Introducing The Friday Five

[Andrew]

I've started a new feature over on the main page, The Friday Five. As you may have guessed from the name, it will be coming out on Fridays and will feature lists/countdowns of five items related to a particular topic concerning basketball video games, the real NBA and more, with the first edition counting down five things I feel basketball video games should avoid. You can check it out here:
http://www.nba-live.com/the-friday-five ... uld-avoid/

Future posts will be archived here:
http://www.nba-live.com/category/the-friday-five/

I hope you enjoy the feature and that it'll provoke some discussion as time goes by.

[Leftos]

Really enjoyed the first article Andrew. Will be chiming in soon.

[beegees]

I enjoyed your article. All is well.

On all counts, except the third match. I've been playing for a long time in the NBA Live 04-06, especially in 2005. But is there for maximum realism playing at star / superstar. So. At this level of complexity is very difficult to hit free throws. Percentage of implementation is less than 50% even recognized snipers, while the big players (PF, C), it tends to zero. So hard to get beat laptop because it does not commute 10-15-20 points per game on just fine. What is not realistic.

It would be wise to use something like the free throw system of NBA Live 08, and the best of NBA 2K13. Just out of NBA 2K13 would like to throw a penalty not choose the right time to shot (as predlaget default in the game and in online matches required), because that's just annoying players, their nervous and interest popodany I well below forecasts of the real statistics of players and most of the real interest of free throws from the statistics of players (which can now do other things for a single game NBA 2K13). And for special shots done by a separate button or key combination.

[benji]

The issue with AI, at least to my archaic understanding, is that it's quite simple to create one that will shut you down and destroy you on the offensive end. The problem is creating one that acts like actual individual basketball players who have flaws.

And that goal is such a different one that it would take far too many resources to make the AI "smarter" or "dumber" on each levels, leaving the attribute boosts.

Although it's not just basketball and certainly not just sports games that use this method for setting difficulties. You can generally only afford to balance a game for one difficulty, maybe two.

[Andrew]

Thanks for checking it out.

I enjoyed your article. All is well.

On all counts, except the third match. I've been playing for a long time in the NBA Live 04-06, especially in 2005. But is there for maximum realism playing at star / superstar. So. At this level of complexity is very difficult to hit free throws. Percentage of implementation is less than 50% even recognized snipers, while the big players (PF, C), it tends to zero. So hard to get beat laptop because it does not commute 10-15-20 points per game on just fine. What is not realistic.

It would be wise to use something like the free throw system of NBA Live 08, and the best of NBA 2K13. Just out of NBA 2K13 would like to throw a penalty not choose the right time to shot (as predlaget default in the game and in online matches required), because that's just annoying players, their nervous and interest popodany I well below forecasts of the real statistics of players and most of the real interest of free throws from the statistics of players (which can now do other things for a single game NBA 2K13). And for special shots done by a separate button or key combination.

Fair call, I know not everyone is a fan of the T-Meter. I can't say I ever had any problems like that though, even on Superstar difficulty with the slider set for a challenge. The main problem I had with those games in terms of free throw shooting is that the CPU tended to be too good at it, so you'd see players like Shaq shooting too well at the free throw line when they should've been bricking more foul shots.

I really didn't like the down-up concept used in NBA Live 08, I felt it was too sensitive and although the game provided you with feedback on the shot quality, the lack of an on-screen display made it more awkward and cumbersome than it should've been. On the other hand, while I don't mind what 2K is doing at the moment, it feels a bit too automated and again, no on-screen guides to the release window with inconsistent shot quality feedback (and sometimes, results). As far as non-T-Meter systems go, based on the demo I still like NBA Elite 11's the most. That game obviously didn't get a lot right, but I thought it had a good idea going there.

The issue with AI, at least to my archaic understanding, is that it's quite simple to create one that will shut you down and destroy you on the offensive end. The problem is creating one that acts like actual individual basketball players who have flaws.

And that goal is such a different one that it would take far too many resources to make the AI "smarter" or "dumber" on each levels, leaving the attribute boosts.

Although it's not just basketball and certainly not just sports games that use this method for setting difficulties. You can generally only afford to balance a game for one difficulty, maybe two.

Absolutely, it's definitely easier said than done. Seeing some of the stuff they did with Real AI in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition though, I think it's an area worth exploring; even if it's just to tone down some of the more blatant "cheating" on the AI's part, moments where it feels like your input really doesn't matter.

[[Q]]

i don't think live nor 2k has a great system for the right stick down/up method.
t-meter's cool, but a bit too simplistic for my tastes.
elite's method was the best of both worlds in my opinion

[Andrew]

Glad to know I'm not the only one it appealed to. Again, a lot of stuff that was set to happen in NBA Elite 11 wasn't good, but that's something I think can and should be salvaged moving forward.