Upcoming Developer Chat (NLSC Podcast)

[22cedric]

Will NBA Live 15 feature player introductions ? The one thing that NBA Live needs to do, is go back to its roots and by that I mean "Bells and Whistles". EA Sports used to be the king of Bells and Whistles. They really need to capture that wow factor in this regard and player introductions need to capture that wow factor. Similar to NHL 15 they really need to amp this part of the game up. Gamers need to be psyched to play the game and cool and authentic player intros is the key.

[ThaLiveKing]

The mid-range game was pretty non-existent, you couldn't use guys like David West properly. What kind of changes, if any, have been made to the mid range game. Also, players used to be able to block mid range jumpers without even jumping, has this been fixed?

Players also lost the ball, while pump faking, because the defender was too close, has this also been fixed?

[ThaLiveKing]

Can you guys add better transitions effects from the cut scenes, because it's kind of annoying, especially when the players freeze in an awkward position, It just takes away from the authenticity of the game

I agree with this. There is no organic flow when a whistle is blown or a quarter ends. All AI and animations abruptly stop as a new script is being run, and the players either walk or warp to the next position on the court. I think it's fine for people who want to skip the ambient stuff and play the game, but people would like to see a more realistic atmosphere and that definitely plays a part.

Personally, I am ok with it right now because I want them to continue concentrating on the gameplay itself, but I would definitely like to see it improved in the future.

I'm sure it's not hard to fix lol

[bigh0rt]

Can you guys add better transitions effects from the cut scenes, because it's kind of annoying, especially when the players freeze in an awkward position, It just takes away from the authenticity of the game

I agree with this. There is no organic flow when a whistle is blown or a quarter ends. All AI and animations abruptly stop as a new script is being run, and the players either walk or warp to the next position on the court. I think it's fine for people who want to skip the ambient stuff and play the game, but people would like to see a more realistic atmosphere and that definitely plays a part.

Personally, I am ok with it right now because I want them to continue concentrating on the gameplay itself, but I would definitely like to see it improved in the future.

I'm sure it's not hard to fix lol

I assume that you have an extensive background in video game programming. I mean I have to assume that, because there's no way you'd take such an illogical leap to make that presumption, right?

[TBM]

I had a similar thought with fast break dunks. In real life, when the wide open dunk/layup is not in question, players don't bother chasing him, but in Live and 2K, and every other basketball game ever that I can think of, the opponents run full sprint as if they had a chance to stop the dunk.

[Andrew]

It's a tough call, because we do see some unexpected chase-down blocks, and defenders who just don't give up (and if nothing else, sometimes end up collecting the rebound when a player blows the wide open dunk/layup). It's a delicate balance, because we don't want to see that stuff happen to often in the game, but we still want to see miraculous things happens, just like in real life.

[Patr1ck]

I'll gladly be posterized in a video game if I have a chance to get the chase down block. I don't see areasonfor developers to put programming into the players that tells them to give up on defense.

[Kevin]

How about they just add a tendency for the player to either slouch off or run down the court to attempt a chasedown block like LBJ?

[ThaLiveKing]

Can you guys add better transitions effects from the cut scenes, because it's kind of annoying, especially when the players freeze in an awkward position, It just takes away from the authenticity of the game

I agree with this. There is no organic flow when a whistle is blown or a quarter ends. All AI and animations abruptly stop as a new script is being run, and the players either walk or warp to the next position on the court. I think it's fine for people who want to skip the ambient stuff and play the game, but people would like to see a more realistic atmosphere and that definitely plays a part.

Personally, I am ok with it right now because I want them to continue concentrating on the gameplay itself, but I would definitely like to see it improved in the future.

I'm sure it's not hard to fix lol

I assume that you have an extensive background in video game programming. I mean I have to assume that, because there's no way you'd take such an illogical leap to make that presumption, right?

Whatever you say man!! It's the only EA Sports game to have this issue!!

[Andrew]

How about they just add a tendency for the player to either slouch off or run down the court to attempt a chasedown block like LBJ?

An extension of Defensive Awareness, in other words. Perhaps a "Defensive Intensity" or "Defensive Enthusiasm" attribute.

Either way, James Harden is taking a hit in that category.

[[Q]]

Should be a hustle rating: likelihood that a player will get back on a fast break or go for a loose ball

[ThaLiveKing]

Should be a hustle rating: likelihood that a player will get back on a fast break or go for a loose ball

Yup Live 08-09 had that rating, game played a lot better once you turned it up for every player lol

[ThaLiveKing]

Since we haven't seen much game play, can you describe overall player movement.

[ThaLiveKing]

- Has there been any work on the Living World's feature? or is it being saved for next year? As long as the crowd is active, It won't bother me much to hold off for another year
- Do all arenas sound the same like in '14
- Has the CPU not calling time out been fixed?
- Auto Substitution, for both player and CPU were a problem and inconsistent last year, have they been resolved. Things such as making a substitution at the start of the quarter, so after the first whistle, even if it's 5 seconds in, the CPU makes a sub
- End of game logic for the CPU was a disaster, looking for improvements on that also
- Can you now edit your line ups between quarters ?
- Are the ball physics better, similar to NHL puck physics and FIFA's ball physics?

[22cedric]

What does the NBA Live development team think about the release date of October 28th the start of the NBA season ? Any big plans ahead ?

[ThaLiveKing]

Forgot to ask, has the problem with the defense being able to stop a driving player have been addressed? In real life, players would collide and fall if they crashed at half court

[Andrew]

Appreciate all the questions so far, everyone. I'm still organising them, and will do my best to try and cover everything.

Just to update everyone on the status of the interview, it is still going ahead and we'll be recording within the next couple of weeks. The guys are just a bit busy working on the game right now, but we're fixing up a time to record and it'll be out shortly after that. In the meantime, feel free to keep the questions coming.

[22cedric]

Thank you for the update Andrew much appreciated.

[22cedric]

Will players go around picks and execute movements with a sense of urgency ? Can we have user control on player celebrations with a button press ?

[ThaLiveKing]

Will players will get stuck on the box out? Or are we able to move around the player who is boxing out?

[Andrew]

Still going ahead, we'll be looking to record later this week.

[Jano23]

Hey Andrew since you all are recording later this week will we be able to hear the podcast this week? Or the next week?

[Andrew]

It'll probably be released next week, to ensure that we have full clearance/approval on everything we chat about.

[Jano23]

Ahhh darn I knew it would be wishful thinking to hear it this week.

[Andrew]

We'll see. But it'll very likely be next week, following a record later this week.