NBA 2K16 MyLEAGUE and MyGM Details

Team Building

A franchise mode is only as good as its core. The core of NBA 2K’s franchise mode are the logic systems. I’m talking trading logic, signing logic, the simulator, progression/regression, and Team Building. We continue to make strides in all of these areas each and every year. This year I wanted to take a different approach to our annual logic improvements. Dave Z, Tim, Leftos, and I huddled pretty much all year long to discuss how we were going to make Team Building our focus, and how it would affect the other logic sub-systems.

With Tim doing the heavy lifting, we put together a plan that would truly set our logic apart from any other simulation on the market. As succinctly as I can, I’ll try and break down our approach:

• Give teams the ability to be forward thinking. Historically, teams have lived in the ‘now’. They now live in both the ‘now’ as well as the ‘future’. More so than ever, teams are incredibly aware of the state of their roster. They can properly assess when it is time to leverage their assets (draft picks, young prospects) into bonafide stars if that is what they need to elevate their current roster to contender status. They can better assess when it is time to start a full rebuild. They have a true awareness to the quality of the upcoming draft, meaning, if the class is weak, they won’t value lotto picks nearly as much as if the class is strong and/or if it has a generational player sitting at the top of it.
• To present ‘Team State’ for every team to the user. We want you to better understand the moves that teams are making. Without context, it can be difficult to follow along with why teams make the decisions they do. To solve that, we now have a new screen in the game called ‘Team Intel’:
  • This screen allows you to trigger through each team and learn about what they are up to. You can quickly view if a team thinks it is Rebuilding, Selling, Contending, or Buying.
  • You will get a one-line statement from your Assistant GM that summarizes, in a nutshell, what kind of moves (if any) he thinks the team is willing to make.
  • You will be able to quickly view which players a team currently has on their Trading Block.
  • It will offer you insight into any players the team may currently be targeting (CPU teams maintain constantly evolving Target Lists), whether that be through a trade right now, or through free agency in upcoming offseasons. The key take-away from the second half of the last sentence is this. Teams now think. They plan. They strategize. And we’ve programmed them to be pretty efficient at what they do. They have a plan and they don’t want your junk. They keep their eyes on the prize. If LeBron is going to hit the market in the offseason, a number of teams who think they can reasonably land him will work very hard to ensure they have the cap space to make him the max offer needed to reign him in. This type of logic never happened in previous NBA 2Ks.
  • You can look at a list of players the team currently views as ‘Untouchable’ on their roster. When you see this, don’t even bother offering for those players. They either aren’t moving them, or they will make you pay dearly to acquire them. Their Team Building logic values them intensely.
  • You can also quickly view the expiring contracts on a given team. This can be extremely handy when you yourself are looking to create cap space in the upcoming season. We’ve made it easier for you to target these players.
  • In NBA 2K16, teams do a much better job of looking at their roster post-trade when deciding if they should bite on a trade offer. Previously, a trade offering good value would be jumped on. This year, even if the trade offers them REALLY good value, they may pass solely because, for example, the trade may leave them without a true starting point guard when they think they are good enough to make a deep run in the playoffs. This inherently makes it more difficult to perform trades in MyGM and MyLEAGUE this year. Fortunately for you, opposing GMs will now tell you exactly why they are not interested in your trade offers. It may be that they feel like they would be too thin at a position post-trade, or maybe they just don’t feel like the age of the player you are trading them meshes with their current roster. It could be any number of reasons. The take-home point here is that we tell you why they are making the decisions they are making. Listen to what they are saying. Try not to get frustrated; it’s not as easy as it used to be. More than ever, you will have to give to get. Personally, I’m LOVING the challenge.
  • Teams value players VERY differently. Let’s take Joe Johnson’s 2015-16 contract as an example. To the right team, Joe Johnson can be an INCREDIBLY value trade piece. He has a massive $25M expiring contract. On a scale of 5-stars, the right team may value him as a 4-star player, solely based on the fact that he can clear a ton of cap in the offseason, thus giving them a chance to make max offers to the big name players of the upcoming free agent class. On the other hand, some teams won’t value him nearly as high. These teams are trying to win, and while Joe Johnson still shows a respectable amount of skill, the teams realize that what they have to give up, player-wise, to match his $25M salary does not make sense for their winning ambitions. We do a good job this year of showing how opposing teams value each player on your roster. It’s pretty cool to trigger through the teams and see the star-values change.

Ticker

The most compelling aspect of a franchise mode, to me, is the storytelling. Sports are full of drama. You have star players getting hurt that change the landscape of a league. You have players demanding trades and/or getting traded. You have general league news. You have game results. You have upcoming key games. I don’t think we have ever done a tremendous job of presenting this type of information in a medium that is easy for you to consume. Enter the Ticker.

