The OS Community Crushes It (Volume 3)

As the end of the year nears, it’s about that time where we need to start finding ways to keep our sports games relevant before the true doldrums of the season hit. For me, MLB The Show’s pre-release hype starts the cycle anew after the New Year, but this is definitely about the time I start playing sports games the least. Or, I should say, I start looking for new ways to keep me interested in my franchise mode playthroughs, especially if I’m not heavily invested in playing online.

This, of course, is where the OS community comes through in a big way. With that in mind, I’m going to focus most of my attention here on the major roster projects that people out there have completed in recent times to infuse some of our games with new life.

We did our gift card giveaway a month or two back, and we’re doing another one for the holidays. Same rules apply, there are two $100 gift cards to giveaway for PSN and Xbox. Anyone already subscribed to the newsletter is eligible, you just need to head here and make sure to actually sign up for the giveaway. Thanks as always for supporting this little venture.

NBA 2K25

I’m leading with NBA 2K25 because it’s where the OS community has done its best work and most prolific amount of work this year. There’s some unrest in the community with the gameplay due to patches and whatever else, but in my opinion, great rosters do more for this game than any other besides maybe MLB The Show. So much about the gameplay will change with re-rates, tendency changes, and so on.

The first to mention is the Attention to Detail Project. The AtD crew has been doing this for a longggggg time, and they do re-rates, tendency updates, badge changes, playbook updates, full G-League rosters, and on and on it goes. It’s an incredible amount of work, and the amount of care and passion you need to have to even undertake something like this is immense. They deserve all the praise, and you should download their rosters for MyNBA if you want to play that mode the “true” way it’s meant to be played. They are available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

Here are all the ways to locate the files:

• Roster: ATD Official Open. Night (tag: leonardo.genta98)

• Scenario: ATD Scenario Open. Night (tag: leonardo.genta98)

• Gameplay Sliders: (tag: leonardo.genta98)

• MyNBA Sliders: (tag: leonardo.genta98)

What’s also nice about massive projects like the AtD one and others is they’re collaborative and help out other people who are thinking of doing rosters and the like. I’ve talked about OS user MJWizards many times, but his Eras projects come up big every year. And, in this case, jd@os took MJ’s work (with his blessing) and updated the Jordan Era further. He added more edits to shoes, accessories, coaches, and has put together two of the more impressive versions of Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller you’ll find out there (two notable players who do not give their licensing to 2K very often).

Here is how to locate the roster (on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X):

Roster: 1991-92 Playoffs
Online ID: theg81

The one other project I have to mention is DC and Hyper’s WNBA roster project. I have been on this corner for a couple years now, but I think the WNBA gameplay is the best version of gameplay in NBA 2K. The issue is that the WNBA season is basically wrapping up when 2K comes out, so the rosters are quickly outdated or just not good enough for true sim-heads who want to play as close to the real thing as possible.

DC and Hyper do the work to fix that problem. They do gear and accessories, and then they go to work updating coaching profiles, rosters, rotations, and more. The rosters and sliders they have out now are great, and they’re now working on the expansion teams and other items for some fat updates in the months ahead.

Available on PS5/PC/Xbox Series X:

Username: Hyperballer21

Roster: WNBA 2024 by HypeDC
Sliders: HypeDC Sliders

NHL 25

With NHL 25, there is not nearly as many people creating content for the game -- at least not on OS -- but what's around includes some of the finest rosters you can possibly use for franchise mode. OSer stlgamer09 has put out V1 of his rosters, and they're what you should absolutely use if you plan to start a franchise. He does draft prospects, transactions, goalie equipment, contracts, and even updates Playoff Beards. NHL rosters can be a real headache to tweak due to other leagues beyond the NHL impacting things, so these are a big win for people who want to have a solid base for franchise mode.

Here is the info:

• User: Briancstl

• File: Official Fran Ready V1

I would personally search for the file name rather than the user as EA’s search can be a little buggy. If you can’t find it through either method, just put in “Official Fran Ready” rather than the whole file name to likely fix that issue (if you have it).

Madden 25

Last on the list, fantasy playoffs are upon us, and the NFL Draft is starting to gain some traction. OS user Eli2Manningham has draft classes up for the 2025 NFL Draft up through the 2029 NFL Draft. I think there are plenty of solid options for draft classes out there (assuming you get ones that don't have any visual bugs after downloading them), but Eli is able to get out a lot of classes, so you can get some consistency with how they will play out within your franchise mode. I believe he's on PC, which probably helps keep him moving along at a nice pace since he's got a system in place and rosters are now cross-platform.

To locate these draft classes on Madden Share, you’ll want to search for:

Username: Eli2Manningham.

Each draft class has a different name for 2025 all the way to 2029. They are available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

Everything Else

I need to mention one non-sports game as we wrap things up, and it is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. It’s only been out for a couple days, and it is an Xbox/PC exclusive, but it’s already my favorite Indiana Jones thing since Last Crusade. Whether you’re a big fan of Indiana Jones or not, in this space we sometimes talk about and lament the fact that we don’t get enough “true” single-player experiences or care put into our franchise modes, and I think the same can be said for games as a whole at times. So, it’s great to play a through-and-through single-player game that is just trying to bring out what made Indiana Jones special as a movie and character.

Some of us have been playing it and mentioning things about it on the forums, and I just wanted to say it’s worth getting at least a trial to Game Pass if you’ve been hungry for an action game with all the Indiana Jones fixins of fist fights, whips, and plenty of puzzles to solve all packaged up in one of the more graphically impressive boxes around.

Until next time y’all. And, as always, thanks for reading.

-Chase