Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

[thedream2k16]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

What's the point of a new motion engine when they use the same old animations from last gen? Just from the image below (looking at JR), I can tell they are using the same running animation that they've been using since forever.



Don't get me wrong, the blog has me excited but I will be cautious this time around. They definitely know how to hype the game and talk like the improvements are a quantum leap. I'll take the wait and see approach.

Its a "running animation"

[GisherJohn24]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

My 2 cents. 17 didn't have excitement with 17. Call it a slow heartbeat or whatever you want. My buddy and I broke out 13 this last weekend and we just had an absolute blast and he said "why don't we play that for now on?" . The presentation was better, the gameplay was faster and again, it's just about the personality. 17 lacks the excitement of past 2k games, and I can't really put my finger on just one thing, But I'd say people should take issues, that in general, the 2k community believes the past gen 2k games are simply more fun to play. Break out 2k12, 13 or even 14 and tell me those games are not fun. And that's what they need to bring back. Pretty graphics obviously don't cut it for fun factor. Make it really fun again. And don't get me wrong, I still enjoy 17, but something is missing...

[singletm81]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

The only way any sports game is going to feel "new" to you is if you stop buying it every single year. But, that's true of every single "sim" sports game that comes out unless there's a new console that releases. That's where you'll see the biggest leap. There's just not enough time in the sports video game development cycle to do anything revolutionary, so you're stuck making minor improvements year by year. Plus, it's not like 2k can change the sport of basketball.

It's a shame that it couldn't work financially, but your reasoning is why I think it'd be great if sports games could release in 2 year cycles. With all of the patches and downloadable content available, they could keep rosters up to date and add options to keep a game up to date for two years. In the meantime, they'd have a more reasonable time frame to develop a new game that makes significant leaps and feels less like an "update."

[Crossover1]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

Its a "running animation"

A running animation that doesn't look like anyone I've seen run and it looks extremely outdated. Every player runs erected and there's barely any sense of different levels of speed.

At the very least they should update the engine to have two different styles of running: one for guards/small forwards and one for big guys.

I'm no dev but implementing a few new running animations shouldn't be that hard to do since it doesn't affect most parts of the game too much. If they can update Steph to have his high kick celebrations in a matter of 2 months then running animations that give off authenticity to all players could be done as well.

[Yesh2kdone]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

A running animation that doesn't look like anyone I've seen run and it looks extremely outdated. Every player runs erected and there's barely any sense of different levels of speed.

At the very least they should update the engine to have two different styles of running: one for guards/small forwards and one for big guys.

I'm no dev but implementing a few new running animations shouldn't be that hard to do since it doesn't affect most parts of the game too much. If they can update Steph to have his high kick celebrations in a matter of 2 months then running animations that give off authenticity to all players could be done as well.

I've been critical of 2k17, but there are clearly different running animations for bigs vs everyone else in the game already. Granted, these are mainly shown from the waist down, but they are there.

[Norris_Cole]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

2k does need a new engine pretty badly, specially the collision engine and physics, not talking about a few changes here and there like they hinted in the blog, but a true realistic physics engine for the ball, players and collisions (no more balls going through players' hands, etc) . It feels outdated , specially compared to most sports games

But to respond to the thread's OP, no, I don't have the feeling 2k is switching engines any time soon, unless sales drastically drop

[Smirkin Dirk]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

Im no game designer, but is there one engine? Or a series of interlocking systems of gameplay mechanics that need to be fitted together like a jig saw?

[Crossover1]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

Since 2K loves animations so much they should hire Kojima's or Naughty Dog's crew to do them. They know how to do animations, especially Kojima because he gives the perfect balance of control and beautiful animations (see: MGSV).

Realistically though, they might be changing/altering their engine but there are the animations and legacy issues that have been in 2K forever. I hope one day they can figure them out and give us a realistic basketball simulator that doesn't rely on abusing the game's flaws.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

[MoodMuzik]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

Since 2K loves animations so much they should hire Kojima's or Naughty Dog's crew to do them. They know how to do animations, especially Kojima because he gives the perfect balance of control and beautiful animations (see: MGSV).

