Alright Boyz, Here We Go! The College Hoops 2k8 First Impressions Thread

[Groundhog]

Yeah, it sucks that they'll be no CH 2k9, but like you say I'll be playing this for years, much like FBCB.

[kingnebwsu]

I played the conference tournament quarterfinals last night. #6 in the country Wright State (26-2 or something) vs Wisconsin Milwaukee (12-16ish). I was 3-11 from downtown in the first half and an awful 0-11 in the second half. We still hit some close buckets and scraped out a 58-57 victory. They played me tough all 3 games.

It's weird being the strongest mid-major team in the conference (I'm rated 83 and others are rated mid-high 70's). Some of my conference foes can't shoot the three and therefore I crush them by 20+. If a team can shoot from downtown and can grab offensive rebounds, I really struggle. UWM played me three times. I won all three games, by 7, 13, and 1 respectively. All the games were close until late though. They are just a terrible matchup for me. Makes me nervous for when I have to play the NCAA-caliber teams in the tournament.

I tweaked the sliders to make it challenging for me versus inferior teams. I wonder if this is gonna make the tourney near-impossible when I play equally rated teams? I'll let you guys know.

Great game. Any college hoops fan should pick it up. Sad it's the last one in the series

[Groundhog]

To be honest I'm having a lot more fun playing with a decent team in an open legacy than I was with a bad team in a closed legacy, mainly due to the increased competition in conference play. With UMass I'm sort of middle-tier in the Atlantic 10 and teams like Temple and Rhode Island in particular are VERY tough games for me each year, as these school are bringing in largely highly-ranked 3-star guys and the occassional 4-star player.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

To be honest I'm having a lot more fun playing with a decent team in an open legacy than I was with a bad team in a closed legacy, mainly due to the increased competition in conference play. With UMass I'm sort of middle-tier in the Atlantic 10 and teams like Temple and Rhode Island in particular are VERY tough games for me each year, as these school are bringing in largely highly-ranked 3-star guys and the occassional 4-star player.

Interesting. While I agree that the game plays much better the higher you go, I usually play closed legacy in the knowledge that I will be at a mid-major team within 2 or 3 years (if I want to move on, usually I try to win a couple of NCAA tourney games with my first school and end up staying 5 years at least) and the coach progression/goals make for a much more challenging game.

I actually tried to play open legacy this year to get around the 0 standing dunk bug, and hated it. Part of the fun for me is trying to hit the various goals in the game, and developing your coach so you can be considered for the better jobs.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Interesting. While I agree that the game plays much better the higher you go, I usually play closed legacy in the knowledge that I will be at a mid-major team within 2 or 3 years (if I want to move on, usually I try to win a couple of NCAA tourney games with my first school and end up staying 5 years at least) and the coach progression/goals make for a much more challenging game.

I actually tried to play open legacy this year to get around the 0 standing dunk bug, and hated it. Part of the fun for me is trying to hit the various goals in the game, and developing your coach so you can be considered for the better jobs.

Generally, I'm the same way, and that's how I play FBCB. I sim some history, then create a coach and jump in with the worst team in the game.

What I didn't enjoy about CH 2K8 when I first started playing it was that the AI teams just shot 3 pointers (even if they were terrible at it) or scored next to the basket when passing it in close to the bigs or from off. rebounds. There was no real driving or attacking the basket. But I noticed when I'd schedule games against good teams that, even though I get blown out, the AI was playing a much better game of basketball. So I switched it up and started with a middle-tier school at a decent conference, and I've just been enjoying it a whole bunch more I've found. YMMV of course, and that's why it's great that both options are available.

I don't like not being able to create my own coach though, and that's the only real factor that has taken away from it. What I should have done was edited their coach before I started my legacy, but I didn't think of it.

The other reason I enjoy open legacy is that I can modify players. Just for fun I randomly "bust" a couple of 5 and 4 star recruits each year, as well as boosting up a couple of 5-star guys to create some Durant/Beasley-esque impact freshman.

