I am playing on Extreme and playing with Trek-Segafredo in career mode with the PCM.daily expansion.
In Paris-Nice there were breakaways that had 5+ mins to the peleton, because I had the yellow jersey and no other teams did the chasing. In Tirreno-Adriatico breakaways only get 45 seconds to the peleton, and all my riders are almost dead before the last climb incl. Nibali.
Now I am in the Ronde van Vlaanderen and after the first 50kms of the the race most of my riders are tired. Quickstep have been riding at what seems like over 90% effort at the front since the start. A 8 man breakaway got 43 seconds ahead, but are caught again with over 200kms to go. Quickstep are still riding very hard even though no one is in a breakaway. A few poor riders have already been dropped, and there is still a long way to go before the first cobbled section.
I won the Tirreno race because Nibali had a +5 dayform and lasted longer than the rest of the riders and got a 1 minute ahead of Bernal, before all the red and yellow was gone (with 5km of climbing to go). Haven't seen a single breakaway win.
Is this just how the game is? Not really enjoyable imo, and if so which PCM is best?
Yeah,it's the way AI works now,it feels crazy at times.The peletons speed depends on the gap with the escapees. When it's less then 2 minutes both escapees and peleton start riding way faster,trying to extend-close the gap,when it's around 1 minute they ride ,both in front and back, like the finish is within 5 km, close gap or die trying.Combined with the AI tendency to very hard on hills(way to much effort).
Also makes that you get behind just a little bit :falls,flat tires,breaks in the peleton = chance of winning is gone.
Also feels like the AI is just designed to screw you over.
This mechanic of going harder( a bit) was always in the game,but when they redesigned the effort mechanics (couple of years ago) they didn't account( or test) for all the consequences (as usual).
That said, the core mechanics of the game that regular riding saves energy opposed to irregular riding and gives you an edge in the end, is one of the great things about this game. Which means if you handle the early&mid-race well, you can win with lesser riders... or else just drop difficulty.
Edited by sierramike on 22-08-2020 21:46
