NBA Live 08 PC Issues (Bug List & Information)

[Andrew]

No sense in delaying this now that the PC version is starting to become available around the world. I'm compiling a list of the issues in NBA Live 08 as well as user information such as system specs so that we can forward the information on to EA Sports in the hope that a suitable patch is released.

A couple of notes:

Timeout/Quarter Crash: I'm playing a legal copy of the English version of NBA Live 08 on maximum detail settings and I've yet to encounter any of the crashes that a lot of people have been reporting. I've been trying different settings and doing my best to force the game to crash but as yet it's been working fine.

It's possible that there's a hardware conflict or some other problems that are causing this issue for some users and not others. Therefore, when giving feedback about the crashing problem be sure to provide your computer's specs (processor, RAM, video card, etc) and also any other information about the situation when the game crashes. The more info we can provide, the better our chances of getting a fix that addresses the problem for different hardware (if that is indeed the problem).

Please keep the EA bashing to a minimum. Yes, bugs suck. Yes, a lot of us want the Xbox 360/PS3 version ported to the PC. Yes, we want a patch to resolve problems with the game. But let's put this thread to good and productive use. Feel free to vent in any other appopriate thread here in the NBA Live 08 General section.

Feel free to post any issues that may have already been missed as they will be added to the list. Also feel free to add further notes and information to issues that have already been listed. Please note that things like players missing due to the roster cutoff date is not a bug; they're not in the game because they couldn't legally be included. Missing features are not bugs either. Crashes and features malfunctioning on the other hand are bugs.

With that out of the way, let's get down to the issues...

NBA Live 08 PC Issues

Major

• Simulation stats are unrealistic, with too many players averaging over 30 (and often 40) points per game and guards averaging too few assists with too many big men in the top ten in assists per game. Field goal and three point percentages are also too high with post players shooting a lot of threes and getting a lot of assists when they shouldn't be.
• There is no way to alter the rotation or change the lineup in Dynasty Mode except when setting the starting lineups before a game.
• When the CPU is taking a free throw, the user is often locked out from switching control to another defender after the CPU completes the free throw ritual.
• If the user is control of a player lined up along the key during a free throw, they cannot move until the ball has hit the rim, meaning the user cannot box out the defense or move to get into better position for the rebound.
• When shooting free throws with the right analog stick, the game often fails to recognise the up/down motion on the right analog and sometimes forces the user to hold the stick in other directions to take the free throw, usually leading to a miss. The function does work on the left analog, however.
• The CPU team sometimes inbounds to nobody, as though trying to pass to a moving player despite none of its players being in the vicinity.
• There is no button to toggle between salaries and the interest bars in Dynasty Mode, making it difficult to work out trades.
• Player Lock is not accessible by default.
• Too many trades by the CPU in Dynasty Mode.
• The CPU rarely subs out guards, leaving them to play most of the game. Automatic substitutions still seem too infrequent even with the sliders increased.

Minor

• Unable to save zoom settings
• Shot attempts that are blocked count for two missed field goals instead of one.
• The player indicator remains when the display is disabled in Instant Replay.
• Players will sometimes commit backcourt violations which are not called when executing a special pass near the halfcourt line.
• Several players' positions, bio data (date of birth, draft information, etc) and shoes are incorrect.
• Headshapes are often "lost" when viewing players in Edit Player. Going into a game or Practice Mode then restores the headshape.
• When you hit the Random Away Player button in One-on-One Mode a couple of times, it randoms the home player instead and vice versa.
• Replay speed is too fast.
• Random errors in the boxscores for simulated games, such as displaying only one team (or the same team twice) and outrageous stats.
• Many of the generated players in dynasty mode appear with shiny heads while the lighting option is turned on. This is due to an all-white or missing alpha map in many of the files. Cyberfaces plyr075.fsh through plyr125.fsh have an all-white alpha. Some default players are also missing alphas.

Requests

• Release an official update along with the fix.
• Enable signature shots and other animations currently unassigned (but present in the game files)
• Make Primacy a visible rating

My specs:

Pentium 4 2.68 GHz
1 GB RAM
256 MB GeForce 6600 (nVidia Drivers v6.14.10.9371)
Windows XP Home (SP2 installed)
Logitech Dual Analog gamepad

Last edited by Andrew on Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:45 am, edited 6 times in total.

ei andrew regarding the free throw instead of using the right analog try using the left.. works fine for me but still its not the right button.. and i dont know if im the only one experiencing this but its seems hard to shoot 3 pointers even if the shooter is free or in his hot spot.. and another thing th go to moves(fadeaway) usually gets block.. i know its not a bug but just wanna ask if its happening to you also or im doin something wrong.. tnx..

