Badges and Takeover,
inside the shot.

The short version

• Badges change a shot in four places: the shot rating, the defense, the chance on certain shots, and, for Quick Trigger, a floor under the timing window on quick shots.
• Badge rating boosts have a ceiling. All the rating boosts from badges together can't pass one server limit, and Takeover's shooting boost has a limit of its own.
• Badges cut the defense before the Excellent check. Their defense changes are added together and can take the contest down to zero. Deadeye is the clearest case: it removes late contests.
• Takeover is the biggest timing effect in the game. An ability can widen the window, switch off the Excellent check, add a timing bonus for each grade, shrink the defense, and raise shot ratings.
• MyCAREER has its own window boost. A My Buddy timing skill multiplies your window by 1.5, 2.5 or 4 for a set number of shots. Those three numbers are fixed in the game file.
• Badges go from Bronze to Legend, and the lists have one more slot. Every badge value is a list of seven: not equipped, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Hall of Fame, Legend, and a level above Legend that no player can earn. Each list has a second copy for when the badge is boosted.
• Set and Fire and Static Middy are for set shots. Arc Cadence and Smooth Operator are for shots on the move. The game splits each pair by distance: Set and Fire and Arc Cadence count threes, Static Middy and Smooth Operator count mid-range shots.
• A jump shot's requirement is its grade. The creator scores release height and speed at 15% each and timing and defense immunity at 30% each. You need Mid-Range or Three-Point at that total to equip it. The base sets timing and the two releases set immunity.
• The Takeover meter has six states, from frozen to Takeover. Forty-five kinds of play fill or drain it, a bad shot can drop it a whole state, and being hot or cold changes your ratings.
• 2K27's badge and Takeover numbers come from 2K's servers. This document gives what each one changes and where. 2K20 kept its values in its own data, so its exact numbers are here as the comparison.

Where badges plug into a shot

// 1. Shot rating
rating += min(sum of active badge rating boosts, badge_boost_limit)
rating += min(takeover shooting boost, takeover_boost_limit)

// 2. Defense (before the Excellent check and the chance)
contest += sum of every active badge's defense change
contest  = at least 0

// 3. Chance on certain shots
chance  += badge chance bonus for this shot, by tier

// 4. The window, Quick Trigger only
on a quick shot start: window = at least quick_trigger_floor[tier] of full size

Badge levels: Bronze to Legend, and one more

2K27 has 70 badges. Every value a badge has, whether it's a rating bonus, a chance bonus or a window floor, is stored as a list with one number per level. Each list also has a second copy, used when the badge is boosted.

top_level[badge] = Legend                     // every badge with levels
                 = Bronze                     // the 14 personality badges: on or off
// When the game sets up your badges
level = min(saved level, top_level + 1)       // the extra slot only above Legend
// During play, two bonuses can raise it
level = max(saved level + player_bonus,
            saved level + team_bonus)
level = at most top_level                     // never past Legend this way

value = normal_list[level]                    // or boosted_list[level]

The 70 badges

Here's the full list, with the game's badge names split into words. The 14 personality badges are on or off. Every other badge goes to Legend.

• Personality, on or off: Low Friendliness, High Friendliness, Small Ego, Big Ego, Negatively Motivated, Positively Motivated, Expressive, Unpredictable, Laid Back, Big Market Player, Fair Weather Player, Tax Avoider, Alpha Dog, Enforcer.
• Shooting: Deadeye, Limitless Range, Mini Marksman, Set and Fire, Arc Cadence, Static Middy, Smooth Operator, Quick Trigger.
• Post scoring: Hook Specialist, Post Fade Phenom, Post Powerhouse, Post Spin Catalyst.
• Finishing: Float Game, Posterizer, Rise Up, Aerial Wizard, Layup Mixmaster, Paint Prodigy, Physical Finisher, Ghost Stepper.
• Playmaking: Bail Out, Break Starter, Dimer, Versatile Visionary, Handles for Days, Unpluckable, Ankle Assassin, Lightning Launch, Strong Handle, Pace, Slippery Off-Ball.
• Defense: Post Lockdown, Challenger, Off-Ball Pest, Pick Dodger, Glove, Interceptor, Pogo Stick, Brick Wall, Immovable Enforcer, High-Flying Denier, Paint Patroller, Wall Up, Seatbelt, Ankle Braces.
• Rebounding and hustle: Crasher, Possession Closer, Sync Snatcher, Boxout Boss.
• Speed and stamina: Flash and Work Horse, which change play speed and agility, and Work Horse also stamina drain.
• The rest: Work Ethic, Marketability, Breaker, Bruiser.

