NBA 2K12 Developer Insight #4 - Playcall System

[stillfeelme]

Quote: Originally Posted by mutumbo888

. good points. as long as the AI defense doesn't have some godlike response and recovery when switching sets in a possession, and there is a risk to doing it, should be ok. Idk I'm undecided about how realistic it is to have cpu actions that create a magical pressurization at the push of the button. for example when someone presses 'double team' when someone is about to shoot, it's almost like they really pressed "turbo pressure." even if the 2nd defender isn't there, you get a magical pressure effect simply by pressing the double team button. not entirely saying it shouldn't be in the game, just saying that knowing when to press the double team button shouldn't take precedent over 'on the court' instincts of manually positioning your player, etc.

From what I have been hearing from Da_Czar in this thread the CPU plays real without cheese. I think he was talking about at the All-Star level. There was another preview given by Jr?? in that CBS preview and he was answering some good questions about how realistic the CPU plays. Once you are able to simulate real action without the need to speed up the CPU movement or give the CPU any advantage to keep the score close, then I think we will have a game that comes down to how well we are able to execute. I think this is where 2K is taking it from everything I have read or seen. I don't think it will be like 2K11 where you could see the CPU get a speed burst. I know what you are saying though.

[secondcity t]

Quote: Originally Posted by mutumbo888

changing D on the fly has cheese written all over it imo. it's already in the game but this takes it even further. changing D on the fly (all in one possession) is very unrealistic. at max you'd see an Nba team doing a press and a zone but that happens pretty rarely. I suspect cheesers will be doing something like: the opponent inbounds --> press FC trap pressure the opponent passes it into the post --> press Lock Down Paint the opponent passes it backout to a 3pt shooter --> press Pressure Shooters that's cheese if you ask me. it becomes not a game of reactions by manually

On the same token, people online change their plays to lead pass. There needs to be balance on both sides.

[vicente]

What's the next insight about? And will there be a presentation insight?

[mgrand15]

Quote: Originally Posted by mutumbo888

changing D on the fly has cheese written all over it imo. it's already in the game but this takes it even further. changing D on the fly (all in one possession) is very unrealistic. at max you'd see an Nba team doing a press and a zone but that happens pretty rarely. I suspect cheesers will be doing something like: the opponent inbounds --> press FC trap pressure the opponent passes it into the post --> press Lock Down Paint the opponent passes it backout to a 3pt shooter --> press Pressure Shooters that's cheese if you ask me. it becomes not a game of reactions by manually controlling the players, but a game of "coach" reactions, pressing buttons to have the CPU do all the work for you. it's like in a football game someone called a "run-stop" on the fly play AFTER the snap, and after you see that it's a handoff. ...not realistic. Nba teams usually stay in the defensive set for the entire possession. it would be almost impossible for the players to collectively react that fast to the coach barking out the play. but in videogames, the players will respond immediately with no consequences.

I think you're overreacting a bit and forgetting how fast plays happen. In your hypothetical scenario, the defense wouldn't be able to adjust fast enough, so it wouldn't make sense to constantly change your strategy.

1. Once you break the full court press, the defense is at enough of a disadvantage where you should be be able to get a good look. (at the very least, you'll have a 4 on 3 or something.

2. Assuming you don't score after breaking the press, let's assume you pass it into the post. If opponent decides to lock down the paint, they'll send a double team at your man. You should have an open man somewhere (most likely 3 pt land), so you pass it out to him.

3. If he presses "Pressure Shooters," it's too late because the defense is forced to rotate and they're on their heels. You should have an open shot and if you don't, even with Lockdown Paint on, you'll have a defender flying at you relatively out of control. It won't be hard to pump fake and get past him or just drive right by him. From there, it's all about getting to the rim or finding the open man if the defense rotates in time.

I have to say, I'm loving the offensive updates. I've been dying for a playcall system that had multiple options and really used offensive set type designs instead of just singular plays. For example, NBA teams don't really call plays every time down but there is usually a plan and organization that you don't really get when you freelance in 2K.

