NBA Live 10 Demo Impressions Thread

[Playmakers]

The Help D in Live 10 is only based on the level you play on this year. Each level represents an increase in help D awareness by the players.

I said before I think it's wrong that the level you play on dictates how good or bad the Help D is in the game. They completely took out ratings for this type of defense and the sliders are your only option to increase now.

The Sliders should be used to compliment the ratings not act as the RATINGS.

If you want better help D you have to increase the slider for you or the CPU. I think these players should be judged on their rating and not the slider but hey there is no rating. Mike Wang and Marcus should also make sure PG's have a brain and not run a play just because it's scripted in their head.

I tested it with with PG's and SG's on the demo just to see if anyone guy would behave different if a play broke down and they all appear to be locked into the play that is called and that's only when you actually see them run a play. I switched up the playbooks for both LA and Orlando and it did allow more movement than the plays that were assigned at default for each team but still the players don't know how to react to SITUATIONS on the court.

Switch up to ZONE DEFENSE and see if the CPU does anything different in relation to play calling. They look for the catch and shoot all the time and if I stand in the way of where the ball is suppose to be passed they react like IDIOTS.

Too many times I watched Kobe just stand back and let Fisher be the MAN!

My hope is that since I did see a RATING for CLUTCH FACTOR this year that maybe since the demo is only on 4 minute qtr's that RATING doesn't kick in much. In a full game then maybe it's designed to kick in and we'll see STAR PLAYERS taking over more in the FINAL VERSION.

I hope that is the case because right now the DEMO did nothing but frustrate me with the AI and it started showing flaws that I would see in Live 07-09. Now if you haven't played the game in like 3-4 years then it's probably going to WOW you.

But if you've been around and played it for the last 3-4 years your going to say WTF that was the same dumb crap I saw in Live 07 why is it still in the game. Some of it can be overlooked but it does get really annoying that after 4 years we still see of some of the crap that hindered the previous 3 versions.

Guys taking off from anywhere and dunking
PG's holding the ball or PG's being the main focus offensively
Lack of Player movement in most offensive sets based on the demo
Lack of CPU intelligence on Offense when a play breaks down
Lack of effort to challenge a shot by human CPU players on their own
Players are back to steeping out of bounds again
Sliding is back after being gone for about 2 years and it's back with a vengance
BIg Men with 80 inch verticals still not corrected
No illegal defense once again....just hide camp out in the post and stay there if you like.
Goaltending.....what Goaltending?
No over the back animations again this year and if so I haven't seen it called in the game.

The game does some nice things don't me wrong, but i find it puzzling as to why those things even after 4 years are still game play issues.

My biggest complaint though is Player Logic/court awareness I could probably look past most of that stuff if only the players REACTED like they knew what the hell was going on on the floor. I mean even if DNA wasn't updated on the DEMO you'd think Kobe, Carter, Howard and Gasol all Players I consider ELITE would know how to adjust on the fly if something went wrong. I'm not concerned with this type of behavior from guys like D.J.Mbenga, Anthony Johnson or Josh Powell. But for crying out loud it trickles down to the ELITE guys.

Yeah I know the PG's still need to get those guys the ball in order for them to adjust but come on when I see Kobe standing around with 6-8 seconds left on the shot clock and Fisher like and IDIOT pounding the rock on the floor it discourages me.

I want to see Kobe take off and move, try to find a pick by Bynum or someone else to free him. Not stand there and observe Fisher just like the rest of his teammates as if the play is already pre-determined that Fisher should let the clock run down and take the shot himself.

[ThaLiveKing]

Here's Some Sliders You Can Try For The Demo, Level: Superstar, You have to look at it by 8 minute quarters instead of half time stats



















The games with these sliders have been competitive, and the defense guard is up. Try em out and let me know what you think.

[Daniel24]

Yo, those sliders are pretty sweet man, nice work!

Again though i feel the need to point a couple things out:

- Free throws are not very good in this game, i prefer the controller tilt in 2k heaps more, speaking of free throws.. where is kobe's MVP chant???
- Again, the arena chime only goes off when kobe hits 3's, it should be the whole team lol.. wtf?

