I tried indieVelo - Was it any good?
2,743
Published 2024-05-31
That’s brilliant – thank you. Only one comment – you mentioned that there’s no in-game chat, but actually indieVelo has probably the most advanced in-game chat system of any of the platforms!
In particular, in indieVelo you can choose who to send your chat to - for example, only to your team or only to those within a small radius, or only those in your group on the road. This is awesome for racing in particular, where you can now use chat for tactical discussion ensuring that only people you want to get your message get it so you can plan and execute more effective breakaways etc. Chat messages also include distance information so you know where it is coming from (e.g. the pop up will say not only the senders name, but how far away they are from you). There’s also a DS-mode where a coach or Team Manager can join a race as a spectator and send instructions to just members of their team, just like IRL professional racing.
Obviously there’s also global chat for social / free riding too, and additionally you can customise the colour of your chat background so it’s much easier to follow who is saying what in a group chat with lots of people chatting simultaneously.
Finally, there’s what I believe to be truly unique in-game moderation tools for chat. This allows anyone to immediately temporarily mute the chat from other people or to permanently block others (including stopping them joining or following you), which helps create a safe-space for riding and completely eliminates the issues of harassment that are sadly sometimes seen on other platforms.
All this from just pressing the “M” hotkey (for (M)essage….the same as Zwift)
All Comments (17)
-
I'm loving this series mate. You have a really great way of explaining not just the featureset of each software, but the culture that leads each one, and the playerbase it appeals to, which is arguably way more important, but is missed so often in reviews. Top stuff!
-
Thanks Aidan, really good review mate even the metaphors at the beginning 🙂 I've been trying Zwift alts and not enjoying the deserted landscapes. I need a bunch to sit in, chase, jump from it seems so this might be the one
-
IndiVelo has excellent physics for drafting, braking in corners, ascents and descents. Much better as in all other apps. That is even the reason George Gilbert started the project. For a one person project (ok, with some help of volunteers) it is an amazing result.
-
IV does have in game live chat ! Great review
-
Good to see Aussies getting into it, we need more of us ;)
-
8:10 there is in game chat :) I see that in your description as a response from George 👌
-
It comes across as a racing sim and the others are arcade games. I was too early to it but may have to revisit now that others have joined.
-
Fully customizable UI now launched with latest release, permanent improvement
-
Will check it out
-
7:29 maybe I just watch too much IndieVelo YouTube videos, but there was no steep learning curve for me on how to use IndieVelo. I’m still getting better at racing, but that’s just the fun of the sport.
-
Nice review. I just installed it after cancelling Zwift. Seemed a lot more faster in terms of login and startarting a ride, maybe it is more optimized to old hardware (I'm running in a core2duo, 16Gb ram and a 750TI, no issues). Let's give it a fair try, I have high expectations.
-
I wish it had an Apple TV app :(
-
Thanks
-
It seems kinda pointless to simulate wind, IRL wind is gusty and you react to it because you can feel it. In e sports having to watch wind direction vs road position seems like a totally pointless annoyance.
-
It's like red wine? Overhyped alcoholic juice that makes you feel like crap the next day? 😂😂😂
-
Indievelo is pure e bike racer app. No hipsters there.
