NBA 2K21 fans have been treated to a fresh wave of information about the PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrade.
In its latest Courtside Report, 2K Sports discusses everything from player builds and badges, to player AI and, er, pies.
“The next-gen player builder is all about customisation,” 2K explains. “We’ve taken in a lot of feedback from the community over the past few years as we’ve evolved the MyPLAYER building experience.
“One thing that we hear loud and clear from you is that you want more options.”
According to 2K Sports, this means no more pie charts when selection preset builds in NBA 2K21.
“Instead, we’ve given you control over setting each individual rating to the cap that you prefer. Obviously, there are restrictions based on your vitals and you can’t max out everything, but there’s much more control to make the exact type of player you want to be.”
Badges, meanwhile, have been given a huge overhaul for next-gen consoles, as 2K revises and removes various bonuses.
“A lot of thought and re-design went into badges for next-gen. Many favorites return, but most have undergone some significant functionality changes,” 2K continues.
“There are also some new ones, some revived ones, and some removed ones. The badge point system and equipping process is similar to what you’ve grown accustomed to: perform well in the various categories (Finishing, Shooting, Playmaking, Defense/Rebounding) in any mode to earn badge points, and then apply those points to whatever badges you want within those related categories.
“But my advice when you get next-gen is to experiment with different badges that you may have overlooked in the past because you might find some new favorites that compliment your playstyle that you may not expect.”
Takeover, meanwhile, has been expanded to include a wider range of more specific skills.
As for player AI, improvements to defence includes new switching logic, better transition defence, improved logic, and the ability to call for help in order to double team.
Attacking improvements can be seen below.
Play Through Star: This game plan will have ACE automatically select the best scorer on the team and only run scoring actions for them, both via plays and freelance actions. It also sets the tempo and rebounding choices automatically to accommodate your star’s playing style.
Pound the Ball Inside: ACE auto selects the best post scorer on the team and will exclusively run post scoring actions and plays for them.
Double team counter intelligence: You’ll see the AI using less movement and create more spacing for shooters spotting up behind the three point line to punish excessive double teaming.
End of game logic: Improved the AI’s ability to time plays with the shot clock for buzzer beater situations.
Starters and Bench Favorite Plays: This year we expanded the favorite plays to allow players to set up one group of plays for their starting unit and another group of plays for the bench units.
Moved player-specific plays and player-specific ball screens back to the L1/LB button. This was something many people were requesting so they could get quick access to icon pick control again. Favorite plays are now mapped to the DPAD.
Play and freelance flow: As we have done every year, the play and freelance offensive flow has been greatly improved moving to next-gen. There are several actions that we just had a hard time getting to run smoothly in past 2K games, but thanks to the logic upgrades and vastly improved motion engine, everything flows extremely well in NBA 2K21 for next gen.
