The miscellaneous "Hopes for Live 2004" thread

Something else on the small details front - dunking sound effects and animation. I'm hoping that the backboard doesn't shake too much (unless the dunk is really powerful), and a more realistic sound effect when a dunk is performed.

In terms of gameplay, I'd like to have the ability to force a dunk or layup. Don't get me wrong, I like dunks as much as the next person, but I find it easier to draw fouls by performing a layup.

Something else on the small details front - dunking sound effects and animation. I'm hoping that the backboard doesn't shake too much (unless the dunk is really powerful), and a more realistic sound effect when a dunk is performed.

In terms of gameplay, I'd like to have the ability to force a dunk or layup. Don't get me wrong, I like dunks as much as the next person, but I find it easier to draw fouls by performing a layup.

ugh.. the current dunk sound reminds me of a trash can cover bein slammed back on

anywyz, i have another point. it's WAY too easy to pump fake your man off his feet and then jus drive in for an easy score. i remember live 2001, it was much harder to get the defender to commit, sometimes dey didn't even jump at all. yea that's all i wanted to say

This a huge issue with the game. Also when I block a players shot back past halfcourt (shouldn't happen of course) and I'm running to get it in front of my opponent, I somehow slow down when he;'s pressing up against me on the run, so he can then grab it. ARGHHHH!

This is what is wrong too... And just the matter that things are different for the AI then they are for the player are just very aggravating. It should be the same way for all.

Yes, when you run into an AI player or vice versa, well your player gets sort of "stuck" and basically stops running, but not with the AI. I noticed this too, but hopefully this will be fixed.

About the pumpfake abuse... It was really effective in Live 2000, in Live 2001 the AI hardly had any reactions to any of the fakes so that wasn't good either. In Live 2003 I think that the pump fake balance is pretty good. Some times the players actually go for it in real life. I think the reacting thing should be more tied to the defensive awereness stat. If low, the player would be more "jumpy" on d and if high, well he would be a hard one to go by. It is very hard to get it right, because no one knows how the human mind works and all that reacting is done in there.

I am playing a season with the super star... The free throws are somehow just too surreal and I can usually swoosh only 60% of them, when it should be more close to 70% (most of them shot with good guards). Somehow I could only drop about 50% of T-Mac's FTs. There should be more effect on the good and the bad shooters. I think this was pretty well done in Live 2001 or 2000. In these games you really could tell that if you have Shaq on the line or Stockton even on the hardest levels.

But Live 2003 had sevral faults in it and hopefully we don't get to see them again in Live 2004.

Blocks are supposed to be improved in NBA Live 2004, so hopefully we've seen the last of the monster swats. On the subject of sound effects again, that explosion that can be heard when a block is made will hopefully be replaced by a more realistic slapping sound. When you're aiming for realistic gameplay, it should be a realistic atmosphere as well. Some of these sound effects make the game seem even more arcade-ish.

About the pumpfake abuse... It was really effective in Live 2000, in Live 2001 the AI hardly had any reactions to any of the fakes so that wasn't good either. In Live 2003 I think that the pump fake balance is pretty good. Some times the players actually go for it in real life. I think the reacting thing should be more tied to the defensive awereness stat. If low, the player would be more "jumpy" on d and if high, well he would be a hard one to go by. It is very hard to get it right, because no one knows how the human mind works and all that reacting is done in there.

I don't like how the pump fake makes them jump as high as they can, when was the last time you saw someone do that outside the paint? For pumpfakes they should make one new animation that would make it look so much better. The defender would just go up on his toes and loose his ability to move for a split second (but still enough to get by him.)

I'm sorry to tell you guys but most of the things you guys hope and want Live 04 to have will not be happening...we've been expecting more and more ever since Live 00 came out and EA Sports always let us down with crappy games. If the Madden team is assign to create the next Live 05 I can see a huge positive jump to supremacy... Madden is way better than Live in every single details.

