I play this game like I've played the two previous versions as well (and in my opinion it's the best version of the three):
To get the 'directeur sportif' experience I set the roles in the start of the race, leave every rider on automatic and let the drama play out before my eyes while I shout angrily at the screen as my riders don't do what I ask them to.
I have a few major issues with playing like than on PCM17, while over all finding the experience enjoyable:
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1: Attacking with your team leader is very rarely a good idea. I'm more or less yet to see a favourite take a solo win from an attack.
If they win it's usually from "sprinting" up the very last section of a climb or from dropping the other favourites from their wheel while relaying in a group of favourites.
This is especially an issue in the classics. Even Ronde van Vlaanderen, Robaix and La Doyenne is usually won in a sprint from a group of no less than 10 riders.
Het Niuewsblad and Gent Wevelgem is 90% of the times decided in a mass sprint of around 100 riders.
And the extremly annoying part: If I ask my team leader to be aggressive in the classics he always attacks on flat parts - rarely on cobbled sections or on a hill as in real life.
Any tips as how to get the races to be more selective? I have had a bit of succes by softening the other teams by putting riders in the break away and attacking with strong riders on free role but still it feels as if attacking is under powered.
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2: Probably not solveable by tactics but rather needs a change of programming, but break aways are far too diffucult to control.
Even if I and other sprint teams arrive at the Tour with a minumum of six strong helpers for the sprinter, the pancake flat stages is often won by a break away, as 10+ crappy riders escape before my helpers hit the front of the peleton.
And the peleton - even with every sprinter team helping - then gives them far too much time and doesn't catch them in time. Usually the break away riders finish in the same time as the sprinters. Not one time has I seen the peloton catch a break away of 5+ riders with 20 km to go as is pretty common in real life.
Very annoying.
On the topic of break aways it's also very difficult to get a rider in them, as my lesser riders usually starts very far behind in the peleton - and when they finally hits the front the break away is long gone.
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3: Lead outs not working.
When catching the break away the two lead out men often do the chasing in front of the peloton very far from the line, which results in them being knackered when they are supposed to do the lead out.
I solved this somewhat by having the two lead out men being the strongest of the helpers (as the game seems to want to use the weakest first - regardless of their sprinting stats) but even when the lead out works it's not uncommon to see my sprinter start the sprint from 2,5 km to go - from the wheel of a lead out man in tip top condition.
My sprinter is by far the most succesfull when he takes the wheel of another sprinter.
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Does anyone play the game the same way - and do you have any tips as to how to get maximum realism via prelaid tactics? Edited by diabolicpanda on 05-09-2017 21:12
