NkPro vs LFS, the battle of April

[danowat]

So whats going to take up most of your time this month, seeing as both are heading to be released at around the same time what are you going to be playing most?.

I am thinking which ever one comes first is going to take priority of the other for me, but I guess it depends on how special either are :thumb:, NkPro is a bit of any unknown quantity ATM, but I am quite excited by it, and I really hope that I am not letdown.

Bottomline, April should be a great month for racing simmers, just a shame they have to come so close to each other :thumb:.

Dan,

[Jakg]

just waiting for the nKPro demo, hopefully it'll have the tintops instead of the formula cars tho

[Scottie]

Only a patch for LFS this month... not a full game like NKpro

[nikimere]

is it the netKar Demo released on the 10th or the full game?

[danowat]

It might be "only" a patch, but hopefully it should make LFS feel like a whole new game.

Both I think Niki, I am sure the download for the demo is the same as the download for the full version as per LFS.

Apparently, if you have pre-ordered you will get preferencial treatment, maybe even an early download, but for sure pre-orders will get access to a faster download server.

Dan,

[noemfie]

Well I pre ordered Nk Pro and depending on how good it will be and the ammount of servers online etc I will probably focus on it for a while , I realy do hope the patch will arrive before 10 April tho , but who knows could be end of April or May for all we know :shrug:

[Becky Rose]

I dont deal in uknown commodities. I'll worry about NkPro when it's been out long enough to be bug fixed and stable - then i'll worry about whether it's any good or not...

[VIP UA]

Why do you all prefer fight and sim wars? What's the reason? Dеfinitely the newest one to date nKPro will have more priority at the first time after release than new LFS patch for the people who bought the lisense. But it's not a case when one sim blows away other. Both will be very close to each other. Both will reach top position on the simracing arena. And after some time the new sims will just be added to these two (iRacing, RaceCome and who knows which one more).

[danowat]

Why do you all prefer fight and sim wars? What's the reason? Dеfinitely the newest one to date nKPro will have more priority at the first time after release than new LFS patch for the people who bought the lisense. But it's not a case when one sim blows away other. Both will be very close to each other. Both will reach top position on the simracing arena. And after some time the new sims will just be added to these two (iRacing, RaceCome and who knows which one more).

Its not a fight or a war, we are winners in every respect, because hopefully the LFS patch will be top notch, and NKPro will be a worthy addition.

I find it interesting how they both come out at the same time, surely not a coincidence :scratchch

Dan,

[spankmeyer]

I find it quite possible that nKaR pRo (or however they spell the name) has superior physics but lacks in gameplay and user-friendliness. One thing LFS does the best, hands down, is the simplicity of game interface, menus, joining servers, LFS world, etc. Just take a look at rFaCtoR (:banghead:) and you can see what kind of mess you can make.

[danowat]

I find it quite possible that nKaR pRo (or however they spell the name) has superior physics but lacks in gameplay and user-friendliness. One thing LFS does the best, hands down, is the simplicity of game interface, menus, joining servers, LFS world, etc. Just take a look at rFaCtoR (:banghead:) and you can see what kind of mess you can make.

Very, very true, something has got to be very, very special to displace LFS as the most user friendly online racer there is, it is just so streamlined for online use there is nothing else like it.

We shall see, but I fear NKp will be no where near it in that respect, if fact from everything I have read it all sounds a bit disjointed, not geared to the "pick up and play" audeince at all, more geared to leagues and organized events.

Time will tell......

Dan,

[MyBoss]

I've been playing allot of GPL the last week. Damn that game is great :-D

[mr_x]

im not getting NK-Pro cos from what i have seen it doesnt have tin tops in it, i really dont like racing single seater cars, i prefer tin tops (and the UF1 ;) ) so LFS will be my priority this month (or World of Warcraft... a friend got me into buying another month on that last week) :)

[Satorian]

I've preordered nK-Pro but I'll still probably spend most of the month with LFS, even if the patch doesn't arrive. There's not going to be much content in nK-Pro at release - just four circuits and four (pretty similar) cars, so I'll probably be back in LFS quite a lot.

Actually the amount of content seems a weird argument to me. I can imagine spending all my time with a sim that only has one car and one track if it's a stellar, spot-on simulation. There are other games to provide LOTS of content without a particular focus on quality.