The groups are ours, mostly from which block of the badge tuning holds each badge's settings. The game's own category for each badge is one of the server values.

2K27's shooting badges

Each badge's settings sit together in one block of 2K27's tuning. The block shows what every badge can change. The values themselves come from 2K's servers.

The same block holds the timers the game uses to tell shooting situations apart: how long after a catch, how long since a dribble or a dribble move, how long standing still, how long moving, and how close together size-up moves came. One badge type for moving shots also changes how defenders react, with a reaction-chance multiplier and a chance bonus. Every shooting badge also has a flag saying whether it can be boosted, and the player's boost level for it.

for mid-range and long-range shots, each with its own settings:
    if defense at the start of the shot ≤ max_start_defense
       and the defender is within max_distance and the angle range:
        release defense ×= deadeye_curve(release defense)
        // the difference is added to the badge defense total
    shown on screen: at least min_shown_defense

Set shots, moving shots and the four distance bands

Four of the eight shooting badges are two pairs built from the same parts. One part decides how far out the shot is. The other decides whether it counts as a set shot. Each badge is just a different setting of those two parts.

d = distance to the rim, in feet
two  = the shot is inside the arc
// a second three-point test uses the arc moved by a set buffer

close         = two and close_start ≤ d ≤ close_end
mid           = two and d ≥ mid_start
shallow_three = beyond the buffered arc and d ≤ shallow_end
deep_three    = beyond the buffered arc and deep_start ≤ d ≤ deep_end
// a badge lists the bands it works in; the shot has to be in one of them

on every frame the shooter is moving:  last_moved = now
on a catch:                            caught_recently = on, for catch_window seconds

set_shot = the shot is a jump shot the badges count
           and it isn't one of two shot states the code leaves out
           and (now − last_moved ≥ still_time  or  caught_recently)

Set and Fire:     set_shot      and shallow three
Static Middy:     set_shot      and mid-range
Arc Cadence:      not set_shot  and shallow three
Smooth Operator:  not set_shot  and mid-range

What the moving-shot pair adds

on certain moves by the shooter:
    defender reacts, with a chance scaled by reaction_scale[strength][level]
    // strengths: none, low, medium, high, a fall
if the shot comes within reaction_window seconds of that reaction:
    chance += reaction_bonus[level]          // a boosted list too

Your jump shot's grades, and what it takes to equip it

2K27's jump shot creator puts together five things: a base, two releases, a blend between the releases, and a release speed. There are 884 bases and 884 releases, all from one list: three defaults (small, swing and big) and one for every player in the game, WNBA included. The release speed is a setting you pick, one of five from very slow to very quick. It isn't worked out from the animations.

t = your blend ÷ 100       // the code always blends from the release with more weight

height = the release height, from the animation
         30 at about 6'5" (196.6 cm), up to 100 at about 9'1" (275.8 cm)
speed  = time from the start of the shot to the release,
         sped up by the base and by your release speed setting
         100 at 0.477 s or quicker, down to 30 at 0.85 s
timing = (the base's timing number + timing_tier_bonus)
         ÷ release_speed_scale, kept between 30 and 100
immune = release 1's immunity, blended toward release 2's by t
         + immunity_tier_bonus

overall = 0.15 × height + 0.15 × speed + 0.30 × timing + 0.30 × immune
you can equip it if Mid-Range ≥ overall  or  Three-Point ≥ overall
                    // checked now, and at your build's maximum

• The base sets timing. The releases set immunity. The blend mixes the two releases' immunity in a straight line, and the game always blends from the dominant release toward the other. Timing comes from the base alone.
• The timing grade is the same steadiness number the game uses to decide how much a shot's speed varies from attempt to attempt (see What 2K27 does about it). A steadier jump shot has a narrower random range.
• A quicker release speed trades timing for speed. It raises the speed grade, but the timing grade is divided by the same speed scale, so it drops.
• The creator runs the real shot code. To grade a jump shot and place its visual cue, it builds a pretend shot from your choices and runs it through the same timing code used in games.
• Every player also has a timing tier and an immunity tier (normal, strong or very strong), each adding a server bonus. The creator doesn't set them; they come with the player's own data.
• Each animation's numbers aren't in the exe. The base's timing number, each release's immunity, and the release height and timing come from the game's compressed animation data. The release speed scale and the tier bonuses come from 2K's servers.