- Every game 1st or 2nd quarter crash or cpu substitution!
- Not crash in All Star game!

My specs:

Amd Athlon(barton) 2500+
384MB/333MHZ DDR RAM
64 MB ATI RADEON 9200SE (Ati Catalyst,6.14.0010.6614 English)
Windows XP Professional (Included SP2) HUNGARIAN

ei andrew regarding the free throw instead of using the right analog try using the left.. works fine for me but still its not the right button.. and i dont know if im the only one experiencing this but its seems hard to shoot 3 pointers even if the shooter is free or in his hot spot.. and another thing th go to moves(fadeaway) usually gets block.. i know its not a bug but just wanna ask if its happening to you also or im doin something wrong.. tnx..

Same here, duncan and nowitzki get blocked way too much with their fadeaway goto moves.

Shooting 3s even when open in the Hotspots is way too difficult (slider settings maybe, even though its in the 40s)

Also when you are in the hotspots and miss a shot Steve Kerr (commentator) will comment in a positive way that the defense can't do anything more that he is just in his spot and talk like he scored.

My game crashes too every end of quarter and sometimes when i take a timeout and sometimes when the oppenent takes a timeout

specs:
Intel E6700 @ 3GHZ, geforce 8800gtx, 2GB Ram 800mhz timings: 4-4-4-12 @2t, X-Fi Fatality platinum championship edition. PSU: Zalman ZM600-HP 600W
Vista Ultimate 32bit
settings: maximum 1280x1024
Drivers 163.75

Now it worked. Here are my experiences!

1. I've experienced the same bcakcourt violation bug from last years game. If you take the charge in the right position the cpu will cause a backcourt violation or take an offensive foul.

2. The same with blocking issues. Chris Bosh gets blocked from behind by Stephon Marbury ... hello?

3. Regarding free throws, I also have to use the left analog stick.

4. When the opponent is shooting free throws I'm not able to move till the ball touches the rim while the cpu players already are boxing out.

5. No game crashes, the game runs really good and I've played 5 games in a row. No problems with timeouts or the end of a quarter. I've googled the problm and it seems that the game crashes are caused by "game fixes" or illegal copies. Don't want to be offensive, but that is what I've found on the net.

6. the rosters really suck. Can't wait till your first roster patch comes out, because you can't start a season with this rosters.

I've got the German version of the game (again with Dirk on it ...).

The game runs on the highest settings!

Specs:
Dual Core 2,13
2046 MBRam
Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Radeon X1650 se 512mb

I have found some more bugs

- CPU can shoot every where he want and made those shots
- There is still no Off. Fouls on cpu, thats really annoyng when cpu can drive your man down but no foul
- There still exist that bug that Cpu still stop front of basket and do nothing, if he have change make basket
- When you minimize game and it is on menu then its crash, atleat on my computer
- When you tip-off then you cant touch the ball, like there is some barrier or something

I've played the game a little now and here is what I've come up with.

1. The rosters are weird. I am a wizards fan and I was very surprised to see that our second round pick Dominic McGuire wasn't even in the game. Besides the roster was extremely light, down to 10 players if I am not mistaken and all the free agent signings and resignings had to be done manually from the free agent pool. I noticed that this was also the case with many other teams.

2. I don't know if anyone else has encountered this, but when changing the length of the simulated quarters from the dynasty menu it also automatically changes the length of the playable quarter. The only way around I have found is to after changing the sim quarter length go to normal quarter length and change it from there back to the desired value. However, at least on my case, even going back to check the sim quarter length after this will change the normal quarter length ingame. So to get it to work one must change the sim quarter length first, then the normal quarter length and then not check back to sim quarter length menu at all.

3. Not sure if I have missed it or if it even has to be in the game, but in dynasty mode I keep getting e-mails after every injury or recovery that the roster rotations have been changed. I couldn't find a way to change or even check what the roster rotations are then.

4. Superstar caliber players scoring WAY too much per game in simulation has also been mentioned, but I think it is worth stressing once more. I simulated a game with 5 minute quarter length and Gilber Arenas scored 37 out of Wizards 52 points. Simulating through one regular season it wasn't exactly rare to see him reach 50+ or even 60+ points in some games. At the end of the season Dirk Nowitzki had averaged 46 points per game.

