Hotspots? General shooting? Gameplay?

[codilx]

Is it just me, or have you noticed that the hotspots don't really work? Half the time or more, shooting from a players "hot" spot, unguarded, beyond the 3pt line, the shot results in a miss. Shooting a mid ranged jumper, contested, from a "cold" spot more often than not, results in a successful bucket. As I understand, the producers of the game wanted the gameplay to be possibly more challenging, so they came up with an idea to stop us players successfully shooting all together, but then why come up with the hotspots if they don't actually effect the ball going in or not?

To get my shots actually going in at a normal percentage I had to adjust my shooting sliders to almost 80, which is twice as much that we get when playing on Superstar. Even so I found that shooting an uncontested 3 pointer is like flipping a coin, sometimes it doesn't go in, and rarely it does go in. And what I also noticed, is that players who don't really have a high 3pt rating, but have a 3pt hotspot, tend to miss more times from that hotspot, and make more successful 3pt shots from a spot that isn't their hotspot.

I hope some decent sliders will be released soon, because playing like this isn't really fun. Some shots just have to go in. Every shmuck in the NBA can make a mid-ranged, uncontested shot, but with this "gameplay", even the best players seem to struggle to get their shots to go in. And then again, the CPU (specifically the superstars) seems to have the entire court red hot. This was mentioned a lot, but superstars don't really make 50+ points a game, every game. And they also don't make all those successful shots when half the defense is up in the air contesting those shots.

My only hope is that next year EA will improve gameplay. I don't care about the graphics, I don't care about player detail, I don't give a rats ass about court or gear detail, I don't care about stupid freestyle "signature" shots, I might even ignore the obvious and stupid bugs EA leave us for the fun of it, what I care is about gameplay. I wouldn't mind the players looking like from Live 2000 if the gameplay was really good. But Live 08 in general has a problem with gameplay, not only the PC version, but all the console ones too. Live 08 on the XBox has amazing graphics, the player detail is almost lifelike, the movement is astonishing, but the gameplay is just pure rubbish. For example 2K8 doesn't have the graphics like Live does, but the gameplay is big giant moon steps ahead of Live 08. That's where EA messed up - gameplay.

[Andrew]

Just out of interest, are you talking about the Hot Spots in the PC/PS2 version or the Xbox 360/PS3 version? If it's the former, the reason they're not as effective is perhaps due to the fact the PC/PS2 version doesn't feature any new ratings while the Xbox 360/PS3 version does.

[codilx]

PC

[Andrew]

I'd agree, though as I said the feature isn't as deep in that version of the game. It should also be noted that the Hot Spots don't represent spots on the floor where players will automatically hit shots from, just the spots they are most effective from based on statistical data. The likelihood of a shot going in still depends on the situation such as the player's fatigue, how well he's being defended and in the PC version, timing on the shoot button and the condensed rating system. That's not to say the Xbox 360/PS3 version is perfect but the depth certainly helps, in my opinion.

[benji]

timing on the shoot button and the condensed rating system.

There is no timing on the shoot button though, Andrew. The player shoots at the same timing no matter when you release.

I doubt the 360 version uses any different ratings for the Hot Spots than PC. People on OS already have proven than most of the extra ratings in 360 are not used by the game at all. I assume it does a simple modification of the FG rating by the Hot Spot rating, but something is clearly not working right. I find they are more likely to go in with the Hot Spots up, within the three point line, but less likely outside.

The HotSpots are also also screwed up. They are nothing like the nba.com ones, so I assume they are more random than anything. You have obscure guys who can't make shots except near the hoop who have red everywhere. None of the younger players seem to have any data. Antoine Walker for some reason has lots of red.

Like so many other things in the game, the Hot Spots seem to be half implemented.

[Andrew]

There is no timing on the shoot button though, Andrew. The player shoots at the same timing no matter when you release.

I was talking about the PC version there since it still has a User/CPU Shot Control option and it's possible to perform a late release. I know they removed that from the 360/PS3 version.

[benji]

Yeah, I was talking about the PC version. Hold it down the entire time, tap it, the players look like they release at the same point.

I could be wrong (it's been a while since I played) but I don't remember seeing any difference in my results when changing timing.

[Andrew]

I just tried it and there's definitely a late release animation. There doesn't appear to be an early release animation though.

[codilx]

So why did they include and make such a big fuss about PC, specifically PS2, having Hotspots if they don't have any effect whatsoever on the shot going ir or not?

[Andrew]

Most of the trailers and promo spots were related to the Xbox 360/PS3 version, they weren't really pushing anything about the PC/PS2 version. I can only speculate as to their reasons and motivation but the bottom line is that Hot Spots are a feature in the PC/PS2 version, albeit a feature that isn't very deep.

[codilx]

Well I remember specifically reading a statement from EA about the PS2 version, and they bloated on about the hotspots.

[Andrew]

And they're right, Hot Spots are in the PC/PS2 version. However, they aren't implemented as deeply or in quite the same way as the Xbox 360/PS3 version.