NBA LIVE 19: Player Movement Sliders And Expanded Ratings |Wishlist

I know the Wishlist has been submitted, but I feel this can be easily implemented to what they currently have...



Question, would the NBA Live series benefit from having player movement sliders? My answer would be YES. While I believe NBA Live 18 has the best game play of the series (maybe up for debate for some) I believe this game has truly blossomed from what was NBA Live 14 to now. My only issue with the new generation of NBA Live games have been the lack of customization freedom. There were no sliders in NBA Live 14 or 15 but they made their debut in NBA Live 16. Adding sliders to Live 16 to me saved the game, because as an offline gamer, I’m always looking for new ways to mess with the game and experiment. With a few patches here and there with my current slider set has made the game more fun enjoyable offline. Adding more customization for online modes would be welcomed as well. Gotta keep beating that drum.

With the majority of the sliders from NBA Live 18 I assume are coming back for NBA Live 19, I think the team should expand one them allowing for more creative freedom for its users. As most of you know the NHL series has been one of my favorite series from EA, has tabs of sliders to customize game play. “Oh, here he go with that NHL/NBA stuff again” naaaaaaah, here me out, one last time dawg lol. While I believe the sliders in Live 18 does its job, they are still flawed. A part of me believes that they are tied to player tendencies as well because I had to turn up post scoring and medium jumpers to 80, and guess what, the CPU has taken more mid-range jump shots since then. Is it because of the sliders 100%? I don’t know, but I can only tweak what they give so even as an assumption, its factual in my eyes lol.

Now, what makes NHL’s game play much more fluid than NBA Live is the ability to tune things like player agility with and without the puck, look at it in a sense of with and without the basketball, 2K has similar sliders as well, but to me, they don’t work as well as NHL’s. Check out the picture below.



Let’s imagine this was a basketball game:

Back Peddling:

A player’s ability to control his movement and speed while back peddling

I actually made a video for this in 2016:

NBA Live 17 Should Implement NHL Series Back Skate Feature (Back Peddling)

*Hustle Type:

How much a player’s hustle increases his top speed. Authentic or just speed bursts.

Ball Carrier Agility:

How much agility a player loses when he has the ball – This could separate the boys from the men. Adding finishers with this feature (control wise) IMO will separate a regular player from a super athletic player.

Ball Carrier Speed:

How much speed a player loses when he has the ball

Player Acceleration:

Player acceleration with and without the ball. If a player’s has superior handles, he could go full speed without losing control with the ball. Users should be able to control this.

Player Speed:

Top end speed a player can reach

Agility Without the Ball:

How easy a player can turn with the ball.

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Here are a look at 2K’s Player movement sliders. They also have lateral quickness but it’s in another section.



Same concept as NHL, but basketball related. It’s very possible to have these in NBA Live, whether they want to include is totally up to them.

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A lot of these sliders would work as stand alone ratings, but it would also be needed on a global scale as well in case you want to tune the overall impact.

Agility sliders are important, it’s what we should be talking about more. If there’s one thing that NBA Live does better than 2K is having the ability to use space off the dribble. FIFA is king of using the 1v1 space, mainly because the ball is not tied to the player. NBA Live does it well right now, but there are times that warping really ruins the game play, especially on ball screens. Foot speed and the ability to twist and turn for athletic players is very important, foot planting is very important moving forward, all of these things can be improved. If a player doesn’t have good footwork he shouldn’t be able to recover once he gets beat. Every single step in the game should matter whether it be on offense or defense (limit the warping/slingshot effect). Example, If you’re guarding Kevin Love in the corner, sagging off him too much should be thought about more because the recovery time should impact that decision. How greedy will you be on defense? If done properly, the trash players one the court won’t last in Live Run, Live Events etc. You have to make users think about spacing.

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In order to have the CPU opponent react smarter in game situations, he has to understand that he cannot cheat. FIFA has done it with their game play and it has improved drastically in that aspect of the game. Having that done well, you would be able to play on superstar level and have to out execute the CPU. Same thing applies to USER vs USER.

Also note that the CPU in NBA Live 18 offline has issues using moves (back down, cross over dribbles etc) compared to online, CPU in the post is really terrible. They should be able to initiate moves just as well as the USER can.

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FATIGUE

Another slider we could use is a fatigue slider, for both user and CPU, because there are times in the game that the CPU won’t bother to call a time out. Substitution logic is also too scripted. If you’re playing a game vs the CPU, it should be a chess match. There are times where a you have the advantage on offense but the game won’t let you exploit that match up due to poor spacing logic. NBA Live 14’s spacing is still unmatched. I also want to talk about substitution logic in the future.

