How To Use Created Players On Blacktop 2k17

NBA 2K17 Wish List: 20 Things That Would Make the Game Even Better Than NBA 2K16

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Things are looking up for Steph Curry; how about NBA 2K?

Things are looking up for Steph Curry; how about NBA 2K? Credit: NBA 2K16

Like NBA 2K, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was really good in 2015. Curry won the league MVP, and the Warriors won the NBA championship.

NBA 2K16 was phenomenal. To put it plain, it's the best sports game I've ever played. I stand by that even six months after the game was released. I rated it a 9.5 out of 10, and quite honestly, it's only gotten better.

As good as Curry and the Warriors were in the 2014-15 season, he and his team have been even better in the 2015-16 campaign. Will NBA 2K17 follow the same pattern?

There aren't many major issues to clean up.

Even the vaunted server problems were drastically improved in NBA 2K16. So what can be added to improve the product in NBA 2K17? This is a list of 20 things that would make the fall release even better than its predecessor.

The list has been divided into a few categories:

Creation
MyTeam
MyPark
Pro-Am
New Modes
MyCareer
Gameplay
Multi-Mode
MyGM/MyLeague

When you're done reading this, you'll all agree; 2K should hire me. I'm laughing, but seriously. Let's take a look.

Creation: More Options for Created Players in MyCareer and Other Modes

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NBA 2K16 introduced body scans for real NBA players, but it didn't translate over to the creation suite. Whether you're creating your MyPlayer or a player who can be added to a custom roster, you should be able to make guys fat, skinny, athletically built or somewhere in the middle.

The scaling system used in WWE 2K16 would be ideal, but we'd settle for the skinny, muscular and hefty options to start.

It would also be nice to have the option to create players as tall as 7'7". This isn't really ideal for Pro-Am and MyPark, though the new ratings parameters have stopped a lot of the exploits taller players had in the past. However, it's great for MyCareer and custom rosters.

This would allow roster makers to create players who at least match the heights of players like Manute Bol and Gheorghe Muresan.

There are also still some accessories that you can't give to your created guys or MyPlayers. Can we get the option to make our players wear short shorts from the 1980s, goggles, face masks, full compression pants, and the other prominent accessories NBA players wear or have worn in the past?

Adding those options would improve the toolbox and features.

Creation: Fixing Face-Scanning

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The concept of face-scanning for MyPlayers and created players was ingenious, but it was more miss than hit in NBA 2K16. I never got a satisfactory scan, so I just abandoned the effort. Truth be told, it was better in NBA 2K15.

Sure, you might look like an alien a few times, but at least once you actually got it to work; the results could be excellent. Simply reverting the technology back to where it was for NBA 2K15 isn't the answer.

There's a two-part solution to this issue.

NBA Live 16 didn't beat NBA 2K16 in many categories, but one of the areas it was superior was with face-scanning. EA Sports' GameFace 2.0 mobile app not only produced more accurate scans, but it also allowed you to take the image of yourself on your mobile device. The process was much quicker and less finicky.

Many NBA 2K16 gamers had issues finding the right lighting to get a good scan. Completing the process on a mobile device eliminates that issue because you can take your phone anywhere to get the perfect lighting. NBA 2K's developers should swallow their pride and borrow the concept by creating their own mobile app for face-scanning.

Secondly, it would be nice to have the option to create players for custom rosters, or your MyPlayer, with an uploaded photo instead of a face scan. Perhaps you want to create your player based on the way you used to look, or on your brother, next door neighbor or someone else. Using an image gives the creator more freedom.

It shouldn't be too difficult to accomplish. WWE 2K uses this approach for created wrestlers, and they have an awesome mobile app that accompanies it. Hopefully those guys will share it with their colleagues down the hall.

MyTeam: Take Away Contracts

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You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who is a fan of the contracts system in MyTeam. Kevmancuz, whose video is featured above, is totally bummed about having to manage this among the plethora of other things to maintain within the huge MyTeam mode.

For those who aren't aware, contracts in MyTeam are essentially access points to the players and coaches you acquire during your MyTeam journey.

For example: You pull an Amethyst Paul George from a pack or purchase his card from the auction house. He'll come to your team with a few contracts available to start, but at some point, you're going to have to apply more to him to continue to have access to him in games and challenges.

Contracts come in almost every pack you open, so it never really feels like much of a challenge to manage them. Getting them is the most boring and uninspiring thing you can acquire during a virtual pack opening.

At this point, contracts are totally unnecessary and more of a nuisance than a benefit to the mode.

