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added Wed, Feb 17th, 2010 13:00
Successful server move
Hello LFS Racers.
The server move went well and only took around 7 hours. All our services are back up and running.
Thank you for your patience during that time.
- LFS Developers
added Sat, Feb 13th, 2010 17:00
Server downtime scheduled
Hello LFS Racers.
In the night between Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th of February our servers will go offline for several hours. This is because they are being relocated to another data center. Unfortunately this time we cannot do the move transparently.
The expected schedule is the following :
- At 0:00AM UTC the LFS websites and master server will go down.
- Around 9:00AM UTC Wednesday morning services will be resumed.
Because the master server will be unavailable, no multiplayer racing will be possible during this time as well as unlocking LFS.
We hope this will not inconvenience too many people as the move will be done during the (european) night, but want to extend our apologies in advance nevertheless.
- LFS Developers
added Wed, Nov 25th, 2009 18:55
Patch Z28
Hello LFS Racers.
We have released a new, full version with an installer and some improvements : Z28
It is compatible with version Z, so does not contain the new tyre physics or the VW Scirocco.
The main reason for this new version is that LFS really needed an installer - this will make it a lot easier for people who are trying LFS for the first time, and there are also benefits for people who already have LFS.
To read all about the new version, have a look at the Patch Z28 information page.
We would also like to give you some information about the ongoing development of the new tyre model. The new physics and plans for the VW Scirocco have inspired some other developments that are now important to get the best experience from the updates.
To find out about what has been is going on and some of our plans, please read the Tyre Physics Progress Report.
- LFS Developers
added Thu, Nov 5th, 2009 0:15
Two new LFS t-shirts
Hello LFS Racers.
We are pleased to announce two new t-shirts have been added to the LFS merchandise shop.
Not long ago we held a competition on our forum for 'the next design' and the two with the most votes had theirs come to life. The 'Serious Simracer Kit' by ElvisArg and creative LFS design by JJ72 will make great additions to the shop!
If you're interested, the catalogue page will be a good start for detailed information about the new shirts.
We hope you like them!
added Wed, Oct 28th, 2009 21:00
Patch Z25
Hello LFS Racers.
We have released a new, full version with many improvements : Z25
It is compatible with version Z, so does not contain the new tyre physics or the VW Scirocco. We are working to get those things to you as soon as possible, but in the meantime we wanted you to get the benefit of all the new
compatible features and updates that have been tested a lot recently on our forum, including :
- Improved car shadows
- New wheel drawing system
- Improved road car dashboards
- ABS brakes on some road cars
- Improved and much faster List of Hosts
- Powerful and flexible multiple screen support
To read all about the Z25 updates, have a look at the Patch Z25 information page.
We hope you enjoy this intermediate update!
- LFS Developers
added Mon, Sep 21st, 2009 17:30
Rockingham coming to LFS
Dear LFS Racers,
The time has come to tell you a bit about something else we have been working on.
It's our first real race track - Rockingham UK
Read more about Rockingham in LFS here
added Fri, Aug 21st, 2009 20:30
New Tyre Physics
Hello LFS Racers,
We are pleased to announce that a new tyre physics model is currently in the testing and refinement stage.
Many community members have been wondering what happened to the release of the new VW Scirocco and why there was no news about it.
Here are the reasons why :
While we were working on the Scirocco in December, we found that we could not make the LFS model handle as well as the real car. One of the reasons for this was that the LFS tyres had too much grip and this was causing the inside wheels to lose too much load while cornering. But simply reducing the grip would not have been a good approach... the result would have been just the same old LFS but at lower speeds.
We decided to look into a completely new core tyre model.
For several weeks it was just research and mathematics on paper, then the implementation started. A lot of old programming needed to be removed and refined in order to allow the new model to slot into its place. Next was the early refinement stage, at first seen only by the developers, while the main issues were sorted out. During this period we did not want to make any announcements about what we were working on, because it was possible that the new tyre model would not really work out. That did seem less likely as time went on, as more of the problems with the old tyre model came to the surface. The new LFS tyre model has a good mathematical basis for the way forces are produced from the physical state of the tyre, resulting in improved handling and feel with greater realism.
After some time we got to a stage where we felt the model was a clear improvement on the old physics. We updated all the default setups to use realistic values that would be found on similar real world cars and finally released it to our beta testers. Their verdict is unanimous : the new tyre physics model makes the cars much better and more realistic to drive.
