Live for Speed v0.7E And LFS Editor Updates Improves Mod Support, Netcode And HUD

The LFS team have deployed an official update to Live for Speed that significantly improves modding support, improves the in-game HUD, tweaks physics, cars, tracks and more. They have also been working on night racing for a while (not in this build), so cars have various lighting mechanism options to support that in the future. Downloads linked at the bottom of the release post.

Their text:

Hello Racers,

We have a lot of updates for you today, in Live for Speed 0.7E and the LFS Editor!

The main focus was the mods system, allowing creators more flexibility and improving the modeller and vehicle editor. The lists of changes are so long they have their own pages. The LFS changelog is worth a read if you have a little time. Mod creators should definitely have a look through the changelog for the LFS Editor.

There are various improvements to the HUD, including an engine damage display. Engine damage can now be repaired in a pit stop. At the Layout Square a small map is now visible if there is a layout. A force feedback display is shown below the pedals and an EV regeneration display replaces the clutch pedal if you are using an electric car. Average fuel consumption info is available if enabled in Display Options.

In the garage you will find a maximum speed display in the downforce section, even for cars without downforce, and the maximum speed in each gear is displayed.

Dashboards were an important part of the development, now allowing much more flexibility and mod designers have been making great use of the new features including customised backgrounds and various options for the dials, text and warning lights.

As most LFS racers know, a separate new version is still in development and it features night driving on updated tracks, so the lights needed an update and that has now been done. You can select side lights, low beam and high beam, using SHIFT+3. Fog lights and an extra light are available on some cars, currently switched on by text commands.

The lights update made the XR GT and XR GT TURBO become a target for development, as it seemed disappointing that only their side lights worked. Popup headlights are now supported, along with options for various types of moving subobject that mod creators have been using to get creative.

Motorbikes came along a lot, after making it possible for AI to enter the game with objects (to just sit there) and bikes (to ride very slowly at first). Improvements were made to the bike physics and the steering model. In LFS the user’s input sets the required lean and the steering model constantly steers the front wheel to achieve that lean and keep the bike upright. The bikes are now much more robust and fun to ride, and gradually the AI’s bike speed could be turned up.

The bikes had so many crashes and pileups that the AI soon became a focus of its own. The LFS AI have long been notorious for their apparent disregard for anyone else on the track. Now there are a lot of improvements in their overtaking code. They think ahead more clearly and make better decisions about whether it is a good time to pass. If they don’t quite make it past before the bend, they are more likely to hold their line instead of slamming on the brakes at just the wrong time. Before this update the AI had not really been adjusted to deal with the differences between mods, and there was quite a lot to do with their pitlane driving as well.

Some small graphical updates were done other than the improved mod support. Dust kicked up from grass is now a more realistic dirt colour and takes account of the lighting at its location.

On multiplayer servers, the maximum number of connections is increased to 79, for an additional charge. For now, the number of vehicles on track is still limited to 40. The plan is to get to that important release with the new graphics and tyre physics, and see after that if we can gradually increase the number. Anyway, the increased number of spectators can be very useful including at endurance events where there may be a lot of drivers waiting to take over from a team mate. The movement of other cars also looks better because of improvements in the prediction code that tries to predict where the cars should be, which is a tricky problem for realtime games due to the delay in receiving position updates over the internet.

Please read the full list of changes below.

Full changelog:

Changes from 0.7D to 0.7E:

HUD:

New display in F9 / F10 views shows estimated laps given fuel use
Engine health (with colour code) is displayed in F9 / F10 views
F9 / F10 extra displays are now switchable (Options – Display)
Speedo and tacho are moved UP if required for extra displays
CT display now uses dot matrix font if translation allows it
New +/- buttons to adjust size of text in connections list
Pedals are now shown to the left of the list of connections
Connections list can have a scroll bar (use mouse / PgUp / PgDn)
A small map is now displayed at Layout Square if there is a layout
Simple versions of F11 / F12 views are now available during an SPR
Four-character mod names are shown in results table instead of MOD
A force feedback display is shown below the pedals (bottom right)
FIX: AI skill level always used Latin codepage in F11/F12 menus

Interface:

