NBA Live 2005 Wishlist

[Yao7x]

I think that they should make that when you are on a break a way and press shoot, u do a layup. And when a player that could dunk could just press the dunk. Cuz I am having Tracy Mcgrady doing layups sometimes on a break a way instead of a dunk, which is just exciting. The hook shot should be the Shift + shoot button again, which was nicer, and you should have more crossovers for keyboard users, and you should also be able to walk.

[m1ndbomb]

I've loved the series since Showdown '94. I play my Live mostly on the consoles, and haven't bought a PC version since '99, so the whole patching thing isn't factored in to my wishes. These wishes are based, of course, on Live 2004.

Gameplay

I'd like to see put-back tip-ins return. I hate the dunking animations you get locked into if you time an offensive rebound. Also, being able to pass out of a dunking animation is of great importance.

Some logic editing abilities for players/teams would be nice.

Presentation

Since they added the facial expressions ('99?), I've wanted to see players chewing gum. Not a whole lot of players still do, but it would really add to the realism to see MJ or Kobe clapping their jaw during a free throw. Teeth guards could also go a long way.

I really like how a mildly injured player (sore elbow, sore wrist, etc) will still play, and wear a pad/band on their injured body part automatically this year; fantastic touch. I think this could go a step further and maybe include things like bandaids for facial lacerations (which are oddly common these days in the real NBA) and the funky facemasks for broken noses.

Along the animations/graphics line, I'd like to see hands raised on a play call, players pointing at open floor/man, players falling down on a brick-wall pick, etc. Players glancing back on a fast break would be nice, but I don't know how one would implement that. More shots from the inside and <10-foot range should use the backboard. I'd really like a behind-the-back pass.

A custom camera and maybe a TV-style presentation camera (like Madden's... zooms to players as they run back down court, zooms to upper 1/3 of shooter on free throws, zooms on scorer's table area on substitutions) for watching CPU vs. CPU games. Also, some static cams in replay would be nice... manuevering the existing camera into a nice position pretty much sucks. Being able to watch a replay of a buzzer beater from multiple angles as the ref checks the red-light replay would be sweet (as it is now, you can't watch it at all). Of course, Save Replay.

I dig the EA Trax thing, but let me change the current song in other places than the main menu. In Madden, you can bring up the help menu and hit a button to change tracks. This should be rather simple to implement.

I like to take a draft pick and really develop them into an all-star in my dynasties, but hearing "Number 4" called in the play-by-play eventually leads me to mute the TV and listen to the radio. The nicknames for created players are worse. Most other games will use the last names of existing players, and that would be good enough for me.

I'd really like the halftime report to return. The best performers from each team, a rundown of the game stats, and maybe some scores from around the league all spring to mind.

Train of thought lost..

m1ndbomb

[fgrep15]

have better animations on the changing shot while you are doing a dunk or layup. It looks like the player just stands up straight in the air, when you change you shot. And instead of a player going from a dunk to layup they should have the player swith hands or fix his body and continue the dunk

don't let the jump rating affect how good a rebounder a player is, guards with not so great rebounding ratings but good jump get too many boards

players range and clutch needs to be another feature put back in create a player, also the range should be extended more than 25' for ome players a guy like ray allen should have 27' range, PDub(pierce) 29' range etc so let it go higher than 25' up to 30' maybe

Pending Subs, so that if you see a player is tired you can pause and go and pick a sub for him, the sub will walk to the table and at the next dead ball will come in

players grabbing the ACTUAL RIM when they dunk

[Tubarney]

just a simple wish.... smart A.I matchups, like lakers playing pacers. reggie miller wouldn't be defending kobe, artest would. becomes a little stupid reggie guarding kobe, or if you have to which controll of the teams and switch matchups.

[TonyFromPerth]

does anyones else think it would be cool in 2005 if, during dynasty mode, you could be scouting high schools or colleges for players to draft??
also they could have the nbdl...maybe not with all the real players, but maybe, so then the free agents could play in that league, you could see if they improve and offer someone from there a contract.
you wouldnt get to play the games but maybe there would be a guy that went undrafted but was playing stellar hoops in the nbdl so your team could offer him a trial contract.

also they should fix the trap animation, you should be able to pivot or turn or swing elbows or something, maybe by using the right analogue stick, it could then be more interesting with either an offensive foul for elbowing, or a defensive foul for hacking....just some thoughts

[Gripni]

Make second rounders better. You should not draft people worse than the players on the Charlotte Bobcats.

