The Official NEXTGEN NBA 2K14 Impressions Thread

[JaoSming]

Same as before, except for the PS4/Xbox One versions of the game.


Did a 5 hourish session tonight, played some MC, MG, MT, and PARK. (ha)

Gameplay
*for comparison sake, I just played a minute or two of PC 2K14*
Compared to CG, the players are much more weighted, foot planting is great, and it just feels more realistic. That said, I can definitely still play the PC version graphically and gameplay wise after spending so much time with Next Gen. I felt like I had more control in Next Gen than PC though, a bit less seat-of-your-pants gameplay...if that makes any sense.

Graphics
Great and Meh at the same time. The graphics overall and in motion are jaw dropping. But paused and zoomed in, something about the players and environment seems off. I can't pinpoint it yet, but F 1024x512 ball textures (2x current gen), I got spoiled by my modded ball. T-shirt uniforms are in, but are static like PC. Park and Blacktop look amazing with the self shadows and hoop shadows from the sun.

Menus
F this menu system. You can have 5 concurrent MC or MG saves, I think. Or maybe 5 and 2. But you need to enter an option, then back out to get a list of all the things in that menu, then hit exit to goto the main screen. Just confusion.

MyCAREER
fuck MyCAREER, I really don't like this mode and the unskippable cutscenes don't make it better. It plays fine, the voice acting is fine, this just isn't my cup of tea. It does feel quite linear too, but I know you can make choices. I am not looking forward to playing it more, at least not past the cutscene I'm on because you need to enter MC to get to the Park....

MyGM
I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. In my brief time I knew it is detailed. I just didn't get into it with 400 viewers yelling at me, lol. Seems awesome though, but I really would have liked to see our beloved Association mode in NG. Even season mode has some cutscenes with the owner, and yes, dunk contest is in.

MyTEAM
I ended up with a shitty MT, but I got Brad Stevens and Singler?!,... eh

PARK
omfg Park. Only played 2 games on the short 3v3 full court and it was amazing. I had good teammates though. It was confusing with everyone wearing the same clothes, but shared chat and 2K14 NG gameplay = greatness. I did crash once in Park though, the first time no one was in Park, second time crash when loading a 3v3 game, and then I got to play.

Overall
Awesome amazing, can't wait to play more but its 5:45am, so happy I did midnight launch and streamed.
1.5out of 1.6, blame Leftos

[MmP]

I was about to call you out for not posting any NG impression after reading your tweets lol...thanx!

[KingDarealHD]

Anybody want Nextgen players in pc send me mugshot of them in game. Front-Side-Back-3 Quarter View but not necessary.

[skoadam]

Park make on me biggest impression. Just AWESOME.
Thx Jao for your determination to stream.

[shadowgrin]

Missed the stream. I'll just imagine your determination was as earth shattering as this...

phpBB [video]

[JaoSming]

I lost my shit when that guy was singing Space Jam during a Park game

[zz21]

I lost my shit when that guy was singing Space Jam during a Park game

lol that was me

[JaoSming]

thank you for that, lol

[WillyJakkz]

Thanks for the update.

I feel more in control of the players but am still adjusting to the controls at the same time, maybe because I was so used to them being kinda squirrely on current gen (not that they were bad at all).

Player models look great, even the white guys who for some reason they couldn't quite nail correctly in the past.

I only played one game (Rockets vs Heat, I was Houston) and it felt like I was playing against LeBron and Co irl while also playing as Harden and Co. LeBron literally ran the offense then took over when he needed to (when I would close the gap), he'd also sneak backdoor for alley-oops when I sagged off him, needless to say I lost. I got caught up a couple of times and so immersed in the gameplay and graphics I forgot I was actually playing a game, it looked so real along w the commentary.

If I could only figure out how to edit player gear then I'd be set!

Could post postgame highlights for those interested but from my tablet so quality won't be good guys.

[chicagoRAW]

Just got the game earlier today. Visually, it looks pretty damn nice. Plays great. Much better than current gen. Just overall player movement and passing is also much much better.

