Live for Speed S2, version Z25

[Scawen]

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


Three ways to get Patch Z25 :

1) AUTO UPDATER - If you already have version V, W, X, Y or Z :

- Click on "Multiplayer" then "List of Games" in LFS and choose a download mirror.

2) MANUAL PATCH - If you already have version Z :

- Click HERE and save the patch into your LFS folder.
- With the patch correctly positioned in your LFS folder, run it and select "Yes to all" when asked about overwriting files.

3) FULL VERSION - If you are new to LFS or making a fresh installation.

- Click HERE to visit the download page and follow the installation instructions.


More detailed information :

Improved multiple monitor and curved screen support :

The number of left and right screens can be manually entered in the
View Options screen and you can set the angle between monitors.

If you specify more than one screen, multiple views are rendered in
different directions. This allows much wider fields of view.

2 screens - maximum FOV 180 degrees
3 screens - maximum FOV 270 degrees
4 or more screens - maximum FOV 360 degrees

The FOV slider does not set the total field of view. Instead, you
set the FOV of the main screen. LFS then calculates each screen's
field of view and offset according to your settings.

Use "Screen angle" setting to specify the angle between monitors.

Use "View offset" to move the steering wheel off centre.

There are three separate sets of settings that are used depending
on the screen size :

Screen width 3.75 times the height -> wide mode (default 3 screen)
Screen width 2.5 times the height -> medium mode (default 2 screen)
Otherwise normal (single screen) mode is active (default 1 screen)

These three sets all have the same available settings but different
default values. This is so that if you have a wide screen setup
then LFS will still look good when you reduce it to a normal window,
because at that point it will automatically use "normal" mode.

To reproduce the old single projection 3 three screen mode, either
- set the number of left and right screens to zero, or
- set left and right screens to 1 and set "Screen angle" to zero.

A curved screen can be supported by setting the number of left and
right screens to the maximum of 5 each. This 11 screen setup is
an approximate cylindrical projection, ideal for curved screens.

Various other setups can now be properly supported, for example :

- A 2 screen setup with side screen at 30 degrees and offset wheel
- A 5 screen setup with each screen at 45 degrees - total FOV 225
- A 3 projector setup with each screen at 90 degrees - total FOV 270

Note :

External views (TV, helicopter and SHIFT+U mode) are always drawn as
a single render and usually confined to the 2D interface area.

Related settings :

Option to force external views to use full width
Bezel compensation - to allow for the gap between monitors
Screen widths - for centre and side screens with a different width

Other changes to view system :

Two button look (left + right) is now double the one button look and
this allows up to 180 degrees look (like old versions of LFS).

Rear look (instant 180 degree view from centre of car) is now the
same on all cars (no longer shows a virtual mirror) but is disallowed
if the host activates forced cockpit view.

Driving view Z-buffering improved so you should not usually see
missing parts of your seat or the car body when looking around.

Mouse steer/look/axes now relative to interface (not entire screen)
New command : /view save - save any changes made to a custom view
New command : /view reload - reload a custom view without saving

Graphics :

Road cars and virtual dashboard use dashboard light symbols
Added option to set colour of new road car gear LED display
Shift lights removed from all road cars other than RaceAbout
Improved wheel drawing system including rotating brake discs
FBM / XRG / XRT / XRR wheels updated using the new draw system
Included updated liveforspeed.se skins and liveforspeed.ru skins
Headlights and tail lights can now be switched on by pressing '3'
Improved shadows - sharper and ambient shadow effect now included
Slight increase in wheels LOD reduction distance (increases detail)
Increased maximum value of Mirror LOD user setting (default now 0.3)
FIX : Physics objects & smoke can now be seen through your windscreen
FIX : Turn signals were switched off if car received any damage
FIX : Lightmap (lighting on cars) was positioned inaccurately
FIX : MRT5 gear indicator and fuel gauge are now visible

List of Hosts :

List is produced much faster (by using UDP instead of TCP)
Host options are displayed after clicking on a host to join
Improved order of "sort by version number" option (V column)
Number of cars in race and maximum are displayed for each host
Page up / page down / home / end keys now move through the list
Improved layout, appearance and options filters (with descriptions)
FIX : No response in List of Hosts after failing to join a host
FIX : Closing X connects message when trying to return to menu

Interface :

Click car arrow on small map to view that car
Blue and yellow flags removed from cruise mode
Connections list is now shown in alphabetical order
Click name in race position list to view that player's car
New key : SHIFT+Z to show the mouse cursor when it would be hidden
V / TAB / P / HOME / F1 / F2 / F3 / F / SHIFT+M / N work in options
Window size and position now restored after full screen or exit LFS
Direction to turn and speed limit is shown when leaving pit garage
Unlock screen : new "clear" button to remove name and password
New text command /showmouse [yes/no] does the same as SHIFT+Z
FIX : It was possible to start a replay during an active vote
FIX : F12 tyre display for remote car could go off screen
FIX : Central message sub-text disappeared in escape menu
FIX : Player name was wrong in entry screen after replay
FIX : Skin names containing a '.' could not be loaded

Autocross :

New key : SHIFT+O to enter options from SHIFT+U mode
Smoother view adjustment with left mouse button while following car
FIX : Autocross editor buttons were wrongly scaled with the interface
FIX : Selected object in editor vanished behind anything transparent
FIX : Could cross finish line without passing all route checkers
FIX : Autocross route checkers only worked for one lap

Translations :

Included new Latin American Spanish translation
Korean, Spanish and Slovenian training lessons