Thanks.

I was looking through screenshots of old lives, I don't know why, just was. And found something that I want returned. The team rankings screen before games. I want it because since I play a fantasy franchise draft I like to know what my opponents are like. If you have no idea what I'm talking about here it is

I'm sorry to tell you guys but most of the things you guys hope and want Live 04 to have will not be happening...we've been expecting more and more ever since Live 00 came out and EA Sports always let us down with crappy games. If the Madden team is assign to create the next Live 05 I can see a huge positive jump to supremacy... Madden is way better than Live in every single details.

Thanks.

I understand the pessimism, but it's not as if wishes haven't been granted before. I remember rattling off a list of them a while back, but the most significant of past wishes that will be in NBA Live 2004 include a multi-season mode (which has of course existed since Live 99, and in a detailed manner since Live 2000) and gameplay sliders. Other bits and pieces already seem to have found the way into the game according to the early previews.

I'm trying not to sound like a shill, because I'm not affiliated with EA in any way (the NLSC remains an unofficial fansite) - I just truly think that NBA Live 2004 will be a great game, from the way it's shaping up. Moreover, it looks to have a great deal of customisation, so everyone should be able to get the game that they want.

I was looking through screenshots of old lives, I don't know why, just was. And found something that I want returned. The team rankings screen before games. I want it because since I play a fantasy franchise draft I like to know what my opponents are like. If you have no idea what I'm talking about here it is

I would definately want to see the team statistics back too. They always told their tale about a team. I would want to see my stats compared to other teams etc. Now all we see is the overall, but it's not enough. You don't see what is the problem with your team and that would important in dynasty to see what needs to be improved.

I understand the pessimism, but it's not as if wishes haven't been granted before. I remember rattling off a list of them a while back, but the most significant of past wishes that will be in NBA Live 2004 include a multi-season mode (which has of course existed since Live 99, and in a detailed manner since Live 2000) and gameplay sliders. Other bits and pieces already seem to have found the way into the game according to the early previews.

Unfortunately EA generally emphasizes graphical improvements over gameplay improvements. And I'm not sure who playtests Live, if anyone, but they do a piss poor job of it.

Some things I'd like to see:

Free Throws: More margin for error with higher rated players. Guys like Reggie Miller should still make their FTs even if you stop the meter half way to the end. You shouldn't have to be a damn ninja to make 80% of your free throws. This would especially ease online FTs.

Inbounding: How about some playcalling here? Have players come to the ball, set up for a three, and maybe lob a pass up to the rim for a tip when there's only a few tenths of a second on the clock.

Passing: Players with higher pass ratings should have a wider variety of passes. How about some more bounce passes? Lob passes? Passes off the dribble? Touch-passes? Behind-the-back passes? Too many chest passes result in too many turnovers.

Interceptions: Nothing is more frustrating than having some bum with no defensive awareness intercept a pass with HIS BACK TURNED TO THE PLAY! It's like he has ESP or something. This needs to be cut down dramatically.

Rim Physics: I hate going up for a rebound and getting called for a goaltend after the ball has bounced on the rim two or three times. Balls generally don't bounce more than once off the rim, and when they do, they BOUNCE OUT, they don't roll around on the rim and then fall off. And what's with the rim sounds?

Out of bounds: It would be nice if my teammates could stay inbounds so they're not constantly saving passes only to turn the ball over. I like the idea of saving passes, but make it a rare occurance! When inbounding the ball, how about having the inbounder move in bounds so he can take a pass? I'd also like to see less OOB when landing from a rebound.

Rebounding: There's a pretty big descrepency between user rebounds and CPU rebounds. Players with higher rebound ratings should get in position to rebound (better at guessing where to be) than players with lower ratings. Jason Kidd should be able to grab 5-10 boards under the CPUs control. I'd like to see more battling for position under the basket. Strength should play more of a factor in fighting for position.

