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Monday Tip-Off: Credit & The Modding Community

Monday Tip-Off: Credit & The Modding Community

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on how we approach credit in our modding community, as well as the importance of doing right by each other.

When the NLSC was founded in 1996 and our modding community was established, we adopted several rules that are still in place as of today. Two of the most important rules are the prohibition of charging for mods, and the requirement of giving credit whenever you’re using someone else’s work (as well as asking for permission first, whenever possible). Most of the biggest blow-ups in our modding community have come about due to an incident involving one of those rules, in particular the latter. It’s the reason why it’s gone from being an unwritten rule to a clearly specified policy.

To newcomers, the notion of giving credit and asking for permission may seem odd. After all, anything we make and release is for the benefit of our fellow gamers, and we do walk a fine line with what we do when it comes to modding in the first place. It is part of our established culture and etiquette however, and as long as we’re civil with each other and not draconian in enforcing those rules, it does work for us. At the same time, I do wonder if we can be too precious about our work, not to mention take credit when it isn’t due. There’s something to be said for being flexible, and I say that as someone who has been very particular about credit and permission in the past.

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NLSC Podcast #468: Our Favourite Basketball Game Mods

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #468 of the NLSC Podcast!

What better way to celebrate March Modness than by discussing some of our all-time favourite mods? We join the community in reminiscing about the mods that we’ve most enjoyed playing with, as well as the ones that inspired us to get into the hobby. We’re also sharing some stories behind creating fixes for games, and recap a session with a work-in-progress missing legends roster for NBA 2K10. The NLSC NCAA Basketball 10 Tournament has also tipped off with an intense game, and we’re looking forward to more great virtual hardwood action. Indeed, whether it’s picking up tools to mod or firing up favourites to play, we’re mad about basketball gaming this March!

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: March 11th, 2023

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

Even though NBA 2K23 is heavily featured in this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays, retro is definitely the theme of the countdown! The throwback filters of MyNBA Eras are on display, adding that authentic touch to legendary highlights. Older favourites of course make an appearance as well, sharing the motif of retro lineups along with some fantasy rosters. Appropriately enough given that it’s March Modness, you’ll also spot some mods being used. From big blocks to ambitious lobs to fearsome poster dunks, you can always count on our community to put on a show!

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

The Friday Five: 5 Ways NBA 2K Modding Is Better

The Friday Five: 5 Ways NBA 2K Modding Is Better

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five ways that the NBA 2K modding scene is better than what we had with NBA Live back in the day.

So, last week I discussed five ways that NBA Live modding was better than the NBA 2K modding scene. It’s always difficult to write an article like that without sounding like a grumpy old man yelling out clouds, and lamenting bygone days that were far from perfect if we’re being completely honest. As I acknowledged, there were issues in the NBA Live modding community, too. Some of them remain problems with NBA 2K modding, but there are others that we no longer have to deal with. It certainly isn’t all doom and gloom when it comes to tinkering with NBA 2K.

While the different approach to design and file structure has presented us with some new challenges, there are aspects of NBA 2K on PC that make modding much easier. As a community, we’ve also been able to build upon what we established, and take advantage of new technology to help each other out. I stand by what I wrote last week, because there are aspects of NBA Live modding that would be great to have when creating work for NBA 2K. However, there are exciting possibilities with NBA 2K modding, and it’s why I’m interested in getting more involved with it. Here are five ways that the hobby has improved since we started modding NBA 2K on PC.

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NCAA Basketball 10 Tournament Tips Off This Weekend

It may be March Modness, but we’re also in the mood to celebrate March Madness! As Dee has announced on Twitter, he’s hosting an NLSC NCAA Basketball 10 Tournament over Parsec, which is set to tip off this weekend. The games begin on March 11th, with an Elite 8 bracket. I’ll be participating in this tournament, along with Stildo33, KingJMASE, jrolling2003, FathomDanny, BrentLane, TecmoBowlGGL, and Mole.

Like the real NCAA tournament, the games are single elimination. We’ll be playing two 12-minute halves, on the default difficulty setting. The winner will receive a $20 Steam gift card, courtesy of Dee. You can of course expect to see highlights of the games on our YouTube channel. Previous NLSC Tournaments have been a blast for all of the participants, full of goodwill, competitive spirit, and several spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. I have no doubt that this tournament will be just as fun for everyone.

Check out the full brackets below! You can keep up to date with the results and highlight reels here in the Forum. While you’re waiting for the Tournament to tip off, check out my NCAA Basketball 10 retrospective for Wayback Wednesday that I posted back in 2021. Also hit us up with any suggestions for games that you’d like to see us run tournaments with in the future. For more information on how to connect and play basketball games (or indeed, anything) using Parsec, check out this tutorial that Dee put together.

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Wayback Wednesday: Hoops for NES

Wayback Wednesday: Hoops for NES

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at Hoops for NES.