MyTeam: Unlocked Legends Should Be Available in Other Modes

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There's some awesome legends available in MyTeam as collector awards and other options, but why not make them playable in the game's other modes. In the video above, Wik earns a Sapphire version of the 1972-73 Nate Archibald card when he completes Domination mode in NBA 2K15.

That's the year Archibald became the only man to lead the NBA in scoring and assists in the same season. It would be great if Tiny was then placed in the free-agent pool of your default rosters so he could be included in MyGM, MyLeagues, Blacktop games, etc.

Obviously before starting a MyGM or MyLeague, the game could prompt you with a message that says: "Do you want to include rewarded legends in this roster?"

If the answer is no, you can play without them.

There are still NBA 2K fans who don't play MyTeam at all, but they love MyGM and MyLeague. If they had the option of adding legends to their rosters through MyTeam, they might be willing to give it a look.

MyPark: Add Horse and Shootaround Options for Those Who Are Waiting for a Game

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MyPark is another one of 2K's great and innovative concepts. The interactive lobby is one of the best additions to a sports gaming series in some time.

That said, there are still times when it takes too long to find a game. For those of us who have played real pickup basketball at venues with multiple courts, we're accustomed to occupying ourselves with smaller-scale hoops games while we wait for our turn to play.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could play a small-scale game while you wait at the Park in NBA 2K17?

Playing a game of H-O-R-S-E with others who are waiting, or simply shooting around alone would be options that would make the wait time a little easier to take.

2K Pro-Am: Watch or Scout Mode

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eSports is becoming a thing in NBA 2K and the 2K Pro-Am mode is at the center of the movement. The Road to the Finals event will culminate in the spring and $250,000 in prize money is up for grabs.

More accurate face scans are going to be needed if the individual players are going to become stars, but the mode also needs to have some options that will enable perspective teams to scout their opponents.

A watch mode would be an awesome addition in NBA 2K17.

Being able to peek in on the games of top teams would allow the best squads special attention, but it would also give opponents are opportunity to prepare for them ahead of a matchup.

With this in place, there would be no excuse for eSports gamers not knowing the personnel and tendencies of their opponents.

New Modes: A Chance to Win Olympic Gold

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With the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio kicking off in a few months, the interest in international hoops will be heightened all over the world. Back in 2012, 2K Sports included the original Dream Team and the current Olympic Team.

The original Dream Team even featured Charles Barkley, thanks to an assist from the game's executive producer that year—Jay-Z. Scottie Pippen wasn't included as the two sides couldn't reach a deal.

In NBA 2K17, an entire Olympic mode should be included. Having access to each international squad in Play Now mode is great, but it would be even better if gamers could pick any country to guide to a gold medal.

MyCareer: Multiple-Storyline Outcomes

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Academy Award-nominated director Spike Lee directed the cinematic portion of the NBA 2K16 MyCareer experience. Some aspects of it were cool, but it mostly felt too forced and heavy handed.

Spoiler Alert

As YouTuber KSpade mentioned to me in a conversation about improving the mode, it would have been nice to have the ability to save Vic from dying. Instead, no matter what choices you made, Vic was doomed to meet his untimely end.

Spoiler Ending

MyCareer should function like a true role-playing game with various outcomes. The fact everyone sees the same cutscenes is a bit boring. Alternate endings and paths would be a great addition to the mode.

MyCareer: Position-Specific Experience

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The MyCareer journey should be different depending on the position you pick for your player. For example, a center should have different measurables, goals and even a partially alternative storyline than a point guard or wing player.

Perhaps my point guard would have a rival who plays the same position, but whose skills are a direct contrast. A center might need to prove he's capable of contending with a small lineup like the one the Warriors use.

Whatever the specifics, it's the variety that supplies the longevity.

This would incentivize fans to go through the MyCareer experience multiple times. Obviously, you would have to pick one of your MyPlayers to be the one who represents you in MyPark and Pro-Am, but multiple MyCareer saves would supply a more robust experience.

Gameplay: Less Clipping and Trap Animations

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Regular Dave sounds off on NBA 2K's "forced animations" in the video above. He has a point as there are times in the game when your players will go on auto-pilot for a sequence until they complete an animation.

However, the specific instance he mentions in this video can be remedied by removing the auto double-team on a high-scoring player.

That said, it's important to understand why 2K uses its current style of animations. Basketball is about flow. NBA 2K seeks to mimic the smoothness of the game. In order to achieve that, they utilize a large number of animations to keep the action flowing in as many instances as possible.

