LFS is an online multiplayer motor racing simulator (Simracing), used by virtual racers from all over the world. Some of the racers are or have been slot car racers, and others also race remote control cars. LFS is a great community and meeting place for everyone who is interested in racing cars, and almost everyone is a follower of motorsport in some shape or other, be it on TV, attending races, or in some cases LFS racers are actually real life racing drivers at various levels.
Suitable for all ages teens to 60s, LFS can give you a nice "fix" of racing and a racers' community to dip into at any time of day or night. 10 minutes is the typical length of a public "pick-up" race, but some servers offer longer options, even 24 hour races. If you are a slot car racer disappointed by the closure of the Scalextric Sport World internet racing service, then LFS is not a bad substitute, enabling you to race against anyone else anywhere on the planet. As you will see from the video on the home page, it's pretty realistic.
LFS for RC or slot car racers
You
will find that your experience in other types of model racing will
stand you in good stead on LFS, on three counts, and give you an instant
advantage over other LFS newbies. Firstly you will be
aware that in a close race, one crash can put you right out of
contention, so you will probably know how and when to exercise
caution in your driving, and not to push it too hard.
The same applies in LFS. Secondly, you will have experienced closely
chasing an opponent (or being chased) - perhaps for a number of
laps. You may already have your own strategy for dealing
with pressure, and know how to pressurise an opponent
into making an error and letting you past easily. (But if you don't
know, then LFS will help you develop those personal strengths).
Finally, you are probably already a great sportsman,
knowing how to lose (or win) gracefully and also how to apologise
for taking someone else out of the race. You will need all of these
skills on LFS, as well as some new ones such as looking after your
tyres, clutch, and getting the right downforce and suspension settings.
Our LFS team
This
is a team of older racers with an interest in motor sports,
slot cars or other model motor racing who race under a team banner
for mutual support, sharing car setups, driving
tips and such like. There are hundreds of racing teams on LFS and
they all race in a club livery with driver names presented in their
standard club format. You can of course race on LFS as a freelancer
(outside of any team) but if you race with a team you can use club liveries.
The team is always on the lookout for new members who can be fast,
firm and fair, so if you are perhaps a frustrated "armchair
F1 racer", why not give LFS a try. Perhaps you are even a
member of the NSCC, Slot
Forum, or the Scalextric
Club.
If you are interested in taking part, download
the demo and get it running on your computer. You will need
to register on that LFS download site first. Choose a suitable
username that you would want to keep in the future if you choose
to get the full licence. See if your PC equipment is up to the
job, graphics and sound are OK, and consider whether you need
to buy a steering wheel (to be honest you won't be able to do
decent lap times just using the mouse and keyboard to control
the car). Look at Saitek or Logitech models for example, and
perhaps see what you can find on Ebay.
Concentrate on the XFG or XRG saloon and FBM single seater cars at the Blackwood (BL GP and BL Rally X) circuits to begin with. Start in single player mode, racing against a couple of AI (computer-driven) cars, to build your confidence, before moving on to multiplayer racing. To avoid being a right royal pain in the backside to other more experienced racers, you should be able to get within about 5-10 seconds of the fastest lap time for a circuit (depending on the lap length) before venturing into a multiplayer race.
Please
don't be put off by childish behaviour you may see
on the multiplayer demo servers. Because this is a free
demo it
can be very frustrating to be contintually "nerfed" by
careless foul-mouthed teenagers who are only interested in wrecking
and crashing and have no intention of buying the full game. If you can't find a sensible demo server
it may be worth going back to single player mode to practice your
art and trying again later. Practising against robotic computer-driven
cars is all well and good, but they don't make mistakes and can't
be pressurised, so you really do also need to practice against
other real racers too. Make use of the facilities of Setupgrid or Team
Inferno to download some alternative setups for your car with
different handling characteristics that may suit your style of
driving better. Also check in to the LFS
Forums for news and discussion. Once you are happy that you
have the hang of the simulator, you can pay your £24 to unlock
the full game, and all the other cars and tracks, where standards
of driving are greatly improved due to additional race control
features for reporting bad behaviour and issuing race or server
bans.
Incidentally, there are other online racing simulators available, the two other main ones are Iracing and Rfactor. But these are very USA-centric with lots of oval tracks and American cars featuring heavily. LFS's tracks and cars are mostly fictitious but most have a British or European feel apart from Fern Bay and Kyoto Ring. And the software itself is engineered in England, so you know it makes sense to Buy British!
