General Discussion Amongst Modders

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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby bluejaybrandon on Sun Feb 18, 2018 5:00 am

TGsoGood wrote: This generally results in rosters and draft classes taking longer to produce (sometimes months)


This is the biggest takeaway. There are at least two draft classes in the works for the 2018 class that I'm aware of. Both have shown significant progress. The creators aren't at anyone's mercy in regards to a deadline. If you're gonna be impatient and storm off back to PS4 that's fine, but there are clearly people putting in the time. We have limited creators and those creators have limited resources. I know personally, I've been on the hunt for a high resolution image of Wendell Carter for months in order to make a portrait that fits the draft class. In addition, the NCAA prospect have little to no high quality head shots. People that don't produce the content don't understand what it takes to create something of high quality. It's easy to pull a bunch of low resolution photos of a player from random angles and request a face, but those aren't enough to produce quality content.

I've been working on my draft class for months and thanks to R4zoR and mrk326 have some damn good prospect faces. Whether or not people want to be patient enough for a release is their problem. I could've had a no portrait, no cyberface roster out months ago but that's low quality effort that does nothing to move the needle. If you want top level content, you need to be willing to wait.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby BPDHoplite on Sun Feb 18, 2018 5:38 am

I got 2K18 on PC today (On sale for 32 euro on steam BTW)

And I'm a bit co fused by the modding difference to 2K14. For your draft classes with cyberfaces and portraits how do I set them up? There is someone that has made 2018,19 and 20 draft classes on PC but they're the same as the console version with CAP's and no portraits.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby bigh0rt on Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:54 am

Murat wrote:Shortly after I discovered there existed modding pages like NLSC, dotorg (if any of the guys posted in this thread remembers that then let's share beers).
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby TheCed on Sun Feb 18, 2018 7:25 am

There is a big misunderstanding.

My words weren't totally accurate either. I'm not trying to look like the guy who wants everything available immediately. I can't explain how much I respect modders in general and there's a lot of talented guys here on NLSC. I am totally aware of the hard work and the amount of time needed to accomplish such things on this game that's not as moddable as 2K14. I understand that the 2K18 PC community is much smaller compared to the console's. Yes, modding possibilities are really big in this game, we can have proper FIBA, NCAA or G-League total conversion mods. The thing is that it requires a lot of time and workforce to do it.

I am sorry for the words I used, I didn't properly explain myself. When I was saying that there's much more content on PS4 than PC, I was strictly speaking about rosters and draft classes. If we're talking about visual content, of course, the PC version has so many. I've spent hours modding the game and ended up with something perfect: I installed so many cyberfaces, the latest portraits, a TNT scoreboard, a sound mod, I pretty much modded everything. However, playing MyLeague only, I started to feel that in the end, modding so much was pretty much useless to me. I would start a MyLeague and then end up disappointed because of the lack of draft classes. Now I am not speaking about the potential attribute at all. I'm talking about the overall quality of draft classes that includes the amount of real life players instead of 2K's generic prospects; from the first to the second round. With the poor CAP mode that 2K provided us with this year, yes, I am not going to have players who look exactly like they do in real life, but they'll look like it as much as possible.

I'd work on draft classes on PC, but my modding and basketball world knowledge are limited. I would be forced to copy on some PS4 ones but that's not totally right. Plus I don't have the patience it requires to copy hundreds of players from PS4 to PC, believe me, I tried. That's why, again, I have to pay respect to the modders. It requires a lot of patience and time to create mods, which I don't have.

As I said, I can give up on visuals as long as the gameplay's good and the console version offers me that. That's my opinion. I have 2K18 on both PC and PS4, and will keep an eye out there for some new PC content. :wink:
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:14 am

I think there's a tangential issue here that's affecting both the people who create and the people who consume content when it comes to modding. We've been a bit spoiled by the modding possibilities in previous games, both the last generation of NBA 2K, and everything we used to do for NBA Live back in the day.

It's understandable, of course. All those great projects have raised the bar, and the inability (or at least, difficulty) to do the same things with the current generation has left people disheartened in terms of creating big projects. At the same time, I think people are also being held back by the idea than anything less than perfect, or less than what was possible on the previous generation, is unacceptable.