Badge boosts during a MyCAREER game

MyCAREER can switch on a badge partway through a game. It works through special badge slots, and it's earned by using a badge, not by scoring.

each time one of your badges does its job:
    uses[badge] += 1                           // only so many count per possession

if uses[badge] ≥ needed[badge][where you're playing]:
    linked = the badge tied to it in one of your special slots
    if linked isn't already on:
        switch linked on for the rest of this game

// special slots: four seasonal, two crew, one rep, one build slot
// "where you're playing" is one of about 200 places and modes
// NBA games use their own, shorter list

The names of the special slots in the game's data mark the seasonal and crew slots as "+1" and the rep and build slots as "+2". We didn't trace what those numbers change. Separately, every badge value has the boosted list from the levels section, and each badge on a player has a flag for whether it can be boosted.

Takeover

2K27's Takeover has six disciplines: finishing, shooting, playmaking, defense, rebounding and physicals. The game's list of special abilities groups Shot Artist, Calibrated and Zip Code with shooting, and Inside Touch, Detonator and Airspace with finishing. Perks (accelerator, longevity, overdrive) change how fast the meter fills, how long it lasts and how much it boosts.

// Window: multiply in every active ability's window scale for this shot type
takeover_scale = product of ability_window_scale[ability][shot type]
if takeover_scale > 1:  skip the Excellent check

// Timing bonus, added per grade, two levels each
jump shots:  bonus += shooting_timing_buff[grade][level]
layups:      bonus += finishing_timing_buff[grade][level]   // more near Excellent

// Defense, multiplied per active ability, two levels each
defense ×= ability_defense_scale[ability][level]

// Rating
rating  += shooting ability boost, up to its own limit
rating  += attribute boosts per Takeover state, and per overdrive perk

• The shooting timing buff has its own rules. Its settings include how soon after getting open the shot has to come, how long the shooter can have been standing still, and an extra energy drain while it's on.
• Other Takeover effects reach shots too. A second-chance shot multiplier, a dunk chance multiplier, and a setting that can make a dunk certain when no defender with a Takeover is guarding it.
• 2K19 and 2K20 were simpler. Takeover multiplied the window by exactly 1.5 for jump shots and 2 for layups and skipped the defense check. 2K20's effects were a jump-shot boost, larger perfect windows, a post-shot boost, a dunk boost, better passes and more broken ankles, each with a basic and a boosted level.

How the Takeover meter fills and drains

2K27's Takeover meter has six states rather than an on/off switch. Being hot and being cold each change your ratings, and Takeover itself is the top state.

points += event_points[play]
        × play_multiplier[how it happened]      // e.g. a flashy pass, a dunk's style
        × diminishing_returns[stat](how many so far)
        × quarter_length_scale                  // short games fill faster
        × who_scale                             // your MyPLAYER, AI teammates, everyone else

a bad shot (a miss on a poor chance) can drop a whole state,
    unless it's within a set immunity time of reaching that state
the meter drains once or per second, by what the game is doing
    (live play, inbound, free throw, tip-off) and on court or on the bench
cooldowns at: timeouts, quarter ends, halftime, injury stops, replay reviews

The 45 plays that count

• Scoring: made shots inside, mid-range and outside, made free throws, assists. Inside shots are scaled by type, from alley-oops to how flashy a dunk is on a ten-step scale. Assists are scaled for flashy passes and alley-oop passes, by the passer's badge level.
• Bad scoring: bad free throws and bad shots inside, mid-range and outside, each with its own chance range for what counts as bad.
• Defense and hustle: steals, blocks, charges taken, good shot defense, post defense wins, offensive and defensive rebounds, knocked-away balls, forced pickups.
• Against you: turnovers, fouls, violations, lost balls, bad steal attempts, leaving your man, getting dunked on, getting blocked.
• Ankle breakers: causing a stumble or a fall, and suffering one.
• Badge bonuses: High-Flying Denier and Paint Patroller add their own points, by level.