To keep it plain: It's a balance of stored animations and physics. As of now, no sports game has ever found the perfect balance between the two, but 2K has come the closest. That partially explains the series' success.

That said, the gameplay could benefit from the ability to interrupt these animations quicker, but that could potentially damage the precious flow. Is it worth tinkering with such a successful formula? The answer is probably no, but we can dream.

For the most part, NBA 2K is a beautiful game, but there are moments when nasty instances of clipping ugly up the experience. For those who don't know what clipping is, it's when a player's arm, leg, head or any other part of the human body glides through another player or object.

Let's be honest: There's probably no way to completely eliminate this, but it would be great if strides were made to make the occurrences fewer and farther between.

Multi-Mode: Carry-over Saves

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Perhaps the best feature in any sports video-game series today is the ability to carry over saves from one version to the next. Unfortunately, the MLB The Show series is the only one that has this option.

Oftentimes, gamers play multiple seasons on one version of the game only to have to start over when they purchase the latest release. Whether we're talking about MyGM, MyLeague or MyCareer, it would be nice to have the option to pick up where we left off.

Sure, we may want to start a new MyPlayer to accompany the one we created in NBA 2K16, but let's not erase the old guy's history.

In MyGM and MyLeague, the league history you've established simply gets blown away with every new version of the game.

Carry-over saves would give the gamer more options.

Multi-Mode: All-Star Weekend

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Thanks to the Minnesota Timberwolves' Zach LaVine and the Orlando Magic's Aaron Gordon, the Slam Dunk Contest is cool again. The Warriors' Curry and Klay Thompson have kept the Three-Point Shootout out of danger for the last three seasons, so that half of the NBA's All-Star Weekend has remained popular.

Both of those events were in NBA 2K16, but not as a separate mode. With Gordon and LaVine electrifying the crowd, it's safe to say there would be some interest in an All-Star Weekend mode for NBA 2K17.

Taking away the slow-motion controls would be smart. The whole Guitar Hero look and feel was misplaced.

Replacing them with quick, stick-and-button commands, similar to what you'd do to pull off fatalities in Mortal Kombat, would make the experience better. Every dunk would have a buildup sequence.

Whether it was during the runway sprint for a free-throw line jam or during the toss on a self alley-oop, that would be the allotted time to hit: "up, up, down, down, left, right, A, B" or whatever the corresponding command is for the dunk you're trying to execute.

The more difficult the slam, the more buttons you have to hit in a shorter period of time. Executing the move correctly on the first try would bring a higher potential score. Doing it in the ideal window of time would also give the dunk's score a boost.

The Three-Point Shootout is virtually flawless in the game, so that should go untouched. However, it would be nice to see the Skills Challenge added. The Timberwolves' Karl-Anthony Towns brought an energy to the contest this year that was infectious.

It made you want to do it yourself. This would be a blast to play in NBA 2K17 at the All-Star break in MyGM, MyLeague or MyCareer and even as a standalone mode.

Multi-Mode: Create-a-Team

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The options gamers have to design their uniforms, logos and courts in NBA 2K16 for MyTeam, Pro-Am and within the rebranding tool for MyGM and MyLeague are phenomenal.

The only team creation/editor that was better than the suite NBA 2K16 provides is perhapsNCAA Football's Team Builder. It was a PC-based app that allowed you to make any change on your computer, and those edits and creations translated to the console game seamlessly.

As good as the rebranding options were in NBA 2K16, you'd think the ability to create a team would be part of the game's feature set. Previous versions of NBA 2K allowed you to create teams that you could plug into your franchise modes.

You could use them in Play Now games as well. The limit was four, which was always a bummer, but the option was there.

Being able to create up to 30 teams with the same freedom you get when customizing your squad for MyTeam and Pro-Am would be epic.

Multi-Mode: Expanding MyCourt

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The concept of MyCourt is amazing. Being able to shoot around with your MyPlayer on a completely customized court is cool in itself. Having the opportunity to virtually invite people over for a run is even better.

The only issue with the way it works in NBA 2K16 is that it lacks pizazz.

You can't call plays in MyCourt games. Thus, if someone wanted to use the feature as a way to practice with their Pro-Am or MyPark squad, they wouldn't be able to get the most out of the session.

It would also be great if there were separate games and challenges associated with MyCourt.

What if you could play against friends with a card from your MyTeam collection on the line? Talk about having some intense battles, that would take online competition to another level.

The aforementioned H-O-R-S-E battles could be boosted with the inclusion of props like ramps, garbage cans, trampolines and more to make things more fun and customizable.

It would almost be like building your own skate park in the Tony Hawk or Skate games. Am I losing you?

