Beta feedback

The Archives Archived: Zwift Feedback
1

I’ve really enjoyed being a beta tester on Zwift and am very glad you all are doing so much beta testing before your production release. I’m on a Computrainer connected to a newish PC running Windows 8.1.

From this morning’s workout:

  1. This morning (12/30/2014 ~ 6:30-7:00 am EST) I noticed that my avatar was getting out of the saddle even though I wasn’t. This was new…usually the avatar mirrors my position on the bike more accurately.
  2. Also this morning, same time frame, when I would get to the steepest part of the island circuit my RPM would go to zero and the legs on my avatar would stop moving. I was still making forward momentum but it was like I was coasting up the hill. This has never happened before.
  3. When I first started out as a beta tester a few weeks ago it was very tricky to draft the “bots” because my avatar didn’t seem to respond soon enough to my changes in speed, etc. It seemed better today…

In general:

  1. I’m riding on a Computrainer. When I first started up my beta account I got a “No ANT+ Dongle detected” message. Then I clicked on OK and got the next screen…but it wasn’t clear which button to push to connect the program to my Computrainer. I randomly selected the Heart Rate button and nothing happened. It didn’t connect to my Computrainer and it wasn’t clear what to do next. The next time I tried to log in, I selected the Power button and voila…connection was made and I was able to ride. The feedback is that it would be helpful to have a little more guidance for getting one’s trainer connected to Zwift. Perhaps the first screen after logging in would be “what are you riding today?” and if the answer is Computrainer maybe the lack of an ANT+ dongle isn’t relevant…At any rate, just a bit more feedback (or illustrated help documentation) on getting started on Zwift would be helpful.

  2. After I ride I cool down for a bit…but that cool down gets counted in my ride stats for the day. Would be nice to be able to ride and then save the ride results and THEN cool down.

  3. I usually ride early in the morning and it seemed to me the first couple of times that the lighting in the software changed according to the time zone I was in (it would be dark and then the sun would come up as I was riding the island circuit)…but later it didn’t seem like the software was at all aware of whether it was light out or not where I live. Will the software be time zone aware and adjust the light conditions accordingly?

  4. I’m hoping that there will eventually be a “spectator mode” where you can just log in and watch races/riders. Maybe we could have spectator avatars to run alongside the riders (like in the Tour de France).

The software is awesome. I’m telling all of my friends and they are anxiously awaiting an invite or the announcement about the production release. I live in a region of the US where riding outdoors in the winter is usually not possible-- so Zwift is basically the best thing since sliced bread as far as I’m concerned!

2

You can spectate by clicking on any of the rider names on the right side of the screen. You can even do this if you have no ANT+ dongle connected or device synced by hitting [ESC] past the paring screen and then hitting just ride. Your rider will sit in the middle of the road at the start line.

3

Hi Carol,

Thanks for all the excellent feedback!

The rider’s animations really depend on the amount of wattage being pushed (standing on pedals, etc…) so, perhaps, you were generating more power?

As for your general points:

  1. Computrainers don’t need ANT+ dongles and we are aware the warning is redundant for those of you who riding them. We’ll have more detailed guides on connecting various equipment to Zwift in our FAQ before launch. During beta this is great feedback so we can streamline our menu flow so that people become confused far less often or not at all.

  2. Currently, you can end your ride immediate via hitting ESC on your keyboard. We’ll have an easier and more intuitive way of doing this in the future!

  3. The time in game is completely independent of your current time because the day/night cycle lasts about an hour each at most. If you ride long enough then you’ll see night turn to day and vice versa.

  4. As Karl mentioned, we currently have a ‘fan view’ mode but we are working on making it better :slight_smile:

Thanks again!

4

Thanks much for the responses! Just an update about one aspect of my feedback from a few days ago… The issue I had with my RPM going to zero appears to be an issue with the Computrainer, not Zwift. I rode a CT course this morning and the same thing happened…no RPM, the legs on my avatar stopped moving…but my speed and power registered fine. I check all connections, etc. etc. and after a bit things seemed to go ok again. I did another ride around the Zwift island and everything looked back to normal.