TEST Patch W20 : updates (W17 compatible)

[Scawen]

WARNING 1 : THIS IS A TEST

WARNING 2 : SKINS ARE CONVERTED THE FIRST TIME YOU RUN THIS TEST PATCH - TAKING 2 MINUTES OR SO

Hello racers.

Here is a new test patch W20 with various updates and fixes. It is compatible with W17, the version which first allowed 32 players in a race, but it's best to join W20 hosts if possible because they send a list of skins to preload before entering, so the final connection to the host is quicker.

There are quite a lot of improvements related to skins here including the option to download high resolution skins while online, for a small charge of £1 for 2000 downloads. The low resolution downloads are still free. We have to charge for the downloading of high resolution skins because of the increased bandwidth and the need to buy and maintain more internet servers for LFS online usage which is always increasing. Please note, we are not selling skins. The skins remain the property of their owners. Your copy is a high resolution compressed version of the original. This is a charge purely for the downloading service which allows you to see other cars' skins in higher resolution.

Downloaded skins are now always saved and shown in compressed form. The original jpg is not saved on other computers. This allows the best use of memory and the quickest load from disk.

To save your own jpg skins, you just do as you always did, save it into your skins folder - you will then find it is selectable in game, compressed or not compressed according to the option for local skins. When you save it in your skins folder and enter LFS, it creates a copy in the skins_dds folder. There are now 4 skins folders but you can ignore them all, just forget about them and just use the skins folder as usual.

skins : you save jpg skins that you want to select in game
skins_dds : lfs uses this to store dds (compressed) versions of your local skins
skins_x : lfs stores automatically downloaded low res skins
skins_y : lfs stores automatically downloaded high res skins

NOTE : SKINS ARE CONVERTED ON THE FIRST RUN OF THIS TEST PATCH - THAT MAY TAKE 2 MINUTES OR SO

If you want to use this service, you can make a payment at www.lfsworld.net or at the main site https://www.liveforspeed.net/?page=shop

To deal with the increased memory usage, there is also a skin purging system which removes unneeded skins from your graphics card memory, some time after they were last used. You can see the list of skins in use in the Misc Options screen. White means the skin is actually in use. Black means it was recently used and is hanging around a while in case it is used again (to avoid a disc access). In the past, LFS just left all skins in memory until you changed track or weather.

Please read below for the full list of updates in W20. I will write a post in the programmers section of the forum giving details of the small InSim changes.

Changes in TEST PATCH W20 :

IMPROVEMENTS :

Qualifying out lap is no longer counted as a valid lap
Qualifying position is shown in yellow like race position
Qualifying cars on out lap are drawn orange (others yellow)
Race control message now has priority over wrong way message
Replay skins download screen new "always" and "never" options
High res premium skin download system (£1 for 2000 downloads)
Skin download and preload during connection after loading track
System to remove skins from graphics card memory when not used
Automatic show results - leaves small map visible when driving
Place objects is switched off when entering race or qualifying
Filter added to list of games to avoid hosts which allow reset
Wider FOV and more view pitch available (for extreme settings)
Yellow finished message is no longer duplicated in central text
Avoided most of the "Can't x - a player is connecting" messages
Escape menu improvements : can use keys (listed on screen)
New keys SHIFT+S (spectate) and SHIFT+P (go to pits)
Automatic spectate if your car drives out of bounds
Some small InSim updates + multiple UDP connections

FIXES :

Start lights or results were drawn too high if no cars in race
The pit_all command did not stop recording SPR (OOS on replay)
Joining a host in qualifying, could see flying cars (no track)
Start restriction countdown was missing from OK button in pits
Autocross checkpoints in line could cause rapid lap count bug
Path followers were reset when an object was added or removed
Path follower reset caused a glitch or an out of bounds reset
Increased maximum physics objects due to more cars on track
Some objects were not drawn after exiting pits while paused
Start lights were not shown in some of the training lessons
At start of qualifying pit speed limiter was not activated
LFS World took drag strip false start as an acceptable pb
Possibly fixed the occasional exiting List of Games crash

Changes in TEST PATCH W17 :

IMPROVEMENTS :