New icon for LFS.exe includes 256×256 icon image
Updated translations – thanks to our volunteer translators
A message shows the name of any mod that can’t be loaded in an SPR
F key /commands are processed immediately (not added to text dialog)
FIX: Crash when two events on calendar used same event image
FIX: Calendar time could be wrong near start of daylight saving
FIX: Mouse wheel gearshifts are now equivalent to 100ms keypress
FIX: Various text commands such as /spec now disabled in replays
FIX: Korean IME – last character would be lost on pressing enter
FIX: Small camera movement on releasing LMB after 2-button rotation
FIX: Chat text in mods screen is now in front of interface buttons
FIX: User names that start with ‘.’ now correctly displayed in chat
FIX: Crash if /track command was used while generating AI path info
FIX: /setlap command error if name coloured and number 4 chars long
FIX: Replays auto-named with special characters could appear wrong

Garage screen:

Driver / fuel buttons in garage are now only shown if relevant
Speed at redline is displayed beside each gear ratio in setup
Downforce tab is now shown for all vehicles
– previously was only for those with adjustable wings
– shows an estimated maximum speed based on wind resistance
– note: the estimate does not consider rolling resistance
Click Skin ID in garage colours tab to copy ID to clipboard
Hold CTRL in Garage: Mods button becomes Test (direct to Test mode)
Opening mods screen is prevented if a rating request is in progress
FIX: Engine brake reduction had no effect for EV but was visible

Game:

Maximum number of objects in a layout increased to 3000
Auto gear shift: downshifts are now done at slightly lower rpm
Possible to reset if an approaching vehicle is moving slowly enough
Reset is now possible during a pit stop if the state is “finished”
Speed limiter (at 80 km/h) can be manually enabled if no pit lane
FIX: Auto shift *up* did not work if max power rpm above redline
FIX: Driver swap enabled very high speed limiter if no pit lane

Mods:

An EV charge/discharge power bar in place of the clutch bar
– only visible if Options – View – Show pedals is enabled

A new “Cleanup” mode in the mods screen
– you can select to keep latest mods and test mods
– there is not yet a feature to keep replay mods

New options set per vehicle instead of by race class
New “hub” subobject that moves and rotates with a wheel
Support for new pit speed limiter flashing light option
One wheel drive and no anti-roll if wheels are staggered
New features for mods including wheel and passenger positions
Support for new rim styles and different wheels front and rear
FIX: Mod with 27 character name appeared in mods screen Test mode
FIX: Crash if mod had more than 64 materials

Dashboard:

Engine damage light on dashboard is now available if set in editor
Support for new dashboard lights / symbols: sidelights and neutral
Support for new speedo and tacho style options (see editor notes)
Support for dashboard backing texture system, text colours, opacity
Can also set background colour without supplying a backing texture
New needle pivot texture works better on light coloured dashboards
Dashboard brightness should now be the same as in the editor
– this update also affects the RB4 and MRT5 (recently updated)
FIX: Text size on dashboard more closely matches text in editor
FIX: Brightness of multi function display now matches the editor

Lights:

Side lights, low and high beam headlights are now supported
Fog lights are now functional if enabled by the mod creator
Text command /light (requires two parameters) to switch lights:
/light ind [off/left/right/all] – switch indicators/hazard lights
/light head [off/side/low/high/low_off/low_high/next/prev] – lights
/light [rfog/ffog/extra] [off/on/toggle] – switch fog/extra lights
/light all [off/on] – switch all switchable lights off/on at once
Key ‘3’ now toggles between off & low beam like /light head low_off
SHIFT+3 goes through all headlight states like /light head next
Virtual gauges show sidelights / low beam / high beam symbol

Moving subobjects:

Lights now work on subobjects (e.g. bike handlebars)
Popup headlights are also supported (examples XRG and XRT)
Popup headlight system generalised for moving objects with switches
Light / horn switches work even if car does not have that feature

Bikes:

New steering model improves handling and braking ability
– Feet down steering model up to 7 km/h
– Low speed model only from 7 km/h to 18 km/h
– Interpolated model from 18 km/h to 36 km/h
– High speed model only above 36 km/h
Increased maximum value for brakes, suspension stiffness, damping
FIX: Fork tubes misaligned if ride height adjusted in other setups
FIX: Weight distribution was wrong if any trail reduction was set
FIX: Wheel masses not correctly positioned for trail reduction

AI vehicle control:

Improved braking prediction so less running wide at corners
– considers brake balance (which is not ideal for every corner)
– can result in better lap times due to improved line following
AI braking prediction now takes account of engine braking
AI can now ride motorbikes (a bit slowly due to safety margin)
AI will drive more gently when off track on a bad surface
Bikes slow to avoid taking off over large humps in the road
Avoid unnecessary downshifts by looking ahead to see if needed
FIX: Sometimes could reach a maximum speed and stop accelerating

AI misc:

Distance to vehicle considered dangerous now depends on length
Distance to vehicle considered safe is reduced at low speed
– should prevent long vehicles hitting the brakes on green light
– gaps between vehicles may be smaller when speed is below 20 m/s
AI can enter configs with no path (but will not drive)
AI can now enter the game with an object (to just sit there)
Better collision avoidance when close behind or beside others
Reset now possible after engine switched off after long wait
Message history is no longer enabled for AI path generation
FIX: AI can now reset if in contact with a stationary vehicle
FIX: Errors in fuel calculation related to “Refuelling allowed”
FIX: It was possible for the fuel calculation to report 0 stints
FIX: A hang generating path for a mod with “Max up” wrongly set

AI overtaking:

Various improvements to improve the overtaking decisions
Overtakes are considered on a group instead of individuals
Better estimate of the possibility and duration of a pass
Pass decision from low speed now allows for acceleration
When planning a pass time is allowed to pull in after pass
More distant consideration of other vehicles at high speed
There should be fewer dangerous overtakes in braking zones
FIX: AI could get pointlessly stuck behind a slower vehicle

AI in pit lane:

Improved driving in pit lane when close behind other drivers
Avoid excessive downshifting when approaching speed limit zone
Approx 1 second safety margin entering pit lane to avoid speeding
Target speed 1 km/h slower in pit lane to avoid speeding by mistake
– was possible for a powerful car to overspeed shifting 1st to 2nd
Use speed limiter or throttle to avoid wheelspins causing speeding
Smoother transitions switching between main path and pit lane path
FIX: Slow start / stuck in pit stop if max torque at very low rpm
FIX: Some mods would brake too gently and miss the pit stop point
FIX: Choice of pit stop box was wrong (bug introduced in 0.7B)
FIX: Can now reset at the end of a pit stop (e.g. fallen bike)
FIX: AI would reverse assuming “stuck” during stop-go penalty
FIX: Some mods would overshoot their pit garage when parking

Regional downloading system:

We now have 3 download locations for mods (NL/JP/US)
Faster downloads if you are in N/S America or Asia/Oceania
Locations in Asia and Oceania will download mods from Japan
Locations in North and South America will download from USA
Download redirection is handled automatically by our server
Regional downloads can be disabled by a new Misc Option
Yellow redirect message is shown the first time you are redirected

Graphics:

Dust colour on grass and dirt tracks now uses a dirt colour
– previously used average colour of surface which looked odd
– smoke and dust acquire lighting colour from car’s location
Small indicators on side of XRG/XRT/FXO/LX4/LX6/RAC/FZ5 now flash
Moving subobjects and internal mirrors are excluded from forces view
Vehicles are no longer fully regenerated on every mirror adjustment
Removed wheel LOD reduction that was related to angle of view
Tyre manufacturer now appears at the top of tyre after reset
FIX: Lighting of subobjects and wheels was as if at vehicle centre
FIX: Mudguard / handlebar / trailing arm subobject could disappear

Physics:

Improved bike physics (affects lean angle and tyre forces)
Pit speed limiter now based on drive speed instead of world speed
– prevents wheelspins (e.g. at RO) pushing car over the speed limit
FIX: Narrow cars were sucked in when near fence or narrow barrier

Engine:

V16 engine is now available and some classes allow larger engines
New firing order for I5, V6, flat-8 and V10 engines (affects sound)
FIX: V12 engine firing order was wrong causing poor sound quality