Shooting PCT: Roster patchers (including myself) mistakenly lowered FG ratings to produce lower FG percentages. All this does is make jump shots impossible. Cut down on easy dunks/layups and make jumpers have a higher chance of missing. Seems like anyone can make an open three regardless of their rating. Less made FGs = more rebounds. Lower the amount of people who are able to successfully execute a jump-hook! Jumping for blocks should not always result in a block but alter the shot enough to result in a miss.

Pump fakes: Players with high D ratings should be less-suceptible to pump fakes. After the first pump, each successive pump should be less likely to bait a CPU defender into jumping.

Jump-passes: Unless player has high pass rating, this should be a HIGH RISK pass resulting in a steal, deflection or out-of-bounds. Drawing double teams and constantly jump-passing to the open man should not be a successful offensive strategy.

Defense: Players with good D ratings should do a better job of sticking to their man. Play up on shooters and sag off of guys who can't. And for Pete's sake, stay with your man on the fast break! Some different varieties of zone defense would be nice.

Ratings: Ratings should have an obvious effect, and there should be a greater difference in ratings between All-NBA players and the last guy on the bench. It would be cool if the icons represented a percentage of the league instead of an absolute number. (i.e. a player with the dunk icon is one of the top 40 rated dunkers in the league)

Dunks: Speaking of which, no more 360's in traffic. How often do you see this? I'd like to see more layups with more varieties of layups, more jump shots in the paint, and more normal dunks. Save the showboating for fast breaks and high-rated players. Cut down the alley-oops on fast breaks. Seems like they happen every break depending on the players. If you did this in real life you'd be sitting on the bench!

Online Play: Change from peer-to-peer to a client/server model so that multiple people can play on the same team. (5-on-5 anyone?) This would also allow spectators. You could store rosters and stats on the server to facilitate league play. If nothing else, save the state of a game when it disconnects, or at least allow printing of stats at time of disconnect! This would discourage those fun 4th quarter blowout discos.

Custom Coaches: Since they have coaches, would it be so hard let us create our own?

Custom Teams: Here's a feature that has been noticably absent for a few years now.

Enhanced Practice Mode: Sounds like this one might actually make it to 2004. 5-on-5 scrimmages with one team. Practice running plays, shooting free throws, etc. Maybe include rookie workouts in the off-season?

Custom User Options: We've been begging for this for years. Can we please save our auto-subs, settings, offensive/defensive sets to our user profile so we don't have to set them before each game?

Injuries: This would add SO much to the season/franchise mode. In-game injuries should result on ANY play. Coming down from a rebound, running into a pick... everything! An injury should not ALWAYS result in a flagrant and vice versa. Real-life injuries occur mostly BETWEEN games - in practice, from body-surfing (Luc Longley!), and from general wear-and-tear. Add a random chance for injury between games and in the off-season.

I'm sure there's a few of other things I'd like to see, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. I could care less about authentic arenas and in-game refs. I would much rather see the GAMEPLAY improved before adding graphical enhancements. Who cares how it looks if it plays like crap?

Last edited by hoopscitylive on Tue Jun 03, 2003 6:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

Out of bounds: It would be nice if my teammates could stay inbounds so they're not constantly saving passes only to turn the ball over. I like the idea of saving passes, but make it a rare occurance! When inbounding the ball, how about having the inbounder move in bounds so he can take a pass? I'd also like to see less OOB when landing from a rebound.

i'd also like to see a human controlled player try to save the ball. iss kinda irritatin to jus stand there nd watch the ball go out of bounds as u can't do anythin to save it

Rim Physics: I hate going up for a rebound and getting called for a goaltend after the ball has bounced on the rim two or three times. Balls generally don't bounce more than once of the rim, and when they do, the bounce out, not roll around on the rim and then fall off the edge. And what's with the rim sounds?

also, occasionally when i go up for rebounds after the ball has clearly hit the rim, as soon as i touch the ball, it flys away nd is called a block by the ref, givin it up to the other team[/quote]

Dunks: Speaking of which, no more 360's in traffic. How often do you see this? I'd like to see more layups with more varieties of layups, more jump shots in the paint, and more normal dunks. Save the showboating for fast breaks and high-rated players.