Max cars in multiplayer race increased to 32
InSim updated, allowing up to eight TCP connections
Small map colours : Options... Display... Interface
Removed the sound of a player pitting or spectating
Last loaded layout name visible after track changed
Start lights interval now between 1 and 4 seconds
Removed digital speedo option from view options
Qualifying session now starts from the pits
Added button to spectate from garage

FIXES :

Wrong screen message "x was banned" after an OOS disconnection
AI did not use correct car colours when added in game with /ai
Could start in reverse if changing down at end of last race
Show driver in garage allowed more penalty weight to be added

Changes in TEST PATCH W10 :

IMPROVEMENTS :

Immediate join at start of qualifying now starts from pit box
Connection bars are not drawn if they would obscure tyre info
Single player now allows up to 20 ai cars (powerful pc needed)
Small map cars more than one lap ahead are a different colour
Autocross : 28 results now stored - scroll with PgUp / PgDn
Added handicap mass and restriction to hotlap file header
Demo races limited to 12 cars (15 guests still allowed)
Better messages showing the reason for disconnection
Maximum added mass limited to around 20% of car mass
Admin can see kick and ban buttons even if /vote=no

FIXES :

Incorrect false start penalties while stationary at start
Displayed mass in garage flickered while moving handicap slider
False start penalty was given for an early start in qualifying
Corrected width of split time difference (in live position list)
Wrong "A race is starting" if track changed but no race started
Joining a waiting start grid sometimes produced a false start
Could quickly pit and return to grid to remove a false start
Skins used in race were not stored correctly in MP replays
Admins could not kick or ban using the list of connections
Could be given a pit penalty on a track with no pit lane
MRT would fly about if voluntary added mass was too high

Changes in TEST PATCH W9 :

Car is no longer held at start line - false starts possible
Start lights time between red and green is changed each race
Implemented the canreset option while leaving hotlaps valid
Added preload setting to clutch pack differentials
Increased number of cars in race from 20 to 28
Increased number of connections from 24 to 48
Single player and demo races now up to 16 cars
Start and pit fuel loads range from 1% to 100%
New voluntary handicap system in pits (part of setup)
Remote car's handicap shown in F11 menu, tyres in F12 menu
Global handicaps for class balancing (set by master server)
Removed the need to pass a split after receiving admin penalty
Start grid remains when track or config changes (if possible)
More commands now work on AI drivers : /spec /pitlane /p_xxx
More commands work even if player joining e.g. /spec /laps
Grid reordering is now done on end race as well as restart
New /i command to send a message to a race control program
Added short track name to SPR, MPR and RAF file formats
More race tracking info added to InSim (see InSim.txt)
Admins can now see other admins in list of connections
Admins can now edit and /axsave layouts while online
Admin ban dialog now asks for a number of days to ban
Added text on screen showing the reason for a penalty
Race penalty can now be removed with /p_clear command
Send all players to their pits with /pit_all command
Autocross results table only shows best 12 results
Timeout for dead connection reduced to 12 seconds
Kick and ban votes are held open a little longer
Removed the option not to use HVS if available
SHIFT + S enters garage from game setup screen
SHIFT + O enters options from SP replay
Display option : Virtual steering gauge
Display option : Rotate small map

FIX : F12 now shows "Pit stop required : OK" correctly
FIX : Find user in S2 mode looking for racer on S1 host
FIX : Message "NETWORK FATAL : NOTSOCK" when joining a host
FIX : Autocross layout number of laps sometimes did not load

DOWNLOAD :

[ EDIT : Download links removed - W21 is released : http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=24197 ]

[Jakg]

Ok, so i just dump all the skins on the forum in Skins_Y then? or can i leave my hi-res skins in Skins_X and have them work?

[Scawen]

No, don't save anything anywhere apart from "skins". The other folders are for LFS's use only. It will ignore any jpg files found in the skins_x, skins_y and skins_dds folders.

The skins folder is for skins you want to load yourself or if you definitely need to see them uncompressed - not recommended except for extreme close up screen shots.

[gruber]

is it normal that it is hanging on the first start ?

[Becky Rose]

Thank you for finaly supporting high res skin downloads! I just wish you hadn't disabled my own cheaky little high res skin downloader in the process ;)...

[Scawen]

is it normal that it is hanging on the first start ?Yes. I hope there was a visible message down at the bottom left which said it was converting skins, and gave you a time estimate of 1 or 2 minutes.

