Zwift Switch to '90s Graphics with NEW Climb Portal Feature!
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 27. 08. 2024
- Coming soon to Zwift is the highly anticipated "Climb Portal" experience, and early feedback from users has been nothing short of eye opening! đ In this video, I'll give you an overview of what awaits you if you decide to embark on this new vertical challenge within the game, which is optional of course.
Links:
What's On Zwift Climb Portal Routes: bit.ly/3XDOaOE
ZwiftInsider First Ascent Challenge Article: bit.ly/44kfAf3
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Agree with you Shane. I welcome there being more climbing options because Iâve done the other in game climbs plenty. When Iâm slogging up them the scenery is the least of my concerns when Iâm sweating out of my eyeballs
The only thing Iâd ask of Zwift is to make more than one of these available at once, maybe something like a short, medium and long climb option on any given day
I think, this could finally be the gateway to customized routes, uploading gpx data, being able to train on other real world locations, e.g. training for your local grand fondo. And imagine a "Zwift Editor App", where you can add trees, houses, lawns etc. on your custom zwift route; just like in some classic computer games. Would be awesome.
Haven't Zwift always used 90s graphics?
Shhhhhh! đ€«
đ
Climb Portal... what a sloppy way to give us more climbs. So many iconic climbs and worlds to build and we get blocks đ
@@cadumgarcia ZMinecraft! â
@@gplama yes, this is my son's comment when he first saw Zwift. Inspired by Minecraft.
I actually think this is a great first step, I'm looking forward to giving it a go and dragging my fat ass up some new climbs for the tron! One step closer to uploading our own routes whether that's real or custom fun workouts!
I love this concept. I hope they leverage it for many more routes and further develop the more popular climbs in due course. Totally agree with Shane, hope to see the hot climbs of the day pop up on Zwift! I'll be doing every one I get the chance to!
There are probably many reasons for the retro graphics approach. My guess is that using a single, simple climbing graphics model, they can quickly add new climbs using GPS data with very little human intervention. This is really a win/win because they can quickly churn out new content and we get to do lots of new climbs! Even the current in-game climbs that are fully rendered arenât the actual climb. That would be the main selling point for me. I think the graphics complainers are overreacting. Iâm stoked to try it. đ
For me zwift ist the best tool for seeing / feeling the speed. And these kind of climbs with any visual feedback (nothing comes near to you, nothing rushing by), kills that feeling.
Said this in another video, but this looks perfect for implementing hills in our own backyard. If the devs can use it to pump out various TDF hills then surely we can also use it to ride on our own hills.
I want to ride other people's hills! South Louisiana has NONE. But I do hope this leads to loading custom climbs. I don't need realistic graphics on my virtual cycling worlds
Exactly my thoughts! Totally doable with the simple graphics design :) that way you can replicate a friends climb for example and see if you could keep up
RGT has Magic Roads using generic 3D landscape over your own GPX file and Rouvy allows you to create your own route with or without IRL video. Both of which require some work by the user, but you can then ride solo or woth friends any time you like. Would be easy for Zwift to do the same if that suited their strategy.
A year ago I could hardly walk because of knee pain, now I am almost pain free .. I love Zwift because it got me though the winter (Uk) on my 2nd hand kick snap. Now I have the hub and play controllers love it looking forward to my wheel not slipping going up those hills đđđ
Graphics aside this is a pretty exciting feature. I like the possibility of watching the TDF riders going up the Galibier and afterwards riding the same profile, or the day before.
I love the concept and think itâs a great idea, just wish they would let us choose the climbs we wanted on the day or have 2 climbs to choose from at the same time rather than waiting 2 weeks for the climb we want to tackle to be featured
All 8 climbs available from the menu. Only 1 will be available on freeride (cycling through the portal)
Came here for the Rouvy shoutout. Was not disappointed. :)
I think its a great idea. While I initially thought the graphics looked a bit amateurish and perhaps rushed to a meet a product launch date, I can see what agility this gives Zwift. They can add any route extremely easily, without having to code all the background detail, which must take a lot of effort. It may get a little dull after a while, but so does any training. Riding up Ventop is pretty boring too. So, I'll definitely be using it and look forward to working through all the climbs that are released, not only this month for Tour de France routes but many other regions too. Let's see Danteâs View, Mauna Kea, Hardknotts Pass etc. Not just the grand tour climbs.
