langfristig funktioniert das spiel nicht

[schlachtruf]

wer von euch hat bereits über 20 saisons gespielt und bemerkt, dass selbst in der kontinental division fast nur noch 5 und 5,5 sterne fahrer in den teams sind und zum teil auch fahrer mit 6 sternen. die punkte die dann fürs dossier benötigt werden liegen zum teil bei 90 (befindet man sich in dieser. es ist also nicht möglich langfristig viele gute fahrer zu binden um dann wieder aufzusteigen, da de facto einfach die punkte dafür fehlen auch wenn man 30mio auf dem konto hat. geld mit dem man nichts anfangen kann was den teamaufbau(fahrer) betrifft. es ist sehr schwierig aufzusteigen, da ein viel zu hoher teamindex benötigt wird. anscheinend werden viel zu viele gute spieler automatisch über diesen zeitraum generiert.

wem von euch ist das aufgefallen bzw hat ähnliche erfahrungen gemacht?

[MilesTereo]

Ich weiß nicht wie das Dossier-Erlebnis in Continental nach so langer Zeit ist, aber die absolute Flut an Top-Fahrern ist auch bei mir der Fall. Ich habe einen Spielstand der bis 2043 geht (und de facto nicht mehr funktioniert, weil das Sponsoren-Angebot Ende Juli verbuggt ist) und selbst Pro-Conti Teams haben im Durchschnitt zwei Fahrer mit 5,5 Sternen, wenn nicht sogar mehr.

Insgesamt ist das Spiel glaube ich einfach nicht darauf ausgelegt so lange gespielt zu werden, was schade ist, alleine weil es so lange dauert ein Team mit kleinem Budget auf das finanzielle Level von World Tour Teams zu bringen. Ich glaube das ist auch mehr oder weniger schon seit Jahren so, Im PCM 2020 gab es nach 15 Jahren auch viel zu viele Top-Fahrer...

[schlachtruf]

ja, diese sponsorbugs habe ich auch schon mehrfach in derselben karriere gehabt... erst ging es runter von ca. 400k auf 244k wobei ich 790k vom sponsor letzten endes bekam.... das jedoch wenig bringt, da mit dem angezeigten budget für die nächste saison der transfer stattfindet. jetzt habe ich den bug wieder und werde im nächsten jahr ,egal wie zufrieden der sponsor ist, auf 144k runtergesetzt.... womit ich dann in die transfers gehe und das spiel dann sowieso keinen sinn mehr macht... die bugs die da sind, sind einfach zu gravierend als das man das spiel dann noch mit freude weiterführen kann, wenn man am ende eben durch diese seine ganze mannschaft nicht mehr unterhalten kann....

ja die zunahme an fahrern mit 5,5 oder mehr sternen ist einfach zu groß. bei mir haben sie in der continental pro zum teil 12 fahrer mit 5,5 sternen und immer noch 1-2 6er.... zu unausbalanciert das ganze in kombination mit dem sponsorbug einfach unspielbar auf dauer

[sylvao]

Das ist interessant. Könnte jemand ein Savegame einer langen Karriere zur Verfügung stellen? Ich habe einen MOD für das Spielen langer Karrieren erstellt. Wenn ich also eine weitere Verbesserung hinzufügen könnte, wäre das großartig. Leider können wir nicht den gesamten Inhalt des Spiels ändern. Aber vielleicht ist die Beliebtheit der Läufer ein Nachteil, weil sie der Generation junger Läufer Jahr für Jahr einen Bonus verschafft.

[MilesTereo]

Sure, no problem. Here's my save from 2043 (the DB I used is WorldDB, no other mods were used):

https://file.io/ePjnbjOUqQEq

If you advance one day you'll get the bugged sponsorship offers (I hope Steam will allow the link, if not let me know and I'll upload it somewhere else).

[sylvao]

Hi, I got the save, thanks.
I didn't had the issue but had no sponsorship offers on july 31 st and neither after.
However, looking the concern of strong teams from WT to CONTI and the database itself: So yes most of countries have a high popularity meaning more chances to generate young riders and therefore more chances to have good riders too (and good training facilities helps too). Since the WorldDB add races and many teams, this means more popularity bonuses for most countries (each rider can get some popularity though good race result - this bonus goes back to the country in some way).
One workaround could be to edit the savegame after each new season (1st january) and set back the training facilities and popularity values for all countries. This would limit the chances of generating a lot of riders and good ones.