[Becky Rose]

Is there any chance of supporting paypal for LFSW at all, pretty please with sugar on top?

[duke_toaster]

Is there any chance of supporting paypal for LFSW at all, pretty please with sugar on top?

Couldn't you buy a voucher and punch that in?

[GP4Flo]

is it normal that it is hanging on the first start ?

WARNING 2 : SKINS ARE CONVERTED THE FIRST TIME YOU RUN THIS TEST PATCH - TAKING 2 MINUTES OR SO

Is it normal, that people don't read the warning messages? :scratchch


Edit: Sorry gruber, didn't know that the message wasn't there yet when you wrote your reply.

[dizzlez]

so we can pay £1 to upload 2000 2048x2048 skins, sounds great!

love the other improvements Scawen u put a lot of effort into this and its great!

one quistion, when u go past Z patch, if you do, what would it be called next? A again? i dont know if there was an A i only arrived and played lfs when v came out :shy:

[Scawen]

Hehe Flo.

Actually I added that message after gruber wrote his post :D

[Victor]

You can add credit to your LFS account via the regular LFS shop page now : https://www.liveforspeed.net/?page=shop

This includes credit card, paypal, and every other payment option. Also a voucher can be used to add credit to your account.

[Scawen]

so we can pay £1 to upload 2000 2048x2048 skins, sounds great!No, you pay £1 to download 2000 1024x1024 skins for other peoples' cars.

[joen]

Yes. I hope there was a visible message down at the bottom left which said it was converting skins, and gave you a time estimate of 1 or 2 minutes.

There was a message for me. Although it took quite some time for me and LFS seemed to hang. I decided to alt-tab out of it, and it instantly went to the main menu screen. (Like it was already finished converting the skins, but didn't progress to the main menu by itself) Could have been a coincidence though :shrug:
Some great improvements yet again, a lot of people will be happy with the high-res skin option I think :)

[Shotglass]

Skin download and preload during connection after loading track

wont that cause longer "cant something or other a player is connecting" phases despite this:

Avoided most of the "Can't x - a player is connecting" messages

[Scawen]

In the "real" patch I will probably put the actual 1024 res dds files for the default skins. They will be supplied with the real download instead of jpgs. That means it's only you test patch users who need to endure the 1-2 minute wait. That's to save download size for the test patch.

[Scawen]

wont that cause longer "cant something or other a player is connecting" phases despite this:No. because you perform the heavy duty work of skin loading before the final connection stage, the final connection stage - where "a player is connecting" - is shorter.

[Becky Rose]

You can add credit to your LFS account via the regular LFS shop page now
Thank you hun, 6 weeks of my megre wages have been uploaded to your 'just launched a new paid for service' beer fund :). This is a great update :).

[JohnUK89]

Couldn't help but notice the 512x512 helmet skin download option...how is this dealt with in respect to the high-res skin download charging?

[Victor]

Couldn't help but notice the 512x512 helmet skin download option...how is this dealt with in respect to the high-res skin download charging?

512 helmet skins are also regarded as high res skin downloads and as such are treated similarly as 1024 car skins.

[DanneDA]

A small clarification from you Scawen, where should I put skins from other people I manually download (i.e. skins downloaded from the forum)?

[GP4Flo]

I have just connected to a W20 host and it looked like LFS only preloaded a single skin - the rest followed in-game after connecting to the server. Can someone confirm this?

Edit: Happens on other hosts as well, seems to be reproducable.

[traxxion]

I have just connected to a W20 host and it looked like LFS only preloaded a single skin - the rest followed in-game after connecting to the server. Can someone confirm this?

Edit: Happens on other hosts as well, seems to be reproducable.
Yep, same here.

Also LFS stutters slightly everytime the "Saving skin....... " (or something similar) message comes up... wasnt racing now, but I can imagine that could be very annoying while racing!

My cpu is a P4 3.2 Ghz, trying to find out my harddisk type atm (think that's relevant at least?)
Edit: 160GB 7200rpm Maxtor 6V160E0 8MB SAII

[marcione]

I have just connected to a W20 host and it looked like LFS only preloaded a single skin - the rest followed in-game after connecting to the server. Can someone confirm this?

