Ah - That could be one reason it is failing to connect. Thanks for the update.

What do I have to do to my dedicated server to be able to watch races with LFS Remote?

Or would I be able to run my own relay server?

Great utility

I've watched a few races online. Now trying to get it working on a local LAN. I'm running a dedicated server on IP 192.168.0.120 on port 63392 or atleast that is what the cfg file says. I have a second machine for driving and am trying to watch the driving on a 3rd machine.

But Race Spectator is not connecting to the dedicated sever. Should it do so? Or should I be asking what is meant by 'relay server'?

thanks, Adrian

Found it! ... The missing Race 2 Replay file.

All 3 replays available here

http://www.simracing.co.uk/temp/lfsuk1.mpr

http://www.simracing.co.uk/temp/lfsuk2.mpr

http://www.simracing.co.uk/temp/lfsuk4.mpr

Adrian

Thanks Bob ... You are correct, I did mention Watkins Glen. Of the 400 or so real world GPL circuits there are 4 that we regularly use to maximise accessibility and enjoyment. I will not mention the other 3 as before you know it you will have another poll on your hands

Watkins Glen with the Ferrari 512 is a pretty good choice. I shall confess that Monza as mentioned is one of the other 3. However, there are three reasons to go with Watkins Glen over Monza.

1) It is possible to cheat by bouncing off some of the barriers at Monza
2) Watkins Glen is as said the track in the demo
3) There is a blind crest at Watkins that provides regular amusement for drivers and spectators alike

Adrian

My ideal is for the driving sim (LFS or any) to feature as many realistic features as it can. But with the server admin having the options to control which are used on any one occasion.

I have an unusual perspective in that I look at it not only through my own personal eyes but also those of someone running a race centre. The Race Centre is absolutely about striving to offer maximum realism in all areas. But customer flows and requirements mean that tailorability is often required.

Just one example: A group of corporate visitors coming for just 30 minutes driving each. If they lose down force with a damaged front wing every time they have a bump they will not get much opportunity to enjoy the delights of the physics model. Also, if they have to reset to the pits every time someone bumps into them then they may not get a single decent lap.

I'm all for maximum realism especially in car handling. But the options for handling damage need to be thought about a little more. What damage is active? How are you aware of it? What do you have to do to get it mended? How much does that penalise you?

Having no option to disable any damage, ever is restricting and currently counts against LFS when under evaluation for a financially viable race centre.

Like I said, I'm coming from a bit of a different perspective. But hopefullly that goes some way to explaining why I as a fan of ultra realism would argue for options to disable function.

Adrian

ok - many thanks. Must be that I'm just spending more time with it lately and starting to notice these little things.

I can't see objects/skids marks through the single seater windscreens? I'm sure I used to be able to? Is this a patch V thing?

thanks, Adrian

Quote from Gimpster :

Being able to turn off the damage will never happen, just as turnin goff fuel use and tire wear will never happen. Simulator = Simulation of Reality, you can't turn off damage in the real world. Some consessions are sill made though as in the restarts, reset, you don't die in a crash etc...

'Never' is a sweeping statement. You will find few more commited to purity of simulation than me. But one of the benefits of a simulator over reality is the ability to do things that the real world does not allow ... as and when it suits your purpose. Not dying when you crash is a good example. Another example is that commercial flight simulators allow pilots to magically appear from nowhere on the final approach to an airport rather than having to fly to the approach point first. This is useful and I would argue that the ability to have a server option to disable some or all aspects of damage in LFS will be of occasional use too.

Adrian

Quote from Lible :

You can only see servers, which are connected with Insim Relay.

Does that mean that you would be unable to use this on a LAN which is not internet connected? Or could the relay be set-up locally? I'm just starting to read all the doc now ... so sorry if this is obvious.

Adrian

ps. Nice util!

Wow - LFS Spectator does the job and then some

Thanks!

Full realistic damage is a great goal. But on a related note ... Is there any way for server admins to disable damage in S2? Most of the time it is a good thing but there are scenarios where I would like to be able to run races with it turned off.

Is there a simple on/off option that I have just not found in S2?

Adrian

GPL has a utility that allows you to watch races via a circuit diagram that shows the positions of all the cars on track as they move around the circuit. Has anyone done such a utility for LFS as yet?

Adrian

Viper93 - A good question. And I started to answer it in my head a number of times before realising that the answer lies in a long list of small details. The venue has grown to be what it is over the last 3-4 years. Continualy being tweaked with GPL in mind. In contrast we have been working with LFS for a much shorter time period and it is nowhere near as integrated as our GPL package- yet. We are working on it but it is not there yet.

