An Early Look at NBA 2K18 Gameplay Changes

[Hustle Westbrook]

Quote: Originally Posted by isdatyt

I love that realism. You should have to pay for picking a player who sucks on defense the same way you do if your player sucks on offense. Without this, some players have no weaknesses in game. Steph (to an extent), Dame, CJ, Harden, Kyrie, Lou Will, are all guys who are atrocious on defense. They constantly get out of position, aren't covering their guys, or just getting a "whoever" offense ran on them. 2K does a great job replicating strengths in this game, it's great to see those weaknesses finally making it in. If you want Harden for the flashy, pot-stirring, ankle-breaking highlight plays, you should have to deal with the times where he's on defense and forgets he's in a game or gives up an easy bucket.

Quote: Originally Posted by zizoux

Honestly I was worried that every player would play defence like C. Paul, K. Leonard etc. in 2k18 because of a number of thread complaining about lesser players leaving the shooters wide open, playing dumb etc. I'm really baffled that regular NBA watchers don't realize that even the elite defenders make what seem to be bad decisions. If every player in NBA had perfect instinct, and great understanding of the game, you would rarely see an open man. Yet you see them almost every play. Well, I guess you DO realize that yet having too much ''realism'' ruins the experience for you but I digress.

My problem with 2K17 (and 16) was with the AI in general, elite defender or not, being completely braindead, and sometimes borderline useless on defense.

I'm talking about players not getting back on defense, running out of bounds for no reason, not defending the paint, constantly fouling, terrible IQ when defending the pick and roll, unnecessary reach in fouls, not stealing passes that are thrown directly in their faces. If that's what you consider "realism", then to each his own I guess.

They've had the "artificial stupidity" in the game for a few years now and while it sounds good on paper, the execution has been terrible. My point is the game should probably focus on actually implementing sound defensive fundamentals first before adding "artificial stupidity."

[scottyp180]

Quote: Originally Posted by zizoux

Honestly I was worried that every player would play defence like C. Paul, K. Leonard etc. in 2k18 because of a number of thread complaining about lesser players leaving the shooters wide open, playing dumb etc. I'm really baffled that regular NBA watchers don't realize that even the elite defenders make what seem to be bad decisions. If every player in NBA had perfect instinct, and great understanding of defence, you would rarely see an open man. Yet you see them on almost every play. Well, I guess you DO realize that yet having too much ''realism'' ruins the experience for you but I digress.

I'm not quite sure how people want 2K to replicate this perfectly. There is a lot going on for the AI to process: various defensive attributes and ratings, tendencies, coaching strategies and settings, sliders, etc. It's not like there is one easy fix that will solve all issues.

There are certainly things I see that I don't like, and hopefully improved AI will remedy most problems, but with the AI needing to tackle so many variables at once there's likely going to be problems every so often.

[Harrypotheadd]

All 2k needs is a 2 year development cycle and I'm sure they'd be able to fix all of the legacy issues and deliver the most realistic gameplay experience ever

[JKSportsGamer1984]

I've *been asking for pressure sensitive passing for years! *This is huge!

[TreJayMMA]

I just want to see gameplay at this point.

[MarkWilliam]

Reading that PnR defensive AI has more variance is interesting.

The scripted (and horrendously exploitable) outcomes last year were literally why I stopped playing 2K17.

But I'm hoping the variances have a method to them (i.e; AI adjusting to how I'm attacking) and not just random coverages for a band aid fix.

I guess we'll find out soon.

Nice addition to actually outline things in the defensive settings screen for players. This highlights the "polish" that's coming this year IMO.

[strawberryshortcake]

From the writeup "There is a new “Coach Communication” option that I stumbled upon. This is a visual that you can turn on in the Coach Settings menu that will help you on defense with visual shout-outs such as “Switch!” “I got ball!” “Ice!”

Speaking on "switch" and "coach communications" features, are these instructions to be followed by the user, or will the user have the ability to "override" the coach's instructions?

Example. If I wanted to continue to play on ball defense without switching, do I have the controls to tell my teammate not to switch (because switching would put my teammate in a bad matchup). Something like pressing down on the d-pad or something to stop the anticipated switch command/coach instruction.

There are moments in 2k17 when I wanted to remain playing on ball defense and my teammate would play on as if the switch took place, as a result, now my teammate and I am running/defending the same ball handler while leaving the opposition cpu player completely open. Then when I try to adjust and sprint to defend the open guy, my teammate now runs after the open guy as if he knew he blew his coverage, ultimately leaving the ball handler completely open.

Any input feature to "tell/instruct" my teammate not to switch, or honestly get back to guard your man?

Example. Using Klay to guard Lebron during when the cpu pick and roll or sets the screen (i.e. I don't want Curry to switch over to guard Lebron, I want Curry to stay with Irving and Klay staying with Lebron).

[VAWereWolf65]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

It also says to not read into that too much Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Fair enough but if it was a really big improvement from this years game, I figured it would stand out a lot more to you than it did in the "subtle" way you described