Edit: Happens on other hosts as well, seems to be reproducable.

yes same here. one skin. the other skins will be downloaded ingame.

[Becky Rose]

First off, LFS looks fantastic!

There is one glitch however, a skin that was loaded before making the change in the options screen stays white afterwards, even if you quit the game and relaunch. I've not rebooted yet to see if that clears it - but for some reason if the skin was loaded and I guess is in graphics ram somewhere at 512 resolution - then LFS gets all confused when switching the option on and applies the default skin.

[Shotglass]

No. because you perform the heavy duty work of skin loading before the final connection stage, the final connection stage - where "a player is connecting" - is shorter.

Does this mean that your spot on the server is only reserved after your pc has the track loaded and all the skins cached? I remember that on a few occasions i got a "Server full" message during connecting after my PC finished loading the track and everything else. If so this might become an issue for drivers with slower connections.

[GP4Flo]

Another small bug, LFS colors the skin filename if there is a color code in it, like this one: HEL_^2PO.dds

[VTiRoj]

Another small bug, LFS colors the skin filename if there is a color code in it, like this one: HEL_^2PO.dds
Thats been around since S1 :D

When we download skins in game, do they go straight to the skins folder? Since the skins_x and y are for .dds skins? Have I got that right?

[dizzlez]

No, you pay £1 to download 2000 1024x1024 skins for other peoples' cars.

so if i wasnt too pay £1 to see 2000 1024x1024 skins do i see everyones skins blank? sorry to be a burden here buddy :thumb:

[Termi]

Thats so sad, pay for a Skindownload...

[Blackout]

No, if you pay you can have the higher resolution versions. If you don't everything works like it has before. You guys would know this if you had read the 1st post!

[BBO@BSR]

so if i wasnt too pay £1 to see 2000 1024x1024 skins do i see everyones skins blank? sorry to be a burden here buddy :thumb:
no you see them in low-res

"The low resolution downloads are still free."

[Batterypark]

so if i wasnt too pay £1 to see 2000 1024x1024 skins do i see everyones skins blank? sorry to be a burden here buddy :thumb:

Why don't you just read Scawen's very first post in this topic?

[dizzlez]

no you see them in low-res

"The low resolution downloads are still free."

no, you will see them in low res (512x512x), just as it used to be until now. If you dont pay, you dont loose anything we had until now.

thankyou both for explaining it too me :) much apprichiated

Why don't you just read Scawen's very first post in this topic?

I had enough reading too hard and propperly for one day, english sats allday allready gives me a headache, but i think i passed with flying colours :)

and cool avatar ;)

[Termi]

No, if you pay you can have the higher resolution versions. If you don't everything works like it has before. You guys would know this if you had read the 1st post!

I have read the first post, but i dont understand why the devs go to pay-dl-hires-skins, thats to commercial for me... just my

[danowat]

Still confused about adding your own hi-res online skins.

Before, we used to download hi-res skins from forums etc and place them manually in the skins_x folder, is this still possible to do?, or is the only way to get hi-res online skins by paying the £1?

[GFresh]

I had enough reading too hard and propperly for one day, english sats allready gives me a headache, but i think i passed with flying colours

Check out your spelling of 'Appreciated', then re-think your confidence in your English SAT results :thumb: (jk)


On Topic - Good patch btw!

[NotAnIllusion]

CTD with w20.

[dizzlez]

Check out your spelling of 'Appreciated', then re-think your confidence in your English SAT results :thumb: (jk)


On Topic - Good patch btw!

they said they wont knock points off for spelling and i didnt have to spell that word in the test, so lucky me eh :thumb: hehe

[trebor901]

I think charging for hi res skins is stupid and people will say "oh but its only £1". So what maybe people like me dont have the resources to pay for it so us people who arent prepared have to use the crap skins

[Cue-Ball]

I have read the first post, but i dont understand why the devs go to pay-dl-hires-skins, thats to commercial for me... just myHigh resolution skins require FOUR TIMES as much bandwidth as the current skins. Server bandwidth isn't free, so they need some way to cover the cost. If you don't want to pay, you aren't forced. This isn't like World of Warcraft where you have to pay $10/month just to play. If you don't pay the fee, everything is exactly as it was before. You've lost nothing.

