Wow! what a thorough response, I have gained a lot of knowledge understanding engines now, yeah it makes sense that it takes way more than changing an engine to fix the game, and that it will look all similar to 2k18-22, I assume it will be the same thing for 2k23, well hopefully they at least change something significant.Andrew wrote:For Current Gen, most assuredly not. It remains to be seen how long PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will receive new releases, but they won't be a priority or bastion of innovation. As for the PC version, it depends whether it remains a PS4/X1 port, or starts receiving the PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X version.
To that end, NBA 2K21 Next Gen was promoted as being "built from the ground up", which in theory is promising news for that generation (and a PC port of it, if it's in the cards). In practice, NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K22 Next Gen don't feel very different, or necessarily better, and there are plenty of legacy issues that go back to at least the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 generation.
The main issue here is that even with new tech, if a game is designed in a similar way to its predecessors, it's going to have familiar benefits and drawbacks alike. It's why a new engine and other technological overhauls aren't always the answer. They certainly can be beneficial and it's worth exploring those options, but design choices and recycling of existing assets can stunt growth and affect quality.
Take NBA Live, for example. For years, a lot of people felt that all it needed was the right engine to get back on track. That's important, but there have been times over the past decade that NBA Live has used engines it has shared with a variety of other EA Sports titles which both looked and played better. The IGNITE engine was clearly adaptable and had some good tech, but NBA Live wasn't able to utilise it as well. In that sense, tech is only as good as the producers and engineers that are working with it.
Now, NBA 2K is obviously in better shape, but it's the same situation. If they want to design the games a certain way, those design philosophies will be in place regardless of engine. They might work a little better with different tech, but if they're undesirable approaches, it won't matter overmuch. Think of it this way: a film can have a tremendous budget and great, popular actors at its disposal, but if the script is bad or mediocre at best, all the CGI, special effects, and impressive sets won't make it much better.
Of course, it does help to have that budget and those other benefits, and likewise, a new engine may be in order. I guess the TL:DR here is that it's possible, though I'm guessing they won't be overhauling anything this soon after purportedly rebuilding the game with NBA 2K21 Next Gen. If they do, it'll very likely only be on PS5/XSX and not PS4/X1. The PC version will obviously depend on which console generation they're porting from this year and beyond.
Andrew wrote:To that end, NBA 2K21 Next Gen was promoted as being "built from the ground up", which in theory is promising news for that generation (and a PC port of it, if it's in the cards). In practice, NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K22 Next Gen don't feel very different, or necessarily better, and there are plenty of legacy issues that go back to at least the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 generation.
Andrew wrote:The main issue here is that even with new tech, if a game is designed in a similar way to its predecessors, it's going to have familiar benefits and drawbacks alike. It's why a new engine and other technological overhauls aren't always the answer. They certainly can be beneficial and it's worth exploring those options, but design choices and recycling of existing assets can stunt growth and affect quality.
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