Play of the day Aug.25 Rockets vs Heat cpu vs cpu

[kp4life]

http://sports.ign.com/articles/645/645566p1.html

"One of the tests developers like to put their games through is CPU versus CPU on the highest difficulty level to see how their game runs.
So we put NBA Live 06 to the test, even switching camera angles for every quarter to let you get a taste of the different points of view you can play the game from.

Click on the video link at the bottom of the page to check out four quarters of NBA Live 06 on Superstar mode.

This is not a final build of the game and there are some things still being worked on, but this will give the hardcore fans a good indication of the game's flow and AI."

Finally we get to see cpu vs cpu on the highest difficulty. Let's see how the game runs. And I think they heard us complaining about the camera angle lol.
Wow I just realized that this is full game (5min quarter) about 200 mb and again this is not the final version.

[Dreadnight]

Many thanks, this sounds promising

[hipn]

In the 4th Video on the 1st page, theres a real problem. Notice at the beggining of the vid, Yao kinda jumps a bit too high, his head is way over the rim and his arms are over the backboard. WACK

[naciremadream]

wayyyyyyyy too many pro-hops. i guess my live 2006 = live 2004 on steroids Post is comin true lol..

i didnt want all these pro-hops though

TMac looks unstoppable.. o wait he is in every NBA Live .. and for that matter .. every videogame ever made lol. hes the man though so its all gooddd

[Dreadnight]

After watching the movies i noticed some things i didn't like:

-Almost no post moves
-Defense still "cheating" (there's one play when Sura is running the fastbreak and Shaq runs at same speed)
-HUGE rebounds, i noticed Yao made some impossible jumps to grab the ball

[ignatu]

A game with Miami vs Houston and the ball went into Shaq or Yao maybe 5 times the whole game. Shaq took maybe five shots, and neither team looked to their dominant centers to score. In fact, Williams or James/Sura often ignored Shaq/Yao in one on ones in the post to run the ball in themselves.

And with time running down, Houston showed the same no care last second offense that has been in the series. Not only do teams generally not hurry to find and take shots after intentional fouls, they're slower than normal in trying to set up any type of offense and generally just make long, lazy passes that end up stolen.

One thing missing from NBA Live series is teams having tendencies and set plays. All computer teams run general offense. Tendencies such as 'try to get the ball into Shaq' and set plays for each team style would go a long way to improving.

From these vids '06 looks a lot like '04 with the addition of fancy superstar moves.

Consider that a 50ish-50ish score in 5 minute quarters relates to a 120ish score in 12 minute quarters. The pacing is way off, and its far too easy to score inside.

[Sac-1]

I really like that when for example Williams is passing to O'neal and T-mac is in the middle and it actually hits off his head or hand...in 2004 the ball just goes right through the defenders head and to the reciver

[ignatu]

There was that, passes being tipped or deflected when defenders were between the man and the ball.

Also, there were a few times where defenders got caught between the center and a driving guard and went for one which allowed the other to score.

Players looked a little more active and stars looked aggressive in seeking shots. For example, Wade on Miami and TMac took a lot of shots.

[Goldenstatewarrior]

Great find. T-Mac & Wade really dominated in the game. Field goal percentage for both teams were a bit high & adjusted shots would always mostly likely go in. Good thing we have the sliders to adjust the gameplay to our liking.

[fgrep15]

Their was playcalling by Houston, Tmac ran around a double screen to get open twice in the video.

Interior collision and stuff is still off. Players also jump too quickly on some dunks, Sura wouldn't be able to catch the ball and dunk so quickly right under the net, he'd have to squat a little before going up, and by then he would be challenged, and blocked, fouled, or whatever.

Some dunks shouldn't be done without momentum. Also some animations don't string together well. You shouldn't be able to do a 2 foot plant dunk from a post up. Shaq was posting up, and then suddenly he was planting with 2 feet while Yao slid backwards, and tried to dunk, but had contact. It should be a charege if he first of all decides to take 2 steps with someone right behind him, and from the psot up that's very hard to do.

