NBA 2K13 Interview with Producer, Rob Jones

Will the AI read and look for back door cuts on offense and defense? What about flares and curls off screens?

Yes. Let me give you an example. I play against a colleague that truly loves his Celtics. Ever since they got Jason Terry, he loves to run these double screens to get him and Pierce open for three point shots. One thing the new AI does quite well is deciding where to square up based on how I navigate the screen. So, for example, I usually attempt to follow him around the baseline screen, and Terry will generally pop out to the wing for his shot. Every once in a while, I will try to cheat and go over the screen. In these cases, Terry pops out to the corner, effectively negating my cheat. This is definitely new behavior in the play system, whereas instead of just running through a script, the AI can adjust its movements based on how the defender chooses to approach the play development.

Are there any new sliders, tendencies and ratings this year?

There is a new tendency for post shooting, but otherwise the work done on sliders and tendencies was meant to yield more predictable results from the way the AI plays the game. We spent a lot of time tuning the tendencies in the roster to really perform the way we expected each player to play and, more importantly, revisiting how those tendencies are used within the game in the AI’s decision making. We also worked on each slider to make sure that it provided a desired and consistent effect when adjusted in game. Seems like a minor revision, but as this game has grown over the past few years, some of the innards of the game needed to be readjusted to achieve expected results.

How have charge/blocking fouls been improved?

Well, for once they work reliably! Getting a charge actually feels good in the game this year. You can control the defender’s position while holding the charge button too. Mostly, getting the rule right was made a priority by the AI team.

How well does the new physics integration effect screens and players moving without the ball, through traffic? When running plays, will players still get hung up or will they take more realistic angles to come free?

The offball player interaction has been improved dramatically. We really lightened up on those collisions, relying more on single player collision avoidance animations and/or collision reactions. It makes for a much more enjoyable experience, especially in player lock situations and in play timing.

Are there any collisions between players if the ball handler is under the rim?

Yes, players under the rim collide. We’ve made the ball handler pretty sensitive to contact under there in order to balance the game out.

Given the more organic nature of the dribble mechanic (Control Stick), will we see more signature dribble packages and moves? And what has been done to ensure a distinction between elite ball-handlers, average and poor ones?

While Signature movement and animations are still part of the very fabric of the NBA 2K experience, our ball handlers are differentiated less by the actual signature animation, but more by the animations they get, the speed of the moves, the effectiveness of the moves, and the ability to retain control of the ball when doing the moves.