Version 1.2 of The Cyclist: Tactics has long been in the making and is finally ready to see the light of day about a year after the first release of The Cyclist: Tactics. It is a massive jump from V1.0.7 that most of you are playing, with many new features, fleshed-out game mechanics, AI upgrades, performance improvements, quality of life changes, and lots of general fixes.

We have also updated the game's demo to this latest version and we hope those yet undecided on the game will try it out!

Note: We now have a separate opt-in branch of the last 1.0 version for those who wish to finish off their ongoing careers and other saves which will not be compatible with V1.2. You can access that by right-clicking the game in your Steam Library, clicking Properties, Betas, selecting the version1_1 branch and letting the game update.

V1.2 Changes

• Tactics Screen A new "Tactics Screen" is now accessible from in race, showing standings, full rider info, and allowing for custom rider tracking via pinning of important competitors. You can track specific riders to keep an eye on them.
  
  
  
  
• Race Editor Tool A full standalone Race Editor in which you can create custom races which don't get randomized. Allowing you to recreate real-life races, make wicked tours and challenges with ease, and share them with the community.
  
  
  
  
• Steam Workshop Workshop support has been added, which will allow you to share your rider and team databases, as well as your custom races.
  
• Reworked Level Progression A major change to the leveling system has been made in that attribute points are not given whenever a specialization point is earned. This has the effect of bringing the competition closer together and making the leveling power curve much smoother.
  
• Big AI Rework Lots of fixes to various questionable behaviors and much improved gameplay:
  
  
  • The peloton has become much better at chasing down escapees. Helpers and leadout riders don't mess about and go all out when required.
    
  • Leaders now understand that they don't always have to go on the attack but can participate in mass sprints too.
    
  • The AI has now learned that mountain and sprint points also are something worthy to sprint for, no longer will the player remain uncontested.
    
  • Cleaned up various AI positioning and movement behaviors caused by bugs and inconsistencies.
    
  • Fixed AI breakaway riders slowing down despite having a fair amount of resources left close to the finish.
    
  • Told the AI it is not wise to chase down your own escapees. Their helpers are now in P0 but reorder to the back and don't do pulls unless necessary.
    
  • Added a AI "yellow rest" role which allows riders targeting a tour win to not lose too much time on their off-days."
  
  
• Opinion System Update A more in-depth integration of the opinion system for breakaways, causing them to react to riders with a good or bad opinion score in a more reasonable way. They will try to get behind and attack rotten tomatoes and try their very best to work for a group with great group cohesion.
  
• Full Rider Information Tooltips that show the full rider info are now available in the pre- and post-race screens, allowing you to really see how well competitors are doing and what their fitness levels are.
  
  
  
  
• Better Race Results Implemented a race finish overview screen which shows the change to the player team prestige rankings and rider XP gain.
  
• SQLite Databases The game's internal data handling is now SQLite based, giving much higher performance than what we used before. Especially simulating races and late into career mode this makes a world of difference.
  
• Balance Update Rider specializations have gone through a general rebalance of bonus energy and attack with specialization points and trait bonuses. Most notable are that the Mountain and Downhill specializations do not get the -1 flat penalty at level 3 anymore, but lvl 3 climbers do get a penalty for TTs instead.
  
  
  

V1.1 Changes

• Momentum Blocking Revamp The momentum blocking system has been revamped completely. The number of blocked nodes now depends on the slipstream a move generates. This makes attacking across easy terrain very difficult if the pace is high already, whereas terrain that reduces slipstream, like steep slopes or technical sectors, makes getting away much easier. It replaces the old system which was used on the usage of attack points.
  
  
  
  
• Relay & Group Attack Rules Relay riders cannot attack, other relay riders that already have moved will get the chance to catch up if they can. Previously this was a feature of P0 only, now it applies generally. That makes the new momentum blocking ruleset work a lot better / makes it more consistent. Relay determines momentum blocking and isn't affected by it, but you can't really attack. Group is in a spot they can attack from, but are blocked by relay momentum build-up.
  
• Recovery Tweaks The recovery stat has been reworked with a ninth recovery level that recovery 8 riders can access on their fitness peak. Also the minimum recovery percentage has been upped to be the maximum divided by 1.5 instead of 2.0, making long tours drop less riders.
  
