NBA 2K11 - Wow!

Blind_Evil wrote:

I have some interesting observations from the end of my first season in My Player, in case anyone else is curious about how things work.

We made the playoffs and lost to the Nuggets in 7 games. I averaged 33 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 assists. My team did everything in their power to lose. I wasn't aware, but I was a free agent after the Heat won the title. The T'wolves also asked me what players to pursue, so I told them three centers and two shooting guards. None were signed, my loyalty revoked.

So you have four teams to choose from after the year. The teams do change if you restart the game and reload your file. There are no autosaves between the end of your last game and your team choice.

Here's the weird part: Carmelo Anthony was the big prize of the free agent class. I reloaded eight times to find a team whose setup I was happy with. Every time, whichever team Carmelo signed with offered my a contract. Is it possible I impressed the hell out of him in the playoffs and he told his new team to pursue me? Eight times seems like a lot for it to just be coincidence. If that's the case, I'm more impressed by the GM AI than I have been at any sports game.

That's a lot improved from 2k10. When I finished my last season with the Pacers recently, it offered me Heat, Grizzlies, Nets, or stay with Pacers. Of course the Grizz and Nets are terrible. And I don't want to play with the Heat. It'd be like me being Lebron. But I reloaded the save 3 more times, and got the same choices every time. So I just have to stick with the Pacers. I think I'm ready to hang up 2k10 though, and move on to 2k11.

I started playing basketball games with NBA Live '95, at least, in earnest (NBA Jam doesn't really count, and I only fiddled with Bulls vs. Blazers and the like), and from then, all the way up until this year, I never paid attention to running plays.

Like, at all. It was this thing you could do, that I didn't give one about. I just hit the isomotion button, went flying down the court, and either dunked or hawked up a trey.

Cut to now, i'm trailing the Rockets by 10 halfway through the 2nd, and my PG is running these atrocious plays where he tries to drive to the hole, create space, and is inevitably blocked/misses. So, since I have playcalls set to "Auto" or else i'd never use them at all (actually calling them in-game is still beyond me), I go into the playbook and start fiddling.

I only mention this because not only does 2K11 have a bunch of different pre-set plays for the player to choose from, but you can vary them by player. Have a PF who can handle the ball and shoot the three? Run plays for him as if he were a PG! Have a SG with great low-post game? Run plays for him as if here were a Center! There's a ton of them, and mixed and matched smartly and intelligently, you can create the mismatches you want, the only knock i'd put against them is that they're broken up into "Starting PG/SG/SF/etc" and "Backup PG/SG/SF/etc" rather than allowing you to do it to a specific player, which would be ideal.

Still, I do some tweaking, and thanks to some great defense and rebounding, we go on a 27-7 tear and end up blowing the Rockets out. LOVE.

Played my first games last night. I totally suck. Ugh. Gotta figure this out.

firesloth wrote:

Played my first games last night. I totally suck. Ugh. Gotta figure this out.

I feel for ya. That's pretty much how I felt when I rented the game. The main reason I decided to hold off is that it took me two years to get decent at NHL 09 through NHL 11.

But there was no doubt that 2k11 will provide an even more compelling experience once you wrap your head around what makes the game tick. I also have to admit that hammering the man with puck is more visceral and satisfying than guarding my man in basketball.

Too many great sports games right now. And it is only a matter time before I'm shooting hoops.

firesloth wrote:

Played my first games last night. I totally suck. Ugh. Gotta figure this out.

It's funny you say that. Just after I saw I got it down and the game is incredible I get killed a couple games in a row. Mostly by defenders with their back to me flipping around and leaping into passing lanes.

I think I just need to tone that setting down.

Can anyone elaborate on the Association mode? I'm a few games into a season with the Celtics.. but feel like starting over. Is the association mode just GM'ing, or do you actually play the games?

