Modding NBA 2K11 - NLSC's Andrew still a MOFO ;)

     Hi everybody! I just finished the best DLC ever done for NBA 2K11 which is the best game ever made. It's the 1995-96 NBA season. We are in October now so basically this DLC took me pretty much the whole 2018 of course including the breaks I worked on the other DLCs I posted this year. More details about the 1995-96 DLC will follow in a future post.

     After reading MOFO Andrew's latest post about modding 2K11 on HIS NLSC forum, I suddenly felt good about myself. In case you slept under a rock in the last 5 years, you should know that most of the game modders and patchers left NLSC because of the unfair treatment they've got from Australian 'asshole extraordinaire' Andrew...Bagley I think it's his last name. Yes, everybody knows that Australians are the biggest assholes in the world; I personally experienced that with countless Australians I've met when I worked in Vietnam where Aussies go to live a gangster lifestyle because drugs, tobacco, alcohol and women are very cheap (and in case you wondered I don't use any of those!). Andrew banned me for being honest in my opinions and straightforward about charging money for my work although I never asked for money on NLSC(!) and I donated all my work to their forum in 2014 and 2015 and they are still using my patches today without my consent after I got kicked out.

     Anyway, Andrew was complaining this week about how difficult it is to create Roster packages for NBA 2K11 compared to the NBA Live series. Well, doh!! This is why my Roster packages are gold especially for me working 2-3 years until I found my formula to make the gameplay and the players skills and tendencies realistic and on top of that historically accurate!

     Andrew said: "One of the reasons that it’s taking so long to finish the roster update is that I greatly underestimated the time it takes to create players. Back when I was making the roster updates for NBA Live, creating new players didn’t take nearly as much time. Players only had around twenty ratings that could be assigned in-game, plus a few attributes and elements of bio data that needed to be added externally via DBF editing. In NBA 2K11, there is a much more detailed set of ratings to add and balance, not to mention tendencies and signature animations. As such, creating a player takes longer than I’m used to, and that’s not even counting external editing with REDitor II." Welcome to my world, you little old fart haha!...

    And now the reason ALL mods you ever played outside of those made by me play weird in an arcade style is because people like Andrew and those who created the old 2K11 mods don't pay much attention to the specifics of each real player taken historically. In his own words, "I've changed up my approach again and am now just creating players with their basic bio data, accessories, and a few signature animations, with the intention of going back and fixing up ratings, tendencies, and so forth once all the players are in the roster". Let me tell you one thing: they never go back to fix those issues, never! And that's why you get those free, unfinished and thus unplayable mods since NBA 2K9.

     Contrary to those patchers like Andrew, I watched a lot of NBA from different eras. I started watching NBA in 1991 and played pickup and amateur basketball for more than 10 years. I have the same symptoms now as Steve Nash (very bad back) and Charles Barkley (busted knees). But I know one thing: I understand how players should move on the court, the way they play both offensively and defensively. The beauty of 2K11 is all these tendencies can be adjusted if you can find the right formula to apply to guards differently than to forwards or centers. I remind you that the famous 1991-92 and the less famous 1996-97 mods had lousy player ratings although graphically were outstanding. I don't know about you but I don't care how good Shaq looks if he moves and scores like a guard. Do yourself a favor: if you do something in your life, do it properly! Welcome to my game. ;) The 1995-96 DLC is next! :)

Levy's 2006-07 Season DLC is launched (as a tribute to the revolutionary PHX Suns from the 2000s)

       Now that I have found the best formula that makes the game even more realistic than it was before, we can apply it to the new season mods I have just created in June and July 2018. :) But let's start with the most recent one.

       It was the summer of 2006 when I realized the NBA Live series after the 2005 edition wasn't just no fun anymore but it became unplayable for serious, experienced gamers like me. Granted, it was the last videogame I enjoyed on Windows XP. Yeah, good old times you might say...

