By Quintin Smith on May 4th, 2011 at 5:22 pm.
French developers Cyanide Studios might be best known around these parts for fantasy gore-sport Blood Bowl, but they’re also the proud developers behind Pro Cycling Manager, which I imagine is a bit like Princess Maker in that it’s all about supervising a pet human and making them peddle/pedal their ass.
The press release after the jump informs me that Pro Cycling Manager: Tour de France 2011 will feature an improved 3D engine, more in-depth sponsorship management and updated AI that will boast “unpredictable behavior in the pack”. I can see it now- the AI front runner is overcome with a crippling bout of ennui, and stops cycling altogether. There! Zoom in with the camera- a tiny polygonal tear is forming in his eye. There there, imaginary cyclist. It’ll be alright. Full press release after the jump, and thanks to Blues for the tipoff.
Pro Cycling Manager: Tour de France 2011 Races onto PC this Summer, first images revealed!
Pro Cycling Manager: Tour de France 2011, the latest edition of the popular sports game series, was revealed today by producer Focus Home Interactive. Below you’ll find the very first screenshots of the game, just in time for the 2011 cycling season!
These three exclusive screenshots show off some of the top features, like the improved 3D engine that powers these realistic races. New cyclist models of various shapes have been designed, reflecting the real-life stature and riding style of each competitor. The environments boast more varied scenery, landscapes, and tracks than ever before.
While looks are important, the real meat of the game is still the management aspect, which is now more detailed than ever. The user interface has been streamlined for easier reading, while still offering more precise interactions with the team’s cyclists and sponsors. Sponsorship management is richer and more in-depth, and each cyclist’s performance during a competition will directly impact their salaries and sponsors’ offers. To keep things interesting, the updated AI presents fierce completion with plausible, unpredictable behavior in the pack, during breakaways, in sprints, and other highlights of the race.
The fan-favorite level-editor is back, letting creative players design their dream race! It has been updated with a broad range of new scenery objects and new effects to create new races with an even higher level of detail!
With a wide range of new features, tweaks and upgrades, the game still stays faithful to the spirit of the series. Pro Cycling Manager: Tour de France 2011 is sure to please cycling and sports management fans when it arrives on PC this summer!
04/05/2011 at 17:25 Rii says:
Ah; pique, umbrage and ennui: the french diseases of the soul.
04/05/2011 at 17:41 WMain00 says:
I wish somebody would make a rugby manager game.
04/05/2011 at 17:51 chwynn says:
Have you tried:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Rugby-Manager-PC-CD/dp/B000EP7IRE
04/05/2011 at 17:52 Quintin Smith says:
I can’t tell if you’re trolling or not, but the same developers make Pro Rugby Manager, too. Look!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Rugby-Manager-PC-CD/dp/B0007543CE
04/05/2011 at 17:53 Quintin Smith says:
Hi chwynn how’s it going
04/05/2011 at 17:57 WMain00 says:
No not trolling. The Pro Rugby Manager game is old though. Much like Football, things change in rugby when it comes to players and options.
:(
04/05/2011 at 17:53 Rinox says:
I love pro cycling, but I do wish Cyanide would update the god-awful menu screens for the PCM games. All the yearly fancy graphical update of the actual races are cool but don’t mean a lot when you’re staring at te same, fugly light blue menu screens every year.
04/05/2011 at 17:57 mod the world says:
I wonder how realistic this manager will be. Or in other words: How many illegal but not detectable doping options you get.
04/05/2011 at 18:02 SirKicksalot says:
How do you control a cycling game? Bash buttons or just like a car racing game?
04/05/2011 at 18:19 Rinox says:
You control an entire team actually (it’s a team sport). I won’t explain all the dynamics of the sport but in general there’s a slider for a % effort, buttons for attacking, sprinting, cooperating, and what not. Depending on the rider’s skill (at sprinting, climbing, time trials, etc) he will spend more or less stamina on each action.
So the actual racing happens automatically, you just tell them how hard they should race and what tactics to use in the race.
04/05/2011 at 18:32 MrNice says:
Cyclism is a very tactical sport, if you don’t know what you are doing, you won’t win even with the best riders. Depending on stage type, i e flat, hills, mountain, cobbles, you need different strategy.
There are plenty of tutorial on youtube that give you a good idea of the gameplay and what you need to do.
Even the basic flat stage which finish most of the time with a massive sprint, requiere quite some planning to do well. : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RpkVpGlW7w
04/05/2011 at 18:40 Soon says:
But for added realism, you can just cheat.
04/05/2011 at 18:23 Brumisator says:
Coming soon, paint drying manager, choose the right solvent and the right team of pro painters to achieve perfection as you watch paint dry.
04/05/2011 at 18:28 JFS says:
I believe a cycling manager is still far from the realexistierenden simulator games that are around. On my last visit to the supermarket, I saw Road Sweeper Simulator. And Harvester Simulator. No really. They sell like there’s no tomorrow. Perhaps there isn’t.
04/05/2011 at 18:31 Rii says:
I vaguely recall reading somewhere that simulations are to Germany as Starcraft is to Korea.
04/05/2011 at 18:55 Bungle says:
As an avid cyclist, I couldn’t care less about this game if I tried.
04/05/2011 at 19:01 Rinox says:
I dunno. It’s kinda cool riding at the front in the classics or the Tour, seeing as those things will never happen irl. ;-)
04/05/2011 at 19:08 .backslash says:
Might want to get this for my mum. She’s always got Eurosport in the background during the summer for these things. And I hope it help her get over her crippling Angry birds addiction from last time I tried to introduce her to gaming.
EDIT: A question, how intuitive is the interface? Most sims I’ve tried played like ridiculously overcomplicated pieces of office software from hell.
04/05/2011 at 19:27 Bhazor says:
“Psych!”
Man, it’s been a while since I heard that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbBg-MMui9M
04/05/2011 at 19:36 Jesse L says:
Ha, peddle their ass! This is why RPS will always be the greatest news source for PC games.
04/05/2011 at 20:17 Yargh says:
but can you field a team of warp addicted mutant rats?
04/05/2011 at 20:36 Shadram says:
That screenshot looks like Tamaki Drive in Auckland every single day on my drive in to work. I try not to hate cyclists, but I do. Fucking cyclists. If it helps, I hate other motorists and pedestrians, too. Meh, I think I just hate people.
04/05/2011 at 21:39 Rhin says:
When I’m driving, I hate cyclists and pedestrians. When I’m biking, I hate drivers and pedestrians. When I’m walking, I hate drivers and cyclists. When I’m sitting at home, there is no one to hate but myself.
04/05/2011 at 22:05 Rinox says:
That’s why they made alcohol.
04/05/2011 at 21:19 Wooly says:
The world needs a bicycle-centric RTS. Command & Cycle. CycleCraft II: Wheels of Liberty. Bicycle: Total War. MEN OF BICYCLES! Bicycles of War! I’ll stop now…
05/05/2011 at 03:27 Finster says:
That screenshot looks like the basis for an excellent Carmageddon map
05/05/2011 at 07:25 bill says:
Can we give them steroids?
05/05/2011 at 07:28 bill says:
Or, for more money and less risk of detection, growth hormones?
And try to schedule the dosing to avoid the testing season.
12/05/2011 at 20:24 Abraham says:
Will there be SecuROM?