Time to train an AI on their existing courses, then run it on their 3D video of the new courses. Won't be perfect, but should be 90% there. Can likely generate a decent video environment for each climb in a few hours without human input. Then humans can clean it up, add clever aquirrels, yeti, sloths, etc.
@@higgi13425 This would be similar to magic roads on RGT. It would be great for some races to be able to link climbs as well, although at 90 kg, I think it would kill me.
Oof. Mauna Kea. That's a long one.
I rode Puy de Dome today. I really enjoyed it. Itâs a different experience for sure, but enjoyable. I liked how the colors changed with the gradient!
I tried it for the first time today - Cote de Pike, it was hard (I'm a clydesdale) but it was awesome! Keep bringing it Zwift, I loved how hard it was for me.
Love the call out to Rouvy! đ I guess once youâre grunting along through the gears weâll find out⊠but I figure having some scenery sometimes helps to forget the pain?
Bloody brilliant idea. So stoked to see some innovation here. The simplified graphics will only be BETTER for focus and getting the most out of the training.
What's with all these positive comments!? They're not helping my angle of generating a ton of rage to feed the CZcams algorithm! Just kidding, I'm happy to see some positivity around a new feature. đđŒ
@@gplama rage you ask for, i'll scream and scream and scream until i'm sick. was looking forward to more climbs, but the graphics are not for me. i'll pass.
I can already see a october 31st or April 1st climb being a crazy 25% straight for 10 miles or something. They can make some crazy climbs on these
Plot twist - On those days they give us a -15% descent for 10 miles!
I think it looks like a really great feature, apart from the graphics. I was expecting some kind of procedurally generated tarmac with generic roadside objects. But maybe if they had done that, I'd complain it was too similar to the rest of Zwift.... so all credit to Zwift for trying new and different things.... I'm just not sure I'll ever grow to love the visuals (but I'll still use it anyway)
and if they did that everyone would cry out that they're just copying RGT's magic roads.
@@strongmen yes good point
When I got my indoor trainer last year I installed zwift first thing with the trial. 10 minutes into the trial I never touched it again and been using Rouvy since. To me doing real climbs is just so much more interesting and I really enjoy watching the footage., but then again I wouldn't bother with any of the racing aspects Zwift has to offer. Also love the user uploaded ones on Rouvy to massively expand the library (Although can be a bit tricky to find good ones).
Finally.... now my Tron bike has a suitable 80's retro environment đ
I'm stoked about this. Looking forward to try it out when summer is over here in Europe, and the hard, agonizing sessions in the pain cave starts. The graphics look cool. Something new and refreshing. And yetis are real.
Ă tried it yesterday, I dont tend to watch the surroundings much during a climb , I usually focus on the dashboards and the other riders so it works for me. It made pacing the climb a lot easier and gave a good workout. One thing that would improve it for me is a ghost rider like they have in the sprints, so I can see how I'm doing against my best time.
I'm pumped for it. Firstly, I love Zwift and secondly, I love climbing. Anything new gets me excited.
It's like riding up a 3d VeloViewer climb profile. I think that's kind of cool.
It looks like rain this weekend so I'm going to climb the Puy de DĂŽme on Rouvy. Should be a good challenge. If you want even a bigger challenge try mamiky's route of the Stelvio Pass on Rouvy. 15.95 miles with 6040 feet of elevation gain at an average of 7%. Plus you get to look at the amazing scenery on the way up.
My second ride on zwift, I took a left turn and ended up doing 'Puy de Dome'. Have to say, I wasn't expecting it and would have preferred proper scenery I think, however it was a good workout which I enjoyed (once I was nearing the top anyway).
I think it looks interesting. I'd like realistic graphics better, but that is also a lot of work for the devs. Nice little change from the usual routes. I will certainly try to get up one of those.
I just started on Zwift after Christmas and the climb portal is one of my favorite features. I think developing real life scenery for so many varied climbs would probably be quite expensive. I would rather my fees not go up!
Did my first climb today. Pretty tough for sure. I loved it. Great concept đ
Stay tuned for more updates to this very soon!
Raining today so signed back up to Zwift to try it out, looks good.
Climb portal is pretty cool, it may actually get me to resubscribe before winter! Wish theyâd let you choose the climb yourself though..
The most obvious comparison point is the Magic Roads functionality of Wahoo RGT. They can create a rideable route from any GPS track. It tries to look more realistic by having actual hillsides, trees and such. The fact is that to me, it's no better than what Zwift has done here. They don't look like the real thing either.
