NBA 2K20
NBA 2K20 Gameplay Blog - Motion Engine Upgrade, Handles, Read & React Defense, Off-Ball, AI, Badges, Takeover & Much More
NBA 2K20 gameplay director, Mike Wang (@Beluba), has posted a new NBA 2K20 gameplay blog today, featuring plenty of various goodies. Some of the topics include the motion engine upgrade, contextual awareness for ball handlers, read and react defense, shot solutions, new post game moves, defense in the paint, working off-ball, the next step in AI, badges, takeover and much more.
Give it a read and post your thoughts.
Hey there, 2K basketball fans! It’s that time of year where I finally get to pause for a minute and talk about some of the amazing work that the gameplay team has put into this year’s installment. NBA 2K20 is a huge leap forward for on-court play and there’s plenty to reveal so let’s get into it.
Motion Engine Upgrade
Proper footwork is a core foundation of basketball, and replicating that properly is vital to balancing the interplay between offense and defense. Without realistic movement, everything else falls apart.
In NBA 2K18 we introduced a new motion engine that moved away from the “animation-driven” systems of earlier 2K games. The improvements to feel and responsiveness were immediately apparent when we made the switch, but the new tech surfaced some challenges that caused us to lose some of the control that we had over animation selection, sacrificing some of the authenticity of the motion. In short, some aspects of movement looked and felt way better, some took a step back.
Our motion team spent the past couple of years developing an upgraded motion engine with the aim of finding a happy medium. And thanks to their hard work, movement in this year’s game has taken a huge leap forward. Some of the advances that you’ll immediately see and feel when you pick up NBA 2K20 are better foot planting, momentum modeling, and motion style variation. Players have a much better sense of weight and plant their feet properly when cutting or exploding from a stand. And thanks to the addition of motion styles, you’ll quickly feel the difference between a lumbering big vs. a quick, explosive guard. The motion team spent a lot of time researching and analyzing sprint speeds and acceleration times of real NBA players. This helped us tune our player speeds to more accurately depict the speed of the NBA game, especially in the open court. This research also led us to re-design how sprinting works. We really wanted sprinting to be a valuable resource and not something that everybody automatically does everywhere they go. This year, you’ll notice a flashing yellow effect around the Stamina bar when your energy level drops below a certain threshold. Once hit, you’ll quickly ramp down to a run speed and get tired much faster. So it’s important this year to pick and choose when you want to explode with your first step and not abuse the Sprint trigger all game long.
Handles and Sauce
Ball handlers now have contextual awareness of specific situations on the court that they didn’t have before. Pick and Roll wraps/splits, situational cuts, and backcourt vs. frontcourt movement are a few examples of where we made the ball handler aware of his surroundings. Signature Dribble Styles were another key focus for the motion system upgrade, allowing us to accurately portray the myriad of movement styles across the league. We added new concepts such as stop variation – dead leg/punches, hesi lifts, inverts, etc. Cuts and first steps also vary greatly from one style to the next, allowing us to differentiate speedsters (De’Aaron Fox, John Wall) from players like DeMar DeRozan who move with more “wiggle.” Lebron James, Kawhi Leonard, and legends such as Kobe Bryant and Tim Hardaway have signature dribble idle stands. Magic Johnson and John Stockton set up their offenses with their unique movement bringing the ball up court, while open floor players like Russell Westbrook and Giannis Antetokounmpo get different sprint acceleration animations in transition. There are 27 different styles that you’ll see across the league that you’ll also have access to in MyCAREER to create the type of ball handler you want.
Here’s the list of styles: Base, Big, Power, Fundamental, Quick, Slasher, Shifty, James Harden, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, Dennis Johnson, John Stockton, Allen Iverson, Tim Hardaway, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Stephen Curry, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard.
Being a successful ball handler is so much about rhythm and change of pace. The new system gives you many tools to do that, just by using the left stick. But if you want to make your defender look bad in the process, you’re going to need some “sauce.”
This year, we’re introducing a new size-up mechanic that allows you to chain standing dribble moves together in a cleaner and more realistic way. Every move is performed one to one by flicking the Pro Stick and there are no pre-scripted sequences this year. Players have full control over whether they want to lull defenders to sleep with a slow rocking crossover or pound the ball hard with quick machine gun style crosses. James Harden has his patented between legs setup moves, Kyrie Irving has an array of streetball handles, Allen Iverson has his big hesi cross, and the list goes on. The new size-ups really give you the freedom to create your own unique rhythm. When mastered, you’ll be able to break off even the best on-ball defenders. But when over-dribbling or trying to perform the wrong moves at the wrong time, you’ll see players fumbling the ball or easily getting ripped by their defenders.
We’re also giving players access to new advanced moves including behind back wrap escapes, Luka Doncic’s fake stepback, stutter chop steps, new shammgods, and the fake sham hesi that Will Bynum pulled out at the Big Three. And even before you put the ball down, triple threat offense has been expanded as well, with a plethora of new moves including: directional jabs, mid-stepovers, shimmies, and new first steps. I’m excited to see how creative the community gets with all the new ball handling tools at their disposal. Ankles beware.
Read & React
But don’t worry, we didn’t neglect the defensive end of the floor. On-ball defenders will be happy to hear that we’re providing more tools to help them lockdown their checks as well. Internally, we’ve been calling this Read & React Defense. When guarding the ball, defensive players will see a small arrow under the ball handler, indicating where they’re leaning or attempting to go. The arrow shows up at different times based on the defender’s abilities, modeling the different reaction times between a poor defender and a great one. Anticipating the ball handler’s movement properly and cutting off their attack will yield much more predictable outcomes such as stonewalling the dribbler, forcing a pickup, or causing a fumble. Thanks to the motion engine upgrade and its improved defensive footwork, as well as a greatly improved body-up ride system, 1-on-1 battles now resolve in a much more predictable way, showcasing the differences between attacking a flat-footed defender vs. highly skilled Lockdown.
Under the ball handler, you’ll also notice the indicator ring change from a solid circle to broken up lines as the ball handler moves around the court or performs moves. The more broken up the circle, the more vulnerable the ball handler is to losing the ball. To further emphasize this, we re-tuned on-ball steals to be much more predictable. So for NBA 2K20, it’s more important to read what the ball handler’s doing and reaching at the right times rather than running around randomly spamming the Steal button.
Shot Solutions & Paint D
Attacking and defending the rim was another area of focus for the gameplay team. I talked about the concept of Shot Solutions a few years back. The basic idea in real life is that good slashers can find unique solutions to get through the defense when attacking the rim. For NBA 2K20, we’ve completely re-architected layups and dunks to be a fully branch-able mechanic. Last year we introduced the ability to branch from certain layup gathers to dunk finishes… but for layups, once you hit the button you mostly just watched a sequence play out from ground to air. The new gather feature allows you to kick off an advanced gather on the floor, read the defense, and select how you want to finish that gather by re-deflecting the Pro Stick as you takeoff. Say, for example, if you started a euro gather but saw the defense close in, you could re-deflect the Pro Stick down to branch to a floater finish to avoid contact. This also allowed us to introduce the concept of gather resolutions. Forcing a gather into heavy traffic or directly into a defender will lead to jam ups, but choosing the correct gathers in open spaces will let you knife right through traffic. In addition to the euro-step, cradle, hop step, and spin gathers you had access to before, you can now also perform half-spin and cross-spin gathers to get past your defender.
Just like the floor game, playing above the rim is also accompanied by a beefed up defensive counterpart. This year, we captured hundreds of new in-air collisions, hard fouls, grab blocks, and swats to let the rim protectors have their presence felt. Paint defenders who have good timing and decision making will be a force to reckon with and you’ll definitely have to think twice when going head to head against them inside. Zion Williamson, welcome to Team 2K!
Post scorers can also look forward to a refreshed post game with new fakes, backdowns, and moves… while post defenders will have access to an expanded post body-up system that will help them lock down spins, drives, dropsteps, and hopsteps on the other end.
Working Off-ball
A couple of months ago in the “Ask a Dev” segment on 2KTV, I teased that an upgrade to off-ball play was coming. Players spend 90% of the time on the floor without the ball, so we wanted to make sure that aspect of our game was fully featured.
On the offensive side, NBA 2K20 brings back an old beloved feature… off-ball juke moves. We really wanted these moves to mirror the functionality of the ball handler, so not only have they returned, they’ve also improved. With simple Pro Stick gestures, players have access to fake first steps, spins, and stutters that you can chain together or immediately branch out of to perform flare cuts, dive to the hoop, or spot up for open J’s. The moves are also broken down into three levels to separate elite off-ball players from the rest. The combo of new moves and off-ball movement make playing away from the ball much more of a skill game and let you re-create the epic battles we saw Klay Thompson and Steph Curry have against the Raptors in the playoffs.
Defensively, off-ball collisions were reworked from the ground up to take advantage of the technical advancements we’ve made to our body-up system over the past couple years. If you can read where your off-ball offensive opponents are trying to go, you can cut them off and put them in a box, making them work extra hard for every look.
Screens, both on-ball and away from the ball, were also rebuilt and feature much better interactions between screeners and screen defenders. The new content offers complete control to help defenders navigate around screeners much more effectively and get into better position without getting stuck on other players. We’re also introducing the concept of quick screens, performed by tapping the Set Screen button. It carries a high risk/reward and must be used sparingly, but can be a great tool to quickly rub your cutting teammate’s defender and slow him down just enough to help your teammate get open. You’ll see loads of additional new content, including better roll/fade transitions, screen rejects, slips, screen blowups and hard hitting brick wall screens. And for you simheads, we’re also giving you manual switch controls. Simply hold the Swap Player button or double flick the right stick to call for a switch and manually override your coach’s screen defense strategy. You’ll also notice that AI teammates have the capability to dynamically roll/fade to open space, whereas before they were always sent to a static location.
The Next Step in AI
Our team prides itself on having the best AI in any sports game, and NBA 2K20 continues to push the envelope in that area.
On the offensive side, check out the new Dynamic Freelance engine. Your teammates will create intelligent off-ball motion without ever having to call a play. Look for them to automatically run smart offensive actions for your best players (driven by the Adaptive Coaching Engine or On-the-Fly Coaching), including off-ball screens and cuts, to create scoring opportunities for themselves. This new system, in conjunction with the continuing evolution of ACE, makes running a structured offense much simpler for the masses.
