Hey guys I downloaded the demo and I am pretty impressed with it. I come from iRacing, rFactor, GTR2, F1C, etc. and I've been looking for a new sim with F1 cars. I've tried CTDP 2005/2006 for rFactor, but the cars just don't feel too connected to the ground IMO. So I stumbled across LFS. A few questions...

1. I have the Fanatec GT3RS wheel with clubsport pedals. In the demo I wasn't getting a lot of FFB outside of curbs. When I lost traction I wasn't feeling that sensation through the wheel. I double checked that FFB was on, and the strength is set to 60%. Are there any custom settings for this wheel?

2. How good are the AI, and can they be used in multiplayer? They seemed to not know I was there (for the most part) in the demo.

3. Are there a lot of leagues floating around running this sim? Overall how active is the community online?

4. How good and realistic is the F1 BMW? That is the car we'll be using.

5. Any major stability issues? How is the multiplayer code?

6. Can we run a dedicated server? From the downloads it appears yes. Any issues with it?

Sorry for all the questions, but I didn't want to pollute the forums with multiple posts.

Quote from robmypro :

1. I have the Fanatec GT3RS wheel with clubsport pedals. In the demo I wasn't getting a lot of FFB outside of curbs. When I lost traction I wasn't feeling that sensation through the wheel. I double checked that FFB was on, and the strength is set to 60%. Are there any custom settings for this wheel?

I'll let someone else answer that.

Quote from robmypro :

2. How good are the AI, and can they be used in multiplayer? They seemed to not know I was there (for the most part) in the demo.

The AI is generally very bad. Not only is it unaware of the presence of human controlled vehicles, it's also generally too slow.

Quote from robmypro :

3. Are there a lot of leagues floating around running this sim? Overall how active is the community online?

It's not hugely active at the moment but there are almost always several leagues running at any time.

Quote from robmypro :

4. How good and realistic is the F1 BMW? That is the car we'll be using.

It's going to be difficult for any of us to speak authoritatively about the realism of the BF1. In some situations it feels like how I would think an F1 car would feel and in others it doesn't.

Quote from robmypro :

5. Any major stability issues? How is the multiplayer code?

No major stability issues. The multiplayer code is generally decent, but it can be a little jumpy when in close proximity to other cars. Racing wheel to wheel (especially in open wheel cars) can get a little dangerous, but as long as drivers bear this in mind you should still be able to have a lot of fun.

Quote from robmypro :

6. Can we run a dedicated server? From the downloads it appears yes. Any issues with it?

Yes, the dedicated server is available from here if you want to play about with it or host it yourself. You can also pay for it to be hosted if you'd rather go that direction.

Quote from robmypro :

Hey guys I downloaded the demo and I am pretty impressed with it. I come from iRacing, rFactor, GTR2, F1C, etc. and I've been looking for a new sim with F1 cars. I've tried CTDP 2005/2006 for rFactor, but the cars just don't feel too connected to the ground IMO. So I stumbled across LFS. A few questions...

1. I have the Fanatec GT3RS wheel with clubsport pedals. In the demo I wasn't getting a lot of FFB outside of curbs. When I lost traction I wasn't feeling that sensation through the wheel. I double checked that FFB was on, and the strength is set to 60%. Are there any custom settings for this wheel?

2. How good are the AI, and can they be used in multiplayer? They seemed to not know I was there (for the most part) in the demo.

3. Are there a lot of leagues floating around running this sim? Overall how active is the community online?

4. How good and realistic is the F1 BMW? That is the car we'll be using.

5. Any major stability issues? How is the multiplayer code?

6. Can we run a dedicated server? From the downloads it appears yes. Any issues with it?

Sorry for all the questions, but I didn't want to pollute the forums with multiple posts.