Realistically though, they might be changing/altering their engine but there are the animations and legacy issues that have been in 2K forever. I hope one day they can figure them out and give us a realistic basketball simulator that doesn't rely on abusing the game's flaws.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

Ahhh... see you made the cardinal sin though... "(see:MGSV)" and I love... LOVE me some Metal Gear, literally every iteration and I will defend it until I die, especially V and IV because they were stunning... even in those games you have players speed-running completing missions on the hardest difficulty literally running directly into the peripherals of the enemy and the enemy AI DOES NOT NOTICE AT ALL.

So how on earth could that apply to a 5-on-5 basketball game, especially today's game that is so read-and-react/drive-and-kick focused?

[Crossover1]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

Ahhh... see you made the cardinal sin though... "(see:MGSV)" and I love... LOVE me some Metal Gear, literally every iteration and I will defend it until I die, especially V and IV because they were stunning... even in those games you have players speed-running completing missions on the hardest difficulty literally running directly into the peripherals of the enemy and the enemy AI DOES NOT NOTICE AT ALL.

So how on earth could that apply to a 5-on-5 basketball game, especially today's game that is so read-and-react/drive-and-kick focused?

Lol I only want their mocap tech because they know how to do beautiful animations while still giving the player precise control of the character. It's got nothing to do with AI.

Or maybe it's the greatness of the Fox Engine. I'm not a soccer fan at all but I remember playing a match of PES 16 and the game seemed way smoother looking than FIFA 16.

[ILLSmak]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

Im no game designer, but is there one engine? Or a series of interlocking systems of gameplay mechanics that need to be fitted together like a jig saw?

Funny thing is, it's easy to tell what's the same and what's different even from a trailer where they move the camera around. People say that it's so updated, but I agree it's mostly been the same for a long time. There have been changes, but you see a lot of the same game in, say, college hoops 2k8.

I dunno if we can expect a game to build 'from the ground up.' If you want a different game, play a different game.

It's funny how something can change a game, like I tend to believe the passes in 2k are 20+% faster than they should be on average, and that is a huge deal. Probably players are that much too fast as well. Not because of their max speed end to end, but just bursts when running.

Those are the 'legacy issues' I wish 2k would fix. Their engine is fine, but their theory is off, probably because they want the game to seem faster paced. That's what makes it seem like a video game because the game itself 'looks' real.

-Smak

[DC]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

What does "Switching Engines" mean? It isn't a car, there isn't ONE central "engine" controlling everything.

[MoodMuzik]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

Frostbite engine, Unreal engine, 4A engine, TOSHI, IW, etc.

All different "engines" in video game terminology.

[isdatyt]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

What does "Switching Engines" mean? It isn't a car, there isn't ONE central "engine" controlling everything.

Engines are basically a skeleton for a video game. It determines a lot of fundamental elements to the game. Most games are based on the same few engines just re-skinned to the game dev's liking.

A lot of people complain that game engines don't update enough, but they don't realize that's absurd to ask. Developing a new game engine would take years. A lot of games use the Unreal Engine and it's current iteration has been being used since 2005. If 2K were to develop it's own game engine from ground up AND completely remake the game to fit this new engine would take literal years, asking for a yearly release title is just not possible time-wise, let alone fiscally. It's why you hear COD fans constantly crying about the game engine.

What they usually do as devs is find new ways to take advantage of the technology already available. So even though we have a "new movement system" it's likely just different coding and logic written into what was previously used to better maximize the engine's ability. A fresh coat of paint if you will.

[youvalss]

Re: Anybody get a feeling that 2K is switching game engines for 2K18 or 2K19

I don't know about switching engines, but reading the gameplay blog and seeing Mike talking about taking care of legacy issues, makes me think that they must have made some real modifications to their engine/system.