El-Producto wrote:

Can anyone elaborate on the Association mode? I'm a few games into a season with the Celtics.. but feel like starting over. Is the association mode just GM'ing, or do you actually play the games?

AFAIK, it's just a weird name for franchise mode. You definitely play the games like any other mode.

Blind_Evil wrote:
El-Producto wrote:

Can anyone elaborate on the Association mode? I'm a few games into a season with the Celtics.. but feel like starting over. Is the association mode just GM'ing, or do you actually play the games?

AFAIK, it's just a weird name for franchise mode. You definitely play the games like any other mode.

Not a weird name at all.

The NBA is known as "The Association". It's a basketball thing. You football geeks have your own little oddities.

National Basketball Association

I'm with DSG in the not weird camp.

Weird.

Why isn't Madden franchise called "the League?" is the question you should be asking.

DSGamer wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:
El-Producto wrote:

Can anyone elaborate on the Association mode? I'm a few games into a season with the Celtics.. but feel like starting over. Is the association mode just GM'ing, or do you actually play the games?

AFAIK, it's just a weird name for franchise mode. You definitely play the games like any other mode.

Not a weird name at all.

The NBA is known as "The Association". It's a basketball thing. You football geeks have your own little oddities.

I'm a baseball guy (nerd) first and foremost, basketball second. Football is a distant third.

Stele wrote:

Why isn't Madden franchise called "the League?" is the question you should be asking. ;)

Blitz: The League.

So, I am getting better. I'm playing a season as the Celtics to start. I got crushed in my first game v. Philly. I played better versus Portland, going into the half tied. I ended up losing by 11, although I got an achievement for holding the other team to under 40% shooting.

I was then playing the Pacers and leading by 5 going into the 4th. I had to quite due to family obligations, but I could almost taste the win!

firesloth wrote:

So, I am getting better. I'm playing a season as the Celtics to start. I got crushed in my first game v. Philly. I played better versus Portland, going into the half tied. I ended up losing by 11, although I got an achievement for holding the other team to under 40% shooting.

I was then playing the Pacers and leading by 5 going into the 4th. I had to quite due to family obligations, but I could almost taste the win! ;)

I dunno if it works in Season mode, but in Association you can save mid-game.

Blind_Evil wrote:
firesloth wrote:

So, I am getting better. I'm playing a season as the Celtics to start. I got crushed in my first game v. Philly. I played better versus Portland, going into the half tied. I ended up losing by 11, although I got an achievement for holding the other team to under 40% shooting.

I was then playing the Pacers and leading by 5 going into the 4th. I had to quite due to family obligations, but I could almost taste the win! ;)

I dunno if it works in Season mode, but in Association you can save mid-game.

WHAAA? I had forgotten you folks discussed that. That rocks...I'll try it! What a great feature. It really shouldn't have taken this long for a game to implement that!

firesloth wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

I dunno if it works in Season mode, but in Association you can save mid-game.

WHAAA? I had forgotten you folks discussed that. That rocks...I'll try it! What a great feature. It really shouldn't have taken this long for a game to implement that!

As it worked last year, you can quit/save anytime and it will restart at the last point the ball was inbounded. I usually try to break at the start of a quarter, but you can save/exit anytime, you might lose a few seconds/minutes of game though if the ball hasn't went out of bounds or no one scored or something.

firesloth wrote:

WHAAA? I had forgotten you folks discussed that. That rocks...I'll try it! What a great feature. It really shouldn't have taken this long for a game to implement that!

MLB 2k games have had the in-game save feature for at least two years <,<

Short bloggie: my PF in My Player mode is now up to 84. Aaaaanyone else playing that mode any? I'm gonna start hunting for a crew soon, hopefully not a bunch of backward hat wearing d-bags.

After 8 games played with my Boston Celtics on Pro, I have yet to win a game. It's starting to get a little silly, as the CPU seems to always win in the final quarter. All of a sudden Paul Pierce whose gone 10 for 12 in the first 3 quarters, goes 1 for 6. Hmmmmmmm.