1. Set strength to 200% in LFS, Hold > sign on your keyboard in game to increase.

2. Yes, But they are never good as human, And they aren't that good on detection.. either.

3. Yes, Plenty. Look at the Teams section, That's all official LFS teams

4. The demo car? It's pretty realistic, Try it out yourself in demo!

5. If you have a laggy connection cars will seem to skip steps and jump across the map, Not major, You can still run 0.20 inches from somebody and not get effected, So the net code works quite well if everyone has great connection.

6. You'd have to ask server owners, But it seems easy and no problems...

Edit: Aww man, Lol.

Quote from robmypro :

2. How good are the AI,

So good you will be screaming at asleep.
When you will be driving at freeway and see someone near your rear you will sweat and feel anxious, you will let pass other cars on the road even when you have priority because AI teach you to do that, basically it that good

Quote from robmypro :

3. Are there a lot of leagues floating around running this sim? Overall how active is the community online?

Quote from robmypro :

4. How good and realistic is the F1 BMW? That is the car we'll be using.

5. Any major stability issues? How is the multiplayer code?

LFS beats rFactor in therms of realism single-handedly also steering can be set to be much smoother than in rFactor which makes driving much more pleasant (I am surprised you didnt notice this yet)
Multiplayer is done far better than rFactor (almost Lag free, since there is no mods there is no mismatches(Hard to tell is this is an asset ) Some minor physical bugs like red and white barriers of flying Fdoom etc, nothing that will seriously spoil you game, good system of stats etc its actually one of the most professional parts of the lfs.

So since you come from a games which are mods rich one major warning.
Its LFS there is no mods and probably wont be.
This is all you have now www.lfs.net/?page=contents
There is suppose to be one new additional track and one additional car and finito.

I decided to stress it out because a lot of people think LFS is content rich and when they learn it have as much stuff as demo of some games if not less they are very disappointed and after a few months come to forum with topics like "Why lfs is dying and how to save it", "why do we need mods, rebuild of LFS, /Dx10/11/new updates every week etc".
So keep in mind its not rFactor, LFS have a bit more stuff than rFactor demo had (If i remember well)
But if you look for a good sim LFS is pretty much the best out there and definitely better than rfactor which often feels like bricks on the wheels when compared to FLS (Me myself cant let it go, it have 1983-90 touring cars and basically cars from 1970-2000 which are my personal fav I love those plastic cockpits )

Edit: Damn I should glue those sentences faster, now I ended up on third position...

Thanks for the info guys. Checking out the demo right now. I'll try the FFB settings as well.

3. Try the Open Wheel Racing League http://www.lfsforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=40

Quote from TehPaws3D :

1. Set strength to 200% in LFS, Hold > sign on your keyboard in game to increase.
4. The demo car? It's pretty realistic, Try it out yourself in demo!

1. If I set it to 200 and hit something, I'd probably break a finger.
4. Teh F1 is in demo? The FBM is in though.

Quote from TehPaws3D :

1. Set strength to 200% in LFS, Hold > sign on your keyboard in game to increase.

I didn't want to speak about any Fanatec wheel because I haven't used them or looked into their specific set-up. However, I suspect that increasing the strength of the FFB isn't really going to provide what the OP is looking for. Too much of an inaccurate thing isn't more accurate.

Quote from TehPaws3D :

2. Yes, But they are never good as human, And they aren't that good on detection.. either.

We must be driving against different AI.

Quote from TehPaws3D :

4. The demo car? It's pretty realistic, Try it out yourself in demo!

No, he said the "F1 BMW" which is the BF1, not the "Formula BMW" which is the FBM.

Quote from TehPaws3D :

5. If you have a laggy connection cars will seem to skip steps and jump across the map, Not major, You can still run 0.20 inches from somebody and not get effected, So the net code works quite well if everyone has great connection.

Obviously everyone having better connections makes the online experience better, but even with everyone having very high quality connections the fact that the granularity of the netcode is only a maximum of 6 packets per second means that from time to time you're going to run into problems. Generally the netcode is good though.

