Okay, I've tried to find the answer to all my questions on this site and others, but I still have some questions that maybe some of you could help me with. I don't know a ton about the sport of cycling except for what I've learned from following the Tour. And, I've watched the tour every year since 1999. Though it probably wasn't until 2001 or 2002 that I really started to follow every stage and get some clue as to what in the world was really going on. I'm an American, so I guess you know why I even cared. But, I wouldn't call myself a Lance fan at all. I'm indifferent about the whole sport b/c it's likely all the favorites are doping. Still I did prefer Lance winning over anyone else. Also, I said I don't know much about the sport, but for an American, I'm practically an expert.
Sorry for the rant, now for the questions:
1) In all sports games, I love to start with the worst team and build it up. Well that is proving to be extremely difficult in this game. Has anyone had any success doing this, and what tips would you give me to do this? And to let you know, the problem I encounter is I sign new riders right away, but don't win enough with my inferior team to stay out of the red. I always go bankrupt.
2) How many race days are too many for one rider in a single season? I read 60 somewhere, but that seems way low. But maybe not.
3) If I sign a new rider, and he wants to be a sprinter, is there problems if I use him solely as a lead-out man? I haven't gotten far enough to see if the rider gets unhappy. I've tried to sign riders without checking sprinter, but they don't sign.
4) How do I know if a race has cobblestones or not prior to me picking my team?
5) The training schedules are VAST, and I was wondering is there a guide out there to help me pick the one that would be best suited for my ambitions for each rider? I have tried to adjust the schedules for my whole team, but it always takes me forever just to do a few riders. Any suggestions?
6) I've download all the season planning programs I have found, but they either don't work or I don't understand them. The Microsoft Excel one is the only one that has even opened for me. But it just confuses me. Any suggestions? Is there one that you use and would definitely recommend?
7) When simulating a stage while high up in the GC, how many riders should I use to chase down breakaways without dangerous riders and breakaways with dangerous riders? I always do too much work it says or not enough, and the breakaway succeeds thanks to my lack of effort in the chase.
8) Also, when simulating a sprint stage, how many lead-out men should I use for my sprinter? I always try to have 2, but should I have more?
9) Again, while simulating a stage, should I always try to send 1 or 2 in a breakaway? They rarely work for me, so I just try to protect my GC rider and/or my sprinter with all my teammates.
10) One thing I've yet to find is a strategy guide for this game. Is there one? And, yes I've read the manual so that suggestion isn't useful.
Okay, I'll quit for now. Thanks in advance and sorry for the length!
Edited by davidthgnome on 19-07-2009 22:37
1) Build up the finances before reaching for the skies. There is always a second season to do well in once you got the riders and the money
2) 60 sounds reasonable. Its mostly really for young ridersr who can have their potential stats diminished by overuse.
3) Probably not
4) The profile should have a dark grey bits instead of the normal light grey at places with cobbles
5) Im guessing you mean the form schedule. Just try to peak the same week as your goals. Or before it.
6) Erh, drawing a blank here. Havent tried those files myself
7) Well i suppose all or most of them. Save a rider or two if he's getting exhausted during a long tour.
8) Im not too sure but i think two could be enough to get proper results. Im not too experienced on the simming bit
9) You can send someone in the break with the command "go in the breakaway but dont do any effort, to help your leader" or whatever it says. Its a tickbox.
Thanks for the speedy reply and advice...it's a nice warm welcoming to the site. I'm definitely hooked on the game, so I know I'll be a frequent visitor. Especially with the very active TDF board. Sadly, there isn't a single person I know, whom I could talk about the TDF with.
3) I think it's mainly important when selecting the rider's role pre-race. As long as he's a sprinter there, he'll continue being happy. Using him in-game as a lead out man won't change anything, I think.
6) I know for a fact that the PCM Season Planner has a quite good tutorial with it. Did you try it?
About simulating, I'd advice not to do it at all. It usually generates quite unrealistic results, and it's difficult to make pre-race tactics work properly.
There isn't a strategy guide for the game. One was made for PCM06, and although a lot have changed, it may be worth a read anyway: https://pcmdaily.c...ticle_id=6
6) I know for a fact that the PCM Season Planner has a quite good tutorial with it. Did you try it?
Hey thanks for the tips. I downloaded; unzipped it; but it doesn't load. I click on the .exe file in the folder and I get an error message. I downloaded it again, and the same thing happened.
The link above is it, right? Any suggestions to make it work? I used winRAR to unzip the file. I'm not much a computer wis, so troubleshooting isn't my forte. I don't even know if "unzip" is the correct term I should be using.
The first thing I do, and I'll probably be heavily criticized on this, is fire my team doctor and scout, and check the wages of my trainers. On "normal" difficulty you get the total wage of your squad only (assuming you play on normal, which can be hard enough with a sucky team), so staff has to be paid by sponsors and race winnings. Scrapping your doctor (for whom you usually have little need) and your scout (since you have a sucky team, you don't really have any room for training a(nother) talented youngster yet), you free up resources for either a reasonable signing, who can get you some much needed wins, or a better trainer to develop your team into something less sucky .
One thing to remember is that there is a signing on fee for new trainers, be careful not to blow your budget on this! Sacking staff however, is free!
Also, without a doctor, your rider's injuries will take longer to recover from. As I usually have very few (or no) injured riders, I don't hire a doctor, unless I really need to, at which point I take the signing-on fee for granted. Though I only really start worrying when my star rider gets injured, sucky riders have to heal the old way
The best teacher is experience though! Oh how often I kicked myself for attacking too soon on a mountain or waiting to long in passing a lead-out sprinter...
Also I agree with Crue, don't sim. The only time I've ever had unhappy riders was through simming, after 3d races my riders never complain about their role. If a race doesn't interest you, just skip through it at x8 speed.
