks, Track X, Car Y, blah blah blah. It's fricken tedious - just accept what's given to you, appreciate the improvements and if you don't like it, don't play it (goes for any and every game).

- If I was Scawen/Eric/Victor, I'd personally be working on the fundamentals for the final S2 release and it wouldn't be until S3 that I'd start introducing new cars and tracks. It makes business sense (gives a good reason for people to upgrade from S2) and it makes sense from a development standpoint (there's no point in having bling if the fundamentals suck).

- I would personally donate a few hundred dollars/euros/name your currency to Scavier to put towards getting a license and doing the work of modeling Nürburgring. Enough people doing the same _could_ get it done.........

- This is my first post. Hope to see you all online sometime soon!
Quote from Dajmin :You notice how they've dropped the old "the real driving simulator" tag line now as well - that should tell you something.

At one point it was "online car simulator" or something like that, but it's still there:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi ... an_Turismo_5_Prologue.jpg

All thanks to the guy at Sony's marketing department who got that idea to stamp that to the dvd box, "simulation" word has totally inflated. Forza Motorsport relied on same trick and now you can pretty much call every freakin' TOCA Crap Driver a sim.
That Wiki image is old. They've now stolen the old Peugeot tag of "The drive of your life".
Quote from Alias Driver :Nice Post

Sums it all up pretty well in my opinion. Good first post.

Apparently we're all nasty to new members without exception, so I'm afraid I have to call you an idiot to keep up appearences.

But I didn't WANT to write that, as you don't strike me at all like an idiot! Welcome to the forum

Hope you got this - it's not meant to be rude at all - the opposite in fact, concealed under forum in-'jokes'

the GT5 Prolouge thread
(400 posts, started )
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