Savvy strategists can also take advantage of the new play action buttons. These are quick-to-access mini actions that can be called to create your own offense: Floppy, Receive Screen, Isolation, etc. And if you want to go even deeper, you can also create a “Favorite Plays” list in place of the play action buttons – assigning up to 8 of your favorite go-to plays. Last year, we introduced Series Actions, which were a big hit with the sim community. Their one request for this year was user-created series, which we heard and are bringing to NBA 2K20. Now you can turn your favorite plays into your own personal series action, and even control how that series is run (repeat on success, run through, called in order, dynamic, etc.)
AI defense is stepping up its game as well. The transition defense module has been re-written and introduces some new options, including “Protect the Perimeter” and “Wall up” (the transition positioning used against elite downhill players.) Also look out for new team-specific and player-specific adjustments in ACE, including:
- Utah’s on ball adjustments to Harden in the playoffs
- Toronto’s top lock deny scheme against Curry
- Player-specific Takeover awareness
- Legendary team and player adjustment adds and improvements
And one last note on the AI. In past 2K’s, the AI has always used Real Player % when it came down to determining makes and misses. This could often lead to robotic, predictable outcomes. This year, we’ve implemented the same shot timing mechanics for the AI that players use. The result is a much more human-like opponent and a more even playing field. So while you can gap shooters more often when playing on Rookie or Pro and see them brick some open shots due to bad timing, you’ll definitely want to hug up on shooters when playing on the higher difficulty levels to avoid getting lit up with “green lights.” Speaking of greens, you can now customize your shot meter to have a green flash, splash, or splat effect. I know how much you guys love customization.
Badges & Takeover
Badges have become one of the main ways a player can set themselves apart from another. We know how important they are to the game and to the community, so one of the first things we did this dev cycle was sit down (in many meetings) to re-imagine what badges we should have in the game and how they should work. We came away with an impressive list of around 80 badges that allow players to express different strengths in various areas of the game. We put in a ton of work to ensure that each badge was valuable and unique enough to cater to just about any imaginable playstyle. We even added Neighborhood-specific badges that enhance the physicality and flashy play of the Playground.
Takeover returns in NBA 2K20 with more content and new features, and thanks to all the feedback from the community and another year of testing under our belts, we’ve tuned the Takeover abilities to be much more balanced across positions and playstyles.
There’s tons more to talk about when it comes to badges, attributes, Takeover, and the improvements to player builds, so look forward to more info on that soon. We’re very confident that you guys are going to love the direction we’re taking with it.
Closing Thoughts
Hope you enjoyed the blog and got a sense of what to expect when you pick up the game next month. I think I’ve highlighted most of the big ticket gameplay items but there are plenty more goodies to share as we get closer to launch. Just want to give a big thanks and shout out to all the gameplay engineers and producers who worked tirelessly to make NBA 2K20 the best playing basketball game on the planet. And believe me, this is just the beginning. I can’t say enough about the entire dev team at Visual Concepts who always manage to pull off (in one year) what most teams wouldn’t even attempt in a multi-year cycle. So stay tuned in the coming weeks as we roll out more info on all the modes and features packed into this year’s game! We can’t wait till you get your hands on it and we’ll be lurking in the virtual streets scouring for feedback! We couldn’t do what we do without all of the 2K fans around the globe, so on behalf of the team, thank you for all your support!
- Mike Wang (@Beluba), NBA 2K Gameplay Director
These are huge.
Glad to see Transition defense has been finally fixed.
I like the changes to AI shooting; I wonder if there was any work done to make the AI more human-like in other areas, specifically in reaction timing and on-ball defense.
And finally the ability to call for switches manually!
If I'm picturing it right, it will REALLY open up the pull up game. Creating space with a quick dribble and pull up will really add a HUGE element to the one on one game.
Hopefully this is how it translates. Would be fantastic!
I dont like the sound of the indicators under the offensive player telling you when to steal the ball and what direction the are going, Id rather just look at the player lol.
The custom series sounds incredible, very excited for that. Im sure there is a ton of offensive AI and playbook related fun Czar cooked up for us. Cant wait to see how the custom series works.
Definitely dont like the sound of the CPU shooting based on timing rather than real %. Its the CPU, how is the timing even quantifiable. Anything to make ratings matter less IMO isnt a good look. Gr33nzzz have already created problems with users, dont need it infecting the AI opponent.
Transition D has been re written every year it seems like and has been 1 step forward 2 steps back. So we'll see if this is the year.
PnR wraps and splits has me hyped, definitely interested to see how dribbling feels. Seems every year we alternate between canned, branchable dribbling sequences to everything being created by input.
Those were my main takeaways, but overall it has me excited. Cant wait to see and feel it in action, and hopefully the demo has enough NBA gameplay to give us a good grasp of these new concepts.
I'm interested in seeing the new defensive mechanics regarding the arrow. Let's be honest...we know that 2K Sports stole the idea from NBA Live, but it will be welcomed feature. Offensive players got the shot meter, and now defense players have "defense" meter of sorts.
The double flick will be useful against screening actions. Before I would icon switch, but this will help keep my thumb on the RS so I'm still in good position to get a hands up for those players who like to shoot immediately after they hit the screen.
“your teammates will create intelligent off ball motion without ever having to call a play” (counter for off ballers)
“Savvy strategist can also take advantage of the new play action buttons”
“New team-specific and player-specific adjustments in ACE including: Utah’s defense on Harden in the playoffs, Toronto’s top lock deny scheme against Curry and player-specific takeover awareness”
I like how they emphasized strategy.
Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports
Definitely dont like the sound of the CPU shooting based on timing rather than real %. Its the CPU, how is the timing even quantifiable. Anything to make ratings matter less IMO isnt a good look. Gr33nzzz have already created problems with users, dont need it infecting the AI opponent.
Yep - 100% on this.... had to think about it and work out why I didnt love the sound of it. Well put sir.
Separately, always going to welcome more signature stuff. Keep stuffing in more signature styles. It never gets old.
I'm interested in seeing the new defensive mechanics regarding the arrow. Let's be honest...we know that 2K Sports stole the idea from NBA Live, but it will be welcomed feature. Offensive players got the shot meter, and now defense players have "defense" meter of sorts.
The double flick will be useful against screening actions. Before I would icon switch, but this will help keep my thumb on the RS so I'm still in good position to get a hands up for those players who like to shoot immediately after they hit the screen.
For me, it’s the fact that they’ve made these sorts of pronouncements every year and a lot of them end up being pretty underwhelming. They said chaining together dribbles endlessly would kill your stamina last year but it didn’t really seem to inhibit the dribble gods at all. They’ve said multiple years that the difference between different size/speeds of players would be more prevalent but I’ve yet to see it. Not to say they haven’t made some great additions over the years. I just don’t like getting overly excited or critical of features until I see them in action at this point.
Separately, always going to welcome more signature stuff. Keep stuffing in more signature styles. It never gets old.
Call me crazy, but I interpreted to mean that the AI will "follow suit" on the human's shooting performance based on some behind the scenes programming. If the human player is shooting lights out, then his AI teammates will do the same. If the human player is having the cold streak, then AI teammates will do so as well.
I'm not an offline player, but I'm guessing the AI players would get their numbers (within reason) no matter the context of the game?
I'm not an offline player, but I'm guessing the AI players would get their numbers (within reason) no matter the context of the game?
Ok Mike..... please come to the forums for some Q and A.
We need clarification 🙂
Yeah, I agree. That's probably why I agreed with the previous comment about adding videos to the blogs. The developers always have their perception on what they thought they improved on. When the game is released to the general public, there will always be that segment of gamers who's going to try to find the loopholes/exploits in the improvements then post YouTube videos about it.
One part that stuck out to me was the On Ball D part. How defenders will see small arrows indicating where the ball handler is leaning or attempting to go. I like that, but first thing I thought was how similar that sounds like what Live has lol
One part that stuck out to me was the On Ball D part. How defenders will see small arrows indicating where the ball handler is leaning or attempting to go. I like that, but first thing I thought was how similar that sounds like what Live has lol
What I love about competition nothing wrong with taking good ideas from the competition and making it your own, I actually wish Live would do the same with some of 2ks good ideas.
A lot game playing not shown in motion!
Okay I'm done!
Good read though, sounds promising. It's 2019 show us the gameplay vlogs in future while color commentating what's going on.
I'm not an offline player, but I'm guessing the AI players would get their numbers (within reason) no matter the context of the game?
I think they’re making the AI more susceptible to the open/contested mechanics like the humans are. Last year I saw it a lot where the AI would seem to score buckets on each other (and me) regardless of the shot quality.
This appears to suggest it will be different. I don’t mind the sounds of it but I can understand why others might be concerned by artificially high or low shooting percentage based on openness like we see with player vs player.
I loved a lot of what I read..
As an offline player I have the same question about the CPU's use of the meter though. What exactly governs how accurate they are with it? We can still back off of Ben Simmons even on Superstar right?
Technically, NBA Live is no competition, but every now and then they come up with a good idea that can be poached, er I meant used :waytogo:. 2K Sports just needs to start offering jobs to some of the members of their development team.
Who knows...they could have some really good ideas on the drawing table, and EA may be holding them back somehow. Didn't make say he left EA, because he didn't have the freedom of "creativity" like he did with 2K Sports?
I like this change A-lot actually. It just means that every shot the AI shoots is no longer a perfect release. Before, if the AI perfect shot release had them shoot 50% form a certain area on the floor. Now, there is a variance to their shot release just like with a human so sometimes he has an early release and that 50% shot is only 40% for him on that particular possession.
The AI's timing is worse on lower levels so you can make more defensive mistakes and not pay as much. As you raise the level of play they get more accurate with their release timings. It is a dope change IMO.
One part that stuck out to me was the On Ball D part. How defenders will see small arrows indicating where the ball handler is leaning or attempting to go. I like that, but first thing I thought was how similar that sounds like what Live has lol
When I playing NBA Live, I found the arrow to be very useful. If the on-ball steals plays realistically with good timing to the arrow, then this could be a game changer for defense. On the flip side (for those who didn't play NBA Live), if you happen to mistimed the steal, the ball handler pretty much blew pass you whereas in NBA 2K, it's just an loooooooooooong animation heavy foul. Spamming the steal button was not your friend in NBA Live.
I'm not an offline player, but I'm guessing the AI players would get their numbers (within reason) no matter the context of the game?
Idk, that makes it sound worse actually lol. I dont want the CPU to artificially keep up with me or let me back into games. Unless you're just talking about AI teammates in Mycareer. Regardless of who it's referring to in what context, I just want ratings to matter....
As an offline player I have the same question about the CPU's use of the meter though. What exactly governs how accurate they are with it? We can still back off of Ben Simmons even on Superstar right?