My problem with this isn't necessarily that they score SO much, but that the superstars are basically one man teams. In 12 minute simulated quarters there were perhaps 5 or 6 games in the season when the team got more than 130 points. The average was probably somewhere around slightly over 100. So the superstars don't push the score too high, but rather they take away from their teammates. And consistently.

5. Obviously I haven't had the chance to test too much yet, but here is another odd example from my Wizards dynasty experience. Whoever plays SF or C in the starting lineup never scored more than 10 points per game. Not once. However, if those same players came in as substitutes to the same positions they often had 15-20 point games in significantly lower amount of minutes. Usually the C and SF would have a game of 0 or 2 points with perhaps a couple of boards to go along with it.

6. I am not sure if this is intentional, but when simulating games during the NBA play-offs it is nearly impossible to step into the game between the 3rd and 4th quarter because the simulation is just so damn fast. The only thing that I was able to come up with was that they didn't want people abusing their way to the NBA championships, but I feel it takes a lot away from the game. I've always loved to play only the 4th quarters of the game ever since the intervene simulation option came around. And one of the criteria for me was always that the game isn't too lopsided by the time of the 4th. If either of the teams was ahead by 20 I usually didn't play the 4th. However, right now in play-offs it is basically play it or sim it. The intervene simulation button is there but to time pressing it between 3rd and 4th while trying to add up the score of both teams at the same time has become way more difficult.

7. I haven't actually played the game enough to notice any bugs ingame. The layup attempts and drives that end up behind the basket have become so common over the years that I am not even sure if they are to be considered a bug anymore.

-In online mode, sometimes the button of chat is missing
-In onlnie mode the game reload his default rooster "c:\documents and settings\user\nba live 08\database\originaldb" and not the current rooster loaded.
-The camera "Sky Box" on free throws is very bad.

Well ... a couple of first impressions.

1) The Rosters are effin' atrocious ... Yi and other rookies (namely Julian Wright, the Hornets top pick) aren't even in the game. The deadline was JULY 26th for crying out loud ... I really wonder ... is it really that hard to get the right rosters in there? This can't be just legal issues ...

2) You really see that its a PS2 port ... the graphics aren't that pretty.

3) The crashes ... I played three games. The first I made a timeout, no problem. Than the CPU wanted a time out -> game crash.

Second game - no problems throughout the first quarter, even at the break no problem.

Third game, just now ... I called a timeout -> game crashes.

Well ... thats it for now. Right now its definitly a downgrade to 07, and a huge one at that. Why can't I decide if I want to make a layup or dunk? Why does it have to be one button again?

auto subs don't work ...

I think the crashing only "works" for the ppl that downloaded the game from torrents( like my self) i think that version in the torrents is buged and the original version is normal.

hey everybody the game just came in

frist impressions:

- grapics ain´t that nice (minor)
- had no game crashes to this point

major problems:

can´t substitute in dynasty mode!!!!!
when trading players in dynasty mode you aren´t able to see the teams salary cap and more frustrating you can´t see the players salary!!! i mean what dumbass decided to take it out??? it was there all versions before??? who was so stupid to take it out???
trading is impossible with this because you just have to get a lucky shot or look up the salarys on the internet!!!!!!!!
that is very frustrating!!!!!!!!

i can´t imagine EA didn´t notice that!!!! I mean seriously didn´t they test play it or are they just stupid idiots without any knowlege of basketball??? or both??

it´s really frustrating to see EA add a few big news every year and then promise a good game but the bugs get worse every year!!!!!!!!!!

so for now GREAT JOB EA you managed to UPSET and ENRAGE fans an people around the world! I thik they just don´t care how the game is as long as it looks good and they earn MONEY with it! when do you think the patch will come? 3 months? will EA even care about the game anymore???

hope you guys here make the game playable and fun again (like you did so great with the last versions)

Let's give EA a little credit here. This game out of the box is a whole lot better than last years version. I don't know of this is a PS2 port because this game looks and plays leaps and bounds better than the PS2 version. I'm beginning to think that our strength as a community may be our greatest weakness. For the past few years anything that has been wrong with Live has been in some way, shape or form patched by the community. I'm beginning to think that we are becoming the patch creation and R&D department for NBA Live for the PC. To all that have created a patch, I thank you and am by no means advising you stop. You make my life a heck of a lot better. The SUM patched Live 07 was the best basketball pc game I have ever played. This years version is rather enjoyable also. I can actually stop a driving guard with defense. I can block a dunk. Puting my hands up actually alters a shot. The other four players on my team aren't complete idiots and make me do everything. Albeit with the left analog, I can hit a free throw. Troy Hudson isn't lighting me up for 48 points. All I'm saying is that let's keep things in perspective and give EA a little credit for not throwing away the PC market. Realize their hasn't been a decent baseball game on the PC in 3 years!

