https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/20 ... s-gameplay
New Takeover System
One of the more noticeable changes coming to NBA 2K19 is a new game system that celebrates the idea that any NBA player can take over a game at any time. Think of this Takeover concept as a more nuanced take on the “On Fire” system from the arcade classic NBA Jam.
The way Takeover works is players of each archetype have unique ways to exert their dominance during a game. For instance, playmakers take over by setting up teammates for easy buckets, rim protectors change the trajectory of a game by locking down the paint, etc. As the player exercises his will against the opponent using his specialties, he builds up a takeover meter. Once activated, you will see an on fire badge underneath the player on the court, which indicates the player has unlocked a new tier of special animations and badges that align with their archetype. For instance, playmakers like Rajon Rondo won’t suddenly be raining down threes while on fire NBA Jam style. Instead, they may get Dimer and Ankle Breaker boosts.
Holding the left bumper button, you can check where all your players on the court are at in terms of activating their Takeover. Multiple players on the same team can activate Takeovers at the same time, as well, making for some intriguing combinations. But beware, if your players struggle they can also develop cold streaks. These diminish gradually over time, but you can try to accelerate coming out of their funk by calling a timeout.
"I like it, it's a little meta game to think about how you play with players,” Wang says.
Dramatically Reduced Clipping
The switch to the new motion system in NBA 2K18 brought some unexpected problems. Immersion was often shattered due to excessive clipping where limbs, heads, and basketballs morphed through players’ bodies. Making it worse, these rough animations weren’t just limited to the high-traffic areas; we saw them in one-on-one situations on the perimeter as well.
“It was embarrassing,” Wang admits. “There was a bug that we didn't find until very, very late with the collision detection. That's another thing that we're working on right now. We're spending a lot of time trying to make sure you just can't go through players and stopping them when you try to run into guys.”
I only played four or five games of NBA 2K19, so I’m reporting off a small sample size, but during each game, I paused and watched instant replays when bodies clashed in the paint and on the perimeter to see if the collisions were still compromised, and all the animations looked clean. Arms reacted naturally to contact and bodies slammed into each other instead of clipping through. Wang says Visual Concepts is continuing to hone this in the lead-up to launch to minimize clipping as much as possible.
“It's hard to make it foolproof because it's a game and if we made it so every time a limb got hit the ball would knock loose it would be chaos,” Wang says. “But you definitely won't see the major bodies going inside other bodies and heads.
Rebuilt Stealing System
We’ve all been in a situation defending off-ball and see an opportunity to swipe at an unprotected ball, yet nothing happens when we press the steal button. Visual Concepts has wanted to re-examine this system for a while now, and finally had the time to address it with NBA 2K19.
Successful steal opportunities are now governed by a zone system that judges vulnerability. Defenders who recognize prime stealing opportunities where the ball is exposed – during open-bodied hesitation dribbles and when post players aren’t protecting the ball from secondary defenders, for example – will be rewarded for their smart timing. Dribblers can’t just string together moves with no concern about the defender’s reach anymore. Reading those situations correctly and stealing at the right time will pop the ball out a lot easier.
But these aren’t always clean wins with unobstructed paths to the hoop; building off the more unpredictable loose balls of NBA 2K18, sometimes both players will scramble for possession when it's knocked free.
Returning Skill To One-On-Ones
Last year’s new motion system made it easier to blow by defenders with speed, but it went too far. Even lockdown defenders could be taken right off the dribble with startling regularity. This has been reworked in NBA 2K19 to make stick skills matter more than before and restore balance to the one-on-one interactions.
"We have to make this game more about bringing back the skill gap and making it about the users, the skill on the sticks to be successful,” Wang says. “It's all about matching your stick to where the guy's trying to get to. That's where you'll get the set-offs, the brick walls. You'll get blow-bys if the guy's stick is the wrong way."
Defenders also can’t just rely on holding the left trigger to be in the ideal situation to contest a shot. The automated contest system has been removed, so defenders need to actively get a hand in the shooter’s face by using the right analog stick if they want to affect the shot.
Offensively, the dribblers have some new tools at their disposal as well. Flicking the right stick activates signature walking size-ups. Wang also says good ball handlers should find NBA 2K19 a lot more responsive and fluid in terms of branches and combos.