.....And this is exactly what I fear, regardless of ratings, that the CPU will make too many open shots with non shooters. Im gonna gap Ben Simmons all year no matter what, I hope i dont see him hitting pull up mids like this is him at an LA run simply because im on HOF or Superstar.
If anything it already felt without roster edits or slider adjustments that the CPU in 2k19 shot based on timing rather than based on their ratings on the higher difficulty levels.
EDIT** just saw Czars response, definitely respect his judgement lol.
I liked that in Live too. If you were good on the sticks and had good timing, you can be a elite lock down defender
Don't know if I overread it, but hopefully they found a good balance with AI on ball Defenders. 18 was blowby city and 19 AI defense was beefed up
The AI's timing is worse on lower levels so you can make more defensive mistakes and not pay as much. As you raise the level of play they get more accurate with their release timings. It is a dope change IMO.
This is one thing I don't like. I'd much rather the difficulty levels affect how good the AI is at things like finding the open man and reaction speed rather than artificially inflating or deflating their ratings/skill. If the CPU is wide open, they should have the same chance of making the shot on Rookie as HoF. They just shouldn't be as efficient at getting those open looks on Rookie.
.....And this is exactly what I fear, regardless of ratings, that the CPU will make too many open shots with non shooters. Im gonna gap Ben Simmons all year no matter what, I hope i dont see him hitting pull up mids like this is him at an LA run simply because im on HOF or Superstar.
If anything it already felt without roster edits or slider adjustments that the CPU in 2k19 shot based on timing rather than based on their ratings on the higher difficulty levels.
EDIT** just saw Czars response, definitely respect his judgement lol.
I like my idea better, lol. In theory, I would think it would force the player to make adjustments to get their overall team shooting better. It puts the pressure on the user to play harder, better, and smarter. Well, I'm not MyLeague, MyGM, MyCareer, etc player, so I don't have any fight this conversation.
For my fellow users of those modes, don't be complaining about the offense/defense in the harder modes and mess up my playing experience in PNO :cheers444 .
I love the custom series and play call options and the defensive schemes. I fell in love with series in 2K19 because I love good Xs & Os to get good shots. Watching GSW or the Spurs is such beautiful basketball. Hopefully this had enough time in the oven to be a complete feature, it was harder to lab all of the freelances and check exactly which ones benefited which position. This way you can build a base of actions surrounded around getting specific players involved (My Jokic is gonna be even deadlier in PNO)
I know from being on this forum for years, people hate badges, but I'm SO happy they are doubling down on them. They are what truly makes the players unique. Separating players who would have similar skill sets, but different levels. I hated when they cut the number in half. Looking forward to more info on this as well as takeovers. I loved the Post TO but it was a little cartoonish. You don't need to body slam a guy to dominate in the post. I also hated seeing guys who would literally never dance on court (Korver) start behaving like Curry just because they are hot.
Being able to split the defenders as a dribbler is something I've wanted for years/ It seems like turbo heads will FINALLY be punished for thinking every play is a fast break (hopefully that translates to MyTeam). Pacing is way more important than pure speed in any high level basketball scenario.
I love that they stole the defensive indicators from Live. I wanted them to do it last year and games always steal good ideas from each other (pretty sure Live stole the pro stick from 2K)but as somebody who plays on-ball, this should pretty much kill zig zagging.
Everything sounds great, but it always does. We’ll have to see how it all plays out once the game is released.
Like others I don’t like the green light game, but I don’t thing anyone really expected a change there.
I also don’t like badges, but I am interested to see how they do them this year. I still don’t understand how badges do anything that attributes can’t do, but as they are balancing out, I don’t hate them as much as I once did. There were really only a few that I felt were OP this year and hopefully they got balanced for 2k20.
All in all, depending on how it plays out, 2k seems to have touched on most of the really big issues in the game.
Bring on actual gameplay and the demo, I’m ready!
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Don't know if I overread it, but hopefully they found a good balance with AI on ball Defenders. 18 was blowby city and 19 AI defense was beefed up
Man! I was getting after those over dribblers with VO in NBA Live. Not sure how it will translate to NBA 2K, since the ball handlers have VASTLY more dribble animations at their disposal, but I hope that the experience will be similar. Although, I could see a lot more ankle breakers for the dribble Gods if they truly remove those long foul animations and let on-ball defenders make their mistakes with bad steal timing.
I know from being on this forum for years, people hate badges, but I'm SO happy they are doubling down on them. They are what truly makes the players unique. Separating players who would have similar skill sets, but different levels. I hated when they cut the number in half. Looking forward to more info on this as well as takeovers. I loved the Post TO but it was a little cartoonish. You don't need to body slam a guy to dominate in the post. I also hated seeing guys who would literally never dance on court (Korver) start behaving like Curry just because they are hot.
The problem i have with badges is the redundant ones that do exactly what a rating is designed to do. For example, there's no point in having a deadeye badge when you have a contested shot rating. The way you differentiate players is actually sticking to a scale with ratings. The badges however that do something that there isnt a rating for, such as brick wall, limitless range etc, those make sense.
I didnt play Live aside from the demo which i barely remember, so how did this work in Live? It didnt feel too artificial? Like you didnt find yourself watching the indicator rather than looking at how the player was moving?
Sounds like Mario running is gone? Yes, that's my takeaway from this blog. Nothing really wowed me. The word balance was used for badges and with 80 badges I'm wondering is if its mostly offensive badges. So I'm not really seeing the balance there.
Guess I get the feel for this on the 21st.
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Glad they are adding a better foot planting system.
I also like the anticipation indicator under the offensive player. hope this will lead to more organic fouls being called. this seems like it could trigger alot of blocking fouls on weaker defenders and offensive fouls if a player lead to the rim while a defender is already in position.
adjusting the AI shooting to reflect a more life like opponent nice.
the speed burst, I believe they had something similar in a previous version where youd run out of gas.
re-timed/re-rated/readjusted sprints- was needed. will definitely lead to more beautiful looking and floor spacing fast breaks.
also like a number of other things I read
Hopefully the learning curve wont be as frustrating as last year.
looking forward to this. let the countdown begin
I didnt play Live aside from the demo which i barely remember, so how did this work in Live? It didnt feel too artificial? Like you didnt find yourself watching the indicator rather than looking at how the player was moving?
In NBA Live and basically what the blog touches on, the arrow indicator showed you the momentum direction of the ball handler. During the body contact animations when the ball handler attempted to blow pass you and if you guessed right, the arrow will turn green. To clarify, green DIDN'T automatically meant that it was a steal. Depending on the defensive player, it would be a clean steal leading to an uncontested fastbreak or the ball handler briefly fumbles the ball. In NBA 2K, you could time what you thought was a good steal attempt, and your player would just foul the ball handler. In other cases, the hand would just swipe through the ball. Hopefully, they fixed that legacy issue, because the arrow indicator will be useless otherwise.
Personally, I didn't watch the indicator, and I kinda intuitively knew when to steal. The green arrow just made more confident in my steal attempt.
2. Bigs guarding smalls beyond the 3 point line. With the new switch mechanic its a must that Boban can't guard Kyrie beyond the 3 point line. That should be a 2k18 blowby animation.
3. Fouls at the 3 point line. It was a huge issue in the NBA. Its one of the reasons you cant guard James Harden. Hopefully, that is in 2k20.
4. My personal belief after hours of playing the cpu is that every open shot by HOF cpu was a perfect release. So any change to that is welcome.
5. It sounds like 2K did a ton of work as opposed to just focusing on Next gen 2k21. I applaud them for that. Looking forward to playing the game.
6. I love the new layup branching. Being able to pull floaters out of gathers is big.
7. Creating a favorite 8 plays. Great addition.
For my fellow users of those modes, don't be complaining about the offense/defense in the harder modes and mess up my playing experience in PNO :cheers444 .
I get what you're saying, but that also moves backwards in terms of individualized players. There are plenty of nights when one player is hot even when the rest of his team is shooting poorly, or vice versa. One player's success shooting should not be tied to the rest of the team.
It's hard to use a jab and create space and get to the rim, the defender always sucks back onto you even after you get past him.
Also, I been talking about different running styles for awhile glad its finally a thing. A fast center still isn't the same as a guard. They just run different.
Hopefully they make bad passers make bad passes. I feel like the passing system is a little slow in catching up to other aspects.
Pressing Y/triangle to throw lobs into the post dont work right, yet centers throw cross court outlets with crazy precision.
Easy passes from good passers get lobbed up for no reason and get picked off..its really annoying how inconsistent it is.
Also, I feel like for a few years now they've talked about foot planting and accelerating out of moves...I hope it's like legit now. Cuz I feel disappointed every year when it's not as drastic as they state it to be..
All in all it sounds promising now with these defensive foundations they're putting in place, arrows and meters showing certain things offensive players are doing...dont patch these things out the game to make offense easy when these basic turbo spammer straight line runner dudes get to complaining.
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I was just going to say something about this. Looking at 2k14, the courts looked bigger. It does look like they shrunk players to make the court look bigger. Hopefully it helps with spacing. If not, hopefully with next gen, they get a balance between court and player size
2. Bigs guarding smalls beyond the 3 point line. With the new switch mechanic its a must that Boban can't guard Kyrie beyond the 3 point line. That should be a 2k18 blowby animation.
3. Fouls at the 3 point line. It was a huge issue in the NBA. Its one of the reasons you cant guard James Harden. Hopefully, that is in 2k20.
4. My personal belief after hours of playing the cpu is that every open shot by HOF cpu was a perfect release. So any change to that is welcome.
5. It sounds like 2K did a ton of work as opposed to just focusing on Next gen 2k21. I applaud them for that. Looking forward to playing the game.
6. I love the new layup branching. Being able to pull floaters out of gathers is big.
7. Creating a favorite 8 plays. Great addition.
Yes. Paint defense is something that needed drastic improvement. Too many times in the past offensice players can just wiggle around you to the point where you cant even contest the lay up because your defender and other would be help defenders are forced to face the opposite baseline. Hopefully this rectified with much needed contextual animations. If the player scores on me despite my “wall up contest” the fine. But i cant stand giving up easy buckets just because my center cannot pivot to face the offensive player
And you are passing into the paint is on the easy side of things. On ball pressure in not taken into accouny when passing on 2k. You just pass right over the guy no matter how tall the defender is. Once this is addressed the smart players who know how to work the court to create passing angles will be rewarded. Czar responded to one of my tweets a few months back that the passing system is something that is difficult to get right but we will see what changes have been made for this year.
