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 isual Concepts leaves it all on the court in our in-depth interview with lead feature designer Erick Boenisch and lead gameplay producer Rob Jones. In part one, we talk about the effect of the series' producer Mike Wang has had on development, what's in the franchise mode and much, much more.
Game Informer: First and foremost, we were all surprised when Mike Wang jumped ship and went over to NBA Live. Were you guys surprised by the move?
Jones: I can’t say that we were prepared. Nobody’s ever prepared for someone just leaving and going to a direct competitor. But when all was said and done he needed to do something for his family, he wanted to try something different. For us, he was part of our team, he wasn’t our team. The NBA 2K franchise continues just like it did before he got here. We were saddened, because he’s a really good guy, but at the same time it was time for him and we moved on.
Boenisch: We have a team of 80 people, and Mike was just one of those people. The development team here, there is a number of us who are huge fans, and Mike was just one of us. He didn’t engineer the game, he didn’t put content into the game—he was just a producer.
GI: Obviously Mike was very intimate with the ideas being thrown about at Visual Concepts in regards to the NBA series. Have you had to take that into account now that he’s leading the competition?
Jones: I think that the best answer for that is, if you ever look at two games in the same genre the kind of evolve in the same way anyway. What he knew at the time was only through what we did in 2K9. NBA 2K10 is all stuff that he had no idea what we were going to move to. From a standpoint of what’s being implemented up there [in EA Canada], I think he’s taken a lot of concepts that we had already developed here, whether in unison with them or before he was there, and try to bring that flavor that they have been lacking so long. Let me put it this way, I know they have capable guys up there outside of Mike, and we have capable guys here that picked up from where he was with the same type of ingenuity for coming up with new, good stuff.
GI:Which new feature are you most excited about with NBA 2K10?
Boenisch: I’ll take that one. My favorite feature this year is the NBA Today feature. I think it’s the best feature in sports videogames this year. The concept of NBA Today is that it brings the real NBA to your console. When you boot up the game you’re going to see that NBA Today screen and it’s going to have all of today’s real life match-ups. Inside that menu you can pull up an app that has the stats, the standings, the league leaders, the transactions, injuries, and everything that happens. That’s really cool because you can get your NBA fix and your gameplay fix in one spot.
When you go into an NBA Today game, all of the commentary is completely dynamic in the aspect that it’s looking at the real world data and it’s using that data to drive the commentary. For instance, this Christmas the Cavaliers play the Lakers at the Staples Center, and four days before that the Thunder play the Lakers at the Staples Center. During that game on Christmas day, I guarantee you that the commentary is going to be talking about what Kobe did against the Thunder, how the Lakers are doing on that homestand, what their home record is this year, their next upcoming road trip—it’s going to talk about real life stuff when you’re playing the game. Our commentary last year was so…I like to call it commentary in a box. All the commentators could talk about was today’s game, this game, and last season. This year they’re talking about real-life events—injuries, trades, upcoming games, and standings. It keeps the game fresh and it’s easily my favorite feature. I could talk about it forever.
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GI: Does this only affect exhibition games or does this feature extend to Association games as well?
Boenisch: I’m actually the franchise designer, I’m a huge franchise guy. That’s my baby, that’s my little toy. I actually have NBA Today fully integrated into franchise, except it’s using data from your franchise rather than the real-world data. I’m playing my franchise right now and it was about two weeks from the All-Star game. During a dead ball situation [commentators Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg] started talking about the upcoming All-Star game coming up. This overlay flew up on screen showing the Dallas logo and they said “Hey, join us on February 14 for the All-Star game in Dallas,” and they were talking about how Chris Bosh made the All-Star team. That’s just cool—it’s talking about real events in my Association. Whereas last year the commentary was “game one,” and “game two,” there was nothing that made each game unique, they were just in their own little world. Now they all seamlessly interconnect—the commentary is talking about last night, how the injury affects this team, who’s hot, and who’s not. That just brings so much life to the game. It’s online as well.
GI: The graphics have always been a standout feature of the 2K series. How are they changing this year?