[dcGrimes]

- Custom Teams
- Street play with option of 1-on-1 to 5-on-5

[Optimus Prime]

1. Players who retired can be offered to be coach.

2. you are the player/custom player, and you can be traded to other teams. so you can play in another team.

[plunkett05]

Um, a Dynasty mode that doesn't belong in a Mexico City toilet?
In all seriousness how about a franchise mode with a) more than one user controlled team, b) REALISTIC STATS (like say, Paul Pierce scoring 28 the first year and never more than 17 again). c) actual progression by players, d) a training camp option that isn't HARMFUL to your team, maybe is interactive like madden's, e) a scouting system that isn't so basic and uninformative, player workouts, etc.
There's so much wrong w/ the Dynasty mode it's a travesty, but also i wish that EA would fix certain gameplay glitches (how anytime shaq's dunk is halfway through and andre miller gets a hand on him he won't lamely readjust his shot and throw up some slop). Also, it'd be nice to have a practice mode that's untimed and is just your team playing basketball, or a three-on-three mode or something like ESPN has.
I know none of this will ever happen because it will require actual WORK from EA. They'll probably disregard everything we say and spend all their time on dunk animations and freestyle 3.0 but whatever, that's what a wishlist is for. Meantime I'm trying to convince ESPN to make their games for the PC... :D

[oboeguy]

I am amazed by some of the unrealistic requests in this thread. I'll make a realistic one. How about in-game saves after quarter breaks? That's a reasonable compromise between full-blown in-game saves and none at all (which sucks).

[Hopsing]

Hi
I won't buy nba live 2005 anyway but have some suggestions though.
In my opinion, the most outrageous thing in live 2004 is the stupid AI.
Offense:
CPU player do NEVER perform a crossover, a spinmove or a shot fake. That's unbelievable. In former nba live series games these things were in the game. But they must have been too realistic to leave in the game!?
The CPU has to take midrange jumper and run plays.
Reduce the prohop effectivity!!!
Give me the possibility to fake a shot under the basket!!!
Defense:
The CPU should not doubleteam with peja's opponent when peja is 8/10 from behind the arc. That is more than stupid. The Cpu shouldn't doubleteam at all when Lawrence Funderburke is trying to post up against Shaq. The Cpu's doubleteaming is just to predictable, there should be a certain random factor.

As you see, I see the main weakness of the game in the AI: So fix it EA!!!
I still cannot believe that EA played and tested that game and saw the shitty AI and thought, "Yes, that's the what NBA basketball looks like".

[Ralph Wiggum]

Some of my wishes are:

-Fix the Most Improved player award. Players win with stats of 2.1 points and nothing else.
-Make use of the res on PCs. (Like 2001 I think) with regard to the UI in particular the stats (Mentioned in previous posts but really annoying)
-Improve the UI
-Instead of changing the game settings each time you load the game, have a ‘Make Default’ button
-Make the interface more intuitive. (Like 2001 I think)
-Eg For pressure, instead of clicking the player then, pressure, if you click the pressure/double team text next to the name it changes it.
-Clicking on a column heading sorts the column in the stats
-Bring back on the rise/hot, in a slump and affect ratings accordingly. (Fixed by training sessions maybe?)
-Photos instead of Cyberfaces
-Improve the stats by adding/reinstating the following
-Season Highs
-Career Highs
-Individual stats breakdown by quarter (In live 2001 I think)
-Bring back team leaders
-Bring in team highs
-More use of in-game stats (User stats are the least relevant, individual ones more interesting during free throws. Maybe season highs? Last couple of games? Probably asking too much here.)
-Have the compare player stats after/during the game. Eg check out how Kidd went vs Iverson after the game
-Show the player’s entire career stats on the one screen like 2003
-Bring back player of the week/rookie of the week
-Free Throws
-Affect the free throw meter by previous ingame attempts? Eg if you miss the first 3, make it faster for that player for the next 2?
-Improve trading
-Allow the CPU to give a reason why the trade is unacceptable/make a counter offer. Eg too old, need a center, maybe if you include player X.
-Eg User offers player X, who will the CPU give me. (Not interested, these players)
-Fix the blocking of dunks.
-I think if you have a hand near a dunk it gets blocked.
-Maybe a separate slider for dunk blocks.