[MilesTereo]

Did you manually check the sponsorship negotiation screen on July 31? The game doesn't automatically stop at that point in the save anymore, but there's three offers available there (or at least there were for me), and they're much lower than what you would expect.

True, the bonuses to training structures and popularity do play a role, so does the added races from the db, I guess. It's unfortunate that this is a byproduct of the db, because I really can't imagine playing without one.

[sylvao]

ok, got it for the sponsors when restarting the save. Pretty strange for half budget proposals.

Regarding the wordDB and huge generation of good riders:
One idea could be to edit the database then reduce all race popularity bonuses, reduce training structures and popularity starting values for all countries. This would help a bit (at least it will delay the issue). I can do it for you if you want.
Here is a link of the MOD i've done for long careers but didn't tested it yet up to 2043 like you did :) https://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=64429

[schlachtruf]

yes i guess this will delay the huge amount of new good riders.... but there is still the sponsor bug.... and thats some of the most important ones . from 750k budget to 244k budget for the next year... u cant do negotations with good riders... thats the most limiting problem....

[MilesTereo]

@sylvao the mod you linked looks very intriguing. If I'm ever going to start another career, I'm definitely going to check it out. As for reducing the level of training structures, etc., I assume that would involve editing the .cdb file, right? I think I could do that myself as well, I just need to know which of the sheets to edit.

[sylvao]

@MilesTereo
True, it is done through editing the following tables in cdb:
* STA_race > Decrease values of gene_f_popularity for all races (I suppose a division by 2 is an important modification).
* STA_region > Decrease starting values of value_i_training_structures and value_i_cycling_popularity (I think an overall reduction of 1 for all regions should be noticable).
On my own, I use LACHI editor. I could provide a link if you want.
Would be very interested to have some feedback about the changes you will made over a long career. I would update my MOD to improve that :) Thanks.

[sylvao]

For the sponsor bug, I am still looking what is wrong in the database... if it can be fixed or not. But my editor can't load the save. It seems the file is too big.

[MilesTereo]

I use Davy's PCM DBEdit (I don't think a link for that one is still available). Using Davy's editor, I also run into the issue where I can't open save games at a certain point, although files from early in a season seem to work fine. I back up my saves regularly, so if you want, I have uploaded another save from Jan 1 2043 of the same career. No idea if that helps in tracking down the reason for the bugged sponsor offers), but if you want to look at the file again, here's the link (absolutely no pressure though :) :

https://file.io/B4lRaULQSLni

Those are sensible modifcations. I guess STA_race only has to be done at the start of a career, whereas STA_region should probably be adjusted every couple of years, right?

[sylvao]

OK, i was able to edit this save. Into DYN_Sponsors, the values are right:
For Citroën sponsor (your team), value_i_budget_max is 14 400 000.
You could give a try by changing gene_i_value_contract_end from 2044 to something higher (like 2060) so that sponsor offers day will no trigger for years. I know this value works for AI teams but never tested for player team.

[sylvao]

Also to reduce file size (and maybe prevent further bugs), you could remove most of free riders in DYN_cyclist (team = 119). Every new season will add a lot of new young riders and let them available for years.

Editing STA_region each season would be top but the best would be not to edit thanks to reduced popularity values in STA_race. This need some testing with modified World DB.

[MilesTereo]

@sylvao: sorry for the delay, but I've finally come around to continuing with the January 2043 save. Unfortunately, even doing everything you recommended didn't help, and the game still doesn't pause for the sponsor offers on 31 July 2043. The offers themselves are still way too low as well (less than 600k even though I should by maxed out at this point).

Here's what I tried at the beginning of the year:
- I changed gene_i_value_contract_end to 2099 for all teams.
- I deleted a lot of free agent riders (mostly those with low potential).
- I drastically reduced gene_f_popularity to like a fifth for basically every race.
- I tried decreasing value_i_training_structures and value_i_cycling_popularity by 2, although it didn't seem to change in the Scouting screen. Unfortunately, the numbers in the table don't seem to align with those in-game to begin with. Maybe this will only update once the new year rolls over?