About LFS

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An internet multiplayer race in S2 with the Formula XR
The amazing tyre flex physics in Live for Speed S2
Choose between various setup settings
An old LFS logo
An early development version of LFS
The GT Turbo in LFS v0.1 at an unpublished city track in Miami.

Live for Speed is an online racing simulator developed by Scawen Roberts (game engine), Eric Bailey (tracks & cars) and Victor van Vlaardingen (music, website, sales). It's main features are the realistic physic engine and internet multiplayer.with up to 24 players. The game is only sold at the official website http://www.LiveforSpeed.com. You won't find it in any shops as the developers want to stay independent from any publisher, so they can include exactly the features they want to have in the game and do not have to change the game according to some manager's opinion. Starting as a demo in August 2002 more and more people tried the game and joined the internet community. With a lot of development progress the first stage (S1) of the game was published in July 2003. Two years later the S2 Alpha was released and is still under development. The three developers have a close connection to the community and you recently visit the official forum to get ideas what the players want to see in the game. The game is being developed all the time and new features are published in free patches.

Physics Engine

The outer loop of the physics and environment checks run at 100 Hz, but with 20 uninterruptable sub-updates inside that (tight loop on each car) so in one sense it's 2000 Hz physics.

History of LFS

  • Sometime in 1999: Working on Lionhead's Black & White, Scawen starts to write a small stunt simulator with mouse steering in his free time
  • Spring 2001: After the release of Black & White, Scawen and Eric leave Lionhead to work fulltime on LFS
  • 18.08.2002: A user of the West Racing forum finds the demo test 0.04k on the internet and spreads the word about LFS: http://www.west-racing.com/forums/index.php?&act=ST&f=1&t=958&st=0
  • 19.09.2002: The official LFS forum starts at Race Sim Central: http://forum.rscnet.org/forumdisplay.php?f=205
  • 17.07.2003: Release of Live for Speed S1, the first full LFS release
  • 29.07.2003: The LFSWorld website goes online http://www.lfsworld.net/
  • 25.06.2005: Release of the Live for Speed S2 Alpha
  • 10.08.2005: The new official LFS forum goes online: http://www.lfsforum.net

Major LFS Releases

  • 18.08.2002: 0.04k - The first public LFS version ever
  • 06.09.2002: 0.1B - Demo test with added reversed track configs
  • 22.03.2003: 0.2A - Demo test, similar to S1 but without the new cars & tracks
  • 17.07.2003: 0.3A - S1
  • 05.04.2005: 0.5K - S2 Demo Alpha, features work-in-progress S2 physics but with only demo content
  • 25.06.2005: 0.5P - S2 Alpha, physics improved since 0.5K but still in development, full S2 content available

Complete List of LFS Releases

Note that this list exludes the numerous test patches that have been released

Demo Test era

  • 18.08.2002: 0.04k - The first ever public version of Live for Speed
  • 31.08.2002: 0.04Q - ???
  • 06.09.2002: 0.1B - Major update, lots of bug fixes and surprises
  • 11.09.2002: 0.1C - ???
  • 15.09.2002: 0.1E - Greatly improved controller support
  • 11.10.2002: 0.1F - Replays controls, more options and improvements
  • 27.10.2002: 0.1H2 - Added multiplayer replays, other small improvements and bug fixes
  • 09.11.2002: 0.1J - Small improvements and bug fixes
  • 13.12.2002: 0.1N - Small improvements and bug fixes
  • 30.01.2003: 0.1P - Small improvements and bug fixes
  • 05.02.2003: 0.1Q - Small improvements and bug fixes
  • 19.02.2003: 0.1T - Small improvements and bug fixes
  • 04.03.2003: 0.1W - Mostly bug fixes
  • 22.03.2003: 0.2A - Demo test, similar to S1 but without the new cars & tracks
  • 02.04.2003: 0.2B - Uses UDP packets for car position updates, various minor fixes
  • 02.04.2003: 0.2C - 0.2B had a bug and was replaced by 0.2C the same day
  • 07.05.2003: 0.2D - ???
  • 01.06.2003: 0.2E - New SPR replay format (was GST format), added bump stops, gear ratios individually adjustable
  • 25.06.2003: 0.2F - Master server IP change update

S1 era

  • 17.07.2003: 0.3A - First release with paid for content
  • 25.09.2003: 0.3B - Adds translations, fixes many bugs
  • 31.10.2003: 0.3D - Allows up to 16 players to race online at once (previously 12)
  • 15.12.2003: 0.3E - Adds a new car (MRT5)
  • 02.03.2004: 0.3F - Adds HVS support, in-game LFS World integration and makes changes to keyboard steering system (less assists)
  • 08.10.2004: 0.3H - Adds skid marks and improved online stability

Missing info: 0.3C and 0.3G

S2 pre-alpha era

  • 14.08.2004: 0.5A - Pre-alpha tested at the Games Convention in Leipzig, included MRT6 and LX8 GTR

S2 alpha era

  • 15.01.2005: 0.5D - S2 CMX viewer released so work on S2 skins could begin
  • 11.02.2005: 0.5F - Early alpha build leaked across the net at some point in March, S2 content included but only S1 content could be unlocked
  • 05.04.2005: 0.5K - Demo content only with numerous WIP improvements from v0.3
  • 30.04.2005: 0.5L - Updated demo with the addition of clutch pack differentials and improved tyre heating
  • 17.06.2005: 0.5N - Updated CMX viewer released only
  • 25.06.2005: 0.5P - First official release with full S2 content, up to 20 cars per server
  • 27.11.2005: 0.5Q - Improved international support
  • 18.04.2006: 0.5S - Updated CMX viewer released only
  • 21.04.2006: 0.5T - Improved tyre & aero physics, a new car (BMW Sauber F1.06), two new configurations for Aston and much more
  • 29.04.2006: 0.5U - Adds Outguage system, server welcome messages, also fixes many small bugs
  • 22.12.2006: 0.5V - New engine sound system, improved multiplayer, auto-patcher system and many small GUI and usability improvements
  • 31.03.2007: 0.5W - Improved car sounds, various graphical updates, many small other improvements
  • 08.06.2007: 0.5X - Improved multiplayer, pre-load added to clutch pack diffs, high-res skin download
  • T.B.A.2007: 0.5Y - Improved physics, updated interiors, updated tracks (likely South City and Kyoto)

Missing versions in the list were only released to the beta team for testing

For more details see http://www.liveforspeed.net/?page=oldernews

The Development Team

Interviews