[bhlloy]

So, I've hit a bit of a rut in my closed legacy game. I'm at Buffalo, doing very well (haven't won less that 23 games in 4 seasons there), but I haven't hit any "goals" in the last 2 seasons, meaning that my coach isn't getting any better, meaning that I'm never going to get a better job.

So, was wondering if any of you guys could give me an idea of the goals to shoot for that are more mid-major/middle of your career oriented... for example maybe a career wins goal? The only goals I know that I haven't hit yet (from playing previous versions) are going to be pretty much unobtainable with a mid-major team.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've gotten a 4 star player at a mid major school (with an A Charisma coach.) 5000 legacy points in a season is doable as well. Another good one is conference player of the year.

Edit to add: 200 career wins is another one that I'm looking forward to hitting in a few seasons.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I've gotten a 4 star player at a mid major school (with an A Charisma coach.) 5000 legacy points in a season is doable as well. Another good one is conference player of the year.

Edit to add: 200 career wins is another one that I'm looking forward to hitting in a few seasons.

Already hit the 4 star player and conference player/coach/freshman of the year. I believe I have also hit the 5000 legacy points in one season (is there anywhere in game I can check?). I should hit 200 wins at the start of next season, so at least that will be one.

These are the ones that I know/think are in the game that I haven't hit so far (from previous versions of the game)
- Advance to the final four
- Win the NCAA championship
- Win the NIT
- Go through an entire season without an unhappy player (this one should be easy, but I have way too much talent on the bench)
- Recruit a 5* player

Other than that, I have hit every single one that I know about. And one skill advance isn't going to be enough to get me a job at a bigger school (I am a B- overall, and all those guys are A- minimum). Ugh.

EDITED to add the 5 star player one. Either way, it's not happening at a mid-major

[Eaglesfan27]

You can see your legacy points from each season under your coach profile screen. Sounds like you've hit all of the big ones. I'm coming up to the same phase of my career by the way.


Edit: Other things that might be doable that you might not have done yet:

Recruit a "world" player.

Get a player drafted - I've gotten a 4 star player at a mid-major who I think has a shot.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

You can see your legacy points from each season under your coach profile screen. Sounds like you've hit all of the big ones. I'm coming up to the same phase of my career by the way.


Edit: Other things that might be doable that you might not have done yet:

Recruit a "world" player.

Get a player drafted - I've gotten a 4 star player at a mid-major who I think has a shot.

I might not have got either of those - interesting. I have a ton of Canadians (which is why Buffalo is an absolutely kick-ass job) but I don't think they are considered foreign. And I have had a couple of guys that have a draft buzz, but I definitely haven't got credit for a guy getting drafted yet. Thanks!

[darkenigma510]

How much difference is there between 2k7 and 2k8? Anything revolutionary or major or just tweaking?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by darkenigma510

How much difference is there between 2k7 and 2k8? Anything revolutionary or major or just tweaking?

It's not revolutionary but the differences that matter the most to me:

- Seeing the plays diagrammed on the floor is huge for me. In previous years, I ran 1 or 2 plays. Now, I run at least a dozen plays each game thanks to this addition and I feel more like a real coach as a result.

- The sim engine isn't perfect, but it feels better than previous years with less fluky stuff.

- The recruiting engine post patch is much better than 07 with less teams becoming all time power houses.

- More signature styles than 07.

Other than that, it is fine tuning of multiple things, but without a doubt 08 is worth the money, particularly since everything points to it being the last version to be released.

[INDalltheway]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

- The recruiting engine post patch is much better than 07 with less teams becoming all time power houses.

This is the biggest thing for me. Now there is a difference between the top teams and second tier teams. I was so tired of seeing 25 teams with team ratings between 95-100.

[Groundhog]

I just had a bug kill my dynasty. All the saved stats for my players (and my players only) were wiped and replaced by Albany's. No idea what caused it, but it efectively killed my dynasty 8 seasons in. Started up a new one with TCU and it's been a challenge.

[kingnebwsu]

Same thing happened to me in CH'07. I think what caused it was if you log into a profile (in my case, I signed on Live) and then sign out in the middle of a game. That happened a game or two before I noticed all my stats were gone and replaced by Albany stats. I had a senior-heavy team, so it only affected a few players after that. Still was annoying though.

