Greetings, all!
In this second devblog for Pro Cycling Manager 2024, we're going back to the race, after an initial word about the interface. Now it's a matter of looking at the gameplay and a few important aspects.
DIRT ROADS
Visually there have been dirt roads in the game for a few years, but in PCM 2023 the physical and AI impact was the same as for normal roads.
Races such as the Strade Bianche, stage 9 in the 2024 Tour de France, the traditional Paris-Tours, and several other races in the calendar use unpaved roads that are fairly different from cobblestone, for example.
In PCM 2024, impact additionally affects performance, meaning there is more friction, so the riders go a bit more slowly and are more easily spaced apart, and there are more punctures.
The AI is also more specific, seeking to take into account this surface, which is more suitable for offensive strategies.
There are no dedicated attributes, but instead there is a mix of the current surface characteristics (e.g.: flat, hilly, etc.) and two attributes that take the rider's agility into account, namely "Downhill" and "Cobblestones" (in small proportions).
CHANGE TO THE PHYSICS ENGINE
The "Flat" attribute has become critical over the last few years, including for climbers, to the point that we had to set it at 70, at least, for all major tour riders. If lower, a climber generally arrived at the last stage too exhausted to have any hope of a good result, and the major riders (77-83 Flat, with good Stamina/Resistance attributes) had an advantage.
In PCM 2024, we've revised the physics for wheel protection on flat surfaces, to lean towards a greater effect. This way riders who are protected by the peloton save more energy than in previous versions of the game. You should also bear in mind that protection is not switched ON or OFF: as in reality, riders in small groups or in the relay line save a bit less energy than riders who are completely protected.
It's still important to have a good "Flat" attribute, but in other ways: for teammates who are doing the legwork on this surface, or for riders who can stay at the head of the race for a long time when the ground is flat (like Baroudeurs). Some major tour riders are also strong in this regard, so it seems appropriate to continue to assign them a good "Flat" attribute.
Finally, a bit of advice for modders: you might consider decreasing this attribute for pure climbers, without drastically affecting the other values.
SPRINTS
Sprints have also been revised in PCM 2024, and we think you'll like one change in particular, as it concerns collisions. We've received a lot of feedback about winding finishes and how hard it is to come back in such a situation. In terms of level design (for creating pathways and stages), we tried to make the final sections of flat stages as straight as possible. But sometimes we couldn't - in some places it was impossible because of the game's 1:10 scale. Also, some old or 'modded' stages do not take straightness into account.
The basic idea was to tighten up the rider collision boxes. Unfortunately, this was both unsatisfactory and not enough, as when there was a series of bends, we had another major restriction: splines. These lines, which you don't see in the game, tell the riders where they can move, and help them negotiate bends properly (to plot out when it's a straight line the splines are straight with one on each side of the path, but at a pronounced bend they close up so the riders follow as realistic a path as possible).
After several inconclusive trials, we tried our luck by simply removing collisions from the last 5 kilometres of the stages. This increases the risk of small visual bugs involving riders cycling one after the other, but it turns out that it isn’t especially distracting, and the result is significantly better than in PCM 2023!
We focused on 3 specific points, but rest assured that there have been lots of tweaks to the gameplay and AI in order to significantly improve the realism of the races: falls and punctures have a bit more impact, adjustments have been made to breakaway and group management, and more.
The last devblog will be about Sponsoring!
Thanks for reading us,
The PCM 2024 Team.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2494350/Pro_Cycling_Manager_2024/
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