Closing remarks:
Please stop making all defenders face the opposite baseline if the are not involved in the play. They should be crashing in to help on drives/anticipate rebounds unless they are guarding elite shooters/set to deny ball
My hope is that they aren't trying to overshadow ratings with adding more badges. I feel that with some aspects of the game, the rating should suffice. I always felt that the badges were more powerful than ratings. I don't think every aspect of game should be reflected in a badge. It should be specific instances. Like there shouldn't be a badge for Free Throw(even though it is just for MyCareer). Mike just said it was gone, so good
They didn’t shrink the players 2k19 vs 2k20 comparisons
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Sounds like Mario running is gone? Yes, that's my takeaway from this blog. Nothing really wowed me. The word balance was used for badges and with 80 badges I'm wondering is if its mostly offensive badges. So I'm not really seeing the balance there.
Guess I get the feel for this on the 21st.
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The AI's timing is worse on lower levels so you can make more defensive mistakes and not pay as much. As you raise the level of play they get more accurate with their release timings. It is a dope change IMO.
My main problem with this comes from what you guys have stated with previous iterations: The ‘balance’ of the game is structured and built around All-Star. When you get to HoF difficulty, I’m willing to bet that the OPPOSING AI (not your teammate’s AI) will have an error window for shot timing that is almost nonexistent. I can just picture the opposing AI shooting an astonishingly unbelievable percentage from the field with just about every player.
We should also be able to create an open shot off the dribble easily in this matchup scenario if we don’t always want to get to the rim.
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1. Motion Changes and Footplanting? Sounds good. But the real test of this is can defenders still double down and recover to the 3pt line or lunge for a steal but still recover instantly since the steal button warps them into perfect defensive position?
2. We cant abuse Turbo? Cool Story. Again--what will it look like in actual gameplay?
3. Exploiting Screens - Users exploiting zig-zagging screens until defenders get sucked into screens is a legacy issue. What do the changes look like? More importantly: Will consequences be nullified after the inevitable complaints from casuals come in?
4. Transition Defense - Anyone familiar with me knows this is my #1 issue and a deal-breaker going forward. We've been dealing with this since 2K15. A mixture of alert defenders, slowing the ball over distance, deflections out of bounds and bad pass turnovers makes this a non-issue, how EXACTLY was the transition module rewritten? Fancy terms are cool but no NBA defense struggles to get back after a score/defenders get back facing the ball and find their "covers" immediately...was any of that done?
Read/React defense - I'm always more excited about defensive upgrades as we know the game is still in search of catching up to the offense, buuuuut we saw how bad defensive solutions can ruin the game (2K19 steal mechanics) would like to hear more about what happens when we guess wrong on steal and blocks, honestly. Are there actual consequences or more Neutral Outcomes that encourage SPAM?
Paint D - Sounds really nice but a proper right stick contest based on timing makes both perimeter AND post defense more user-friendly (including the dreaded dropstep) bodying up sounds nice tho...hopefully it will allow us to counter pump fakes and static offensive players baiting you to jump like below:
Nothing about a "No Switching" option on defense, the option to keep a play on Repeat or make a play-call in the huddle? UGH. Those are letdowns. What about Paint Passing? Are blocks and other good defensive plays still going right back to the offensive player? Floaters and a Body-Up Ride system are a nice touch, but i'd have really liked to have heard about core stuff like Offensive Fouls and whats being done to make sure passing lane steals require timing instead of spam.
i was looking for this also and calling perimeter and 3 point fouls. hope they improve this as well.
I loved a lot of what I read..
As an offline player I have the same question about the CPU's use of the meter though. What exactly governs how accurate they are with it? We can still back off of Ben Simmons even on Superstar right?
The references to riding the ball-handler plus the indicators of where they're going and stuff reminds me of one of the recent NBA Live games tbh. I wanna say it was Live 18; I picked it up when it was like $2-5 and thought the on-ball defense system was actually kinda good. Thought that was one of the few areas Live might have been better than 2K personally so I'm really curious to see this in 2K.
Edit: I now see that other people have drawn the same comparison as well
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Looking forward to seeing what they look like in action. Anything to bring individual players to life, legends included.
It's hard to use a jab and create space and get to the rim, the defender always sucks back onto you even after you get past him.
Also, I been talking about different running styles for awhile glad its finally a thing. A fast center still isn't the same as a guard. They just run different.
Edit: I now see that other people have drawn the same comparison as well
Live out here not selling a game cuz they’re selling their tech to 2k
Edit: I now see that other people have drawn the same comparison as well
Sounds like a crutch. They introduced an arrow for glass cleaners last year indicating where rebounds would go and now this.
Edit: I now see that other people have drawn the same comparison as well
Probably talking about '18. '19 you still get stonewalled dead in the middle of transisiton, lol
As long as there is that middle ground where you can still organically blow your man and not feel restricted to a 'blow by' mini game...I'm definitely with it.
As many crutches that the offensive side of the ball has? As far as I'm concern, it's about time.
Looking like this might be a day 1 buy for me if everything shakes out.
Pretty sure they do this every year. 2k is very secretive about their gameplay until about 2 weeks until release.
Lead passes, into the paint or elsewhere, when either the offensive player isn’t moving or you’re playing defense in between the player and where the pass is leading. In both situations it should be a turnover, but for far too long it will just move you out of the way so the offensive player catches it and gets an easy bucket.
Good defense turned into easy offense. A block, a tipped pass, a knock away, always going right back to the offense.
And just being moved out of defensive position in general.
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2K has always had great animations but their foot planting has been a weak spot. Players appear to be gliding around the court at times. I hope this was a major focus. If they get foot planting right it will take the game to another level!
Everything else sounds great. Can't wait to try the demo!
Lead passes, into the paint or elsewhere, when either the offensive player isn’t moving or you’re playing defense in between the player and where the pass is leading. In both situations it should be a turnover, but for far too long it will just move you out of the way so the offensive player catches it and gets an easy bucket.
Good defense turned into easy offense. A block, a tipped pass, a knock away, always going right back to the offense.
And just being moved out of defensive position in general.
THIIIIIIIIIS. aka Paint Passing (these plays should be deflections out of bounds almost by default--completing them should be SUPER RARE).....
and 80/20 balls that are good plays the defense should recover the overwhelming majority of...
2K has always had great animations but their foot planting has been a weak spot. Players appear to be gliding around the court at times. I hope this was a major focus. If they get foot planting right it will take the game to another level!
Everything else sounds great. Can't wait to try the demo!
Yep. Paint passing aka tethered pass catching is the biggest problem in the gm.
I honestly do that lol. Once I get the game I'm waiting for, I get ghost lol
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1 in the same to me. If you have the 18 blow bye that will require a defender to give up space which should open up the pullup gm.
I think the game could benefit from a deceleration rating/badge/mechanic to help the pull up game and make shifty players even more shiftier.
Basketball is such a stop and go sport and the best players are those who can control their bodies with stopping on a dime.
It makes sense to me to having this represented. I think representing how well someone can slow down is something that is missing in creating sim gameplay in basketball and football gaming
this will really accentuate the 1 on 1 justling of offense vs defense on every possession....if it works well and is balance I can really see how important it's finally going to be to respect the first step of quick explosive players by sagging or playing up on slower players
let the cat and mouse begins!!!!
I'm all that they made steal attempts virtually IDIOT PROOF with a visual indicator. If guys are spamming when the line is broken we sure as helllllll better see lunging misses and FOULS.
Since the broken line is an indicator of being more vulnerable to steals the game probably won't punish players for spamming during that time even if they don't get the steal. It should punish very heavily though if players spam when the line is solid.
I would also like to know if it's something we can turn on or off, i hope there will be because not everyone plays the same way and im sure some would like to have it based on RealPlayer%
Right, Right....thats what I meant. I had it backwards. My point is you're already hand-holding casuals by giving them a visual "hey dummy, dont steal now" indicator. Now it has to be followed up with consequences.
Basketball is such a stop and go sport and the best players are those who can control their bodies with stopping on a dime.
It makes sense to me to having this represented. I think representing how well someone can slow down is something that is missing in creating sim gameplay in basketball and football gaming
I agree. Deceleration would be a great badge to add. Meaning it allows certain players to stop on a dime. I have no idea how they could make it a rating unless it was a Great, good, average, bad type of rating.
If someone whiffs on a steal he needs to be thrown completely out of position. Right now the worst thing that can happen is they get called for a foul which doesn't really mean much in the context of a 5 minute quarter game when the foul limit is 6.
Meanwhile as the ballhandler some guy can be jerking his right stick all game and I get forced into these long drawn out pick up ball animations where I lose complete control of my player.
Same thing goes for defenders closing out on shooters. This "let me run full speed at your shooters to contest shots" defense needs to be completely punishable. Some guy runs at me full speed and falls for my pump fake he needs to either be face first in the crowd and I get a wide open shot or lane to the basket or I should be able to jump into him and draw a foul.
If someone whiffs on a steal he needs to be thrown completely out of position. Right now the worst thing that can happen is they get called for a foul which doesn't really mean much in the context of a 5 minute quarter game when the foul limit is 6.
Meanwhile as the ballhandler some guy can be jerking his right stick all game and I get forced into these long drawn out pick up ball animations where I lose complete control of my player.
Same thing goes for defenders closing out on shooters. This "let me run full speed at your shooters to contest shots" defense needs to be completely punishable. Some guy runs at me full speed and falls for my pump fake he needs to either be face first in the crowd and I get a wide open shot or lane to the basket or I should be able to jump into him and draw a foul.
These 3 are absolutely essential for H2H play:
1. 5 min quarters are a scaled down version of an NBA game--fouls should be scaled as well. The penalty should occur on the 3rd foul. Disqualification on the 5th.
2. Missed steals have you lunge out of position or get whistled. CHOOSE. 2K16 did a much better job:
Lets not forget how missed steals look in reality, you dont warp to the ball-handler, momentum takes you out of the play:
I've seen this Draw Foul animation less than 5 times since 2K16. Guys can contest with the right stick now--if they choose to block jump shots/have bad timing or the wrong personnel on dunks & layups there have to be consequences:
If someone whiffs on a steal he needs to be thrown completely out of position. Right now the worst thing that can happen is they get called for a foul which doesn't really mean much in the context of a 5 minute quarter game when the foul limit is 6.
Meanwhile as the ballhandler some guy can be jerking his right stick all game and I get forced into these long drawn out pick up ball animations where I lose complete control of my player.
Same thing goes for defenders closing out on shooters. This "let me run full speed at your shooters to contest shots" defense needs to be completely punishable. Some guy runs at me full speed and falls for my pump fake he needs to either be face first in the crowd and I get a wide open shot or lane to the basket or I should be able to jump into him and draw a foul.
I agree with this only in theory.