That's not to say we shouldn't strive to find ways of doing what we used to do, but there's a reluctance to accept less in the short term. What's possible or feasible may not be up to the level of previous generation's mods, but it's better than nothing, especially while we're figuring out how to make things better on the current generation. There's a reluctance for modders and mod users alike to accept the best that can currently be done, because it's not as much as it used to be. As such, it's come to the point where I think people are hesitant to release work-in-progress mods, and mods that are fun ideas but not quite as deep as we'd like due to the current limitations, for fear that they won't be as well-received.

I guess I have a different perspective here because I remember modding way back in the early days of NBA Live on PC, where we couldn't do as much. Even after the EA Graphics Editor came along, complete total conversion mods were rare (partly due to the fact we were all on dial-up connections, and finding hosting for big files was easier said than done, too). In any case, it was about the core experience that mods provided, be they updated rosters, retro rosters, or concept rosters. Having all those players in the game was more important than having a complete set of accurate faces, jerseys, and logos. Those updates would come of course, but they usually had to be downloaded separately (again, because it was considerably more difficult to handle bigger uploads and downloads).

It should be noted that even the first few versions of the Ultimate Base Roster for NBA 2K12 weren't anywhere near as deep as later releases. Everyone's accustomed to a big pack with several decades of complete season rosters, bonus content, and a current season update. UBR grew into that, and it took quite a few updates to get there. Rome wasn't built in a day, as the saying goes.

Basically, I think we've been unwilling to take a step backwards and make the best of what we can do, while figuring out how to get back to where we were. That's not just on modders, of course. The standards set by previous release have in turn made the community judge work-in-progress mods or the work of beginners somewhat harshly at times, which on top of the standards people are already setting for themselves, makes them less inclined to create content. It's become a vicious cycle that stifles the creativity and output of the modding community.

My suggestion is to return to a focus on creating content that first and foremost either enhances the regular experience, or adds a new experience to the game, while also accepting that some things may not be possible, or just take more time. I think we need to be more open to demo and beta releases, as well as projects that are mostly complete except for art that can be added later. I can say from experience that pressure to make every version of the NLSC roster updates for NBA Live as complete as possible accelerated my burnout. I became reluctant to create smaller releases, especially post-Draft rosters, because if I only added 10-20 picks at a time, I'd invariably receive complaints that I'd "forgotten" to add players, even though the release notes clearly stated that the next batch of Draftees would be added in the next release.

Again, I'm not suggesting that we not aim for a high standard of work, and keep trying to figure out how to do all the awesome things we used to. However, I do think we need to be more open to releases that are still great and fun to play with in their own right; projects that are doing the best they can while we work on methods and techniques, or while further assets are being developed. If we're holding ourselves to the standard that everything must be perfect and 100% complete straight away and that there can't be any pre-1.0 releases, we're leaving ourselves open to burnout, and a toxic atmosphere where we're more judgemental of ourselves and each other, rather than supportive and motivated.

I think we can get back to being as proficient in creating content for the PC as people are for the consoles, at least relative to the size of the respective user bases. It's about doing the best we can in terms of what's possible and feasible, and then taking it from there, rather than getting discouraged and giving up/refusing to accept a project because it's not as detailed as previous mods that were easier to create for previous releases.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Murat on Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:42 pm

bigh0rt wrote:
Murat wrote:Shortly after I discovered there existed modding pages like NLSC, dotorg (if any of the guys posted in this thread remembers that then let's share beers).
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby bluejaybrandon on Tue Feb 20, 2018 9:03 am

For as much disagreement and tension there can be at times, I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to both the creators and the moderators here. After browsing the Chinese forums it really puts into perspective how great this place is, despite its shortcomings. The abomination that is the Chinese forum is plagued with PM mods, required passwords, paid mods, previews with no releases. It is completely void of any sense of community or joy of creation. Here, the moderators do an amazing job of keeping the focus on the content and community instead of the creators. Yes, there are sometimes minor inconveniences, but its clear this is the premier place to both create and downloads mod. You don't hear it enough, so thank you.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby BPDHoplite on Tue Feb 20, 2018 9:14 am

Hella yush

I've never really gotten into Operation Sports because the site just looks bad and the layout feels weird so does anyone know if its 2K18 active?