Creating a realistic looking virtual version of a real-world climb is not that easy. And if it's going to be off in any case, I can fully appreciate why Zwift went with 100 % video game visuals. This does fit into the overall design of Zwift quite nicely, and like Shane points out, it's not like Zwift is forcing this on the users.
I have only just started coming back on Zwift for the autumn and winter, and yesterday saw the link for Climb Portal: Coll d'Ordino in Watopia. So I thought I would give it a go, and I loved it. I was a hard climb, the graphics are great especially as you can see what's coming. I am looking forward to doing as many as possible, and hope Zwift put on as many different climbs as they can.
Going to put on some 90s rave tunes and go for it :). Looking forward to trying it out.
Wipeout đ
My Zwift subscriptions is currently suspended, this will make me reactivate it. I love the idea that Zwift can quickly add routes, see what the engagement is like, then build them out will full graphics later. I can see so much use for this type of "just ride" route. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a good Yeti sighting, but this is a great way for a flatlander like me to practice climbing regularly on all different types of routes.
Wait.... you're swimming against the stream! Reactivating your subscription!? đđŒ Keep me posted on your thoughts once you've ridden a few of these new climbs.
I love Zwift for training, racing & predictability. But for new adventures, long rides, climbs & multiday events Rouvy has so much to offer. So 2 months zwift, 1 month rouvy is a nice mixup.
Looks good to me! I will see how I feel about it when I am suffering. I do not have a problem with it initially and love the ability to ride real climbs. This is what I am training for!
I want the full Mario kart experience. Letâs battle up the climbs!
I think the visuals look cool, the way the background changes to match the gradient feels really immersive. Would be great to see them add climb badges similar to route badges for ticking them off.
I look forward to the new rotating climbs, but I shudder to think what my pain cave is going to look like with my Phillips Hue lights mirroring the light colors from the Zwift screen!
A fantastic way to try a climb youâve just seen in real life
The graphics and psychedelic but thatâs just how everything looks at 190 bpm when youâre biting the handlebars đ
True.. Can you load in custom climbs? I'd like to simulate some of my local climbs for when it's raining and winter - falling off climbs because it's icy is no fun.
I like the graphics. Iâm not always looking for scenery, sometimes I just want to climb. Itâs cool to know the climb itself is accurate.
WTFâŠ. now I need sunglasses indoors as well đ
I think it's really good.. it's almost impossible to see upcoming gradient changes until now.
GREAT idea for the color of gradient coming up so I can change gears at the right times!
Hello GP Lama
At lassttt new grind and new Climb. Lets make a ride on party on the circle too congratulate those who climb it !
Gonna be crushing this shit. Netflix and Climb Portal here we come.
Thatâs a different take on Netflix and Chill. đ€Ł
Just finished Cote de Pike and loved the new experience. Looking forward how this feature will evolve in the future.
Good innovation and timely too. Means I can keep climbing through the winter âïž
I think itâll be good when they can be used for events. A multi stage race over a few climbs would be a great event.
Or a portal at the bottom after your decent to take you to another pass. E.g Toumalet then galibier
I like the idea that because this is a "stripped out" graphical feature, it surely enables zwift to provide lots of climbs (or entire stages) from the real world very quickly. Also, its only an option, so if you don't want to use it, well, don't. Its not taking anything away from the existing experience (which I personally love). Its just adding some extra options for those who want to challenge themselves against alternative courses or routes, without zwift having to spend hundreds of hours creating new "fully modelled" routes. My only caveat would be that I hope this doesn't reduce the number of development hours on the "main" zwift programme.
I love climbs and have wanted more for years....here we go, more added every month. Brilliant. Can't wait to knock all these out.
Iâve been on Zwift since the second wave of beta testers. Except for summers during pandemic Iâve put Zwift into vacation mode from June to August. But the wildfire smoke from Canada changed my usual plan. Looking forward hitting the portal later today. Or I can find my OG Sufferfest discs.
Great idea. Iâve never understood why we donât have more of the epic climbs in the grand tours. However they have COMPLETELY dropped the ball with the graphics.
