Sorry for quoting something a couple of pages back but I agree and feel that it's an important point. DX9 + Shader Model 3 is a huge improvement over DX8 and along with higher fidelity textures and models it would be a big boost to how LFS looks. Of course DX11 has new features and optimizations that make use of the latest hardware and ideally you'd want it but not at the expense of XP support.
Also going on a bit of a tangent it looks like there's a real possibility for Linux gaming to pick up, especially if Steam OS is successfull so perhaps considering OpenGL + SDL2.0 for a moment would be interesting.
The thing is even if you do full dynamic linking, and select DX9 or DX11 depending on availability you'll still have extra programming overhead because the API itself has changed and as far as I know some DX9 functions have been replaced in DX11 so for part of it at least you'd need to take into account both, depending on which you run on. Also you'll probably need an extra set of shaders.
Disclaimer: I'm not saying it's necessarily technically impossible to support both but given the 1-man programming team I was suggesting it was perhaps a good idea to limit scope, at least initially, and make sure you retain as much of the player base as possible. It is my impression that adding both DX11 and DX9 support is a bigger time drain and it may be worth considering a quicker DX9 upgrade which already has many benefits over the current DX8 engine.
Obviously in the end only Scawen knows the code base well enough to asses what the rewards/time ratio is for each option and what his short and long term strategy is.
Also this is a test patch thread so I'd rather not derail it too much.
Disclaimer: I'm not saying it's necessarily technically impossible to support both but given the 1-man programming team I was suggesting it was perhaps a good idea to limit scope, at least initially, and make sure you retain as much of the player base as possible. It is my impression that adding both DX11 and DX9 support is a bigger time drain and it may be worth considering a quicker DX9 upgrade which already has many benefits over the current DX8 engine.
Obviously in the end only Scawen knows the code base well enough to asses what the rewards/time ratio is for each option and what his short and long term strategy is.
Also this is a test patch thread so I'd rather not derail it too much.
I was thinking more about the programming side specifically having the right libraries available to link to. I assume an application compiled with DX11 headers would need DX11 DLLs to even start and since there is no DX11 on win XP you'd need a specific build for that.
I may be wrong but I thought that DX11 can fall back to run in DX9 mode but an application compiled with DX11 won't run with a DX9 installation such as can be found on win XP.
I suggest you keep XP support and upgrade just to DX9 initially. While XP will not be officially supprted soon I bet a lot of LFS users will still keep it for a while.
Also the upgrade to DX9 may be less of a hassle than the upgrade to 10 or 11. Furthermore the visual improvement of going from DX8 to DX9, especially once you use shaders is very big already.
Also the upgrade to DX9 may be less of a hassle than the upgrade to 10 or 11. Furthermore the visual improvement of going from DX8 to DX9, especially once you use shaders is very big already.
Only just saw this, thanks for the site, its awesome when you need a good set in a hurry 
Bit late in seeing this but still 
Good luck in anything you'll do from now on Vic! Got to know you a bit from IRC and all I can say is you're a good guy, thanks for all stuff you did for LFS and I hope we'll still see you around.
cya
Good luck in anything you'll do from now on Vic! Got to know you a bit from IRC and all I can say is you're a good guy, thanks for all stuff you did for LFS and I hope we'll still see you around.
cya
F1 cars have semi-automatic sequential gearboxes which don't need a throttle cut on upshift 
I don't think the patch is completely finished and they're just teasing up to the release date, I do think however that it is in the final stages and we'll get it as soon as it is finished. Think about how they use to release patches/new versions and also the fact that the Formula cockpits were updated after some discussions in this forum. That mostly proves they're still working/testing.
I'm mostly happy about the teasing/updates, except for the last few days. I like the ideea of mistery pics and teasers, however I would also like some (not necesarily related to the teaser pics) information to go with it.
Anyway this deal (or whatever it is) with BMW is definately a HUGE thing for LFS and it can only guarantee LFS will grow and become even better.
I'm mostly happy about the teasing/updates, except for the last few days. I like the ideea of mistery pics and teasers, however I would also like some (not necesarily related to the teaser pics) information to go with it.
Anyway this deal (or whatever it is) with BMW is definately a HUGE thing for LFS and it can only guarantee LFS will grow and become even better.
Let's not exagerate, the devs don't have to say or release anything until they want to. I'm actually having fun with this daily tease, its like a little Christmas every day! lol
Wow, the formula cockpits look great! 
As for the strange clues I think they refer to fog and night racing:
I think the guru pic is fog because the road surface doesn't look wet plus we already have the haze effect so amplify that and we have fog
I'm not sure about night racing as it seems to be more of a rumour than fact however:
"In Roman mythology a Genius loci was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted as a snake. In contemporary usage, "genius loci" usually refers to a location's distinctive atmosphere, or a "spirit of place", rather than necessarily a guardian spirit.
Usage: "Light reveals the genius loci of a place." "
Alot of lamps seem to have apeared around the tracks so who knows? Night racing wouldn't need a big physics addition like wet surfaces so it is more likely.
This is all speculation of course.