I wouldn't want it to be actually implemented because i know it would break the game.
would have his signature slightly hunched over way of dribbling on the break
and if Jerry West has that old school way of dribbling with little to no crossovers and fancy modern day moves
plus where's the love for jordan and Gary Payton?
would have his signature slightly hunched over way of dribbling on the break
and if Jerry West has that old school way of dribbling with little to no crossovers and fancy modern day moves
plus where's the love for jordan and Gary Payton?
I think thats exactly what they meant.
looking for OG to confirm, but I believe you're on the right track and I couldn't be more happy about that.
-Manual switches were a great add
-Favorite plays/user created series' sounds awesome
'
-I REALLY hope that off-ball collisions and foot planting work correctly because these 2 flaws ruined 2k18/19 imo
-The CPU getting the opportunity to perfect release shots every trip down doesn't seem fun
-Read & React feature doesn't really seem necessary to me but it sounds like it should be used to trick your opponent by leaning one way and simply crossing over
Now for my concerns. I absolutely loath the takeover mode and how your ratings for things like shooting and ball handling change as a meter gets filled. It is an absurd thing to have in a supposed sim as it is completely unrealistic and arcadey. Not to mention it was very unbalanced. Just dumb thing to add imo, and now that it is in there, like green guaranteed makes, it seems we will have to deal with it forever. I cannot possibly understand how because I made a couple of bad plays I would completely forget how to do a certain dribble move lmao. Why just not increase the chances for a turnover, bad pass, getting the ball stolen etc.
Also there was no mention of the jump shots and the absurd 3 point percentages, or how picking a certain jump shot base is actually more important than your actual shot rating. That is just insane to me. Enough with the super secret jumpshot sauce and balance the game properly.
And lastly, the badges, what should have been a great feature to add more depth to individual players and style has just completely consumed the game. They are way to OP, they turn the players into superhero's with certain tiers and you can't compete online at a high level until you have mercilessly grinded them out over an insane amount monotonous gameplay. Did they say they were adding 80 more or having 80 in total? either way they really need to be looked at better on how they are effectiving gameplay and individual ratings.
One added note: The AI defense was very frustrating and unrealistic in online modes when a player quit out. This really needs to be looked at. I should not be able to light up my opponent to the point where he feels it necessary to quit only to have an AI come in and stonewall me for the rest of the game. In 18 it was nice that you could light them up too. Don't punish me for a player quitting.
Same here hahaha. I might poke around once and awhile after the game releases to see if there are any worthwhile threads (sliders, tips on new mechanics, custom rosters, etc) but for the most part I'm gone once the game drops. I'm even trying to stay away from threads pre-release this year but you never know when Da Czar, Mike, or another developer will pop in and share some additional info.
As for the blog I like pretty much everything that was revealed. Would have been nice to have some clips to illustrate what these improvements look like but hopefully they will be things that stand out once we get some actual gameplay. My own little personal concern is learning and utilizing some of these new mechanics. I sometimes fall into the trap of playing the same way I've played previous 2ks instead of fully utilizing the new tools at my disposal. I'll have to put in work with the demo so that I'm ready once the game drops.
As for the blog I like pretty much everything that was revealed. Would have been nice to have some clips to illustrate what these improvements look like but hopefully they will be things that stand out once we get some actual gameplay. My own little personal concern is learning and utilizing some of these new mechanics. I sometimes fall into the trap of playing the same way I've played previous 2ks instead of fully utilizing the new tools at my disposal. I'll have to put in work with the demo so that I'm ready once the game drops.
You know it Scottie. Can't wait!
Gonna spend most of my time playing instead of posting.
The greenz people are gonna still be mad
The online people (not talking yall MLO) are gonna be mad
Cheesers gonna cheese no matter what, and the same old people will make you think the entire game is a dump truck full of trash when in reality it'll sell more than ever
I hope this includes defensive reactions we can trigger when we don't fall for pump fakes or guys are static trying to bait us to jump but FAIL.
I agree with there needing to be some consequences for steals.
If someone whiffs on a steal he needs to be thrown completely out of position. Right now the worst thing that can happen is they get called for a foul which doesn't really mean much in the context of a 5 minute quarter game when the foul limit is 6.
Meanwhile as the ballhandler some guy can be jerking his right stick all game and I get forced into these long drawn out pick up ball animations where I lose complete control of my player.
Same thing goes for defenders closing out on shooters. This "let me run full speed at your shooters to contest shots" defense needs to be completely punishable. Some guy runs at me full speed and falls for my pump fake he needs to either be face first in the crowd and I get a wide open shot or lane to the basket or I should be able to jump into him and draw a foul.
I'd be excited to see this implemented in 2k20, so many times on offense, pump faking a defender would result in them jumping right into you, technically the player should be out of position, but because of the collision from the player jumping into you, the defender would get a quick recovery to driving the open lane, and I never saw foul calls in rec centre when a player did over-commit to blocking a shot and collide with the shooter. I would also like to see more fouls in the paint when a PF or C is able to recover after being pump-faked into the air and is allowed to continuously jump on a player resulting in contact and losing the ball or blocked shot.
looking for OG to confirm, but I believe you're on the right track and I couldn't be more happy about that.
Good to know if true.
Another thing I'm interested in seeing is new attribute ratings for hop step layup, euro step layup, spin layup,cradle layup, left hand and right handed layups
Always hated how all layup types was grouped together under one layup attribute making so anyone who has a good layup rating good at all layup types
For every layup type there should be a separate rating as well as tendencies ratings for cpu usage.
Another thing I'm interested in seeing is new attribute ratings for hop step layup, euro step layup, spin layup,cradle layup, left hand and right handed layups
Always hated how all layup types was grouped together under one layup attribute making so anyone who has a good layup rating good at all layup types
For every layup type there should be a separate rating as well as tendencies ratings for cpu usage.
In some cases the rating doesn't even mean that, it indicates frequency not ability
What people don't get off everything is not run under the hood by what you think it is on the surface
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Yh this is probably better for lower difficulties, but I can see it being a bit crazy on harder difficulties. Like the AI hitting greens majority of the time it's open and stuff like that.
Literally the most important comment in this thread. Very eloquently put sir well done
In some cases the rating doesn't even mean that, it indicates frequency not ability
What people don't get off everything is not run under the hood by what you think it is on the surface
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I feel you bro but, it still would be cool if it was a thing for all the roster creators out there (myself included)
With so many things under the hood being nuclear what it actually dose one could becomes confused when roster editing and make a player way better/worse unintentionally due to the lack of surface knowledge.
Badge help a bit but the situational boost to specific attributes also comes across as a bit of a secret to the average player because the description of most badges are a bit vague.
Sorry I'm kinda new to this
I was trying to reply to your quotes. Lol
I've edited it a bit better now
Instead they are using the words play style and position.
This leads me to believe, and I hope, that instead of selecting an archetype, your archetype will be determined by what attributes you upgrade and your position.
This is something that I believe I’ve asked for in multiple threads.
How I picture it or would like it to be...
Select your position, height, weight, and arm length. Then start placing your attributes where you want them. Once you get your attributes high enough you start unlocking badges. The higher you go the higher the badge within the limits of your selected positon, height, and weight.
This would allow us to create exactly what we want, get the badges that we want, and determine our archetype from the attributes and badges that we decided to get.
This would allow for a greater diversity in player builds and archetypes. If two players wanted to make a shot creator they could still both be very different even though they are the same archetype.
If I guessed right I hope I get 100 likes.
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With so many things under the hood being nuclear what it actually dose one could becomes confused when roster editing and make a player way better/worse unintentionally due to the lack of surface knowledge.
Badge help a bit but the situational boost to specific attributes also comes across as a bit of a secret to the average player because the description of most badges are a bit vague.
Sorry I'm kinda new to this
I was trying to reply to your quotes. Lol
I've edited it a bit better now
You can get a pretty decent idea of how to edit the roster nicely, but its alot of work.
Once guys understand certain attributes, theyre usually all over it.
This is something that I believe I’ve asked for in multiple threads.
How I picture it or would like it to be...
Select your position, height, weight, and arm length. Then start placing your attributes where you want them. Once you get your attributes high enough you start unlocking badges. The higher you go the higher the badge within the limits of your selected positon, height, and weight.
This would allow us to create exactly what we want, get the badges that we want, and determine our archetype from the attributes and badges that we decided to get.
This would allow for a greater diversity in player builds and archetypes. If two players wanted to make a shot creator they could still both be very different even though they are the same archetype.
If I guessed right I hope I get 100 likes.
Thats a system I already demanded multiple times. But make certain attributes like speed etc. capped depending on size, weight. Badge tiers should be bound to attribute tiers, e.g. a hof shooting badge should require 95+ in the corresponding attributes.
But, still, I doubt well ever see something like this, systems with this much freedom are guaranteed to be exploited by minmaxers etc.
100% agree with this.
I would like to see a feature that allows for more control over where the ball goes instead of the line drives most passes end up being that usually ends up as a intercepted pass.
Two more things I would like to see is a new rebounding and blocks system
similar to the new read and react defense system
With rebounding I would like to see a circle on the ground where the ball would potentially land (a wider radius for the better rebounds, much smaller for the the one's not so good at rebounding) that would light up (maybe green) when a rebound is within reach
If the player is taller, a better rebounder,or in better position than the other player he'll get the green light before the other player within the radius. I think a cool system like this would make rebounding a skill that could be just as fun as scoring
As for blocking
I would like to see indicators that pops up if the player is in the right position to attempt a block.
The indicators could randomly be anyone of the 4 face buttons a,x,y,b or a (xbox) with a small time window to press the correct button (pressing the wrong button could lead to a foul or a failed block attempt) an average shot blocker would only have one of two face buttons x or y with a slightly increased time frame to press the correct button
And a great shot blocker would consistently have the same button (Y) with the most forgiving time window for a successful block.
I think gameplay mechanic like this would make playing as a great blocker or rebounder just as fun and engaging as dunking and shooting 3 in regular games or in the park with a build that fits this type of gameplay mechanic.
It sounds like shot timing for the CPU is something that will actually benefit users playing on harder difficulties, because the CPU will actually miss more shots, leaving more room for error on our side, which is great.
This is my thing with difficulty levels atm...
Everyone knows this so I'm not going to act like this is a declaration of anything lol...
But if 2K's current approach to differentiating skill levels is predicated on "increasing/decreasing" the sliders (instead of just execution or increased awareness), the CPU will always get the better of you no matter what.
You can check your sliders; if there's going to be a 10 pt difference -- which is MORE like a 20 pt difference in conjunction with all the legacy issues -- between every rating that matters (shooting, consistency, etc.), fairness will NEVER be on your side.
