NBA Live 08 Community Day Report Update

......? i think he did. I think today may be the last day that he cannot talk about it though.

Heh...I think my comment was a bit vague. What I was trying to point out was the fact that Andrew seemingly released a small shred of info on Dynasty Mode, which is to be kept under wraps until the embargo dates pass. I just wanted to point it out.

Bryan Wiedey:
I had a handful of initial concerns. The first is that it dominates the screen when activated. It is very bright and essentially replaces the court completely with the colored sections. You don't see anything like that when you're watching on TV or live at a basketball game, and ultimately what these games have been going towards is a level of realism in how you view them so in a way it felt a little out of place.

The next problem for me was how it would be used. I figure if you're playing a head-to-head game, and your opponent pulls up the Hot Spots, you can assume two things. They are planning on shooting with that player, and they are going to head towards a red zone. It just isn't something natural to see pop up on your screen when you're playing defense and you automatically wonder what their motivation is for displaying the zones.

Hot Spots colors are displayed during the game?

or is sth that EA uses now in preview videos & images, just to highlight the new feature?

I agree with Bryan. Nba Live it's not an arcade game. I remember turbo button and hot shots in NBA Jam. I hope we won't return the clock back....

At least they can have an option to turn displayed colors on/off

tell us more things about this andrew...

thnx

when is the embargo date for the Dynasty info? I'm assuming either tomorrow or thursday right, because Live will be shown at E3, so will you be able to talk about it within the next two days?

Will you be able to apply signature jump shots to Created players and players that don't have sig. jump shots in the game?

Andrew I ahve a couple of questions

1. was the game as smooth as 2k7 in terms of framerate because some of the videos with dunks and jumpshots make the game look kind of choppy.

2. Was there realistic defense between ball handler and defender such as the defender riding the offensive players hip.

3. Do the players and the ball have a sense of weight to them or are they floaty like past nba live games.

4. Last and most important to me, is kobe bryants jumpshot (not his fadeaway) perfect and true, because the PR on the game is they say it's perfect? But I would rather know from someone who has played it.

Thanks

1. was the game as smooth as 2k7 in terms of framerate because some of the videos with dunks and jumpshots make the game look kind of choppy.

The game runs at 60 FPS, which is extremely smooth (amazingly awesomely smooth).

Don't worry about smoothness, maybe some other things to worry about, but not smoothness. (PS3 might run at 30 FPS but prolly will be 60fps, the x360 will run at 60fps for sure)

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What I'm concerned about is: what is 2k doing? 2k7 wasn't the best basketball sim ever, it only sounded that way because of how bad live 07 was (in 2k7 the player faces are fugly, and the players are on an ice rink instead of a basketball court it appears)

but 2k7 was far ahead of live 07, so with the work 2k does on their games compared to EA, in theory 2k8 will be amazing, but we know nothing about 2k8

IMO 2k7 is not that good of a basketball sim, it's just 100x better than live 07.

So I have my doubts about live 08, I'm thinking live 08 will be like 2k7 quality, and 2k8 will be superb quality, then I'm thinking live 09 is the year for EA.

I don't know, I'm interested to see E3 though, I really want to know what 2k8 has cooking compared to live.

do you know the embargo date. because it is quite possibly tomorrow (wednesday july 11th at 2:00 pm is ea's e3 conference)

Not yet. As soon as I can post the report, it'll be up on the site. As of this moment, there's nothing else I'm allowed to talk about.

tell us more things about this andrew...

I'm not sure what else I can tell you that hasn't been said in my report and in the other guy's reports already, but here goes.

Hot Spots are not an arcade-like feature that allow you to just run to a spot and nail a shot time after time (except perhaps on Rookie Difficulty where everything is much easier), nor will the CPU be unstoppable from a Hot Spot. It simply indicates where a player tends to make most of their shots/prefers to shoot from, and thus where you should get certain players so that they are most effective. Whether the shot goes in or not still depends on factors such as ratings, the timing of the release and how tightly a player is being defended.

