Playing 2k games via emulator, my advice/guide

[MuzzUK]

Ensure you always legally own the game on console before downloading and using emulation etc blah blag blah

I have been playing hell of a lot of 2k8, 2k10 and 2k11 the last couple of years via emulator so I'll give a run down here of the good and bad points of each game and emulator combo.

My opinion is that Xenia is the best experience for 2k10 and Dolphin for 2k11 (obviously it was Wii only). 2k10 for a while didn't work on Xenia but now it does since they implemented storage and profile saving. Best to use the Xenia experimental builds too as they are nearly always stable and get the newest test features. Xenia also runs the game better than RPCS3 which still suffers from frame rate dropping even on high end computers.

If you're a 2k8 kinda person then RPCS3 is the winner and RPCS3 upscales much better than Xenia currently, the game can look very good on a modern system and runs smoothly through PS3 emulation unlike 2k10. All three of these games are showing their age in many areas but still offer some fun over EA NHL, personally NHL 23 and NHL 24 are a step in the right direction but I still pull out the older 2k games.

My recommendation for emulation is get a minimum of a 7th gen i7 and gtx1080 with 16gb ram, the more power you have the better it gets. I have a Ryzen 5800x with rtx 4070ti and it all runs extremely well.

Things to note:

Sliders are a must to fix issues in gameplay that were never patched, rosters with stat modification can also help with game pace and feel. The PS3 and XBOX 360 era of console were around before game patching online was part of normal gaming culture. I've found with 2k10 and 2k11 that the AI defenders can get stuck, don't turn or refuse to close you down and this can result in too many breakaway chances, 2k8 doesn't seem to have this problem, but I've found in 2k10 setting the user speed burst 15-20 clicks lower than the AI can solve this to a certain extend but requires you to be a lot more aware of your defensive potion. Decreasing the CPU defensive aggression to 40 and under helps too. Over 40 and the AI tends to be out of postion too much.

Through Xenia you can apply the 2k10 patch if you can find it online which fixes the speed bug crash bug and makes board pining work better, another reason to use this emulator over RPCS3. Basically if you set skater speed in the sliders to under 40 it can make the game lock up during faceoffs and this was never patched on PS3. A number of us still have the patch and may be able to share via DM if links here break or expire.

To summerise the above, you're always going to get breakaways in 2k games more than EA but keeping them low makes the experience so much better. Ensuring that ice friction is higher than 40-50 helps too as the AI doesn't seem to react very well to low ice friction, which gives the human player a huge advantage turning and accelerating away. I've found in tests 45-65 is the sweet spot in 2k10 having it higher or much lower creates weird AI behaviours and causes some animations never to be seen. Having high checking, poke checking and stick lifting for the AI sliders allows them to steal the puck before you break away, don't forget to set defensive aggression too.

Focus your sliders on the AI defensive traits you may want to consider setting deep defending strats in the team strategies area of each game too this makes defenders stick back in their zone more. DJ Neo and Venom have posted good slider sets as a basis on these forums but I found the AI doesn't hit, poke or stick lift anywhere near enough. 2k11 sliders aren't really available so use my notes above setting those, this game particularly suffers from the breakaway bug and its so easy to make hits, so in my view set your checking to 0. 2k11 is a mess in a lot of areas but I've managed with tweaks to get it to play reasonably better.

Emulators explained:

RPCS3 - Probably the most popular method for playing 2K games currently. I see the most youtube videos for this method. There are a lot of modern rosters available too. 2k8 runs flawlessly now on a good spec PC but you will probably need to turn on Write Colour Buffers to fix broken and missing graphics such as player jersey names disappearing. 2k8 game does suffer from animation and cut scene speed up, this can be fixed for some people changing Framerate settings or using V-Sync but gameplay is normal speed and smooth. Setting framerate to PS3 native works for me.

2k10 runs well enough to play but can be choppy when using broadcast camera as this forces the game to render more rink effects and the crowd more, there are no best settings its dependant on your PC and this problem seems to reduce then increase between RPCS3 patches. It upscales really well and looks very good on 1080p and 1440p and above. The only annoying thing is the PS3 game never got patched so little bugs and tweaks are not available that improve the game.

