Modding Progress

[Dee4Three]

Hi all,

What are your expectations coming into NBA 2k17 in regards to modding? It's looking like the player models may be the same as NBA 2k16, meaning the possibility of those players from 2k16 to be used in 2k17 (Remember, we weren't able to use 2k15 in 2k16).

Do we know if GregKWaste will be around for another round of "2k Explorer"? I am fully expecting Limnono to make his tool again for the new game. The only thing crucial (IMO) thats missing from NBA 2k16 modding was the ability to create our own rosters (UBR/URB style, etc). However, there were key findings throughout the process. PeacemanNot found out how to change team names, I figured out how convert courts from past 2k games, People were making cyberfaces (and cyberface edits), we found out how to edit Jerseys (My brother and I made the 92-93 Suns jerseys), etc.

Important to me -

+ Better opportunity for roster making
+ Limnono tool release
+ 2k Explorer release (GregKWaste/TBM)
+ Same court editing/jersey editing capabilities
+ Same soundtrack editing capabilities
+ MORE TALENTED MODDERS to come out of the woodwork. We have a great community, I know there are more PeacemanNots/TBM's etc out there.
+ Ability to use players from NBA 2k16 if needed

I'd like to be able to put together a "All Time Best Teams" roster for the community (That's complete!)

I am loving the new lighting I am seeing in the screenshots. Figured I would start this thread to get the modding conversation going!

Last edited by Dee4Three on Sat Sep 17, 2016 3:41 am, edited 3 times in total.

Well first off we need Greg. If he's not around then modding is pretty much out of the window.

Well first off we need Greg. If he's not around then modding is pretty much out of the window.

I know, I worry about that. Every couple years we need to lean on one particular modder (or two) for certain programs. Greg is a HUGE part of the modding community for Next Gen (If not the biggest).

Part of the reason I am posting this is to see who is really pumped about modding NBA 2k17. We have a couple years under our belt now (I know personally I was able to make some progress from 2k15 to 2k16).

2K's roster files have never been easy to work with, compared to the DBF files NBA Live PC utilised back in the day. Vlad did some tremendous work for a few years there, but it wasn't easy to crack open. I have a feeling nothing much will change there, though if some of the organisation changes in NBA 2K16 are any indication, the art files are probably still going to be reasonably modder-friendly.

The other barrier will be the encryption on save files, which is a by-product of being tied to Steam/PSN/Xbox Live accounts, due to the online content, microtransactions, and so forth. I expect that's going to remain an issue, because of the digital platform. That means custom rosters will have to be distributed in-game. Viable enough, but it doesn't help if the servers are down, or when they're eventually shut down.

I talked about this in last week's Friday Five, and I believe the best solution is more in-game customisation. Venturing outside of what I expect to see into what I'd like to see for a moment: we can already edit a lot of player attributes and assign them in Create-a-Player, but access to a few more hidden attributes and bio data would help us create detailed rosters. The more detailed the player creation tools, the less need we have to externally edit the rosters. If there was Create-a-Team with the same functionality as the team creation in 2K Pro-Am, team re-branding and relocation, and now league expansion, we could feasibly do everything we used to do, in-game. As I said in the article, the same infrastructure could be used to import custom textures, with a feature like EA's old Face in the Game, as well as the face scanning we have now, allowing us to easily put new faces into the game. It would be amazing if the only external manipulation we had to perform were on the custom textures that we wanted to import.

I didn't mention it in the article (only five points, and I have to admit that it completely slipped my mind), but native support for custom files - ie what the External File Plugin has achieved - would also help immensely. NBA Live's CustomArt folders definitely made those games a lot easier to mod, especially the approach in NBA Live 2005-08.

Incidentally, some time back I passed along these ideas (with additional details) to the development team, because it never hurts to ask and suggest things. Getting back to my expectations, I'm not sure that I expect many of those ideas to be implemented in NBA 2K17, but I feel there's a chance we could see some deeper in-game customisation tools. If there's a need for a lot of external manipulation/modding, then hopefully Greg or someone else with similar knowledge can figure things out. Otherwise, we'll need to figure out a way to make do with the tools we do have.

I'll be modding for sure.

I'll be modding for sure.

So Greg is returning?

I'll be modding for sure.

So Greg is returning?

.... Crossing my fingers....

In my opinion we just need a proper roster editor, we've pretty much have the necessary ability to make a full conversion mod like UBR/URB mod, such as Cyberfaces,Courts and Jerseys. I think the most important thing right now heading into 2k17 is trying to get a roster editor somehow then again i know its easier said then done.

Im not too worried about the encryption of the files i think they'll be pretty similar to NBA 2k16 and hopefully Greg or someone else can come with another 2k Explorer. I cannot wait to mod this game just keeping my fingers crossed for a successful year in modding.

