Hoops City 3D

Lace them up on a roomy court in a stylized 3D arena and play basketball from behind your own player.

Modes from the title screen

• 1v1 ONLINE — a real-time 1v1 against a real player on another computer, played on the PlayDrop game server (PlayDrop sign-in required). Half-court, both players attack the same hoop, first to 11 wins.
• LEAGUE — declare for the draft, get picked by one of 12 pro teams, then play an 8-game 5v5 season in your team colours. Win 5 or more to reach the Finals and chase the title.
• ACCOUNT — create a player account with name, password and position; it tracks your online record and league career.
• Shootaround — free shooting with no defense. You start holding the ball in scoring range, so you can work on your jumper immediately.
• 1v1 vs AI — take on a single AI defender who closes out, recovers, bites on pump fakes and attacks the rim. First to 11 points wins.
• 5v5 vs AI — you plus four AI teammates against five AI opponents, with a two minute quarter and a 24 second shot clock.

MY PLAYER

Open MY PLAYER from the title screen to restyle your low-poly baller: skin tone, hair, jersey colour, shorts, shoes, any jersey number from 0 to 99 (or 00), and up to two funny accessories at once (ACCESSORY 1 and ACCESSORY 2), such as a propeller cap, clown nose, shades with a mustache, party hat, crown or a duck floatie. A live 3D preview spins while you browse, the look is saved in your browser and it follows you into every mode.

Controls

• W A S D — move camera-relative: W drives toward the hoop you attack, S backs out, A strafes left, D strafes right
• Up arrow — shoot. Hold to run the shot meter and release inside the green; a tap under 0.25 s is a quick release that is always green.
• Left arrow — pass to the best open teammate
• Right arrow — sprint and drive; on defense it is your steal attempt
• Down arrow — pump fake with the ball; on defense it is your contest jump
• MENU button (top left) or Esc — back to the main menu

Shot meter

A regular shot bar fills in 0.60 seconds, and from behind the three-point line it fills in 0.40 seconds, and the green window is only 20% of the bar, so the release window is tight. Let the bar run all the way to the end and the shot is a guaranteed brick: it clangs off rim or backboard and comes down live for a rebound.

A camera rides behind your player, the scoreboard keeps score, game clock and shot clock, defenders play man-to-man and try to keep up — when you are on defense your player auto-guards your man until you take over with W A S D. Steals succeed 40% of the time when you are in reach. Sprint (Right arrow) and snap a very tight turn next to a defender and he may fall: ANKLES! In 5v5 the AI passes the ball around and changes speed between walking, jogging and sprinting. Threes count for three.

This is a stylized arcade interpretation of a big-league basketball broadcast, not a photoreal simulation.