Xenia - This emulator had a massive update in 2023 and now runs 2k10 better than RPCS3. Sadly custom music doesn't work yet but may do one day. The emulator doesn't upscale as well or have the graphical settings of RPCS3 yet but the framerate is near perfect on a good spec machine. I have upscaled it to max on Xenia and get a bit of black screen flicker on faceoffs but that doesn't bother me. As 2k10 was patched for Xbox the game overall is so much better as tweaks were made to the animations and the faceoff bug doesn't occur. You can install this patch through Xenia in less than 30 seconds. I would say installing Reshade is a good addition to tweaking the graphics. I've only briefly tried 2k8 through Xenia but gave up as the game suffered lots of missing graphics and gameplay was sped up too much. Might need someone to really play with the config file to see what is achievable.


Dolphin - Recently started dabbling in 2k11 and Dolphin again. My only real complaint with Dolphin is its fiddly and clunky to setup controllers. As the game was built for a Wii remote and nunchuck controller navigating the menus is a bit hit and miss and you'll press the wrong buttons until you get used to buttons being swapped around, you'll need to set Classic Controller in the emulator. 2k11 plays extremely well, that said there are some weaknesses in this game that you can only fix 80% with sliders. Hitting is way overpowered and the breakaway bug is rife. I've had to set the AI speed so much higher than human and set hitting down to zero. The thing about 2k11 though is it has a proper working skill stick, no animation lock the older games suffered from and it just feels more modern with its animations and shooting. The game does upscale very well but you're going to have to put up with a lot of low res Wii textures I've used the texture dumping and loading settings in Dolphin to make and import my own high res versions of each teams ice rinks.


Closing notes:

These are older games now they are missing things like disallowed goals, fast paced commentary and 3 on 3 overtime hockey, or a 32 team league. All the trade and draft rules are outdated. On the positive though 2k8 has an extremely deep franchise mode and worth checking out, and I can see why people suggest this game has the best goaltenders in an NHL game. 2k10 and 2k11 have really balanced and working penalty call systems the AI actually gets calls, which I found broken from NHL 12 up until about NHL 17.

One of my big big big pieces of advice for 2k8 is use Snowdrifts editor to make some edits at the start of your franchise mode. The game can be a bit low on penalty calls, as I've explained before in other treads, globally set all of your player aggression 15-20 points higher than standard, and lower composure levels across the board. I tweak mine so every player fits into the 30-60 range of composure. This of course lowers all players overall rating so you'll need to edit at the start of each franchise year but with penalty call slider set to max you'll start to see the AI end up in the sin bin which is a big part of hockey.

2k10 and 2k11 have weaker franchise modes but strong on ice game play, so my view is let the AI dictate things like drafting and trading to make things harder. Slider settings and custom rosters have kept the games alive to a certain extent. I personally think the EA NHL series is overall a better product now but those games ARE missing something, every now and then something will happen in a 2k game that makes me very happy.

Goalies in the EA NHL series have come a long way and only 2k8 gets near that, 2k10 and 2k11 do have weaker goalies on a breakaway or shootout. 2k games can be slowed down and made into more of a simulation than EA games and I think that is the appeal, the AI feels a little bit fairer. If you're someone who gets 5-10 years into a franchise you'll love the 2k10 and 2k11 historical stats that track things for years.

If you're wishing to play multiplayer coop I've yet the try the netplay features in RPCS3 and Dolphin I use a combination of emulator and a programme called Parsec to connect in my friend to share my screen and desktop. When I've got time I'll post up my 7-8 minute period sliders for each game. If you're an NHL Legacy player keep an eye out onlin as I'm parting the modding community for this game and I'm releasing a new roster editor soon capable of much more than NHL view.

