After seeing the suggestion of uploading suit skins to LFSWorld for autodownloading, I'd like to suggest going the other way for us dialup guys. Occasionally, I can download the skins without disconnecting on my dialup, but I of course lag horribly. That's why I only do it in spectator. The problem and suggestion I have is 2-fold. First, I'd like a way to cancel the current download. That way, if I just joined a server or I wreck out of the race and decide to DL the skins, I could cancel in the event a race restarts while I'm DL'ing one. I can download them 1 at a time, turning it off so it doesn't download the next one que'ed, but can't cancel it in the middle of downloading. On dialup, it takes probably a minute or even longer to download a 400k skin (never timed it, it feels more like several minutes and probably is).

My second suggestion is to have a selection that you can choose NOT to download helmet skins or suit skins if ever implemented. I want to see the car skins, but don't really notice helmet skins, so I don't care to download them. It frustrates me seeing 2 white cars thinking I'll download them, then seeing the list and the first one is a car skin, then the next 5 in que are helmets.

I know this wouldn't help many people out, but I think there are more dialup racers than you'd think. Any dialup'ers out there to back my suggestions up here?

I think there should be some optimization for dialup users... where you have an option for your connection speed. This way dialup users could have some kind of 'trickle' method so you slowly get the skin. Because not everyone's dialup is the same, and most people have stability problems and get a disconnect every time.... others can get lucky to grab a skin, but not always.

But as you said, yes, there needs to be a cancel method or some kind of queue to control the downloads. Where you have the option to grab the skins while being in spectator mode ONLY. Otherwise, if you had the ability to get any skins on track or wherever, it would be laggy for you and could cause accidents.

I used to be a dialup user for years because my location didn't provide the high-speed services for a long time. If such a feature like this is implemented, I'd be more than happy to test it out... the speeds I get aren't the greatest, but an average of 3.5KB/sec.

Thanks Tweak, that was another thing I've had in the back of my mind meaning to suggest along with the above. Your "trickle" method.

Unless LFS would be able to measure your connection, it would be hard to limit dialup users to download in spectate only. Though, that would be good for the other racers out there, incase an uninformed or ignorant dialup user would try it in race. DLing for broadband users don't affect the race to much as I know I've downloaded from replays a full race of like 19 skins at work, and it took a fraction of the time it takes me at home to DL 1 skin.

So, add that to my suggestion, a setting to limit the download speed for DL'ing the skins. I know on MS Flight Simulator online, I have flown for hours at wspilots.com while Download Accelerator downloaded files in the background limited to 2 kps without disconnecting or others saying I was lagging ( I asked while we were parked near each other at the airport).

I run a 2 MB ADSL and would rather not have to wait an extra 10 seconds to download 20 suits. You hardly see them and people would just continue all this no helmet no suit bollocks

Just a thought: http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=3125

Not very many dial-up users

Not many out of 112 who voted in that poll. But, yea, we are definitely a minority. But I'd bet it is more than one other besides me . And I complain FAR less about disconnections than the many I've seen on broadband. In fact, I RARELY disconnect from servers.

I thought there was an option in LFS to disable Skin downloads.

There is, indeed.
But you still cant disable downloading helmet skins - which would be very useful option imho.

An option for cancelling a download is quite a good idea too.

Hey Gimpster . Yea, you can disable them. My point in this suggestion is that if I am spectating, then I can download skins if I want. I would lag horribly on the track, but in spectator, I can usually catch a few skins until the end of the race. But if I want to join the next race and it restarts while I'm downloading, then I'd like to be able to cancel it and join the restart without jumping in and lagging bad until the download is done. If you click yes on skin download, then click no, it will start the first download and continue the current skin. It won't quit if you then click no. It just won't continue on to the next skin when finished.

Dialup here (oh the shame!)

For now I'm content to download skins when I watch replays (a few weeks and I'll be in cable country), but being able to set a maximum download speed or cancel a download in spec mode is a good idea.