Without a virtual representation of the climb then itâs just any other hard session. Iâll do it just to see what my time would be, but if any other software gives a better representation Iâd be jumping ship
Fair call. And I appreciate your perspective. đđŒ The longer climbs were a slog!
absolutely agree, was looking forward to this option and more climbs. i understand the recreation of realistic graphics may be time consuming, but these colours are over the top. if they wanted simple background to ease development, they could have done so. i wonder if they have used these colours in this way having reviewed the psychology of colours. i think i'll pass on these climbs, i can recreate the training effect by creating a workout.
Something new is always motivating, looking forward to doing all of these climbs during the Tour. Thanks!
Agree 100% Shane. This is a great feature for our climb-y friends!
Mine craft is super popular in the video game world. Not sure how this is different? Climbing training programs would be great with this new feature.
Interesting. So it looks like an existing RGT feature but riding inside a VeloViewer gradient profile. Looks pretty nice. For riding up representations of real climbs I'd probably use Rouvy but will be interesting to see how this evolves.
I was wrong, Lama. The graphics aside these rides really work. Zwift has set them up to deliver much useful information while riding. I deleted my other comment. I was wrong.
Tried it - 2 Thumbs Up!!
i like it, had a longer post typed but it was more from a developers point of view. its what i do full time and have been for 20+ years, i think they could do so much more with this type of envisonment.
what i mean by the above, think custom climbs like we have custom workouts
I donât like climbs but I do love this đ
Iâve just had a ride and itâs bloody awesome.
I find it so funny that people think anyone gives a F**k if they leave lolđ
I quite like that.
They can reproduce a tonne of climbs very very quickly.
I don't know about others but I don't really watch whats going on around me on zwift, so the lack of surroundings doesn't actually bother me
I enjoy the climb portal. Cool idea!
I think graphic is brilliant, its like Climb Pro with colour coded % gradient. Nicely done Zwift.
Did a couple of spins up Pike today. One thing that prob needs updating is the AVG PWR shown at the top of the climb includes the lead in. Surely the AVG PWR from the very beginning of the climb is more important and useful.
I love Trainer Road, I love Zwift and I canât wait to try that new feature!
As an actual feature it's fine. It's the Zwift version of ClimbPro. Does the job.With a library of 20-30+ climbs to chose from, and even an upload your own climb feature, it will be a solid addition. What it does do even better is show the severe limitations of the gaming engine that Zwift is built on. That's the real take home. It's absolutely time for their longevity before a competitor does come along for Zwift to look at Zwift v2 with something like the unreal engine 5+. As it is we've seen virtually no expansion to Watopia and London in the last 3 years.
Agreed. They should create a better version whilst retaining access to the original. Their biggest commodity is the community. Itâs the reason people donât jump ship. That has its limits though. They should be wise and not presume that keeping the status quo will be fine foreverâŠit wonât.
Second thought , if they can easily add climbs to this environment. allow us to string them together so we could experience what doing a cat 1, cat 1, HC effort feels like. The odds of me getting Europe to ride this is slim but being able to do it at home would be nice.
The climb portal is a great idea but climbing a 'veloviewer climb' is not better that climbing a GPX file with a Garmin/wahoo that control the trainer. I understand that in this way they can add a lot of climbs with less effort but i prefer the 'classic' (and old) graphics.
Hey Lama, first Yetti's do exist. It appears Zwift is evaluating a sort of cloning process that will pay dividends in the near future as they will be able to spin up & deploy GPS accurate climbs in a lot less time without "terrain realism" . Terrain can be integrated later as an overlay of sorts. After all this is there low season & a great time to introduce newer/different technologies. Can't wait to try the climbs on 100% trainer dificulty.
I love it. Great way to add climbs without having to find a way to integrate into current maps. And I totally agree with other comments that I'm not looking at the scenery when doing the big climbs in game.
It's also a great way for Zwift to judge what climbs are popular to possibly add to new worlds later on. If everyone seemed to favour a particular world then they can focus on building that into a real climb in game.
Good start. I'll be trying a few
I like it and can't wait to give it a try. The colour coding of the severity of the climb is a good approach as it allows the rider to plan for the next stage. The graphics seem ok to me as it provides the opportunity to add more climbs quickly which could be a real benefit over the winter months. I look forward to riding the Passo Dello Stelvio sometime in the near future.
A truly epic climb IRL! I did it with DCRainmaker back in 2018 czcams.com/video/Q-qtlBgfKt0/video.html
In the top menu where you can registration a challenges or stage race. Are there the climb portal. Just click on that and you have 8 climb to chose. The challenges (climb potal). To complet the challenges just complet 1 climb from stage 1 and 1 climb from stage 2
Given what I'd read about this it's so much better than I expected and is a really good addition.