I'm most excited for a community generated College Mod.

As I understand it now with re-branding, and league expansion, as well as the addition users to create complete teams, I don't see why a full 30-36 team college mod can't be achieved.
I love the college mods for NBA 2k14, and have logged over 600 hours since I bought it in 2014, and have never even played an NBA game (I had a "next-gen" copy on PS4). It just doesn't seem like all the resources are near the level of NBA 2k14......................yet.

With this generation of games, the only way to truly get some mods on the level of 2k14 is to have a very strong community. We have to stick together and work together. We must also be more organized.

Many of the past great modders have become older and take on more responsibilities outside of modding. We all have families, many work jobs to support families, we have other interests that consume our time also. The only way I see modding making a big comeback is if we start supporting and cooperating with each other. We can show everyone that PC is the defenitive version of this game.

The NLSC community can lead the way.

We need some investigation as soon as the game is released.

Agreed. Sharing knowledge and resources is vital moving forward.

My problem with last year: I had to overwrite current teams to make new classic teams (Example: I had to overwrite the current Mavericks to make the 10-11 Mavericks). A simple team cloning option would open up so many doors for us. NBA 2k13/14 was so easy to work with because of RED MC.

I am crossing my fingers that Greg comes back and creates his tool, and we can get team cloning figured out. I'll be honest, not only did I pre-order, but I really have my hopes up for 2k17 being a breakthrough year for the modding community.

Really hoping this is the case.

For me, expectations are extremely low sadly. I don't anticipate much modding progress, or buying the game at all, due to that first statement. But with guys like Dee4Three, and TBM around, there's always that "hope" that we could have another modding golden age like we had up to 2k14, before next gen, before the talent poaching 2K sports did to this community. Although I only check these forums every month or so, so as not to be too disappointed. Good luck everyone!

We need more people interested in the aspect of creating classic teams/seasons. I feel like nobody really approached this for 2k16 (Maybe because of no roster editor). Skoadam doesn't want to go near next gen because of the gameplays weaknesses, which I totally agree with him on a lot of what he says... Hawk got a new job and can't produce for NBA 2k14 anymore, and the other modders who would assist in the UBR and URB have no interest in coming near next gen until the tools are available and the gameplay gets the correct tweaks. The gameplay tweaks commonly mentioned by Sko and others with 2k16 I agree with.

Im hoping this year is the gameplay breakthrough.

FYI, just some good news, I've found out how to edit team accessory/sock/shoe colours and I'm pretty sure it will be possible in NBA 2K17. This is Australia on placement of the Milwaukee Bucks:

FYI, just some good news, I've found out how to edit team accessory/sock/shoe colours and I'm pretty sure it will be possible in NBA 2K17. This is Australia on placement of the Milwaukee Bucks:

[ Image ]

I'm hoping for a new PC soon!

We need more people interested in the aspect of creating classic teams/seasons. I feel like nobody really approached this for 2k16 (Maybe because of no roster editor). Skoadam doesn't want to go near next gen because of the gameplays weaknesses, which I totally agree with him on a lot of what he says... Hawk got a new job and can't produce for NBA 2k14 anymore, and the other modders who would assist in the UBR and URB have no interest in coming near next gen until the tools are available and the gameplay gets the correct tweaks. The gameplay tweaks commonly mentioned by Sko and others with 2k16 I agree with.

Im hoping this year is the gameplay breakthrough.

Still waiting for your 2k14 music tutorial Dee

Well if highschool is out, we can just add the fictional hs teams from 2k16.

I think we need to list tge mods we want to create or see. I will try to add new/ replace colleges in 2k17

Ill be working on a fantasy draft roster that includes all the hidden players. Also a Best Teams roster that includes new classic teams/filled classic teams.

I'm very dissappointed no youtubers modded my career. Its pretty easy to swap the black family with other cfs in the game.

I saw two mycareers with real players but no one swapped the other characters.

Also suprised no one used the young cfs for leftos n jaosming.

So i think we should have a modder's challenge thread. Every other week we try to create a mod based on a new theme.


A few ideas
Mycareer dynamic duos mods:
I'd try to create Jaosming n Leftos, Splash Bros, KAT n Wiggins

College mods for my career:
I'd try to do a college career at Duke back when Jabari was there.

Or Kentucky with John wall,Cousins, and Bledsoe,

Any body have ideas for mod themes?

My PC just broke and I can't afford to fix it so I won't be modding it seems. I don't know what that means for modding tools this year, but yeah. It's not looking good.

Well fuck. This is REALLY bad news for whole community... Sad to hear this, since TBM is one of the best modders since I joined NLSC 2 years ago