what about a career mode?

by **guan lu** on Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:04 pm

i was thinking about dre's one-on-one mode idea...

any of you guys played koei's samurai warriors on the ps2? there's this great create-a-samurai mode where the player goes through a twelve-month training period then he is entered into the game, with his own campaign, story, etc, based on what he was able to do in his training.

maybe that could also happen, say, at one point in your one-on-one or playground career, you can decide to join the nba draft, and, depending on your popularity or abilities, you get drafted by a team. (think skip to my lou here) then there would be the challenge, you can't choose the team, only if you'll sign with them.. or something like that... if they trade you, you can't do anything bout it.

i haven't really thought all the details out yet, but it's just an idea... what do you guys think?

by **carsley** on Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:19 pm

not a bad idea but skip to my lou(rafer alston) wasn't drafted because of his popularity he did actually go to college

by **Metsis** on Mon Sep 20, 2004 10:23 pm

This has been toyed around with for years... It always comes out during the wishlist discussions, but it has been deemed too limiting to a player. If you aren't any good... How will the mode play out... Like you are the third string shooting guard and get 4 minutes per game and play only in every third game...

That would be boring... It's an idea, but it needs some work so that the player won't be stuck in as a third tier guard or anything. Maybe some drills to do between games to make your guy better... Maybe some other options as well as talking with the coaches and trying to persuade them to give you a chance etc. Maybe trying to better to know your fellow team mates and create the kind of atmosphere where you would get more respect etc. from your fellow team mates.

On off days you could have small scrimmage game for maybe like 10 minutes per day, and if you would play well your stock would rise and you'd maybe get a shot at some playing time next game. And some drills for passing and shooting and defending etc. to make your guy better over time... It would be nice...

Of course different teams would have different habits and you could choose to do the extra work at the gym or join up with the guys for lunch or something to boost your morale and status among team mates...

It would be cool too, if you could get your personal life involved there somehow too. Like getting married or divorced, or having a kid born. Or moving to a new house etc. Buying a new car or something. And it would effect your morale and work ethic and happiness in the process.

Adding all these mini-games could make the mode playable... And with this quarter per quarter simulation. You could skip to the parts when you are on the court... And keep an eye on the stats etc. So you'd know who's hot and who's not so you'd know who to give the ball to etc.

You should be able to create some sort of a personality to the player too, so that different things would effect you in different ways and you'd get a good replay value to it as well. Your ratings could even be more specific than the rest of the league. Like 3pt shooting would be 65.32... And single three point drill could increase it from 0.01-0.05. You could improve with this training 1-4 rating points each season. So you could see the development, but it wouldn't be too easy or too quick to make your self a superstar. If you had say 82 practise sessions where you could concentrate on a single rating in each one. Training scrimmages would also add to this if you were to succeed in one thing, like passing (gather up those assists) or shooting etc.

But, well... This won't be in the game... Although we could start pitching the idea to EA with a little bit more serious note next time around... Wouldn't you agree?

by **50first** on Tue Sep 21, 2004 2:14 am

thats an idea more along the sims/sim city games. its a good idea but if ever created should be a game on its own.

by **J@3** on Tue Sep 21, 2004 3:54 am

I'm not too keen on the whole 1 on 1 streetball kind of idea, judging by what's happened in previous sports games I think that'd get really boring really quickly.

One idea I had a while ago (would probably require a whole new game), was to create a player and have them start as a 7th grader in high school. Then basically you play through 4 years of high school, making your way onto the varsity etc to the point where you get recruited by colleges. The cool thing about it would be that if you're just a 15ppg guy the chances are you're not going to end up making a Div 1 college, so you'd have to make your way through Juco or whatever and eventually try to make the NBA.

When the player first starts out in high school I'd make the maximum height 5'10, just to allow room for random growth. So if your guy starts off as a 5'10 C but only grows 2 inches he'd have to adapt to being a PG etc etc. Ratings would change depending on how you used your guy. Like if you just hogged the ball and scored 40ppg he'd not benefit from that. I'd also make it kinda difficult to become like a LeBron because I think that'd be boring too.

