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Congrats on being around for 10 years 
Here is to the next 10 years of LFS S3, LFS2 and all your other lovely projects
Here is to the next 10 years of LFS S3, LFS2 and all your other lovely projects
A friend of mine who is a video games journalist said that the last he heard about S3 was just over 6 months ago, and it was still being worked on, but they were also working on other projects.
Last edited by paulinho, .
I'm pretty sure they are still working on S3, but are also doing other projects 
Does anybody actually know the ins and outs of the V.W deal ? was it exclusive to LFS to be released by them and them only ? Was it V.W that weren't happy, did the deal change and they said it was for closed audiences only and could only go public when the next model came out ?
Personally I still think the team are working hard on LFS, but also feel they are working on other projects, bread and butter so to speak. Maybe LFS 2 ?
Would be nice if there was investment opportunities in the project, but hey ho
Personally I still think the team are working hard on LFS, but also feel they are working on other projects, bread and butter so to speak. Maybe LFS 2 ?
Would be nice if there was investment opportunities in the project, but hey ho
I think "any" discussion is healthy.. and show's support in the community for what is a truly ground breaking sim.
Will be soon, just not sure if which way to go in terms of 3d card..
I was thinking about this today and the future of sim racing and how best to ensure Live For Speeds furture amongst the many other sims. Firstly let me say that I have no doubts about this great sims furture in the P.C market place and will fully support the S3 add-on pack when it's released into the commercial domain. But I suspect that like many of you I would like to see the developers take LFS far beyond any other sim on the market place, and guarantee it's place in the history books.
One of the many options people talk about with sims is the ability to be able to mod the sim, I hope that if this actually happens with LFS all of the mods created have to be approved and tested via the LFS team before there general release. The reason I say this is that with a few other sims I play I have been hit with compatibility issues whilst playing online. The scene would be set that I would download a track or a car update, go online to race, only to find my version was either to new or to old to what everyone else was playing, this was one of the main reasons I came full circle and returned to running LFS as it sets itself as a standard platform.
Another option they could look into would be to have "paid" content updates that either the LFS team developed or that were developed by the community.
Don't all hate me for saying this before I explain what I mean by paid content.
I think a system of "modders" rewards could work with LFS.
Basically the LFS team would release the tools needed to mod the sim and then if a team or individual worked on a mod, all be it a plug in, a track or a car they could submit there content to the LFS team, and if there add-on is approved it's released as either a free download or a paid download.
Were not talking MEGA money here, say £0.50p ? or a couple of pounds. Then the modders who worked on it could have a small % reward for there hard work.
However If they chose to give there work to the community for free then even better, we get it for free, but each content would be tested and approved to be 100% compatible with LFS. I know this may mean that some add-ons would take longer to reach us but I think it would add to an already mighty sim.
One of the many options people talk about with sims is the ability to be able to mod the sim, I hope that if this actually happens with LFS all of the mods created have to be approved and tested via the LFS team before there general release. The reason I say this is that with a few other sims I play I have been hit with compatibility issues whilst playing online. The scene would be set that I would download a track or a car update, go online to race, only to find my version was either to new or to old to what everyone else was playing, this was one of the main reasons I came full circle and returned to running LFS as it sets itself as a standard platform.
Another option they could look into would be to have "paid" content updates that either the LFS team developed or that were developed by the community.
Don't all hate me for saying this before I explain what I mean by paid content.
I think a system of "modders" rewards could work with LFS.
Basically the LFS team would release the tools needed to mod the sim and then if a team or individual worked on a mod, all be it a plug in, a track or a car they could submit there content to the LFS team, and if there add-on is approved it's released as either a free download or a paid download.
Were not talking MEGA money here, say £0.50p ? or a couple of pounds. Then the modders who worked on it could have a small % reward for there hard work.
However If they chose to give there work to the community for free then even better, we get it for free, but each content would be tested and approved to be 100% compatible with LFS. I know this may mean that some add-ons would take longer to reach us but I think it would add to an already mighty sim.
Yes I concur, every alpha or beta program I have been involved with over my time in sim racing follows the same pattern. It's pretty much the excepted process of development within the industry.
I do suspect that is the case, your hardly going to enter or try to enter into a conversation about a project your working on if all that's going to happen is people shout you down. Personally I still have 100% faith in there being an update.
Again I concur, although already people are starting to get a little flustered about updates and the direction the software is going.
