14 DAY TRIAL // The cycling season is now well underway and the development team at French studio Cyanide, who have handled the cycling simulation series PCM for some time, have offered some details on their upcoming title for 2012.
The official line from Cyanide is that, “PCM10 was clearly about graphics due to the new engine and the stage editor which have been a big change in the PCM series.
“The focus on PCM11 was more about the new gameplay with collisions and AI. On PCM12, there is no particular focus - the new features will be balanced between graphics, career and 3D races.”
Pro Cycling Manager 2012 will certainly be bigger than previous game in the series, with another third division of teams added and around 80 outfits for the player to control and more races introduced in order to fill the calendars and challenge riders.
Moreover, the game better simulates how teams get invited to certain races and how the transfers work between the bigger and smaller teams.
A built-in season planner will also make it simpler to prepare for the entire year rather than focus on a number of races that form the core goals for each game.
Work has also been done to the core Artificial Intelligence, mainly when it comes to how leaders behave in mountain stages, where races are usually won or lost.
Collaboration was the norm in previous PCM games, but now gamers will see more attacks and more stalling tactics, depending on daily form and team tactics.
The Cyanide team also plans more options for database and stage development, allowing the community to create their own mods and quickly distribute them.
Focus Home Interactive, the publisher that Cyanide traditionally works with, has not offered a clear launch date for Pro Cycling Manager 2012, but it will probably be out just before the start of the Tour de France during the summer.