[dizzlez]

High resolution skins require FOUR TIMES as much bandwidth as the current skins. Server bandwidth isn't free, so they need some way to cover the cost. If you don't want to pay, you aren't forced. This isn't like World of Warcraft where you have to pay $10/month just to play. If you don't pay the fee, everything is exactly as it was before. You've lost nothing.

thats what i thought ^^ i thought someone said to me if idont pay i will get 512x512 and pay for 1024x1024 :S i swear they did, ah well :) well i can go to bed now knowing thats cleared up for me :thumb:

[geeman1]

I think charging for hi res skins is stupid and people will say "oh but its only £1". So what maybe people like me dont have the resources to pay for it so us people who arent prepared have to use the crap skinsIt seems reasonable to me. Everyone still gets the 512x512 skins for free like before and they are perfectly fine for racing too.

[Boris Lozac]

I think charging for hi res skins is stupid and people will say "oh but its only £1". So what maybe people like me dont have the resources to pay for it so us people who arent prepared have to use the crap skins

As i understood, you can now upload your high res skin on LFS World(before, LFS world would compress them to 512x512 automatically), so now you can upload a high res version and people who paid for them, can download them automatically...
As to Danowat question, i think that we can still manually download high res skins and LFS can see them, if not, than it's definately not a good move..

[JohnUK89]

High resolution skins require FOUR TIMES as much bandwidth as the current skins. Server bandwidth isn't free, so they need some way to cover the cost. If you don't want to pay, you aren't forced. This isn't like World of Warcraft where you have to pay $10/month just to play. If you don't pay the fee, everything is exactly as it was before. You've lost nothing.

And it won't make you any quicker, having the higher res skins ( I know, just tried...and I'm just as slow :razz:)

[trebor901]

So.... but if you have a good graphics card that runs this GAME well then you cant get the most from it

[joen]

Thats so sad, pay for a Skindownload...

I think charging for hi res skins is stupid and people will say "oh but its only £1". So what maybe people like me dont have the resources to pay for it so us people who arent prepared have to use the crap skins

What's the problem? If you don't want to pay for it, or can't...then don't. It's not like you can't download the lower res skins anymore just like you could before. Getting worked up about an OPTIONAL feature, somehow I expected these kind of comments.
It was made clear WHY charging for it is necessary, and that nothing will change for the worse if you decide not to use this OPTION.

Whiners.

So.... but if you have a good graphics card that runs this GAME well then you cant get the most from it
Money for a good graphic card but no money for the highres skin option...right.

[Becky Rose]

. Post removed . Damn you people type fast...!

[Termi]

High resolution skins require FOUR TIMES as much bandwidth as the current skins. Server bandwidth isn't free, so they need some way to cover the cost. If you don't want to pay, you aren't forced. This isn't like World of Warcraft where you have to pay $10/month just to play. If you don't pay the fee, everything is exactly as it was before. You've lost nothing.
I have to run two Server 24/7, i know wat traffic costs.
i know that for "Geldschneiderei" i dont know wat is the English Word for that..

[geeman1]

So.... but if you have a good graphics card that runs this GAME well then you cant get the most from itHaving the ability to download high res skins for a small fee is still better than not being able to download them at all.

[mr_x]

is this a bug in the new skins 'feature'?

see the 2 screenshots, the FE track is W the AS track is W20. the conversion in W20 seems to downgrade the skin quality quite alot. Especially if you compare around the bonnet.

[GFresh]

I'm still not seeing anything worth creaming over on the shop page :really:

[BBO@BSR]

I have to run two Server 24/7, i know wat traffic costs.

Then your comment about the "pay for hi-res skins" option: "thats to commercial for me" is stupid, right?
Because you know what it costs ;)

[geeman1]

is this a bug in the new skins 'feature'?

see the 2 screenshots, the FE track is W the AS track is W20. the conversion in W20 seems to downgrade the skin quality quite alot. Especially if you compare around the bonnet.Did you remember to change the texture compression off? It defaults to ON in W20.

[Cue-Ball]

is this a bug in the new skins 'feature'?

see the 2 screenshots, the FE track is W the AS track is W20. the conversion in W20 seems to downgrade the skin quality quite alot. Especially if you compare around the bonnet.That is very odd, and quite noticeable. I'm going to take a guess that the W screenshot is using a high-res skin that you put in the skins_x directory manually, and that the W20 is a lower-res version, following conversion to the new compressed format. Is this correct? If so, you're comparing apples and oranges. You need to compare the same skin downloaded from LFSworld in both patches.