- Gameplay is fantastic, you could easily mistake the game for a real broadcast!
- The other team now goes to other end of the court to make a timeout, which is a little thing that is nice to have
- Would love to see arena player intro's.. (they used to have this ages ago on nba live, but only for the playoffs)

Now i need some help as i am too lazy to look elsewhere, can anyone explain the pick and rolls on here for me?

[Andrew]

Finally got my full write-up done, you can check it out here over on the main site. I've captured a few videos as well, apologies for the quality but I'll have to invest in some better means of video capture.

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

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[ThaLiveKing]

Yo, those sliders are pretty sweet man, nice work!

Again though i feel the need to point a couple things out:

- Free throws are not very good in this game, i prefer the controller tilt in 2k heaps more, speaking of free throws.. where is kobe's MVP chant???
- Again, the arena chime only goes off when kobe hits 3's, it should be the whole team lol.. wtf?

- Gameplay is fantastic, you could easily mistake the game for a real broadcast!
- The other team now goes to other end of the court to make a timeout, which is a little thing that is nice to have
- Would love to see arena player intro's.. (they used to have this ages ago on nba live, but only for the playoffs)

Now i need some help as i am too lazy to look elsewhere, can anyone explain the pick and rolls on here for me?

Not everything is in the demo lol. . .I like how the crowd sounds in this game tho, it's hype!!! I'm sure the game will play a lot better once we get full game!!

[Playmakers]

The videos with your sliders look a little better for game play but I'm just not feeling the game this year based on the demo.

Like on that one rebound by Gasol on the FT Line no way in hell he should be jumping that high. I'll probably rent the final version before making a decision to buy it for $60.00.

Plus i just started observing the 2K 10 info and it looks like that game is going to be awesome this year.

[Bodz]

Finally got my full write-up done, you can check it out here over on the main site. I've captured a few videos as well, apologies for the quality but I'll have to invest in some better means of video capture.

Checked out the Lakers play and you seem to dominate the Magic. What sliders did you use? The Magic looked rather hapless against you (as Lakers).

[Andrew]

Default sliders, All-Star difficulty level. That game was actually a bit of an anomaly, normally the games have been closer and the CPU has beaten me (well, led at the half technically) more than a few times too.

[Patr1ck]

I have had a couple games on All Star where everything was working. There have also been several where I would get ran in the first few minutes. When I am playing patient, sim basketball the scores are alot closer. When I try to just have some fun with the dribble system, I end up with alot of turnovers. I noticed that whenever you collide during a penetration attempt and try to change your direction, you lose the ball with most players.

[ThaLiveKing]

Yeah, I agree wit Pdub. It could be with just playoff atmosphere that forces you to play playoff basketball

[kietsmark]

I played the demo and happy to see and feel the changes EA made from live 09 to live 10. here are some comments though...

>> it is just annoying that they have the same commentator and comments still. very repetitive.
>> fast break and alley-oop cheeze are still there.
>> the players are too reflective/sweating imho. even at the start of the tip-off. team on offense doesn't run fast break plays...
>> pointguards tends to still wait behind the arc even if they can pass it to the teammates way down below the basket.
>> not much animations after dunks.
>> a very choppy movements on player who does the freethrow.
>> husstle plays are there but most of the times it is useless because the AI is not "that" responsive to where the husstling player should throw the ball.
>> off-ball control is very easy to get exploited. i just wish that control will not be available online.
>> the nba final logo is huge for me also.

[Andrew]

>> it is just annoying that they have the same commentator and comments still. very repetitive.

It's not really feasible for them to record completely new commentary each year. I'd rather they continue to build up a bank of commentary audio and replace, remove and add to it as necessary with each new instalment. If you start fresh every year, the commentary audio is probably going to be even more limited and repetitive.

[Patr1ck]

I can only trust that there is alot more commentary in the game. If I hear "The Lakers get to throw in" one more time....

I played several games on Superstar, and I believe this is the way to go. I had a lot more success than I thought I would, but it's probably self-discipline from knowing it's on a higher difficulty level and not me screwing around trying to make flashy plays. It is probably a hole in the defensive AI but the more I pushed the ball, the easier it was to score.

