Live For Speed Drift Community Forum

Since there's been many people around asking what exactly the new differences are in Patch Z I've put them up here for you. If someone asks you what the changes are, please tell them to come to this thread

The patch contains a lot of updates including :

- New interiors in XF and XR cars (road and GTR)
- Updated interiors in Formula XR and Formula V8
- General improvements to interface and graphics
- Improved weight distribution of GTR racing cars
- XR Turbo and RB4 suspension improvements
- Replay controls (click any point on time line)
- Demo racers must now register to go online
- Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Bulgarian


More detailed information :

INCREASED FRAME RATES :

By using the same Hardware Vertex Shading system as the car body, the subobjects (steering wheel, gearstick, brakes, mudguards, etc) now make better use of your graphics card, saving CPU time and increasing the frame rate on most computers. Those that do not experience much frame rate increase should find it is smoother and more consistent. There are small graphical improvements as a side effect of this change. You should find that the pit-out glitch is reduced as well.

REPLAY CONTROLS :

Multiplayer replays now have the same interface as single player replays.
They loop and the Escape Menu is available while watching.
Also, replay controls have been added. A timeline is visible when you move the mouse.
You can click anywhere on the timeline and the replay will go back or forward to that point.

Some new keys have been added :

1) Single frame step : ',' or '.' (SHIFT + ',' or '.' = one second step)
2) SPACE to pause / unpause during a replay (same as P)
3) ESCAPE to break out of fast forwarding
4) SHIFT + F now has 3 states if you are in a replay (the 3rd state hides everything including all messages and replay controls)

DEMO LICENSE SYSTEM :

User name and password are now required to go online in DEMO.
DEMO / S1 / S2 all appear in the same List of Hosts.

NOTE to DEMO users :

- You will need to set a GAME password at www.lfs.net to go online
- Log in and click on "account details" to set your GAME password
- You will see all compatible demo hosts and demo compatible S1 / S2 hosts

NOTE to S1 users :

- You will see all S1 and S1 compatible S2 hosts in the list of hosts

NOTE to HOSTS :

- Hosts in S2 mode - all S2 users can join
- Hosts in S1 mode - all S1 and S2 users can join your host
- Hosts in Demo mode - all LFS users can join your host

XFR / XRR MIRROR SKIN MAPPINGS :

The XFR and XRR have new mirrors and the old mappings could not be used.
An updated CMX Viewer is available in the additional downloads section

CAR PHYSICS CHANGES :

Big GTR class :

XRR : weight dist back 1.5% - CoG down 13 mm
FZR : weight dist forward 1.5% - CoG down 5 mm
FXR : weight dist back 1.5% - CoG down 8 mm

TBO class :

XRT : weight dist back 1% - CoG down 3 mm
RB4 : CoG down 10 mm

XRT and RB4 also got a small rear suspension update to raise the rear roll centre a little. This should reduce body roll and make them nicer to drive.

Small GTR class :

XFR CoG down by 10 mm and weight distribution back 1.0%
UFR CoG down by 22 mm and weight distribution back 1.5%

XFR also now has a sequential gearbox.

EAST ASIAN LANGUAGE SUPPORT :

Windows 98 / ME : LFS does not support double byte characters
Windows Vista : Double byte characters should work automatically
Windows XP : It should work but you may need to install fonts.

If you have Windows XP and currently cannot see the East Asian translations, here's how to set up your computer so it works.



- In Control Panel click on "Regional and Language Options"
- Under the "Languages" tab select "Install files for East Asian Languages".
- Windows will probably ask you to get your XP CD and the fonts will be installed.

This is important even if you do not use Chinese, Japanese or Korean translations so you can see East Asian text and player names correctly when you are online.

OTHER IMPORTANT CHANGES :

- Chinese, Japanese and Korean Translations
- All tracks now use JPG textures for adverts
- Various fixes including a South City hot lapping issue
- Full-scene antialiasing and anisotropic filtering are now supported


Full list of changes in Patch Z :

Graphics :

updated interiors in FOX / FO8 / XF and XR (GTR and road) cars
Improved frame rates - subobjects now use hardware vertex shading
Improved sky rendering - less distortion, small frame rate increase
Smarter level of detail calculations for best detail and frame rate
Driver names are now directly above car with no acceleration offset
Antialiasing and anisotropic filtering support in Graphics Options
Mirrors with horizontal offset applied now stay inside windscreen
JPG advert textures now used in all tracks (folder : data\pic)
Improved control of mip bias : 4 sliders in Graphics Options
Graphical and audio dynamic lod reductions are now instant
Increased maximum number of car shadows from 8 to 16
Antialiased virtual start lights and steering gauge
FIX : RB4 dashboard wrong in left hand drive mode

Physics :

XF GTR now has a sequential gearbox with ignition cut
Wind speeds and variations are now more moderate / less wild
Small improvements to default setups of XR Turbo / XR GTR / XF GTR
Moved and lowered centre of gravity in GTR cars for better handling
Lowered centre of gravity and updated rear suspension of XRT and RB4

