NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

[Steve_OS]

Polygon's Samit Sarkar has posted an article on the revamped controls in NBA 2K14. Producer, Rob Jones also chimes in with some more details on quick twitch responsiveness, smoothness of animations and more.

In addition to revamping controls, Visual Concepts also wanted to tweak the way players move, with an eye toward "improving smoothness and responsiveness." Basketball games really suffer if players get caught in animations and can't branch out of them. So the studio worked on animation transitions to reduce the frustration associated with poor responsiveness, which, according to Jones, will be appreciated on defense in particular.

[ThatKidNamedTae]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

omg first on a steve thread

but seriously. I don't like the idea of messing with the stick every year. hopefully, they'll stay with this. Canceling cheesy layup animations would help me be more open though :3

[KyotoCarl]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

Good read.

I found this amusing: "Jones said this year's tutorial "includes all of the latest moves to make the player experience better than ever," but didn't mention any changes that could potentially fix the issue by putting that training in the context of an actual game.

How about just starting up a game and practising there?

[I am disappointed]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

Good read.

I found this amusing: "Jones said this year's tutorial "includes all of the latest moves to make the player experience better than ever," but didn't mention any changes that could potentially fix the issue by putting that training in the context of an actual game.

How about just starting up a game and practising there?

I'd actually rather they didn't do that, if somebody really wants to learn the game and be good at it they should go to the actual practice or training camp mode their selves an learn the game. That's just my opinion tho

[Slava Medvadenko]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

Really intrigued about what he said about the responsiveness and the animation transitions. This could improve some issues in several facets of the game.

[24]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

Should be interesting to see. I honestly can't wait to see what happens with 2K especially for next Gen.

[westfl87]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

omg first on a steve thread

but seriously. I don't like the idea of messing with the stick every year. hopefully, they'll stay with this. Canceling cheesy layup animations would help me be more open though :3

How can u improve if you choose to stick with the same game plan... If it brings us all closer to the real aspect of basketball then what's wrong with a new control scheme every year.. The goal is to reproduce real basketball at the control of your fingertips...

[poloelite]

Playing it at the Vegas Expo, his comments are almost identical to what we experienced. I was pleased with all of the new animations, defensive controls and the fact that I didn't get stuck in one animation during contact sequences. Even more excited since we played an early demo build.

[Gramps91]

I'm really happy with all that's being said about the smoothness of the game. Starting to get pumped

[Slava Medvadenko]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

There probably isn't, but there should be a way to stop pass bobble animations sooner. Those are the involuntary animations that are the most annoying to me. Something simple, like letting go of all the buttons when you see the animation starting would be fine. In real life basketball when you get a bobble you are trying to stabilize yourself as soon as possible. Also, maybe you could press pass in the middle of one and do a low-percentage shovel pass if you are falling out of bounds. Since things are getting more responsive and more animations are given more control to shift from, I'd like to see the bobbles get some, any, control.

[Sundown]

Re: NBA 2K14 - More on the Pro Stick, Smoothness and Responsiveness (Polygon)

There probably isn't, but there should be a way to stop pass bobble animations sooner. Those are the involuntary animations that are the most annoying to me. Something simple, like letting go of all the buttons when you see the animation starting would be fine. In real life basketball when you get a bobble you are trying to stabilize yourself as soon as possible. Also, maybe you could press pass in the middle of one and do a low-percentage shovel pass if you are falling out of bounds. Since things are getting more responsive and more animations are given more control to shift from, I'd like to see the bobbles get some, any, control.

This is a great idea. If we could have a fighting chance, however small, of regaining control, it would make certain animations much less annoying. It's not just that these things happen randomly, which is fine since you need to simulate mistakes, but that you're not able to smash a button, release the stick, do something to at least stay engaged with the game during the animation.

You should still fail most of the time but feeling like you are fighting for control rather than being helpless would make formerly frustrating moments actually engaging.

[scottyp180]

How can u improve if you choose to stick with the same game plan... If it brings us all closer to the real aspect of basketball then what's wrong with a new control scheme every year.. The goal is to reproduce real basketball at the control of your fingertips...

I agree. Its one thing to make unnecessary changes just to make changes and say the game is different but if the changes make the gameplay that much better, realistic, and fun then I have no problem with it. Last year people were equally as skeptical about the new control scheme and imo it was one of the best control changes 2k made in years. This year will take some getting use to but it sounds like it will be worth it. My gripe about 2k has always been the feel and responsiveness of the players. It seems each year it gets better and better, hopefully this will be the year they find a sweet spot for controls so that they wont have to do these control changes every year and instead they can focus on improving other areas of the game with minor tweaks to the control aspect.