Forbes sat down with NBA 2K19 Senior Producer Erick Boenisch to discuss MyLeague, MyGM and Create-A-Player. Keep reading below to see what’s in store. You can read all about MyLeague’s changes in our previous post.
NBA 2K19 MyGM and Create-A-Player Details
MyGM is one of my favorite NBA 2K modes. This year’s MyGM is titled “MyGM: The Saga Continues”. Hopefully there aren’t any forced trades in this year’s edition like there was in 2K18. No matter how many times I reloaded that save, Shane Larkin was always sent away.
This year, you’ll be able to start with MyGM: The Saga Continues or a MyGM mode closer to NBA 2K17‘s. That choice will strip away all the story elements and you’ll jump right into managing your franchise’s business and roster.
Dubbed “Traditional MyGM”, you can choose an array of starting options such as expansion, slider changes, starting in the offseason as opposed to the regular season and more. You can also choose your difficulty from easy, medium, hard or a custom setting.
MyGM: The Saga Continues is a sequel to NBA 2K18‘s MyGM mode. Say goodbye to the franchise you built into a superstar because in 2K19, you’ll be taking the reigns of a new expansion.
This isn’t a bad thing as you’ll be able to fill out your staff with exactly who you want. Additionally, you can design your uniforms, create your arena and more. You’ll want to put the perfect team together to make your new owner, Tex Towers, happy.
Create-A-Player
Create-A-Player has had some much needed additions as well. In NBA 2K19, you’ll be able to fully sculpt your players head and face. This also includes skull, cheeks, nose, jaw, and so much more.
Even more importantly? Hair is customizable this year. You’ll be able to customize the style and color of your hair. Depending on style, some will also allow for changes in length. Patterns are also included this year like Taytum’s heartbeat pattern. You’ll be able to control your fade as well.
If you’re like me, you’re a gentlemen with a beautiful flowing beard attached to your face. Visual Concepts has your back. Unlike years’ past, you’ll be able to choose from over 50 different facial hair choices with stylization options.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to upload things like facemasks and tattoos. It makes sense for tattoos since consoles don’t have enough memory to have multiple sets of full sleeves.
“That system is incredibly robust. It would be near impossible to store full tattoo sets for up to 150 players in a draft class with the current first party constraints. Each tattoo set on a MyPLAYER is multiple megabytes each. You simply don’t get that much save space on a console from Sony/MS. I want to deliver something to our fans that will both entertain and delight, but it also needs to work within the constraints. One thing is for sure (if not obvious already), I don’t really like to invest time into something that we won’t all be happy with at the end of the day. I’m very much an all or nothing designer. The day will come.” – Erick Boenisch
New NBA Draft
The NBA Draft was given a rework as well in NBA 2K19. The draft presentation has changed to look more like it’s real-life counterpart. During the draft, pundits will give information and analysis on every player selected. This could range from why the team selected them to tidbits on things like wingspan or vertical and much more.
I’ll be interested to see what happens with a fully created, fictional draft and how information and analysis will change.
Player Mentorship
New to NBA 2K19 is player mentorships. This year, you’ll be able to assign a mentor to your NBA youngster in an attempt to customize how he develops and change his badges.
A player will learn best from someone in his position. Maybe Kyrie Irving starts to mentor Terry Rozier if you don’t believe that Iriving will come back to the Celtics. You don’t have to choose a player in that position, however. Choosing a player in a different position, say Aaron Baynes, will limit Rozier’s learning. The archetype and positions are different so Rozier will be limited in what he can learn from Baynes.
NBA 2K19 looks to be drastically different from NBA 2K18 when you’re off the court. I’ll be interested to see how these changes are implemented and how it changes the game. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
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