Replays :

Escape menu and options now available during a multiplayer replay
Replay controls & timeline visible with mouse at bottom of screen
SP and MP replays now loop unless started by /mpr or /spr commands
External replay starting now works from replay screen or in replay
FIX : Paused indicator is now shown when paused at start of replay
FIX : Hang if escape menu was open at the end of a non-looping SPR
FIX : Could get stuck leaving a paused MPR while guest connecting
FIX : LFS wrongly allowed replay after adding AI in single player

Licensed demo racers system :

Demo racers now need a user name and GAME password to go online
Unified List of Hosts - S2 users can all Demo / S1 / S2 hosts
Demo / S1 racers can see all hosts running Demo / S1 content
Demo racers now automatically download skins but not upload

Double byte character support :

Included Chinese, Japanese and Korean translations
Selectable fonts for these languages in Game Options
Input method editor support including candidate lists
IME automatically switched on and off in text entry dialog
Input language is shown when editing text (white if IME active)
Name of active Chinese input method is shown (but not in Vista)

Translations support :

New Bulgarian translation including training lessons
Added flags beside names of translations in Game Options
New and updated training lesson translations in various languages
Tips section in training can have more lines if purpose is not full
FIX : Host welcome text was displayed in local code page (now Latin)
FIX : Overlapping text in F12 menu asymmetrical settings (in Polish)
FIX : Code page error on List of Hosts after changing language
FIX : Corrupted in-game text after changing language

Interface :

Faster text drawing system improves frame rate
Separate text entry field for AI number plates
Various minor graphical improvements in the interface
Improved filter (16 bit / 32 bit / all) in Screen Options
Network debug messages are no longer sent in InSim packets
Interface improvements including updated entry screen and options
Text input box is now drawn above user messages so easier to type
Hotlapping in demo version - user name is now stored in the replay
Controls setup now includes sensitivity multipliers for mouse axes
Auto mode switching so F9 to F12 / N / SHIFT+L work even if hidden
Line breaks in help text and lesson text now depend on actual width
Success or failure message is now shown for one second after CTRL+S
New game setup screen info message "X removed Y from the start grid"
FIX : In some rare cases SHIFT+U mode did not move with an arrow key
FIX : Changing gear shift type while driving made SPR go out of sync
FIX : Enter pits "Could not load colours" after renaming car colours
FIX : Autocross / drag can no longer be selected in hotlapping mode
FIX : It was possible to join a race with same name as an AI driver
FIX : Disabled various text commands from training (including /ai)
FIX : Sometimes incorrect message "Road tyres on rallycross track"
FIX : Code page of text when adding a new music track in channels
FIX : OutGauge and OutSim are no longer closed by starting InSim
FIX : Info button in List of Hosts showed laps instead of hours
FIX : Wall riding was possible on soft walls at South City
FIX : Command /entry did not work while watching a replay
FIX : ALT+F4 did not exit LFS from a training lesson

Multiplayer :

Dedicated host and network debug show connecting guest IP
New command /ndebug=no/yes to switch off/on network debug
New option /lytdir allows dedicated hosts to specify layout folder
On local network hosts only - false start no longer causes spectate
FIX : Admin could crash dedicated host by mistake with some commands
FIX : Host name code page error after clicking '?' in List of Hosts
FIX : Inaccurate remote cars lap time after passing a split in MPR
FIX : False message : Your skin was not found at www.lfsworld.net
FIX : Joining a host with same name AI resulted in Join OOS
FIX : Rapid /ai command could exceed number of cars allowed
FIX : Rapid /ai NAME command resulted in AI with same name
FIX : User could spam TCP requests causing overload
FIX : Skin name buffer overflow exploit

Misc :

Added output frequency and slip fraction to the RAF file output
Documentation references to '<' / '>' keys changed to ',' / '.'
InSim : A LAG bit is now available in the MCI CompCar structure
InSim : MCI packets are now sent at regular game update intervals
Improved cfg.txt Music Dir option (specifies folder for ogg files)
All paths (including reversed configs) now included (in SMX folder)
FIX : Removed continual memory allocations in car shadow processing
FIX : Number of AI now correctly limited when using the /ai command
FIX : Updated car scripts XFR.lfs / FXR.lfs / XRR.lfs (sequential)
FIX : Ban statistic was sent when attempting to ban a host by /ban
FIX : AI could decide to refuel too late at tracks with one split
FIX : Low ASCII characters can no longer be read from text files
FIX : Could select invalid configuration and weather in cfg.txt

Known issues :

Stray pixels at texture edges increased by AA / AF
Dedicated host does not display double byte characters
Name of active Chinese input method is not shown in Vista

GREAT WORK Scawen. oh btw, ur alive?

Gee! I love the 3 pixel long arrow you added to show the direction to turn when in the pits.