Developer Interview

2K Sports brings its fourth sports franchise to Xbox 360 with College Hoops® 2K6. Zachary Timmerman, project manager for the game, took a timeout to talk about what the NCAA® basketball game means for next-generation gamers.

Timmerman says developer Visual Concepts has made vast improvements to the game, especially in the graphics department.

"Player lighting is image-based and the HDRI lighting is sampled from a real arena," says Timmerman."We now have player sweat that uses new effects HLSL (High Level Shading Language) technology.The changes in sweat happening during gameplay are more pronounced and range from a misty look to dripping and flying sweat.Our new animation skeleton is much more efficient than the old generation console games, allowing for a much smoother look and better transitions between animations.

"We've also added head tracking that includes eye tracking, greatly adding to the realism of the face. There's also a dynamic shifting and weighting of related joints in the neck, head, and chest to allow the head tracking to look authentic."

And those are just a few of the graphical improvements that gamers will notice when heading to the virtual hardwoods in College Hoops 2K6. The player jerseys and shorts react just like real cloth, as well.

Visual Concepts has tweaked some sliders and slider options to allow for more versatility, but the game modes and options remain the same, for the most part.

Go to the basket with authority.

College Hoops 2K6 brings a different type of basketball experience to Xbox 360™ just as fans head into March Madness. Anyone who's experienced a college basketball event knows that it's a completely different game than the NBA.

"The main differences between pro and college basketball is the types of defense teams run, the pace of the game, and the atmosphere," says Timmerman. "We're always striving to bring more pageantry to College Hoops, and that was one of our main focuses for 2K6, and was advanced even further for the Xbox 360 version.Since the Xbox® version was on store shelves and the Xbox 360 game was in production, we've created individual crowd sections and 3-D crowd audio positioning.

"You'll now see the student, away, home, and band sections doing their own unique movements and animations throughout the game and, depending on the camera angle you are using and the area the sections are placed in the arena, you will hear the unique sounds each section brings from various speakers in your home theater."

Simulating a season varies a lot depending on
the injuries that may occur to key players,
and chemistry that evolves because of it.

What's in a Name?
The one stipulation that the NCAA places on all of its video games is that real player likenesses and names cannot be used. While diehard fans can go in and edit each player to accurately represent their favorite team, Visual Concepts has made sure that the teams play like their real-life counterparts.

"In College Hoops, the best way to create a realistic simulation is to accurately represent the way a team plays," says Timmerman. "We focus a lot of our time on the types of offenses and defenses each school brings to the table. Using various statistics and watching an enormous number of games, we are able to give each team their own unique tempo and pace.

"There are 270 real coaches in the game. Each coach has an inherent set of attributes that also effect how the team plays throughout the game. You'll notice a difference when you play against Princeton compared to playing against University of Alabama at Birmingham, based solely on the tempo and style of offense they employ."

The Xbox 360 game brings the college atmosphere to life.

Take it to Xbox Live
Xbox 360 fans can take on old fraternity brothers or buddies through Xbox Live®. With more than 325 colleges represented in the game, it's easy to rekindle old rivalries.

"We allow multiplayer gameplay in Legacy mode," says Timmerman."We allow up to four users to take control of their own school and bring them to the promised land, recruiting and playing games for up to 40 years.Users will be able to battle over recruits, fight for job openings, schedule each other during their season, and possibly face each other when the NCAA tournament hits."

In addition, the Pontiac Virtual NCAA Final Four allows players to take part in an online tournament that mirrors every match-up of the actual NCAA tournament. All of the brackets are represented and the top four gamers win a trip to Indianapolis, Indiana to play out the Final Four match-ups live in front of a huge crowd.

Geaux Tigers!

The Final Four
Speaking of the Final Four, Timmerman expects Texas, Duke, Connecticut, and Memphis to represent in this year's March Madness. He also believes that sleepers like LSU, George Washington, and Tennessee may surprise. When you turn to the Xbox 360 to get a preview of this year's Final Four, Timmerman says
the results that occur when simulating a season in College Hoops vary a lot depending on the injuries that may occur to key players and chemistry that evolves because of it.Even then, he says you should expect to see standings that look very similar to what happens in real life.

"We've spent a lot of time making the game as deep and enjoyable as we had time for to give the users an experience that they can keep coming back for," says Timmerman."The longevity and authenticity of the game is what makes it so special and we're going to keep striving to make it better."

Article by John Gaudiosi