FAQ

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Revision as of 13:31, 28 December 2021 by MandulAA (talk | contribs) (→‎What types of cars and tracks are included?: added s3 vehmods mention)
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"Flying cars are not a very efficient way to move things from one point to another." - Bill Gates

This section of the LFS manual intends to answer most of the frequently asked questions about Live for Speed. Got a question which isn't listed here? Read the readme.txt in your LFS directory and explore the manual. If you still haven't found an answer to your problem, search the official LFS forum or post a new thread to the LFS Beginners forum and hopefully someone will answer your question. Before doing this, please see the How To Ask Questions The Smart Way guide.

About LFS

What is LFS?

Live for Speed is a serious racing simulator. No arcade modes, no steering aids (if the server admin so chooses, no arcade views) - YOU have to do the driving. LFS is currently offering 3 licenses with S3 being the highest level (with all content), the demo is free to download and free to play online. LFS has no publisher, meaning that the developers have total control and freedom.

Who is developing LFS?

A small development team - Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen. Just them, there is no megacorp. inc. ltd. behind LFS, actually there's not even "a company" behind LFS:

We haven't formed a company. Legally we are a partnership with the name "Live for Speed". - Scawen

As of October 2006, Victor has stepped down as permanent 'Technical Support' guy, although he plans to retain a role in LFS in some capacity. His place will be filled by Geraldine, Scawen's wife, and she is ideally placed to further the massive contributions made by Victor. As of May 2007 Victor has been in charge of Yordise Merchandise, a web shop solution which also sells Live for Speed branded clothes with permission from Live for Speed.

Complete list?

Too many to mention here, see the credits page.

Where can I download it?

From the official website of LFS: https://www.lfs.net/downloads

Why should I bother?

LFS is one of the best racing simulations to date. Some consider it to be the best. Superb physics give realistic handling and superb netcode gives excellent online racing. More than that, LFS offers the chance to join a community with a very close relationship to the developers. Many of the features you see in the the current patch were suggested by forum members, and most features were tested thoroughly during a public test patch phase. LFS is still under active development.

Release info

When and how is LFS released?

The first public version of LFS was released in 2002, and since then, more and more features have been pumped into the game. The licenses (which unlock content like cars and tracks) have progressively become available. For an outline of major versions and the changes, see About LFS, for a complete version history with official changelogs, see Version History.
S1 License became available on 2003-07-13.
S2 License became available on 2005-06-25.
S3 License became available on 2015-12-19.

How much does LFS cost?

Starting with 31 Dec 2016, all countries have been divided into three different price bands (categories). The first band price is the same as before, £12 per license level (e.g. Demo to S1 or S1 to S2). People from countries in the second band now pay £9 per license level and people in countries from the third band pay £6 per license level.

More info on this change: here.

You can have a look to see the prices in each country here.

Lfspricebands.png

Conversion of common prices:

For other currencies, see http://www.xe.com/ucc/

What new features are included in S2?

Nowadays, S1/S2/S3 license levels only indicate a level of content (cars and tracks) available to those owning the license. All features of the simulator are available to all players (except those marked on this page: https://www.lfs.net/shop/licenseselect ), since there is only one LFS client that gets constantly updated. There might be a confusion about S1/S2/S3 license levels, because when the S2 license became available, it also meant that an update to LFS came with it in parallel. That patch introduced damage, graphical and sound improvements, pitstops, driver changes, new cars, new tracks and much more.

What types of cars and tracks are included?

See pages Cars and Tracks. S3 license owners can also access, create and use Vehicle Mods online.

How can I pay for it?

You can buy LFS here. Payments can be made online directly via credit card or PayPal. Also supported is Moneybookers, which is an online payment option for those without a credit card. If you are from the UK, you can send in a cheque.

There are also some localised shops around. These often provide alternate payment options like bank transfer. They also sell LFS on a CD:

If you are from Japan, see here.

Can I get LFS in my country?

You can buy LFS from any country provided you can make a payment via accepted methods. There are also some local shops where you can buy a license, as is listed in the previous FAQ entry.

Does LFS have a publisher?

No - "our plan is to maintain our independence for total freedom".

The simulation

Why only 1 track and 3 cars in the demo?

The fully functional Demo is only a taste of what LFS is. Although you would probably like more cars etc., it would be counter productive for the developers to release more - it might reduce sales in the long run. Remember they need to make a living too. If you enjoy the Demo, multiply that by 9999 and you get the fun you should get in S2. Also, remember there are 4 configurations to the track. So that's twelve combinations!

On what cars are the LFS cars based?

LFS currently features several licensed real cars:

As for the fantasy cars, the following is NOT an "official" list nor a "based on" list, just observations of what the cars may look like by several forum members.

XFR, UFR, FXR, XRR, FZR are GTR versions of the road cars, the latter three resembling cars racing in the now defunct JGTC.