HOF at this point for me... is like playing in "Ethan Must Die" mode on RE7 lol.
I just hope they improved the spidey-sense defense.
You can have all the dribble moves you want, but if the CPU can anticipate each one based on button input alone then it's a wrap for you!
Other than that, the foot planting, improved body up & collisions, the favorite play series, and new dribble mechanics sounds mint so I'm excited.
The AI's timing is worse on lower levels so you can make more defensive mistakes and not pay as much. As you raise the level of play they get more accurate with their release timings. It is a dope change IMO.
Apologies all - I'm playing catch up now that I'm done with work. But THIS post is all the clarification I was chasing on this AI green release topic. Sounds great actually!
I LOVE the sound of the sprinting/motion philosophy.
Slightly worried about the CPU not using RealPlayer% anymore but we'll see how it goes. I like the concept, but i'm concerned about the execution in year 1 of the change.
Nothing else really stood out to me
I know for a fact they were SUPER frustrated with it since early in the cycle. I just hope rewriting the module includes defenders no longer getting back then staying below the FT line.
Guys attacking long passes/getting back and matching up immediately is also paramount. I can hunt plays like this ALL DAY. If Kuz isn't the 1st guy back (Ingram is) he has to find his cover instead of getting back to sit in the paint...so that long passes like this have a greater chance of a deflection out of bounds than anything else.
I know for a fact they were SUPER frustrated with it since early in the cycle. I just hope rewriting the module includes defenders no longer getting back then staying below the FT line.
Guys attacking long passes/getting back and matching up immediately also paramount. I can hunt plays like this ALL DAY. If Kuz isn't the 1st guy back (he isn't) he has to find his cover.
If they get it right, Kush deserves half the credit.
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Maaaaaan. If they get it right the reward will be NONE OF US will EVER have to see that crap again--which is enough for me. And truth be told OG was thinking about all the ways they could resolve it since SUPER early. I'd send him vids of guys getting back/camping out in the paint and he'd facepalm.
Our next major project has to be Risk/Reward re: blocks. As long as the "bodying up" is a good counter when we stay on the ground, it could really open up the gameplay and finally let us draw fouls.
At the very least defenders with bad timing should be out of the play.
Also making contesting intuitive by pointing the R-stick at the defender with good timing. Here Lebron fades away and a light contest should be R-stick pointing is his direction...like I did here. The best part is it'd be TIMING based--so if he's doing an up/under (or driving) i'm toast.
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The indicator (from NBA Live) mostly showed the side to side momentum of the ball handler. It shouldn't impact the ball handler, and everything should still be the same overall. The only difference is that the defender has a visual cue to help with the timing of on-ball steals.
IMHO, if ANYONE hates this idea, then they should hate the idea of the shot meter, because it's literally the same thing. However, I doubt a green steal attempt is an automatic steal like a green release is an automatic bucket.
I hope the long passes by elite passers like Lonzo, Jokic are do-able in 20.
Can we bring back Y button where I can just press once for the ball handler in protect-ball mode? 19 requires holding LT and I cant protect-ball while calling for quick Iso. It just wears me off on the index finger.
Can we get rid of the illegal screen pls?
Foot planting - looking forward to it!
Does that we mean we can now assign Series or Freelance to the teams? A lot of the teams in 19 run the default 4-1 or 3-2.
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Can we bring back Y button where I can just press once for the ball handler in protect-ball mode? 19 requires holding LT and I cant protect-ball while calling for quick Iso. It just wears me off on the index finger.
Can we get rid of the illegal screen pls?
I've always thought protect ball should be a one button press and then its static, so it frees your fingers up (but it ends if you turbo) so I agree here. But why in the WORLD would you get rid of the illegal screens? We need to see that call consistently when guys are trying to exploit the AI and the suction nature of screens--which I hope is gone. Wait for your guy to stop and then make your move--but zig-zagging back and forth trying abuse the loopholes in gameplay? NAH.
I hope this means that I can use the Warriors and expect them to move fluidly without the ball as they do in real life. Steph and Klay. Now that they are no longer stacked like the past years. This along with the new off ball and play action features I hope the offense is ran fluid.
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Illegal screens happen to off ball screens too. I'm not a fan of illegal screens so if 2k can put in as slider for offline players to tone it down, that would be great.
Imo, illegal screens should play bigger role in mycareer.
Imo, illegal screens should play bigger role in mycareer.
Illegal screens is necessary for PNO because users who cant create offense constantly spam PnR as a saving grace. It needs be in the game and it needs to be called frequently.
So yea, sliders for the offline gamers should be optional.
Illegal screens is necessary for PNO because users who cant create offense constantly spam PnR as a saving grace. It needs be in the game and it needs to be called frequently.
To be fair, he did request a slider.
Imo, illegal screens should play bigger role in mycareer.
Ahhhh......offline. Say No More. Like Optimus mentioned its necessary in PNO.
I read his post wrong.
I thought he wanted it out of the game completely, like a good man he requested a slider:cheers444
This guy completely ignores the visual indicator (defender facing the ball) and throws passes right at the D because HISTORY has taught him what? They won't react. No competent person would throw a pass like this in reality and expect anything but disaster....but NBA 2K has conditioned guys that these passes are OK.
He continually turns the ball over but does he stop? NOPE. He persists because he knows its the one way he can avoid the D and get the ball into easy scoring position. And when he doesn't get rewarded for terrible decisions? HE QUITS.
Again---gameplay gotta give these guys a proper expectation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX69UPPhh0Y
Our next major project has to be Risk/Reward re: blocks. As long as the "bodying up" is a good counter when we stay on the ground, it could really open up the gameplay and finally let us draw fouls.
At the very least defenders with bad timing should be out of the play.
Also making contesting intuitive by pointing the R-stick at the defender with good timing. Here Lebron fades away and a small contest should be R-stick pointing is his direction...like I did here. The best part is it'd be TIMING based--so if he's doing an up/under (or driving) i'm toast.
Hopefully, a missed ft does not turn into a wide open 3. FT miss transition defense has been bad for a few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX69UPPhh0Y
Dope!...Good looking out.
I have ONE BIG GIANT REQUEST....please...PLEASE don't succumb to the pressures of the Youtubers, MyPlayers, and MyParkers and Nerf these goodies a month after the game is released...please! Thanks.
Sincerely,
_______________
your name here
I have ONE BIG GIANT REQUEST....please...PLEASE don't succumb to the pressures of the Youtubers, MyPlayers, and MyParkers and Nerf these goodies a month after the game is released...please! Thanks.
Sincerely,
_______________
your name here
They've been doing better with not overreacting to every complaint since NBA 2K17.
I hope the long passes by elite passers like Lonzo, Jokic are do-able in 20.
Can we bring back Y button where I can just press once for the ball handler in protect-ball mode? 19 requires holding LT and I cant protect-ball while calling for quick Iso. It just wears me off on the index finger.
Can we get rid of the illegal screen pls?
Foot planting - looking forward to it!
Does that we mean we can now assign Series or Freelance to the teams? A lot of the teams in 19 run the default 4-1 or 3-2.
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Splitting a pnr manually and having split and wrap content are different things IMO.
This guy completely ignores the visual indicator (defender facing the ball) and throws passes right at the D because HISTORY has taught him what? They won't react. No competent person would throw a pass like this in reality and expect anything but disaster....but NBA 2K has conditioned guys that these passes are OK.
He continually turns the ball over but does he stop? NOPE. He persists because he knows its the one way he can avoid the D and get the ball into easy scoring position. And when he doesn't get rewarded for terrible decisions? HE QUITS.
Again---gameplay gotta give these guys a proper expectation.
You will have to test the long passes for yourself but you would be happy to know that AI pass steal awareness is higher on the higher difficulty levels. We let more passes through on the lower levels this year to make that part of the game easier.
It was not mentioned in the blog but there is always lots of work done to passing every year but it is not really an exciting feature for the casuals.
I'm sure it is, already feeling the hype for the new gameplay from reading mike's blog. But I really have no clue on what wrap means here
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Wraps are useful when you snake the pick and roll or dribble between the screener and your defender it is a protective dribble without which the ball would likely bounce off the defender's foot.
So if the screen is coming on your left you start left and split the d and then cross back right behind the screener before he can roll. That is a wrap. When it plays out correctly is looks really dope and feels even better.
WE BOTH know Cheesers will test this THOROUGHLY on my behalf We'll know how effective the Transition D changes are pretty quickly.
IMO gameplay benefits when you guys make the more subtle changes...like the addition of Contact Shots as opposed to excessive blocks--or the Shot Meter to add more skill to offense/slow the game down a little for the defense. Excessive Steals just makes the game sooo sloppy--prefer a higher amount of deflections out of bounds, honestly.
Super anxious to see Stonewalling, Forced-Pickups and Fumbles in action. With no real fear of offensive fouls, guys collide into defenders and aren't afraid to force the issue with dribble penetration. Drives that push you under the basket rather than evading the defender are bad gameplay. Would love to see more balance there--right now guys will drive into you the whole possession if they still have a live dribble.
It was not mentioned in the blog but there is always lots of work done to passing every year but it is not really an exciting feature for the casuals.
Since you mention difficulty level, how is that calculated with “custom” slider sets? Is that awareness or percentage adjusted based on the difficulty you initially started with before tweaking sliders or by a different method?
So if the screen is coming on your left you start left and split the d and then cross back right behind the screener before he can roll. That is a wrap. When it plays out correctly is looks really dope and feels even better.
Oh
My
Goodness
The holding off feature in 19 was already huge. The addition of wrap is just dope
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Just poppin up to say I see you, Czar!
I don't get around to much gaming these days but I'm lurking. Thanks for all the hard work and goodies.
IMO gameplay benefits when you guys make the more subtle changes...like the addition of Contact Shots as opposed to excessive blocks--or the Shot Meter to add more skill to offense/slow the game down a little for the defense. Excessive Steals just make the game sooo sloppy--prefer a higher amount of deflections out of bounds, honestly.
Super anxious to see Stonewalling, Forced-Pickups and Fumbles in action. With no real fear of offensive fouls, guys collide into defenders and aren't afraid to force the issue with dribble penetration. Drives that push you under the basket rather than evading the defender are bad gameplay. Would love to see more balance there--right now guys will drive into you the whole possession if they still have a live dribble.
That last video made me unnecessarily angry 😂
You and me both lol. Dudes literally going through their entire dribble package until something works--to top it all off my defender getting pushed under the rim was NO BUENO.
If its any consolation I beat him in OT tho.
