NBA Elite 11 Gameplay Q&A with Novell Thomas

We've had the chance to ask NBA Elite 11 gameplay producer Novell Thomas some questions about this year's game, which you can check out here. A huge thanks to Novell for taking the time and to Yaw, NBA Elite's community manager, for setting everything up.

Please note that the questions were submitted before some of the recent previews were made available, so some of them cover familiar ground. However, the Q&A should give you a good rundown of the basic controls as well as free throw shooting, mid-air adjustments and tip-ins, substitution logic, sliders, signature styles and more. We've also received additional confirmation that Dynasty Mode has been enhanced this year but no further details as yet (we should hopefully have another Q&A on game modes at a later date).

Once again, you can check it out here and post your thoughts right here in the NLSC Forum.

Very cool read and great to see the Elite development team engaging with us more this year.

I also posted this on EA forums and OS forums

we have signature shots but we don't have signature shot arcs this year

....removing features is never good

We do have sliders this year, however they have been reduced compared to last year due to the game team focusing on the 5 on 5 core gameplay and physics engine.

that doesnt make sense to me, if they didnt have time to focus on it wouldnt that mean the slider count would stay the same?


LOVE the comment about the backboard dunks though.....fond memories of the PC version all star games.

No Sig shit arcs, but you can adjust your arc. That's nice. I shall be adjusting every shot for a higher arc.

It's possible the sliders they took out were breaking the gameplay or were broken like the ones in 09 that were taken out in 10. I'd like to know which sliders were removed for Elite.

Good interview. It was quite up to date actually. There were some thing that I haven't heard about yet.

yea I didnt mention that the interview was damn good or anything, just more bitching


I forgot about the "broken" sliders, I just take it as face value for if something is removed its never good.

I am surprised they got rid of the sig arcs though considering all that time on OS that Marcus spent on them for Live 10.

Thanks guys, I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. Hopefully that will be the majority view.

It's possible the sliders they took out were breaking the gameplay or were broken like the ones in 09 that were taken out in 10. I'd like to know which sliders were removed for Elite.

That was my first thought too. Truth be told I was hoping for some additional sliders as there are some that were in previous games that were missing in NBA Live 10 that I thought would've been helpful but hopefully we won't miss them and the ones that were removed were irrelevant with the changes/improvements this year.

I'm not too worried about the signature shot arcs, it's a nice detail but maybe it's something they can re-tool and bring back if the new physics and controls are stable. I think signature shooting forms are more noticeable, but that could be just me.

I think we might need clarification on the tip dunks though, the way I read that answer left me wondering whether it's automatic or not (depending on your player's abilities). That's not too bad but full control would be preferable. Might have to investigate that. Also remembered I forgot to ask about in-game injuries, so there's a couple of things to follow up on. Still, I reckon we got some good info here.

I'm surprised about the removal of sig arcs too.

DEfinitely nice read!!!

I'm surprised about the removal of sig arcs too.

I'm guessing they felt they needed extra work or they weren't working properly with the new controls, in which case it's probably for the best to take them out and see what can be done with them for NBA Elite 12. It's good that we'll be able to adjust the arc ourselves while shooting to elude defenders though.

DEfinitely nice read!!!

Thanks.

I don't mind much about the removing of sig arcs, but I'm a little disappointed in their not adding loose-ball fouls and all those fun violations. Overall, a great read.

I don't mind much about the removing of sig arcs, but I'm a little disappointed in their not adding loose-ball fouls and all those fun violations. Overall, a great read.

stepsix
NBA Elite Developer

OVR: 5
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 44

Re: NBA Elite 11 Gameplay Q&A with Novell Thomas (NLSC)
Re: new violations, we added clear lane calls at the request of OS'ers

remember the interview questions were sent in weeks ago.

But when were they answered?

Earlier this week. That might have slipped Novell's mind when he was answered that question, good to hear that's been added though.

One thing that was missed by Novell was the fact that we added clear lane calls when talking about violations. If you foul from behind on a break, they get a freethrow and the ball.

Yes! That's sure to eliminate those bastards who foul me on the fastbreak online.

One thing that was missed by Novell was the fact that we added clear lane calls when talking about violations. If you foul from behind on a break, they get a freethrow and the ball.

Awesome news, thanks Fraser.

One thing that was missed by Novell was the fact that we added clear lane calls when talking about violations. If you foul from behind on a break, they get a freethrow and the ball.

What about the in-game injuries I would really want to know that part, also will u guys be ablbe to show some 3 min, 5min gameplay or we have to wait for the demo

Indeed, I'm interested to hear about in-game injuries too. Unfortunately left that off the Q&A.

Are you still able to manuever right or left with the right analog stick when your back is to the basket?

It's different this year. Since the right analog controls your hands, pressing right or left results in shoulder fakes. However, rolling from left or right to straight up will give you a hook shot or turn around hook shot depending on which direction you are facing.

You can move left or right with the left stick, and you can perform similar but better feeling and looking spins and drives out of the post with the gather button combined with the left stick. The same controls can give you drop steps or step throughs. Its much better than live 10s post control, imo.