| Live for Speed S2 Facts : | ||
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| Just over a year ago a small demo of a driving simulator was released by three developers, Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen, since then it has been downloaded thousands of times, this title is known as Live For Speed. The demo was just a preview of things to come, last month the first part of three was released to the public at a price of only �12, titled �S1� it has a multitude of track variations and quite a few cars. S1 is an online racing simulator with cars mirroring real life production cars. After downloading the 140mb zip file and extracting it to a new folder (pity it didn�t have an installer for those who aren�t pc savvy), I proceeded to the website and paid the small �12 charge. Upon registration you receive three �keys� which are necessary to unlock the game. Though you don�t need all three keys at first you can have to spare in case of reformatting, if you use these ones up you can just send an email to the developers explain the situation and more than likely they will send you another. Once installed I eagerly started up, firstly I had to create a player, it was a nice touch to see male and female drivers to cater for all. I then proceeded to the controller setup screen, S1 really comes into its own here with a wealth of options to adjust, this is often overlooked by other developers and I was pleasantly surprised at the ease in which I configured my BRD Wheel and Speed 7 Pedals. I was now ready to rock!! So what should I try first, well there are three modes, single race, hotlapping and multiplayer, seeing as I wasn�t ready to show off my skills to the online crowd I decided to go for the single race option. The single race option lets you race against the AI, having seen several racing titles fail in this department my hopes were high that S1 would overcome, having heard that the AI actually learn!...First things first I had to setup the car, I could see that there are 7 cars to choose from ultimately though these have to be gained via a points system so I stuck with the default XF GTI, the setup options were incredible!...from adjusting caster to wheel track settings, anything you need to change you can. Another cool feature is the ability to see what changes you are making directly with the car on the screen, if you soften suspension the car will move accordingly, I guess it�s superficial but it adds to the immersion. I would prefer a different method of saving setups more like NASCAR 2003 by papyrus with folders for each track variation, but each to his own. Finally I am on track, with 11 AI cars, immediately I noticed that my system is struggling I have a 1700XP Athlon, Geforce 3 ti200, 512 ddr ram running at 1024x768 getting 15 frames per second, however the frame rate picks up once less cars are on the screen, also the graphics option which are extensive allow you to disable several features which can vastly improve your fps. Reality kicked in racing with the AI, you cant afford to pussyfoot around, instead it�s a real hard battle with door scraping and blocking to stay ahead and yes at first it felt like I had a magnetic rear bumper with lots of ramming and control freak manoeuvres! The experience reminded me greatly of watching saloons on TV, I was hooked. Speaking of TV the replays are very good, reminding me of Gran Turismo, you can see every bump on the suspension and a lot more. The in car graphics weren�t as good as I had hoped, NASCAR 2003 is the benchmark here and S1 is quite far off, one feature I really liked was the ability to change the field of view dynamically. Anyway several races later (and I mean several!) I managed to accrue enough points to get all the cars, you have a good choice of cars from FWD, RWD and 4WD all behaving like a real car should.I was a little disappointed with some of the cars which seem slower than the cars in the demo however the LX4, and LX6 (Caterham wannabes:P) were the cream of the crop, having been in one of these cars before it handled with a realism seen only in a few sims, this leads me onto the physics side. One of the most important parts of a sim are the physics, as aforementioned the physics of the LX�s seemed incredibly realistic, I cant really say much more on the matter, the other cars also have physics which would be a race instructors dream, with an accurate tyre and realistic handling you will have to learn how to drive properly, hitting kerbs and going onto gravel traps highlights the physics engine. The tracks within S1 are Blackwood, South City , Fern Bay and Autocross�.each track has several different variations from long over 3minute laps to rally cross , each has challenging corners. My favourite so far is Fern Bay which reminds me a little of Zandvoort with some long sweeping corners that will test your driving skills to the max. The city course is another I really enjoy, the tram tracks in the road are something you don�t notice until you go over them of course! The tracks can also be raced with different lighting conditions from dusk to a nice sunny day, the track graphics are very good as well adding to the realism. Hopefully in the next releases there will be actual weather affects such as rain. I found the sound in S1 a little disappointing, though the turbo sound is quite good, the general engine tones seem banal edging toward the Spectrum 48k area, the music reminded me a little of Miami Vice! Pity there isn�t a white Ferrari included One sound did grab me though, after turning off the helps and driving with the clutch I soon noticed a popping sound, aha so there is engine damage, soon my engine was sounding like a bowl of rice krispies. Unfortunately that�s where the damage ends, it�s a pity tyre wear wasn�t included for this release, hopefully