Yeah, I quite like the XFG since you're not worried about spinning the car as much, you can get on with actual race strategy and all that. Really get into the actual meat and bones of racing without worrying if the backend will go sideways if you so much as look at the brake.

Like I said before though, a good server one night may become full of idiots another night and then back to normal again. It's hard to find one consistantly good server to stick with.

Like the others said: buy it!
I've been playing the demo every once in a while over a period of time. I liked it, but I was involved in some other games, so I stayed a demo driver.
Last week I got 2 RL friends interested and we started playing together online, using Ventrillo to talk to each other. We had fun for a few days on the demo servers and I was considering buying a license after my holiday (starting tomorrow )
Then we were racing and some guy got mad at me. No idea why. My friends were driving behind me, so they could see what happened and talk to me on Ventrillo. That guy hit me from behind in the first corner because he was braking way too late. I managed to get my car back on track and wasnt too much damaged so I continued racing, loosing 5 or 6 positions. Guy pitted, and next lap he was waiting for me on the first corner. I thought it was considerate that he'd let me pass, coz I was a lap ahead. Then he rammed me at the end of the long straight, started shouting "OMFG you *ss, n00b" and initiated a ban vote. Some (a lot) of the sheep pressed 1, but I was lucky to have my 2 friends so that were 2 votes he wasnt getting. I got as close as 1 vote of being banned...

Then he started spamming by clicking my name over and over again. Others then started banning him. When he almost was banned, he quit. Good riddance.. New player connects, waiting on the end of the pit lane for me to pass... Again I got rammed at the end of the straight... New player starts spamming my name.. So it was evident it was the same guy. Ban vote, he left just before he got banned. New player connects.. same all over again. Almost banned and... quit. And again a new player..
So the 3 of us decided to go to another server. No 5 minutes later that *ss found us and started all over again.

I bought my license the next day, as did one of my friends. Not that I'm that good a racer. Maybe I wont even play it after I get back from my holiday... But I already had 2 days of nice and clean racing... It would have cost me more if I had spend those 2 nights in the pub so it was money well spent.

Conspiracy theory: LFS has some people roaming the demo servers harrassing the better players so they will buy a license . You should be flattered :P

Is everyone on the demo servers licenced??
I know of at least 5 players who race regulary on the demo players and now many others here on the forum say the same thing.

Your conspiracy theory is not far off riffey4, I have seen wreckers who claim they "work for" the DEVs trying to get the demo players buy a licence...by showing them how idiotic our community is?? illepall

Quote from Becky Rose :

You're already a mod SamH you can't be promoted again ...

Sure he can.

SamH for admin!


As for the thread.
It's best to play a game with people you know on the demo. Though I have joined a couple of demo servers and found the racing to be nothing but clean, just like I'd find on S2 servers. It all depends on the time of day you join (when the school kids are at school), and what server you join.

Quote from Tweaker :

Ehhh, you are a demo racer, and I feel your pain and frustration. Licensed racing is hardly ever like this, so buy a license!!

There are of course mishaps where a lapped car needing to pull over cannot do it because of the turn/situation they are in, and stuff like this happens. But so what? Don't take it personal, let them be the one frustrated, and just ignore them.

tweak is very correct. You need to buy a licenses for the game. you will notice the change in real drivers from demo drivers. it is much more fun, because those users choose to drive right, instead of making the game non-fun. so do yourself a favor and owe it to yourself, and get a full license buddy.

Picking up the S2 license was money well spent for me. I suggest you do the same. The quality of drivers on licensed servers far outstrips those on the demo servers.

Hi, first post.

Been racing LFS for a couple of weeks, and i'm getting the hang of it, but want some practice around other cars, as an empty track isn't really realistic.

So, i jumped on the demo servers, to find on each one at least 3 people going the wrong way round the track aiming at people. Its really frustrating, but as i'm not particularly competent yet, i don't wanna 'clog up' or slow down the licenced servers.

Anyone had a similar experience? Any reccomendations of a noob licenced server. I will buy the licence later today i think!

