I hope you guys take account of these absolute necessary fixes.

[elhom1990]

Dear devs,

As you can read in almost all the comments, we expect better functionalities in this new edition of PCM. In short: I think it's a great game with huge potential, but there are more than a few annoying gameplay mechanics that just ruin the whole experience.

Please at least fix the following things:
1. Make a balanced, realistic performance of the procyclist mode. In the '23 version you could never compete in mountain stages because your stamina dropped way quicker than the AI. It took way too long before this got fixed and this absolutely ruined this whole game option. Alot of people complained in the community hub with no quick fix as a result. Also make sure that the sprinttrain works. Cause it didn't.

2. Fix the sponsor selection. If you have only Dutch cyclists, you should get offers from Dutch sponsors (duh!). That's a necessary functionality otherwise this is such a damaging thing for the immersiveness. Also there should be more dynamic in the sponsor being satisfied in the results. If your sprinter get's injured, the sponsor should realize you're not going to win the green jersey (obviously).

3. More diversity among raceprofiles over years. It's such a bore if every year the race profile of almost all the stages is EXACTLY the same. That's 0,0% realistic and also makes playing multiple seasons a boring experience. At least use three different tracks for races and let them change randomly orso.

[Marginal0]

It's cute that you're calling these "mechanics". It's just a bunch of changes that should've made ages ago where they're literaly changing a couple of values in a TXT. It just highlights that nobody really tests this game until the release. A pity.

1. The mode was playable imo with default db, but not with any good database, at least if you want to be an elite-level rider. Primary stats like STA, REC, RES were just too low to be relevant. But I thought they fixed it eventually?

2. Didn't they say this would be changed? And why would the sponsor care if your sprinter is injured? They'll be pissed off if there are no results, for whatever reason.

3. Mods will change this, but indeed very lazy on their part, especially because the stages were in previous versions.

Why aren't you mentioning the bad morale system? "Oh no, I haven't won a race. Now I'm pissed and I definitely won't win one", or riders emulating VDP's schedule will die from depression. But I think we might be able to mod that ourselves.

It was a good game 20 years ago, and now it's just an aged good game. I remember the sprint train working several years before and now it's busted. So you can't even claim it's strictly improved.

[elhom1990]

@MarginalO,

I agree that these wishes should have been a bare minimum. I hope our discussion at least triggers something.

1. You might be right that they fixed the stamina issue, eventually. But this was way and way too late. I'm sure I've played at least 7/8 months and still had to deal with this issue. While it's absolutely necessary. And I dont agree that this mod was playable. For me, it's a minimum requirement that you can compete realistically with the AI in pro cyclist mode.

2. I've only read so far that they added functionality with season goals (X wins in season). I didnt read anything about fixing the nationality issue. Which I think is not much too ask. If I play a manager mode I'd like to make a team with a majority of one nation (as you also see in reality). But this is impossible if you can't attract sponsors of this nation. Pretty silly that this is still not fixed.

And sponsors do care about injuries. Absolutely. If Pogacar would break his leg, dont think UAE still expects a TDF victory. In reality you also build up credit over seasons. For example: Visma Lease A Bike would not lose their sponsor on the sole basis of their dissapointing season so far (conditions are also clear: vAert injury, Vingegaard injury) because they had incredible success in the passed seasons. This dynamic is not implemented in PCM, which is a shame because it becomes unrealistic.

3. Agreed. And mods would be nice for the die-hards that like to do exotic stuff in the game (make their own team, fanatasy tournaments, etc...) not for basics like this.

And offcourse, there are more basic things that could be addressed (talents develop unrealistically fast and some stages are way too easy to win, etc...). But let's make some small steps to begin with.

[Marginal0]

You seriously care about the sponsor thing? IRL the sponsors would want to to win it with Almeida or Yates or someone else. If you fail they won't fire you or hold it against you, but they'll still be disappointed that their investment is out. Do you expect them to give you a budget raise for your performance for a top5 OVR? XD

Anyhow, this would require a relative metric, which I believe the devs would be incapable of realising at the moment (given how bad other metrics work and the fact it takes them half a decade to sort out numeric issues).

There's much bigger issues imo that you're naming at the end of the post (hilly flat-finish stages are ridiculously easy to win, and indeed the progression is insane and the scouting system is completely pointless).

[elhom1990]

@Marginal,
Our discussion on the sponsor thing only illustrates that sponsor expectations are far more complex then the current system in play. A manager builds up credit of performances in the past, sponsors do realize goals cant be achieved with injuries of leaders (many examples irl), etc... And it's obvious that teams with a majority of riders from a country, will attract sponsors from this country. Without this functionality I cant really build up a team over multiple seasons, because I'm forced to pick a sponsor from an unrelated country. I'm not a programmer but I dont think these wishes should be so complicated technically.

Regarding the unbalanced growth of young talents and how easy it is to win certain races, I seriously hope they actually test their own product this time.

I also hope some devs can react to this dicsussion.

[Nebur86 / Der Hammer]

lol, 1 seems more like a skill issue to me.
I play on extreme in pro cyclist for years. Mountain stages are still the absolute easiest part of the game. I can win with a rider with far inferior MO/STA/RES stats by carefully managing effort... meanwhile the AI goes berserk and kills itself.

[Terminal Velocity]

Teams should based on a country and most sponsors should be from the same country, mixed in a little with sponsors from other countries based on some of the predominant nationalities from your team.
What percentage of each? Well, we could use some weighting system ...

Shouldn't be too hard to come up with a similar system. Did no one even think about something like that? Wtf.

[Radimov]

They're not going to take anything into account and sell you a minor upgrade at new game price next year.

[Smurfy]

bro that AI sprint train kinda works now, but everyone are sprinting in 1.6km and if you tried to sprint with them you gonna get tired while they're sprinter looks like they don't lost any red bar.