Quote from Chupacabras84 :

LFS beats rFactor in therms of realism single-handedly also steering can be set to be much smoother than in rFactor which makes driving much more pleasant (I am surprised you didnt notice this yet)

Thanks for the info. I definitely like the way the car feels but the lack of FFB was the real issue. When you say smoother, is this a setting or are you talking about degrees of rotation of the wheel?

Quote from Silverracer :

1. If I set it to 200 and hit something, I'd probably break a finger.
4. Teh F1 is in demo? The FBM is in though.

I thought he was talking about the FBM?

Ohh.. White text.. Okay, No the F1 isn't in demo..

And yeah.. I hope my g27 force feedback is that strong.

Quote from Chupacabras84 :

There is suppose to be one new additional track and one additional car and finito.

Nope, not finito.

There will be more tracks and cars, they'll just take time.

Quote from Chupacabras84 :

I decided to stress it out because a lot of people think LFS is content rich and when they learn it have as much stuff as demo of some games if not less

What the hell?

Show me one demo that has as much content as LFS.

Yeah, I was interest in the BF1, not the Formula BMW. What is the general consensus on this car? Good, bad, so-so? Regarding mods (lack of), not that big a deal as long as the content we have is very good.

You could say it was OK, It's not great, It's not bad.. Sorta in the middle.

Quote from TehPaws3D :

You could say it was OK, It's not great, It's not bad.. Sorta in the middle.

So what is the best car? Any thoughts?

Quote from robmypro :

Yeah, I was interest in the BF1, not the Formula BMW. What is the general consensus on this car? Good, bad, so-so?

I think it could be quite difficult to bring in a new group of LFS users (which is what I think you're intending doing, but I could have read it wrongly) and starting them out with a league that only uses the BF1 could be difficult. The BF1 is not an easy car to learn to drive quickly, so you're probably going to have a vast speed range in the field (e.g. 5+ seconds from pole to back of the grid). You might get some good battles within the field, but starting out with either a slower/easier car to learn to drive or using a variety of cars would probably give a better experience for the field in general. Doing the BF1 only league could still be enjoyable for your drivers, though.

What you should probably do is to organise an exploratory race using one of the demo cars (i.e. XFG, XRG or FBM). That way you will get some experience with the administration of an event and your drivers will get to learn what LFS is like without having to buy a license.

Quote from amp88 :

What you should probably do is to organise an exploratory race using one of the demo cars (i.e. XFG, XRG or FBM). That way you will get some experience with the administration of an event and your drivers will get to learn what LFS is like without having to buy a license.

Thanks for the help. I will definitely do that, and yes it is for a group of us (5).

Quote from robmypro :

So what is the best car? Any thoughts?

Depends really on what you want to do.. GTR cars with restrictions seem to be the most fun.

This thread has been very informative. One more question. How many people can join a race online? Are there limits of drivers who can join or is based on connection and server horsepower?

Quote from robmypro :

Thanks for the help. I will definitely do that, and yes it is for a group of us (5).

Good luck with it. If you get stuck hopefully someone will be around to help you out. You can also check in the LFS Manual as it contains a lot of information about LFS and some quite intensive stuff on topics such as hosting.

Quote from robmypro :

One more question. How many people can join a race online? Are there limits of drivers who can join or is based on connection and server horsepower?

It depends on the license you're running against. Take a look here for more info.

Quote from robmypro :

When you say smoother, is this a setting or are you talking about degrees of rotation of the wheel?

"Degree of rotation" and "wheel turn compensation".
With this settings even PS2 controller is much more smoother than G25 in rFactor (Believe me on word here :nod
But i dont think you will have to use them maybe "Degree of rotation" and FFB settings basically if rFactor require from you to set everything from beginning turn off speed locks in cfg, rates etc, in LFS by default you dont have any driving helps and stering is much responsive yet cars are very stable.
While rFactor feels way too adhd like

Quote from zeugnimod :

Nope, not finito.
There will be more tracks and cars, they'll just take time.