[Shotglass]

So.... but if you have a good graphics card that runs this GAME well then you cant get the most from it

if youve got the money to pay for a gf7+ chances are youll be able to afford 1£ for 2000 skins which should be enough for what ? 5 months of racing ?

[mr_x]

That is very odd, and quite noticeable. I'm going to take a guess that the W screenshot is using a high-res skin that you put in the skins_x directory manually, and that the W20 is a lower-res version, following conversion to the new compressed format. Is this correct? If so, you're comparing apples and oranges. You need to compare the same skin downloaded from LFSworld in both patches.
both skins are 1024x1024 and both were in my Skins directory as they are my team skins.

my LFS W and W20 folders are clones of each other, just with the patch files added to the W20 obviously

[mr_x]

Did you remember to change the texture compression off? It defaults to ON in W20.
bingo, you got it! :thumb:

[Scawen]

I have just connected to a W20 host and it looked like LFS only preloaded a single skin - the rest followed in-game after connecting to the server. Can someone confirm this?

Edit: Happens on other hosts as well, seems to be reproducable.Thanks, bug noted.

Yep, same here.

Also LFS stutters slightly everytime the "Saving skin....... " (or something similar) message comes up... wasnt racing now, but I can imagine that could be very annoying while racing!

My cpu is a P4 3.2 Ghz, trying to find out my harddisk type atm (think that's relevant at least?)
Edit: 160GB 7200rpm Maxtor 6V160E0 8MB SAIIIt would be annoying while racing, but that's why it doesn't happen while racing :D

Still confused about adding your own hi-res online skins.

Before, we used to download hi-res skins from forums etc and place them manually in the skins_x folder, is this still possible to do?, or is the only way to get hi-res online skins by paying the £1?
You can manually save high res skins to your skins folder, then you can see them in high res without using the premium download option.

[Termi]

Then your comment about the "pay for hi-res skins" option: "thats to commercial for me" is stupid, right?
Because you know what it costs ;)
But ... .. .doesnt matter, you all pay for skins, i think its not ok, and thats wat i mean..:shrug:

[JohnUK89]

But ... .. .doesnt matter, you all pay for skins, i think its not ok, and thats wat i mean..:shrug:
So the devs (who are by definition entrepreneurs) can't try and make a little bit of money (and let's face it, they won't be making much at all from the skin downloading service)? If people want to hand their money to ScaViEr to get the high res skins downloaded automatically, it's their choice. If they don't, that's also their choice. The people who don't want to pay for a premium service (noone goes bickering on about people paying more for a better net connection, or a better PC, do they?) don't have to :)

P.S. (to keep this slightly on topic) the skins look soooo good now, thanks Scawen/Vic! :D

[joen]

But ... .. .doesnt matter, you all pay for skins, i think its not ok, and thats wat i mean..:shrug:

Nothing is being taken away from you, you're not excluded from anything, you are offered the OPTION to use an extended feature. It's there for you to either accept or refuse, and if you choose not to use it, all will remain the same as it was for you.
You would have a point if the devs would say, from now on everyone has to pay for the automatic skin downloading, regardless of skin resolution. Right now, you really have no point and are being a whiner. I can't believe this kind of twisted logic.

Do you expect the devs to be a charitable organisation or something?

[NotAnIllusion]

But ... .. .doesnt matter, you all pay for skins, i think its not ok, and thats wat i mean..:shrug:
Nobody pays for skins. Some people choose to pay for better quality skins. I don't see the problem.

[Cue-Ball]

I do have one question about the high-res skin payments. How will we know when we've reached our limit? Once we download 2000 skins, will we get some sort of message, or will the system just throttle down to low-res again? I'm guessing this will be handled the same way as the SMS messages that were implemented, but I honestly don't know how that's currently handled either.

[keiran]

I think charging for hi res skins is stupid and people will say "oh but its only £1". So what maybe people like me dont have the resources to pay for it so us people who arent prepared have to use the crap skins

That's life.