If people don't like it, then they should just sod off. This is quite a brilliant move from Zwift. Doing all of those intense graphics we see in game can take years to develop, here we have graphic basic climbs, that could be GPS accurate, that they could rotate through many, many climbs from around the world, that could be developed and released within weeks. This is giving riders more road and harder climbs, at a fraction of time it takes to develop a new world. Look forward to it.
The big win here is that adding a new climb here is a lot less work than doing it with the environment, so they'll be able to add more real climbs a lot faster than when they'd have to add all the trees and environment objects to make it look "real"
Fantastic idea. A sandbox for new challenges, while they keep building out the real world. I wish you could dial down the retina burning colors, though.
Iâd also like to see some Easter eggs or random events to add some variety. Since youâre in a virtual world, spice it up some.
Love it. If they can do an autogenerate on the surroundings it will be better, but for starters I'd say đ
Just done Puy de Dome, great fun
This looks fantastic. Can't wait to climb moooore!
Fabulous...living in Chicago (very flat) ...added climbing is nice; thanks for explanation.
It would be great to copy a route from a gpx file into this portal. So if you train for a specific event you can use this gpx file and upload it. This would be really nice. Than the graphic stuff really doesn't matter
That'd be Magic Roads that RGT used to have. I'd love to see Zwift implement this with AI generated environments based on the location the GPX is. Uploading an Aussie route? Then here, have gum trees, koalas, kangaroos, etc.
I love it and didn't think i would. It's great for that intense workout when you haven't got much time. I don't like that when you hit a steep climb, my avatar slowed down alot sooner than my smart trainer kicked in.
Looking forward to giving it a try. Thanks for the video Shane.
So Zwift can build instantly the daily climbs that the tours have that day. That sounds promising.
I think this is a great feature, and am looking forward to lots of other climbs in the future.
For those wondering if this will lead to us being able to add our own climbs itâs seems the answer is no.
I posted about that on FB and speculated about that option going forward and a Zwift rep replied that âitâs unlikely that there will be an option to add your own climbsâ
I still think itâs a good addition for some different type of training. Itâs another option thatâs completely different to âZwift Worldâ đ€·ââïž So itâs not the same old stuff.
Generally when I do serious climbs like ADZ Iâm not getting too much from the sights, Iâm too exhausted to be taking the time to be looking around. When Iâm doin Z2 training, sure itâs nice to have some nice graphics to engage me and distract me from the boredom. But on a proper workout Iâm more interested in the stats and data turn to turn etc.
Never gonna keep everyone happy I guess đ€·ââïž
if it gets us quick and easy acces to real life climbs, without zwift having to do all the labour of populting the scenery ... what's not to love.
At no point in time was this feature a 'given' for our subscriptions, so all this does is just add more to all the other new things zwift has recently added.
(coffee break, teleport, steering, ...)
Don't get me wrong, realistic view would make this even better. But anything new is a nice addition.
I'm looking forward to trying this as it is offers additional new climbs.
Looking to the future, as you said, simplified graphics could be added.
It will allow a lot of new climbs/routes to be added relatively easily.
Further into the future, this may be a gateway into using your own gps track, to reproduce an online version with matching turns and climbs/descents of a route/race you wish to train for.
Canât understand why people donât like this, I think itâs great.
Ok the graphics can be better but itâs only just releasing so give it time.
I like the thought process of having different climbs so no end to what is possible on this front
Great video, you very factual on this one without sitting on one side of the fence
Cool stuff I am looking forward to. Good reason to haul my 80kg up a "mountain" eventhough here in Austria/tyrol I have some in front of my door :)
In my view having the climbs available now is better than waiting for the scenery to be rendered.
High quality graphic environment is a staple to the Zwift experience. Itâs one of the main reasons theyâve been so successful over competitors. I understand why Zwift has done this but, I think theyâve really missed the boat. If anything they just got some very valuable feedback from their customers. Even a âstockâ mountain visual experience with occasional yeti would have been better
So , did we all forget this was a video game , can't wait to try it out !!
I like it.
I just want to ride a purple unicorn.
I think this could be the precursor to allowing people to generate their own GPS maps
I would love this to be used for user routes, like RGT, get an old gpx or gpx for an event you're doing, load to zwift and ride away!