Players will also make shots from their colder spots but won't be as effective from those areas. The data is taken from real season data for the 2006/2007 season with some allowances being made (ie if a big man went 1/1 from three point range from a certain spot on the floor, it won't be a hot spot in the game), the overlay you've seen in the preview screenshots is based on the Hot Zones display at NBA.com. You can bring it up during gameplay and Practice Mode, though I reckon once you're familiar with your players you won't need to bring it up much at all (if at all).

when is the embargo date for the Dynasty info? I'm assuming either tomorrow or thursday right, because Live will be shown at E3, so will you be able to talk about it within the next two days?

I don't have a specific date at this time. When I'm allowed to post the info, you'll see the report.

Will you be able to apply signature jump shots to Created players and players that don't have sig. jump shots in the game?

It doesn't look like it. Looks like they'll be randomly assigned (except truly unique ones like Shawn Marion), if at all.

1. was the game as smooth as 2k7 in terms of framerate because some of the videos with dunks and jumpshots make the game look kind of choppy.

2. Was there realistic defense between ball handler and defender such as the defender riding the offensive players hip.

3. Do the players and the ball have a sense of weight to them or are they floaty like past nba live games.

4. Last and most important to me, is kobe bryants jumpshot (not his fadeaway) perfect and true, because the PR on the game is they say it's perfect? But I would rather know from someone who has played it.

1. I can't compare it to 2K7 because I didn't play 2K7 but I wouldn't describe the gameplay as choppy. It felt very smooth and compared to the jumpshots in NBA Live 07, a big improvement. I always found myself releasing them too late but that's not the case this year. Work has been done with the release points and it's noticeable.

2. Those interactions are better, it seems to be more noticeable in the post game but they've improved the player interaction by using two player motion capture so it's an improvement over the old collisions where it basically two cylinders crashing into one another.

3. Yes, I'd say they do, though not like the 360 version last year where Footplanting made them a bit heavy and cumbersome.

4. Looked fine to me.

1. was the game as smooth as 2k7 in terms of framerate because some of the videos with dunks and jumpshots make the game look kind of choppy.

The game runs at 60 FPS, which is extremely smooth (amazingly awesomely smooth).

Don't worry about smoothness, maybe some other things to worry about, but not smoothness. (PS3 might run at 30 FPS but prolly will be 60fps, the x360 will run at 60fps for sure)

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What I'm concerned about is: what is 2k doing? 2k7 wasn't the best basketball sim ever, it only sounded that way because of how bad live 07 was (in 2k7 the player faces are fugly, and the players are on an ice rink instead of a basketball court it appears)

but 2k7 was far ahead of live 07, so with the work 2k does on their games compared to EA, in theory 2k8 will be amazing, but we know nothing about 2k8

IMO 2k7 is not that good of a basketball sim, it's just 100x better than live 07.

So I have my doubts about live 08, I'm thinking live 08 will be like 2k7 quality, and 2k8 will be superb quality, then I'm thinking live 09 is the year for EA.

I don't know, I'm interested to see E3 though, I really want to know what 2k8 has cooking compared to live.

I agree I really enjoyed live 2005 and everything went downhill after that. I went to 2k6 after and havent really enjoeyed it either. @k has totally slacked on player faces, bodies,and defense against the ball handler. Also layups and dunks look so artificial and not very fluid. I liked the defense that was prominent in march madness 07 and hope that EA has taken that formula and expaneded on it. They already have great looking players they just need to polish the gameplay. If 2k doesnt overhaul the graphics and the bugs in their game, Live could pull away with the entire fanbase of basketball. Only tme will tell.

exciter3093

Andrew, I can tell from the released videos and your report that general player movment thanks to new animations/ animation systems / 60fps is better, or 'smoother'.

but..............

The dunks still look crapoloa. In the 'sizzle' trailer, the Ray Allen two handed tomohawk seems awkward. He cocks it back real quick, and doesn't make great contact with the rim. Same could be said for all the dunks I've seen.

Dunk animations and player interaction with the rim seem to be still left in the NBA Live 07 (for 360) quality, whereas dribbling and general player movement has improved to the 'smoothness' it should.

During your time with the game did you find the dunk animaitons realistic? smooth? satisfying? Or potential for this to look as crap as it did last year. (Last years dunks on the 360 were the most robotic, awkward, pieces of crapola ever).