Boenisch: On the technical side we have a new player model this year. The biggest thing that you’ll notice—look at the player lighting on the guys. Go into an arena like Boston or Orlando and look at the lighting in the environment and how that lighting is affecting the players. You can see the specular maps on their faces and normal maps. They really stand out and look a lot more humanlike, where last year they were kind of dull, they didn’t have any shine on the skin. It’s not one of those things where you turn the game on and you’re immediately blown away, because I thought our graphics were really good last year, but we were just missing the human touch element to making the graphics look a little more realistic. We have a deal with Image Metrics this year—those are the guys who did the heads for Grand Theft Auto IV, our company has a relationship with them—so we brought them on board to do our facial expressions and kind of bring the players to life. You’ll see a lot of players doing their signature things like when LeBron does a big dunk and he’s running back down the court you’ll see his cheeks kind of puff out. We did all these signature things to make everyone look a lot more realistic. You’ll see Kobe’s scowl, where he jets his lower chin out—it’s all about bringing the players to life and a key element to doing that what obviously the facial animations. On that same token we have all new heads for the players this year, so you’re going to see improved likenesses.
| | GI: Talk about the My Player mode. What are you taking from previous modes like this, such as Be A Pro in NHL 10 and Superstar in Madden, and what are you doing differently?
Boenisch: I can tell you what I really dislike about every other career mode on the market. First off, Madden Superstar mode, where I was like directing movies or trying out for movies, I thought that was ridiculous. That’s not what I want to do in a game. Most of them are just like, “hey, you’re on the NBA team,” but you’re on the end of the bench and there’s just no story there. It’s like “yeah, I’m starting out on the bench, I’m a scrub and working hard,” and poof—you’re in the starting lineup or first line or whatever it may be. I wanted this to be a little more encompassing. I want to see the trials and tribulations of a player’s career in this mode and that’s kind of how I designed it.
The draft combine we put out—that’s you creating a player, taking him through the draft combine in the hopes of getting drafted. With My Player mode, your guy he starts out in the summer league. If you didn’t purchase the Draft Combine then your guy starts out as an undrafted free agent in the summer league. You’re kind of getting that feel like the seating is only 20 percent full and it’s just not an important game. I don’t want to say you’re a no one, but you’re not that big star in the NBA environment yet. You have to really work hard in the summer league to even get an invite to training camp. If you do play well enough to get that invite, then all of the sudden you’re in this unique environment—the team facility. We have unique team facilities for every team. You’re in that environment playing against your own team. So, if you’re on the Lakers and you’re a shooting guard, then in training camp games you are going to be matched up against Kobe, which is obviously a tough challenge. But you have to perform to make the team. If you make the team, only then do you advance to the NBA, where you’re likely going to start off at the end of the bench because you’re a low-rated rookie. If you don’t perform well, we also do the NBA Development League this year, which you’ll get sent down to. You’ll get called back and forth, or teams will cut you, waive you, or trade you. We want it to be completely authentic in what it’s like for, not a Blake Griffin coming into the league, but some lowly second round pick—a Roger Mason, Jr. who has to work his way up to being a contributing player on a team.
GI: What are you doing to try and bring out the drama of this experience? Are you doing cut-scenes for big moments or is it all menu driven and stat driven?
Boenisch: Obviously with the draft sequence, when you continue with the combine, you will see that we’re in Madison Square Garden, we’re in the authentic draft environment, so you’re getting drafted there. David Stern is at the podium, and we wanted to start your career off that way. But as far as the whole philosophy of the mode, this isn’t about doing The Life, this isn’t about having crazy cutscenes and players going out to clubs and stuff. This is about you and your career, and we want every game to matter. Every time you play a game it’s going to have an impact on your career. We’re not forcing mindless practice modes on you—we don’t think people really want to do that. How many times do you want to go into a practice mode that doesn’t really affect your career? We want it to be fast-paced, completely authentic, and we don’t want to crazy story elements to it. Just game after game of fun, and the challenges that will pop up.
GI: How does the game judge your performance? Is it all stat based?
Jones: There are a couple things. Obviously your stats are important. Your actions are important. But we also have other conditions that are not necessarily stat based but are more logic based in terms of, you know, are you crowding an area where something is supposed to go? Are you a guard that’s standing on the block when you should be out on the perimeter? Are you playing your man as closely as you should? We factor a ton of different things that sort of dictate the performance of a player and not just your stat line.
GI: Is there a feedback system so players understand what they need to improve on?
Jones: You have a grade that is always there and as you either do well or do wrong, it will flash up and tell you exactly what you did right and exactly what you did wrong. It’s color based. Let’s say you throw a good pass because you saw a guy that was cutting, it will tell you good pass and flash green. Your grade will change whether you achieve levels or not, but that’s less important than just the feedback of “I did something wrong” or “I did something right.” And then at the end of the game, your performance gets analyzed by a mentor as he combs back through your most important stats and the most important things that you did wrong according to your grading.
Boenisch: The mentor’s whole goal, the 2K Insider, is to get you into the NBA and help you become a star so if you heed his advice you’re going to be in good hands.
Come back Monday for part two of our extensive interview, where we'll talk about gameplay updates, trading and more.
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发表于 2009-9-13 08:47:33
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