NBA Live 09 Community Day Q&A

[BodyBump]

Just read the Mike Wang's (Beluba) Q&A from EA boards last night.. here it is..

Just read (Mike Wang) Beluba's Q&A from EA forums:

> Again, I'm going to nag on this issue.
>
> The Baron Davis screenshot you guys just
> released. Look how high the ball is in relation to
> his body!!!
>
> The dribbling animations are TOO HIGH

Beluba: There are a lot of different contexts for the ball carrier. Everything from upright casual idles to low to the ground high intensity protect dribble loops. Don't worry... it all looks fine when you actually play the game. Don't read too much into a handful of screenshots.

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> I saw the gameplay video at gamespot and I saw derek
> fisher taking a lot of shots. The thing I hated the
> most about live 08 is point guards taking a lot of
> shots. I hope you guys can fix that.

Beluba: It's tough to extrapolate shot distribution from such a short video segment... but you guys can take my word for it, the point guard dominance from 08 is no longer an issue. Kobe gets his shots when you play against LA.

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> What up mike...great job so far
> I been lookin to talk to you for a while
>
> I got a few questions:
>
> 1) Is there going to be a signature shot for about
> every well known NBA player like in NBA 2k8?
>

Beluba: I think we've replicated a majority of the league (especially the notable scorers) very well this year... and I'm happier with what we have in Live right now than where I left 2k8. Both games need more content in this area and it's something we'll continue to push for in future versions of Live. The best thing I can say about the sig shot work that we've done this year is that shots just feel so much better than they did in past games. When you get your hands on it, you'll understand what I mean.

> 2) Are there any signature dribble moves for
> crossovers and such?
> (in live 08 the quick strike dribbling was the same
> for everyone)
>

Beluba: The guys who worked on Quick Strike were really focused on adding new moves into the existing system and making sure that it looked and played well as a whole. They weren't able to focus on signature moves for individual guys, but there are different packages of animations for the different ballhandling ability tiers. It works well and the different tiers of animations does differentiate players nicely. I definitely want to push for signature dribble moves next year though.

> 3) Will we be able to assign signature shots/ dunk,
> crossover packages to any NBA player in the game?
>

Beluba: I spoke with the front end guys and this was something they had to cut due to some data handling constraints. So for 09, animation editing will be limited to created players only. We'll get this in next year for sure though. If you guys aren't happy with some of the sig shot assignments when you get the game, start a sig shot change request thread on this board and I'll try to get it patched in a roster update.

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> 1. Please if its not to much to ask can you give us
> the number of signature shots this year, and can you
> give us the number of Signature Free-Throws?
>

Beluba: I don't have the exact number in front of me but it's somewhere in the 100+ range for shots. I wasn't really looking to target a number this year, but more looking for the styles of shots that were missing from the game. But overall, there's a good variety of shots and I think you guys will be pleased. We have around 20 signature free throw shots.

> 2. In the game play videos that I have seen, one
> big problem I see is that players Clip through each
> other when they are trying to get open or just
> setting a play, instead of using their arms players
> will just have this weird clipping and tacky
> animation to get around each other. I would like to
> see an animation where players will use their arms to
> get around a player like in 2K.
>


Beluba: Player to player contact is always a tricky thing to polish and tune in a basketball game given how much contact there is in the NBA. We're doing our best to clean up all the clipping issues and it's looking much tighter now.

> 4. Also will there be traveling, double-dribbling,
> and up and down fouls calls this year because last
> year their weren't?


Beluba: We didn't explicitly add the ability to walk or get called for up and down but there's always been support for traveling violations.

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> Mike Wang- Your going to make Live's gameplay even
> better this year. Heres spme suggestions;
>
> 1 Help D- Being able to adjust defensive focus on
> certain players would be a nice defensic=ve addition.
> Say Kobe burns you drives to the lane, if you put
> high defensive focus you teamates should draw to the
> ball. it would be nice if Live was no longer a dunk
> fest.
>


Beluba: There's a Defensive Matchups screen that you can use to set up per-player double teams and guard levels, so you do have control over some of that stuff. And don't worry, if you play solid defense on Superstar level, it is very tough to get off a dunk.

> 2 Shot Control-In past games if you stopped on a dime
> the defender would still be in you grill. Removing
> that nearly impossible feat would be nice.
>
> Hope you answer my questions. Hers to a great 09!!!


Beluba: I haven't had any problems shaking off defenders to get open looks. The anklebreaker work and 2-man game have helped improve that area of the game too.

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> Hi Mr. Wang (a.k.a. Beluba).
>
> I've seen NBA Live 09's recent videos from E3 and
> realized that mistakes have been made about basic
> basketball fundamentals.
>
> Please notice how players drive the ball. Nobody
> who plays basketball drives the ball with his/her
> left hand while a defender defends him/her from the
> left side. The same for the right side.
>
> Have you noticed? I wish i had a screenshot to show
> you detailed. But this is really a basketball
> fundamental mistake. Please fix that before being too
> late.

Beluba: Yes, I have noticed and it's a huge pet peeve of mine. The guys that handle our locomotion are aware of the issue and are doing their best to ensure that the ball handler doesn't dribble with his inside hand. On a positive note, you can always force the dribbler to switch hands with the Quick Strike controls if the hand switch fails to kick in.

And yes, fatigue does impact a player's ability to make shots as well as some other areas of gameplay. It's a subtle, but noticeable factor in longer quarter games.