How many years it takes devs to release this Scirocco and Rockingham?
How long lfs is in alpha or how long its in S2? Not finished S2 cuz its Z28, technically its not finished yet...
Just look at it realistically when they release new stuff i doubt anyone would still be interested.
But lets get the point, look at the devs pace of work how long do you think it will take them to release all this cars and tracks you speak about?

Quote from zeugnimod :

What the hell?
Show me one demo that has as much content as LFS.

Gran Turismo
Also infamous rFactor accordint to their homepage since 1255 allow for unlimited usage during trial period (all cars and tracks and mods i think) as i remember when i first time dl the demo it had more cars and tracks than lfs (I am not talking about different layouts of the tracks or different version of the cars like XR GT, XR GT Turbo XR GTR, but about totally different cars and tracks.
Edit: rFactor Demo Just checked 14 tracks in 37 variations plus 8 car classes with 18 different cars, so it is pretty close.

Quote from robmypro :

The general consensus on this car? Good, bad, so-so?

Not sure what do you mean here.
its the fastest car in LFS, in therms of handling surprisingly this one come close to rFactor its just much softer in handling and stable than rFactor version but pretty similar.
If you drove rFactor version which tends to lost grip very sudden you probably notice this one is easier to handle.
Doesnt mean easier to win because in LFS "If you can control it you arent driving fast enough" its pretty much true saying so just prepare that at the beginning everyone will be faster, even your own rear wing

Just a side note i compare every aspect to rFactor just because i think its much easier to explain to someone how its like while making a comparison to the stuff he already familiar with.
I could try to compare to GTL but i think its too far from rFactor and LFS to even make any comparison between those games.

I just took the demo version for a spin online, and I must say the Formula BMW felt very good. Of course, it became a crash fest with some of the others, but that is to be expected. Still I found the car to behave very well. Also, the FFB also was excellent. I am so used to strong FFB that it took me a few laps to appreciate the subtle FFB of LFS. I really like it, and the car felt realistic. I was able to save it a few times, and I could definitely feel the rear end coming out around corners. Well done.

So what is the deal with pit stalls? How do you know which one is yours? I didn't see any indication of which pit I was suppose to go into.

Stop in any one with the work you want done set in the F12 menu and it'll do it.

Quote from boothy :

Stop in any one with the work you want done set in the F12 menu and it'll do it.

Okay thanks. One more thing. I can barely see my speed (on the wheel) which makes it hard not to blow it in the pits. Is there a pit speed limiter, or a way to increase the size of the displayed speed without having the full hud on?

You can go into options > view and change things, like pressing 5 or 6 to change the fov, also options > display to change the text colour if you want. L is the speed limiter. Make sure you browse the LFS Manual

Quote from Chupacabras84 :

How many years it takes devs to release this Scirocco and Rockingham?
How long lfs is in alpha or how long its in S2? Not finished S2 cuz its Z28, technically its not finished yet...
Just look at it realistically when they release new stuff i doubt anyone would still be interested.
But lets get the point, look at the devs pace of work how long do you think it will take them to release all this cars and tracks you speak about?

Do you realize why it is taking this long?

Scawen found something very wrong with the physics during developing the VWS so he had to do the whole physics from scratch.

The car itself probably wouldn't have even taken half as long and I guess the amount of time for new cars and tracks will reduce again with the new physics.

Quote from Chupacabras84 :

Gran Turismo
Also infamous rFactor accordint to their homepage since 1255 allow for unlimited usage during trial period (all cars and tracks and mods i think) as i remember when i first time dl the demo it had more cars and tracks than lfs (I am not talking about different layouts of the tracks or different version of the cars like XR GT, XR GT Turbo XR GTR, but about totally different cars and tracks.
Edit: rFactor Demo Just checked 14 tracks in 37 variations plus 8 car classes with 18 different cars, so it is pretty close.

Ok, I guess I was wrong then.

I'm questioning the sense behind that, though.

Quote from boothy :

You can go into options > view and change things, like pressing 5 or 6 to change the fov, also options > display to change the text colour if you want. L is the speed limiter. Make sure you browse the LFS Manual

Thanks! Will do.