[MTLExpos4Ever]

Had read that Xenia at one point wasn't loading saves, but found out it seems to be related to the name of the sub-folder that gets set up in your pc's Documents folder. Simply, it needs to be named the same as the file. So, if you bring a file, like a roster file, in from an outside source it will only read it if you create the subfolder to the exact name of the file, including the extension (e.g., NHL2K3.ROS)

[MuzzUK]

Quote: Originally Posted by MTLExpos4Ever

Had read that Xenia at one point wasn't loading saves, but found out it seems to be related to the name of the sub-folder that gets set up in your pc's Documents folder. Simply, it needs to be named the same as the file. So, if you bring a file, like a roster file, in from an outside source it will only read it if you create the subfolder to the exact name of the file, including the extension (e.g., NHL2K3.ROS)

Yep you're right but the emulator loads and saves files perfectly fine now. I've replied to your DM about the patch I still have it so have uploaded and sent you a link.

[MTLExpos4Ever]

Yes, and thanks! Maybe it's me but the patch seemed to slow things down a bit. Also with the saves, it seems to set up duplicate folders but not a big deal. Bottom line is it works!

Really should be a Discord for NHL2K10 and 8 maybe (11 to me is "meh"). Online play still possible with Parsec.

[Duey71]

Thanks for starting this thread and your Input with the Emu and NHL 2K versions.

I decided this time to download XENIA-Canary version so I could install the 2k10 title patch and successful.

I must say it looks, runs, and feel perfect!
I do enjoy the Xbox 360/one controller better with the actual L/R triggers.

I just now have to decide what control scheme I want to stay with... It seems easier shooting the puck with the RH Stick, but I'm just not so sure yet. (I Just turned 52! YIKES!! and just a tad old_School). Seems just like yesterday me and my buddy was installing NHL 94 on good ole MS-D.O.S 6.0!

Anyways, I will start with V's Sliders and go from there.

I'm not into Franchise or GM, just a good realistic and fun game(Exhibition or Season mode).

Please feel free to give me any details on setup, or on control Scheme setup etc.

Last time I played a NHL title was back in 2015 with NHL 2004 PC (2004 Rebuilt).

Thanks Many

[molifox]

Quote: Originally Posted by Duey71

Thanks for starting this thread and your Input with the Emu and NHL 2K versions. I decided this time to download XENIA-Canary version so I could install the 2k10 title patch and successful. I must say it looks, runs, and feel perfect! I do enjoy the Xbox 360/one controller better with the actual L/R triggers. I just now have to decide what control scheme I want to stay with... It seems easier shooting the puck with the RH Stick, but I'm just not so sure yet. (I Just turned 52! YIKES!! and just a tad old_School). Seems just like yesterday me and my buddy was installing NHL 94 on good ole MS-D.O.S 6.0! Anyways, I will start with V's Sliders and go from there. I'm not into Franchise or GM, just a good realistic and fun game(Exhibition or Season mode). Please feel free to give me any details on setup, or on control Scheme setup etc. Last time I played a NHL title was back in 2015 with NHL 2004 PC (2004 Rebuilt). Thanks Many

Great!! I'm 51 years old 😆. One question. What is the method for install the patch for Nhl 2k10 for Xenia? I'm working in rosters for this season ;-)

[Duey71]

Quote: Originally Posted by molifox

Great!! I'm 51 years old 😆. One question. What is the method for install the patch for Nhl 2k10 for Xenia? I'm working in rosters for this season ;-)

Well, In XENIA-Canary build under File, there is Install Content. That's is how I updated NHL 2K10 patch that was released. (I just pointed to the content update).

[MuzzUK]

Quote: Originally Posted by molifox

Great!! I'm 51 years old 😆. One question. What is the method for install the patch for Nhl 2k10 for Xenia? I'm working in rosters for this season ;-)

As duey has stated use the install content option in the canary build.

If anyone is interested I have worked on 2009-2010 roster. It has a lot of missing players some that are still playing today and it has most of the AHL and minor league players sorted. That said the stats and overalls need a lot of work and some players position and age might be off.

Its a good starter basis for someone and I'm working on draft files for Xenia the 2010 draft is almost done. Think it might be cool to have every draft year created and ready to go.