New features?

[JTW]

So i'm having difficulties figuring out what exactly has changed this year. I've tried doing a google search, checked their website, read through the steampage and watched their gameplay trailer, and basically all the info i've been able to aquire is this:

"Increased realism: race rhythm, riders’ pace, stamina and training management, enhanced IA…" Well to me this sounds like they're saying "We've made it better!" which doesn't really help anyone looking for information, not to mention they've misspelled AI.

"Organize your team in a train formation at any point during the race, to protect your riders and prepare as you approach key areas." Yeah, this has been possible for several years now. Are they saying they've added something to the system? replaced/revamped it?

"Improved progression system in Pro Cyclist mode: fulfill the objectives set by your manager to improve and progress within your team and beyond!" We've also had objectives for some time now, what exactly is improved this year?

"Form clans and join members of the community to chat, organize competitions and compare results." Now the clan part actually sounds interesting, but what what does that actually do? We've been able to chat, organize competitions and compare results with others in the multiplayer for ages though.

So basically as far as i can understand, they've added features there's been here for a long time and made the game better. If i heard that from a salesperson in a store i'd laugh in their face and walk away.
So please, can anyone tell me what exactly is gonna be different this year? Because it seems to me that Cyanide is doing their very best to either hide that information, or they've become so incompetent/illiterate that they aren't able to convey simple information such as this.

I mean come on Cyanide, get your ♥♥♥♥ together.

[Jesper / MrJones]

I feel the same way you do..

[augustenberg]

I agree with you. Someone who can tell about the new features???

[MrDuck]

For this year its too late but ...Just Follow pcm on FB , volunteer for beta pcm18 next year .

[MY TEAM SUCKS]

not buying unless first person controlled cycling is implemented

[Benji Naesen]

VactionList, then you might aswell never buy it. This is not and will never be a first person game.

For the rest: Let me give you a quick rundown of the changes:
- Updates Layout and Career UI.
- Being able to see the rider's actual fitness instead of some stupid bar.
- tons of AI changes, not sure if improvements yet
- many new animations while attacking, downhil...
- Realistic downhill and uphill stats influence
- Cutscene at the start.

Career:
- The fitness system has totally changed.
- Added fitness peak concept.
- Rider's goal system has totally changed.
- Dashboard page for fitness management and rider's 'inscription'.

Pro Cyclist
- Goal at start of every race, depending on the succes you'll earn XP point for your progresion.
- Overall manager satisfaction with your results. This will decide next year's salary. ;)
- If you are a good rider, you can now select the teammates you want in the races you ride for the team.

(I asked this on an interview:) What will Cyanide do to prevent launch day issues like last year.
- Add more testing tools.
- Added more monitoring, so they'll see if something is going wrong directly, so they can instantly try fixing it.
- Much more investing and resources into Q&A and debugging, whatever that means.

Rider collection:
- still no us.

Multiplayer:
- Tons of changes when it comes to stability
- The adding of 'Clans', for tournaments etc. (Pretty awesome tbh)
This gives you the ability to have a shirt for your team, a private ranking in your team.

Stage editor: few changes.

Extra:
- Extra columns in db's, dunno what they do yet.
- Stages have changed, so the old ones won't be compatible.

[IceManSRB]

Originally posted by BENJI NAESEN:

- Stages have changed, so the old ones won't be compatible.

This isn't good thing. Why they changed stages? Do you have any information.

[Benji Naesen]

Iceman, I don't. :)

[JTW]

Thank you! This is exactly what i've been looking for, so thanks a lot for taking the time to put all this together. For future references, where did you yourself acquire this information Benji? Was it on Facebook like Hell Raiser suggested? Not a huge Facebook user, but if it's gonna help me keep up to date on this, i might have to give in.

[Benji Naesen]

I did an interview with a community manager of Cyanide some months ago :D I also saw they have extensive info on their website.

[tellico]

http://pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=47261

[joy&ko]

Originally posted by IceMan:

Originally posted by BENJI NAESEN:

- Stages have changed, so the old ones won't be compatible.

This isn't good thing. Why they changed stages? Do you have any information.

Some IsolatedObjects/Roads/Things probably got changed/updated. Opening PCM16 stages in the satge editor and exporting them again should do the trick, like every year.

[Matt17BR]

This really isn't true, freire told me this: "To be clear, we added informations in the .cds files that help the physic/AI working better...but if the code don't find this..it doesn't work properly. That's why all the old stages will have to be re-exported with the PCM17 stage editor."