Because we find ourselves answering many of the same questions, we've decided to open an FAQ thread.
Do I need the PCM.daily Expansion Pack to play with the 2016 Database? No, you don't. The 2016 Database is a standalone database that contains all of the necessary files.
Do I need a clean installation of PCM for the database to work? You don't "need" a clean installation, but we strongly recommend it. A clean install of Pro Cycling Manager 2015 will ensure you that any bugs you encounter while using this database are caused by this database and not by other databases you have installed. A lot of the bugs you may encounter without a clean installation may be caused by leftovers of stages used by old version of the database or by other dbs, hence why the first question you'll get when reporting a bug will be whether you did a clean install or not. Doing a clean install can also save you some GBs of space!
If you are going to make a clean installation, make sure you start up Pro Cycling Manager before installing the Expansion Pack, so that the game can create the PCM 15 folder in the documents path and nothing gets overwritten, resulting in crashes and various bugs that would therefore require a re-installation of the entire database.
To do a clean install with Steam, go to your installation directory and delete all contents of the folder Pro Cycling Manager 2015. Don't delete the folder itself! Open Steam, go to your Library and right click Pro Cycling Manager 2015. Select Properties and go to Local Files. Click Verify integrity of game cache. Steam will now check which files are missing (all files) and will automatically download and install them again.
To do a clean install of the disc version, just delete the game like you usually would. After the uninstaller is complete, go to the installation directory and delete the entire Pro Cycling Manager - Season 2015 folder and its contents. Now reinstall the game.
I installed the database, but now the teams show pink boxes instead of the minishirt. What have I done wrong? orI installed the database, but now the bikes and helmets don't show. What have I done wrong? orI installed the database, but all stages are Plouay-Plouay. What have I done wrong? Most likely, you installed the database in the wrong directory. As a general rule, you need to install the Expansion Pack in the same directory as the one where you can find the PCM executable file (PCM.exe). If you installed the game through Steam, you should manually change the installation directory to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Pro Cycling Manager 2015. If you changed the installation directory manually when you installed PCM2015, you should install the Expansion Pack in the same directory. Besides that, if you aren't English-speaking and therefore your PCM folder name isn't Pro Cycling Manager - Season 2015, you might find 2 similar folders in the same path, usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Cyanide. In this case, you'll only have to move the files you installed into season to the folder where you've installed PCM, so the one in your language, and overwrite. Last but not least, if your PC doesn't run a x64 (64-bit) copy of the Windows OS, but a x86 one (32-bit), make sure you don't put (x86) in the destination's directory. So, instead of f.e. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Cyanide\Pro Cycling Manager - Season 2015", you'll need to install the game in "C:\Program Files\Cyanide\Pro Cycling Manager - Season 2015".
I can't select the database in the game. What did I do wrong? Also, I can't see riders photos at all! For some reason our installer doesn't automatically detect the right Documents folder. This means that if your Documents folder is somewhere else than the default location (<system drive>*\Users\<username>\Documents), the installer doesn't detect it and installs the files in this default location.
To solve this, go to the location mentioned a few lines above and copy the folder Pro Cycling Manager 2015. Paste it to your real Documents folder and overwrite files if necessary. * The system drive is usually C:, but can be different. The installer does detect this automatically though.
I downloaded the database, but I have a crash at ''generating riders'' when starting my career. The game cannot find our Local.cdb, meaning that you installed the database in the wrong directory. If you installed the game through Steam, you should manually change the installation directory to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Pro Cycling Manager 2015. If you changed the installation directory manually when you installed PCM2015, you should install the database in the same directory. Besides that, if you aren't English-speaking and therefore your PCM folder name isn't Pro Cycling Manager - Season 2015, you might find 2 similar folders in the same path, usually C:\Program Files\Cyanide. In this case, you'll only have to move the files you installed into season to the folder where you've installed PCM, so the one in your language, and overwrite.
If you double-checked and you're completely sure that you installed it correctly, try replacing the Local.cdb. Go to your installation directory and into the folder PCMdaily Backup. Copy the file Local.cdb. Now go back to the installation directory and open the folder Database. Past the Local.cdb and overwrite the existing file.
My career crashes at the 1st of July. How can I solve this? This crash is caused by some mixed up dates for the Volta a Portugal. You can easily solve this yourself in an existing career if you have basic editing knowledge. Otherwise, you should wait for the first update, which will have this fixed.
To solve this, use a Weekly Save from late June (editing the savegame that crashes will result in all races being simulated without being able to participate) and use an editor to change the month of stage 6 to 11 to "8" (August) instead of "7" (July) in the table STA_stage. If you're editing a database and not a savegame, you can skip the steps below this.
After you've done this, sort by gene_i_computed_date and change the wrong UNIX code that is in there to the correct one, which is the same as the other stages that are held on the new date. Otherwise, you can use an UNIX date/time converter that you can easily find on the internet. Remember to set 12.00 as the time.
I installed the Variant DLC after I started a career. Will the variants be added to my career or do I need to start a new career? The variants will be used in existing careers as well, so you don't need to start a new one.
I installed the database, but I would like to install another database as well. Does this cause problems? We tried to configure this database in a way that it can be installed alongside another database. However, there are some files that could get overwritten when you install another database. This could result in alterations of your gameplay (like different sponsorkits or missing/wrong jerseys, accessories, et cetera) or even crashes. So it is possible to install multiple databases, but it's risky.
You can however try to make a second installation of PCM in a different path. This way, you can play 2 databases with virtually no risks!
If your question hasn't been answered in here, you can ask your question at the General questions thread for the 2016 Database.
Don't send the members of the Database Team PM's about the database, please. Otherwise our inboxes would be overflown with support requests.
Edited by haasje33 on 03-04-2016 10:01