In my experience, racing on demo servers isn't all bad. Sure, quite a few races are ruined by wreckers or hotheads, but you can still find good racing.

You can improve your chances of a decent race:
- go online after 10 pm
- go to servers that don't allow mid-race join
- join races of more than 5 laps
- join races that include some good drivers (1:33 or 1:34 on XFG/Blackwood)

Quote :

i don't wanna 'clog up' or slow down the licenced servers

Start from the back, or let the pack pass right after the start. That way you won't slow down the fast guys. (Unless you're > 10 sec/lap slower, but then you should really get some more offline practice.) And you can usually find someone who got caught in the T1 carnage, so you can race against him.

Quote from matt_green84 :

but as i'm not particularly competent yet, i don't wanna 'clog up' or slow down the licenced servers.

It doesn't matter if you are slow when you buy your license. Keep it clean and fair and you do just fine

Quote from matt_green84 :

Hi, first post.

Been racing LFS for a couple of weeks, and i'm getting the hang of it, but want some practice around other cars, as an empty track isn't really realistic.

So, i jumped on the demo servers, to find on each one at least 3 people going the wrong way round the track aiming at people. Its really frustrating, but as i'm not particularly competent yet, i don't wanna 'clog up' or slow down the licenced servers.

Anyone had a similar experience? Any reccomendations of a noob licenced server. I will buy the licence later today i think!

Exactly what blackout said Matt..

Get ur licence... Its worth it... There are leagues about for all different levels of racing...

There a generally people willing to race anybody... Just take ur time, get to learn the tracks and cars and have fun....

The demo is a taste, but the minset of some people on those servers doesnt reflect the community as a whole.

Look forward to seeing u licensed racing around Kyoto

I really don't understand why people feel the need to master the demo cars before moving on and buying S2. There's no test you have to pass to buy a license, and I'd personally much rather have more cars to choose from.

And to all demo racers, please, please, please, please don't worry about "clogging" up S2 servers. I have never ever seen anyone in an S2 licensed server angry about a new player driving slower around the track. The vast majority of Licensed players will be glad to help you get the hang of it. I remember when I first got S1, back a long time ago, I was having trouble with the XRG ar Fern Bay green. DSRC Nazzard and (at that time) (DMR)GenerAl spent probably 2 or 3 hours teaching me how to drive the car and the track. It was an experience I'll never forget. It's not an isolated one either, but it's the one that sticks in my mind. I try to offer as much help as I can to new players, I'm not the fastest, but I can help a bit. Please, buy a license, you'll be much much happier.

P.S. no, the devs did not pay me to write this, this is 100% honest.

Quote from matt_green84 :

Hi, first post.

Been racing LFS for a couple of weeks, and i'm getting the hang of it, but want some practice around other cars, as an empty track isn't really realistic.

So, i jumped on the demo servers, to find on each one at least 3 people going the wrong way round the track aiming at people. Its really frustrating, but as i'm not particularly competent yet, i don't wanna 'clog up' or slow down the licenced servers.

Anyone had a similar experience? Any reccomendations of a noob licenced server. I will buy the licence later today i think!

They will have finished and are now indulging in the post race pileup. I indulge from time to time but refrain from going backward if there's still folk left to finish.

Driving backward during a race is a one way trip to the nosebleed seats in the stand. Although it is a little sensitive, once I span the car and ended up with my back to a barrier and had to go back up the track. So I waited for the coast to clear and drove forward.

Wrong Way - PCCD - Spectating

was my response

Matt did the smart thing and bought the license, 24 guid well spend. Welcome to the full version
PCCD, you should maybe do the same if you like LFS so much. It seems like you do, it seem so obvious

Yeah, thought i'd have a look! So, how do i get on the servers then, i can only see two!!

Get the latest patch (U20) from the test patch forum/thread or the official patch U from liveforspeed.net, and make sure your search filters aren't blocking most of the results (i.e. have 'public' and 'full' as 'yes' and the empties and privates as 'no', click 'All' cars and refresh).

