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Live for Speed
Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey, Victor van Vlaardingen
Game details:
Release Date: TBA
Genre: Racing Simulator
ESRB: Everyone
Platforms: PC only
In a world dominated by subpar racing simulators, one of them tries to stand out, and to a very large degree, it does, and quite well. This game is the child of the work made by the LFS team (comprised of Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen), and is called simply, Live for Speed. Having in mind that it is mostly an indie game, the game tends to seem like it's still like a game in progress, and it is, for the last 3 years from the release of the S2 version, and more before that. As the game was developed with realism in mind, you wouldn't really expect it to be SO realistic. LFS S2 is one of the most realistic racing simulators out there.
About the simulator
More a driving sim than a driving game, Live for Speed stands out through it's real-time simulations of the physics involved in racing, as well as the very well done online capabilities. It simulates (and does a nice job doing it) tyres, along with everything it implies, like dividing every tyre in 48 sampling points (arranged as 16 along the circumference by 3 across the width of the tire), dynamic wear of the patches, amount of dirt on the surface, along with the slidiness which should come along with it, flat spots along with hot spots, and visible real-time deformation of the tyre walls because of inertia and G-forces dragging the car off the natural course of the wheel. This in itself has never been seen before on any other racing simulator until now, and it alone gives the feeling of the car sticking to the ground, instead of just floating around. If you use a racing force feedback wheel, as you should, you will also feel when the wheels start spinning off, most of the time along with you into a wall (if you've never raced before). The game also accurately simulates different kinds of suspensions, along with accurate aerodynamics with downforce being very important to your well being when going around a high speed corner, drivetrain, different gearbox types, clutch overheating and also suspension, car body and partial engine damage. The damage could be better, considering the fact that when you hit something you get your body deformed and that's about it, but the rest is really up to par to what it should be. Also, when you hit a wall at high speed, you tend to jump back in recoil like a toy car, fact which is not all that nice, but still, it's much better than nothing, and better then most other racing games out there period.
How you can drive to win
Like most other racing simulators, to actually feel and properly control your car, you should use a steering wheel. The reason is quite simple if you have ever watched or experienced motorsports. The usual keyboard setup means all or nothing, both for the directional keys, and also for the acceleration, clutch and brake pedals. The setup might be great for most arcade racing games, but you might observe in most motorsports that drivers don't just jerk the wheel left and right if the turns come in. Everything is made with smooth transitions, and for good reason, as a typical jerking of the wheel ingame would mean you would end up in the nearest wall or with the front wheels all worn up. The game supports multiple controllers, namely keyboard, mouse, wheel, gamepad and joystick too, but where the game truly comes out (excluding the wheel), is the mouse control. Here the mouse control is actually useful, as, with it's FPS feel, it manages to do smoother control of the car than the keyboard, thus filling the gap for those who don't own a wheel. Yet for those who do (I truly recommend the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel, it's THE best value for the money of all devices I've ever seen), the experience comes short of only the real life race track. It offers life-like force feedback to the wheel, and also allows for the use of FreeTrack, which helps you move your head in order to move the camera in-game. Nifty! What is more is that LFS is a game which is used for race drivers training at Formula BMW, and that must tell you something.
What you can drive
The game features 19 cars, ranging from street legal family cars, to performance racing cars, each with it's own distinct and unique feel. Also, the game features Formula racing cars, which are so much different from the rest, yet are simulated very accurately, due to the engine powering the game. Most of these cars are fictional, but four of them are not. These are the BMW Sauber F1 car, the Formula BMW, the Raceabout '03 racing car concept and the McGill University Formula SAE. These cars have been built in conjuntion with the respective companies in order to obtain licensing, so you should know that this is a serious racing simulator, not some open money commercial racing arcade game. The rest of the cars, although fictional, are modelled after real counterparts, so they don't feel off, actually they feel right on. We can expect more licensed cars around, but that is to be seen in the final version. You race the cars on a different set of tracks, each different in difficulty, appearance, and layout, and although all fictional, they still have the sense of realism in them. You get 6 racing environments, each with it's own plethora of different tracks, ranging from speedways, chicane courses, rallycross tracks, and even one extra environment, which features a drag strip, along with an 8 lane drag strip (for big parties) and a few parking lots and drift circles on which you can make your own autocross courses using (shift+u) cones and obstacles. The replayability of the game is enhanced by the multitude of tracks and cars and also by the AI drivers who learn from their own experience and your driving style. Yet the thing that squeezes out most of the game is the multiplayer. If you own the S2 license and a racing wheel, you can go online on real racing servers, which are nothing like the demo courses, where there are just newbies driving full speed into the nearest wall. You can find anything, from tuner servers, endurance races, to drifting contests, in which the spectators are those who decide the winner (with some online trinkets and scripts anyway). Also, as a starting point, you get scripted training courses in order to get you acquainted with the different cars and tracks. It acts as a nice introduction to those who know nothing of accelerating and breaking (as I was) and takes them to the next level.
Graphics - Making the circuit go and look round
The graphics are nothing in particular, but the fact that stands out more is the crispness of the game. The graphical engine powering Live for Speed uses DirectX8 technology, so it does not need a powerhouse to run, yet the fact that this game looks better then most newer games is quite intriguing, and although this is no life like simulator, it can become one, given the fact that it's still in alpha stage. The beta version on the forums also features AntiAliasing and Anisotrophic filtering, and having a nice graphics card can make the game look attractive. The interiors and cars are beautifully detailed, and although it does not make use of sophisticated shaders and stuff like that, Live for Speed is still a nice game to look at.
Sounds and feel
The sounds in the game are completely customisable, and you can make the first family car to sound like a jet plane if you wish, but all of them are well made and fit the gameplay and game in particular. The music is a bit lacking, but you can add your own music to the game, given that you can convert them to .ogg format. Nothing more can be said, beside that along with the rumbling of the force feedback in your hands, it just gives you a tremendous feel with the engine booming in your head.
Tuning is essential
Tuning capabilities in LFS could not be missed, and although you can't buy new parts and stuff, you can tune the existing cars and parts as much as you need, without the need of any more diversivity. Pretty much everything that can be tuned is tunable in the game, so if you like tuning cars to perfection, this is heaven to you. Also, you have a plethora of analysis tools, all of which are real-time during the race, so you can study the forces on the suspension, the weight distribution on the wheels, along with other things, like tyre wear and fuel consumption. Everything you need is here.
The Online part of Online Racing Simulator
The online community is diverse and sometimes professional, there are clans which specialize in anything from tuning cars to racing drags and endurance races, everything well organized. Live for Speed features a website, LFSWorld.net, a real-time comprehensive statistics website and database with a unique online skin support. Each racers' online race statistics are updated, including per-lap personal bests, lap counts, distance traveled, fuel burnt, among others, and users can view other racers stats as well. Additionally, an official world record lap time chart, where racers can upload hotlaps, is maintained for each track configuration and car combination, and other racers can download hotlaps to be viewed in-game so you can see how well you fare against the competition. The game is still in alpha stage, so expect much more when it goes gold, although that will happen in a few years after the current rate of progress.
Racing around Conclusions
Live for Speed, although not perfect in it's own right, it's not even supposed to be, seeing as it is still in alpha stage, yet you can be assured that it is THE BEST racing simulator open to the general public everywhere, and no other game can reach it's level or realism, as much as it would try.
In conclusion, even if you are not a racing junkie, you should try out this game, at least the demo, for free from www.lfs.net. It is worth it, and if you end up into the nearest wall, don't fret, everyone does because they confuse this game for Need for Speed and thinks it is an arcade game.
How does it fare so far?
The best racing simulator game ever, period.