All of this aside, I just thought it magical that given how long we have all been playing this great sim, the majority of us are still enjoying the experience some (nearly) 10 years on
Your English is fine my friend
, and I do understand your points, and at times a basic lack of communications can leave us all feeling a little empty and over time some people see it as a lack of interest on the part of the developers and thus walk away. I'm currently involved in a few "other" sims that are in beta/alpha development, and we receive regular updates and communications from the programmers, but each company is different.
Personally I feel that LFS is well supported by both the developers and the community and like yourself have invested in "other" sims that have come and gone over the years. But I always come back to LFS as like I said before, it just works and works very well
In general I accept that people buy the sim or download the demo and move on to other things, that's life. But as you posted yourself, you can't really fault the LFS physics engine. I'm also glad to hear you say that the multi player system is one of the best, as again I concur. I walked away from P.C sims and stepped over to the dark side of "sim" (cough) racing on console, and although I can't fault products like GT5 or Forza 4 I still keep coming back to LFS. The main reason for this as posted above and I keep saying, it just works. Yes there are other games or sims that looks nicer, but LFS just has a certain look about it which I love. Running wheel to wheel, door handle to door handle with other racers from around the world is just simply an amazing feat. Then to finish a race, pop onto LFS world and look at all the stats (I suspect the stats side of things is down to now being 41, and I like data and numbers (used to hate it as a kid)) is again a very unique feature that LFS does very well.
I also like some of the 3rd party plug ins that are coming onto the market, and can't wait to try one that allows me to have data on a second monitor next to my LCD gaming/sim screen. Community add-ons and support is a great part of any sim, and only yesterday I downloaded a massive amount of car skins for LFS. I then spent most of the afternoon just looking at them via replays (again a sign of getting older lol).
On another note I have emailed the LFS team and offered my own time and involvment with any beta test programs, as not trying to sound to egotistical (lol) it's what I do outside of my paid job. I won't be offended if I don't hear anything, but just want the developers to know that there is a "pro" LFS community that are keen to help push this amazing product forward, which will be better for everyone
Last edited by paulinho, .
Reason : Poor grammer (Sunday morning)
My retrospective look at Live For Speed
Well here we are nearly 10 years on from Life For Speeds initial release and people are still enjoying close wheel to wheel racing. I myself have just recently discovered a renewed love for this great sim, and I'm happy to report Live For Speed is still very much alive and kicking.
So lets rewind a few years back to when I bought into the LFS dream. My account history shows I made my initial purchase of S1 on the 25th of July 2003 (8 days after it went public), I remember it like I was 33 years old, oh wait, I was. Setting my age to one side for the moment let's look at the Sim racing situation at the time. Richard Burns Rally was still over a year away, nKPro was some 3 years away as was GTR 2. rFactor still had another 2 years to go before it showed itself on the market, but please don't think it was all desolate and barren back then. Grand Prix Legends had been king of the shop shelves for some time by then, and it also boasted a a very healthy and well supported mod-scene. Also not forgetting that it was actually a great sim for both online and off line racing. But If classic 1967 F1 cars weren't your thing then there was always Nascar Racing, which also had a good online scene, as well as commanding a good sim physics engine. We also had Grandprix 3, by the legend himself Geoff Crammond, but I was soon to discover a new programing legend that In my opinion has surpassed his status.
Life For Speed was brought to my attention via a very popular Sim racing forum of the day, and after trying out an early build I was happy to buy into Scawen, Eric and Victors dream upon release. At the time there was a limited amount of cars, and there wasn't as many tracks as there are now. But it was easy to see the basis of a very rewarding sim were set in place. This would only get better with each and every update, thus my LFS wheels were set in motion.
LFS seems to me to have everything you need from a sim, and many "other" sims have come close to the high level that LFS has set, but sadly all fall short in one area or another. This sim allows you to have custom music tracks, you can create your own car skins or download from thousands of ones created by some very talented artists online for free. The sim will also download other peoples car skins when you join an online race, thus allowing you to see there artistic skills or the given skin they like to race with. This type of feature is often overlooked by many other sim companies yet really adds to the whole sim racing experience.
The car set up section is like a dark art allowing you to tune the set up of your car to what best suits your type of driving style, but yet again you can swap set ups with people with ease. The garage set up screens are also some of the most comprehensive I've seen, and unlike a lot of other "sims" you can feel the difference once your out on the track racing. You can even set how the wind blows, which will also effect how the car reacts on track. The tyre dynamics and force feedback are still some of the best I've played, and yes I am involved with "other" sim beta/alpha developments and realise what I'm saying maybe hard for some people to understand, but upon reflection it's how I feel.