Track List

If you're not familiar with the track's shorthand names, here's something you might find helpful:

Track Abbr. Circuit Rev.
BL
Blackwood 		BL1 GP BL1R
BL2 Historic BL2R
BL3 Rallycross BL3R
BL4 Car Park N/A
SO
South City 		SO1 Classic SO1R
SO2 Sprint 1 SO2R
SO3 Sprint 2 SO3R
SO4 Long SO4R
SO5 Town Course SO5R
SO6 Chicane Route SO6R
FE
Fern Bay 		FE1 Club FE1R
FE2 Green FE2R
FE3 Gold FE3R
FE4 Black FE4R
FE5 Rallycross FE5R
FE6 Rallycross Green FE6R
AU
Autocross 		AU1 Autocross N/A
AU2 Skid Pad N/A
AU3 Drag Strip (2 lane) N/A
AU4 8 Lane Drag N/A
KY
Kyoto Ring 		KY1 Oval KY1R
KY2 National KY2R
KY3 GP Long KY3R
WE
Westhill 		WE1 National WE1R
WE2 International WE2R
WE3 Car Park N/A
WE4 Karting WE4R
WE5 Karting National WE5R
AS
Aston 		AS1 Cadet AS1R
AS2 Club AS2R
AS3 National AS3R
AS4 Historic AS4R
AS5 Grand Prix AS5R
AS6 Grand Touring AS6R
AS7 North AS7R
RO
Rockingham 		RO1 ISSC N/A
RO2 National N/A
RO3 Oval N/A
RO4 ISSC Long N/A
RO5 Lake N/A
RO6 Handling N/A
RO7 International N/A
RO8 Historic N/A
RO9 Historic Short N/A
RO10 International Long N/A
RO11 Sportscar N/A
LA
Layout Square 		LA1 Long Grid N/A
LA2 Wide Grid N/A

Add X or Y to get the particular track's open config version. For example AS7X would be Aston open config track with AS7 start-grid (since test patch Z30).

Can I mod or change the sim?

  • The car skins are located in the /skins directory and can be edited with every graphics program. See the Skin Tutorial for more.
  • Textures are located in the /dds and /pics directories. Make sure to have a backup of the original texture files, just in case you want to switch back later.
  • Vehicle modding and the supplementary LFS Editor (with which you can create/model entirely new cars or alter existing ones) are available for S3 license holders. See the Vehicle Mods page for more.
  • For adding your own music, see here.
  • For any other addons and software, try the Unofficial Addons forum.

Is there any new music available?

Yes: http://www.lfs.net/file_lfs.php?name=LFS_MUSIC_ADDON.zip

Are the car engine sounds from a third party developer?

No - the developers have created their own engine sound system. You can access the sound editor by pressing SHIFT+A while driving.

There are also some community made engine sounds available, which can be found here. https://www.lfs.net/forum/thread/44432

What keyboard commands are there in LFS?

See the keys.pdf in your Live for Speed\docs -directory or take a look at the keys page in this manual.

What do I do if I have a problem running the game?

If LFS is crashing or hangs/freezes post here. Give as much and detailed information of your problem as possible. If you don't know how to do something, please read the readme.txt in your LFS directory and this manual. If you still haven't found an answer to your problem, post a new thread to the Technical Assistance forum.

Can other players see my custom skin? Where do I upload my skins?

Other players can not see your skin if you receive message "Your car's skin was not found at www.lfsworld.net", you need to upload you skin to LFS World. Login to LFSW and double click on My online car-skins icon, from there you can upload your own skin to LFSW so other players can download your skin and see it in all its glory. Note: this feature is only for licensed players or demo players who have purchased skin upload slots.

How to run LFS on a LAN?

Take a look at our hosting guide.

What do abbreviations/icons in the server list mean?

See the Multiplayer section of the Game modes page.

Technical

What is the minimum spec?

  • Minimum computer requirements: 2 GHz CPU, 256MB system memory, DirectX 9 capable 3D graphics card
  • Recommended computer requirements: 3 GHz CPU, 1024MB system memory, 3D graphics card with at least 512MB memory

LFS runs on both 32 and 64 bit Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10). There is a workaround to play LFS on Linux with Wine, see more info here.

What controllers are supported?

Pretty much any wheel/pedals/shifter/handbrake you can think of. You can also drive with a mouse or keyboard, as well as most gamepads.

Does Live for Speed support widescreen monitors?

Yes, as tested by Widescreengamingforum.com, LFS has full support for widescreen monitors. As well as for multiple monitors.
Notes:
If you use a triplehead resolution (12:3 or 15:4) the HUD is on the center monitor.
As of LFS version 0.5X10 you can fine tune the HUD position in Options->Display->Interface.
You can adjust the FOV (Field of View) to your liking.

I want to run a host from behind a router or connection sharing - which port needs to be open?

The default port is 63392 TCP and UDP, however server admins can select different ports to run their servers on, so that one computer can run more than one LFS server. See http://portforward.com/routers.htm on how to forward the ports in your hardware firewall/router.

Can I use my shifter in LFS?