El-Producto wrote:

After 8 games played with my Boston Celtics on Pro, I have yet to win a game. It's starting to get a little silly, as the CPU seems to always win in the final quarter. All of a sudden Paul Pierce whose gone 10 for 12 in the first 3 quarters, goes 1 for 6. Hmmmmmmm.

Don't really know what to tell you there. Are you having a lot of turnovers, bad shooting percentage? Lots of offensive rebounds for the other team? There's a lot of ways that things can go wrong. I'd suggest trying to pay close attention to your two post guys. Seems like there's always at least one clean look for them as the defense adjusts to wing movements.

Patch
Approximate Launch Date/Times
PlayStation 3: Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 - 2 AM PST
XBOX 360: Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
PC: TBD

GENERAL GAME FEATURES
- Fixed a soft hang that would occur when loading an in-game save that was created during a timeout situation. This change also affects in-game saves created in the various game modes (Association, My Player, etc.). It addresses the My Player freeze issue that some of you have run into: http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showt....

- Fixed a hang on startup (when the game went to load files) that would happen when the user had a large number of saved files on the hard drive/storage device.

- The Cleveland Cavaliers court floor has been updated to reflect the design being used for the 2010-11 season.

- The ‘My Rookie of the Year’, ‘One for All’, and ‘Not Over Yet’ Achievements/Trophies should now properly unlock once the necessary conditions are met.

- Long socks should no longer appear visually corrupted during gameplay.

- Correct player signatures are now shown on Pressbooks that are uploaded to the 2K Sports server.

- The ‘Player Progression’ menu (Located in Features -> Living Rosters) should now properly work when new Living Roster updates are applied. Please delete the ‘Player Progression’ save file after the patch is released so the system can bring the file up-to-date.

GAMEPLAY
- Improved Shot Stick shot release timing and consistency across offline and online games.

- Fixed a rare hang that would occur when intentionally fouling the inbounder.

- Dunks will now branch into mid-air collisions, resulting in contact layups and changes in shots.

- Big men with low vertical ratings will now jump the appropriate height when rebounding and contesting shots.

- Addressed an exploit when using the Hopstep Dunk. Players will now branch to a contested shot animation when defenders are nearby.

- The ballhandler will no longer pick up his dribble when a ‘take charge’ attempt fails.

- Users are now able to execute the Crossover move when using the ‘Alternate A’ controller configuration.

- Added high trajectory shots when the shot is taken along the baseline. This will reduce/eliminate baseline shots that just hit off the side of the backboard.

- Addressed a playcalling issue where non-stars are getting a bulk of the plays run for them during specific situations.

- Queued pass/shot commands are now deleted when a fumbled catch occurs.

- Improvements have been made to the directional passing system with the end result being more accurate pass targeting.

- Tuned under-basket shots such that big players are no longer overpowered by smaller defenders, thus forcing a bad shot.

- Body-ups have been re-tuned such that good dribblers do not ‘lose’ during a mismatch or by taking good angles.

- Queuing a fake pass command when catching the ball will no longer result in a touch pass.

- Missed and inaccurate passes will now play at an appropriate rate when passing out of a shot or contact shot.

- Long range passes have been re-tuned to fix a gameplay exploit. Also, improved defender reactions on such passes so that they are properly contested.

- Users are no longer able to call a timeout when they are bobbling the ball.

- Improved AI logic for boxing out, ensuring that players go into boxout situations when appropriate.

- Players boxing out their opponent should no longer be called for Over the Back fouls.

- Tuned ‘Take Charge’ logic such that charges will now be properly called when the defender is set. This includes a fix for the pro-hop exploit where charges were not being called.

- Fixed an issue with player swapping during rolling inbounds; users will no longer be stuck controlling a player with the inability to switch players.

- AI defenders will no longer closely guard bad shooters far from the hoop when not necessary.