Thanks. Cam.

Thanks for the quick reply, It is a little disheartning to hear that they won't be able to be used for CAPs that was one of the best features 2k had for their CAPs, and editing any NBA players, gives the game a more realistic feel if everyone has a different jumpshot other than the generic ones given.

My next questions was about the dunks as well but Cam covered it all.

Thanks again

Have they changed the sounds for dunks? I've noticed since live 2005, they've seemed a bit less realistic. Do they still have the same sounds as the last couple years or have they implemented new ones?

but..............

The dunks still look crapoloa. In the 'sizzle' trailer, the Ray Allen two handed tomohawk seems awkward. He cocks it back real quick, and doesn't make great contact with the rim. Same could be said for all the dunks I've seen.

Dunk animations and player interaction with the rim seem to be still left in the NBA Live 07 (for 360) quality, whereas dribbling and general player movement has improved to the 'smoothness' it should.

During your time with the game did you find the dunk animaitons realistic? smooth? satisfying? Or potential for this to look as crap as it did last year. (Last years dunks on the 360 were the most robotic, awkward, pieces of crapola ever).

There was some improvement in the build I played but the rim interactions on dunks was still a little awkward at times. We were told ahead of time that there were some issues with dunk animations and that there would be improvement by the time the game shipped, so I guess we'll see. My verdict would be better than last year but not perfect as yet. They seem to have eliminated players going through the backboard for the most part, only a couple of dunk animations seemed to be glitched in that regard (which they also told us about ahead of time).

Have they changed the sounds for dunks? I've noticed since live 2005, they've seemed a bit less realistic. Do they still have the same sounds as the last couple years or have they implemented new ones?

Sounds are about the same.

Is the primacy rating visible when editing a player's ratings in the edit player menu?

And has the primacy issue been discussed with the producers, the one that makes a superstar player get 10 on the primacy rating when he comes back from an injury and the recalculation (most of the times, a bad one) of the primacy ratings for all the other players on a team after an injury?

I can't speak for the PC version as it wasn't on display but in the Xbox 360 version that's a similar attribute that can be modified through Edit Player. The issue of recalculation was indeed brought up along with simulated stats.

And there is an answer for that? Or we just have to wait until the embargo day?

Well I can't answer anything about the PC version yet as it wasn't on display and no members from its production team were at the Community Day. I will further elaborate on Dynasty mode aspects as soon as I'm allowed.

I think the fact that they are telling you some of the problems with the dunk animations and stuff before you even see it, makes me feel kind of reassured that they will fix it if they know its a problem. Im really excited to see how this game progresses up to the release date.

Comparing the player ratings to the last gen ps2 and xbox and I believe pc, are there new rating categories now? If so, can you shed some light on some of the new categories? (when I say new, i mean MORE categories than before)

Yes, there are more ratings in the Xbox 360/PS3 versions (there were new ratings in last year's 360 version as well) compared to the PC/PS2 version.

I didnt play the 360 version... did the new ratings make any difference?

I'd say they did though it was hard to tell at times because that version had its own issues.

My question is about the dribble animations: Does the game have a unigue animation for the situations where a guy drives by another? I mean live 07 had something like this. Has it been improved?

And another Q: Do star players have signature or unique dribble animations? Like Wade's between the legs move which makes the defenders fall, or T-Mac's lazy ass crossover or Kobe's fake spin and stuff like these..

Do you set the hotspots for your created players or are they assigned by the computer?

My question is about the dribble animations: Does the game have a unigue animation for the situations where a guy drives by another? I mean live 07 had something like this. Has it been improved?

And another Q: Do star players have signature or unique dribble animations? Like Wade's between the legs move which makes the defenders fall, or T-Mac's lazy ass crossover or Kobe's fake spin and stuff like these..

The two player motion capture and "jostle" system allows for more interaction when players collide in the post or on the drive. It's better than the collisions in the 360 version of NBA Live 07.

There aren't any signature dribbles but there are some new fakes and moves such as the half/fake spin.

Do you set the hotspots for your created players or are they assigned by the computer?

I'm pretty sure they're assigned according to the player ratings.