Welcome to the second producer blog for NBA LIVE 08- for those of you that missed the first one, my name is Brian Ullrich, and I am the lead producer for NBA LIVE. First off I want to say thanks to everyone for all of your feedback on the last blog. It’s clear that LIVE fans really care about the game and want to help us make it great. There were some interesting ideas posted and I really appreciate your taking the time to let us know what you want to see for LIVE 08 and beyond. Obviously we can’t get to everything you listed this year, but you should know that the producers and designers do go online and read what you write, both here and on other forums and sites, and we take your opinions and suggestions very seriously. Feedback is a gift, and while we may not always agree with your suggestions (just like you don’t always agree with the features we put into the game), there have been lots of times where ideas from the community did make there way into the final product. The good news is a lot of what you posted will make it into NBA LIVE 08, so let’s get right into some of the things we are doing this year…
Shooting
I think everyone would agree that one of the things in a basketball game that should be the most fun and rewarding is shooting, so this year we’ve spent a lot of time on getting shooting right. The first thing we did was re-work the shot timing system. LIVE has always used a timing based system where releasing the shot button early or late would result in a specific “release early” or “release late” animation. Under the hood this is a good way to factor user skill into the shooting process, but there are a couple of problems with it. First, it doesn’t look or feel authentic- real NBA players have amazing muscle memory and are very good at consistently shooting exactly the same way on every shot. You really don’t see NBA players release shots early, and the only time you see them release late is when they have to adjust because a defender forces them to. Second, as we go down the road toward true player differentiation we want to see players shoot like themselves using signature shots. Actually, NBA LIVE 07 had quite a few signature shots and animations but you rarely saw them because you had to get a perfect shot release to get them to play out. So we removed the early and late release animations to make sure players would look like their real selves when shooting, and we tuned the numbers under the hood to make the user input on early and late releases more realistic. And while we were at it we added a bunch more signature shots (about 50 or so) this year and you will see them a lot more often. We also want players to get up quicker so that the jump feels explosive and responsive. Overall our goal this year is that when you pull up for a jumper it looks exactly like the real player’s shot, it feels responsive and fluid, and you know as soon as you release the shot whether you have made it or not.
Passing
Passing is also really important since its something you do a lot of when playing LIVE, and not being able to pass to who you want is one of the most frustrating things in any basketball game. While direct passing is one solution that I know a lot of you really like, we also felt like we needed to work on regular passing so that the pass always goes to who you want it to go to- this is still something we are working on, but its already gotten a lot better and by the time we are done it should be really good. Also, last year we added a pass indicator feature (the white ring that appears at the feet of the player you are about to pass to) that helps, but so far we haven’t gotten much feedback on this so I would love to hear what you guys think about it. We also worked on how we choose the kind of pass you throw, so that the game will contextually choose the right kind of pass (post entry lob, bounce pass, chest pass, etc.) based on the situation and this has made things a lot more realistic and smooth.
One of the things I’m most excited about for LIVE 08 is how smooth and responsive the gameplay has become. This is due to a whole bunch of things we are doing, but one of the most important is that our animation system lets us enter animations early and leave them late as we blend between two actions. Basically this means that as a user you never feel like you are stuck waiting for an animation to finish playing before you can do the next thing- your controller input always trumps any animation playing, and we blend smoothly into whatever it is you want to do next. For passing what this means is that players finish their pass and pass reception animations nicely but you never lose control. For example, if you pass to Kobe on the wing and you immediately want to drive to the basket, you don’t have to wait until his entire pass reception animation plays out. You can immediately start your drive to the hoop and we blend between the two animations (‘pass reception’ and ‘drive to the hoop’) seamlessly. It still looks great but you have complete control and never feel like you are watching instead of playing. Passing is just one small example of how the “leave early” and “enter late “ thing works- it is something we use throughout the entire game, not just in passing, and you will probably hear a lot more about it from the other producers in future blog entries.
Rebounding
This is another big focus for us this year, and it is one of the areas where we felt NBA LIVE 07 came up short. The first thing you will notice with LIVE 08 is that we’ve eliminated the ball warping into the player’s hands that caused so much frustration last year. Now rebounders will take the right path to the ball, jump at the right time and grab rebounds out of the air like they should with no warping. The players will also adjust their jump (left, right, forward, or back) realistically to get to the ball in the air. We’ve also done a lot of work to make sure the correct players are going for rebounds. Depending on the ball flight and positioning, there can be multiple rebounders going for the ball instead of just one per team. Finally, we’ve done some things to the box out logic and tightened up the AI so that the balance between offensive and defensive rebounds is much more realistic and feels correct.
Ball Physics
When you think about it, the way the ball moves and bounces is really something that effects all of the other fundamental areas (passing, shooting, etc.).The most obvious improvement from our work on ball physics is that shot trajectories have been better matched to the type of shot being taken, and are much more authentic (no more super high arcing shots from in close, and jump shots have better and more realistic trajectories too). Pass trajectories have been tuned so that their speeds are much more realistic. We’ve also spent some time with loose ball trajectories so that tips, steals, blocks and loose balls act and bounce correctly. We’ve given the ball a true sense of weight and mass with some pretty complex under the hood math. Now dribbles and shots don’t feel “floaty”, and the ball bounces and reacts more naturally. This has also improved rebounds – this year long shots will result in long rebounds and the ball will react to the rim and backboard in a much more realistic way.
What’s Next
Next up will be fundamentals part 2 - we will take an in depth look at the other part of shooting: dunks and lay-ups. Once we’ve covered all of the fundamentals we will also take a look at some of the new gameplay features, as well as what we are doing for online, presentation, and some of the things we have planned for dynasty mode.
