Official Announcement: A 2008 DB for PCM08 by PCM.daily and PCM Spain
To finish off yesterday's news about the new cooperation between PCM.daily and PCM Spain, I and the rest of the crew at PCM.daily and PCM Spain have an announcement to make: We're going to make a "Giant"-like DB for Pro Cycling Manager 2008! It's very simple, actually. We want to make a database which matches the size of the giant databases made by PPDB for Pro Cycling Manager 2006, meaning that you will get between c. 150 - 200 teams, 4000 riders and 450-500 races. The plan is simply to add pretty much all known UCI-races plus the races of the Lotto Topcompetitie in Belgium, the "manches" of the Coupe de France for amateur riders and the Copa de España for espoirs.
That said, we do realize that some people, myself included, don't like these "giant" databases. Therefore, there will be several versions available: One full DB (with the features above), one Lite DB (60-70 teams, the UCI calendar up to .1 races and the u23 Nations Cup) and one 'European' DB which will look like the PCM.daily 08.DB released for PCM07.
The first work has already been done. Of course, most of the people in the crew are focusing on the beta testing of PCM08 - and also, we can't make any changes to the DB yet - but some work can be done, and the first steps have already been taken a while ago. We can't tell anything about the final team list or release date yet, but we will of course keep you informed, both here at PCM.daily and at PCM Spain where this news article was published yesterday.
As mentioned earlier today, we have now formally formed a PCM.daily DB and Graphic Team, but as I also mentioned, we do have a few other people to mention. In fact, it's more than that - it's a cooperation. And it's not just any cooperation - it's a cooperation with the PCM Spain-team, the ones who made the PCM Spain 2007 pack for PCM06 and PCM07. PCM.daily and PCM Spain are forming a database and graphic team! Together, we're going to make the best databases possible for Pro Cycling Manager 2008, and for now, we've decided to call this "PCM EU". As with the PCM.daily DB, we will involve the communities of PCM.daily and PCM Spain as much as possible, so everyone has the possibility of putting their mark on the DB.
Formally, this means that the following people from PCM Spain will help making the PCM.daily (or PCM EU, if you like) database projects in the future: JMURB: This guy also helped out with the PCM.daily DB.08. He's one of the leading shirt designers in the world, and we're certainly going to enjoy his always beautiful work. Ivancin: A great 3D-modeller and graphic artist (sort of a Spanish version of Roadie). He's currently beta testing PCM08 and was a large part of the DB-team of the PCM Spain 07 DB released for PCM 06. Andrés: One of the official stage makers for PCM08, having currently made the Vuelta and some of the shorter races. Luis_leon: As with Andrés, this guy is an excellent stage maker, having made a whole bunch of .2-races. Alban61: One of the main researchers. He's also a great tester and also tested the PCM.daily 08.DB before it was released. Roger: Last, but not least, there's Dankan's personal friend, Roger, who's a very talented databaseur.
Projects? Sure thing. Very soon, we're going to announce our first projects for PCM 08, and I can promise you that it will be better than ever before ;)
As Dankan mentioned a few weeks ago, he's going to stay with us. Not only for now, but also for the next version of Pro Cycling Manager. Therefore, I've been working on getting a bunch of people to help us along with Dankan, so we have a strong team ready for PCM08. Therefore, I can now proudly announce that the following people join the PCM.daily Graphic and DB Team: Bernth, DB-maker: Bernth is known for his 1996 DB for PCM07, and he will not only help making the 08 updates for PCM08, but might also have a shot at his very own historical DB-project. Currently, nothing is completely official, but you will know more soon. Smoothie, jersey and graphic designer: Smoothie needs no introduction. He will be an overall help in the graphical artwork, just like he has been in the latest PCM.daily 08.DB where he made the new flags. Roadie, jersey and graphic designer: Same as above, basically. Known for his sense for detail and perfection, Roadie is an excellent addition to the team, and he will definitely try to make everything from bikes to sponsor barriers look as perfect and realistic as possible. With his new computer, he will be a new Miya ;)
And that's it? No. We've more people to present, but that will be another day ;)
Since I've neglected the past two week's Weekly News, I thought this one deserrves its very own news article. Two weeks ago, Crommy published the very first part of his guide to story writing articles serial. It was an introdutionary article, explaining the very basics and a few funny facts to begin with. You can still read it here.
And now, it's time for part two - "Getting from PCM to Forum" which explains how you can post a story here at PCM.daily. It's all very relevant considering the fact that the release of the PCM.daily DB has resulted in several new stories - and maybe, you, who hasn't started one yet, actually wants to write one? In that case, go and read "Crommy's Guide to Story Writing - Getting from PCM to the forum" right here.
There seems to be a problem with registration. I don't quite know the reason yet, but for now I've disabled the need for activating the user through e-mail. That should solve it - but it's only a temporary solution.
