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The Friday Five: 5 Modding Pipe Dreams

The Friday Five: 5 Modding Pipe Dreams

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 modding pipe dreams.

Even though I haven’t been regularly modding for about a decade now – and to that point, does time ever fly! – I can’t help brainstorming ideas for projects. Maybe I’m looking for the one that will inspire me to get back into the hobby on a more regular basis. Maybe I like the idea of getting back into modding more than making the necessary commitment to a large project, especially after experiencing such burnout after all those years of working on roster updates for NBA Live PC. If nothing else though, I enjoy sharing those ideas, in case it inspires someone else to explore them.

For all the wonderful mods that have been made over the years, there are a few ideas that we haven’t fully explored. There are some games that didn’t receive as many releases, mostly because the necessary tools came later in their release cycle when everyone was ready to move on. Some ideas just weren’t possible at the time, but may be worth revisiting now that we have better tools and more knowledge. And of course, there are the modding ideas that remained pipe dreams because they were simply too ambitious or time-consuming, but could still happen if the interest and dedication is there. As such, I’m throwing out five more ideas for the community’s consideration.

1. Custom Rosters for NBA Live 10 on PlayStation 3

Kevin Durant on the Nets in NBA Live 10

Continued developments in console emulation have been a game-changer. If you’re producing articles or video content, it’s much easier to get high quality screenshots and footage from emulators, as opposed to hooking up a capture card to a console. It’s also allowed modders to tinker with console releases, in turn bringing a few modding pipe dreams to fruition. In a nutshell, anything that was once impossible with the in-game customisation tools, such as adding new textures or modifying data that wasn’t accessible, may be back on the table thanks to emulation. This invites us to consider the possibilities with some of EA Sports’ hoops titles that were exclusive to consoles.

In particular, it inspires some modding pipe dreams with two very well-received titles on the seventh generation: NCAA Basketball 10, and NBA Live 10. There are already modders in our community exploring the possibilities with NCAA Basketball 10 for PlayStation 3, and it appears that NBA Live 10 could be just as moddable. It would be fantastic to be able to create a current roster update, a retro season roster, or maybe a roster filled with desirable retro teams, for a truly great NBA Live that we sadly didn’t get on PC. There’d be a learning curve, and it would require significant commitment to make it happen. Still, it’s not unfeasible, and therefore something to keep in mind.

2. Adding Michael Jordan to NBA Jam TE PC

Michael Jordan Photoshopped into NBA Jam Tournament Edition PC

It’s hard to let some pipe dreams go, isn’t it? As a young basketball gamer playing NBA Jam Tournament Edition back in the 90s, I wished Michael Jordan was on the Bulls. That was the story with pretty much every basketball video game for many years of course, but the sim games had Create-a-Player, not to mention a modding scene with NBA Live on PC. As I’ve recounted before, I once tried changing a game file titled “HARPER” to “JORDAN”, hoping that I could at least change Ron Harper’s name. It had no effect, surprisingly not even crashing the game! Revisiting the files with a tad more knowledge, I’ve searched for possible ways to mod them, to no avail.

Once again though, it’s hard to let go of these pipe dreams; especially in a community where we’ve been able to go back to some older games and make new discoveries. It’s a long shot, but it’d undoubtedly delight my inner child if I ever find a way to add MJ to NBA Jam TE, beyond the above Photoshop. There are tools out there for modding the Super Nintendo ROM, with some incredible projects being made for that version. I’d love to be able to bring that customisation to the PC, which is ironic as it’s usually console gamers who miss out when it comes to modding. If anyone has any insight into making that Photoshopped image a reality, I’d definitely like to hear from you!

3. Fictional Basketball League Mod

Kansas City Knights Jersey in NBA 2K23

Speaking of childhood favourites, although I mostly played NBA Live and NBA Jam growing up, in 1996 I was gifted World League Basketball for my twelfth birthday. I’ve discussed this 1992 release on many occasions, but to quickly recap, it’s the PAL version of NCAA Basketball by Sculptured Software. Rather than college teams, it features a fictional global basketball league, with fake teams and players from major cities around the world. It’s fun because it holds up extraordinarily well for a five-on-five game from the 16-bit era, but also because the fictional teams and players make for an enjoyable fantasy scenario. Modding could easily add that to an NBA game.

Well, I say easily because we have the tools to do it for several different releases. It would certainly take some time and effort though, which is what relegates the idea to the list of modding pipe dreams. There are assets that we could repurpose, including the fictional expansion team logos from NBA 2K, but it would still be a large project. Of course, while we’re considering overhauling an NBA game into a fictional league, the knockoff NBA teams in Super Dunk Shot – the Japanese version of World League Basketball/NCAA Basketball – is a similarly entertaining idea. If we could find a way to streamline the process, it could be a fun project for modders and mod users alike.

4. Updated Modding Tools for Various NBA 2K Games

All-Time College Teams in NBA 2K17

Of course, to even attempt making inroads into these modding pipe dreams, we need the tools to make them happen. As I said, we have many tools and resources at our disposal, but there are some games that are more difficult to mod than others. Any NBA 2K game that utilises Cheat Engine tables to modify rosters also has a couple of conditions in order to do so. You’ll need an executable file that is compatible with the available Cheat Engine tables, which may not be updated as of the final patch. You’ll also need a saved roster that was created using that executable file. If you don’t have that executable and a compatible saved roster, the Cheat Engine tables are useless.

I soon discovered this when I explored the possibility of creating some minimalist roster projects for NBA 2K17 PC. Essentially, I wanted to unlock the all-time college teams that weren’t released as DLC on PC but are present in the files, as well as the Dream Team. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it would bring a console exclusive to the PC, and also bypass issues with losing the Dream Team pre-order bonus, which as I’ve discovered is all too easy to do. Unfortunately, while I can get my hands on the necessary executable, I don’t have a fresh, compatible save file. Updated modding tools for NBA 2K17, and a few other PC releases, would be wonderful to see.

5. Major Multi-Season & Special Roster Modding Projects

Modding Pipe Dreams: Multi-Season Rosters for NBA 2K11

If you’re a long-time PC basketball gamer, then you’re probably aware of the Ultimate Base Roster and U R Basketball mods for NBA 2K12, NBA 2K13, and NBA 2K14. These comprehensive roster projects include current season rosters, a bevy of retro season rosters, and special rosters with all-time teams and the like. It’s safe to say that they’ve encouraged more than a few console gamers to double dip or make the switch to PC, and they’re among the most popular projects we’ve ever had in the community. With that being said, there are some other older games that are still popular, and I know that many people would love to have similar multi-season roster mods for them.

NBA 2K11 is one that comes to mind, and it’s probably the one that tops most retro basketball gamers’ wishlists. It’s perhaps the most feasible too, as there are already assets out there that could be used, and its modding tools are readily available. As with a couple of the other modding pipe dreams I’ve listed here however, it would be a massive undertaking. There are still plenty of assets that would need to be created in order to replicate the depth of UBR and URB, and not many people left with the time and knowledge to create them. It’s always an idea worth floating, but it would take a collaborative effort and a ton of patience to ever make such a big project a reality.

What are some of your modding pipe dreams, either as a modder or mod user? Let me know in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.

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