NBA Live 14: Spacing

If NBA Live 18 had this space to work with, game play would be much better



NBA Live 18: Spacing

*If you don’t know what to look for, look at the amount of space available in the corners. The CPU cheats because they automatically know how much space they need to recover. It shouldn’t be that way.




*Weight is an issue in NBA Live 18, I understand why, but having MORE collision animations and making them work in regards to momentum can really be make a difference.

I increased strength/weight ratings in NBA Live 18 (before the last patch where they nerfed it) and it made the game play much more realistic. If there were more ratings available I probably could have changed the whole player scaling through the ratings. One of the comments from the video:

“I have to say that applying Strength at 99 did make the players’ motion in the game less chaotic, but in some instances made their movements looked heavy and unnaturally slow, but overall it neutralized the pacing of the game just enough that you can tell.”

Video: NBA Live 18: Maxed Out Strength Rating Experiment 2

RATINGS

If EA wants to create a well balanced online mode, creating more available (visible) ratings will enable players to play more to their strengths and not try to do what they can’t do. These are the ratings that were available in NBA Live 09. The ones I would like to see return in the game are in BOLD.

ATHLETICISM

quickness, acceleration, vertical, conditioning, lateral quickness, recovery quickness, strength, first step, dribble speed, rebounding strength, post strength

INSIDE

inside shooting likelihood, inside shooting ability, layup/dunk aggressiveness, dunk, dunk vs layup frequency, layup ability, layup in traffic, dunk/layup shot off, put-backs, *scoring with contact, drawing defensive foul, penetration effectiveness, hands in post, offensive rebounding IQ, offensive sink or swim, offensive box out, post savvy, offensive post footwork

*scoring with contact definitely needs to be in the game

OUTSIDE

3pt shooting likelihood, outside shooting ability, mid-range shooting likelihood, mid-range shooting ability, free throw ability, shooting touch, clutch, *shooter’s mentality, hands on perimeter, triple threat effectiveness

*Shooters mentality would be great for “pure shooters.” Guys like Kyle Korver are driving making buckets in NBA Live 18 and he doesn’t do that.

DEFENSE

foul mistakes, defensive rebounding strength, defensive rebounding IQ, defensive sink or swim, defensive box out, on-ball effectiveness, shot block, shot alter, steal, interception, double team ability, tenacity, drawing offensive foul, pass lane defense effectiveness, help-side effectiveness, close out effectiveness, hedging the screen, fighting through the screen, defensive post footwork, defensive post strength

*since boxing out is a problem overall, why not have a rating for it?

TEAMWORK

mental toughness, hustle, go-to-guy, court vision, pass accuracy, difficult pass ability, dribbling, double team composure, setting screens, using screens, off-ball awareness, fast break anticipation

*Go-to-guy could work because there are time where you would see LeBron moving off screens to get open, but in reality, he has the ball in his hands making the plays. Things like that can make a difference.

If you expand the rating system with more tendencies, you can keep players from playing outside of their comfort zone. When you make a player uncomfortable, that’s when you can force turnovers and mistakes for the opposition and create opportunities for team. NBA Live has the ability to be a smart basketball game, as well as a fun experience, just need the tools.

What do you guys think? Hit me up on twitter (ThaLiveKing) and let’s talk about it

I like this.

The floor spacing is crucial, and many basketball games have dropped the ball in this regard in the past (NBA 2K9 comes to mind immediately).

I like your ideas in regards to sliders, I am an offline player 100%. I never play any sports games online, it never interested me. While I like your ideas, and I do think they could improve the game, which would you classify as the most important/vital implementations from your list that you would like to see?

Also, on a scale of importance, would these rank higher than smoothing out animations (Which they made some improvements on), and input lag? I've played the game on PS4 and on Xbox One, both games have button lag. The feel is everything to me, and that is probably the biggest reason I put the game down (To go along with not being able to use multiple teams in dynasty mode).

I like this.

The floor spacing is crucial, and many basketball games have dropped the ball in this regard in the past (NBA 2K9 comes to mind immediately).

I like your ideas in regards to sliders, I am an offline player 100%. I never play any sports games online, it never interested me. While I like your ideas, and I do think they could improve the game, which would you classify as the most important/vital implementations from your list that you would like to see?