I also noticed one possession where the AI gets stuck just dribbling the ball near the corner, as if a play were being run. Let's pray this is only a demo issue from the early build. For now, I just go up and try to steal the ball which wakes him up.

I had some really great blocks by being patient. Before I would just try to push the button as quick as possible. Hell, I got a sick block on VC during a dunk with Gasol as time was running out. I am guessing that is why some of the layup and collision animations go slow, because the blocks are also slow, it gives great shot blockers a chance to catch up. I have yet to get a block from behind. I'm not sure if there is an animation that will even allow this as they never cover much ground.

I have no idea what is going on in the post. Most of the shots I take are in the opposite direction that I press towards. Try to fade towards the elbow, does a baseline turnaround fade where the ball hits the side of the backboard. Try to do a baseline hook, does a turnaround pump then hook in the lane. I've had several chances of performing nice alleyoops on a 2 on 1 only to have the other player slow down which causes them to do an alley-layup.

There are several instances where your teammate AI has no idea what you are trying to do, and they will clump it up right next to you. If I am Kobe and I am going to take VC one on one on the wing, Derek Fisher or Ron Artest needs to move farther away or cut through. They don't have to read minds to do this. I see an opening across the middle of the court to go for one of those leaning jumpshots and Gasol runs up from the post and gets in my way. In other words, court spacing needs improvement and awareness where they should be in relation to the player with the ball.

I can't believe they didn't put tip in dunks this year. I really can't. Even Live 08 had tipin dunks, even if they were completed like layups and not dunks, the player still grabbed the rim.

[JaoSming]

Even Live 08 had tipin dunks, even if they were completed like layups and not dunks, the player still grabbed the rim.

That's right, dunked it right on your ass

phpBB [video]

[ThaLiveKing]

I never did a put back dunk in 08 LOL, My first time seeing that

[Andrew]

I played several games on Superstar, and I believe this is the way to go. I had a lot more success than I thought I would, but it's probably self-discipline from knowing it's on a higher difficulty level and not me screwing around trying to make flashy plays.

I've been trying All-Star mostly but that's good to know, I'll have to give Superstar more of a try.

[bksboywonder1]

I’ve been a huge live fan since 98, and I was thrilled when freestyle control was invented. If you asked me that’s one of the only things that kept me buying the franchise, and it gave users freedom to come up with any move they could possibly think of. Playing Live 10 Demo, I noticed they've tweaked the freestyle control, which I really wasn’t excited about. You can no longer dribble behind the back (by taping down on R3) nor can you do in and out moves to set up your crossover (by taping left or right on R3). A lot of the fancy trailers we see players doing tons of moves aren’t freestyle, it’s the user holding down on the turbo button and the moves come out automatically. I’d rather do my own moves than to press one button and have a player doing tons of animation dribbles. The change isn’t horrible, but “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it” theory should have came into play in my opinion. Freestyle control was the one thing 2k was light years behind us at, I don’t know why their taking away freedom from the users by downgrading. 2k fans may love this because its right up their alley, but hardcore live fans may not appreciate it as much.

I don’t want to seem all negative because the game looks and plays great. I just feel like users should have full control, that’s the reasoning behind freestyle control. They’ve also placed dribble moves with the L analog and it takes away from the R analog. I find myself shying away from something that’s made me love the live franchise “Freestyle Control”. I can’t believe I’m the only one bothered by this??? Can I get some back up live fans???

[JaoSming]

I'm right next to you on that, that was the first complaint I had when they first announced that stuff with the Turbo button.

Yet the big issue I have is still the shooting with Square/X instead of Circle/B

[bksboywonder1]

I love the addition of Mike Wang, but what fans are you catering to? It seems like live is becoming 2k and its effecting their number one consumers. If you’re a true live fan you’ve supported them through horrible games like 2007 praying that next year would be better. I liked 09 and was just hoping for some upgrades here and there. I don’t understand the logic of moving the shot button to match 2k??? I really hope they don’t lose fans like fight night round 4 did before the update.