Nice. This means our AI teamates will actually be grabbing pass lane steals more often? I dig it.
Been waiting for that for a while, glad it's finally in.
Been waiting for that for a while, glad it's finally in.
Did he explain what will be in it?
Been waiting for that for a while, glad it's finally in.
Couldve had it in 19 man...they ran out of time
either way im glad it made it.. appreciate big Czar man. He worked extra hard to get that in
Man, I dont know how to tell you how youve elevated my game over the years. Been above .500 for years now playing online in Rec/Pro-Am. Not even with just playcalling and understanding sets, but the intricate details that have gone into user control and the read/react parts of the game. Whether its been dribbling or help defense, Czar always got some juicy info that most people never realize existed.
However, all that being said. I cant help but feel that 19 was a down year for me. This year seemed more vanilla than anything else. In the MyPlayer arena we have always had a meta. But the lack of finishing inside and the ability of every archetype being able to be a knock down shooter regardless of rating has been very frustrating this year.
What can we expect from the athletic standpoint of the game?
I had a pure athletic finisher to start the year. He was 6'10 285 lbs and with HOF Posterizer and 99 contact dunk and would rim out several times a game when triggering a contact.
Last year you could trigger contacts much more frequently and they would finish better, but people found out they could break those 2man animations by spamming steal or block. To where my user went for an agressive finish, but in the span of the gather and the throw down he was able to take control away from my player and result in a negative play for me.
In my eyes, i got to the paint and triggered the contact, my role is being fulfilled. I did my job.
But I would take those interactions over just MISSING any day of the week.
I feel like to stop a Jordan or a Westbrook it should need to be a team effort. One man shouldnt be able to dare me to shoot and take me out of the game. Finishers need more foul calls in the paint. A la "Jordan Rules" or Harden now.
I feel like a 70 jumper isnt too much to ask for a finishing character either. And lastly, how are slashers one of the lowest "speed with ball" characters when playmakers and shot creators dont typically come close to their other "athletic" stats? Off ball speed is nice, but when i grab a rebound with a slasher guard i should be the fastest guy on the court end to end. One Man Fast break is nice, but thats boosting me from a 70 to an 80 some thing speed with ball.
Strength, height, weight, these are things that separate the truly rarely gifted athletes in the league its true.
But end to end, 50 times a night, back and forth, hustling harder than anyone. Thats how Westbrook makes his money.
But the point still stands, some of the greatest physically gifted players have either been HOFers or out of the league by their ability to impact the game in other ways.
Giannis hasnt developed his jumper all the way yet, but he can rebound, defend, and run the break with the best of them.
To say playmakers can dribble, shoot, finish. Sharps can pull half courters and fade out of bounds. Shot creators can dunk, dribble, shoot, defend, but slashers and athletic finishers can ONLY dunk and their ONE super power was deemed "cheese" last year so dunking doesnt even work that great. I literally got zapped out of hard earned money for expectations from one year to the next?
I know this is a long winded post. Tl;Dr just wondering what improvments were made to finishing?
Also, I know Westbrook had a down year shooting. But with him playing with a great passer and shooting as poorly as he did in 18-19 I'm sure he'll have plenty of space to get back to over .30 percent. Which would once again make him the worst match up in the league to guard 1 on 1. I get it, Harden and Giannis are the better players.
But NO ONE stops Russel from getting to the basket. Whatever happens happens at the rim or the foul line. But he will get there WHENEVER he wants.
I want to put that fear in people again.
Do not like this at all. Some of the decisions I am hearing about is awful. I am thinking they’ll give defenders better tools like animations and things but this is like holding someone’s hand. Just not liking some of these decisions.
So far this is second worst stuff I’ve heard from Mike behind everyone including the opposing team being able to see your shot meter.
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Wait, What? See your shot meter? Is this confirmed?
You can use one of these buttons to call for early offense.
You can use one for 'break double team'.
We set these buttons up however we want.
The offensive settings menu will only let you take 4 freelances into a game (not pages of them like previous). Although you can still access all the series' in game.
Also, in a previous video Czar confirmed NBA2K21/
80 badges... but how many new Tendencies added? It's hard to imagine the AI using 80 badge skills properly in the right context. If there's no Tendency, then that means more hard coded or black box scenarios.
The freelance offense changes in ACE look great... but how much of these freelances in ACE can we configure in the roster file? Again, hard to imagine the AI using these systems properly when you introduce CAP's, draft classes, trades, etc. Offline gameplay suffered for the first 3 months of the 2K19 cycle because ACE configuration (always on for the AI) forced the same play calls over and over to the same player.
More contact animations are always a good thing... but how many of these are tied into the foul engine and sliders? You could create a high number of contact animations in 2K19 with the contact frequency sliders, but the lack of block/charge calls made them unrealistic at a certain point. It would be great to separate out even further the contact types beyond just inside/driving.
2K19 was a great hoops experience offline for the most part and just needed some minor changes in my opinion. The foul engine was never fixed, MyLeague progression bugs were never fixed, freestyle offense wasn't customizable, and ACE was a black box. Even with all of that, I'm still enjoying 2K19 when I'm able to play through MyLeague instead of fixing a bug.
2K20 looks like a huge upgrade on 2K19 for offline gamers, especially if those issues are fixed behind the scenes. I'm one of the few remaining dinosaur offline gamers and the time it takes to create a sim experience goes up every year. Fewer bugs and more core gameplay stability from release through the final patch are more important than new features at this point for some of us. Badge #78 and #79 don't matter if you can't reach year 3 of MyLeague without immersion killing bugs.
Do you know where these settings are saved? User profile, roster, or only in MyLeague/MyGM?
Good question. That wasn't specified in the video.
You can use one of these buttons to call for early offense.
You can use one for 'break double team'.
We set these buttons up however we want.
The offensive settings menu will only let you take 4 freelances into a game (not pages of them like previous). Although you can still access all the series' in game.
Also, in a previous video Czar confirmed NBA2K21/
Im confused. There is a break double team button?
80 badges... but how many new Tendencies added? It's hard to imagine the AI using 80 badge skills properly in the right context. If there's no Tendency, then that means more hard coded or black box scenarios.
The freelance offense changes in ACE look great... but how much of these freelances in ACE can we configure in the roster file? Again, hard to imagine the AI using these systems properly when you introduce CAP's, draft classes, trades, etc. Offline gameplay suffered for the first 3 months of the 2K19 cycle because ACE configuration (always on for the AI) forced the same play calls over and over to the same player.
More contact animations are always a good thing... but how many of these are tied into the foul engine and sliders? You could create a high number of contact animations in 2K19 with the contact frequency sliders, but the lack of block/charge calls made them unrealistic at a certain point. It would be great to separate out even further the contact types beyond just inside/driving.
2K19 was a great hoops experience offline for the most part and just needed some minor changes in my opinion. The foul engine was never fixed, MyLeague progression bugs were never fixed, freestyle offense wasn't customizable, and ACE was a black box. Even with all of that, I'm still enjoying 2K19 when I'm able to play through MyLeague instead of fixing a bug.
2K20 looks like a huge upgrade on 2K19 for offline gamers, especially if those issues are fixed behind the scenes. I'm one of the few remaining dinosaur offline gamers and the time it takes to create a sim experience goes up every year. Fewer bugs and more core gameplay stability from release through the final patch are more important than new features at this point for some of us. Badge #78 and #79 don't matter if you can't reach year 3 of MyLeague without immersion killing bugs.
Just learned how much tendencies affected the gm this week. As important as ratings and sliders.
When you get double teamed you can either choose for your AI teammates to space the floor out for you or they can remain in place and wait for you to dribble out of the double team aka “break” it.
This. Is. Gold.
Now we just need to make sure the DT is balanced. Right now it still has too many defensive outcomes including that bad pass crap.
Just learned how much tendencies affected the gm this week. As important as ratings and sliders.
Lol its night and day. I've tuned the tendencies for the entire 30-team roster in 19. No turning back. The cpu rockets played like the rockets. Luv it.
I pray hard that 2K tuned the tendencies of the nba teams to play like today's nba, averaging 30 threes per team per game. I dun want to go thru the tendency tweaking for 30-team roster again!
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When guarding the ball, defensive players will see a small arrow under the ball handler, indicating where they’re leaning or attempting to go.
Under the ball handler, you’ll also notice the indicator ring change from a solid circle to broken up lines as the ball handler moves around the court or performs moves. The more broken up the circle, the more vulnerable the ball handler is to losing the ball.
For those who don't remember, Czar gave 8 or so teams specific playbooks rather than generic ones.
I loved a lot of what I read..
As an offline player I have the same question about the CPU's use of the meter though. What exactly governs how accurate they are with it? We can still back off of Ben Simmons even on Superstar right?
Nice!
Sweet!
Nice!
Lovely! As one who turns off play art, the less I have to practice & memorize plays for fluid offense, the better.
Looking forward to this. They've been addressing this for years, but I like this year's specifics.
Please let these be turn offable. Just show me tired player animations, let me read a ball handler's body movement and see when a ball handler is susceptible to being ripped via animations.
Hopefully early/late releases are not visible. Players tend to always shoot at the top of their jump IRL.
Good summary post.
I pray hard that 2K tuned the tendencies of the nba teams to play like today's nba, averaging 30 threes per team per game. I dun want to go thru the tendency tweaking for 30-team roster again!
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What data do you use to create tendencies?
This is what Mike said.
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I have always played with my shot meter off. Just shot feedback. I hope that we aren't going to be forced to see our opponent's shot meter if we don't want to.
That's my biggest worry, I have all of that off because I don't want my basketball game looking like a slot machine. Now if I have to see that for 9 other players when I have mine off, that would REALLY suck.
Just a horribly implemented idea imo, and the justification for it is just...head scratching. "So people can't lie about greens?" What? How about we just remove them altogether, or give us "No Shot Meter" lobbies, I know it's impossible, but I've been saying for years that that alone would separate user 'types'.
I say this every year, but, why not just rely on animations? Graphics & animations are phenomenal at this point, making meters that much more distracting. A shooter showing confidence with animations is WAY better than a green. Watching for a shooter's peak is way better than watching a meter.
But this? This really hurts the strategy part of the game--this tells everyone on the court when a shot has a very low % of going in--in a game that doesn't even call loose ball fouls #crashtheboards
If guys are lying about their greens the game tells on them--and ultimately its between them and their teammates. It shouldnt result in gameplay giving us some God Mode View. Its just further proof how truly bad "greens" have been for the franchise.
Imagine a hockey game where you know which shots will be goals or a baseball game when you can see the hits and homeruns. A football game where you know if someone is going to miss/make a tackle, if a pass will be caught or a tennis game where you know when a shot will cross the net.