Something like, you call "Set A" - from here the PG can either dribble to the left wing or the right wing. If he goes left, the wing player (lets say SG) on the left cuts down and spaces the floor out. Big man on the left posts up and big man on the right flashes high. If you give it to the man posting up, the PF cuts to the rim and everyone just spaces out and plays over.

If you give it to the PF, the C moves towards the middle and tries to post up his man there. If that doesn't work, C clears out of the lane, and the plays dead. If you give it to the wing at the top of the key, you have to swing the ball to the other wing, then the bigs shift over and try to get the ball in the post on the other side.

I would love the option for the PG to dribble to the opposite side in the beginning of the play and trigger the same play but with the different players. So everything would be the same except the C would be flashing high and the PF would be posting up this time. This is just a basic play but I'd love to have the option of really running an offense. Not just singular plays.

Kinda long winded, but I'm ecstatic about this insight especially the inbound plays. Such a small detail that makes a huge difference - especially since there are so many options and strategies behind out of bound plays. (How many times have you gotten stuck inbounding with your best shooter when you needed a 3 with 1 second left )

[NINJAK2]

Quote: Originally Posted by mutumbo888

changing D on the fly has cheese written all over it imo. it's already in the game but this takes it even further. changing D on the fly (all in one possession) is very unrealistic. at max you'd see an Nba team doing a press and a zone but that happens pretty rarely. I suspect cheesers will be doing something like: the opponent inbounds --> press FC trap pressure the opponent passes it into the post --> press Lock Down Paint the opponent passes it backout to a 3pt shooter --> press Pressure Shooters that's cheese if you ask me. it becomes not a game of reactions by manually controlling the players, but a game of "coach" reactions, pressing buttons to have the CPU do all the work for you. it's like in a football game someone called a "run-stop" on the fly play AFTER the snap, and after you see that it's a handoff. ...not realistic. Nba teams usually stay in the defensive set for the entire possession. it would be almost impossible for the players to collectively react that fast to the coach barking out the play. but in videogames, the players will respond immediately with no consequences. there should definitely be a limit on how many times you can switch it up in one possession (pref. 2x or less) and that it tires your team out. this has been some undercover cheese that's gone on in nba2k imo. that'll be something to watch for when I jump online. other than that, this should expand the game a lot and the CPU will probably play alot better too.

Maybe these strategies will work similar to the defense, shot selection, rebounding, and (forgot the fourth one) strategy choices during timeouts. In other words once you select a strategy you have to wait for the time of that strategy to elapse before selecting another. If not, hopefully the constant switching of defenses and/or the type of defense selected (ex: constant pressure) will have a bigger effect on fatigue.

[guesswhozbak17]

Quote: Originally Posted by NINJAK2

Maybe these strategies will work similar to the defense, shot selection, rebounding, and (forgot the fourth one) strategy choices during timeouts. In other words once you select a strategy you have to wait for the time of that strategy to elapse before selecting another. If not, hopefully the constant switching of defenses and/or the type of defense selected (ex: constant pressure) will have a bigger effect on fatigue.

That would be a good idea as well

[STLRams]

Quote: Originally Posted by tcnumba10

Many thanks again Da Czar for providing your insights and info on 2K12! Can't wait till the PC release date. Hopefully we don't have to edit the gameplay sliders too much or change the entire playbook for teams in order to make the game emulate the real NBA.

Im also hoping we won't have to edit the gameplay sliders or players/team tendencies that much in 2K12 for the game to emulate the real NBA. NBA 2K12 looks like it is stepping in that direction, can't wait for this game...

[Green Magic]

Quote: Originally Posted by STLRams

Im also hoping we won't have to edit the gameplay sliders or players/team tendencies that much in 2K12 for the game to emulate the real NBA. NBA 2K12 looks like it is stepping in that direction, can't wait for this game...

This I hope the best sliders ever are built into the game and we get good game play and any difficulty