If it ain't broken don't fix it!

[JaoSming]

you're speaking the truth man,

with all of the devs on the OS forums, which was mainly a 2k website, and the modified control schemes it does sound like they catered right towards the 2k people who were unhappy with 2k9 because of it's AI issues.

I feel the same way about Live 10, and haven't been too outspoken on it because, well, what's the point? They've moved on in a different direction and are getting huge praise for it at OS.

They have been all about the community interaction over there, but I've been PMing and posting there for a patch to let us change up the control schemes with "we dont need that" kind of responses. If we don't get it in a patch, then I gotta feel like I am not a part of the community they are catering to, so screw 'em and I'll miss out on "NBA Live" being back and just play 2k10 on the PC and old NBA Lives.

[shadowgrin]

It seems like live is becoming 2k

lol, thought of the same thing by seeing videos and comments from different people regarding the demo/game development. Guess I'm not crazy after all.

[bksboywonder1]

Another thing I would love to get off my chest. Why is it when I have the game locked on a player, the CPU loses it’s AI. For example: I always lock my point guard (it’s just my thing), and if I feed to ball to the CPU he will not attempt a shot unless I push the shot button, nor will he pass to an open teammate. There are times when the CPU would just stand there dribbling the ball until the shot clock runs out. If you’re J. Nelson at the top of the key and you kick it to Carter on the wing and you want D. Howard with the ball on post, you have to press the pass button to receive it from Carter and make the post pass yourself as J. Nelson (Hope I’m not too confusing). I really hope the actual game isn’t like this smh, because the game is looking great excluding these unnecessary changes.

JaoSming couldn’t agree more! I guess we have to see what gets fixed in the package and what doesn’t. If live fans wanted a 2k like game we wouldn’t be live fans lol. I figure anyone who was tweaking an established franchise would understand that too many changes could scare people away. Yes 2k has kicked our butts, but why become the competition when #1 consumer’s just wanted an updated 09.

[JaoSming]

what I laugh about is still seeing issues in 09 in the uploaded Live 10 videos. Centers not being able to block Iverson coming right at them, players still standing around and the general look of players who are waiting in iso is pretty horrible. Especially on D

[bksboywonder1]

That just shows that communication between last year’s Game play team with this year’s. It seems that they were too busy making new changes that they forgot about 09’s errors. You’d figure that fixing 09 flaws would be number one priority over changing the shot bottom. I’m still going to get the game but I’m not as excited as I was before playing the demo.

[Patr1ck]

I totally agree on the freestyle change and have since Live 08. By simplifying it, they took control out of the users hand. There are 360 degrees available on the analog sticks which can be used in various ways from taps to holds to double taps and circle motions along with combinations and button modifiers. So far it appears as as if Live 2006 for the PC/PS2 had more dribble and post moves when using the right analog stick. However, placing dribble moves in the left analog stick is what we have been secretly asking. In older versions, you change direction and all of a sudden your player is now dribbling the ball between himself and the defender. It looks and feels better this year, since a change of direction will have a player performing a simple crossover, rather than keeping the ball in the same hand and potentially clipping through the defender. I support basic moves on the left stick, but nothing that would really beat a defender.

The one thing I want to know about the retail version of Live 10 is what specifically from the gameplay of the demo build version(not audio or features) has been improved.

I noticed in Live 08 that they were going the "2K route" with the animations. I don't like it because they haven't been able to blend these animations smoothly with others. It's a beautiful thing in 2K which has evolved for several years and probably looked it's best in 2K9, even though it comes with a lack of control and clipping at times.

I am still having fun with the demo even though I can't get the blocks that I think I should have, or the rebounds(I boxed out Dwight Howard with Derek Fisher and got the rebound with Fisher, so I shouldn't complain), or pass to the player who is wide open at the exact moment I want to pass to him, because there is a delay and the defender has closed out by the time my teammate received the ball....wait. I was praising the game. It's fun, but there are still some "what the fuck are you doing?" wining at the screen moments, which shouldn't be there.

Oh, I passed out of a layup. did not know you can do that. You can't be in the air, though, I think.