For some reason it feels like the graphics look better playing at the heat.

I'd have to play it way more to start nit picking about the gameplay. But first impressions, it plays awesome.

Not very impressed with some stadiums. Still don't like how the bulls court looks. Pacers court isn't updated. I really hate the parquet, just looks cheap (they could use the parquet they have for the magic court).

Player models and skin is fantastic. In that area this is definitely a next gen game graphically. I played Fifa and Madden next gen and they don't even come close.

Roster still has Gortat on the suns. Thought that was weird.

Update:
Sitting here for over 45mintes doing this my player crap. Can't skip through the cut scenes. Customization is almost nonexistent. Makes me mad they spent so much time on this mode doing these scenes instead of working on the game, making sure courts are accurate, etc.

[JaoSming]

Playing some MyCAREER. Some weirdness. Play draft game, go home (daytime), goto interview where the guy says "good game tonight..." like CG

In draft now, they splice in this year's Stern for each pick, got rid of the WHOA though, which is good. Ellis went before me to the Pistons, even though I destroyed him in the draft game. Jon Smith is going to the 76ers though (nice cutscenes, I kinda like it). Funny watching my guy to talk to 76ers people about Philly, while wearing a Bruins jersey and Celtics shorts, lol.

Aww yea, Casual Sliders in MC . The car driving and crib stuff is neat,....and Oden is starting for the Heat with Bosh out with an injury vs the Bulls. Didn't play in the first game 6ers win though! And skipping doesn't skip until you go in, it skips until the next interaction thing, which I got to choose to celebrate with my teammates during a TO instead of hanging on the bench. That was an easy 90VC lol. Same as CG, if you skip/sim parts of the game and end up at the halftime/end of game, the game will not generate highlights for you to watch. Aaand 2nd game sat. Surprisingly this is just as demoralizing as D-League in 2K10/11, but another 40VC. Also refused the "hazing/bullying" by J-Rich. Gave me 30k fans, but hurt teammate chemistry by 10%, lol.




OMG, they have specific animation packages for Park! Street dunks and dribbles There needs to be a sig skill or personality type to get these in the 5v5 games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhzdUmZIVuo

phpBB [video]

Up, did streetball moves in the real game, and now Thad Young is yelling at my in my second game, saying its my first game in the dialog

[Andrew]

Guess the in-game 76ers didn't get the recent anti-bullying/hazing memo.

[KingDarealHD]

What I've noticed with the next gen cyberfaces is the the eye and mouth sizes are alot smaller and realistic. Current gen the eyes are huge everyone has the same anime eyes. Next gen the eye socket and pupil varies, just like in real life. Only weird thing is the mouth gets really huge when they open it. Only reason for that because the players had to act out their emotions during the scan. Since they arent actors exxagerated the facial expressions lol. Overall they did a fantastic job with the visual that we first see. Just didnt do enough for me to buy a next gen system right off the back. Probably gonna wait till next year to buy a system. Everything is usually better a year or two after launch. Oh one more thing, the my career mode they need to scrap that and re-think there plan. Everyone my career leads to the same thing..

[GemInEye]

What I've noticed with the next gen cyberfaces is the the eye and mouth sizes are alot smaller and realistic. Current gen the eyes are huge everyone has the same anime eyes. Next gen the eye socket and pupil varies, just like in real life. Only weird thing is the mouth gets really huge when they open it. Only reason for that because the players had to act out their emotions during the scan. Since they arent actors exxagerated the facial expressions lol. Overall they did a fantastic job with the visual that we first see. Just didnt do enough for me to buy a next gen system right off the back. Probably gonna wait till next year to buy a system. Everything is usually better a year or two after launch. Oh one more thing, the my career mode they need to scrap that and re-think there plan. Everyone my career leads to the same thing..

