Sam

#BudgetProblems

Honestly at the end of the day, all it boils down to is a bunch of people that love what we're doing here, who are passionate about this community and who want to lend their expertise, knowledge and above all else, time, for our benefit, for free. Of course we don't always get everything right, and people seem to be a lot more vocal in criticising us now, but it doesn't change who we are or what we do. For such a small number of staff on such a large board, I think the team do an outstanding job and deserve a lot more credit than they ever get. You honestly won't find more passionate and caring people than those on the LCPDFR Community Team and it is something that we should all be thankful for I think. As Jay rightly said - everything we do here, we do because we want to. It has always been my belief that the best approach is to operate in as laid back a manner as is possible and something we try to do is set in stone the idea that the moderators are first and foremost, members of the same community. Debating efficiency is, I agree, perhaps something that should be done in a corporate review meeting - it is therefore quite important to stress that there's nothing corporate about the community team or anyone else here - we're all here because it is our hobby or our interest and yes, this is a website run by ordinary people, not a well oiled corporate machine. So, while I think our team, for the numbers they have, are very efficient indeed, whether or not the team is efficient maybe isn't the most important thing to be discussing. Instead I think everyone should ask do they feel comfortable being here and to what extent the team supports this comfort. I'm happy to see a discussion like this though - it is always appreciated when we can get feedback and dialogue in a courteous and thought out manner instead of the usual spiteful attacks, denial of service threats or knee-jerk reactions that nobody should have to deal with.

They do them twice a year (November and April/May)

Both and myself went to the tapings in Manchester last year and London earlier this year (for which it has to be said we had some of the best seats in the house '>). Missed this one though - we were scared at the prospect of even being in the same city as BenJ30. Moved this to a more suitable forum category.

So we've been quite noticeably silent over the past couple of months - there is reason behind the emptiness however, and much of it relates to how I and most others on the team have been increasingly busy with things in the real world and so on. That doesn't mean that we're not still working away on LCPDFR, however, and it gets better than that as well because not only are we still pushing ahead with development on another update in the 1.0 series, but we've been focusing attention elsewhere as well - especially as it concerns both this community and the fast approaching GTA V which is seemingly just around the corner now. Regardless, I thought that given the lack of news for a little while I'd take this opportunity to bring everyone back up to date with what we're doing and where we're going next. IPS 4 On the immediate horizon for us is IPS 4, which is the major overhaul of our community software that powers LCPDFR.com. IPS 4 has been in development for quite some time now and we've had a pre-release version of it hosted on a testing website for just over a month now, too. For more information about IPS 4 and to take a look at it in action, I'd recommend you visit the pre-release demo set up by IPS at http://zend.ipsdevserver.com/ips4/ In short though, IPS 4 brings a much more modern and streamlined framework for building a community driven website. Admittedly, LCPDFR has rocked the same design for just under 3 years now, and I do feel like it is again time for a change. With IPS 4, we will be rolling out an entirely new theme, loosely based on this dark blue which we first introduced in late 2011. We are hoping that this is something that will be completed by the end of the year, although with this one. the ball isn't really in our court - we're just waiting for the software to be properly released. LCPDFR 1.0 Back in the closing days of last year we released LCPDFR 1.0 - it was certainly a moment we'll never forget when our servers collapsed with all the downloads. Throughout this year we've been updating LCPDFR 1.0 by bringing three patches, the last of which being 1.0c in summer of this year. Work on the fourth patch, 1.0d, has, at a slow pace, been ongoing for a couple of months now and we'll be finishing it off by the end of this month if all goes to plan. To give you an idea of some of the things that we've come up with for 1.0d, I've included an image I took a little while ago below: GTA V Of course, ever present in the minds of everyone now I would assume is the impending release of GTA V on PC. Certainly we're all hotly anticipating it as well and are of course fantasizing over the possibilities that it could bring in terms of modding. I'm cautious to raise high hopes considering the direction that GTA V has taken in terms of multiplayer integration and the tight restrictions that Rockstar and Sony/Microsoft have imposed on the current-gen release, although this hasn't deterred anyone from investigating what it might take to get the ball rolling with GTA V. Our own LMS has been hard at work, with some others, studying Max Payne 3, the latest title which Rockstar released for PC, and has reported varying degrees of success in terms of modding. It still seems to be a subject of ambiguity, but let there be no doubt about it, we'd absolutely love, more than anything, to be able to launch an 'LSPDFR' for GTA V. Other notes Despite GTA IV being nearly 6 years old, and LCPDFR being more than 5 years old, it is remarkable to see the level of interest that still surrounds us here on LCPDFR.com. We recently just passed the 145,000 member mark and we're well on our way to reaching the big 150k. I said last year (or at least I think I did) that it was an exciting time to be in the community with the release of LCPDFR 1.0 only weeks away. Indeed, with just over two months until GTA V is released for PC, and a major website plus smaller LCPDFR update on the cards, I'd say that once again, it is definitely an exciting time to be here. Sam.