In an ideal gaming World there'd be foreign leagues and the NBDL aswell, just in case you don't get drafted. Also the option to be invited to training camps, summer leagues etc and try to gain a roster spot that way. Your guy could age every year, and the older he gets the less likely that he'd make an NBA roster. I'd put a retirement age of about 36, so that still gives plenty of time to play through.

I'd say this idea's pretty impossible to fit it all on a single game, but I think if you just had the high school/college parts then you could make NBA Live or whatever compatible so they could be loaded up and drafted, or not drafted as the case may be.

by **Bang** on Tue Sep 21, 2004 5:29 am

How about just getting a "GAME OVER" screen once you fail to make the starting lineup or you're IR? Or make you just play ball in the streets until you reach a certain level. Have something like "You are not ready to enter the draft" or something screen. Too bad if you suck! Tough luck! That's the way life goes!

by **Steve [The Spiderman]** on Tue Sep 21, 2004 5:47 am

i like the idea, but this wouldn't work until next gen consoles, they just wouldn't have enought space for it, unless they wanted to make it special for PCers

by **[Q]** on Tue Sep 21, 2004 6:21 am

well, the way they have dynasty now, it's like you're the GM of a team and you do everything as if you're the GM. If you get fired, you find another GM job... I guess if you have career mode, you have no control of the team, you just play for a team and negotiate contracts

by **Metsis** on Tue Sep 21, 2004 4:22 pm

qballer wrote:well, the way they have dynasty now, it's like you're the GM of a team and you do everything as if you're the GM. If you get fired, you find another GM job... I guess if you have career mode, you have no control of the team, you just play for a team and negotiate contracts

But if you were to add some random even generator in private life (that would be influenced by your players character) and you add all the training and chemistry and workout mini games the mode would be more than intresting. I'd try it out. I believe most of you would... I would like to see what kind of an NBA player I'd make, if I ever were that good.

Current dynasty mode would not do... It would get really boring really fast, if you were stuck behind TMac or Kobe on the bench.

I think this mode would be doable... Just takes time to work out all the glicthes and the fact that the player won't become too bored playing it -> Making enough options for a player to stay intrested.

It would have to be totally it's own mode. I'd really like to see some aspects implemented... Happiness, morale etc. Also choices... Do I train my self to get better or do I spend time to increase morale and happiness. Each day could be split into three parts... Where you'd get to choose what to do... The middle part could be the one with a training game that you'd always get to be a part of... Training games could be 3-4 times a week and never on game days. Game days, the evening segment would always be reserved for the game.

Like you could do the following in a couple of days:
Day 1
Morning - Three point shooting
Day - Playing in a training game in practise
Evening - Weight training

Day 2
Morning - Scoring against a defender
Day - Resting
Evening - Playing in an NBA game

Day 3
Morning - Weight training
Day - Athletics training
Evening - Go to dinner with team mates

etc. etc.

That would be quite nice... I would so enjoy this mode. I believe that most of us would. Think if the weight training was some sort of a mini game. Scoring against a defender would be like 1-on-1. Three point practise would be like a three point contest. Athletic training would be some sort of a reaction test or something. Free throw practise could be shooting free throws...

Some training could be combined and some could effect many different ratings. The practise games would mostly effect your awerenesses, defense, passing, dribbling. But also other areas. Like if you would do rigorious training with your shooting you could pump it from 60 to 80 during your career, but with a long time span, like 5-7 years or something. 80 in field goals or three pointers is very good. All these mini games would keep the players on their toes and active.

One option would be to go see management. Talk to your coaches. You could even have a similar PDA like you do in the dynasty. There you'd get 'advice' from home, owners, coaches, gm, agents etc. Like your coach could tell you 'You should work on your three pointers' and gm could ask how would you feel about being traded to some team. And you agent would urge you to work harder to get a better deal, or give you an idea that 'The spurs are intrested in adding you to their lineup during the summer'

All these things would really make it intresting and would keep the player occupied and intrested in the mode.

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Wed Sep 22, 2004 5:22 pm

I'm always intrigued by the idea and I have to admit, it could be very cool. But it just seems like there'd be an awful lot of sitting around, watching. If you get in the game for only three minutes, do you sit around watching the rest of the game? Even with drills and activities in between, it would be pretty boring.

by **Metsis** on Wed Sep 22, 2004 6:27 pm

With the new simulation system... You could possibly terminate the simulation and cut into the action when you get on the floor... It's only a small refinement into the system that is in Live 2005.