Early basketball video games can be difficult to revisit, or truly appreciate if you didn’t grow up with them. It wasn’t until the mid to late 90s that we started to see titles that resembled modern releases, and it wouldn’t be until the 2000s that some of the contemporary mechanics and features were implemented, and their approach codified. Beyond their primitive graphics, early titles can be oddly designed, and cumbersome to play. Depending on your history with the virtual hardwood, the further back you go, the more challenging it may be to have a satisfying retro gaming experience.

However, in evaluating these old basketball games – or indeed, any retro title – we need to keep in mind the technology and design standards of the era. What was once cutting edge has now been surpassed, and certain mechanics and control concepts weren’t yet standardised. Nevertheless, there are some games that stand out as true classics, even though they do show their age. Titles such as Double Dribble, Jordan vs. Bird, and Lakers vs. Celtics, are definitely in that category. Today, I’m profiling one of their contemporaries from the late 1980s: Hoops for NES. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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NBA 2K23 Mod Releases: City Jerseys, Wipes, & Portraits

NBA 2K23 Cover Art

Today’s NBA 2K23 mod releases feature the latest City jerseys pack, AT&T Sportsnet wipes, and the latest portrait updates. Download them all at the links below!

pinoy21
NBA 2K23 City Jersey Pack 3

bongo88
AT&T Sportsnet Wipes

Shuajota
Portraits – Latest Transactions (Updated)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

Freestyle Superstars Replay Pop-Up Remover for NBA Live 06

Freestyle Superstars Replay Pop-Up Remover for NBA Live 06

Some of the most useful mods over the years have also been the smallest. Whether it’s substituting a compatible file from another game to access dummied-out features, or making a simple change to a single file, these releases have improved our basketball gaming experience. In that spirit, I present a Freestyle Superstars replay pop-up remover for NBA Live 06!

As you may recall, after scoring a bucket following a Freestyle Superstars move, a pop-up will indicate that you can trigger a replay by pressing Rebound/Block. While this is a handy reminder, it isn’t necessarily aesthetically pleasing. Some time back, Dee4Three expressed an interest in removing that pop-up, which led me to give it a try. My initial attempt wasn’t entirely successful; while I easily removed the overlay art by importing blank textures, the “Freestyle Replay” text was still displayed in the upper right corner.

After messing around with the language file, I found that I could blank out that text in addition to the textures. That seemed like an inelegant solution however, so I experimented with removing the entire contents of the overlay file itself. The empty file did the trick, without the need to modify any other game files; proof that it’s worth persevering for the best possible solution! Note that you can still trigger the Freestyle Superstar replays without the pop-up.

Download the mod here! You can also find the release and support topic for all of my NBA Live 06 mods here. Once again, little mods like this can make dusting off an old favourite even more enjoyable, so I’m happy to provide it for my fellow retro basketball gamers. Stay tuned for more March Modness releases, and don’t forget that we’re running a giveaway for modders who contribute to our Downloads database throughout the month!

NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE Highlights: Sonics vs Jazz

NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE Highlights: Sonics vs Jazz

Things are heating up in Dee4Three and Stildo33’s 1995 MyLEAGUE in NBA 2K19 PC! As recounted in Episode #467 of the NLSC Podcast, their latest clash involved 90s Western Conference powerhouses the Utah Jazz, controlled by Stildo, and Dee’s Seattle SuperSonics.

Entering the showdown, Dee’s Sonics were undefeated in this 1995 NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE, beginning the year on an impressive 24-0 run. The two have had some close battles as of late, and the matchup of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton vs. Karl Malone and John Stockton set the stage for another intense contest. As you’ll see, both duos were producing highlights, but there were several key contributors as both teams fought to the final buzzer. From signature rim-rattling Reignman slams, to Stockton and Malone running the pick and roll to perfection, to Detlef Schrempf, Kendall Gill, and Blue Edwards chipping in with buckets, this highlight reel is more classic 90s action on the virtual hardwood!

You can find the 1995 season mod for NBA 2K19 here. For more information on connecting and playing games over Parsec, be sure to check out this topic! Don’t forget to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more great basketball gaming content, and also check out Stildo33’s channel for additional highlights from this 1995 NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE season with Dee.

Monday Tip-Off: Enjoying Your Own Mods

Monday Tip-Off: Enjoying Your Own Mods

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with my thoughts on the importance of enjoying your own mods.

While I can still have a blast playing classic basketball games in their vanilla state, it’s a lot of fun to revisit old mods at the same time. That’s something that Dee and I have been doing in several of our Parsec sessions. We’ve revisited NBA Live 98 and 99 with the Legends and Champs rosters that Lutz made more than twenty years ago. We also used some of my old mods, such as the 1996 rosters for NBA Live 2004 and later NBA Live 2001, the current roster pack that also added the Dream Team and Team USA 2012 for NBA Live 06, and a couple of work-in-progress projects.

As I said, all of those games are still fun to play in their default state. However, using those mods made them even more enjoyable, as it was an interesting change of pace from the usual retro gaming experience. Playing Lutz’s rosters for the first time in years, I was once again reminded of how impressive they were, and how the work of our founders and other early modders inspired me to get into the hobby. To that point, as egotistical as it may sound, playing with some of my own old mods led me to think “Hey, I did a pretty decent job with these!” There were also moments that I cringed and wanted to follow up with new releases, but I found enjoyment in my work.