[antwainbarbour]

Dear EA Sports,

In my opinion, NBA Live 2005 will be the perfect video game if you do the following things:

1. Keep the Live 2004 engine. Keep the player movements exactly the same. I'm cool with the graphics, the courts, etc. Just work on the next couple of things.

2. Better rebounding battles. More offensive rebounds. Make the war on the boards seem more realistic....in Live 2004, players dont' fight for rebounds as much as they should.

3. Off-the ball screens. Reggie Miller usually runs his defender off of multiple screens before getting open. This doesn't happen at all in Live 2004.

4. Put the fans in the stands during the regular season! How unreal it is to see the Staples Center half full during a midseason game with the Kings!

5. Don't know if this is possible, but have different shooting forms. I know right now post players shoot differently than the guards, but maybe include around 5-8 different shooting forms.

If you listen to these suggestions, Live 2005 will be the greatest game ever!

[Yao7x]

Fix the graphics!!! Jordan doesn't even look like Jordan. I say that they should use the Live 2003 graphics.

The movement sux, the player plays with his back to the defender too much. So annoying. You should press protect ball/post up so the player will turn his back towards the defender.

A 5 on 5 or 3 on 3 or 2 on 2 and 1 on 1 that you could play with a choice of the street court, gym court, and the beach court. And for all the courts, create a NEW court for each. EA used the same gym court as last years, lazy bastards...

Decade All Stars with their respective team jerseys. Example: Michael Jordan of 90's All Stars wears a Bulls Jersey, while Malone wears the Jazz jersey and so on.

Option to turn automatic reorder roster off.

CUSTOM TEAMS!!!!! In Depth Custom Teams!!!Like, you could choose your coaches, your jerseys: Home, Away, Alternative, and as you progress on in dynasty, and if your team fans are complaining about the team sucking, create new jerseys for the team, so the previous ones become classic.

In Depth Create Player! Like, add some new facial hairs and more new hairstyles, instead of taking out some, and new tattoos.

Better Computer AI

Referees move along the court.

Technical Fouls ( With an emotion meter and emotion rating) Like say Rasheed Wallace. His emotion rating will be high, and the emotion meter. As the game progresses on, the more high energizing plays like a windmill dunk, will get the player pumped up, increasing the emotion meter. And if the player has a higher emotion rating, the more likely that he will contest calls.

Show the coach on the sidelines this year...

More stuff to unlock. With more tasks to complete. Like don't even think on creating secret shoes anymore. There should be waaaaaaaaaay more stuff to unlock

Suspensions.

Interactions between players. Shake hands after games etc...

Show the players reactions after the game in the locker rooms and stuff.

More dunks. YOU GUYS LIED!!! 200 DUNKS? WHERE? There is no way there can be 200 dunks when there is no windmill dunks in there. Oh, and for dunks, the higher the emotion meter for the player, the more aggressive and entertaining his dunks will be.

Ability to choose dunkpacks. Choose a dunkpack for your player. If your player's rating is low, then some dunk packs will not be available. And some special dunkpacks that you have to unlock. Unlock dunkpacks in someplace different, like shoes in a shoe store, jerseys in a jersey store, dunk packs in a practice facility, etc..

Crossovers, celebrations, free throw rituals. Same way as the dunkpacks above. You could choose it for your players, and some special ones you have to unlock.

With these wishes for NBA Live 2005, I kno its monumental, but IMO, i think that with these features in there, i could play this game for a looooooooooong time, unlike the previous series, which i get bored after a couple months of playing it, occasionally too.

[Andrew]

-Maybe a separate slider for dunk blocks.

This is already in the game.

Show the coach on the sidelines this year...

So is this.