THE NOT-KNOWING IS HALF THE FUN.
Think how bad this will be for FTS....knowing when guys will miss unbalances gameplay to the extreme--I literally can't think of anything more counter-intuitive.
I say this every year, but, why not just rely on animations? Graphics & animations are phenomenal at this point, making meters that much more distracting. A shooter showing confidence with animations is WAY better than a green. Watching for a shooter's peak is way better than watching a meter.
Yea I agree. It's perfect right now because if I green I will still know, because my feedback will say "Excellent" in green and I will also have a green light below my feet. But I'm not going to overreact with this news at the moment. I feel confident in 2K that we will have the option to not see our opponent's meters. But I agree 100% with you when it comes to watching a shooting animation rather than watching a meter. Especially when the meter is very suspect online and when we can actually appreciate the signature shooting animations of a NBA player.
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^^^ This one...this should be one of the feature of this game.
Considering they removed the offhand dribble rating I doubt it matters. In real life it does, but I have never seen a difference between forcing someone to their offhand when they are a poor bal handler to begin with. That doesn’t even touch the fact that it should be harder to shoot going right if you’re right handed but that isn’t taken into account in gameplay. That turnaround fade-away you did running to the right will still go in like your regular pull-up jumper as long as you’re open
• A paragraph on fixing pick and roll coverage and how the AI reads and reacts. Calling a PnR has turned the CPU defense into shambles for years now because they don’t rotate properly, or hedge properly, or deny passes properly
• Forcing ball pickups (I think it was mentioned tho) from offball defenders swiping at the ball when a player is driving by them
• PROPER hedging off of offensive players to play help defense. The AI literally leaves their primary guy open to help guard someone else instead of hedging off their guy to force a pick up while also being in range to recover to their guy in case of a pass.
• On the fly defensive matchup changes need to be able to executed without calling a timeout
• Auto adjustments from defenders based on their opposing players offensive ability. We’ve allegedly had this for years, but I don’t know how many times I’ll see my CPU run off of Steph to guard the guy in the corner who is open.....but can’t shoot. You can manually force players to never help or rotate, but it would be nice if the “auto” option worked as intended
• Pass pressure should be a thing the same way shot contests are. As is, there is little difference between a 60-90 rated passer. The point of doubling guys in real life is to force a tough pass out of a double team. In 2k, all a double does is leave someone open. You can be guarded by 3 guys but can throw an alleyoop to someone cutting like it’s nothing. Lol c’mon 2k
But this? This really hurts the strategy part of the game--this tells everyone on the court when a shot has a very low % of going in--in a game that doesn't even call loose ball fouls #crashtheboards
If guys are lying about their greens the game tells on them--and ultimately its between them and their teammates. It shouldnt result in gameplay giving us some God Mode View. Its just further proof how truly bad "greens" have been for the franchise.
Imagine a hockey game where you know which shots will be goals or a baseball game when you can see the hits and homeruns. A football game where you know if someone is going to miss/make a tackle, if a pass will be caught or a tennis game where you know when a shot will cross the net.
THE NOT-KNOWING IS HALF THE FUN.
Think how bad this will be for FTS....knowing when guys will miss unbalances gameplay to the extreme--I literally can't think of anything more counter-intuitive.
This right here, completely agree. It'll look ridiculous in my opinion, when somebody times the shot badly you'll see everybody fighting for the rebound and on the other hand, when somebody greens, you can already go and wait for the ball to inbound it. That's not how basketball works, in most cases you don't know if the shot will go in before the ball gets close to the basket, a terrible idea by Mike IMO.
But this? This really hurts the strategy part of the game--this tells everyone on the court when a shot has a very low % of going in--in a game that doesn't even call loose ball fouls #crashtheboards
If guys are lying about their greens the game tells on them--and ultimately its between them and their teammates. It shouldnt result in gameplay giving us some God Mode View. Its just further proof how truly bad "greens" have been for the franchise.
Imagine a hockey game where you know which shots will be goals or a baseball game when you can see the hits and homeruns. A football game where you know if someone is going to miss/make a tackle, if a pass will be caught or a tennis game where you know when a shot will cross the net.
THE NOT-KNOWING IS HALF THE FUN.
Think how bad this will be for FTS....knowing when guys will miss unbalances gameplay to the extreme--I literally can't think of anything more counter-intuitive.
Sadly this has been the trend with AAA titles this decade. It's gotten worse and worse. May sound stupid but I really think Ubisoft's success with their overly assisted games have accelerated this process. It's like you have to have everything on the screen and if there is a chopper in the sky, you have a chopper icon under it just to make sure people get it lol. Off topic, but it's gotten crazy.
So, I'm hoping to see the difference between a Westbrook/Fox/Pre-Injury Wall and someone like Curry/Irving. My main concern is if they still have the suction defense. Where last few years it didn't matter if you had a open lane in transition or to basket, the nearest defender would get suctioned right in front of you to stop you. A few years ago, it was very easy to score in transition. They need to find a balance. Where a Westbrook/Fox in transition with Quick First Step and One Man Fast Break, should be a nightmare all game.
I'm predicting right now, here on 8.8.19 BEFORE THE GAME COMES OUT that obvious misses (which as you pointed out--users shouldn't have a clue of, but will now be able to see via the shot meter) are gonna create a huge meta with O REBS (again--there are virtually no loose ball fouls) and guys running out, particularly in park/pro-am.
For sure. Madden is dead to me for many reasons but one of the main ones was this thing where you're showing the last play I ran....like, really? Its why I prefer hardcore games and avoid most of the mainstream stuff--I play alot of shooters and I can actually stomach the whole "Last Man Left" from an excitement/pressure standpoint in a deathmatch, but you're telling everyone via the kill-feed who I killed/what I killed them with? Why not add my location while you're at it?
Its like C'MON....let the players figure some of the stuff out. I used to loooove Spies vs Mercs PVP that Ubi did with Splinter Cell, but they botched it by making it too casual in Blacklist.
I really like the defensive stance shading the ball handler. It doesnt matter on weak or strong side bcos the nba elite ball handlers are just too good with both hands (I really think there's no difference in 2K). As long I can shade it such that they cant go to the middle, that would be great.
Just to add on, Harden is lefty, but one of his go-to moves (cross between legs and cross again) he does it a lot going to his right (the cross where he bows by, is from left to right).
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Just to add on, Harden is lefty, but one of his go-to moves (cross between legs and cross again) he does it a lot going to his right (the cross where he bows by, is from left to right).
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I'm moreso talking about poor ball handlers. From just the Raptors, guys like OG, Ibaka, Danny Green even (not a Raptor anymore but still) could not dribble left if their life depended on it. It would be nice if when people try to use non ball handlers to dribble, forcing them to their offhand actually made them pay for it.
I dont know man...shot info has the makings of a HUUUGE change in meta (for the worse) especially for Park and Pro Am where its 5v5. We'll see for sure. First we definitely need to see it in actual gameplay tho. But my spider sense is tingling...
The last two times that happened?
1. https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/nba-2k-basketball/940219-stealspam-has-changed-2k-meta.html
2. https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/nba-2k-basketball/916655-test-dribble-penetration.html
You know what...I'm curious with players with a higher defensive skill will the arrow stay a little longer. Like lower defensive skilled players will show no arrow at all? Does it even work that way? Hell it should work that way lol
Well, we kind of have a point of reference for defensive arrows/meters from previous 2K's and the competition...it has never been a case of having an unfair advantage....Personally, I stopped paying attention to them a couple months on and started going with the feel of the game..
The last two times that happened?
1. https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/nba-2k-basketball/940219-stealspam-has-changed-2k-meta.html
2. https://forums.operationsports.com/forums/nba-2k-basketball/916655-test-dribble-penetration.html
I get what you guys are saying, but I dont think you can compare information to those mechanics. Like I said, we still have more to learn about it, Mike hasnt elaborated...but I dont really feel it's going to have that big of an impact on gameplay even if it's what I think it is.
For sure...mechanics have much more impact--but info can be HUGE. Knowing when to crash the offensive glass and "run out" after a shot can make all the difference for people with the right skill-set....this change makes that too easy.
I pray hard that 2K tuned the tendencies of the nba teams to play like today's nba, averaging 30 threes per team per game. I dun want to go thru the tendency tweaking for 30-team roster again!
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One of major things that always contributes to me not playing the game for very long during a cycle is the totally messed up tendencies. I haven't felt like putting in the all the work necessary to fix the whole league. The team does so much great work in so many areas, but tendencies are one of the things that they don't put in the best effort.
The bulk column editing tools have helped a bit but still, it's a lot to go through each team, and even still, the distribution shape of the tendencies among players needs player by player attention.
This is even more true in MyL or MyGM when you have generated players coming in to the league, and their tendencies are all out of whack with the league play styles and players themselves. Plus with generated players over time, their touch and shot tendencies need to adjust as their offensive games develop, or as they may become secondary or primary scorers on a given roster.
I don't expect them to create dynamic tendency adjustments like that over time for these modes any time soon, but the tendencies overall should have some coherence and consistency to match reasonably sim game play.
I get what you guys are saying, but I dont think you can compare information to those mechanics. Like I said, we still have more to learn about it, Mike hasnt elaborated...but I dont really feel it's going to have that big of an impact on gameplay even if it's what I think it is.
I turn off a lot of this stuff from the jump. I remember when 2 didn't have all this graphic on the screen. I love playing a HUD feel screen. I wish more people played like this. If this pro version is as true as it sounds. I'll be on it all the time.
But the better the offball movement gets, the less I have to rely on plays. It sounds like they're focusing on this again this year, so good for me. The better these games get, the less I want to be distracted with meters & flashing lights. With the exception of play art, all of this can be done with animations.
I feel you regarding the clutter. I hated the shot meter initially, but i've adapted.
The AI's timing is worse on lower levels so you can make more defensive mistakes and not pay as much. As you raise the level of play they get more accurate with their release timings. It is a dope change IMO.
As a slider guy, PLEASE tell me they un-tied Difficulty from sliders. I want to know that each difficulty ACTUALLY has specific differences from the others (and exact details as to what those differences are), and then sliders should fine-tune the gameplay from there.
I don’t want to deal with the mystery of whether difficulty settings are just a slider preset or if they actually control things outside of sliders, and I don’t want to deal with the game always being on “Custom” difficulty after changing one slider and not knowing if that means the game is no longer having the effects of All Star or Hall of Fame difficulty.
Basically, I want 2K to show us the exact parameters that each difficulty setting and each slider controls. It’s too much of a guessing game every single year.