Audio:

Tone variation limited to 0.99 to prevent an engine sound bug
Switched off experimental “Prevent clipping” option by default

Multiplayer:

Maximum possible connections increased to 79
– there will be a higher charge for 79 connections
– free hosts are still limited to 47 connections
– maximum cars in race has not been increased

Improved setting of tyre state after receiving a position packet
– previous location of tyre contact is better estimated (for forces)
– most noticeable when viewed car had not been on screen for a while
– e.g. after tabbing to another car or fast forwarding a replay

Misc option “Full physics for remote cars” is enabled by default
– low res physics previously used for cars other than the 4 nearest
– option approximately doubles CPU usage by physics in multiplayer
– could cause issues at turn 1 with many cars depending on PC power
– use profiler display to check CPU usage with the option enabled
– see profiler by pressing car icon then P in Misc/Graphics options

Engine damage repair in pit stop
– yellow counts as minor damage (6 seconds)
– red counts as major damage (12 seconds)

Team arrow colours on small map are now enabled by a host option
– arrows on non-race small map take colour of first name character
– option is not yet available but is coded as /teamarrows=no/yes

Cancel button and ESC key to cancel the process of joining a host
– the currently downloading skin or mod is allowed to finish first
Temporary (free) hosts are shown without colours in List of Hosts
Stationary cars can now lag for longer (3 seconds) before vanishing
FIX: LFS could crash if a player left when a mod was not downloaded
FIX: Crash enabling filter in List of Hosts after all were disabled
FIX: Remote car using pit speed limiter did not move smoothly

InSim:

IS_CPP packet with Time = 0 is instantly processed (not stored)
– allows it to be followed immediately by an IS_CPP with Time > 0
License byte added to IS_NCI packet (after Language byte)
IS_PLH packet sets handicaps for individual players
TINY_PLH – request IS_PLH listing player handicaps
SMALL_LCL – full control of lights including fog and extra lights
FIX: ZByte was not set in IS_OBH packet

Text commands:

Updated document Commands.txt (in docs folder)

/h_mass username X – set added mass for user’s car
/h_tres username X – set restriction for user’s car
/teamarrows=no/yes – arrows on non-race small map use name colour
/key command accepts 12 keys described by a word (see Commands.txt)

/status none|F9|F10|F11|F12|next|prev – sets status screen
E.g. /status next will cycle through the F9 to F12 status screens
(you could assign it to a CTRL+ or ALT+ key and then a wheel button)

/liveset and /pitins – do the functions of F11 and F12 menus

You can use operators:
= (set value)
+= (add to value)
-= (subtract from value)

Examples:
/pitins ftyre = r3 : change front tyres to R3 in pit stop
/pitins rtyre = super : change rear tyres to road super
/pitins fpressure = 1.1 : set front tyre pressure to 1.1 bar
/pitins fpressure += 0.1 : increase requested pressure by 0.1 bar
/pitins cancel : cancel all pit instructions
/pitins tyres always : change all tyres
/pitins tyres 20 : change tyres if wear > 20%
/liveset bbal 60 : set brake balance to 60%
/liveset rarb -= 0.1 : decrease rear ant-roll bar by 0.1

Available options for /pitins:
fuel, tyres, repair, symmetric
ftyre, fcamber_l, fpressure_l, fcamber_r, fpressure_r, fwing
rtyre, rcamber_l, rpressure_l, rcamber_r, rpressure_r, rwing
cancel, fcamber, fpressure, rcamber, rpressure

/pitins pressure commands can accept unit (psi/bar) (no unit = bar)
E.g. /pitins fpressure 30 psi

Available options for /liveset:
bbal, farb, rarb

Multiple commands on single line:

Multiple commands can now be added on a single line which sometimes
can avoid the need for a script file, e.g. to set a button to
change tyres in pit stop, you could use a double command:
/pitins ftyre super /pitins rtyre super

NOTE: some commands cannot be followed by another command:
/say /echo /join /rcm /pass /msg /altf /ctrlf

Maximum length of command and F key text increased to 95 characters
Wider text display in CTRL+ and ALT+ tabs in controls screen