I also don't like seeing the unneccesary hand switching and spinning on fast break layups.

also, occasionally when i go up for rebounds after the ball has clearly hit the rim, as soon as i touch the ball, it flys away nd is called a block by the ref, givin it up to the other team

Probably because the ball was still in the cylinder. I remember hearing (this might not be ture) that some international rules say once the ball hits the rim you can grab it.

Well, this seems to have turned up into a "Live 2003 Gripe" line so I'll post one funny incident that happened to me.

I was with Marbury close to the paint and pulled up a jump shot. The shot went swoosh and a foul was called, but instead of taking it to the foul line the ball was taken to the side line and the basket still counted. That was just unbelievable... And funny!

This was one of the wierdest things that have happened to me in Live 2003.

I've had that happen to me since NBA Live 95. Fortunately, they got rid of the "one free throw when you should get two" bug - or at least, I haven't experienced it in recent years.

When crash boards are off, fast break should be pushed, when on vguys should stay aroudn the rim. It works alittle, but doesnt really affect th eplay much.

This is just and error in your thinking and knowledge... Crash Boards effect only offensive rebounding! Your guys always go for defensive rebounding.

And guards run the break pretty naturally with the small forward. And they do it almost as often as they can and you can only get a fast break when you make the other team give a turnover.

One thing that really sucks in this is the fact that when the ball bounces on the floor (usually after a block) you should be able to catch the ball way earlier then you actually can. And you should be able to catch or deflect the ball atleast from mid air. It is so irritating when a ball goes right next to you and your man can't do anything toward trying to catch it.

I still would like to see a solid game that has no apparent flaws!

Actually i meant both ends of the floor. I know boxing out is the term for crashing defensive boards but i couldnt think of the wordat the time

It tends to do that even when i have both disabled, players will stand aroudn the rim, and soemtimes ill have both on and players will run off. The settings dotn seem to affect the AI strongly enough.

Oh, another thing that realy gets to me. When you are defending in transition, if you are ahead of the offensive palyer and get into the key and put your hands up before then get to you, then they tend to jsut go straight over you and it has no effect at all on whether they make the shot.

If you stand in the post and dont move and the offensive player jumps into you and dunks, either :
a) you get knowcked over adn called for a foul
b) the player seems to jump straight past you even though you are blockign their path, as i you werent there
c) you fall down but the plyer still dunks and ntohign is called.

the only time getting in fron tof you offesive assignment actualy seems to do anthing is whent opponents throw an alley. If you get in the way of the reciever they miss most times.

Also, i think someone mentioned already, there are far toom any fouls called against guards. Even if you dont go for a steal or even move in some cases if you are in contact with the offensive palyer you are called for a foul (especially when the opponent in shooting , thats annoying). This brings me to my next point. Too many fouls on 3 pt attempts. Teams dont foul at the end when losign in tight games. Generally the hwhole foul system is pretty run down in quite a few ways.

I think a plyers steal rating could jsut affect their chance of beign called for a foul alot more. rarely does a guard in the nba steal a ball right otu of the hands of another guard, most steals are off bad passes. A player with a good steal rating maybe could be more likely to get a steal cleanly without being called for a foul (maybe something smiilar for shot blockers as well) in addition to just increasing chances of a steal.

Another lovely thing i think would be defensive awareness effecting palyers better. Beign able to fake a bad defender into the air and then go up so he comes down on top of you is a commonly used tactic for big men drawing fouls. Good defenders dont tend to fall for it, but less skilled defenders do more often. Good awareness on D could have a blocker better judge when to jump. i.e. dotn fall for pumpfakes but go up when a real shot is put up. This would alllow players to ahve to use different tactics against differnt players. But after a few pumpfakes even bad defenders should learn and not jump much for the duration of the game.