Also having played 2K18 for 2 days now I can officially say having 90% of online players be over 90 overall and never play with you as a bum in MyPark is the worst thkng I have ever experienced online gaming.

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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Tue Feb 20, 2018 11:43 am

bluejaybrandon wrote:For as much disagreement and tension there can be at times, I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to both the creators and the moderators here. After browsing the Chinese forums it really puts into perspective how great this place is, despite its shortcomings. The abomination that is the Chinese forum is plagued with PM mods, required passwords, paid mods, previews with no releases. It is completely void of any sense of community or joy of creation. Here, the moderators do an amazing job of keeping the focus on the content and community instead of the creators. Yes, there are sometimes minor inconveniences, but its clear this is the premier place to both create and downloads mod. You don't hear it enough, so thank you.


Appreciate it! It''s good to know despite the challenges we face at times, we've got the right approach.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Murat on Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:51 am

bluejaybrandon wrote:For as much disagreement and tension there can be at times, I just wanted to take the time to say thank you to both the creators and the moderators here. After browsing the Chinese forums it really puts into perspective how great this place is, despite its shortcomings. The abomination that is the Chinese forum is plagued with PM mods, required passwords, paid mods, previews with no releases. It is completely void of any sense of community or joy of creation. Here, the moderators do an amazing job of keeping the focus on the content and community instead of the creators. Yes, there are sometimes minor inconveniences, but its clear this is the premier place to both create and downloads mod. You don't hear it enough, so thank you.


100% percently agree
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby TGsoGood on Tue Feb 27, 2018 6:43 pm

Do you guys think there has been a decline in demand for retro rosters?
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Tue Feb 27, 2018 9:15 pm

I don't know about the demand, but it seems the limitations are discouraging people, which is understandable. It's like I said though, I think we've become too unwilling to accept work-in-progress mods, or mods that aren't as deep or polished due to the current limitations.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby TGsoGood on Thu Mar 01, 2018 12:43 am

Andrew wrote:I don't know about the demand, but it seems the limitations are discouraging people, which is understandable. It's like I said though, I think we've become too unwilling to accept work-in-progress mods, or mods that aren't as deep or polished due to the current limitations.


For me it's really hard going back to releasing work in progress mods but then if I don't do it that way, it could take months to finish.
I begin to argue with myself about whether I should release or not, which usually results in me just keeping the project to myself if it is unfinished.
This year I have focused more on fictional rosters with real art and that seems to pacify my desire. Also I have no internal conflict regarding the release of fictional rosters.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:13 am

I get the reluctance, but as I said in my previous post, I think that's holding us back as a community. We're not as willing to do the best we can and make do while we still try to figure things out. We're turning our nose up at anything that isn't perfect or as detailed as before, and it makes people hesitant to release work that could change up the gameplay experience, but is currently missing a few visual details and the like.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby [Q] on Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:36 am

I don't see the problem in releasing a "v1" and then "v2" as you improve it and figure it out. If it's good, I wouldn't mind downloading a v2
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby PeacemanNOT on Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:41 am

[Q] wrote:I don't see the problem in releasing a "v1" and then "v2" as you improve it and figure it out. If it's good, I wouldn't mind downloading a v2

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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:47 am

Indeed. It should be noted that a couple of bigh0rt's NCAA mods for NBA 2K14 began as demo releases that people enjoyed while they waited for the full versions, which were fully fleshed out.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby imescobarlopez on Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:01 pm

Hey I'm new here, I have three questions:

1) Is it OK if I ask for older dds files to make all the retro mods I want a little faster? I'm just thinking about a lot of legends who have no tattoos and in reality, they are full of them. With these older files, I can fix or make guys like Stephon Marbury, Darius Miles, Jason Williams, Rasheed Wallace, etc. Same with the face texture and the model.
2) Is it normal to release a mod which, for example, is not right in my mind, but still, you guys can use it meanwhile I work on V2?
3) Speaking about asking, do you guys believe that is "not OK" to ask for donations if anybody has a request? Obviously it's a dream come true for modders to just stay at home modding for a living and get paid for that. I've seen people here get pissed or fighting about how is right or wrong to ask for money. Either way, I would do it just for the fun, but the real question is, If I see someone who is very insisting and want me to do something I'm not very excited for, is it OK if I ask them for a donation? I want to know before it happens.