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NLSC Podcast #467: Retro Content & Respect for Legends

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #467 of the NLSC Podcast!

As March Modness tips off, we’ve received word of an exciting retro project that we’re keen to see come to fruition. We’ve also been working on our own projects – some of which have already been released – and announce our upcoming NCAA Basketball 10 tournament. Recapping some recent retro pick-ups leads us to reflect on how much fun it is to play on original hardware, even with the convenience of emulators. While we’re in a retro mood, we also discuss the historical content that NBA Live needs to have if/when it returns, and share some suggestions from our listeners. In this week’s mailbag, we challenged the community to guess the top-rated Legends in NBA Live 2004, and point out some of the most disrespectful ratings for historical players in those rosters.

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Bulls-Wizards Jersey for NBA Live 2005-08

Bulls-Wizards Jersey for NBA Live 2005-08

As I noted in my previous release for March Modness 2023, despite mostly focusing on roster projects over the years, I have tried to branch out at times. Although there are aspects of art modding that I’m still yet to grasp, I’ve been able to convert mods for use with other games, and repurpose existing textures and assets. That’s what I’ve done with today’s release: a Bulls-Wizards jersey for NBA Live 2005-08!

More specifically, this jersey is a half-Bulls, half-Wizards uniform, loosely based on the banner that the Miami Heat raised when they retired #23 in honour of Michael Jordan. The mod uses the original jersey textures for the Bulls and Wizards, combining them to create a fictional alternate jersey. I’ve provided both a home and away version of the jersey, as well as a custom teamgear.dbf file for easy installation. If you’d like to add it to an existing roster without overwriting its teamgear.dbf file, I’ve also included the appropriate values in the readme.

Download the Bulls-Wizards jersey at these links:

Please make sure that you download the correct version for the game that you’re playing! Once again, links to the release and support topics for my mods can be found in my NLSC Forum signature. More fun releases are on the way, so stay tuned!

NBA Street Vol. 2 Current & Legendary Edition Mod V2.9.10

NBA Street Vol. 2 Legendary Edition Mod

It’s been a couple of months since the last update, but now that the trade deadline has passed, agent_michael_scarn has released a new version of the Current & Legendary Edition mod for NBA Street Vol. 2! Key features of the latest version (2.9.10) are as follows:

  • Traded Durant to Suns
  • Traded Irving to Mavs
  • Moved Russell Westbrook to Thunder for Rashard Lewis
  • Added D’angelo Russell to Lakers
  • Added Kenyon Martin to Nets
  • Traded Jason Kidd to Nets
  • Updated Suns Away to All Purple
  • Updated All Brooklyn away to black jerseys
  • Updated Lakers Home Jerseys to Kobe/Shaq era jerseys

You can pick up NBA Street Vol. 2 Current & Legendary Edition here in our Downloads database! For more information on how to install it, as well as previews, further support, or if you just want to say thanks, check out this topic in the Forum.

2022 NBA Playoffs & Finals Logos for NBA Live 2005-08

2022 NBA Playoffs & Finals Logos for NBA Live 2005-08

Next up in my March Modness 2023 releases is a 2022 NBA Playoffs & Finals logo update for NBA Live 2005-08! Coming into this year’s March Modness, I had a goal of trying to release a mod every day. So far, so good! I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep it up – especially as I turn my attention to larger projects – but I’ll certainly try.

So, what’s the background here? Up until 2009, I was mostly just a roster maker. Faces, jerseys, courts, and so on weren’t my forte, and many of my attempts to dabble with them came up short (to put it nicely). However, when I found myself in need of a new Philadelphia 76ers logo update for the 2010 season, I decided to try my hand at making one. Flat textures proved to be much easier to work with, and it turned out quite well. From then on, I kept the logos up to date for my current season roster mods.

Thanks to an identical file format for the NBA Playoffs and Finals logos in NBA Live 2005-08, it didn’t take long to put together this 2022 update. I’ll probably create 2018 and 2019-2021 updates as well, to go along with my old update that covers the 2010-2017 seasons. As I work on some other retro updates, I expect I’ll look at making Playoffs and Finals logos mods for older seasons, too.

Download the logo update here! Once again, links to my NBA Live 2005-08 mod release and support topics can be found in my NLSC Forum signature. Stay tuned throughout the month for more March Modness releases!

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: March 4th, 2023

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

It may be March Modness, but we’re not just about modding in this community! We also love hitting the virtual hardwood and blacktop, where we can enjoy those mods! Of course, basketball games are still capable of being a blast when they’re played vanilla. To that point, this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays features an assortment of games, both modded and unmodded, but packed full of highlights either way. From the NBA Live 2001 Legends playing with MJ, to a moment from my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER, to LookyDaGamer living up to his reputation as the Putback King, it’s another spectacular countdown!

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.