The computer made bad decisions. They didn't go to the right people down the stretch, and they tried to make some stupid passes. They were trying to throw lobs over Yao to feed Shaq. Also when that does happen, in real life, the PF slides over from his side, and doubles the offensive player, takes a charge, challenges the shot, or blocks it, whatever. The rotation sometimes get's slowed and screwed up because defensive players get stuck in the battling in the post animation.

The score was also too high, I think it was 58-53, and 58 points in a 20 minute game is converted to 139 points in 48 mins. That's like having 58 points with 4 mins left in the half.

[Andrew]

I've got mixed feelings after watching those videos, but still mostly positive seeing as though it's not the final build and a lot of the collision issues should be fixed up by the time the game goes gold. That said, I do have some concerns.

First of all, trhe pace and the score. It might be another year of taking down the Game Speed slider because the scores were much too high for the quarter lengths. Both teams ended up scoring over half the average total points per game in less than half the length of a regulation basketball game. The more worrying aspect is that the top scorers got their numbers. I don't relish the thought of the T-Macs and Wades of the NBA erupting for 50 points everytime you face them.

Part of the problem was due to shot distribution. Shaq should have gotten more touches and I'd expect Walker and J-Will to be taking more shots. Likewise, I'd expect T-Mac to be handling more often, taking more of the shots with the shotclock winding down and guys like Sura and James to be deferring more to Yao and T-Mac more frequently. Shaq should have been attempting more hooks and shots from the low post, too; he also didn't seem to be utilising his Superstar power moves either.

But in a way that's a good sign. It seems as though the PC won't Freestyle Superstar us to death with fancy passes that always find their mark. Perhaps they should use them a bit more often, looking at that video. Hopefully we can tweak that with sliders. Some of the issues we're seeing I think we'll be able to adjust with sliders, but others - like shot distribution and fastbreak logic, which was better but still not all the way there - won't be so easy to tweak.

I like the commentary this year, including the hesitation and pauses when they're talking about players; it sounds a bit more authentic. Sounds like we'll get some nice touches like Marv mentioning the high scorer at the end of the game, hopefully he'll toss out some other statistics every now and then through the game. I'm generally satisfied with the commentary year-to-year though, it's always going to get repetitive if you play the game long enough.

Animations aren't too bad, I like what I saw of the layup and dunk animations though Wade and Swift pulled out spectacular dunks a little too often. Yao's dunk looked quite good though, as did Shaq's two handed throw downs in the second half. Rebounds looked better too. Still some skating and the fact there's no collision/bumping animation took away from it a little, but like I said before that's something that could be fixed by the final build.

Still wary of the scoring being a bit NBA Live 2003-like, but I'm still feeling pretty positive about NBA Live 06's gameplay after those videos. And as always, I'll reserve my final judgement until after I've actually played the game.

[kelpie]

don't want to write it all off yet but to me the game looks just plain ugly. If I had a game like this 5 years ago I'd die to get it but hey, it's 2005, the game is for 2006, the potential of simulation games is way higher than this - is this all there can be? I went through all live series from live 96 but this time it's the first time I REALLY don't feel the urge to get this game. Don't feel like I can't wait to get it.

Where's the improvement? For every little aspect added there's another added stupidity. The dribbling is definitely by far the worst aspect of the game. That looks just awkward. What's up with that weird ultra-fast side moves when bringing the ball up the court? And all that backwards dribbling and stuff I hoped to be finally gone, man, that's ridiculous. After watching it for couple of minutes, all those pro-hops and dunks with no momentum, stupid decisions on passing and everything, it is clear that this is just another action packed arcade, I'm sick of it. The older lives feel boring now so I guess that's it for me, I'd rather go out and play with my homies. This is just for little kids I guess, EA should stamp some "kids 6-15" recommendation on the cover, I'll wait for some Live 2020, hopefully EA can finally sort things out a little by then...

[iCeMaN3K]

Good videos, but Swift from almost the 3 point line during the last minute of the 4th quarter? Terrible AI there.