One of the most over looked part of LFS is the Live For Speed World website, the use of the site as we now know it was made much better back in April 2004. On the 5th of that month we saw the public release of the data web site that allowed us all to view whom we had raced, our lap times, send other drivers messages and many other features. The wealth of data on this site is amazing, and in my opinion can still hold it's head high today above every other sim on the market. The amount of information that you can actually look through shows a real passion on the part of the developers and I take my hat off to them.
Shortly after the launch of the new "World" site we saw the launch of a new look website, again the new site was clean, easy to navigate and really put LFS on the map in terms of professionalism. By this time the LFS forum was a hive of activity and there were plenty of active members, and lots of friendly bantar being passed around by it's members. I myself started using the forum in July 2003, and think even to this very day it's one of the longest running forums I have been using.
Now I know there has been a lot of questions brought about the promised S3 update and the new tyre physics model, lost cars and new tracks, and I also understand where a lot of people are coming from, but for me I don't see LFS as an alpha or beta sim that follows a weekly or monthly update schedule. For me I see LFS as a living development, yes I know since it's conception it's been 10 years (yes really), but I still have 100% faith in the continuation of this massive project. Each time I read some of the negitive posts about the lack of communications I step back and count all of the other sims I have owned over that time period, I then look at the little icon on my desktop for LFS and smile to myslef.
I have no communications with the developers what so ever, but I do feel that something may happen on Live For Speeds 10th birthday, and If it doesn't well "C'est la vie", I won't be deleting it off my computer, I will just carry on playing it and smiling to myself.
Live For Speed for me just works, here's to the next 10+ years.
Thank you Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen.
So lets rewind a few years back to when I bought into the LFS dream. My account history shows I made my initial purchase of S1 on the 25th of July 2003 (8 days after it went public), I remember it like I was 33 years old, oh wait, I was. Setting my age to one side for the moment let's look at the Sim racing situation at the time. Richard Burns Rally was still over a year away, nKPro was some 3 years away as was GTR 2. rFactor still had another 2 years to go before it showed itself on the market, but please don't think it was all desolate and barren back then. Grand Prix Legends had been king of the shop shelves for some time by then, and it also boasted a a very healthy and well supported mod-scene. Also not forgetting that it was actually a great sim for both online and off line racing. But If classic 1967 F1 cars weren't your thing then there was always Nascar Racing, which also had a good online scene, as well as commanding a good sim physics engine. We also had Grandprix 3, by the legend himself Geoff Crammond, but I was soon to discover a new programing legend that In my opinion has surpassed his status.
Life For Speed was brought to my attention via a very popular Sim racing forum of the day, and after trying out an early build I was happy to buy into Scawen, Eric and Victors dream upon release. At the time there was a limited amount of cars, and there wasn't as many tracks as there are now. But it was easy to see the basis of a very rewarding sim were set in place. This would only get better with each and every update, thus my LFS wheels were set in motion.
LFS seems to me to have everything you need from a sim, and many "other" sims have come close to the high level that LFS has set, but sadly all fall short in one area or another. This sim allows you to have custom music tracks, you can create your own car skins or download from thousands of ones created by some very talented artists online for free. The sim will also download other peoples car skins when you join an online race, thus allowing you to see there artistic skills or the given skin they like to race with. This type of feature is often overlooked by many other sim companies yet really adds to the whole sim racing experience.
The car set up section is like a dark art allowing you to tune the set up of your car to what best suits your type of driving style, but yet again you can swap set ups with people with ease. The garage set up screens are also some of the most comprehensive I've seen, and unlike a lot of other "sims" you can feel the difference once your out on the track racing. You can even set how the wind blows, which will also effect how the car reacts on track. The tyre dynamics and force feedback are still some of the best I've played, and yes I am involved with "other" sim beta/alpha developments and realise what I'm saying maybe hard for some people to understand, but upon reflection it's how I feel.
One of the most over looked part of LFS is the Live For Speed World website, the use of the site as we now know it was made much better back in April 2004. On the 5th of that month we saw the public release of the data web site that allowed us all to view whom we had raced, our lap times, send other drivers messages and many other features. The wealth of data on this site is amazing, and in my opinion can still hold it's head high today above every other sim on the market. The amount of information that you can actually look through shows a real passion on the part of the developers and I take my hat off to them.
Shortly after the launch of the new "World" site we saw the launch of a new look website, again the new site was clean, easy to navigate and really put LFS on the map in terms of professionalism. By this time the LFS forum was a hive of activity and there were plenty of active members, and lots of friendly bantar being passed around by it's members. I myself started using the forum in July 2003, and think even to this very day it's one of the longest running forums I have been using.