It would pause the action and let you go through the game statistics and who's on the floor when you are getting on so you could tell who's hot and who's not.

That way the sitting around and looking at the game wouldn't take as long. It could simulate as it is, quarter by quarter. And also add in a break point into the action when you get in the game.

This would minimize the time spent just watching the action. Of course there would be options for watching the game rather than simulating.

Like the following...

1st Quarter
You decide to simulate
You get in at 2:33 left in the first and play out the quarter

2nd quarter
You decide to simulate it too
You get in again at 3:03 left in the quarter

3rd q
You again simulate
You play 2:30 from the start of the third and simulate the rest

4th quarter
You want to see how it finishes out
You watch the gameplay and you get called into the game 2 minutes into the fourth and leave the court 5 into the quarter
And you watch the rest of the quarter as your team struggles to beat the opponent

I think it would work quite nicely...

I'd say we could see this in 2006, 2007 if EA gets excited about this feature. This would certainly be something very marketable so it has commercial value like the all-star weekend and us veterans would also get something out of it as well. And this mode would have a great re-play value too. As you could play as a point or center or forward. All would yield different experiences as all the positions require different skills and that would make the training different from player to player.

I'd enjoy this feature... It would be dream come true for most of us here... A dream of getting to play in the NBA. As you could construct yourself into the game and see how the NBA life would treat you.

Bluesky · by **Andrew** on Wed Sep 22, 2004 7:25 pm

That's true...it would be a must in single player career mode. Or perhaps you could play other roles (eg the regular 5 on 5 mode) when your player isn't on the floor, then when it comes time for "you" to play taking control with the appropriate career mode player lock function.

by **Metsis** on Wed Sep 22, 2004 8:48 pm

Andrew wrote:That's true...it would be a must in single player career mode. Or perhaps you could play other roles (eg the regular 5 on 5 mode) when your player isn't on the floor, then when it comes time for "you" to play taking control with the appropriate career mode player lock function.

Ofcourse that is another option... I just don't like the fact that you get to control the entire team while you are off the floor. A player lock to your position would be one too. But that might be off, if you are playing a forward, you could come on at either of the forward slots, so it could be off.

Now that the game has been settled... They would have to go and find out how different people do different drills and what are the purpose of those drills and what skills they want to improve with them. In order to find out how to create the training mini-games to keep the player occupied with the game. The training might well be limited to some sessions per week or day... Due to the lack of diversity in the training and the way to emulate them to keep them intresting. They should make a couple of training mini-games for each training type, so weight training wouldn't always be the same etc.

The personal life stuff could be cut off at first just to make this mode a reality. But I'd really like in the end of your career that you had a house in Los Angeles and wife and son waiting at home and that uprooting your life at that point would be more detrimental to your morale and happiness than earlier on when you don't have those things or you aren't that settled. Player personality would play a good part in that... Some like to work some like to keep it more relaxed...

I really hope EA would look into this as there are several pieces almost there already. Just some fine tuning and you have the basis of the mode already intact. The games, the PDA etc. It doesn't have to be that miraculous to work atleast to see if it gets popular among gamers or not.

by **guan lu** on Thu Sep 23, 2004 11:39 am

i remember seeing some screenshots of ESPN having a player reaction after the game... how does that work? could that help in this department?

also the pda idea would be great, so you can talk to the coaching staff, owners, gm, etc... then maybe in later versions, it could be improved upon so maybe you can even talk or relate to other players, chemistry rating stuff, etc... online league with multiple nba players? if that gets done, i'm looking for anyone to be kobe to my shaq... :wink:

we have player lock now, maybe your play could determine how long you do play, or if you ever become your team's star player... say if you keep asking for the ball but you're not productive then you start getting less minutes... or if you don't pass then you start receiving less passes yourself.

i agree, though, this could be hard for the current consoles or systems... but seing as the basic needed components are already there, the only real problem would be the simmed life or personality part...

on a personal note:
thanks guys for posting, didn't know this was suggested already, as i'm knew here... great ideas, though!

by **Metsis** on Thu Sep 23, 2004 9:40 pm

I can tell that you are only a kid quan lu, but that doesn't make too much of a difference to me.