Multiplayer :

Progress indicator for skin downloads while joining a host
New message from host replaces "Did not receive guest info"
FIX : Added checks to prevent guests joining with no user name or ID
FIX : OOS starting race after joining autocross host in entry screen
FIX : Dedicated host did not save skins used in MPR (for downloads)

Misc :

Implemented ABS brakes in XRG / RB4 / FXO / XRT / FZ5
Misc option "Shadow generation" to select optimal shadow draw
OutGauge : Dashboard lights reported in new OutGaugePack fields
InSim : Traction Control and ABS are now reported in IS_NPL packet
InSim : New packets to start / search replays and take screenshots
FIX : LFS could crash when many cars were in view (e.g. during MPR)
FIX : Mouse steering was stuck on full lock after minimising window
FIX : Vista 64 power save switched off monitor in full screen mode
FIX : Short cuts were possible in slalom course training lesson
FIX : Follower view angle setting changed when LFS restarted
FIX : MPR buffer overflow vulnerability (thanks to muhaa)
FIX : Crash in game setup screen after removing a player


- LFS Devs

[pasibrzuch]

Yupiyayey

[The Very End]

Thumbs up. It's all those little details that makes the whole experience better

[shiny_red_cobra]

Thanks Scavier! Now please, please, please finish off the physics updates and Scirocco!

[Neto_r]

exc

[Sp33d Up]

Thanks Scawen, yet another great addition to LFS

[zeromussov]

What about hotlaps?

[Scawen]

Originally Posted by zeromussov

What about hotlaps?

You can now upload hotlaps recorded in Z25.

You can see on the hotlap charts at LFS World if a hotlap has been made using ABS - the only physical difference between Z25 and Z.

[bavorak]

Originally Posted by Scawen

You can now upload hotlaps recorded in Z25.

You can see on the hotlap charts at LFS World if a hotlap has been made using ABS - the only physical difference between Z25 and Z.

I dont like this very much...ABS may be good for people who race on mouse but if I were you I wouldnt allow hotlapping with ABS ... it causes that people, who dont want to play with any electronic systems in lfs, have no chance of competing with those who race with abs....and this is not only about hotlapping but in general about racing...if you dont have to think about your front wheels blocking you can just push the brake to the floor and that´s it ...until now there was also some skill necessary in braking...batching the brake force to prevent your wheels blocking

I am quite strictly against ABS because in my opinion racing should be just about pure drivers´ skill and not about using any electronic help... (not speaking about TC on BF1...without it BF1 becomes really hard to control)

however I doubt that this my opinion would change anything but I had to say this...and I hope I am not the only one who feels it this way

[SidiousX]

yay

[hectic]

Thanks Scawen and testers! Solid effort!

[GianniC]

Originally Posted by The Very End

Thumbs up. It's all those little details that makes the whole experience better

Seconded, thank you devs!

[Wiciu1996]

Thanks for patch
It's have lot of improvents imho, but...

VWS, early 2010

[SonicIce]

nice work

[vicbel]

If I download the full install and install OVER my current Z25(test patch) version .. would I mess things up?

[Scawen]

Originally Posted by vicbel

If I download the full install and install OVER my current Z25(test patch) version .. would I mess things up?

You would lose most of your settings.

You shouldn't normally need to do something like that though, unless something is broken in your version.

If you really want to start from scratch I'd say do it in a clean folder and copy over what you wanted to keep.

I created the full version by getting an old Z version and applying patches to it. Just had a few now unused files to delete at that point.

[Neto_r]

Originally Posted by vicbel

If I download the full install and install OVER my current Z25(test patch) version .. would I mess things up?

i do that, and only like scawen said: just lost my game settings

skins, setups keep the same

[Maelstrom]

I don't have the time to try the new semi-patch and probably won't for few weeks but the new mutiple screen FOV thing look like one of the best improvement we had in a very long time.

I guess I won't have anymore to chose between a realistic but side-blind view and an unrealistic distorded one.

Thanks

[Pablo Donoso]

Looks good to me, thanks for the update! =]

[MillerM]

Just great to have seen the process in the testpatch forum. And indeed, like has been said before, it's this attention to detail that makes LFS so great, and promises so much for the future.

Keep it up

[Flame CZE]

Great job! You deserve a break Good step forward

[Flame CZE]

So is there any difference between the full version and the patched Z version?

[Scawen]

No, I am very organised with the patches, and as I say, the full version I created is by patching a Z version with a Z to Z25 patch.

So there is no difference if you do that.

[jrd.racer]

Nice Devs keep it up!

[pearcy_2k7]

I can see us being here for months now...

[Homeless_Drunk]

Originally Posted by pearcy_2k7

I can see us being here for months now...

I see what you did there...you took the glass half empty approach.

[pearcy_2k7]

Originally Posted by Homeless_Drunk

I see what you did there...you took the glass half empty approach.

With LFS, the glass is always half empty

[5-6-ACE]

Not sure if this is just me, but. I JUST installed the new version and now every time I click to refresh my server list, LFS windows....

EDIT: OMG just looked at the new dash :O

Great job!

[Flame CZE]

Originally Posted by 5-6-ACE

Not sure if this is just me, but. I JUST installed the new version and now every time I click to refresh my server list, LFS windows....

You can set it in the Multiplayer screen - Window while connecting.

[Shadowww]

Originally Posted by 5-6-ACE

Not sure if this is just me, but. I JUST installed the new version and now every time I click to refresh my server list, LFS windows....

User error.

Edit: ****in' beaten