Make sure you've got a recent version of the software - either patch U, or patch U20 (test patch). Check that your Multiplayer server filters are set according to the attached images. They should be self-explanatory

[EDIT] Grrrr! Well, at least mine comes with pictures!

Mat, make sure u have patch U, as all the S2 servers are running it.
Or maybe u filtered out most servers?

edit : bah, beaten twice in less then 1 minute

Quote from Noccy :

Mat, make sure u have patch U, as all the S2 servers are running it.
Or maybe u filtered out most servers?

edit : bah, beaten twice in less then 1 minute

haha, don't let it get you down! Ta for the help, i'm on S2 alpha at the mo, so i'm downloading the upgrade now!

Quote from Blackout :

Matt did the smart thing and bought the license, 24 guid well spend. Welcome to the full version
PCCD, you should maybe do the same if you like LFS so much. It seems like you do, it seem so obvious

Eventually I will.

Problem is obviously am I going to get anything out of it other than a ulcer after spinning out because I repositioned 5 inchs to the right after tapping the turn right key.

See I learnt my "craft" on R:Racing Evolution, this is quite realistic, tons of cars/tracks etc.

I can drive one of the fastest cars in that game (Audi Le Man R6 Works) around tracks like Phillips Island without spinning the car and without looking like a chav in his first Ford GTI.

I fire up LFS for the first time and begin learning in the Hatchback. Easy enough I think and move to the next car up. Foot to the floor, bit of tyre smoke...LOTS OF TYRE SMOKE!!!...THE ENGINE IS SMOKING!!!

Ahem...

So I killed the engine and started over. Fanned the accelerator and began driving up and down the car park to get used to it (brake stopping times, top speed etc). So after finding that rather easy I decide to try some basic laps around the car park. Putting my earlier spins down to me really throwing the car about with liberal amounts of hand brake, I set off.

I begin to turn...easy...easy...easy...THE BACKEND HAS GONE!!! catch the backend...THE BACKEND HAS GONE THE OPPOSITE WAY!!! Bonnet into fence action begins.

If you didn't understand that (I don't blame you ) I'll summarise here:

I can drive a car capable of 200 odd MPH around a track with no problems.

I can't drive a car capable of doing less than half of that.

Quote from Electrik Kar :

I'm trying to digest some basic rules of racing atm. Here's what the AAL (Australasian Leage) says about blue flag situation at the chicanes...




http://www.australasianleague.com/rules.html

I'm not sure if this is a universal racing rule (are there any universal racing rules? I'm seriously asking) but hopefully it can help your case a bit.

Anyway- try to have fun

That doesn't really make sense, if I'm in a race with someone and I see an opportunity to pass in a chicane, I'm going to do it, same with someone who's blue flagged to me. And if someone comes up on you and you're blue flagged before a chicane it's better for both of you if you get out of the way because you're only going to lose about half a second giving up the corner compared to both of you losing a second+ if he's close enough to make a move in the chicane. And I'm not about to lose easily a couple seconds to some people following behind them when they could've just let off the gas. I'm not saying that if someone's going to meet you at the exit of the chicane that you should let them by, but if they're right on your butt or even sometimes along side you they should be let through. Especially in situations when you see someone make up several car lengths on you in the last corner.

I'm not trying to be an ass about it, I'm only asking that other people show the same respect on the track that I do when under a blue flag situation. If I can potentially get in your way and I'm not in my own battle, I'm going to do everything I can to let you by without slowing you down.

/Edit - And please people, do NOT come out on track mid-race around other cars, whether from the pit lane or coming back on track from an accident. Especially from the pit lane, I'll stop and let a pack by at the pit lane exit even in situations that I know that I'm faster than most of them. Do you people who kamikaze out on the track not look both ways before crossing the street?

/Edit 2 - My final angst rant, if you're spun out on track at the exit of a blind corner with other cars coming and you don't have a way to drive off the track without driving across it, either stay put or shift+s back to the pits. Moving your car to a different position when the other driver has less than a second to respond to you is not a bright idea.