The hype for NBA 2K18 is growing with each player rating and jersey reveal, but the thing many can’t get over is how much more lifelike the players appear in the game compared to even last year’s version of the game.
The credit for that goes to 2K’s art department, which has worked overtime to tear down and rebuild many of the game’s graphics and player models to get it right. 2K Sports covered a lot of the new art details in a video the company posted on Wednesday morning, showing off new photorealistic player accessories, jerseys, and a much-improved model of each player’s body and face.
“We put thousands of hours working on NBA 2K18 to make it the best looking game possible,” said Joel Friesch, the game’s art director.
Friesch takes us through some art improvements in the game, starting with the improved graphics and more life-like players. The 2K crew changed the way that eyes and teeth respond to light, and completely rebuilt the faces of each player in the game to get as realistic as possible.
The body model for each player is new as well, and the game has gone as far as to add in realistic scars, stretch marks and faded tattoos that match each player’s body in real life.
The video also gives us another look at some of the new uniforms NBA teams will be wearing this fall. The fit and look of the uniforms will be different in NBA 2K18 as well, and Friesch says the team went to NBA offices in New York to scan and color match each jersey so the digital uniforms would look as realistic as possible. That includes shoes, and 2K Sports says they have a huge variety of player shoes available for the game.
The game’s My Player mode will also see a boost, with improved face scanning technology. The overhaul of the mode includes new hairstyles, and more accurate weight and height and even a wingspan scale. Those changes should mean a create-a-player that’s exactly how you want it to look, even if that means it has your terrible haircut on it.