Tip to everyone else: NEVER log out of your profile while playing College Hoops.

[Groundhog]

Ya know what, I think that was exactly it. I was messing around with my profile, but didn't link two and two together.

[Galaxy]

I took a break from the game for a while. Now, the tourney has gotten me back into playing this wonderful product.

Any updated rosters out right now? Anybody adjust any player's ratings (like Alexander, Curry, ect.)?
?

[Phototropic]

Man I love this game. I'm almost halfway through season 2 and still seeing some new things. I've also become more attached to my players than in other sports games.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

I took a break from the game for a while. Now, the tourney has gotten me back into playing this wonderful product.

Any updated rosters out right now? Anybody adjust any player's ratings (like Alexander, Curry, ect.)?
?

Check 2K Share. I downloaded a roster on PS3 that had updated ratings, though it was mainly for the big time freshmen (Mayo, Beasley, et al). I tend to go through and increase the ratings myself, especially for the stud Aussie freshmen (Vandy's Ogilvy and St. Mary's Patty Mills), who are rated incredibly low out of the box.

[Groundhog]

dola

I'm also now playing on the hardest difficulty setting, with my own slider adjustments, and it's really playing an amazing game of basketball. I'm generally beating the teams I should, and I have to play really, really smart to beat (or just not get blown out against) the better teams.

The AI is also attacking the basket way more than it used to (I think I set the tendancy to like 82 or something), and with the CPU steals turned way up and ball handling for both me and the CPU turned to 0, I'm seeing more turnovers. The AI doesn't post-up nearly as much as I'd like unless there is a missmatch, but I don't see any way of changing that. Fouls can also be quite low at times, especially when playing against teams with lots of perimeter shooters.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Check 2K Share. I downloaded a roster on PS3 that had updated ratings, though it was mainly for the big time freshmen (Mayo, Beasley, et al). I tend to go through and increase the ratings myself, especially for the stud Aussie freshmen (Vandy's Ogilvy and St. Mary's Patty Mills), who are rated incredibly low out of the box.

I'll check it out when I get home.

[MizzouRah]

I might have to snag this one at Gamestop tomorrow. Hopefully there's a used copy.

[kingnebwsu]

$30 retail now. Awesome deal...especially if you haven't played the series in a couple years.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by kingnebwsu

$30 retail now. Awesome deal...especially if you haven't played the series in a couple years.

Seriously? I might head out to Walmart in a bit.

[kingnebwsu]

My bad. $40 retail still. But I was at Best Buy this week and it was $30 there and it said "as advertised". It's $40 on ebgames.com. Still an awesome deal.

[Izulde]

I'm tempted to start up a Closed Legacy with 2K8 again and actually get through more than a partial season.

[Galaxy]

Any tips in recruiting from day one in with a crappy team in a low-prestige conference in a closed legacy (and restricted coaching skills to start with)? Getting those three-star recruits early on is pretty tough, if near impossible.

[MizzouRah]

Yeah, saw it was $40.. still not bad and I'll get it this weekend I'm thinking.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Any tips in recruiting from day one in with a crappy team in a low-prestige conference in a closed legacy (and restricted coaching skills to start with)? Getting those three-star recruits early on is pretty tough, if near impossible.

If you start with a crappy coach with crappy Charisma - The only way you are going to get 3 star players is if they fall through the cracks in the final recruiting period or other teams decide they just don't want them. In that case, they probably shouldn't have been 3 stars in the first place.

If you are a bad school with a bad coach with bad charisma, I'd really limit my focus to 2 star players unless you get a 3 star player who lives extremely close to the school and has location as their #1 priority.

[MizzouRah]

Picked this one up this morning at Wally World.

I'm not a sliders guy, so what's a good starting level and half times?

[Eaglesfan27]

Depends upon your skill level and also how long you want each game to last...

20 minute halves are very doable and give good stats with just a few minor slider tweaks. However, with 20 minute halves a game takes 60-75 minutes to complete usually. Assuming you are relatively new to the series, I'd probably start on the varsity skill level (2nd of 5.)

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Depends upon your skill level and also how long you want each game to last...

