and fuel yes its so high in OZ atm aghh yeh but its like less then a days work for me

Chensta, this sounds like a pretty good idea.

To the community, remember that LFS 0.1 started out as a mouse sim, and the mouse support in this game has evolved to the point where it can rival FPS precision. In fact, I have always wondered why racing game developers eschew mouse as input and instead only offer KB or wheel. I mean, the mouse is used extensively in FPS, RTS, RPG games. Why not racing? I can't even name any other PC racing games that have ever offered mouse steering. Are developers this monolithic? Well, I have used both mouse and wheel in LFS and here's my take:

Wheel (Driving Force Pro):

Good:

+ Analog pedal input (instead of digital on/off)
+ Precise steering control
+ FF improves experience (though not necessarily laptimes)

Bad:

- Very hard to countersteer (especially if you don't have a sturdy desk like I do)
- Also, I bought the DFP for the 900 degrees feature, but it's basically useless, because it takes ages to go lock to lock, or to countersteer. Essentially any wheel setting above 180 to 270 degrees is pretty useless, unless the wheel is *really* loose (glides fast), which the Logitic FF wheels aren't (they are clunky).
- Forces a fixed driving position (my backsides sweats a lot)
- Probably the No. 1 reason not to use wheel: You have to mount/dismount every time of use, if you don't have a permanent table setup.

Mouse:

Good:

+ No setup required
+ Easy to master if you come from the FPS/RTS universe like Quake3, WC3 (like me)
+ Actually, surprisingly precise (the key is to turn down lock-to-lock steering value in setups)
+ *Extremely* quick countersteer. Basically, you will not loose the tail end (even in GTRs or Formulas) ever because you couldn't countersteer fast enough (which happened often when I used wheel)
+ Free ($0), assuming every computer comes with a mouse.

Bad:
- Wrist pain after long LFS sessions
- Digital (on/off) throttle (this can be partially mitigated by setting "button control rate" to a low value, like 2.0)
- Sometimes, mouse skips due to unclean surfaces.

I think somebody mentioned this before (BobSmith?), but it is pretty important to have cockpit view with wheel on, so that you can receive visual feedback to your mouse inputs, unlike wheel where you may want to turn off the virtual wheel because it turns at a different rate as your RL one.

Mouse control is the a major reason keeping me coming back to LFS these days. If any other driving games offer mouse control, I would jump aboard to try them out. For example, why doesn't the NFS series offer mouse as an *additional* control option? Beats me.

Based on my online races, mouse is competitive. I don't race much anymore, but my last AS National XRR mouse PB is 1:45.3x. I have raced a handful of mousers in FXRs that hit the 1:44.xx mark in AS National.

My current mouse setup:

Button control rate: 2.0
X-axis: Mouse steering
Throttle: Right mouse button
Brake: Left mouse button
Downshift: Z
Clutch: X
Upshift: C
Auto clutch: On
Auto Upshift lift: On
Auto Downshift blip: On
View: Cockpit view, wheel on, driver on
View angle: 106 degrees

Have fun.

-KernelPanic

Quote from Honey :

anyway, i think that it would be good to add view filters

uhm, there are filters for controllers and countries if I remember correctly.

I myself wouldn't even bother playing a racing game with keyboard. Yes, it requires more skill, so does eating soup with a shovel, but it does not make sense.

Quote from Ardent :

I myself wouldn't even bother playing a racing game with keyboard. Yes, it requires more skill, so does eating soup with a shovel, but it does not make sense.

What if you have a shovel and food. Buying a spoon requires money, which you don't have. You are hungry. You don't eat at all?

Quote from kernelpanic :

Chensta, this sounds like a pretty good idea.

.....................

-KernelPanic

Thanks for your reaction -finally something really more on topic - perhaps we use it for our KAM-guide (still under constrction..bit lack of time due exams and all..but patience will be rewarded..one day )