Ulrich Interview

[ignatu]

The Ulrich interview.

Posted here, this interview has some interesting info, some of which suggests EA people knew about some of the problems.

Q: "Have any improvements been made to the substitution patterns used by the CPU (for example, bringing on a power forward and sliding a player already on the floor to another position so the two can play together)? Are we able to set our own substitution patterns?"

A: "We have completely re-worked how we handle player rotation not only for the CPU, but also for user sim games. Basically we allow you to set playing time and starting percentages for each position, giving you much more control when you sim."

The question was worded in a way that made it seem it was about substitutions in played games. Brian's answer is about substitution patterns in simmed games. Was he avoiding the in-game substitution issue because he knew there was a problem?

Brian also said this:

"First of all, we wanted to make sure that we continued to innovate and deliver on current gen because we have a very loyal following for our current gen game. So our first goal with this version of LIVE was simply to create the best basketball game we have ever made."

A very loyal following, to whom Brian and the team decided to deliver a game that has basic flaws, such as the CPU not subbing tired players out of games, and in fact subbing them back in if the human player tries to remove them. This sub problem was apparant within the first five minutes of play.

Brain said:

"I think that the NBA is just as much about entertainment as it is about competition, so for NBA LIVE 07 we wanted to focus on things like our presentation, cameras, and overall production values."

What are the new camera angles and production values? Is it the big Toyota truck in the middle of the menu screen? Is it the uselessly nebulous momentum meter, which appears to be a 1/4 inch bar that turns red when your team has momentum? (I'm still not sure if that is the momentum meter.) Is it the fatigue bars that don't appear even when they're set to appear in settings? Could it be jerseys that cut into a player's leg? Or is it the nice visual view of their favorite windows desktop when the game crashes back to windows after a dynasty game? Was the hold music for tech support a production value, to which many people were exposed when the download version of the game didn't work?

One of the main improvemens to Live Brian mentioned were realistic battles between offensive and defensive players.

"The first is the concept of realistic battles between offensive and defensive players on the perimeter. This is a little difficult to explain because there is a whole bunch of stuff going on under the hood to make it work, but the result is that driving to the basket and defending on the perimeter feels much smoother and more responsive. Quick players like Allen Iverson can really blow by their defenders, and good perimeter defenders can use their quickness and positioning to cut off lanes to the hoop."

Yes it's realistic, at least in the Star Trek universe, for my controlled defender to warp (from being some feet away, to right on top of the offensive player) into chest up, hand on hip defense even when I'm trying to play off the offensive player.

I will give Brian and EA this. In limited play (a few hours) and ignoring the bugs, I did see computer players do things I've never seen before. Put a guy like Kobe or LeBron on my team, even with me locked on another player, I can get the ball in their hands and they will force the issue and try to score.

There are elements of Live 07 that really excite me as far as playability, but unfortunately some serious bugs have to be fixed first. And so far, there's no response from Brian or from anyone at EA. In this situation, it's expected that by now Brian or someone would have made a statement saying "there will be a patch to fix the most serious bugs ASAP."