For sure I'm going to try the LFS patch and will spend some time evaluating it, but unless any showstopping bugs or feature gaps appear in nKP, I'm probably going to spend more time with it as it's a completely new toy. :)

[Neokiller]

well.. nK pro will be amazing.. but atm i dunno if i´ll have time to test it... racing in a lot leagues in NR2003 and GTR atm...

LFS.. i just hope to see something new soon.. to get my motivation back this version is kinda weird... and i cant find any motivation to race in it :(

[Matrixi]

After reading Stefanos development articles about nkpro, I just had to pre-order it today. Must say I'm pretty excited to get my hands on it :D

I won't stop playing LFS, of course. ;)

[csimpok]

I am bored at home (hehe just kidding) so I tell you what I expect from the new patch:

- Fixed Highnose bug
- Increased grip at low speeds
- Decreased effect of slipstream (including the loss of grip behind a car) - especially to cars with wings
- Decreased effect of dirt on tyres

Everything else is a surprise for me :)

[colcob]

I've got to say, I'm expecting fairly drastic aero revisions/improvements.
I remember when we got to the bottom of what caused the high nose exploit, the impression I got from our conversations with Scawen was that he wanted to produce a much more complete aero simulation before revising the physics.

Just fixing the high nose bug would literally have been the work of an afternoon, if that. It's just a case of adding a calculation step to the way the force was resolved. But if they released a new physics patch every time a little bug was fixed, or littel feature added, the community would be a mess.

So I think we'll have much more sophisticated aero, with proper undertrays that react to the undercar distance and rake, as well as more complete and accurate wing simulation.

[Gabkicks]

yeah i expect the patch to make lfs feel alot more solid with alot of bug corrections. :) the lfs crew is the real deal:thumb:

i'm also looking forward to nkpro.

[Niels Heusinkveld]

In both cases its 'wait and see'.. and we won't have to wait long :)

Competition is a good thing.. Perhaps this will one day mean that there are no dodgy tyre models in sims... but that might be wishfull thinking :)

[spankmeyer]

Just visited nKpRO (I know, very annoying) website and all I saw was open-wheelers. Double-u-tee-ef, mate? If they decide to leave tin tops to be made by community modding I'm not sure if I want to pull the trigger on my Visa. I've barely touched the open-wheelers in LFS. :shrug:


EDIT: That nKpRo logo always reminds me of this http://www.hkpro.com/

[deggis]

It won't have tintops in the first version... maybe (hopefully!) later. I'm confident that there will be tintop mods at some point. Kunos has said that the physics engine can handle 6-wheeled cars (70's 6-wheel formulas (http://b.f1-facts.com/ul/a/3372), anyone? :D) so I think the engine won't be the problem for road cars...

I have pre-ordered it too, I'm not sure exactly why because I don't like single-seaters that much. I think the "doom mode", totally interactive cockpits and some new aspects Kunos has taken into complete realism cought me that I just had to pre-order it. :)

I haven't played LFS since January or something. I've spent my on RBR again.

[Vain]

I will think abot nkpro when it reaches a healthy 500-1000 possible combos (only official cars, that is). I can have nice physics in LFS. It needs more than that to get my money now. (Did anyone say real cars?)

Vain

[danowat]

Yep, I am not the biggest OW fan either, but I am a sucker for a new race sim :)

Dan,

[Hyperactive]

I find it quite possible that nKaR pRo (or however they spell the name) has superior physics but lacks in gameplay and user-friendliness. One thing LFS does the best, hands down, is the simplicity of game interface, menus, joining servers, LFS world, etc. Just take a look at rFaCtoR (:banghead:) and you can see what kind of mess you can make.

But in the other hand LFS lacks some of extreme realism settings that other sims have. The physics of nkpro is still quite big question mark but it looks promising.

One thing I noticed somewhere was that the "traction circle" is part of the hud. Which is so unrealistic, like most of the F9/F10/F11 menus in LFS. I just would like to get rid of them asap :rolleyes2 :fap:

:ambulance


About openwheelers:
To be honest, they're not my favourite cars in LFS either, but I think that's more down to the low-speed grip issues and aero bugs.

It'll be nice to be able to compare LFS and nKP's approaches to similar cars though.