[ailive2005]

Cover Athlete (suggested top 5):
1. Allen Iverson (Hopefully his sega contract is up and he is available)
2. Kobe Bryant (If his off court troubles don't direct him to a cage)
3. Tracy Mcgrady
4. Lebron James
5. Carmelo Anthony

NBA Mo-Cap talent:
-Since there is so much NBA talent in your EA Sports NBA live commercials, it would be cool if you guys could get these superstars into a mo-cap studio to get there
1.Free-throw forms
2. Jump shot forms
3. Dribble styles.
-If that route is too expensive (since everyone wants to get paid for work and not do it for enjoyment anymore) then as seen with the ten-man mo-cap, get the best amateur talent to mimic the pros.

Graphics:
-Once again the guys at Visual Concepts proved with ESPN Basketball (2k4), the graphic producers at are no match for them. Either they enjoy there job more and it shows, or you guys at EA are lazy when it comes to putting in SERIOUS work for body models, skin tones, and player faces for all 400- plus people in the NBA (includes Superstar players, Rookies, Coaches, and referees). In Live 2004 the faces are ok
-I know EA can get a better product all around out in stores, the guys who do Need for Speed underground and FIFA are amazing when it comes to graphics, the NBA Live graphics team should take a few notes from them as well as the main competitor VC. The FIFA/Fight Night graphics engine (an optimized version) should be used for NBA Live 2005.
-(Note) just think of how hot it would be if the players looked 100% like the real life counter parts (sneakers, hair style, body proportion, everything included).
-Key to getting better results is using MORE POLYGONS FOR PLAYER BODIES AND HEAD MODELS it seems as if ea uses the least amoutn of polygons than any other company, right now the players look like cartoon characters.
-Use of Bump-mapping, per pixel shading, and cloth motion (for clothing) for the xbox and pc version.

P.S The game needs bigger text, similar to NBA 2k1 for dreamcast, everything is to little.

Presentation:
-On presentation you should get the license from TNT like past times, since Marv and Mike are commentating in the game.
-No matter what the starting line up should be there at all times, because it's happens all the time in real life. (Yeah it is skipped when watching an NBA game on TV but that’s due to commercials plus while were watching commercials, the live crowd in the arena is seeing the starting line-ups being introduced).
-For practice there should be more than 1 indoor gym, infact there should be real life street court. (ex. rucker park, run-n-shoot,ect)

Game play:
-The game play is great this year, in fact it is the best NBA game of the year but it can get better, for 1 the stutter problem shouldn't be there for a final product.
- You guys at EA should delete all the dunks and do a new dunking system, where it takes into account whether or not a player is on a fast break, whether or not the lane is cluttered during half court play, Is the player a finesse or power dunker, Is the player a superstar dunker like Vince Carter, Tracy Mcgrady, Kobe Bryant, Desmond Mason etc, (Signature dunks included for these guys, look at tapes to determine what they are) or simple dunker ex. Allan Houston and Ray Allen etc.
-In NBA Live 2004 the # of dunks seems to be toned down too much. After playing the game I was upset to see that Vince doesn't do his one handed invert 360 dunk, or the between the leg, or even his 2 hand reverse.

Sound:
- Main gripe is the sound effect when dunking, it should be turned off, look at the way ESPN College basketball rim sound after a soft or hard dunk, that’s the way it should sound in all basketball games including Live.
-A female commentator should be added (Cheryl Miller) to do the injury reports, halftime updates, coach comments, player comments for both pre-game (ex " Allen Iverson said his hand is still sore from game 3 but he will play tonight, when asked if he thinks its 100% he said "No, but it is not like I haven't played on a hand that isn't 100% before, I just hope i can help the team win and move on in the playoffs") and post- game player comments, etc.

Modes:
- Dunk contest, Three-point contest, Rookie Vs. Sophomore game, Two-ball contest, and the Point Guard challenge to add replay value other than the dynasty mode.
-Update the NBA Store to add the latest sneakers for the 2004-2005 NBA season.
-Create- a- team with the ability to put them in the Dynasty mode.
-More multiplayer options like All around the world, where players take turns shooting threes and the first player to complete the 5 spots first wins, little stuff like that makes the game worth $50, not saying NBA Live 2004 wasn't worth the money.