EA Forums

[joejam999]

I have a question about the new update feature. Will it update rosters everyday also?

[BodyBump]

another post from Beluba..

Hey guys. Another interesting tidbit on the right stick. If you're holding down LT (defensive assist), you can use the right stick to change how tight you guard your check. Flicking up on the stick will play him tight, and flicking down will back your man off and give him some cushion.

And a quick note about icon passing. The icons are now locked to position:
A = PG
B = SG
X = SF
Y = PF
LB = C

so you don't have to worry about the icons switching around on you like they used to. I always thought that was a little confusing. You can also keep RB held and perform multiple icon passes in succession. Very useful for swinging the ball around the perimeter and such.

Source: Operation Sports

[Patr1ck]

Awesome, now the icons are just like 2k.

joejam999, lol. That's pretty much what the feature is for. Anyone should be able to download the latest update everyday, though I don't know whether the changes will be made daily or weekly. I've heard weekly, but I am not too sure about it.

[[Q]]

another post from Beluba..

Hey guys. Another interesting tidbit on the right stick. If you're holding down LT (defensive assist), you can use the right stick to change how tight you guard your check. Flicking up on the stick will play him tight, and flicking down will back your man off and give him some cushion.

And a quick note about icon passing. The icons are now locked to position:
A = PG
B = SG
X = SF
Y = PF
LB = C

so you don't have to worry about the icons switching around on you like they used to. I always thought that was a little confusing. You can also keep RB held and perform multiple icon passes in succession. Very useful for swinging the ball around the perimeter and such.

Source: Operation Sports

noooooooo why must EA change the same direct pass icons they've been using since Live 98?

[Andrew]

I have a question about the new update feature. Will it update rosters everyday also?

As far as I can tell, I think there might be small updates available every day. They did refer to fixing problems within 24 hours due to the daily updates so presumably if they did an update after a trade and got a jersey number wrong, they anticipate releasing a correction within the day. I guess that remains to be seen but it seems like there'll be some new data to be updated every day.

[Bryan_C.]

will nba live 09 have"falling players to the crowd , to the bench and to the coaches"?

[Andrew]

Do you mean players going into the stands, running into the bench or colliding with the coaches on the sidelines? No, it won't.

[Bryan_C.]

Do you mean players going into the stands, running into the bench or colliding with the coaches on the sidelines? No, it won't.

Yes I meant that


Another question, Are there any screenshots for the PS2 versions?

[Andrew]

Not yet.

[StupidBoy]

Have you played any part of the All-Star Weekend? How does it feel? What does the court look like?

[Andrew]

I had a quick go at the dunk contest, but that's it. It looks like they've gotten rid of the curtain this year which I was pleased to see. It's going to be more difficult this year though, I could barely complete any attempts as the timing has been changed; you need to be a lot quicker on the trick button.

[Bodz]

I was reading in one of the topics "Roster cutoff date" that updates will be made daily, including injuries and trade; which leads me to ponder over a question (not sure if this was answered)... Let's just say we go online to do the update, and a certain player is injured, does that mean in the updated roster that particular player will not be able to play (depending on the severity of the injury, of course)?? Like Agent Zero who had to be sidelined for soooooooooo long before making a brief comeback during the playoffs?

[Andrew]

I assume they'll be on the inactive list but you'll be able to reorder the rosters as usual if you want to play with an injured player.

[Bodz]

What if the player is unplayable? Is it still possible to reorder the rosters and play him?

[Andrew]

I doubt they'd set a player as being unplayable but if they do, you can always choose not to use that 365 update.

[Bryan_C.]

what feature replaces the hotspot feature?
(e.g the hotspot feature replaces the total freestyle control)

[Andrew]

Hot Spots didn't replace Total Freestyle Control, Quick Strike Ballhandling replaced Total Freestyle Control and Quick Strike Ankle Breakers is an update of that system. Hot Spots are still in the game.

[Ryan=Kool]

is lebron james signature jumpshot changed
and does it look more like his real jumpshot?

[rdelizo35]

Ryan=Kool,

I think that Lebron's shot is updated. I don't have any confirmation on it, but I'm pretty sure I saw mention of it on another forum site or gaming site.

I do remember that one of the developers did say that EA updated the signature shots for a bunch of players. If that is indeed the case, then I'm pretty sure you'll see Lebron's signature jumpshot in the game, since he's one of the more popular and recognizable players in the NBA today.

Edit: Found an answer, courtesy of Pasta Padre:

"joel0078 wrote:

Pasta, can’t log onto the forum page, so I’ll have to ask my question here…..Is Live 09 going to include a variation of “signature” jump shots, similar to the 2K series, or are we still stuck with a handful of players who’s jumpers look accurate and the rest being generic?"

They said they didn’t add many go-to moves this year but did a lot more with sig shots. I don’t know how many players have their own unique shots this year but it’ll be more than last year. - Pasta Padre

Credit: Pasta Padre.

Link: http://www.pastapadre.com/2729/nba-live ... t-info-hub

[Andrew]

LeBron's shot looked pretty good to me. I don't have a list of players whose shots were updated though.

[rdelizo35]

Andrew,

Were you able to tell a difference in LeBron's jumpshot as opposed to last year's game?

[Andrew]

Too hard to say, I'd have to see them side by side.

[Ryan=Kool]

another question do u have to have xbox live gold membership to do nba live 365 update? because last year i couldnt downlload roster cause i didnt have gold membership

[Bryan_C.]

Will nba live 365 also update a player's appearance?