I have thought that the road cars are most affected by the slow speed grip (sliding all the time)... :)

[csimpok]

I like Fox and Fo8 very much and with the fixes I mentioned above they will be a dream to race with :)

[Bramski]

I love open wheelers and I've pre-ordered nKp so it's gonna be a good month for me regardless. I'll still play LFS no matter what but I will be devoting most of my driving time to nKp upon it's release to get to grips with the system and physics.

The thing with LFS though is that the Multiplayer aspect is just so solid so you can easily overlook the small(ish) flaws in aero and tyres etc.. It doesn't matter what time zone you're in you can always find a decent server to race in and that alone is enough to keep anybody hooked. I dunno what it is but I prefer playing online, even if it's just fannying about with setups and hotlaps, the feeling of having people around you is much better than AI. nKp has it's work cut out for it if it wants to be even half as online friendly as LFS but I think theres definately room for both as LFS seems to be the only decent online racer for public pick up and play races.

[deggis]

The thing with LFS though is that the Multiplayer aspect is just so solid so you can easily overlook the small(ish) flaws in aero and tyres etc..
Play some other game for some time and you can't overlook the tyre grip problem anymore. :)

[Vain]

Deggis: You should add that with "other games" you don't mean RBR (gravel, snow, grip?). :D

Vain

[Huru-aito]

So whats going to take up most of your time this month, seeing as both are heading to be released at around the same time what are you going to be playing most?

:lfs: even if the patch isn't released this month.

[axus]

:lfs: even if the patch isn't released this month.

:thumb: Likewise.

I'm no fan of open-wheelers and something tells me nKPro will talk the talk but not walk the walk (at first anyway) - one day when it is established as good physics sim with a solid variety of cars and tracks I may consider purchasing it. Until then - LFS all the way, baby.

[Gimpster]

The two sims are aimed at different groups of people. LFS is a great racing sim which covers a more broad offering of car types, has good physics and execelent online and player accesability. nKPro is aimed at the more hard core sim racer where realism is more important then easy of use, has a narrower offering of car types, until the devkit is released.

When I just want to log in a race I will load up LFS. When I am looking for a serious racing experance I will load nKPro and plan to spend some time. They both have a place in the comunity, they both will have their strengths and in the end I do not think either will detract from the best aspects of the other.

I will be racing with both.

[sil3ntwar]

Its going to be nkpro for me. Restarts and people spamming "shift+s when you crash" is really getting to me. The hardcore sim mode on netpro sounds awesome.

[Jakg]

It won't have tintops in the first version... maybe (hopefully!) later. I'm confident that there will be tintop mods at some point.then they wont expect me to buy, or even download the first version!

[Gabkicks]

i think lfs and netkar are for the same group of people but they just go about things slightly differently. both want the most realistic physics and racing experience possible. nKpro is supposed to have a strong online focus just like LFS. and some roadcars are expected as well. i think the dev even said that his goals are the same as the lfs crew except the methods are slightly different.

[sil3ntwar]

nkpro is more focused on a full racing weekend. lfs is more pickup races.

[Hyperactive]

Well, I guess that the battle of April has just began (or ended) :)

Only 6 more days :p ;)

[Tweaker]

nkpro is more focused on a full racing weekend. lfs is more pickup races.

I do like the feel of simulating a full race weekend, especially in other simulations that have some Singleplayer. But for online??? Well, I think it would really only benefit for league racing or if you really feel like spending your entire day during the weekend (or whole weekend?). I do prefer having all the right steps into having a final race, but when it comes to online, it needs to be fast, and get right in on the action... that is the basis of what all good Multiplayer games have. It shouldn't take ages to finally get to play, and then when you finally start to play, what if your entire game/race is spoiled?? Not a lot of people will be playing then. Easily frustrated, and they don't get another chance because they'd have to wait forever for another game/race.

LFS has a fast paced online attitude, and it is easy to go and do anything you want, and get racing as soon as possible. And if you do ever want to simulate practice sessions, racing sessions or whatnot, join a league. But for online play, I simply enjoy sprint races, as it is not a waste of time, and you get a lot of track and car-to-car experience. Where the fun and learning process is.

I don't know how or if NetKar Pro will match up to having quick races online, I am sure it will be considered for the game, but I doubt it will be as easy as LFS. Because just look at rFactor even. Nobody can successfully restart an event in that game (or it takes forever), it is absolutely pointless and frustrating to have everyone all required to be in the same sequence of events... people just want to RACE (like Orion's avatar suggests :p).