• Slipstream Rework The overall strength of slipstream has been significantly buffed overall, making it more realistic and play better. This gives escapees who work together well more staying power and weaker riders in the peloton a place to hide, at least across easy terrain.
  
• Terrain Slipstream Terrain penalties to slipstream have been increased for technical and cobble sections to partly offset the general slipstream increase, making the technical and cobble skill a little more valuable and great tools for attacks over tough terrain.
  
  
  
  
• Finite Peloton Energy & Attack The peloton now has finite energy and attack which depends on the race league and number of participating teams. The peloton is now treated like a unique rider without traits that always gets P2 slipstream. The peloton also follows normal recovery rules, it will tire out over the course of several difficult stages.
  
  
  
  
• Rider Approval System Implemented a rider approval system to which AI riders in groups react appropriately. Leeches will seriously impact group cohesion, a hard-working breakaway group will give it their all to get to the line.
  
• Peloton Movement Rules Updated the peloton movement rules to be very straightforward: the furthest P0 move that can be followed will be followed. If there is no P0 then the farthest P1 move that did not use attack will be followed if it can be followed. Only if all that falls through, the peloton will decide on its own where to move - most likely rather slowly.

Other Notable Improvements & Fixes

• Full revision of the team jersey color picker, allowing better customization
  
• Implemented new options menu layout and options, allowing more customization
  
• Implemented team short names showing in rider tooltips to see the team ID at a glance
  
• Implemented a pause button (also SPACE) to pause the game at any time. This for example allows you to change your rider's AI modes when it is not currently your turn.
  
• Implemented top center display of current rider who's up next
  
• The peloton "rider" now shows up in the resource use preview panel along with your riders
  
• Added country descriptions for the country selection as tooltips
  
• Implemented tooltips for the in-race markers on nodes
  
• Improved tooltips for sponsor targets, as that never really was explained
  
• Implemented better transition visuals between cobbled and normal roads
  
• Removed road markings from cobble sectors
  
• Revised and improved all competitor team jersey colors and pattern choices to be more distinctive
  
• Implemented a "hold position" player rider AI mode. It stays active until deactivated, or a move requires maximum attack, the group you follow splits, a sprint starts, or the group's move cannot be followed. The "rest mode" got updated to automatically deactivate when a move requires attack, or cannot be followed.
  
• Leaders move to P1 when the peloton has less than two moves of max energy or attack
  
• Fixed leaders sometimes falling behind the peloton for no reason
  
• Fixed issues with the peloton not following the final sprint move across the finish line
  
• Added an all-out AI "stance" which helps get better AI performance in short ITTs too
  
• Fixed the peloton going at crazy speeds by itself
  
• Fixed a crash resulting from loading a game exited from season evaluation
  
• Fixed the last rider to reorder in repositioning not properly paying the reorder costs
  
• Fixed an issue where using max attack in a sprint didn't lower max attack
  
• Fixed season results not showing results of player races after loading the game
  
• Fixed issue with reloading the game not applying the costs of the previous move
  
• Fixed the finishing move's cost not actually being subtracted from your resources
  
• Fixed various issues with peloton target node inconsistencies.
  

Modding

• We have added modding support for the rider and team database (as a first step)
  
• Added game data export button to main menu options for modding base files
  

Event

In the coming weeks we will focus on resolving issues found in this update and patch them up on short notice. Once we're in a good spot with that we shall slowly start to pick away at our planned V1.3 milestone features.



Something of interest to some of you might be that we currently are running a crossover competition to celebrate the shared game world between The Cyclist: Tactics and our other title Automation: The Car Company Tycoon Game. There are a total of 750 USD worth of prizes to win and a special category for the overall The Cyclist: Tactics winner. In 6 different time trial events (5 TT tours and 1 single-stage TTT event) you are fighting for the best time with a predefined team for the challenge.

You can find out more about the competition here!

However, the competition requires you to own Automation and build a specific car for the competition, which will partake in 9 separate events in the game world. Don't forget about the bike racks!

Outlook

In the coming weeks we will focus on resolving issues found in this update and patch them up on short notice. Once we're in a good spot with that we shall slowly start to pick away at our planned V1.3 milestone features. Once we get started with that we'll post an outlook that gives you a better look at what is coming.

We hope you thoroughly enjoy this update and share your creations with the community!
Cheers