Perks, team boosts and limits

• Three perks: one fills faster, one lasts longer (per ability), and one raises the rating boost in each state.
• Three team boosts: a team fill-rate boost, a team resistance boost, and a head start in points. The team boost only works up to a set state.
• Ranks D to S are part of MyCAREER's Takeover progression, alongside rewards per level.
• Shootaround is capped. Points earned before tip-off stop at a set limit for shooting and for finishing.
• Some abilities have extra rules. Shot Artist checks how far the matchup is and whether the shot is too well defended. Glue and Rim Guardian defenders can cancel a shot effect within a set distance and angle. Hydration Hero changes fatigue.

This section comes from the layout and names of 2K27's Takeover settings and their lists of states, plays and perks. How big each number is comes from 2K's servers.

MyCAREER buddy skills

MyCAREER gives you a My Buddy with skills that switch on timed effects. One effect type multiplies your timing window, and its values are fixed in the game file rather than sent from 2K's servers.

game_mode_scale = 1                          // every mode except MyCAREER
in MyCAREER, when the shooter is your own MyPLAYER:
    for each active buddy skill effect (up to six):
        if it's a timing window effect:
            game_mode_scale = max(game_mode_scale, its size)
// timing window effects: 21 entries in three groups of seven
//   ×1.5, ×2.5, ×4

Skill boosts and drinks

MyCAREER's skill boosts are items from its store. 2K27 has boosts for layups and dunks, jump shots, ball handling and passing, steals, blocks, rebounding and the gym, plus three kinds of Gatorade drink. They can be used in NBA games, Pro-Am and Park games.

Every effect has a basic and a boosted version, and there's a floor and a ceiling on the total chance multiplier from boosts. Each game's result report says whether boosts were free in that game and whether drinks were used up. 2K20 had the first six of these effects, so 2K27 kept the system and added tighter handling and steals.

Earning and upgrading badges in MyCAREER

A MyPLAYER's badges come from a progression system with its own set of rules. All of its numbers come from 2K's servers, separately for NBA and WNBA careers.

// Can you have this badge, and how high?
max_level[badge]    = by your height             // 31 height steps
upgrade cost        = tokens[badge] per level, by your height
requirement[badge]  = attribute ≥ value          // the format can join it to another
                                                 // requirement with AND or OR

// Earning tokens
token every badge_xp_needed[n] XP                // a list of 60 steps
badge XP from: game events, team practice drills, Gatorade gym workouts
badge XP × category_scale × difficulty_scale × quarter_length_scale
         × teammate_grade_scale[where you played]
         × (win_scale or loss_scale)[where you played]
         × foul_out_scale × accelerator_scale[category]

// Slots
default slots: a total, split across categories between a min and a max
plus flex slots, extra slots and the special slots

• Attribute upgrades also earn tokens. A setting per position and attribute gives the number of upgrades per token, and a minimum attribute value before it counts.
• Badges can be paired. Each badge has a setting naming an associated badge, which fits the way the special slots tie one badge to another.
• Rebirth and co-op change the rate. A rebirth starts you with part of your token potential as XP and has its own XP scale. Co-op NBA games have a blanket scale too.
• Takeover has its own progression, with rewards per level and a slow, medium or fast speed.

2K20's badges, with exact values

2K20 kept its badge values in its own data, so a live session shows the real numbers. Each badge has a value for no badge, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Hall of Fame, and a second row for when the badge is boosted. What each number does follows the setting's name in the game.

The contrast with 2K27 is clear. 2K20's timing badges worked on the penalty and the multiplier: Flexible Release and Consistent Finisher softened a bad release, and Green Machine and Pro Touch raised a good one. 2K27's shooting badges work on rating, defense and chance, and only Quick Trigger touches the window. The big timing effects moved to Takeover and, in MyCAREER, to buddy skills.

Where each piece is in the code

Code blocks paraphrase what each function does in our own words; the names are ours, and no game code or assets are reproduced. Badge and ability names are the ones players see in the game. Structure that isn't tied to an address, like the meter states, plays and progression settings, comes from the layout of 2K27's settings and their lists of options. 2K27's badge, Takeover, skill boost and progression values arrive from 2K's servers and aren't in its install. 2K20's values come from a live session on Pro. Addresses are for the PC builds we studied; 2K27's are for update 2.0.H1. NBA 2K is a trademark of Take-Two Interactive; MyBaller is not affiliated with or endorsed by 2K.