       At that exact time I lived and travelled through half of USA not having much time for gaming nor watching NBA on TV except for a brief moment to enjoy the Finals that year when Nowitzki's DAL Mavericks battled Dwayne Wade's MIA Heat.

       The first laptop I bought was a very nice refurbished Toshiba Satellite that could run the new NBA Live 2007, released in October 2006. Back then one of my European friends hosted me in his small flat in Queens, NY. The game itself was very buggy and used to crash all the time so I got frustrated. My laptop got frustrated too and decided to give blow up the processor exactly one day before my US visa expired and my long flight back to Europe.

       I remember me travelling up and down Manhattan trying to find the Toshiba repair center. Of course they couldn't help fix it in less than 24 hours; luckily my international warranty helped me get a new processor for free in Europe 3 months later. I am sure the greedy corporation don't cover you anymore worldwide nowadays!

      So this is how I missed the NBA gaming experience for about a year because as soon as I interrupted the joy for 4 months, it simply wasn't there anymore for me... My biggest wish was to refresh that year in my mind somehow and be able to play that season where I have left off.

       That being said, you already know I am a huge PHX Suns fan. Well, the NBA today is what it is thanks to coach Mike D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns team from that era! They had the best team in scoring, 3 point shooting and passing those years. Of course they also ruined the defensive side of basketball at that time but people were to busy watching the new showtime so they didn't notice the lack of defense Steve Nash & Co had. Personally I loved the flow of the game but I was a bit concerned with the missing D. And that is exactly why I can rarely watch NBA nowadays...

       Anyway, here I am 12 years later creating this superb 2006-2007 Season DLC for NBA 2K11 so anyone nostalgic like me or simply just curious about that era can play this in 2018 and the following years.

       Now, a few things about this DLC. Since I had to change all players cyberface ID because of the new system I am using, this meant almost every player got a new, upgraded CF. Some of them are more realistic than others, some use lookalike CFs because nobody ever made a cyberface for them. Unlike the 2K12-2K13-2K14 mods at least my game has CFs for ALL players even the obscure ones! Yes, I used everything I could get my hand on to add high definition textures to 3D models I had. The results are great.

       Before haters come and try to bash my work, let me tell you that I have always charged money ONLY for the Roster file that I personally created from scratch, with NO HELP from anyone. The graphic part is an immense collection of pieces I had found over the years on the internet and compiled into my game - you are not paying for those because they were free and remain free. One more thing: although I had them, I chose to eliminate the portraits from all DLCs I created.

       Briefly, the 2006-07 DLC contains:
- realistic gameplay based on a formula I came up with after 3(!) years of testing that gives realistic scores/percentages
- historical accurate skills and tendencies for each player based on a formula that is using real stats from NBA players career (it calculates career average ratings per 36 minutes from the data sheet on https://www.basketball-reference.com)
- some players' names were tweaked so it matches the game's list and the arena announcers can tell it; some players can't be matched with the 2K list so I chose to use the "Money" nickname for at least it sounds like a made basket when they score (if you don't like it, you can change these things in the game by editing the player's bio)
- real coaches names with real height, cyberfaces and experience years
- real arenas and jerseys for each team
- an NBA TV presentation
- a few dornas with ads from that era (this I intend to improve to get a real historical feel)

       This DLC comes with all the necessary files plus the Roster file and the Season Mode file where I set up the historical accurate lineups. Be warned you will need to use my Game Sliders and Coach Profile plus Fatigue as substitution method that is in the Settings file (don't worry it will be all send it to you by email!). If you want to understand how my version of the game works, you should go to the How To Play The Game link on this blog. There are explanations about the Game Settings, Game (Active Coach Mode) Sliders and the Universal Coach Profile.

         In case you're interested in acquiring this mod, send me an email to leeunagi@gmail.com first and then I will provide you with my PayPal account where you can send your payment for this mod. After I cleared your payment, I will send you an email containing the Roster (ROS) file and the Season Mode file.

