The online racing simulator
Pfff....just tried multiplayer, what a complete waste of time.............

Dan,
For us that pre-ordered it I don't think Kunos can put that 1 year free in affect with us. We bought it without out that condition so I'm pretty sure we have a pretty good argument...

nK needs to get the multiplayer sorted out quick, thats the main focus of the game and it is very unstable. 2-3mins to generate a list of servers :/ It feels okay, the sounds are driving me insane. Especially the crash sound (which sounds so arcady) and the scraping noise.

Kunos says there will be a patch next week so lets hope he keeps his word to that date ...

Keiran
Quote from keiran :For us that pre-ordered it I don't think Kunos can put that 1 year free in affect with us. We bought it without out that condition so I'm pretty sure we have a pretty good argument...

I hope it's just a misunderstanding...

http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=250279

There Kunos says "I hope guys that preordered and ordered yesterday understand that they didn't buy this v1.0, they just bought any improvement from here to 1 year time..."

Btw, that posts sounds a bit like he's just trying to collect some sympathy.
Quote from deggis :I hope it's just a misunderstanding...

http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=250279

There Kunos says "I hope guys that preordered and ordered yesterday understand that they didn't buy this v1.0, they just bought any improvement from here to 1 year time..."

Btw, that posts sounds a bit like he's just trying to collect some sympathy.

That's just him saying "This is alpha with a v1.0 tag. The v1.0 tag was there to get us a lot of initial sales and pre-orders. I'll work on it for a year and you'll get those updates for free. If you still think it sucks as much as this by then I'm outta here, if not I'll take more of your money."
If you don't want to buy nK don't you know that you'll get 1 year of updates for 36 Euros if you don't want that then don't buy it simple as that £24 isn't a lot really how many times have you told that to demo users?

Quote from keiran :
nK needs to get the multiplayer sorted out quick, thats the main focus of the game and it is very unstable. 2-3mins to generate a list of servers :/

Apparantley the MP was just one line of faulty code and the fix has already been made, patch is due next Monday so that other fixes can be included.

Quote :
It feels okay, the sounds are driving me insane.

Have you reduced the latency in Audio settings also it seems that the sound didn't sound like this on any of the test rigs and my sounds certainly aren't as bad as some that I've heard. At 50 ms it now sounds like pretty much what it should do anyone whose used to these type of engines IRL will know that they do not sound anything like the FOX which sound gorgeous and smooth in comparison
I think from now on, I'm going to call it Nektar Pro.
Why? Because the engine sounds are terrible! they sound like a bunch of bees trapped inside a honey jar.

It's a friggin bee simulator I tell you.
Just thought i'd draw peoples' attention to this post on RSC regarding the sound. I have to say i think that sounds a lot better than LFS, i am going to go and fiddle with my audio settings now.
^^ That sounds great like it should do IRL (minus transmission whine) IMO.

Mine sounds closer to that than the other sample on the LFS forum.
Latency doesn't help much, it just blends the sound together more. The engine is still just a lawnmower in my ears, only a bit more fluent.

I think it just sounds boosted too much, causing some distortion.
What about the people that pre-ordered with no real license agreement while thinking they will get a rock-solid bug-free release on the 10th, only to find a shitty release and "a year's worth of updates"? What about the lacking promised features? What the hell. These people were cheated out of their cash.
Quote from axus :What about the people that pre-ordered with no real license agreement while thinking they will get a rock-solid bug-free release on the 10th, only to find a shitty release and "a year's worth of updates"? What about the lacking promised features? What the hell. These people were cheated out of their cash.

Hmm, true. That 1 year of updates just sounds like a way to the dev get away and bail out from this crap. Didnt preorder but it was close and didnt see any mentions about ½ made alpha or beta release. I have a motto "Dont trust a man who has a litle bikinigirl as an avatar". The way preorders were taken seems a bit misleading from customer point-of-view. Unlike in LFS it stated that this is Apha (AND WHILE CHEKCING THIS: I find there is new info on lfs main site!!!) time to press enter
it may sound like bees or something like that, but it sure makes heel and toe downshifting a breeze. you can really feel the engine response
3 threads about the same thing. This thread was about the LFS players online meeting. Which I guess didn't even take place and the thread is like pages long.

Lock this
Quote from axus :What about the people that pre-ordered with no real license agreement while thinking they will get a rock-solid bug-free release on the 10th, only to find a shitty release and "a year's worth of updates"? What about the lacking promised features? What the hell. These people were cheated out of their cash.

Those who pre-ordered were never officially told there would be updates although obviously they assumed there would be I really can't see the problem in a developer having a get out clause after a year most software doesn't have guaranteed free updates for a year.
Quote from ajp71 :Those who pre-ordered were never officially told there would be updates although obviously they assumed there would be I really can't see the problem in a developer having a get out clause after a year most software doesn't have guaranteed free updates for a year.

They also got a buggy 1.0 release and missing promised features that are listed on the official website.
Kunos really needs to get some terms and conditions up there to cover his back. When I pre-ordered I was told I'd get a nice fast download link and wasn't told about paying for updates (don't mind much if there not to exepnsive).

The new patch has solved the slow list Now to test the online play ...
Keiran
Quote from ajp71 :Rob76 don't buy it if you don't want to you can always buy it later when you bought S2 you only bought updates upto the end of S2. I think 1 year of updates was specified so Kunos wouldn't end up tied into too much. I never bought S1 because I always felt it was unfinished and wasn't going to buy S2 because it felt (and still does tbh) so unfinished in parts of the physics.