Next gen body proportions are different, more realistic. I think the heads are bigger than CG but I could be wrong, maybe its just the better jersey sizes and skinnier bodies...
I hope they don't get rid of MyCarrer actually, they just need to improve it by not making it so linear. I wish more sports games did something like MyCareer where you get some actual story and characterization. It gets boring just playing games over and over trying to become champs.
I wanna see if MyCareer has any significant variations based off the position you pick. I always felt like MyCareer goals didn't take position into account enough, almost like the mode was made exclusively for guards

Questions for those with next gen version:

1. What options are available for editing players? Can we change their hairstyles, weight, wingspan, etc? What about headband color, are they still stuck with only 1 color for headbands? A video showing the options available would be much appreciated

2. Do they still have 2K share where u can share created players and rosters? If so, can you also share sliders?

3. Do they still have the shoe creator?

thanx and sorry if these Qs have been answered already

[JaoSming]

1. What options are available for editing players? Can we change their hairstyles, weight, wingspan, etc? What about headband color, are they still stuck with only 1 color for headbands? A video showing the options available would be much appreciated

By memory, since I couldn't download any rosters (you goto Roster Creator option in NBA Today, then use a 2Kshare roster or the official roster as a base), hair no, weight I forget, wingspan yes, I think no to headband color options.

2. Do they still have 2K share where u can share created players and rosters? If so, can you also share sliders?

Yes but not how we know it. No CAP in the game, but you can share rosters. Cannot share sliders. Can share draft classes.

3. Do they still have the shoe creator?

yes

[zz21]

i might have to make a space jam my career when i get it...

[athozoan]

Do they still have the cheerleaders I just waned to know if they got a upgrade one more do notice difference in gameplay with the personalty badges

[Phreak50]

Agree on the graphics. Good and bad at the same time. Players are great, the extra polys are superb and the textures stunning.

The ball and courts however are low res. I mean, the text on the courts are blurry ffs.

Plus, the new stadium lighting is just way off. 2K create nice visuals but not true to life visuals. Example... load up the Spurs court... so blurry and hazy. Uggh.

And while the 60fps motion is nice (My PC version runs at 60fps but the next gen version must have more frames of animation in general because it's much smoother) it is in no way 60fps constant. There are small drops here and there. Pretty disappointing seeing them a little during gameplay but there are big frame rate drops during after basket cutscenes.

Audio is better than current gen. Many more unique stadium sounds, better rim sounds, dynamics etc.

Overall, a good first effort but not the jaw dropping experience I was expecting.

[Marek]

Jesus Christ, guys, did you see this video?

phpBB [video]

99% of next-gen cyberfaces looks terrible! I just couldn't believe my eyes...Are 2K blind or something? They look TERRIBLE!

[Phreak50]

99%? I think you're going overboard there.

I own the game and most of nextgen faces look better. Plus, they've been created to handle the advanced animations, so not every still frame is going to look the same, or the best representation of each player.

Not saying it's perfect but by far better.

[Mr.13 in 33]

Game looks amazing and my cousin and friends get mad at me because i always get Real Madrid and beat them lol

[JaoSming]

Fuck VC.

[iamLillard]

Fuck VC.

vc.???

[JaoSming]

Virtual Currency. It has ruined Park for me with all the paid for 99s running around, that is if I can palease get into and finish a game. You get minimal amounts from playing (100-200 a game) and I've been trying to spread it between my MC player or MyGM. I really think I need to do the terrible thing and just write off MyCAREER and focus on MyGM once the roster update comes out. It's just frustrating to save up VC for such minimal upgrades.

[iamLillard]

Virtual Currency. It has ruined Park for me with all the paid for 99s running around, that is if I can palease get into and finish a game. You get minimal amounts from playing (100-200 a game) and I've been trying to spread it between my MC player or MyGM. I really think I need to do the terrible thing and just write off MyCAREER and focus on MyGM once the roster update comes out. It's just frustrating to save up VC for such minimal upgrades.

at the end of the day only U know what's worth it ... and U know how much found u have for this kind of updates...