Pro Cycling Manager only for advanced gamers?

Hello everyone.

I am a hobby cyclist and have taken part in a few small and local amateur races in the past for the fun of it. Cycling is my favorite sport and mountain-biking my primary way of keeping in shape from spring to autumn, but I also enjoy reading and watching the competitive side of it. Whenever cycling is on TV, I'll try to get a glimpse of it, but I usually don't watch more than half a dozen events per season (TdF included). Not only is it not that televised where I live, but there's also this pesky little thing called a job.

A game like the Pro Cycling Manager should fit me perfectly, wouldn't you think? I have indeed played it in the past - it was the 2008 release, I think - but there's a reason why it has been some time since my last purchase.

I soon found, that the game required too much micro-management - which sapped all the enjoyment out of me - and what was there, wasn't so comfortable to operate either (I also include the really tedious navigation in that). I could never last more than half a season of managing a team.

I have followed the game's later releases off and on, by reading reviews and watching YouTube recordings or streams, if available. Aside from improvements in detail, the current databases and some changes in the skin, the game doesn't look to have changed much in the past five years. That's a huge problem for me, because I would love to buy a fun cyclist racing game, but certainly not an almost straight-up copy of one, I didn't have any fun with in the past.

In all these years you (Cyanide) have been developing this game, has it never occurred to you, that the game isn't very beginner friendly? If the player likes cycling but isn't familiar with the sport as a whole, or doesn't follow the professional circuit for that matter, then the Pro Cycling Manager loses a lot of its attractiveness.

Here are some negatives I'd like to point out:

• There is little to no help on which kinds of races/events are the best for a particular situation (composition of riders, goals of the team, strength of competition, etc).
• The training seems to be reduced to hiring a trainer, assigning a rider to him and choosing the specialization.
• I remember the controls in the 3D race view being unwieldy in the past and judging by screenshots and videos, today's game looks to be much of the same.
• The prior point is exacerbated by the limited viewing options. Back when I played the game, the lack of additional viewing options (like zooming out or panning the camera) made me lose control of the race entirely. Maybe that's available now, but it certainly wasn't apparent in any recent screenshot or in-game video I've ever seen.
• Controlling one rider manually is just fine, but doing eight of them at the same time? Impossible for me, without constantly pausing the game and switching between riders. I want to relax while spending my spare time playing a game, but the 3D race simulation is more work than fun.

What the game needs are assistant options that can be de/activated by the user. For example:

• You don't want to bother with choosing the best (and most satisfying) races/events for your team and riders? Then give your assistant some general orders, let him book the events or apply for wild-cards, choose the best fitting riders in advance, put them in well-fitting training camps and deal with sponsor expectations.
• You don't want to manage all eight riders in a race simulation, but only want to deal with your star sprinter on a flat stage? Then ask your assistant to handle the other riders and add some easily visible commands you can use to govern the other riders with to increase your sprinter's chances for a win. For example: get me some water (you don't need to search for the best positioned helper in your team), prepare the sprint (you don't need to look for the best positioned helper with the best stats and the highest remaining fitness levels), etc.
• You want to achieve a new goal like racing the Tour de France for the first time? You ask your assistant for help with that endeavor. Is your squad good enough? Are critical positions under-staffed? What kind of strategies could you run with your presently available drivers?

Not everyone will want to play with features like that always active, but in your first season or with your first team, why not take a little bit additional help if it's offered? Why not concentrate on what you enjoy the most? I have learned to love convenient functions in other games - the Sports Interactive Football Manager series is probably the most notorious - and don't want to miss them any more.

The short of it is: if Pro Cycling manager 2014 would have helpful features and automation like that, I would buy the game.

Best regards,
SilverReindeer

This is definitely a point that we have and want to improve for the next series. New players have a lot of difficulties to understand the game mechanics and there are many little improvements that could help a lot.

Thanks for this good feedback.

The solution : make a more complete manual ?

Exactly. The game is easy and simple to use. In race pause is not needed at all, but you have to spent one minute to read shortkeys list... In-race interface is actually one of the strengths of the game. Cyanide should spent time on the correction of bugs, more tests and the development of management part of the game, NOT facilitate the game. It is simple enough and community (pcm daily) is one of the best.
Besides, what that will bring the mechanics and rules of the game if they are contrary to the execution?! Resistance attribute does not work at all, stars on the equipment, which are not relevant (manual lies!), hints that were in previous versions and no longer have the right to exist (hints about fitness from pcm12 system in pcm13 load screen), etc. etc. etc....
Do properly to the end what you started and only then keep doing new things.

I do not quite agree with the first post, honestly if this game is a manager is supposed to have some level of complexity that only those who follow the sport can understand in its fullness. Obviously someone who has never seen a football game will also have problems playing Football Manager even with the help that the game brings. This is just an example.

But I have to agree the game does not have many helps for new players, is one of the complaints I read more in the communities forums. Just create a animated assistant during the careers with the tips of the manual, is always a way to make that content more visible since not everyone reads the manual (the online version neither bring one).

But I like to leave another suggestion for the PCM series, not related with the fact the game being only for advanced gamers but the game being for players with lot of free time. For two reasons:

- one season in a career takes a long time to be played, much of the time the players are on the career menu is looking to the simulation bar while it's simulating races, becomes upset over time. In total I'm talking about hours of simulation during a season, plus the hours required to play the stages becomes almost impossible combine it all for those who do not have time in our life to devote to the game.

- and there must be another way to play the stages, not all players have time to play all the stages in 3d mode, many of us just want to play the most important parts of the races because the only solution is to simulate, but the results of simulation suck. Something that players ask is a combination between fast simulation and 3D mode... there must be a way to quickly simulate parts of the stages and allow players to just play the decisive parts. Is one of the easiest solution for those who do not have time to play all the stages in 3d mode, and do not want simulation results.

I just hope that the PCM series become more user friendly for those who do not have much time to play intensely the games.