I have bought already, and when I pre-ordered there was no mention of it being a 1 year 'subscription'.

I knew the planned content when I bought, so I'd be happy enough if my purchase only got me that content + bug fixes, but if my copy becomes incompatible with other v1.x users in one years time without fronting more cash, it seems a rip off, especially if the current release isn't considerably improved very quickly.

nFP, although far more ambitious than early LFS releases, feels much further from being finished than any release of LFS that they ever asked money for. Both projects are similar in apporach to development, and I support it fully in principal, but I just feel the nKP developer has asked for more upfront, delivered less to both those who pay and those who want to evaluate a demo and the 1 year limit seems to be a bit much. It will probably hurt them in short term sales just so they can cash in one year from now from those who have supported the project and stuck with it.
Quote from ajp71 :Those who pre-ordered were never officially told there would be updates although obviously they assumed there would be I really can't see the problem in a developer having a get out clause after a year most software doesn't have guaranteed free updates for a year.

I think it's the nature of the multiplayer 'online simulator' that makes the dropping of support after one year tough. For a product like GTR you pays your money and get no promise of further updates, which is fine as they make all updates that affect compatibilty free of charge until they stop all support. Then they move on to the next version (GTR2) and everyone knows they will have to pay again. With a product like nKP and LFS, where the product is an ongoing project (at least for the forseeable future) it makes sense to only charge at defined product update stages or versions, rather than a strict subscription style time limit. If the not wanting to be tied into supporting anything beyond a year is the main concern for the devs, then a simple clause that the future of development is not guranteed or that you only get updates for your version level (e.g. 1.x) would cover that.
It really, really, really needs that patch...... yesterday.
It's nigh on impossible to find a just-for-fun race on a public server. I've been trying for a few hours, and the closest I have come is a laggy 5 laps with one other guy. LFS is the online king, and shall remain so for a long time if this is anything to go by.

Offline nKpro is quite good, though I don't like the FF. Steering which should always feel tight and direct loses those characteristics once the cars start to slide. (Yes I know it should go light, but you should still feel connected to the front wheels). I can't see myself confidently sawing at the wheel making tiny corrections as I do in LFS (and as the single-seater drivers do IRL). It's something of a 'hit the marks and keep it uber-tidy' affair. Maybe I have it set improperly.
Well, last night i was *pretty* pissed off. but today i feel a little better about it. i've been hosting ftarget@newbury 2k6 races for a while now, it seems to be working pretty well actually.
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It is just unplayable online. First it seems okay but the other cars give a major hit on fps. Cars appear suddenly from nowhere... And low fps = steering lag.

It works better offline, but the steering lag is too big on faster cars... Maybe it helps if I put all the graphics options to minimum...
it feels so incredibly wrong when you spin i cant find any words for it
Quote from Hyperactive :It is just unplayable online. First it seems okay but the other cars give a major hit on fps. Cars appear suddenly from nowhere... And low fps = steering lag.

I agree completely. I've tweaked my settings to get about 30-40fps offline and it feels pretty smooth and easy to control. When I join an online race the framerate drops to 10-20fps and I start getting controller lag. The other cars are hopping all over the place even though their pings are in the 100-200ms range. Close racing is impossible. You can't get within 50 yards of another car without worrying whether it will suddenly teleport right into you.
Quote from BuddhaBing :I agree completely. I've tweaked my settings to get about 30-40fps offline and it feels pretty smooth and easy to control. When I join an online race the framerate drops to 10-20fps and I start getting controller lag. The other cars are hopping all over the place even though their pings are in the 100-200ms range. Close racing is impossible. You can't get within 50 yards of another car without worrying whether it will suddenly teleport right into you.

I agree. Online, it isn't just the fps that drops, it becomes a lot more laggy/jerky in general, with the other cars (with pings in the 100s) skitting around. Everyone (except those with NASA computers) sees a fps drop in LFS when there's lots of other cars on screen, but it doesn't usually affect things too badly. In nKP when online everything gets very laggy even when the fps drops to only the low 30s. 30fps should still be fairly smooth, as can be seen in the replay mode (where my replays are locked at 30fps (possibly for video making reasons??). With an Athlon 4400 X2 and two 7800GTX in SLI config nKP online performs terribly - I can only imagine how bad it is for those with 'recomended spec' PCs.

nKP for me offline is actually silky smooth, with only a few heavily details sections of tracks where the fps drops into the 50s (I run Vsync at 60Hz). When I do get a solid 60fps, it is smoother than LFS running at 60fps.

I'll give nKP another go offline now they've released at least the lobby fix, but I think I'll be testing it mostly offline. So far, I've quite enjoyed it offline and the physics certainly have me convinced far more than rF ever did (although rF's netcode beats nKP by a long way). There's a few odd feedback issues (what's the vibration through corners?) and it seems far too easy to flat spot a tyre so bad it feels like I've buckled a wheel. Also the autoclutch system is a pain to get used to - I keep thinking my wheel's paddle microswitch is playing up it misses the upchange so frequently, but hopefully that's just a case of fine tuning the clutch timings.

I'm far from writing nKP off but I really hope there are vast improvements to the netcode and online fps, or it's life will be short.

EDIT: Small fps improvement online by ensuring 'boost windows priority' is selected under the options. The sound is also improved by reducing latency to 50ms. Still stutters when online though.

LFS Community gives nKPro a go?
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