Levy's PHX Dynasty: Intro

LEVY’S PHOENIX SUNS DYNASTY

(A 2K11 Association Mode based on Levy’s 1997-98 DLC and future updates)

We all remember the 2006 NBA Live basketball PC game which came out in the autumn of 2005. That’s when I played a ‘dynasty mode’ last time. So this year it’s been exactly 12 years since then! All this time I craved for a decent game to exercise my itchy fingers to play something similar – and that is happening NOW with NBA 2K11, still the best basketball videogame up to day. ;)

            I remember I liked the NBA Live series by EA Sports but they were missing some visual aspects that nowadays the market is oversaturated with. Unfortunately the NBA 2K series has taken a step back starting with NBA 2K12…which is why I enjoy using 2K11 and have modded the shit out of it too. :)) If you followed my work on the infamous NLSC website and Moddingway, you know I am talking volume here. :)

            So let’s get going with what seems to me to be the biggest NBA gaming experience so far over the last 20+ years (I started playing basketball videogames in the late 90s).

I am huge Phoenix Suns fan since I watched the Suns playing for the first time in 1991-1992 and then of course my basketball world was shaken in 1993 when Barkley & Co. lost to the UnstopaBulls following an injury of Cedric Ceballos who was a starter and possibly a Scottie Pippen stopper. Therefore I always chose Phoenix when playing NBA games no matter if it was on PlayStation 1 or 2 or PSP or PC.

            This year I thought of trying something new. I got tired of screwing around with the controller settings because the game always evolves. Actually the game is a code and it doesn’t evolve only adapts to us. The gamers evolve by becoming better at controlling the players in the game. That means we end up changing the game settings and sliders every now and then to make it more challenging. Well, you might like to do that every second week but I got bored of it!

Another aspect of basketball I like is coaching and managing. I did that in real life for a short time too. Because there is NO decent basketball manager game on the market although I tried pretty much all of them, I decided to try the Coach Mode in NBA 2K11 (which stupidly enough doesn’t exist in the newer instalments of NBA 2K!). And this is when the biggest surprise happened. With all the adjustments to the gameplay and the realistic player attributes I made over the years, with this mode on the game looks completely different. It is so good that beats the real NBA games on TV nowadays. You should try it sometimes but don’t forget to use my DLCs if you want realistic results! :)

Enough said. I will dedicate the following pages to write about the evolution of my Phoenix Dynasty game. And I will start by saying I was so busy having fun with it that I didn’t have time to even write about it. I only saved some in-game print screens and kept some important moments from several games I managed this first season.

The starting year is 1997 to be exact which was a great time to watch NBA as opposed to what is going on these days. Of course the whole 90s decade was dominated by Chicago with the exception of 1994 and 1995 when Michael Jordan decided to focus on his personal life and Houston had a great champion calibre team which brought them two trophies in a row.

            Before I go any further, I have to share some tips with you about the game settings so you understand why things happen the way they happen in my game.

            The general rule if you want my DLC to work is let the game handle the player skills I adjusted with REDeditor. As you might know, I used some formulas to insert realistic values in the Roster file based on real NBA stats taken from Basketball Reference website. I used the 36 minutes factor – that’s why we got high values for players who maybe never had the chance to play many minutes in real life but their skills are absolutely impressive. An example on the Suns is Horacio Llamas-Grey who’s rating is 80(!) but…his stamina and durability are extremely low. That means he will score and rebound at will if you let him unguarded but will play only a few minutes before being substituted for another player who’s durability is higher. And believe it or not, that is all realistic!

Oh, and players will get injured too based on those attributes! This is how I lost a couple of players on my roster to minor injuries this season for example John “Hot Rod” Williams who was at that time the starting center. But that opened my franchise to a new level because I started trading players. I will get into that soon.

Now, if you want to see realism in your – alas, simulated game – you will have to use my settings and sliders along with the “universal” Coach Profile (they all come set up and delivered by email if you ordered any of my DLCs). You can read about them and find them in the How To Play The Game section on my blog.