I don't want ESPN to implement this, cause then I would never get to see it as I am a PC gamer. And I don't intend to go console, ever!

This would start a whole other era in the way basket ball is played online, if you could have all these drills etc. And then go play with your mates as a team and all controlling a certain player. A sort of an avatar of them selves... I'd really like that. You could have real leagues where some people might be the general managers and others the players that play for the GMs... It would be next to the real thing as it gets. It could spurt entire communities and such... Just getting to play in a euro league or american leagues or something.

PDA could be very handy as people are on at different times from different places. Some players would have to be AI controlled as people play different times and can't always get to play.

Practises could compile into practise points, with each one you could do a drill of your choosing and it would effect the players ratings there and then. You could get more points when you have a good coach and less points when you are a free agent or something...

Wow, I got to utopialand quite quickly there... I am just in awe of the possiblities of this feature. I can feel the buzz around the leagues as a player gets traded from one league to another. Or NBA would hold it's annual draft and GMs would have to do the scouting etc... Man... That would be a trip.

*comes back from fantasy land*

It ain't that hard... I can see the game headed for this direction. I believe that this isn't too far fetched anymore. They really should start to work on it. Collecting information from players, coaches, trainers etc. I want to see this feature now.

How many active posters we have in this forum??? And on other forums. The player intrest is certainly there. They really should think about moving sports games online as almost everyone likes some sport... And thus would like to play as their icons with other people that follow and look up to the same guys as you do...

by **End Boss** on Thu Sep 23, 2004 11:10 pm

I've been waiting/wishing for a career mode basically since the inception of the nba live series ..

mark my words.. as soon as a company pulls their thumb out and develops a one time cost marketing model for online gaming (allowing full shift to online gaming for games that require more infrastructure than ur straight dedicated server shooter affairs) then we will see the emergence of online basketball leagues where players play as themselves from their own perspective (guess it could be fixed if that was still desirable) and all you doubters will lap it up like the dogs you are..

really can't be arsed going through the details but i know in my heart of hearts that its going to happen..

the current online arrangement for nba live is a disgrace.. I just finished playing a season with friends at uni (i bring my gc + 4 wavebirds in every tuesday and thursday) and we play all on the same team and it is probably one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've ever had (and I am a seasoned gamer).. and it's because there's far more to basketball than just what you do with the ball and playing D directly on an opponent.. 1 on 1 online is a travesty of a multiplayer mode.. and I'm getting pretty sick and tired of waiting for EA to allow me to play with more players on 2+ computers than I can with one

by **maltre** on Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:03 am

I would love a feature that makes it possible to select one player (i.e: Marbury) and follow him his entire career. The simulation-option mentioned above would be pretty cool.

I think this could be an option easy to implement. No streetball stuff, no "working your way to the top", just select an existing NBA player and go have some fun

If your player is traded, you follow him to the next team.

Can we start the wishlist 2006 already ?

by **Metsis** on Fri Sep 24, 2004 6:06 pm

There could be options for picking an already established veteran like Marbury to play for your career... And this way you could limit the time you need to spend on the mode to complete it.

I for one would like to create a player from scratch and select his abilities from the start. Maybe the ratings could come out of a series of multiple choice questions. Like one answer would mean an increase in those two ratings and maybe decreasing that one and another answer to the same question would give different ratings changes. And the questions would ultimately determine the type of player and what kind of a guy the guy really is. After completing the questions and all the other parts, you would get to see your guys ratings and what stage is he projected to be in the draft. And it would be followed by some training camps where you could try to make an impression on a team or two from that projected area or maybe pump up your projection for the draft. Then would be the draft day, and you'd get picked by some team. Summer league play would follow, training camp, and then the season...

Sweet as it is... This would be good to add into the wishlist for 2006. Maybe I should compile a list of things that this mode needs in order to make it a more sensible package for EA to look at and see that it isn't that difficult to add... And it would add a lot of value to the package.

what about a career mode?

what about a career mode?

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