Now I know there has been a lot of questions brought about the promised S3 update and the new tyre physics model, lost cars and new tracks, and I also understand where a lot of people are coming from, but for me I don't see LFS as an alpha or beta sim that follows a weekly or monthly update schedule. For me I see LFS as a living development, yes I know since it's conception it's been 10 years (yes really), but I still have 100% faith in the continuation of this massive project. Each time I read some of the negitive posts about the lack of communications I step back and count all of the other sims I have owned over that time period, I then look at the little icon on my desktop for LFS and smile to myslef.
I have no communications with the developers what so ever, but I do feel that something may happen on Live For Speeds 10th birthday, and If it doesn't well "C'est la vie", I won't be deleting it off my computer, I will just carry on playing it and smiling to myself.
Live For Speed for me just works, here's to the next 10+ years.
Thank you Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen.
Thanks all, I have looked into "other" sims, and do play some of the other betas (just), but I still rate LFS very highly. Something about it just feels right, I can't put my finger on it though.
I'm also looking forward to the update, followed by S3
I'm also looking forward to the update, followed by S3
I would have to agree, I've been playing LFS for a long long time, and feel like the money I paid for my S1 then S2 license has been well rewarded.
The sim runs so well on my old'ish P.C, and a few tweeks to my new G27 and I was a very happy boy. Like I posted above I think I became lost in all the sims of the time, and still have them on my P.C, NetkarPro, rFactor, GPL, iRacing, GTR2, RBR, yet Live for Speed in my opinion stands well clear of all of them.
Needless to say tomorrow I will be testing it some more, and hopefully next week I will set about ordering my cockpit
The sim runs so well on my old'ish P.C, and a few tweeks to my new G27 and I was a very happy boy. Like I posted above I think I became lost in all the sims of the time, and still have them on my P.C, NetkarPro, rFactor, GPL, iRacing, GTR2, RBR, yet Live for Speed in my opinion stands well clear of all of them.
Needless to say tomorrow I will be testing it some more, and hopefully next week I will set about ordering my cockpit
1st Race back in a while.
Well tonight I decided to load up LFS for the first time in a long time.
After a little pratice in some off line races, and with my wheel poorly placed on the edge of my desk (off set to the pedals and monitor(racing excuses already lol)) I thought I would have a quick race online.
So as the race started I held back and stayed well off the racing line yet still managed to have a lagged car touch me, but no bighie. As the field drove past me I got into my comfort area and drove a tidy race passing crashed cars and a few slower cars (shock),
Well despite having NO set up, and being some 2-3 seconds off the ultimate lap pace (don't think I ever was on it lol) I still managed a lovely 5th place.
So at the nice young age of 41 I can feel a cockpit purcase coming on, and a nice decent set-up (poss a 3 screen system).
What I have realised is that all those years ago when I walked away from sim racing (due to becoming tired of the scene, nothing felt fresh anymore) I was wrong.
But tonight has made me realise how much I missed LFS.. it's a shame things haven't moved on a little quicker with more updates, but that does not detract from the fact Live For Speed is a bloody amazing sim which I will be playing a lot more
After a little pratice in some off line races, and with my wheel poorly placed on the edge of my desk (off set to the pedals and monitor(racing excuses already lol)) I thought I would have a quick race online.
So as the race started I held back and stayed well off the racing line yet still managed to have a lagged car touch me, but no bighie. As the field drove past me I got into my comfort area and drove a tidy race passing crashed cars and a few slower cars (shock),
Well despite having NO set up, and being some 2-3 seconds off the ultimate lap pace (don't think I ever was on it lol) I still managed a lovely 5th place.
So at the nice young age of 41 I can feel a cockpit purcase coming on, and a nice decent set-up (poss a 3 screen system).
What I have realised is that all those years ago when I walked away from sim racing (due to becoming tired of the scene, nothing felt fresh anymore) I was wrong.
But tonight has made me realise how much I missed LFS.. it's a shame things haven't moved on a little quicker with more updates, but that does not detract from the fact Live For Speed is a bloody amazing sim which I will be playing a lot more
Me too, not sure how long I was out for
DX7, it does very well in the looks compartment. I've been putting in some hours on iRacing and have found that LFS is the only sim I can still play afterwards.
LFS really is a credit to the P.C sim world
LFS really is a credit to the P.C sim world
If the coding is in place for aero effects (deep breath) how hard would it be to code in a DX10 routine for volumatic smoke effects ?
I will do some test later in the week with running two cars.
Thanks again everyone.
Thanks again everyone.
If it's not been split for spares.
Thanks for your help, the more I look at this Sim the more I want to believe.