In the post, a centre or forward who is smaller but quicker maybe could have the ability to go around a big guy posting up and try to knock the ball loose by holding the steal key or something. If they succeed they get a steal or a deflection, if the fail the defender gets an easy two.

haha talking about funny occurances, these happened to me more then once.

a) I get fouled by the opposition on a shot, say im playing vince carter adn the defender is steve smith for arguments sake.

I get fouled, the announcer says "foul on san antonio.. steve smith etc"
Display comes up saying "Personal foul, steve smith, 3rd personal"

and the guys run to the other side, i sit in awe as steve smith takes 2 freethrows, even though he fouled me, and the foul was actually added to his tally as well. interesting..

2) CPU shoot, shot misses, i press switch to change to my rebounder. i press jump to go for the board, only to realise the ball has fallen down and straight into my rebounders hands, so that by the time i press jump/shoot he already has the ball magically, and tosses a full court shot, which goes out or bounces off the rim. I then have to run my guard across as fast as possible hoping it will bounce off the opposing teams rim (rather then go out) so i can jump for the rebound on the other end.

3) i run up the floor, wait patiently, pass to a player who is dead open, and the ball gets intercepted by a plyer who is about 8 feet away

I'd like to see players withbad pass ratings occassionally throw passes right out of bounds and miss their targets, and players with very low offensive awareness let a ball go out every now and then without trying to catch it. I think the best way to make live a great game is to make every rating count quite abit. In real life a player wiht great talent and who can shoot well is pretyt mch uselsess if he throws every ball out of bounds, bounces off his feet, gets stripped by every decent defender, and has no understanding of the game.

sorry about althe post i jsut kept thinking of htings to add hehe.

I wouldnt want to see 360s and windmills removed entirely, but they should only be done on way open fast breaks and by players with 90+ dunk and jump ratings. When there are defenders around dunks should be made simple but powerful, and be less likely to occur. Layups should be more common. As mentoined by someone before, fast break layups should be simple fingerrolls, backboard taps or off the glass, not double pumps and up and under type layups. these should be reserved for shots in the lane by players with high jump ratings and high flair ratings (another rating id like introduced determining how flashy/simple a player is).

There are all sorts of passers in the game of basket ball... Most of the people still can throw a pretty decent pass (ofcourse there are the horrible ones that should never have stepped on the floor, but there is no risk of those people making it to the NBA). But the trick of Kidd and every top passer is that you don't just see the people, but you see where they are going. And you can anticipate their movement and thus sort of passing the ball into an open space and get it into your team mates hands when he gets there without too large of a chance of interference from the defense. Now that's a good passer.

The bad passers should pass the ball where the player is and the catching player would be standing still to catch the ball, but better players should be able to pass to players that are on the move. Maybe making a player reach back for a bad pass... This is what it's really like in my opinion.

I've been working on my real life passing and I think I'm pretty good at it too. It takes a very good court vision to really be an effective passer. Without it, well you should just settle for passing along the three point line and not in-and-out. And passing isn't as easy as it seems... That's why Jason Kidd is the propably the most important player to his team in league at the moment.

2) CPU shoot, shot misses, i press switch to change to my rebounder. i press jump to go for the board, only to realise the ball has fallen down and straight into my rebounders hands, so that by the time i press jump/shoot he already has the ball magically, and tosses a full court shot, which goes out or bounces off the rim.

That happens far too frequently for my liking, it also happens when I'm about to block my opponents shot and they loose the ball into my hands and I shoot.

One of the things I hate the most is when one of my players, who almost always happens to be Desmond Mason, goes up for a dunk on the break and the ball falls out of their hands and rolls around on the ground, of course it always happens during the CPU's big run.