:lfs:

[RacingSimFan]

I agree with Tweaker. LFS is by far the fastest and easiest to get on track and race right away. Even with mid-race join disabled you're allowed to join the server and view if there's room.

The other 2 big online games, rFactor and nr2003, both lock out people after qualifying. That and once you leave the track to the setup menus etc. during the race you can't go back on track. So in those games, not only do you have to go through the rigors of practice and qualifying sessions, but then if you're wrecked early on you can't do anything until the race is over. And because the races are usually twice as long in those games as they are in LFS, when you head back to the server lobby to check the status of other servers, most often they're all in the middle of races and you can't even get in to view.

Very tiring. It sucks to spend 2/3rds of any given sim-racing session waiting for races to end so you can join.

May LFS never go down that path!!!!!!

[Tweaker]

Yes, exactly Axe. Other games claim they are very focused on the multiplayer when in fact they are focused on frustrating the online players, hahah. The more frustrating it is, the less people will play online. So I think LFS stands tall in the multiplayer area.... partially why quite a few CS & other FPS players come and get this game :D.

Also it is how enjoyable the driving is that keeps people playing online. Last I heard, rFactor was fun to drive for a while but hardly anyone races online. Probably due to mods also. Also I think some of the driving has become difficult for people in LFS with all this sliding... just think about this new patch and how much better it will be... oooh baby!!!! :D

[Tweaker]

:dunce: I never said that it does, I did mention the IF factor in my post before that last one above....

And you should already know by now my stance on assuming things for games that have not come out yet... in the other 1 out of a 1,000+/- 'versus' threads :rolleyes:

[tristancliffe]

nK Namie has irritatingly poor multiplayer, but thats mainly because it's the equivilent of LFS 0.004 alpha, AND net play wasn't a huge intention. Apparently nKP is very good, but thats more in terms of the online play once your connected, rather than how easy it actually is to get online in the first place. I doubt it'll be as good as LFS, but it can't be as bad as rF or GTR/L etc.

[tailing]

No mp in the demo means I won't be trying nk for a while once some trustworthy verdicts start appearing which could be a few months down the track.

LFS is a known quantity so out of the two I'll be playing LFS whether the new patch is out or not.

I also prefer the approach of LFS, sometimes and I do stress only sometimes realism is not good in a sim. For me the physics being top notch is the main concern which I expect to be the case in nk but some "hardcore" options I can see turning me away.

[danowat]

Is nK-Pro known to have irritatingly inaccessible multiplayer or are you just speculating?

Edit: And yes as a very average LFS racer I am very much looking forward to the upcoming physics improvements. I also think it should make some cars (XRT, LX6, FZ50, RAC, FO8) much more popular, which can only be a good thing.

It has already been stated on RSC that the multiplayer isnt really geared to the pick up and play player, butI guess we'll have to wait till Monday to find out for sure.

Dan,

[RMachucaA]

If you read one of kunos last posts on his forum, you'll see he was focusing on making the pickup races as smooth as possible, meaning he's not neglecting the people who just want to join a race asap and get going.

[Tweaker]

That is good to know. I guess we'll have to see how well he did it.

Not to sound so cocky or rude about NetKar's approach (don't get the wrong idea on this), but doesn't it seem that a lot of the features we have requested (and ones that are already in LFS) for having in LFS have been distinctly and blatantly pointed out for being in NetKar Pro?

I dunno about you, but I do think Kunos or whoever was poking around in the forums back in RSC. And I do recall someone mentioning seeing him browse our forum several times... heheh. But likewise, if he did actually get inspiration from our ideas, it shows he wants to make something that people will like. Of course, we don't have copyrights on those ideas, that'd be silly, but I guess it is a matter of who makes it first to be the 'trend setter' (that is the ongoing battle with sims imo). Hopefully doesn't have a goal to absolutely destroy LFS, as that is an insane goal to set... since it is impossible with the way simulations are getting better and better these days :)

Example of these LFS suggestions NkPRO being:

-Option to change sound engine (old old suggestion)
-Editable "Glance" angles (if you don't remember this suggestion then don't bother flaming me :p)