I have been looking a bit deeper into the editor and I don't seem to figure out what is the usage of the Finish Line categories. After playing a couple of times the first stage in the variant I did I foulnd out that only a handful of riders would keep riding to the finish line after the last climb. Even good climbers like Bauke Mollema would let go of the best riders. Curiosly, this doesn't happen in other of the stages I created and I want to dig out why this happens.
I would guess that the criteria is as follows, but would like to have other opinions:
- Classics: One day races.
- Race: Last stage of a stage race?
- Flat, Hilly, Mountain: I would guess you could detemine the type of stage this way, but obvously this is overridden by the game.
- Time trials: Self explanatory.
My main issue is that I can't tell whether this has something to do with the AI or not, so I would greatly appreciate if anyone can shed any light on my problem.
As far as I know, it has nothing to do with AI, only with the classification .xml files and the bonus that it gives. For example, in the TdF, a flat stage finish gives 45, 35 etc points to the first riders, while a hill finish gives 30, 25, etc. The classification files also set the time bonuses and the money that it gives. Margh Norway tried once to see with a stage if it changed category or had any different effect with different finish categories, but found nothing (of course that was a 1-stage test, not an extensive test or anything like that).
I don't think there's any use for the "race" category. The last stage of stage races made by Cyanide use the other categories, just like any other stage. On flat, hillly and mountain, you can't determine the type of stage, but you can set the classification you want it to give.
One thing to be kept in mind: if you're finishing a race with a rather 'rare' finish line (e.g. finish the TdF with a MTF stage, and thus the finish line mountain HC), you might need to check if the overall prize bonuses will be given. In these classification .xml files, there isn't a general section specifying the final race bonus - each finish line category has the lines setting out the final race prizes, but some of them don't have it because the race simply doesn't finish in it (e.g. mountain HC for the TdF). In these cases you'll need to add the race prizes to this type of finish line in the .xml files, otherwise there'll be no overall prizes for that race.
That's what happened with Paris-Nice in PCM12, for example; Cyanide included in one of the patches an updated .xml file for it, because there was no overall prizes written for a mountain ITT finish, so the race didn't give any overall prize.
Edited by lluuiiggii on 17-02-2013 20:01
Thanks lluuiiggii. I should have imagined so, as it is not too different from the way PCM09 treated the configuration of the finish line. You are like the encyclopedia of the game
The thing that bothers me a bit then is the fact that the implementation of the riders not going for the victory is a bit poor. Throwing away the chance for a potential top 10 GC in the first stage is rather strange even if some rider is not the leader of the team.
mpardo wrote:
The thing that bothers me a bit then is the fact that the implementation of the riders not going for the victory is a bit poor. Throwing away the chance for a potential top 10 GC in the first stage is rather strange even if some rider is not the leader of the team.
If I understand correctly, the riders were for some reason left out of the peloton/main group and then just sit and ride to the finish? If yes, did that happen in single stage mode? If yes, I think it's normal in PCM12 (in single stage mode). Even if some great riders are left behing, but there's a decent rider from their team in the front group, they simply won't try to bridge the gap anymore, and will just sit for the rest of the stage. Kinda silly imo, but that's the way I've noticed it to be in PCM12
mpardo wrote:
The thing that bothers me a bit then is the fact that the implementation of the riders not going for the victory is a bit poor. Throwing away the chance for a potential top 10 GC in the first stage is rather strange even if some rider is not the leader of the team.
If I understand correctly, the riders were for some reason left out of the peloton/main group and then just sit and ride to the finish? If yes, did that happen in single stage mode? If yes, I think it's normal in PCM12 (in single stage mode). Even if some great riders are left behing, but there's a decent rider from their team in the front group, they simply won't try to bridge the gap anymore, and will just sit for the rest of the stage. Kinda silly imo, but that's the way I've noticed it to be in PCM12
I noticed it first in single stage mode, where only maybe 8 - 10 riders would go away and everyone else would just sit there and wait for the finish line losing almost 10 minutes.
I then tried the stage race mode to see if the behavior changed. While the gaps were smaller (maybe half of those in the single stage mode) and the front group was double the size, some riders that should have made it into the front group just couldn't be bothered. I have only raced it once in stage race mode, so I don't want to jump into quick conclusions, only wanted to check out how often it happened and if something could be done to reduce its impact.