20 minute halves are very doable and give good stats with just a few minor slider tweaks. However, with 20 minute halves a game takes 60-75 minutes to complete usually. Assuming you are relatively new to the series, I'd probably start on the varsity skill level (2nd of 5.)

It's been awhile since I played this series... so consider me a n00b.

Do you use the shot stick or x? What little tweaks do you recommend?

Also, what's a good roster to use from 2k share?

Thank you!

[Eaglesfan27]

I use X except for dunks and layups.

My sliders are as follows, but they are on all-conference and may need to be tweaked slightly for varsity:

Game Speed 52 (speeds up the game [including the game clock] slightly as well as the ball.)
Player Speed: 42 (some people don't like this as they feel players aren't "athletic" enough, but I think player speed has to be a few notches less than game speed as the ball on default doesn't move fast enough in relation to the players speed.)

Foul Sliders:

Charging at 100
Blocking at 80
Reaching at 66
Shooting at 60
Loose Ball at 100

Shooting Sliders:

Inside around 42-44 (higher gives way too high of a shooting percentage on inside shots.)

Mid range shots at 45

3 point for the CPU only down 2 notches to 48 (otherwise they'll bury too many shots even with good defense.)

Close Shot Tendency for the CPU at 35
Midrange shot Tendency at 35
3 point shot tendency at 45
Drive Tendency at 45.

I think those tendencies make the CPU work the shot clock more. Drive being higher than everything else will lead to big men getting more points if they are the dominant player on the team. A PF just scored 20 on me a game or two ago and last week I had a center score 30 on me.


Attributes:

Defensive Awareness 65 for CPU, 70 for Human. Gives a more realistic defensive feel to the game.

Dunk at 55 for both sides.

Ball Handling at 25 - more spontaneous turnovers.

Under Gameplay:

Team Unity Down to 50. I like this to have some effect, but at 100, it appears to be too much.
Dunks in Traffic: 75 for both sides. Makes big men dunk it a bit more, still not even close to a dunkfest (unless you have a great dunker like Willie Andres was. I miss him )

Screen Success: 65
Screen Strength: 65
Steal Success: 55
Held Defense: 55
Help Recovery: 55

Most slider makers don't change this, but under fitness:

Injury Frequency: 60
Injury Effects: 60

Have fun

[CamEdwards]

I started a closed legacy a couple of weeks ago with the intent of doing a dynasty. Man, I just can't write that much. But I'm having a great time with my Radford Highlanders. We won the Big South regular season with a 9-5 conference record (17-11 overall). I need to play the Big South conference championship game between Radford and Winthrop at some point this weekend.

It's such an immersive game. It's really been the only 360 game I've played for months now.

[MizzouRah]

Thank you EF!

I'm assuming "open" legacy means I can pick any team?

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes, that is what it means. Closed legacy means that you have to start at a small prestige school and work your way up the ladder.

[Galaxy]

Doc,
I know you have the NBA franchise as well. How well do the players import?

[Eaglesfan27]

Not well. They all lose a bunch of their attributes and significant editing is needed to make them more realistic. That is part of the reason, I've just stuck to College Hoops for my main playing the last few months - the other part being that I enjoy recruiting more than the NBA's cap management.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yes, that is what it means. Closed legacy means that you have to start at a small prestige school and work your way up the ladder.

Thanks!

Just played a quick game and absolutely had a blast!

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Not well. They all lose a bunch of their attributes and significant editing is needed to make them more realistic. That is part of the reason, I've just stuck to College Hoops for my main playing the last few months - the other part being that I enjoy recruiting more than the NBA's cap management.

Damn. I thought they patched that.

[Eaglesfan27]

I haven't tried importing in a few months. It's possible the patch fixed that, but I didn't see it announced in the patch notes which were released on OS.

[MizzouRah]

I'm really liking the shot stick.

[Galaxy]

Do "pipelines" exist when recruiting? I know that distance is a major factor, but can actually build a pipeline?

Also, I like that the fact that experience and cohesion is an important factor, and can help overcome weaknesses or propel you. Or a talented, yet young team, with little experience, goes through growing pains. I wonder if it is based upon your class (freshmen, junior, ect), or actual playing time (minutes per game, starting, years on team)?