As for the strange clues I think they refer to fog and night racing:
I think the guru pic is fog because the road surface doesn't look wet plus we already have the haze effect so amplify that and we have fog
I'm not sure about night racing as it seems to be more of a rumour than fact however:
"In Roman mythology a Genius loci was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted as a snake. In contemporary usage, "genius loci" usually refers to a location's distinctive atmosphere, or a "spirit of place", rather than necessarily a guardian spirit.
Usage: "Light reveals the genius loci of a place." "
Alot of lamps seem to have apeared around the tracks so who knows? Night racing wouldn't need a big physics addition like wet surfaces so it is more likely.
This is all speculation of course.
Looks like everyone went outside :P
Too bad its raining here
Too bad its raining here
eek
en garde!
:fence3d:
Last edited by SpooSH, .
I voted RBR because atm when I have the choice I tend to race that instead of LFS.
LFS is great, been racing it for ages but the current alpha altough feels much better than the older versions has some stuff lacking (yea, its alpha) so I go for RBR.
LFS is great, been racing it for ages but the current alpha altough feels much better than the older versions has some stuff lacking (yea, its alpha) so I go for RBR.
If the weather strings are in the track file it is a bit harder to make them translatable compared to the other strings but not by much.
The best solution is to put the weather strings in the program/language file and use ids in the track file (ie 0 is bright clear, 1 is clowdy etc) so each track has the ids of the weather available for that track.
The problem is this would probably require an incompatible patch and possibly new track files...
An interim solution can be: leave strings in the track file but also add them to the exe and in the language file. When displaying weather names they are checked against the ones in the exe and the corresponding ones in the language file are displayed instead of the default ones.
Hope I made sense
The best solution is to put the weather strings in the program/language file and use ids in the track file (ie 0 is bright clear, 1 is clowdy etc) so each track has the ids of the weather available for that track.
The problem is this would probably require an incompatible patch and possibly new track files...
An interim solution can be: leave strings in the track file but also add them to the exe and in the language file. When displaying weather names they are checked against the ones in the exe and the corresponding ones in the language file are displayed instead of the default ones.
Hope I made sense
I agree with those who say "random" (as in simulating manufacturing flaws or badly designed parts) should be optional or not included in LFS at all (mandatory only in the hardcore mode described by tristan if it becomes reality). IMO this type of random failures would detract from the fun (if they happend too often racing becomse frustrating and if they are rare it might become pointless because we already have failures from lost connections etc.). Sure it would make LFS more realistic but do we really need it when we can have driver induced failures?
Driver induced failures should definately be in because they have only positive aspects (more realistic and challenging without the "why did my car randomly stop!?!, this game sucks" type of effects). Also random (manufacturing flaws or human error) part failures probably won't be missed because so many failures can be driver induced.(off the top of my head: flat tires, tires coming off the rim if you hit kerbs too hard, engine damage, gearbox damage, clutch damage, suspension damage, exhuast damage from heavy landings in rallycross, brake failures, bodywork parts falling off etc.)
Driver induced failures should definately be in because they have only positive aspects (more realistic and challenging without the "why did my car randomly stop!?!, this game sucks" type of effects). Also random (manufacturing flaws or human error) part failures probably won't be missed because so many failures can be driver induced.(off the top of my head: flat tires, tires coming off the rim if you hit kerbs too hard, engine damage, gearbox damage, clutch damage, suspension damage, exhuast damage from heavy landings in rallycross, brake failures, bodywork parts falling off etc.)
Last edited by SpooSH, .
Reason : clarified a phrase
Both Vrooom and Zeeall had alot of warnings, temporary bans, second chances etc. before the permanent ban, its not like they got instabanned.
No one said bans need to be democratic, you break the rules you're not allowed to join for a while, you repeatedly break the rules you get a permanent ban.
No one said bans need to be democratic, you break the rules you're not allowed to join for a while, you repeatedly break the rules you get a permanent ban.
An info box for various notes would be good indeed.
Instead of saving fuel load, LFS could save fuel consumption so you could have a laps slider in the garage menu and LFS would automatically set the fuel load required to do the number of laps you chose, but also keep the option to set it "manually" (like now).
A problem is some sets are good on several tracks so you'd have to save consumption data for each track you drove the set rather than just 1 value per set (and maybe LFS would always show/use the data for the curently selected track, if available).
Instead of saving fuel load, LFS could save fuel consumption so you could have a laps slider in the garage menu and LFS would automatically set the fuel load required to do the number of laps you chose, but also keep the option to set it "manually" (like now).
A problem is some sets are good on several tracks so you'd have to save consumption data for each track you drove the set rather than just 1 value per set (and maybe LFS would always show/use the data for the curently selected track, if available).
I've written a big review for S1 and posted it on 2 romanian gaming websites. I've also posted news on one of them (www.bestgames.ro) when major patches were released.
Also, the guy that runs the aforementioned site is a friend and I got him to mention LFS S2 launch in an interview he did for a national radio station.
I also tell classmates, friends, relatives etc. about LFS but unfortunately racing sims aren't very popular here, most people prefer FPS's or Arcadish racing games.
Its not much but I intend to keep doing my small part
Also, the guy that runs the aforementioned site is a friend and I got him to mention LFS S2 launch in an interview he did for a national radio station.
I also tell classmates, friends, relatives etc. about LFS but unfortunately racing sims aren't very popular here, most people prefer FPS's or Arcadish racing games.
Its not much but I intend to keep doing my small part
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG