Editing body types, weights

[baa7]

Thought I’d share something I’ve been tinkering with for a couple of weeks. It’s possible to get players – linemen in particular – to look like actual real life football players instead of svelte sports-magazine models. It requires some player-weight adjustment – which isn’t for everybody, because it’s not “realistic” and means adding a lot of tonnage on some guys – but if you’re into having the game look like football as much as possible, you might be interested in trying this.

Here’s a general guide for some body types (haven’t worked on all of them). First off for linemen, anyone in the 300 lb range and over needs an extra-large body. Then add weight, according to their height. Examples: a 6’ guy will need 60-70 lbs of extra weight added on to his real weight to make him look like the fire hydrant he is. A 6’2” guy will need 40-50 lbs, and a 6’4” guy maybe 20-30 lbs. Anyone taller simply needs their body switched to extra-large, and that’s it.

Skinny bodies look stupid beyond belief without any editing: the waists are way too narrow for one thing. Try this so you can see what happens with some adjustments: load up the default roster, then go into the Cowboys depth chart and make WR Zuriel Smith one of your starters. The guy’s 5’11” and 166 lbs. Start up a situational game, quickly throw a pass to the guy and then look at the replay. The guy is Stick Man Walking. Now edit him and add 80-90 lbs (and don’t change his skinny body type). Then fire up a game again and presto: now the guy looks like he won’t snap in half at the waist if someone hits him.

I haven’t worked on the LB’s yet. But I did edit a couple of running backs. I switched Bettis from large to extra-large and added 50 lbs to make him 292 lbs. I also switched 5’8” Amos Zereque from normal to extra-large and added 40 lbs to make him 252. Both look very good now, especially Bettis.

And a couple of obvious QB’s: I switched Culpepper from normal to large and added 20 lbs; and McNabb, who is 2” shorter than Daunte and close to the same weight, needs to look stubbier than his Vikings counterpart. So I switched him from normal to large and added 45 lbs. Both look great now. Plus with some players you have to remove lbs. Eli Manning is 6’4” and 218 lbs, so I lowered him to 178 and now he looks just like the skinny bum he is in real life (no offense, but without Tiki that team is nowhere)

[InspiringFool]

Great thoughts. I may be intersted in trying this via Finn's god-like editor.

However, one major question, does adding all this weight change the players stamina, speed, etc? Realistically I would think so. But this is a video game so who really knows.

[baa7]

Thanks. In some cases it changes their overall rating by up to a few points, yes. But I'm not too worried it makes much of a difference in the overall gameplay -- affecting a player's speed, for example. I don't believe the programming is that sophisticated. I'd suggest it could have an affect on a specific players' performances, although a very minimal one -- all that extra weight might make O linemen block a bit better, for example. In Bettis’ case, he did seem to be knocking people over more than usual (but that could have been my imagination) but that’s easy to fix. Just lower his Strength or Break Tackle rating slightly to compensate if you see a significant difference in his performance. I actually lowered his Speed slightly, which gives LB’s more time to position themselves for the hit. That seemed to be all that was needed.

Quote: Originally Posted by homelessjogger

Great thoughts. I may be intersted in trying this via Finn's god-like editor. However, one major question, does adding all this weight change the players stamina, speed, etc? Realistically I would think so. But this is a video game so who really knows.

[jdub2k4]

There is a global body editor according to body weight in Finn's editor...takes less than a second to edit the whole league! I used it last night after my rookie draft and that fixed a lot of the "skinny" problems. many of the players now have the normal body mold and some of the linemen are now "fat" like they should be. Finn is a genius....

[InspiringFool]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdub2k4

There is a global body editor according to body weight in Finn's editor...takes less than a second to edit the whole league! I used it last night after my rookie draft and that fixed a lot of the "skinny" problems. many of the players now have the normal body mold and some of the linemen are now "fat" like they should be. Finn is a genius....

That's exactly why I was asking him about the stats. It can be edited in about 2 seconds for the whole league. But if it affects gameplay, stamina, etc I wouldn't be interested in going through each player and changing ratings.

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by jdub2k4

There is a global body editor according to body weight in Finn's editor...takes less than a second to edit the whole league! I used it last night after my rookie draft and that fixed a lot of the "skinny" problems. many of the players now have the normal body mold and some of the linemen are now "fat" like they should be. Finn is a genius....

Not the same thing. The editor only edits proportionally, body type to weight. But a 6' 2" 320 lb guy is stockier than a 6' 6'' 320 guy, so the additional weight has to be added manually if one wants their proportions in relation to each other correct. Otherwise, all the extra-large guys look the same. And skinny bodies are useful – they just need more weight added to them, which then looks good and differentiates them from the normal body guys.

[catcatch22]

I think thats overkill but if it makes the game experience better for you then by all means do.

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by catcatch22

I think thats overkill but if it makes the game experience better for you then by all means do.

Given it appears 2K5 is going to be the only decent console football game on the market over the next few years, then any and all additions and improvements are well worth the time and effort IMO