I concepted and built the NBA 2k24 Recap environment and motion graphics. The flag and sprites in the intro were a group effort. some of the items in the environment were existing assets such as the lights.
Key features of the 2k24 MyCareer NBA recap environment:
- To match the main menu of 2k24 I wanted to build off of it and create a stage feeling.
- I combined blur, reflection, opacity and roughness in the floor to create an under-lit club floor, stage or show room effect. This was challenging to achieve and took some creative layering of effects.
- There were many moving parts in this years recap. The motion of the player was carefully choreographed to match the intro reveal animation. We had to ensure the character pressed the button regardless of height.
- The background on the screen had to loop continuously even while other aspects of the scene were depended on when the user pressed the continue button.
- The challenge this year was to break up the recap flow into sections that felt distinct. To achieve this I expanded the screen and added camera motion to each section to give the feeling that different sections were displayed at different points on the screen.
- To give a sense that the player was actually controlling the display I built a control board. To add to the aesthetic of a stage I styled it similarly to dj equipment.
I concepted and built the 2k23 Recap environment and motion graphics
Key features of the 2k23 recap environment:
- This year my goal was to create a feeling of being in an outer hall of a stadium. I wanted to create a sense that as a player you were climbing and moving through this space. I achieved this effect by adding stairs coming up to the scene and progressing up from the scene.
- Lighting was crucial here to create a greater depth. Instead of focussing all attention on center screen I needed to create a more nuanced visual flow. To do this I added many lights fake and real time to draw the eye around the space.
I concepted and built the 2k22 recap environment and motion graphics
Key features for the 2k22 recap environment:
- This year I aimed to create a mythical hall of fame kind of pavilion. Later, this environment had been described by a producer as the basketball library. I wanted to create a feeling of prestige in the space where your post game stats displayed building a sense of importance.
- I wanted a bright clean tile floor that would still show the reflections of the screen. To achieve this I had to make the reflectivity unrealistically high and also add the dark MyPlayer logo in the center.
- Even though this was to be an interior space I wanted to give the feeling of a sky above to add to the brightness. The solution was to add an edge lit dome at the top of the scene. Light at the edge and darker at the top similar to how the real sky is on a clear day.
Recap game art and motion graphics created by me. Documentation and gameplay from Chris Smoove.