it will for the next version. Moving on to the online aspect, I have never seen a racing sim that does this so well, even if you are on 56k modem you can have good clean racing(depending on the other drivers that is) by clicking on the multiplayer button you are presented with a list of servers which often have drivers in them. Double clicking on one will take you to the race where you immediately view the action that is going on, you can click on the join button and if the race has already started you can drive out of the pits and join the race, a great idea which means no hanging around. The other options are extensive such as voting to restart and sending setups directly to another driver, these ideas are truly groundbreaking and hopefully more sims will incorporate them. Another groundbreaking part of S1 is the website, I know this isn�t driving, but it truly is a great piece of dynamic programming, much like nGstats for Unreal Tournament you can see what laps you have done online your positions and plenty of other features, the site also included a hotlap section which ties in with the hotlapping option on the menu screen. The laps are automatically checked for verification, so no cutting or wall riding! In all this first release is a huge achievement by the three developers, I like the way they also interact with the community to make S1 better and better, if only other developers did this. For the next release I would like to see a number of additions, such as damage modelling, tyre wear and weather affects, having pit stop as well would increase the playability. I would also like to see more powerful cars, something like the DTM series would be an awesome experience with LFS. Ultimately I don�t have a lot of bad words for S1, it seems that the fan base is growing and growing, let�s hopes the developers� bank balance is too, we all want to see the next versions! |
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Comments : |
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| Author: Kris Kahle | 19-08-2003 |
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wow, these 3 guys have created something that, even when it isnt finished, it is better than alot of the major company's attempt for a sim. |
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| Author: asshole | 20-08-2003 |
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my ass man. live for speed isnt very good with car handling |
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| Author: kevin | 20-08-2003 |
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this game is pretty good compared to some crap gmes on the market by big league companies. good job! |
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| Author: dan | 23-08-2003 |
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i love the demo and after reading this article im bound to buy the full version ! |
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| Author: driver | 26-08-2003 |
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somebody know where to found a serialnumber, keygen or crack for the LFS S1a? |
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| Author: guri gay king kong | 01-09-2003 |
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Very good game, just some stupid complications with unlock keys and staff... |
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| Author: backfire | 13-10-2003 |
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its one of the best racing games around and the physics in this game are great...especially when you have a force feedback wheel |
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| Author: n�s | 23-10-2003 |
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COOL!!! |
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| Author: CrixMakin | 29-10-2003 |
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I've been following this game since its first release, and as soon as I get broadband internet I will be purchasing the full version (it's too big to download right now). What's with that guy who's asking about keygens? BUY IT, you skinflint.. |
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| Author: PeTaR | 11-01-2004 |
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I wanna also to find the keygen or the serial, here in Argentina it's unpurchaseable because 1 euro is 3.75 Argentina's money, please, if someone knows about a keygen or something similar please email me at petar@uol.com.ar thanx! |
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| Author: jONNY | 03-03-2004 |
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Buy it!!!! Just loved the handling...not like any other sim i ever played..... |
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| Author: Bladey | 12-03-2004 |
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Just want to say a big thanks to scawen & co...I've been a sim-racer since GP1 on an Atari, and this is among the best ONLINE race sims available...worth the price of a full game, so a bargain at �12!!!...ps, if I DID know of a keygen, I wouldnt SELL it to anyone, the developers deserve every penny they get from this game! |
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| Author: Tony Huber | 15-07-2004 |
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Solid article with no frills. |
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| Author: PumaPunku | 28-07-2004 |
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Sounds like a good game. Where do you buy a copy with US Dollars. it is loo big to download |
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| Author: canyon | 31-12-2007 |
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best sim game ever made !! |
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