Interview with Clément -- this is what PCM08 will be like!
Once again, it's PCM.daily with the latest news about Pro Cycling Manager! As it's almost become a tradition, PCM.daily have interviewed Clément Pinget about the upcoming Pro Cycling Manager 2008. This time, we did a live interview with him at MSN which was done over two days. During those two days we got through a whole lot of the game, including Pro Cycling Manager 08's new Track Cycling-mode, the changes to the road race gameplay, the AI, and much, much more.
Update: I forgot to ask what platforms the game would be available on. I got the answer for that question today -- the game will be released on PC, PSP - and "probably another platform". Interesting, huh?
2nd Update: PCMBenelux will be doing a follow-up interview soon (tomorrow?), and we will of course make sure to post it here as soon as it's published.
3rd Update: ... if anyone was wondering if the Olympics will be in the game -- they won't.
We had an unexpected period of down time (c. 1 hour) tonight. We didn't have anything to do with it since it was our host which "created" the mess. We apologize for any inconvience and hope that the site stays up for now :)
Back on regular basis, it seems -- it's one week ago we last had the Weekly News, so for the first time in months I'm on time. I don't have much news for you, though - after all, we're still outside he PCM-season ;)
New article(s) Today, our Australian member, Rodda, submitted a new article which was later approved. It's an article about the upcoming season, and it goes into detail with all the Pro Tour teams and describes their good and bad sides. Go read it here and make sure to comment it. Also remember that you can always write and submit your own articles by clicking "Submit Article" in the left-hand menu.
Our crew-member, Wildcat, also uploaded an article a week ago. It's a preview of the Tour Down Under, but since it's over now there's not really any point in reading it. However, if you're interested, it's of course still available right here.
Controversy about database review Earlier this week, our database review Waghlon published his very first review. It was about the Womenbase 1.0 which he ended up giving 4 out of 5. However, he also pointed out some thing which he wasn't too content with. This made a lot of members react, especially people from the Benelux countries. The thing here is that people reacted in two ways: Some reacted by throwing mud at Waghlon (or threaten with withdrawing database projects from the site...), others reacted by mentioning some of the things which could have been different in the review. I have to say here that yes, some of the critism is 'correct'. But it doesn't mean that anyone can treat Waghlon like that. We have learned from this, and we will try to become even better at reviewing in future.
New graphics stuff I've added two new graphic files to the download section during this week. The first one was originally made for PCM06, but it does also work perfectly with PCM07 - it's a pack of new clouds and a new sky which supposedly make the game look more realistic. It's made by the graphics guru EintrachtFan who's known for his face packs for PCM06. You can download the pack here. A member named "Tourdedoping" has released a pack of 2008 shirts. The shirts are really well-made which we can thank some of the contributors to the pack for - these including guys like Brucht, the sim-eraser, etc.. We now got the shirts - we just need a good 2008 database ;) You can download the shirts here.
As you probably know, PCM.daily announced that we would make a 2008 database. When we announced it, we had worked on it for a while, but it wasn't until Dankan joined the crew that it really took off. He became the leader of the project and did a lot of work on the DB ... until he suddenly disappeared without giving the DB "back". For some time, we waited for him, but we eventually realized that it would be the best to restart the project - so we did, and that's the main reason why you haven't heard anything until now. With Dankan gone, most of the work will be done by Addy. The rest of the crew will support him as much as possible, and as you have seen, we have started a picture search thread in the forum where we ask you guys to help us. At some point, we might bring in another DB-creator to help out, but at the moment it definitely seems like Addy can do the job.
So, what's going to happen now? We're working very hard on the DB at the moment. Currently, the teams are being renamed, and the riders are being moved to their new teams. After that, we're going to add all the new jerseys, revise the calendar, etc. - and then we'll release the first public beta version. This version will be without the new American and British teams which we mentioned in the annoucement. If everything works out with the first beta test, we will proceed and add the more British and American teams and races - and when that's done, we release the 2nd public beta.
Release date? In fact, I hate when there's no release date - I hate it even more when there's not even a "time horizon". I rather want a delayed release date than no release date at all ;) Therefore, I'm going to say that I hope that we have at least one version of the DB out somewhere in March. That's our goal, and we will do our best to make it.
Enough of the business talk, I hear you say. What about the features? Honestly, I have no idea of what features we will bring into the DB at the moment, but I can promise you one thing: We will focus a lot more on stats and a playable, working DB than we will focus on the graphical side of the game. That's an ambition we have - therefore, the feature list might not be all that exciting, but as long as the DB works and does its job, everyone should be happy. The DB is based on the PCM Spain DB, and we will keep as many teams from the original DB as possible. Some of them has been closed down, though, and as said, we're definitely going to add some British and American teams. The ones which are most likely to be added at the moment are: Rapha Condor - Recycling.co.uk, Pinarello RT, Plowman Craven Evans Cycles, Rock Racing, Type 1, Bissel Pro Cycling, Pezula and Sean Kelly's Cycling Team.
That's pretty much all I can say at the moment. Feel free to ask questions in the Comments box. Also, I promise that we will keep you more informed from now on - mainly because we actually have something to report about now ;)
Hello people, Waghlon the DB-reviewer here. Just posting this front page to tell everyone that the review of Womenbase for PCM07 is out and that you can read it here
On a related sidenote: If you can view this, something actually went right since ive tried to get this to frontpage in good 30 minutes by now.
