NBA 2K17 Gameplay Blog with Gameplay Director, Mike Wang

[Sundown]

Quote: Originally Posted by LorenzoDC

Mike, I just want to shout out to you and the dev team for how you collectively have observed and analyzed your own game, identified areas to improve, and (more than likely) executed on those targeted areas for improvement. That's a very substantial undertaking. Seriously, it gets short shrift among your buyers and most people here. But what's really standing out to me, as I absorb all this and your answers to questions, is the level of clear eyed review you all did about the places where game play was weaker and could improve. So thank you. I wanted to call that out.

This. I often have thoughts about or suggestions for a gameplay or control mechanic that's been brewing in my head. Sometimes I post them and find that Mike has or is already going in that direction.

Other times I mean to write up a suggestion design doc for that feature and find that it's already been done (like the tip rebound mechanic introduced this year).

I believe why this happens is the fact that for years, Mike and crew have had a clear vision for how to organize and abstract basketball concepts and how to interpret and implement these aspects in a video game. The consistency of the vision and design means someone interested in the evolution of 2K's mechanics can catch the framework of that vision and "get it", and present suggestions that might actually work or was already implemented in a build in Novato.

Though I might disagree with some design choices, I still do trust the direction of 2K when it comes to the simulation gameplay aspect of the product when guys like Beluba and Da Czar are at the reins.

[Beluba]

Quote: Originally Posted by eko718

Mike, question about dribbling. Some of the community day guys have mentioned that defensive players were falling way too frequently. Is this already being addressed? I can see that become old pretty quick and taking the joy away from actually breaking ankles skillfully.

We're working on making anklebreakers tunable with roster updates. I don't think it's as bad as that video made it seem, but worst case, they might be a little high for a couple weeks til the patch hits.

[alabamarob]

Quote: Originally Posted by Beluba

1. Nothing controllable for the CP3 dribble but some of the dribble collision awareness anims look kind of like what you're describing. And for those body ups from last year where defenders were able to sprint in front of the ball to cutoff the ball handler... only elite defenders have access to those. 2. Height and rebounding attributes play a huge role in success this year, so I definitely think you'll notice a stark advantage in a bigs vs. small lineup when it comes to rebounding. 3. If you're in front of the ball as an onball defender, you'll automatically get into a defensive stance.

Wow. Now there is a benefit to elite defenders. Shot blockers, rebounders and elite defenders now matter. Let the chess begin.

1. Can we attack slow bigs off the dribble who are poor pick and roll defenders that show high?

[Scvllp]

Quote: Originally Posted by MFDOOMBOT

Mike, Will there be halftime & post game highlights on PS4 this year no matter the length of quarter?

I second this.

[Beluba]

Quote: Originally Posted by harryl

So now how can we control the balance between digging in/lateral quickness? Or is this somehow made a moot issue due to the new collision/body-up dynamics? And what if we want to just simply break out of a defensive posture and run as normal? Do we have to shuffle until we get to some pre-set distance, and then we break into the "normal," non-defensive movement animation?

LT will still "force" the defensive stance but if you're just moving slowly in a lateral onball slide, you don't have to keep it held. That's all I was saying. You hold LT+RT for a hard quick shuffle and hold RT (with no LT) to force a turn into forward movement.

[WISports]

Mike, thanks for the write-up, and taking questions here. You're a stand-up guy!

Everything sounds amazing. I'll be pre-ordering this weekend.

Quick question. Do you know if the Bucks court was fixed this year? It was WAY too dark in 2K16. Also, the Bucks green unis still seem way too light this year....any way this can be fixed in the first patch?

Asking for a friend.

[ffaacc03]

Dear Mike,

First of all THANKS, sincerely, for your dev effort and for the huge effort of still being here at this time, answering questions.

I believe it was on 2K11 or 2K12 that I could do like a one hand fake pass when in the post, before I started the live dribble. It was a beautifull animation that, when coupled with a wing driving by me, caused the human defender to guess if the pass would be made or not. I used to either pass the ball to them or do a spin the other way.

Hope you can picture what I am trying to say. It was beautifull. It was triguered by quickly flicking the right stick either right or left. Rethinking about it, it was more like a shoulder move or an over the waist move only, feet didnt move nor was a dribble made, while the hand used was either right or left depending on what you pressed.


I believe that there was also an animation of a fake pass, using the two hands above the head, again when engaged in the post and also before dribbling, this was beautifull too and had an effect on the human defenders (second guessing).

Cant remember if it had any effect on the cpu tho, but it portrayed a real life event when it happened. Garnett and P. Gasol come to mind in real life when thinking on those moves.

[Beluba]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyIMBlog.com

Are the penalties still the same for dribbling the ball long and then shooting? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you're talking about zig zag cheesing, then yes. You'll still incur a penalty if you left/right too long before shooting.

If you're talking about sizing up too much, that will hurt you this year too. Size-ups will drain your short term energy meter. So if you over-dribble and deplete your energy, it'll hurt your attributes when you try to shoot.