Logic pulling for nobody actully copped 2k7 this year for both the NHL and NBA its just an article Logic knew would spark interest on this board thats all theres a blog for madden as well but theres not enough info on it thats worth posting hmph
Logic pulling for nobody actully copped 2k7 this year for both the NHL and NBA its just an article Logic knew would spark interest on this board thats all theres a blog for madden as well but theres not enough info on it thats worth posting hmph
I guess its just ppl recognizing the way you used to slobber on LIVE's nuts... it was disgusting.
Meanwhile, the 2k series hasnt changed all that much since 2k1 (Tru Story)
__________________ N.Va's greatest hustler and king of sohh.com Dont funk wit tha mid-east bandit!
__________________
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
I guess its just ppl recognizing the way you used to slobber on LIVE's nuts... it was disgusting.
Meanwhile, the 2k series hasnt changed all that much since 2k1 (Tru Story)
__________________
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
Welcome to the third producer blog for NBA LIVE 08- for anyone who missed the first two, my name is Brian Ullrich, and I am the lead producer for NBA LIVE this year. In this entry I want to cover something that was a real topic for discussion the last couple of years: dunks & lay-ups.
Taking It To the Rim
Dunking has always been one of the best things about NBA LIVE. In fact, past versions of LIVE have done it so well,,that driving to the basket became too easy, and a little unrealistic in the process. This year we knew we needed to make a lot of improvements to dunks and lay-ups, especially under the basket. The first thing we fixed was some of the more frustrating issues like warping to the hoop on dunks and players dunking through the rim and backboard. We also tuned the numbers on missed dunks and lay-ups as this was happening way too often. While all of these things made dunking in the game a whole lot better, the biggest change we wanted to make was to really tighten things up defensively in the lane, and make dunks and lay-ups as realistic as possible. We felt it was too easy to get to the hoop, and once someone beat the first defender there was no way to stop a player from going right to the basket. Of course we had to be careful to get the balance just right- the last thing we wanted to do was tighten things up so much that it was impossible to get to the basket and the game turned into nothing but a mid-range shooting contest. I think we’ve found a nice balance and this part of the game is feeling a lot more realistic and fun.
To Dunk or Not To Dunk
One of last year’s features that caused the most discussion both inside EA and with you guys, was the separation of dunks and lay-ups onto two buttons. It seems like there was no middle ground on this one- some of you loved it while others really hated it. There are some good arguments on both sides, but this year we decided to put dunks and lay-ups back on one button. I think separating them was an interesting idea and I’m actually glad we tried it, but at the end of the day it ended up causing more problems than it solved. The biggest problem with giving someone a ‘dunk’ button is that they will use it all the time, creating some very unrealistic outcomes. For example, when a player like Steve Nash or Allen Iverson is driving to the basket, as an NBA fan I would expect them to lay the ball up- not try and dunk in traffic. But when playing NBA LIVE if the user presses the ‘dunk’ button we have to respect that input and make the player attempt to dunk, even though that real player would never dunk in that situation. By putting dunk and lay-up back on one button we can make sure that players like Nash and Iverson act like you would expect them too in real life.
Adding Context
One very exciting thing that is changing in all sports games (not just LIVE) is that now more games are using game “context” to make decisions in a realistic way. In the past every decision was made either directly by the user (through a button press) or by using ratings and some kind of random “dice roll”. As we move closer and closer to true realism, sports games are becoming less about giving users these complex control schemes, and more about the game choosing the proper action “contextually”. However, the key is to find the right balance between user input and realistic behavior so that the user’s skill is still the most important thing in determining who wins and loses. We are doing more things contextually for sure, but we are also focused on making sure the user is still in control.
So once we decided to put dunks and lay-ups back on one button, the next thing we did was to create a new “contextual” system for determining whether a player should go for a lay-up or attempt to dunk. We look at the context around each attempt, which in this case is all of the factors that go into a real player’s decision. Example of such are things like the game situation (driving to the hoop, on a fast break, etc.), position on the floor (along the left baseline, up the middle, etc.), and the position and abilities of nearby defenders. Then, once we know whether it will be a dunk or lay-up, we look at the specific player and situation to determine which dunk or lay-up we will use. Many players in the game have signature dunks and lay-ups that only they can perform. We’ve also divided up all of the dunks into categories this year so in the half court you will see much more realistic dunks and lay-ups, and you will only see the more difficult or fancy dunks in the open court on fast breaks.
Gathers
I mentioned earlier that we’ve spent a lot of time to get dunks and lay-ups working properly under the basket, and part of this work has been improving on what we call our dunk “gather” system. One of the most complicated things to get right in a basketball game is how players position themselves under the basket and properly avoid the rim and backboard when dunking and shooting. Our gather system is a truly next gen way to deal with the foot sliding problems under the basket that are so common in many games. Basically, this allows players to “gather” themselves using proper footwork before going up for a dunk or lay-up, instead of simply foot-sliding into position. We implemented the first stage of this gather system last year but didn’t get as far on it as we had wanted. This year we have spent a lot of time on it and you will see players behaving in a much more realistic way under the basket.
What’s Next
With the next blog entry we are going to start bringing in some of the other producers on LIVE 08 so you get to hear from more people on the team than just me. Next up will be producer Matt Lafreniere, who will take you through what we are doing with player locomotion, and dig into our new collision/scenario system.
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NBA Live 08 Producer Blog
N.Va's greatest hustler and king of sohh.com Dont funk wit tha mid-east bandit! 