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I haven't tried importing in a few months. It's possible the patch fixed that, but I didn't see it announced in the patch notes which were released on OS.

I'll check it out. I plan on picking up the NBA game this week. A great game in it's own right from what these forums have noted.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaxy

Do "pipelines" exist when recruiting? I know that distance is a major factor, but can actually build a pipeline?

Also, I like that the fact that experience and cohesion is an important factor, and can help overcome weaknesses or propel you. Or a talented, yet young team, with little experience, goes through growing pains. I wonder if it is based upon your class (freshmen, junior, ect), or actual playing time (minutes per game, starting, years on team)?

There are no listed pipelines, but sometimes I think they are present and hidden. More likely, it is just the issue of distance for those recruits who value that.

I think that playing time, playing time with particular guys, and the class of the player all factor into cohesion and confidence. In my dynasty, starting 4 freshman gave us a team unity of 22 and they were horrendous, frequently losing, as you know. However, now as the season has progressed with them playing major minutes with each other, our unity is up to 39. However, when I mix and match them with the veterans, the unity drops because I don't think they are as used to playing with other players.

[Galaxy]

Would be interesting to follow about the pipelines. A cool feature is to have coaches (assistants as well) with "pipelines"? If you move to a state like Georgia or something, but you have no pipelines in recruiting that state (or region); you can hire an assistant with "pipeline" status in that state. It could be in a matter of an extra boost in that coach's charisma and rep in recruiting that particular state's prospects. Over time, you can gain "pipeline" status once you recruit enough players in that state. You would gain an extra boost in charisma and rep among the state's prospects.

[Groundhog]

NBA 2K8 imports are still bad post-patch. I setup a spreadsheet to generate weighted random overall ratings for the players based on their draft position, and then modify every rookie based on this rating. Takes about an hour's work per draft.

I'm definately feeling the freshman struggles in my second year at TCU. TCU is a fun team to take in open legacy, because you get 5 scholarships to use in your first year. I picked up a solid PG (#130 overall, 73 ovr, 87 3pt), a couple of 3-star SFs (~#300ish overall, 68 & 67 ovr all-rounders), a 3-star SG (~#350ish overall, 67 ovr, 85 3pt), and a 3-star PF (~#350ish overall, 68 ovr). My backcourt 3pt shooting is 87-85 (the freshman) and a senior SF who is a 75 for 3pt shooting.

At home games we drill our 3s at a scary rate, and my 75 rated 3pt shooting SF was 8/11 one game. On the road however the freshman REALLY struggle. We miss open 3s, shots around the hoop, and all kind of other baskets that they just nail at home.

Really nice feature.

[Eaglesfan27]

A question for those who have had guys with high potential: Do you think guys with high potential play above their "current" ratings? I have a guy I just got in my dynasty with an "A" for potential whose current ratings aren't that great, but he is tearing it up in his first 2 games. I'm thinking that it might be more like FOF than I initially thought with guys being able to play somewhere between their current and potential ratings. Anyone else experienced this?

[CamEdwards]

I am so mad. I led my Radford team past Winthrop in the Big South championship to earn a berth to the NCAA's, but half an hour before I was going to start my first round game my son puts in Halo 3 and we get the red ring of death.

System was under warranty, but I lost my save. I made sure my wife picked up a memory card when she swapped out the system at Best Buy. I'm not gonna have that happen again.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

A question for those who have had guys with high potential: Do you think guys with high potential play above their "current" ratings? I have a guy I just got in my dynasty with an "A" for potential whose current ratings aren't that great, but he is tearing it up in his first 2 games. I'm thinking that it might be more like FOF than I initially thought with guys being able to play somewhere between their current and potential ratings. Anyone else experienced this?

I haven't had a great deal of guys with "A" potential (2, to be exact), but I can't say I noticed that with those guys, both of whom had high shooting ratings off the bat but underperformed compared to older guys with lesser ratings. It seems to me that age plays a role on performance, or maybe to be more accurate, game experience plays a role on performance.