[Wormy10]

Yea every year my desire to get the game decreases
I still cant wait just because hey, its NBA Live 2006 but the urge is in fact very little

[atlwarrior]

it looks like they scored a lot in the video but then again the level probably was on rookie or starter

[CERVANTES]

Yea every year my desire to get the game decreases
I still cant wait just because hey, its NBA Live 2006 but the urge is in fact very little

Yes, for PC users there isn't another option. At least console users ( like me ) can opt for 2Ksports games

[Andre]

Finally some sincerity from all of you guys.

Every year it seems like no matter what EA gives us, we always pump it up and get excited, but the truth is that every new release is a mere update version of the previous one.

Yes, they add some new features, some new mode, or some new option in dynasty, but at the end of the day, when you play the game it feels a lot like the previous edition.

Honestly, I am sick of it. Isn't it time to rewrite the entire code? I was expecting it this year, since 2004 and 2005 were so similar. But no, it's still the same game at least from 2004.

At least 2K guys had the courage to rethink the game of basketball from scratch. I am not sure what we will get, but at least I am sure it's gonna be something NEW, and this alone is exciting.

I know i am not supposed to write about 2k in this post or forum, but you guys should go to gamespot and IGN and read the full preview of 2k6, if you want some really exciting hints.

What a disappointment...let me tell you. I know the video shows a beta version, but let's face the truth, there will not be any major refinement to the final release.

I have read so many good and innovative ideas in this forum, I have so many ideas on my own....there is simply so much to be done yet..so many feasible new additions, but EA seems to not care at all.

I strongly hope you guys do a favor to yourselves and check out what the competition has to offer, instead of remaining loyal to LIVE. After all it's your money and it's your spare time.

[J@3]

I know i am not supposed to write about 2k in this post or forum, but you guys should go to gamespot and IGN and read the full preview of 2k6, if you want some really exciting hints.

Don't worry about it, apparentely I'm a 2K spy and need to have my moderator status stripped because of it Anyways I'll download the video overnight and see how it goes.

[Mentally Hilarious]

Now I know for sure that 06 will be unrealistic. Toine made several easy lay-ups in the clip. That doesn't happen. Ever.

[J@3]

it looks like they scored a lot in the video but then again the level probably was on rookie or starter

"One of the tests developers like to put their games through is CPU versus CPU on the highest difficulty level to see how their game runs.

[cyanide]

I agree with what kelpie, Wormy, and Andre had to say. I'm not excited about this year's version at all. I was when I saw the 360 version, but the regular consoles and most likely PC version? Naw. Just disappointing to see how they obviously didn't put a whole lot of effort into the game when it looks like an upgrade from 2005 (and 2005 was an upgrade from 2004 - which really makes the game look bad.) If I actually see a shred of positive comments about how much better 06 is compared to 2005 when the game releases, I'll buy it, but otherwise, for the first time in a decade, I won't buy the game. I'll just play Civilization IV, thank god it's coming out this year.

[beau_boy04]

I didnt' see too many plays assigned to Shaq.

The game stop is too fast at times, ewwww most of times.

Block seems to being fixed now however the interceptions (steals) are kinda high.

Didn't see any interaction between players and coaches. I thought the had something new going on with assistant coaches and such. They need to get rid of that timeout cutscene where the head coach gets onto the court and gets on his knees, and looks up to the players trying to explain a play or whatever. That is unorthodox.

[Alcoholic]

Man.. personally I think those dribbling animations got even worse. I saw a spin move in one of the videos, maybe they made it slower (thank god), but there was nothing very impressive. Hardly any post moves whatsoever.

[Pierce#34]

I'm realy looking forward to the new game...I think when you play live 06 in the pressbox perspective the dribles dont look so bad...and like they said they are still tuning a bit...this is the first live i'm realy exited about in years and i just cant beleve that there are guys who dont

[hipn]

I like Live, but it seems that they arent or havnt made a lot of progress unlike 2k6, they rewrote the codes and stuff. Live always has its problems and never actually fixes them, they get better, but not fixed.