Before we proceed, we would like to state that none of our works are for Android and we are not related to the Android community. Our works are for PC only. Please do not come to us with inquiries, comments, reports or any form of messages regarding Android mods. Thank you.
Over the years, we've had inquiries regarding Android versions of Med's NBA Roster, PBA 2K14 and even sometimes, FIBA 2K14 or Kuroko V Slam Dunk. Recently, there have been more android inquiries brought to the main Facebook page, regarding modding for Android phones and the like. All of our mods have always been for PC. We discuss our thoughts on the difference between the PC modding community and the Android modding community.
NBA 2K14 (Android)
Comparison & Confusion?
NBA 2K14 (PC)
The images and videos we post here on the website have always been the PC version of NBA 2K14. With all settings on high in these screenshots and even videos, somehow, the casual members of the community who are not familiar with NBA 2K video gaming as a whole still mistake the mods as available for Android phones. Now, obviously, the graphics are nothing alike. The NBA 2K14 version for Android looks a lot like earlier NBA 2K titles for the PSP, but with the animation and fluidity of the PS2 era combined with a few animations from today's current game.
NBA 2K16 (Android)
Now, for NBA 2K16 on Android & iOS, it's a completely different story as it looks to be based on more recent NBA 2K video games and draws a striking resemblance to NBA 2K14 for PC. Images and videos of this version of NBA 2K on mobile are the primary source of confusion for the average video game enthusiast. However, we have to establish that all of our screenshots have always been and will always be for PC. It is great to see that even the mobile market is being given an ample amount of detail and attention by 2K Sports since the mobile video gaming community for NBA 2K is also quite large.
Messages.. what messages?
So, the messages we receive on the pages are most usually inquiries on whether or not the mods are available for Android devices. As we said before, we only mod for PC and all of our mods are only available for PC.
With that said, what are the other kinds of messages we receive? Sometimes, modders from the Android community inquire if we would allow our work to be used as bases for their work. This kind of thing has always been an issue between modders and is the most common issue of drama within the community. However, the PC modding community and the Android modding community are completely separate. One argument will always be said that credits will be properly given to the original author whose work will be based off of. While that is just right, does it really do the original author justice? First off, modders take literally HOURS, maybe tens, maybe even hundreds, and the most hardcore and veteran modders have spent THOUSANDS of hours conducting the proper research, resourcing, creating art files and posting online. For someone to take one's work whom that person has most likely made a personal attachment and connection to, and make it their own by changing very little and releasing it while not claiming it as their own work is difficult to take in for the original author.
While there are a lot of works that are open-source (explicitly stated that it can be used for anyone to edit even without permission), there's something about modding that a lot of people should realize. It's that there is a special bond between the modder and the mod itself. Modders know exactly what their work looks like, how it functions and what it will be like for people when they use it. A sort of connection between the creator and the product that should not be tampered with. All artists have this connection with their art, as I often like to think modders are artists as well. While there is justice with giving credits to the original author, they have every right to decline their work being used as a base solely based on his personal attachment to his creation due to the passion and hard work they imbued into their work. We are required to respect the original author if they decide to not allow their work to be used as a base.
Well then, why not just create your own mod? That has always been a question that has popped up in my head. We've received PMs asking to use the files created by our team regarding PBA 2K14, Kuroko V Slam Dunk, etc. The NBA 2K PC modding community has existed for a long time now, and so has the Android modding community. There are plenty of experienced and talented modders in the Android community as well, maybe just as much as the NBA 2K PC community. There have been more than one occasion where a member of the Android modding community has asked for permission to convert our very own PC files. Naturally, we decline because of what has been said earlier. However, with the existence of the community and even the experience of the most veteran modders from said community, why is there a need to ask the PC community for such files?
What the PC community can learn from the Android community
Thankfully, this doesn't happen very often and most of the time Android modders who are rejected take it with dignity. While I haven't heard of anyone from the PC community asking for files from the Android community, there is a thing or two to be learned from the Android community that should be brought to the PC community. It's that even when you are declined something that is meant to be shared, due to personal reasons or modder ties, you should always learn to create your own mods, from scratch if you have to. Nothing is going to stop you from sharing your works with others, and to share our works with others is the point of modding. The Android community is exactly that since the complexity of modding for mobile devices may be very startling for casual gamers. Even with all the difficulties, they continue to mod and share their works with others and that is exactly what the PC community needs.
Lately, there has been an unusual surplus of modders for NBA 2K on PC and with that, an even more unusual lack of sharing of works. Some modders come to a point where they don't even release their works publicly, as we have discussed before. It is mainly due to the realization that even other people will probably have their own version of a certain mod that they no longer release publicly since a different modder will release his own mod publicly. This is the flaw of an extremely large modding community that is frankly larger than the Android community. The Android community is smaller in number, but is more willing to share because of its smaller pool of modders.
Will I ever mod for Android?
Frankly, no and that will never happen for me personally. We have had PC modders contribute to the Android modding community in the past such as Tonskie of the Pinoy 2K Modders/PBA 2K Team. For me, I simply don't know how to mod for Android, I don't have a strong enough Android device to play NBA 2K on, and I'm simply not interested. The workload I do for NBA 2K on PC is already too much to handle in some cases, and I cannot add the burden of having to modify for a different community using what I assume would be even different modding methods and techniques. It would be a brand new learning curve for me that I would not be willing to take.
In the past, I have been invited to mod for the Android community and I have always respectfully declined. That will never change for me, but I have always said that I trust that the Android modding community has always been strong and don't actually need me. In fact, a lot of Android modders probably don't even know me or any of my works. However, I do have the highest respect for the best Android modders out there and I have complete trust in their work.
The Android community is completely different from the PC community, but it has the same sentiment when it comes to sharing our works. While I do not encourage members of either community to use the opposite's work as bases for their own, I believe that everyone should learn how to create their own mods even without the help of others just to be able to contribute and share our works with others. I cannot stress this enough, but modding has always been about sharing, and that should never stop.
Again, none of our works are for Android and we are not related to the Android community. Our works are for PC only. Please do not come to us with inquiries, comments, reports or any form of messages regarding Android mods. Thank you.