I swear some of the other sims don't work with real aero settings, and work with routines..
i.e if your car is close to another car increase speed by 3mph, and if you so close on a corner reduce grip level...
But if LFS user real aero settings and ranges, then wow,
I swear some of the other sims don't work with real aero settings, and work with routines..
i.e if your car is close to another car increase speed by 3mph, and if you so close on a corner reduce grip level...
But if LFS user real aero settings and ranges, then wow,
Aerodynamics Questions
Many years ago I studied "Aerospace Dynamics - Aerodynamics" to an MSc level and have some questions about the Aerodynamices in this Sim.
I understand the wind force/speed actually really work in sim (why else would it be an option?) but how can I see data numbers to support this. I only ask this because if I drive an open wheeled racing car and I'm close to another car I don't seem to loose any front end grip, or when another car gets close to my rear I don't seem to feel any pull on the car.
I've tried running some unusal set ups to upset the aero flow over the car, i.e one corner higher than the other etc, and outside of the oddness of the car I can't really feel any difference in aero flow.
Now two years ago I ran a Mi16 powered 205 GTi in hill sprints, and found a few little mods, like flat bottom floor pan, front splitter, and rear roof lip made a huge difference at speeds over 70mph. You could feel the difference pretty well..
Thanks if anyone can offer some advice on this.
I understand the wind force/speed actually really work in sim (why else would it be an option?) but how can I see data numbers to support this. I only ask this because if I drive an open wheeled racing car and I'm close to another car I don't seem to loose any front end grip, or when another car gets close to my rear I don't seem to feel any pull on the car.
I've tried running some unusal set ups to upset the aero flow over the car, i.e one corner higher than the other etc, and outside of the oddness of the car I can't really feel any difference in aero flow.
Now two years ago I ran a Mi16 powered 205 GTi in hill sprints, and found a few little mods, like flat bottom floor pan, front splitter, and rear roof lip made a huge difference at speeds over 70mph. You could feel the difference pretty well..
Thanks if anyone can offer some advice on this.
I wonder if they (LFS team) license there tools?
I understand all your points on an editor not working and in some senses it could be harmfull.. I guess I'm always hungry to seen new content and to try and push a product to do well in the market place. LFS couldn't put an end to most of the other sim, and don't get me wrong I love the work they do, and have recomended it to most of my friends.
I went away for a "walk in the desert" so to speak, and played other sims, and despite countless hours,days,weeks, rFactor just didn't feel realistic to me. I'm not saying LFS is realistic but as a Sim on a PC it's mighty good and I will continue to lap badly on it.
I understand all your points on an editor not working and in some senses it could be harmfull.. I guess I'm always hungry to seen new content and to try and push a product to do well in the market place. LFS couldn't put an end to most of the other sim, and don't get me wrong I love the work they do, and have recomended it to most of my friends.
I went away for a "walk in the desert" so to speak, and played other sims, and despite countless hours,days,weeks, rFactor just didn't feel realistic to me. I'm not saying LFS is realistic but as a Sim on a PC it's mighty good
and I will continue to lap badly on it.I'm sorry I didn't do the search to find the other threads which I know have (it is Sunday morning ).
I think an editor could work to stop the rFactor problem (some poor cars/tracks). Maybe it would/could allow people to create there own tracks and cars, but not be able to inject them into game at a point for everyone else to download and try.
That sound's a bit odd, but like the car/skin viewer it would allow you to work on cars or tracks, but the only way to include them into the sim would be by sending them to the LFS team and they "offically" release them..?
Wouldn't that work better than rFactor
).I think an editor could work to stop the rFactor problem (some poor cars/tracks). Maybe it would/could allow people to create there own tracks and cars, but not be able to inject them into game at a point for everyone else to download and try.
That sound's a bit odd, but like the car/skin viewer it would allow you to work on cars or tracks, but the only way to include them into the sim would be by sending them to the LFS team and they "offically" release them..?
Wouldn't that work better than rFactor
It's not spam, and the term is "now" go away not "no" go away.
The reason for my post was simple, I program in C++ and have done for some 15+ years, "so what" you say, well I would like to work on an editor for this great sim which I bought pretty much on day one.
I wanted to offer something back into the world of sim racing for this sim as I have done others.
The reason for my post was simple, I program in C++ and have done for some 15+ years, "so what" you say, well I would like to work on an editor for this great sim which I bought pretty much on day one.
I wanted to offer something back into the world of sim racing for this sim as I have done others.
Car & Track editor
A util that would allow us to edit cars and track, allowing us to make are own
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