The developers give us so much for free as it is, a lot of online games charge monthly for the use of their services. We as a community relay on the servers that provide us the host list, the forums and LFS World. These are not free and your measly £24 doesn't cover that.

I'm sure you can find a way to pay that £1, postal order... cheque... paypal, the list is endless.

[Termi]

I am only disappointed, thats all.....

[Vykos69]

Nobody pays for skins. Some people choose to pay for better quality skins. I don't see the problem.
and those who dont pay, DL them here or from friends and put them in their skins folder. Which actually gives better quality, cause I dont like the .dds compression at all. Gives to many artifacts.

[sinbad]

I joined a server, about the only one with more than 1 person in (why is nobody using the test patches?). I got stuttering as people left the pits, and I've never had that before. Only small, but unacceptable.

[NotAnIllusion]

So all in all, no reason to be disappointed :)

[Victor]

I do have one question about the high-res skin payments. How will we know when we've reached our limit? Once we download 2000 skins, will we get some sort of message, or will the system just throttle down to low-res again? I'm guessing this will be handled the same way as the SMS messages that were implemented, but I honestly don't know how that's currently handled either.

you have an overview on your status page : https://www.liveforspeed.net/?page=viewstatus

oh and you will be notified in-game too if you ran out of credit

[Boris Lozac]

I am only disappointed, thats all.....

Jesus, you're dissapointed in what?!

This new feature is OPTIONAL(you know the meaning of that word?)
You've lost NOTHING with it, you can still do everything with skins as before...

[RaDuS]

rodger (dont want to pay for skins)

[Bladerunner]

I personally cannot see what everybody is whinging about...I just checked my skins_x folder in Patch W mode..(no update on that one yet, as I use a separate folder for the test patches)..and there are 4024 skins in there...
considering that not everybody has uploaded a high rez skin to LFSW, then you can guarantee that the total cost of that folder would have been less than £2.00.
That is accumulated over more than THREE years!!!

Damn reasonable price if you ask me...it works out at 20 skins for a PENNY!

Only thing I would ask, is that considering that we cannot download them and convert them ourselves, could the skin storage limit on LFSW be raised from the current 36 skins to say, 50?

[XCNuse]

I hate to say this Scawen, but this thread has really only caused mass confusion. :S

Owell...

/me downloads new patch

[Doorman]

I welcome the hires skins option and I've laid my money down. If I have one reservation it's that I'll be downloading a lot of crappy skins and skins of people that come on the server and then almost immediately leave, never to be seen again. I may be daft, but I have a thing about having a load of stuff on my pc that just sits there not doing anything.

[gohfeld23]

I found another small issue with the new version (well started with W10)
The "can't reset-would cause yellow flag" rule needs to be applied to AI as well.
I know AI will be worked on at a later time, but they shouldn't be able reset and repair right in front of other cars thus causing collisions. I hope this is an easy fix (I'd imagine at least).

Since I'm a demo racer (for now) and the demo community is , how shall I say, lacking common sense, I prefer racing offline with bots.
Just in case you were wondering.

[Bladerunner]

I....f I have one reservation it's that I'll be downloading a lot of crappy skins and skins of people that come on the server and then almost immediately leave, never to be seen again. I may be daft, but I have a thing about having a load of stuff on my pc that just sits there not doing anything.

Maybe a simple option to be able to turn the skin download on or off, rather than having to exit to the options menu and hunt around for it??

[BrandonAGr]

When you are in the pits after spectating(spectating then hit shift+p) should the shift+j shortcut let you join? I think enter will take you to joining but the shortcut doesnt seem to work in the garage.

[Shotglass]

btw since youre working on the skin folders and saving options
an option skin folder in the cfg might be useful both for traffic bills and for those who use the high res skins so that users with multiple lfs folders dont download skins twice all the time

[Scawen]

I've fixed the skin preloading system in W21.

It works nicely now, it downloads (or preloads if it's on your hard drive) all the needed skins, then all cars are painted and there is no stuttering when you first enter the server.

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=24197

[Gunn]

You can manually save high res skins to your skins folder, then you can see them in high res without using the premium download option.So does that mean that when I want to put my mates', high res skins into LFS that I have to put them into my skins folder - meaning that anytime I want to choose a skin for myself I now have a huge list of skins to browse through, skins that I never use?