- Improved AI steal behavior and tuned the overall steal frequency/difficulty; defenders should now only attempt steals when they are actually looking at the ball.

- On the ‘Casual’ game style only, defenders are now slightly slower to react on passes, thus limiting the number of pass deflections.

PRESENTATION
- Fixed a long hang that would sometimes occur at the end of the highlight reel between quarters.

- When an Arena Music event is triggered, it will now randomly select one of the available songs instead of always playing the first song in the list.

- Addressed a few minor audio issues including instances where the commentators would call a few players by the wrong name, instances where a commentary line would cut out mid-sentence, instances where the commentary would refer to a missed shot as a made shot, and clean-up in the Doris Burke analysis during playoff situations.

- The commentators will now tell Coach ‘stories’ during gameplay. These stories tie-in with the Player/Team stories for an increased presentation experience.

- Users are now able to button through lengthy substitution overlays and get right back to gameplay.

- Fixed a very rare hang that would happen during the Player of the Game segment at the end of the game.

- Fixed an occurrence where the incorrect portrait was displayed for a created/generated player.

ONLINE
- Voice Chat improvements have been made to eliminate/reduce the amount of background static that can be heard in Team-Up/Pick-Up games.

- Users are no longer able to substitute in injured/fouled out players during Crew games.

- Opponents can no longer see Pick and Roll and Play Calling icons during online games.

- Addressed a game disconnect issue when one user would call a timeout, quit out of the game, and attempt to start another game.

ASSOCIATION
- Addressed a hang that would occur in the transition between the 1st and 2nd quarters in the weeks leading up to the All-Star break.

- Injured players will no longer lose their Player Role due to an injury, which ultimately led to may unhappy players around the league.

- Fixed an issue that caused a decrease in trading activity in future years. This same issue also resulted in valued free agents not signing during the free agency time period of the offseason.

- Home court advantage (for simulated games) has been toned down during the regular season, and even more so during the playoffs (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

- Participating in Intra-Squad Scrimmages will no longer disable Intentional Fouls during regular NBA games.

- Addressed an issue where trade values would drop to 1-star when a Weekly Practice was scheduled.

- Fixed a bug where coaches would get fired continuously (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

- Users are now able to properly waive players in the Training Camp period of the offseason when there are more than 15 players signed to the team.

- Corrected an issue where the Qualifying Offers period was automatically getting skipped, thus not allowing users to make qualifying offers to their restricted free agents.

- Addressed an issue where Potential values weren’t being properly updated in the player progression system.

- Existing NBA players should no longer have their signature animations changed at the end of every season based on their skill progression/regression (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

- Fixed an issue where generated players would be created with the award history of a player currently in the Hall of Fame (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

- Tuned rookie generation code such that incoming talent is more in-line with players already in the league. Other generation improvements were made as well, including better secondary position logic along with adjustments to the size of the incoming players (this fix also applies to My Player mode).

- Users are now able to call plays during Intra-Squad Scrimmages in the Live Practice feature.

- Players who have the ‘Prospect’ player role are now much more forgiving of their role, meaning they will no longer become upset when they are in the role until they have reached a high rating.

- Addressed a number of other smaller issues within the mode (better CPU logic when accepting/declining Team Options, undrafted rookies should no longer sign larger than expected contracts, etc.).

MY PLAYER
(A number of issues that also affect My Player mode were listed above in the Association section. Those issues were noted as such.)

- Addressed a hang that would sometimes occur when completing a game during the NBA time period.

- The user’s team will now be more efficient in finding a trade to one of the requested teams when a Trade Request is made.

- The Rookie of the Year Milestone should now properly unlock when the conditions are met.

- Addressed a playcalling issue where the dribbler would hold the ball until the last second during My Player games.

- PlayVision art is now drawn on the floor when the CPU calls a play, easily enabling the user to follow the action on the court.

**ADDITION from Ronnie: Getting the question a lot about whether My Player's that froze before can be salvaged. The answer is in most cases, yes. As long as the data isn't corrupt. Do not quote me but many of you will be able to pick up and play your old My Player like nothing ever happened. Happy gaming!

Stele wrote:

Patch
Approximate Launch Date/Times
PlayStation 3: Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 - 2 AM PST
XBOX 360: Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
PC: TBD

And this is why I might just get it on PS3 when it's $30 this weekend. Last year, PC TBD ended up being 2 months later, after the 2nd console patch...

If 2k is going to keep that level of support I guess I'll abandon the PC version too.

Those all sound like good fixes. Time to start working on my PG to get the ROTY achievement.

I don't have time to play this game. But now I even want it more.

Seriously, that patch seems to put what was an already great game, through the roof. Must hold off...

FYI Monday is supposedly $29.99 for this game on PS3/360, on Amazon. Not sure if it will be a midnight, all day deal, or a lightning deal for a few hours like they have done today.

Either way if the patch for PC doesn't have a date by then, I'll get the PS3 one I guess. Or if I don't win the PC version free on Steam.

The PC patch will probably come out after the 2nd patch for the consoles. Fortunately, the game is fun enough as is so I can wait.

Gdawg27 wrote:

The PC patch will probably come out after the 2nd patch for the consoles. Fortunately, the game is fun enough as is so I can wait.

QFT.

Three bits of patch feedback, all My Player related (that and pickup games are all I really play).

1. "Improved shot stick timing across online and offline modes" - The effect I've noticed is that my PF can't make anything outside of 15 feet unless he's wide, wide open. I'm having a little trouble adjusting, my % has fallen from 62 to 58 over four games. It is more realistic, if unpleasant.

2. The game shows and runs plays now, and they seem to all be facilitating Carmelo Anthony's scoring. I've had maybe 2 in which I was the scorer, including my first ever alley-oop score. I guess this is what they meant by "too many opportunities for non-stars" or whatever. I can get around this by just ignoring the playcalling (or turning it off in a menu, probably).

3. This is the only big issue: something got a little jacked in the grade-impact received with tipped rebounds. If I tip a ball and don't get it, I get credit for the rebound on both ends. Problem is, the same is true for opposing players. So, say Pau Gasol tips a rebound on offense but my teammate ends up with the ball. I lose about 3/4 of a grade because of allowing an offensive rebound. It also counts against you if your goal is "limit your matchup to x rebounds/offensive rebounds etc."

Actually you can't turn off playavision, even though you could in 2k10. Lots of unhappy people on 2kforums.

Dunno what to do at this point. Maybe I do want the PC version so I can skip the patch. Hm

They do call some boring plays now in My Player, post patch. For my PG, they're usually like, "just stand all the way out here on the edge and try not to get in the way", which I guess makes sense for a 50 rated point guard on a team with Lebron & Wade, but jeesh. The plays often break down though. I seem to have lost the ability to call my own plays for the team, including a simple pick and roll, which sucks. Maybe I get that back at some point? I read something somewhere about "floor general" status for point guards at a certain level, but that might have been wishful thinking.

I do have an Assocation going with the Knicks, which was uber painful to play because there was no outside presence to make them pay for doubling Stoudamire in the post (Gallinari is absolute garbage in this game). I simmed through the rest of the 2010 season and had a crash course in the salary cap as I tried to rebuild the team for 2011 in the off-season. I managed to lure Carmelo to NY in free agency and retain Azuibuke while going over cap because of the Bird rules, something I didn't know about before. Played the first game of 2011 and it was so sweet. Carmelo is spectacular.

Picked this game up for PS3 a couple weeks ago. Really like it. I'm about 23 games into my rookie season with the Wizards as a 3 pt specialist. Still figuring out the most effective use of skill points, but leading the "association" in scoring so far. Kinda one dimensional at this point but with all the points I get after each game I'm trying to improve my D skills. I dislike the ability to turn off play calling.