Gripes Compared to the rival:
-The player models seem too small and of coarse less detailed compared to ESPN NBA Basketball.
-The tattoo’s on the players aren’t as realistic looking as ESPN, so they need to be updated.
-The hairstyles aren’t as detailed ex: Ben’s fro, Iverson’s variety of braids, etc.
-The net doesn’t look as realistic as ESPN, nor the arenas and crowds (2-d on Xbox).
-Clothing should move.
-Real life street parks.
-They have ALL 400 players and coaches faces done (I don’t want to wait till Xbox 2 comes out to get that updated/implemented)

MAIN Gripe-
EA is a Multi- Billion dollar company and yet Sega sports produces the better looking products and they Use xbox specific features.

[Jonno]

Some features i would love are the ability to recruit players from internatiuonal leagues, being an aussie i'd love to beable to recruit some of my favourite Australians like Brett Maher and Chris Anstey to my team. I'd also love the ability to extend a contracrt during the season

[Ralph Wiggum]

This is already in the game.

Sorry missed it.

[neo_kangwei]

You all post so many different requests.... it's impossible to fulfil them all..
If EA made a perfect Live game, who would buy the subsequent Live series!!!???????
Basketball is a complex game with so many rules, unlike soccer, and naturally making a good game is really hard... so leave them alone... dont bug them as if they made you pay 50 bucks cuz you didnt have a choice...
Also.... i agree with the guy who said that EA is not interested in making a good game..... BUT.... even if they made a lousy game people would still buy it cuz it's the only BBall PC game, and no other bball game producers are interested in making PC bball games...... YET... so they sort of have a monopoly over us PC owners who dont own playstations.
Come on... face it, EA isnt going to spend money on supporting gametesters for a Series game when 365 days later they are gonna release another game of the same Type... it's just not smart, and because EA is after all a company seeking money, they would release better and better games slowly so to cash in on more bucks.....

THINk about it.... if you were an EA worker, reading all these requests would make you sick.... just post major improvements that everyone would agree on, and not minor crap like cyberfaces and stuff.... they WILL improve over time, because EA has to wait for the general public to upgrade to newer coms then they can produce a detailed game where most people can enjoy truly.... Im not in cahoots with EA or anithing, but im juz saying dont force too much on them..... They need their breaks too

[Yao7x]

you MUST be an EA worker besides, the live community enough breaks already. Live 2001 was definitely poorly made, NO BANDS! , no live 2002, good graphic, poor gameplay live 2003, good gameplay (sort of) poor graphics live 2004. what the heck are you thinking neo? I think that EA deserves to give the Live community a good title that deserves to be called a classic again, like Live 2000, which was indeed a classic. And there is also Microsofts Inside Drive for PC also, but they suck too.

[ailive2005]

Look Neo, it's not there were bugging EA but its that theres only 4 company's that make realistic Basketball games, whereas in soccor, football, baseball, ect. there are at least what 6 or 7 companys. The choices for basketball games are very few. For consoles only EA and Sega Sports make a good enough product to buy, but they both aren't as great as say a World series and high heat is to baseball, or ESPN NHL for hockey, or even FIFA for soccor. So with EA being my favorite company out of both I ask for alot. Not just addressing you Neo (cause alot of other people say this), but when you wrote about "not putting everything in one product cause what will we buy next year" think about if you put alot in one product alot of people will buy it because most of the time you'll have everything the compition has and more (thats what makes VC and ESPN NBA basketball a good game, they just don't sell as much and they started to got the arcade route which is a no no) but you can always improve on those ideas.

[neo_kangwei]

okok have it your way...
i didnt say that we couldnt post requests or anithing

[Yao7x]

thats y its called a WISHLIST. We're just telling them wut we want, so we'll buy it. If its just based on EA's horrible ideas, then everybody knows we won't buy theirs.

[hmm]

Whole all-star weekend stuff would be great too also a career mode.......................the list would go like that to forever but first thing first:
STEAL MADDEN'S FRANCHISE, NOTHING ELSE

[Ciko]

I don't know if u guys noticed but what annoys me is that when you play against CPU and you don't have your player locked to a position, your teammates won't attempt to block any shots, and it really annoys me cuz you can sometimes lose a game because of it.
It works fine if you have your controller locked or if you're playig against someone else on the seme computer and it puzzles me why?!

Des someone know how to fix this??