Also, on a scale of importance, would these rank higher than smoothing out animations (Which they made some improvements on), and input lag? I've played the game on PS4 and on Xbox One, both games have button lag. The feel is everything to me, and that is probably the biggest reason I put the game down (To go along with not being able to use multiple teams in dynasty mode).

Player movement sliders would be at the top of the list, adding agility sliders just to see how drastically it could change the game play would be ideal for me. The ability to accelerate at will is another, that's a game changer. Did you see how Darren Collison blew past LeBron yesterday after he turned his head for a second? I had a discussion with a dev about it and they've actually tried working with that aspect of the game but it was too over powered.

I like this.

The floor spacing is crucial, and many basketball games have dropped the ball in this regard in the past (NBA 2K9 comes to mind immediately).

I like your ideas in regards to sliders, I am an offline player 100%. I never play any sports games online, it never interested me. While I like your ideas, and I do think they could improve the game, which would you classify as the most important/vital implementations from your list that you would like to see?

Also, on a scale of importance, would these rank higher than smoothing out animations (Which they made some improvements on), and input lag? I've played the game on PS4 and on Xbox One, both games have button lag. The feel is everything to me, and that is probably the biggest reason I put the game down (To go along with not being able to use multiple teams in dynasty mode).

Player movement sliders would be at the top of the list, adding agility sliders just to see how drastically it could change the game play would be ideal for me. The ability to accelerate at will is another, that's a game changer. Did you see how Darren Collison blew past LeBron yesterday after he turned his head for a second? I had a discussion with a dev about it and they've actually tried working with that aspect of the game but it was too over powered.

These would be great, specifically for you. Not the average gamer. Yes, experienced players like you, and even some regular players do mess with sliders and the like, but not the good majority of basketball gamers. That is why I ask.

Most of the negative feedback I see is from the animations perspective, where people think it moves robotically, they talk about the feel. I can give you many, many examples of this. So, while yes your ideas are amazing (I like all of them!), what is going to help Live reach that next level in sales in order to be a legitimate threat in the basketball gaming market? Many people don't think the game feels right, so what is it going to take for gamers to get that positive first impression? Not one gamer will pick it up, and adjust sliders first before playing an initial game, you know that as well as I do. So how do they make a solid, first impression on the masses?

Again, I am not saying that Live 18 was a bad game, I prefer it over 2K18. But this isn't about me, or you specifically. This is about the hook.

With that being said, I think the number one thing they need to implement is smoother gameplay OUT OF THE BOX. When the average user picks up the controller, how does it feel by default. Does it feel good to slide your feet? Does it feel good moving into a shot? Does it feel authentic? Does running up and down the floor feel authentic? Do the dunks feel and look realistic? Do the shooting motions? Does it feel right going for a block? Going for a steal? Does it feel right reaction wise when hitting a button?

All of THAT will increase sales, that's the hook. Yours are good for once the core experience is right and gets people truly into the game.

what NHL does, they have different level of experience. You can choose, casual, normal, hardcore or whatever, and the sliders adjust to what they feel you will enjoy the game at, but the game needs more to tweak to make a distinctive impact. NBA Live needs this, but having more to tweak to get the game to play at a certain style will make the game more enjoyable IMO. Online is different because they only cater to a competitive crowd, but having this feature out of the box will turn heads. I can tell you that my NHL sliders on my site has over 3,000 views and everyone who uses them says that the game feels a lot better than out of the box.

Everyone has their own version of realistic game play, I just try to get the core to play better so that the game is fun but realistic in a sense. I think I've succeeded with that in both NBA Live and NHL. If NBA Live adds customization stuff for online as well as offline, they will see a spike in sales.

what NHL does, they have different level of experience. You can choose, casual, normal, hardcore or whatever, and the sliders adjust to what they feel you will enjoy the game at, but the game needs more to tweak to make a distinctive impact. NBA Live needs this, but having more to tweak to get the game to play at a certain style will make the game more enjoyable IMO. Online is different because they only cater to a competitive crowd, but having this feature out of the box will turn heads. I can tell you that my NHL sliders on my site has over 3,000 views and everyone who uses them says that the game feels a lot better than out of the box.

Everyone has their own version of realistic game play, I just try to get the core to play better so that the game is fun but realistic in a sense. I think I've succeeded with that in both NBA Live and NHL. If NBA Live adds customization stuff for online as well as offline, they will see a spike in sales.