1. When you choose a random "home" player in 1on 1, it chooses randomly for the first time, but next time it randomizes "away" player.
2. Rookies are way too skilled. Alando Tucker in PHX is 86 ovrl - r u sure of that?
3. At the beginning of the dynasty I drafted a player with ovrl rating 1 (all stats = 1). Is it really meant this way?

hey andrew sorry for bashing EA in my last reply i was a bit furious about the game....

just to report a bit more:

-my game starts to crash more frequently now
-rosters are really bad (looking forward to your patch!)

a question:
why does EA put Dirk on the german cover? I mean what about putting that money, instead of having an extra cover for germany, in quality of the game?

not that i don´t know the sad answer.......

please guy´s keep patching and let me know if anyone solves the salary problem in dynasty mode....

dont send problem is not a bug . You think ea could realease game with very large bug like that?

dont send problem is not a bug . You think ea could realease game with very large bug like that? you just need to wait for better crack or reloaded version

Forum rules is that there can't be talked about illegal copies of the game. stop or get permanent bannend. Just a warning.

link removed

Baskets from offensive fouls count!
It has happened 2 times in 5 games!

EA said that high FG% was a problem in Live07 but 08 is even worse.
CPU teams shoot about 70-75%.

Last edited by kamiy on Fri Oct 26, 2007 6:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

Let's give EA a little credit here. This game out of the box is a whole lot better than last years version. I don't know of this is a PS2 port because this game looks and plays leaps and bounds better than the PS2 version. I'm beginning to think that our strength as a community may be our greatest weakness. For the past few years anything that has been wrong with Live has been in some way, shape or form patched by the community. I'm beginning to think that we are becoming the patch creation and R&D department for NBA Live for the PC. To all that have created a patch, I thank you and am by no means advising you stop. You make my life a heck of a lot better. The SUM patched Live 07 was the best basketball pc game I have ever played. This years version is rather enjoyable also. I can actually stop a driving guard with defense. I can block a dunk. Puting my hands up actually alters a shot. The other four players on my team aren't complete idiots and make me do everything. Albeit with the left analog, I can hit a free throw. Troy Hudson isn't lighting me up for 48 points. All I'm saying is that let's keep things in perspective and give EA a little credit for not throwing away the PC market. Realize their hasn't been a decent baseball game on the PC in 3 years!

EA is way too talented to make so many mistakes, and lets not forget how much money they made on crap!!! NBA Live 08 is probably the best NBA title since NBA Live 00, and considering the hardware we use in our PC’s are generally better than gaming consoles. We should have great game play and awesome graphics?

EA could have the whole sports market if they would just hire the right programmers or maybe they need to come here (nba-live.com) and find some real beta testers? I’m not saying the whole NBA live 08 is all bad, but after 14 years of making basketball titles there’s no way people should be complaining!!!

If EA would spend more time and money on their sports titles and less on advertising maybe we’ll have the best basketball game ever in 09 especially with direct 10 and Windows Vista! I think they need to throw away the console titles and concentrate more on PC sports, since that’s when they were at their best.


Fans like you and I deserves the best!!!

Fans like you and I deserves the best!!!

This is what EA should think But they don't.

don't know if this is a bug or not, but you can't play defense at all in online mode
there are very little blocks, 3PT shooting seems off like last year
oh, and you can't use any roster but default..

Bought the game today in The Netherlands, played a few games and experienced NO CRASHES at all.
Beginning to be comvinced that there are many people with not legal versions of the game who post on this forum.....

I've now played 4 hours in a row with a friend of mine. There hasn't been any crash while calling a timeout or switching to the next quarter. the game runs really good. The game crashes must be a consequence of illegal cracked versions.
Since the ratings really suck, I won't bother starting a dynasty yet. But for now playing the game feels good.
Can anyone tell me why they've removed the "own-the-paint" feature? On the backcover it is still mentioned as a new feature ... false advertising!
Dirk is on the German cover, because they hope to sell more copies in Germany. Won't work!

Last edited by The_Truth85 on Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

Yup I can confirm that it's the no-cd patch that causes the crashes, reinstall and original executable - and with disc in the drive - I have not experienced any crashes since.