One more thing, when I'm going up court on a slight angleand have to get around a good defender like GP, so I do the crossover with the little bit of palming on one side, and since I'm at an angle my player goes perfectly to the side and goes just over half, turnover. This always happens when I'm chasing the ball and get "posession" a milisecond before halfcourt.

My biggest hope is that the Hand in the Face factor is back....Blokcing every shot is pathetic

My biggest hope is that the Hand in the Face factor is back....

yeah, i hope the hand in the face will help atleast have the offensive player miss the shot sometimes--I think it will add to the defensive enjoyment if we could atleast contest a shot--the blocking in live 2003 is definetly too extreme.

Any adjustment and improvements made towards gameplay will be appreciated. But there is another side of me that's more into the General Manager mode. I usually play "franchise mode" without playing a single game. Basically I trade, sign free agents, draft rookies, etc.

I hope that Live will be able to bring some of the General Manager ability that is present in Madden such as:

1. The ability to extend the contract of a player midway through the contract. That is, if one feels that the player might bolt, offering him an extension midway through the season (or before it ends) might give the team a chance to keep him. I've lost so many free agents due to this inability. Or once you see a potential free agent refuse an extension, you will be inclined to trade him than lose him for nothing. In Madden, I am able to offer contract extensions - more often at a less price than if I were to resign the player after the season - during the season. I think this feature is realistic and a good idea.

2. The ability to trade players for draft picks OR draft picks for players OR draft picks for draft picks - Imagine the ability to trade a 2 early second round picks for a mid first round pick. Again in Madden, since I feel that my team will finish with the best record, i am inclined to trade my 2nd round or 1st round pick for a marquee player. I have also packaged three picks to get another team's 1st round pick if I see a player I want to draft for sure. Also, in the trade option, a meter is there to guide me if the computer is interested with the trade or not. It gives me the option to play around with my offer. In Madden, I have traded away declining players for 1st round picks that in time, will develop.

3. The ability to scout a player. In Madden, the offseason allows you to look at 10 potentials rookies. In Madden, its actually a three step scouting system. You can scout a player 3 times to get the REAL GOODS (or bads) on him, or you can simply scout another potential draftee if initial findings on the player are not to your liking (head case, lazy, slow, injury prone). In the NBA, rookies also go through such a process when they bring in draftees for personal workouts and have them play in invitational tournaments.

4. The ability to negotiate a contract price. In madden, a player might decline a contract if the price it too low OR he doesn't like the length of the contract. While a player's price demand is noted, you can still lower the offer or offer a longer contract to satisfy the player. I've done a mix of offering a longer contract at a lower price OR offer a superstar a high salary (more than he demands) just so he can stay 7 years.

5. Ability to move out of the draft and sign free agent screen in the offseason to release, trade, adjust your roster. In Madden, seeing that there is a bonafide rookie running back in the draft allows you to go back to the rosters section to either trade your current draft pick, move up the draft order via trade, etc. Also, too much people on the roster might hinder your drafting so releasing some of the players during the draft is also a good feature.

6. Pre-season/Summer League. The Pre-season in Madden allows some of your young players and rookies to improve on their overall rankings. Sometimes, a player - due to his sudden status as a starter - jumps a couple of points up. While a veteran now backing up a young stud will dip a bit. This allows a general manager to see which rookie has the makings of a star and can make transactions to make the team better based on such findings.

There you have it. I imagine the NBA Live team knows first hand that Madden has such features. I hope they can incorporate some of these things into NBA Live.

i totallay agree and think that there´s a good chance that these features will be part of the game since they´re nothing special and madden had them a year ago. but i think it´s sad that we are all satisfied if the live series would just catch up with the madden series in terms of game features. it would be great if the live series would be the one everyone is looking at and would come up with features other games don´t have. if you look at the madden series it´s great how this game has developed. you really get the feeling that the developers try to improve the game drastically, and they do it with love. i´d like to see more of that in the live series. maybe ´04?