No doubt you have succeeded and helped a lot of people. You know what you are doing, and you are good at what you do. And I like the idea of those modes, and even if the mode default to Casual (Slider mode, or whatever).

Everybody does have their own version of realistic gameplay, but getting the gameplay RIGHT out of the box in regards to feel would be the most impactful in regards to Lives sales. It's not even about realism technically, it's about the feel in general. You ideas help, especially like you said breaking it up between different "titles" like Casual, Normal, etc. But it still needs to feel right on the sticks, it still needs to react correctly, it still needs to move fluid and smooth. That is all I am getting at. In order to really enjoy the additions you are proposing, the core gameplay needs to be SHARP. The core gameplay needs to provide that hook, and the rest will take care of itself.

By the way, I was really frustrated watching the NBA Live 18 IGN review just now. It's really, really biased. They talk about the brick wall defense in Live 18 and how it disturbs the flow of the game, however I didn't see that mentioned in the NBA 2K17 or 2K16 reviews.... funny how that works, huh? The reviewer seemed to not only know very little about basketball, but he also seemed to not have a lot of hands on experience with the game. Watching the review in it's entirety kind of made me angry, I hate how these review companies work.

There's a lot of talk about spacing and one of the bigger annoyances in Live 18 is how it's impossible to take any inside shots (and now layups) that aren't "guarded" and it's nearly impossible to do from mid-range especially without using a step back jumper.

Meanwhile the CPU is still pounding it inside hitting all kinds of layups and if you back up just enough on the perimeter they know exactly when they're "open" and hit you with an "open" green release

Excellent suggestions! I'm definitely all for more sliders in the game, and you've outlined why those additions in particular could really help us in fine-tuning the offline experience.

The game definitely needs to be tuned well by default, though. Obviously there are modes where we can change the sliders, but when it comes to online play and The One, users are at the mercy of what's been set for them. There needs to be balance there, with the default sliders (and the ones used in those modes) being pretty appealing to everyone for the most part, and adjustments being possible in offline/Franchise play for those of us who want to tweak the game further.

That being said, I'm in favour of those additions, and like the way you've laid it all out.

There's a lot of talk about spacing and one of the bigger annoyances in Live 18 is how it's impossible to take any inside shots (and now layups) that aren't "guarded" and it's nearly impossible to do from mid-range especially without using a step back jumper.

Meanwhile the CPU is still pounding it inside hitting all kinds of layups and if you back up just enough on the perimeter they know exactly when they're "open" and hit you with an "open" green release

It depends on the team, if you play OKC, they just keep going inside and you can't stop them. I blame this on the data, there's something in there that's effecting the game play. They need to make tendencies more ratings based. IMO, that may lead to better CPU usage of plays and willing to use clock.

Excellent suggestions! I'm definitely all for more sliders in the game, and you've outlined why those additions in particular could really help us in fine-tuning the offline experience.

The game definitely needs to be tuned well by default, though. Obviously there are modes where we can change the sliders, but when it comes to online play and The One, users are at the mercy of what's been set for them. There needs to be balance there, with the default sliders (and the ones used in those modes) being pretty appealing to everyone for the most part, and adjustments being possible in offline/Franchise play for those of us who want to tweak the game further.

That being said, I'm in favour of those additions, and like the way you've laid it all out.

Yeah, I hate the sliders they have for Head to Head, it's so terrible, I can't believe people played thousands of games with the way it is. I played 7 (6-1 record) and I only found two of the games fun to play.

It's tough for me to gauge the quality of the experience in Head to Head games, as online play is so laggy here in Australia (especially compared to 2K, which has its up and downs, but nothing like NBA Live 18). That's why I'm definitely in favour of more offline content. Aside from being a fan of those experiences, until there's an Australasian server, online play just isn't really fun or viable. Jumpshots for one are virtually impossible.

It's tough for me to gauge the quality of the experience in Head to Head games, as online play is so laggy here in Australia (especially compared to 2K, which has its up and downs, but nothing like NBA Live 18). That's why I'm definitely in favour of more offline content. Aside from being a fan of those experiences, until there's an Australasian server, online play just isn't really fun or viable. Jumpshots for one are virtually impossible.

It's really impossible to play the game how it should be played online. Even in Canada, so much jello effect on the screen, I feel I'm going to get nauseated.

Glad to know it's not just down under, then! Obviously it's something that needs to be addressed, because a stable online experience worldwide is imperative, same as fleshing out the single player experiences.