There is quite a bit of refinement to be done and other aspects of car physics to update. Also the traction control and stability control of the VW Scirocco still need to be updated. So we cannot yet give a release date. This news item is intended as a progress report and to assure you that Live for Speed will be better when you do get the update!
A reminder :
- The new physics will be a free update for all LFS users
- The VW Scirocco will be available to S1 and S2 license holders
added Mon, Dec 15th, 2008 17:30
VW Scirocco postponed
Hello Racers.
We are sorry to have to announce that the VW Scirocco will not be released this week as planned. Unfortunately we are unable to continue working into the following week, and it has turned out impossible to reach the required standard in the time available.
This is for two reasons :
1) The compatible test patches had more bugs than expected. Although the recent graphical improvements had worked very well in private testing, when released to the public and tested by hundreds of people, it turned out that there were problems on some graphics cards. One of these has been solved completely and another has been partially fixed. There is also an issue where LFS sometimes causes a crash - this has not yet been resolved and there are some other minor bugs to sort out before we can release an official version.
2) Refining and finalising the Scirocco is taking longer than expected. Although we have made good improvements recently, up to the date of the previous announcement, there were still outstanding issues that proved harder to fix than expected. This is on the mechanical side and the electronic side. We are trying to make a good simulation of the traction control systems and the stability control systems, well known to be a very good feature of VW cars.
Our aim is to make the Scirocco our first car with very limited setup options. The plan is to make it have only the setup options that are readily available on a real road going Scirocco, for example tyre pressures and toe settings. This will mean that the racing should be closer than usual and rely on driver skill, without the need to search for the best setups. Of course this means we need to get the setup as good as possible so it is comparable with the real car.
We are confident that we can fix all the issues and make the car a really good one to drive in the near future, but as various things that need to be done will take an unknown amount of time, we had to make the decision to postpone the release until next year, rather than release something in a rush that is really not as good as it can be.
We know this will disappoint many of you who have waited a long time for the Scirocco, and we are sorry about that. We plan to fix the bugs and continue developing the Scirocco suspension and electronic control systems, to give you a good patch early in 2009.
added Thu, Dec 11th, 2008 19:10
Announcing VW Scirocco
Hello LFS Racers.
We are pleased to announce that we plan to release the new VW Scirocco in Live for Speed during the week ending Friday 19th December.
If you'd like to have a look at the car in 3D or start working on a skin, you can :- download the CMX Viewer (26 MB)
For a preview of the car inside LFS you can watch a presentation video made by Victor van Vlaardingen.
- Watch instantly on YouTube
- Low resolution AVI (19 MB)
- High resolution AVI (47 MB)
- Best resolution MKV (51 MB - does not play in Windows Media Player)
You will need an S1 or S2 license in order to drive the Scirocco when it is released.
More information next week!
- LFS Developers
added Sun, Nov 23rd, 2008 18:00
Dedicated host update, version Z3
This update fixes an autocross layout related Out Of Sync (OOS) bug. If your layout had a start position, clients could get kicked from your host.
Click here to download LFS dedicated host Z3
added Mon, Nov 10th, 2008 15:00
Dedicated host update, version Z2
A new LFS dedicated host is now available, fixing several security issues where it was possible for non-administrators to take control over a host.
We therefore advise everyone who runs a dedicated host to upgrade to version Z2 as soon as possible.
Click here to download LFS dedicated host Z2
added Mon, Aug 18th, 2008 23:45
LFS @ GC with the new Volkswagen Scirocco
Going to the Games Convention in Leipzig this year?
Make sure you visit the Volkswagen booth where you can drive the new Volkswagen Scirocco in LFS and take part in a competition : The person with the fastest laptime around one of LFS's tracks gets to take home a real Scirocco!
For more information about visiting the Games Convention, please see the GC website.
The Scirocco will be released in Live for Speed at a later date which is not yet decided.
added Wed, July 2nd, 2008 16:20
Patch Z
Hello LFS Racers. Announcing... Patch Z!
The patch contains a lot of updates including :
- New interiors in XF and XR cars (road and GTR)
- Updated interiors in Formula XR and Formula V8
- General improvements to interface and graphics
- Improved weight distribution of GTR racing cars
- XR Turbo and RB4 suspension improvements
- Replay controls (click any point on time line)
- Demo racers must now register to go online
- Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Bulgarian
To read all about the new patch, go to the Patch Z information page
We hope you enjoy the new version!
- LFS Developers
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