Multi-Mode: More Classic Teams

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There's already 46 classic teams in NBA 2K16, but more wouldn't hurt.

Is there anyone who doesn't like the inclusion of classic teams in NBA 2K? OK, there's probably five gamers out there who are like: "I don't wanna play with those old guys."

Aside from that handful of guys or girls, the rest of us absolutely love the concept. We can't get enough of the legendary squads in MyGM, MyLeague and in Play Now games.

Licensing issues have kept Barkley and Reggie Miller-led teams out of the game up to this point, but there's always hope they will be included in NBA 2K17.

Let's also not forget teams that made their mark prior to 2000. Last year would have been a great time to include the 1975 Warriors championship team that featured Rick Barry. It was the 40th anniversary of the team's championship, and the Dubs won it all again.

Unfortunately, that squad didn't make it in NBA 2K16. There other glaring omissions: The Twin Towers Houston Rockets squads from the mid-1980s with Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, and neither of Jason Kidd's Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets teams were in.

The list of potential inclusions are almost endless. Here's to hoping the already-impressive list of classic teams grows again in NBA 2K17.

MyLeague: Relocation and Rebranding for All 30 Teams

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Relocating and/or re-branding your team in MyGM and MyLeague was a great addition to NBA 2K16, but you could only customize three teams.

Everything else about the feature was perfect, so the simple improvement for this option in the game is to allow gamers to re-brand and/or relocate all 30 teams.

This would allow for completely customized leagues in MyLeague. This could overlap with the Create-A-Team option as both would allow the full customization to your MyLeague or MyGM experience, but this would be a quicker way to create your own collection of squads.

The rosters would already be set. The only thing that would change would be the location, uniforms, arena and logo.

MyLeague: Allow the NBA to Be Restructured

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The NBA has 30 teams, and the season is 82 games. The playoff series are all best-of-seven affairs. However, NBA 2K17 is a video game, and MyLeague has been touted as the ultimate sandbox mode.

How about allowing fans to make leagues with more teams, less games and even a different playoff structure? If you could also use created teams, the only limitations would be your own imagination.

Could this be a way to work in a college basketball experience? Perhaps it could allow gamers to create the Euroleague structure. In any case, incorporating this option would take the MyLeague concept to the next level.

MyGM: Highlights from Other Games at Halftime

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NBA 2K16 had a decent halftime show with three-fourths of the NBA on TNT crew—minus Barkley. However, once you get past the awesome renders for Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith, there was little substance offered during the intermission.

The highlights from the first half need to be a little less random, and it would help if the commentary actually matched what you were being shown on the screen.

Lastly, but most importantly, including highlights from others team's games in your MyGM would really blow the top off. If you've ever used the simcast feature in MyGM or MyLeague, you know you have the option to actually watch a game play out in fast motion.

This action generates replays and highlights the same way any other game played does. If those highlights were taken and packaged for a halftime show, the intermission would be worth watching.

MyGM and MyLeague: Weekly Wrap-Up Show

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NFL 2K5 was released 12 years ago, and it had a weekly wrap-up show. Why haven't we seen one since in any sports video game?

With gaming technology having undergone such significant advancement, and with the aid of the cloud for storage, it would seem a weekly wrap-up show could be executed even better in MyGM and MyLeague.

Picture this: Plays of the Week from around the league, injury reports, Shaqtin a Fool segments, trade rumors, standings and playoff chase information, weekly and monthly awards announcements and, of course, highlights.

Quite honestly, this should've been in the game five years ago.

MyGM and MyLeague: Second Broadcast Team

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Kevin Harlan, Greg Anthony and Clark Kellogg are great, but adding in a second broadcast team would invigorate the audio experience in NBA 2K17.

Harlan, Anthony and Kellogg should continue to do the games that would be nationally televised, but a more unknown group should handle the other games. This team should be homers who barely hide their favoritism for the home team.

If you watch a Chicago Bulls game in the Windy City on WGN or Comcast Sportsnet, it's clear the team's broadcasters Stacey King and Neil Funk are pulling for Derrick Rose and Co.

If the majority of the games on your MyGM, MyCareer and MyLeague schedule are handled by the hometown broadcasters, it'll make the games Harlan, Anthony and Kellogg call feel all the more special.

This would also diversify the commentary.

I'm just one guy with his own set of ideas. Other passionate NBA 2K gamers probably have 20 or more features or improvements they'd like to see added to NBA 2K17. Hit the comment section below to let your voice be heard.

Follow Brian Mazique aka FranchisePlay on Twitter.

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