Yes, shifters and clutches are supported. See the Options->Controls pages to set them up.

F9, F10, F11 and F12 don't work?

You are probably using one of those keyboards with special keys mapped as a second function to the F-keys. Use the corresponding key to switch between the special functions and the F-keys. On Logitech keyboards that key is often called "F-key". On the Microsoft Natural keyboards the special functions key is called "F Lock".

Cars have no rims / Can't see rims / Wheels are invisible?

You probably enabled the Simple wheels setting in Options->Graphics by mistake. For speed you need to enable it, for good graphics you should keep the setting disabled.

The game stutters/freezes approximately every 5 seconds while playing online and single player mode doesn't have this issue?

For some updating the Windows ACPI drivers has cured the issue. First backup all important data. Then go to device manager and expand the computer setting, and right click on Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC and choose update driver from the list.

Why has LFS suddenly locked itself, no changes have been made to the computer and windows has not been reinstalled?

When your computer has been in hibernation mode before starting LFS this is known to happen. You need to restart windows and then LFS is unlocked again. Note that similar problem might occur if computer has been in hibernation mode prior to unlocking LFS. Make sure you have restarted windows before unlocking LFS.

After updating to patch Z I have experienced a big drop in framerate

In Patch Z the task of rendering some parts in the interior of the car has been moved from the main CPU to the graphic card processor. This change usually provides increased and/or smoother framerate for computers with 'modern' GPUs, but on the other hand LFS will be slower on ancient hardware which does not support Hardware Vertex Shading. Most, if not all, the graphics cards manufactured in the last 3-4 years support HVS and can be picked up used for little money.

I'm having problems with LFS under Windows Vista

Most troubles with Vista disappear if you just run LFS in Administrator mode, which can be enabled through the properties of the program.

List of escape codes

List of escape codes
Code Character Code Encoding Code Text color
^v | ^L Latin 1 (CP1252) ^0 Black
^a * ^G Greek (ISO-8859-7) ^1 Red
^c : ^C Cyrillic (CP1251) ^2 Green
^d \ ^J Japanese (Shift-JIS) ^3 Yellow
^s / ^E Central Europe (ISO-8859-2) ^4 Blue
^q ? ^T Turkish (ISO-8859-9) ^5 Purple
^t " ^B Baltic (ISO-8859-13) ^6 Cyan
^l < ^H Traditional Chinese (CP950) ^7 White
^r > ^S Simpified Chinese (CP936) ^8 Default (green in chat)
^h # ^K Korean (CP949) ^9 Original text colour and codepage

Community

Is there a Live For Speed IRC channel?

Yes, on irc.gamesurge.net channel #liveforspeed.

I prefer Discord, is there a server for Live for Speed?

Yes, there is a Community Discord Server for LFS. To join, use this invite link: https://discord.com/invite/wZrUTJN

Are there any leagues or competitions around?

Take a look at the official race calendar and the LFS league forum.

A place to get started is the League Racing Guide.

Misc

Can I subscribe to a mailing list or newsletter?

Yes you can. Go to the LFS site, login and go to your account details page.

Are any replay analysers available?

Yes, Analyze for Speed and F1PerfView. Download them here.

Misc Howtos

How can I get a coloured player name? / Type messages in colour?

In the text input box, press CTRL and choose your colour (keyboard shortcut: CTRL+0-8).

CTRL + Text color
0 Black
1 Red
2 Green
3 Yellow
4 Blue
5 Purple
6 Cyan
7 White
8 Default (green in chat)

How can I get a coloured server/host name?

Applies only for dedicated server. For non-dedicated, see above. Open your server's *.cfg file in notepad and edit the host name entry. See above for the colour codes and precede the number with a ^ character. Eg. /host=^7Ho^4st Na^7me - would make the host name have colours of the Finnish flag.

How can I change function (F1-F8 and CTRL+F1-F8) key message binds?

You can change them in Options -> Game and next to 'Change' click 'F1-F8' or 'CTRL +' button.

How can I type in Greek/Russian/Japanese Kana/Turkish/etc?

In the text input box press CTRL and click the button between the cancel and OK button and choose the language you want write in (if you click the small arrow, you can see all the characters available in the current code page).

How does LFS run on a computer with 123GHz/456DDR/XYZ?

See The unofficial LFS System Benchmark.

How can I make LFS associated files automatically get placed in the right places upon download?

As of official patch Z28, by using the LFS installer file associations will be setup as part of the installation. For post-install setup there is LFS Associations setup.

To do it manually, simply 'associate' LFS files (such as .lyt, .set) by right clicking on any (*.lyt, *.set) file, go to 'open with', then browse for LFS. Then, when you want to download one, instead of having to find the right place, just click 'open' when prompted, and the file will go in the right place for you.

To start LFS replay files (.spr, .mpr) from a webpage link for example, same process applies.

How do I use the LFS Editor (vehicle editor and modeller)? / How do I make car mods?

See the Vehicle Mods page for guides about car modding and the LFS Editor itself.

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