Thank you in advance.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:14 pm

1. It's generally fine to ask if anyone has any resources to share for conversions and the like.

2. Pretty much. It's a practice I think we've shied away from too much, but a release can always be followed by future versions if you still want to work on them.

3. No, that is absolutely against the rules, because it's charging for mods. At that point, it's hardly a "donation"; it's saying you'll only do something if you're monetarily compensated for it, so again, charging a fee. No one in the community is obligated to make anything they don't want to, so if you receive a request or suggestion and you're not interested, politely decline.

Also, just to clarify, no one in this community is making a living off modding. This isn't YouTube.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby imescobarlopez on Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:19 pm

Andrew wrote:1. It's generally fine to ask if anyone has any resources to share for conversions and the like.

2. Pretty much. It's a practice I think we've shied away from too much, but a release can always be followed by future versions if you still want to work on them.

3. No, that is absolutely against the rules, because it's charging for mods. At that point, it's hardly a "donation"; it's saying you'll only do something if you're monetarily compensated for it, so again, charging a fee. No one in the community is obligated to make anything they don't want to, so if you receive a request or suggestion and you're not interested, politely decline.

Also, just to clarify, no one in this community is making a living off modding. This isn't YouTube.


Great. Thanks for claryfing everything.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby [Q] on Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:33 pm

Andrew wrote:Also, just to clarify, no one in this community is making a living off modding. This isn't YouTube.

I'd like to reiterate this point. People get this idea that they'd be getting rich doing this. If this were possible, everybody would be doing it. Jao and leftos would have never gotten a real job and would have stayed at home.

Also, there's only a select few actually making good money on YouTube lol
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:42 pm

Indeed. With the recent changes to the partnership program, you've now got a long road to even monetise your videos in the first place.
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby imescobarlopez on Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:58 pm

[Q] wrote:
Andrew wrote:Also, just to clarify, no one in this community is making a living off modding. This isn't YouTube.

I'd like to reiterate this point. People get this idea that they'd be getting rich doing this. If this were possible, everybody would be doing it. Jao and leftos would have never gotten a real job and would have stayed at home.

Also, there's only a select few actually making good money on YouTube lol


Oh, I know this is a "community" so I wasn't trying to get richer or something, just saying it's a dream for anybody, of course. I just pointed out the fact that guys were saying "what's wrong with asking for donations" and I find it confusing because I read the forum rules and I'm trying to follow them the best I can before I started to upload several mods.

My goal is to PLAY THE GAME and HAVE FUN, and that should be everyone's goal here, including modders.

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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby Andrew on Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:23 pm

There's a difference between providing the option for people to make donations via a tip jar or whatever, and actively soliciting them (especially if releases are being held back until "donations" are made). The former is not unlike what a lot of freeware plugins and software do, inviting users to make a contribution if they feel so inclined, but no worries if they don't, and no strings attached. The latter is charging for mods while trying to sneakily get around that rule by calling it something else, wink-wink, but it's not fooling anyone because it's putting content behind a paywall.

As for why we have the policy, I discussed that in a Monday Tip-Off article a while back: http://www.nba-live.com/monday-tip-off- ... arge-mods/
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Re: General Discussion Amongst Modders

Postby imescobarlopez on Fri Mar 09, 2018 3:16 am

Andrew wrote:There's a difference between providing the option for people to make donations via a tip jar or whatever, and actively soliciting them (especially if releases are being held back until "donations" are made). The former is not unlike what a lot of freeware plugins and software do, inviting users to make a contribution if they feel so inclined, but no worries if they don't, and no strings attached. The latter is charging for mods while trying to sneakily get around that rule by calling it something else, wink-wink, but it's not fooling anyone because it's putting content behind a paywall.

As for why we have the policy, I discussed that in a Monday Tip-Off article a while back: http://www.nba-live.com/monday-tip-off- ... arge-mods/


Mods being held back until a donation occurs seems unfair to everybody, yes. Glad you allow them to use adfly or those things, it's a way to compensate some of the people who work hard on the game. I don't think they pay so handsomely, but it's a fair business. Thanks, Andrew.
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