"Use to". We believe you! I'll have to admit to having done the same though :)

I don't even have words for this.

Can't believe you even called it a pun. Calling it a pun is giving it wayyyyy too much credit. Happy birthday!

I think this is the right decision for Scotland. The important thing now is that so many people stay involved in the process and make the UK government deliver on its promise. Some might be disappointed that Scotland "didn't have the guts" to vote yes, but this is bigger than that. With a 45% yes vote, I think a clear message is sent down to London that there must be change. They've seen a yes campaign that has come absolutely unglued in recent weeks and a no campaign that has had to frantically scramble on the defensive. We need to make it a clear now that while this isn't a vote for independence, it isn't a vote for the status quo either. Nobody should be embarrassed by this vote - it was a fantastic exercise in democracy. I just hope that the Glaswegians don't hate us Edinbuggers even more now :)

I don't think anyone actually knows. I would doubt though that the opportunity would come around again for quite some time.

All the economics and politics aside, its a very exciting time in Scotland. I have to say that I have been really disappointed by the No campaign though - the constant, unwavering stream of negativity and pessimism from them is tiring and insulting - you have to wonder whether many of them actually want Scotland to stay within the UK.

Less than 24 hours to go now. The media frenzy is astonishing just now, what's everyone thinking?

It was picked up on half an hour ago in our report system with exactly this reason. Obviously this isn't going to go anywhere.

Clearly you're just as ignorant about the history of your own country as you are the culture of others.

I remember back in 2011 when different versions of Rickrolling was the cool thing, and when this site was really starting to find itself, he made a GTA IV version and we put it up on April 1st. Clearly a very talented and creative person - we're truly blessed to have so many people like that in this community.

The internet did not get trolled - only the people that were foolish enough to lend any credibility at all to this.

As far as I know, the only way of doing this would be by hooking the game's vehicle spawning and changing the models. Right now we can't do this. There are some alternative methods of doing it by normal scripting, although I suspect it would result in more problems than it is worth.

The fact this gets any credence at all is shocking to be honest.

Happy Saturday everyone.

Cops in Watch_Dogs rubberband perhaps even more than those in V. Honestly the rubberbanding is needed up to a point - without it you get what we have in GTA IV, cops that just can't get through traffic or keep up with anyone going remotely fast.

MODERATOR NOTICE These posts about the Israel-Gaza conflict have been split off from the thread about US intervention in Iraq -- cp702 You say Obama isn't talking about air striking Israel, but then neither is a single US politician. Everyone should know of the power of the Israeli and Jewish lobby in the US and everyone should know the way in which Israel is connected to almost every incident in the Middle East. As c13 rightly pointed out, there was stability in Iraq before the US and UK got involved. Just because it was a stable environment though, doesn't mean it was necessarily the right one. Thousands of minorities were brutally persecuted by the Iraqi regime - but it was nothing like the scale of violence and lawlessness you see today in Iraq after the US and UK led invasion. I don't think you can blame Obama for wanting to do something about the mess his country had a large hand in creating, and I think you can tell that the Obama administration isn't happy with the situation in Israel either - John Kerry's off-camera remarks and the Israeli reaction to them give you some insight there, but there's absolutely no appetite in the US, among the politicians or the people, for anyone to do anything about the ongoing hostilities in Gaza and Israel. I don't think too many people in Congress will have a problem with dropping some more bombs over Iraq though - it's something they're quite familiar with. The world can't just turn a blind eye to either of these situations though. What's happening in Israel and Gaza has to stop - c13 said that Israel was defending itself, although I disagree. If you look at the fatalities in Gaza, 74% of them are innocent civilians. For Israel to be defending itself, you therefore have to assume that the vast majority people that they are killing are in active combat against Israel - which isn't the case when the majority of the death toll is comprised of civilians. One can and must expect innocent people to get caught up in warfare like this - but not on the scale which is happening in Gaza. Israel is locked in war with Hamas, the government of Gaza, not the people of Gaza. It doesn't seem that way from the ever increasing death toll, however. The US and other nations can't continue to fund this indiscriminate slaying of a population with a clear conscience. Unfortunately with every day that innocent people are brutally murdered, Hamas will only increase in popularity with the people. As more and more people begin to support hostilities on both sides - a solution fades further and further away. Russia and China crushing the US is, for now. the stuff of fanatical fiction - they're both a bit too busy crushing their own countries just now, a bit like us.

I really can't see myself replacing the models of the cars in GTA V at all. I was thinking a setup where you have the LSPD cars with proper paintjobs (a bit like the one on the Stanier, and then change the Sheriff SUV so that it is all white like the Sheriff Cruiser, would be the best. On top of this, maybe it would be an idea to do away with the park ranger thing and have them as the Blaine County sheriffs instead of having the LS sheriffs up there.