A few illustrative examples of GPL integration

1) Automated lap time capture and and display with driver names on Race Control Monitor
2) Fully automated lap time to web site mechanisms
3) Printed circuit diagrams for visitor usage
4) Car setups tuned for beginnners and experienced drivers
5) Separate physical timing bars for GPL lap data
6) Automated multi car setup utilities to minimise gaps between races
7) 100's of GPL specific tweaks to optimise performance
8) etc

I'm not saying our LFS setup is poor but the GPL experience has a 3 year head start. That coupled with what we have done to minimise the common experience that GPL is too bl**dy hard

Happy to talk more when people are here ... but must get back to work now ...

Hi,

Ultimately by hiring the venue by the hour you can have the event run as you like. You are the customer, we are here to please you. However, some things for you to consider based on what we know ...

1) At this point in our evolution with LFS, running anything other than LFS default race setups will take time to configure and reduce track time
2) Running non standard set-ups advantages those with more time to spend getting them right.
3) Running standard setups makes for a better level playing filed for all
4) We have made great strides in making the immersive experience of GPL accessible to a broad audience without compromising realism
5) The venue is primarily based on GPL today. You might be interested to see things we have done with it. Things that we have not finished doing for LFS at this time.
6) I agee that switching GPL to hot lapping only may be desirable
7) Your LFS experience and ability to practice in advance, means that less qualifying and more racing will be appropriate

I'm now going to try and keep out of this thread and wait to hear back from Bob...

Adrian Thomson (F1 Race Centre Manager)

Bob - I have taken the liberty of reserving both days for you whilst you decide which to go for. See 2/3rds of the way down the following bookings table.

http://www.driverschallenge.co.uk/events.php

Obviously, which day? what time? and format? all TBD. But I just wanted to make sure that they were held for you.

Bob - Of course I know of the others around the world. Probably half a dozen in total. Each taking a slightly different approach to things.

But I'm definitely not aware of anything else current or historical in the UK. That would ceratinly be news to me and I would be most interested to know more? It's generally quite a lonely world being a Race Venue Pioneer! Having someone else to talk to in the UK who is going through the same issues would be great.

Quote from Viper93 :

@Bob is it possible to ask the company your going through if they have done this type of thing before and if so which would they reccomend and/or want dealings with?

Hi there,

Adrian here (Venue Manager for the Southampton Race Centre), Having been developing the business over the last three years, we are not aware of anything else like this in the UK. And there is arguably nothing quite the same anywhere worldwide. Following the success of our pilot venue, we are now searching the country for locations for additional venues. We are also in discussions with a number of parties interested in opening further venues themselves. Once that is done, we will be looking to connect the venues with ultra high speed network links.

But for now ... Southampton is where it is at

Adrian

May thanks, I've now upped server and clients to 12. Will see how that improves things.

ps. I grew up in East Anglia, in and around Peterborough. Have not been there for years. Must come back some time

Hi - I've recently upgraded to version V and was excited to see mention of improvements with online smoothness. I'm sure that it has been improved but the thing I was hoping to see improved was the motion of cars seen ahead from your driving view. I'm not seeing any improvement here.

The particular scenario I'm looking at is when the car infront of you power slides through a bend. From their perspective the motion is progressive and smooth. When viewed from a following vehicle, the sliding car will most often jerk from straight to sideways and then back again.

Is this as good as it gets at this stage of developemnt? Or is this a known issue associated with poor tuning?

Note: This is on a high speed LAN with High Spec machines and a dedicated server. Behaviour the same for versions U and V and all before.

thanks, Adrian

Sounds promising. I tried copying all the files in data\misc across from the first machine on which I had configured the controllers to the second machine. Unfortunatley this wiped out my S2 licence registration. Are there some files that I should not have copied?

It looks like I should have just copied across the DEFAULT.con file once I had it configured as I wanted?

Last edited by apthomson, Thu, 7 Dec 2006 15:35.

When I installed the U30Test patch (which incidently is great!), I was disappointed to discover that I lost all of my key and pedal axis assignments. I'm about to install it on a second machine. Is there some way that I can save the assignments or copy them across from my first machine after the patch install. I have Momo Wheel and BRD pedals on both machines.

Note: I've worked out that I can copy across the custom driver views simply by copying the views folder. Can I do something similar here?

Thanks for any pointers.

Perfect - U30 installed and all is good. Many thanks to all

I'm trying to adjust the driving view to get the dashboard in the right position on screen without steering wheel or driver hands/arms etc. It seems there are two options.

1) In car view - Can't adjust height to move dash up/down
2) Custom view - Can't remove steering wheel/driver hands

Am I missing something? Or is that the current state of play?

Also - I'm forever turning steering wheel on/off. It's needed to see F1 rev lights but undesirable when driving any other car. Is there some way to link view options with car selection?

thanks for any pointers ...

Adrian