Struggling with the AI

[moelwyn]

As a pro cyclist the AI just sucks. Hugely sucks. If you are in the break it chases you down remorselessly. Not in the break - just sits off and lets the break win by 1min+.

Yes you can personally chase it down - in which case you get jumped in the sprint.

Try a cheeky solo from 10k out - your own team pace the pack back to your rear wheel.

I get making the sprint a difficult and random event. I really, really don't get making the break win 80%+ of stages.

[HiRoman_IB]

Very strange!
I have the AI starts to catch up breakaway near 50km before the finish. And do it every stage!
Chase breakaway with all U team, not personally (if U R leader).
I see no problem with that.

[moelwyn]

Yes in career mode this can work but in "Be a Pro Mode" I can't control the team only myself and I will always have weak team to start with in any case.

The peleton starts to chase in the last 50-60k and generally pulls the break in from 5 or 6 mins to about 2 mins but never closes those last two mins.

I have noticed some other points which make me suspect iffy programming at play.

I have tried closing down the attacks at the start of the race to prevent a break (or keep the break small enough to limit its power). This doesn't work as everyone that is pre-ordained to be in the break will attack again and again and again until they get away (they attack in relays of 2 or 4 so once one is shut down the next attacks and so on.) It is possible to stop a particular individual getting away but that is rarely useful.

Also what I notice is that at the start of the race if I am going full yellow then I, as higher class rider than the attackers, often can nearly match their "attack" speed and dominate them as soon as they drop from full attack. But at the end of the race if I break to the front of the pack going at the same effort the break somehow manage to maintain a 30-60s lead AND then have a sprint.

Mulitple times on mountain stages the peleton (which by the way I notice in this iteration doesn't really seem to break up much - full mountain stages often end with a 120 rider peleton still intact) will be unable to close the break but somehow catch up in a heartbeat (seriously less than 20k) if I sprint off and join the break.

I find these problems strange and frustrating because my long periods of playing previous titles in the series (2015 mostly) did not have the same problems, breaks would win occasionally but nothing like as often and lacked the magical powers of staying just off the front they seem to have gained.

When you consider how little has changed 2015-2017 this seems like a huge step back. And I think that I might also take that step back if it doesn't improve.

[HiRoman_IB]

I play about 1000h in PCM2014 (not play 2015 and 2016) and now play PCM2017. Yes, in 2017 more hard to win with breakaway. But:
1) in real race break will atack until go. in game same... just let break go! if U weak rider u may go with break (if u sprot dir sey it), or work in front of peloton on 60 power.
2) just up level and rider stats. when u be a leader u can control the team or part of u team. when u can control thr break easy!
3) on mount stage u need mnt stats 75+ for 2.2\2.1 race min. when u have chanse to win.

in pro cyclist mode more difficult get any win! just try it! search right race strategy!
in this moment i play with extream defficulty level and have 42 win in 1st seasons, and win 1st race - CYA Cup...

if u won i can give u some extra hint or tactics for win!

[moelwyn]

I have explored this a bit more.

The biggest problem is that, for reasons I don't entirely understand, most of my team are "Free element" or "Puncher (+/- outside)" on many, many stages/races. This is always on flat stages/races and these are the stages the breakaway winning is the problem.

I think the problem is a lot to do with the idea that in flat stages it the sprinting teams that close things up and overall challenger teams don't bother. But if the break wins by six minutes on a stage and the whole race only has one minor hilly stage then that is actually what determines the overall winner.

I have found that when you get to bigger races with plenty of hill and mountain stages then this is much less of a problem but you don't get to them for quite a long time as a rookie Pro Cyclist.

I have to say I don't see any way it is possible starting a Pro cyclist game with a 19 year old and winning 42 races in the first year. I suppose it might be with an older rider but only a sprinter which will in turn assure that you can't compete in the big stage races which are the most interesting for me.

[Krolpand]

Originally posted by moelwyn:

As a pro cyclist the AI just sucks. Hugely sucks. If you are in the break it chases you down remorselessly. Not in the break - just sits off and lets the break win by 1min+.

Yes you can personally chase it down - in which case you get jumped in the sprint.

Try a cheeky solo from 10k out - your own team pace the pack back to your rear wheel.

I get making the sprint a difficult and random event. I really, really don't get making the break win 80%+ of stages.

The game is bugged as hell. When you crash, your team doesn't wait on you. Breakaways with favourites are let go. The moment you want to join, they chase you down. Even worse for sprinters early on is that you don't have control over most teammates :/

My solution was sticking to smaller races for a longer time, so I'd be leader. Makes your levelling up slower tho.

[moelwyn]

Well I tried as a sprinter to get the 42 victories in the first season that is apparently possible. A good example of my experience would be the Beaumont Trophy. I had 7 team mates but 5 were "Puncher" and 2 "Puncher outside". I was designated Sprinter but I had no "sprint train" or "team mate" colleagues.

A break of 10 riders set off and their lead grew, and grew and grew. They were 48 minutes up at one point. With about 40 km to go the peleton sprang into action. Sadly the break were about 40k ahead at this point so this made little difference.

I actually finished 11th, timing my jump perfectly and taking first of the rest by half a wheel on the line. But everyone not in the break finished outside the time that would have been cut off if a stage race so this didn't really matter.

I am very interested in what tactic I could use at this point that would have made a difference.

[moelwyn]

Okay some issues with hills now. Just finished the Vuelta bumpty bump Murcia something or other. A fairly flat stage other than the enormous mountain about 2/3 of the way through.

Now I actually had a full complement of team-mates with just two "free elements" for this but that didn't really matter as the AI had brilliant picked none of the climbers in the team giving me a selection of northern classicists, flat specialists and two sprinters.

To make the best of a bad job I kept the tempo nice and high up to the mountain, pushed all of my team to breaking point to keep it high in the early slopes and then, about 1/2 way up I launched my attack. By the summit _the whole peleton_ was back on my wheel. Not a small group of climbers, not an elite selection but the whole race.

The finish was a bunched uphill sprint with the first 91 finishers given the same time!!!!