The Ticker is exactly what it sounds like. Let me start off by saying that you aren’t going to appreciate this feature until you have the game in your hands and have spent some time with it. We have carved out a space on every single screen in the modes, where we will present you with a continuously scrolling ticker containing the latest news from around the league. You’ll certainly see last night’s scores and who the leading scorers were for each team. You’ll see tonight’s matchups. You’ll see the latest news headlines. Later in the season, you’ll start to see all-star weekend content, and eventually draft previews and big boards. If you are IN THE DRAFT, you will see real-time updates of the pick order and who each team has picked.

SimCast Live

In NBA 2K15, we introduced a new way to simulate games, SimCast. The reception for this feature was, frankly, overwhelming. We’ve listened to all of your feedback on the subject and have crafted yet another way for you to consume games in NBA 2K16.

SimCast Live, in a nutshell, is the hybrid version of simulating a game and playing it. It’s a coach mode for the armchair quarterback. In a true game cast fashion, you will watch representational ‘chips’ of the players move around the court in real-time. You won’t be controlling player movement, but instead, you’ll be pulling ALL of the strings. You’ll be calling plays on both ends of the court. You’ll be making substitutions as needed. You’ll be making POE and strategy changes as needed. In order to get through games quicker, you will be able to adjust the speed of the simulation on-the-fly from real-time speed all the way to up to 6x the normal speed.

• 3-Team Trades. They are back! Tweet pictures to Ronnie, I want to see the best 3-Team Trades you can pull off!
• Autosave OFF – In MyLEAGUE, you will now have the ability to disable the Autosave feature. Additionally, you will be able to ‘Save As’ copies of your MyLEAGUE, thus creating multiple instances of it. I hear you…and here you are!
• Multiple Injuries – Since the beginning of recorded video game time, a player could only have one injury at a time. In NBA 2K16, you can now have up to two simultaneous injuries per player.
• More MyLEAGUE Customization Sliders – In our continued efforts to make this the most customizable franchise mode in sports, we have added some new sliders to help you out. These include an adjustable Salary Cap Value, Salary Cap Inflation Rate, Injury Severity, Injury Duration, Player Regression Rate, and more.
• MyLEAGUE Automation – For those users who like to control multiple (or all 30!) teams, but don’t want to perform all of the actions of running that team, we now have a new screen where you can completely customize your level of control with a given team.
• Player Lock – Under the Options menu in both MyGM and MyLEAGUE, there is a hidden gem of an option called ‘Position Settings’. In this menu, you can choose to play your franchise either player locked to your favorite player or locked to a given position. Definitely a unique way to play the modes that people will uncover as they explore everything we have to offer.
• MyLEAGUE Setup Slider Sharing – Let’s be honest, MyLEAGUE has a LOT of customization sliders at this point. We now allow you to save your custom slider set so you don’t have to tweak them all every time you want to start a new MyLEAGUE. Additionally, these slider sets can be uploaded and shared for others to use.
• Gameplay Slider Sharing – Additionally, you can now also save, load, and share your User/CPU sliders for others to download and use. Obtaining the perfect 2K experience customized to your liking has never been easier or quicker.
• Training Slider Sharing – We like to create work for ourselves, for your benefit. You can ALSO save, load, and share your Team Training sliders in both MyGM and MyLEAGUE. Finding the PERFECT set of sliders is something that can take a lot of time. Now, you can quickly switch between different sets of sliders depending on how you want your team to focus. Do you have the perfect set of Training sliders? Upload and share them with the rest of the community.
• Long-Term Owner Goals (MyGM) – Your owner will now give you goals that extend beyond just the current season. Some of these can feel a little tough (depending on the personality of the owner and how demanding he is), but remember, you have a few seasons to pull them off. Be calm, keep your eye on the prize, and don’t lose track of the target.
• Customizable Progression/Regression – Every player in the league now has a unique editable entry called ‘Peak Start’ and ‘Peak End’. ‘Peak Start’ is the age at which players have developed as much as they can, and will not see additional ratings increases outside of training. ‘Peak End’ is the age at which players will start their inevitable ratings decline. This is all in your control now!
• NEW STATS – LOTS of new Player and Team stats that will give you more insight on your players than ever before. My personal favorite addition here is the ability to see Opponent FGA/M and FG% PER PLAYER. Finding the best defensive stoppers in the league has never been easier.
• All-New Landing Menu/Calendar – We’ve completely re-designed the landing menu for the modes to incorporate your team calendar, the latest social media news, your personal target list of players you want to acquire, your team’s trade block (CPU teams will inquire about the players you put up here), and your untouchable list (CPU will NOT inquire about the players you put up here). It’s a design that had a lot of thought put into it with respect to usability.
• The 2016 NBA Offseason – We’ve all read stories about how the salary cap is going to jump next offseason, and create a whole new free agent market. How will it play out? Find out right here in NBA 2K16!