Update on Chat functions from George Gilbert:
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)