A new video for NBA 2K16 was released earlier this week and this time the focus in on bringing authenticity to the game.
Authenticity is something that only the most fervent of sport sim players care about — and probably notice. Visual Concepts, the developers of NBA 2K16, has been improving on the authenticity of the NBA 2K series since its inception, and this year is no different. In the The Living World video a few developers from Visual Concepts talk about what they are doing to improve NBA 2K16‘s depiction of the NBA.
Scott O’Gallagher, Gameplay Producer for NBA 2K16, points out in the video that all teams have felt the same in previous installations of NBA 2K, and in order to fix this problem the team focused not only on signature moves, but developing a dynamic system that is constantly adapting. This dynamic system is supposed to create situations in which the player will have to adapt to; coaches will change schemes in the middle of a playoff series if you had success against them in a previous game.
Animations have always been a contentious part of playing NBA 2K. They allow Visual Concepts to replicate moves the likes of Steph Curry, of the Golden State Warriors, would perform. Nonetheless, some animations are unbreakable and take control away from the player and lead to costly mistakes, or moreover, make no sense at all. For instance, I’ve seen centers not able to back down a point guards simply because NBA 2K decided to roll an animation that didn’t match the situation.
A new physics engines is being added in order to alleviate some of these nonsensical moments in NBA 2K16; on ball interactions are based of the size of a player — if you get in Lebron James’ way you’re gonna have a bad time.
A new foot planting technology is also coming to NBA 2K16. With the new technology Visual Concepts will be able to detect when a player’s foot touches the court, and when it leaves the court. Not only does this technology look better, but it is going to provide players with a better feedback loop for movement in the game. Like previously stated NBA 2K‘s animations can be erratic. Foot planting in NBA 2K16 could potentially get rid of an animation that caused a player controlled character to seemingly perform a wind-up before movement.
Post moves, probably the biggest locked animation offender, is also seeing a retooling. The video doesn’t go into specifics on how the post will be changed, but Mike Wang, Gameplay Director for NBA 2K16, says, “it will feel a lot more free, and you will have complete control over your players at all times.
NBA 2K16 continues to look great. Visual Concepts has done a great job of addressing old, bothersome issues, while continuing to innovate and improve on the franchise.
NBA 2K16 hits shelves September 29th.
