NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

[Rob. D]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Got a chance to play last night....

Pros
- Atmosphere
- Soundtrack
- Player skill upgrading system (like the idea of traits)

Cons
- Player weight, control and movement (players feel way to heavy)
- Weird stiff animations, especially with dribbling
- No Footplanting (seeing ALOT of sequences were players are traveling, whether they receive the ball on the move or initiate a new animation after getting the ball. Looks like the animations are not finishing which results in poor animation blending)
- Floaty passing and weird passing animations (talked about this is before, but I'm seeing the same passing animations in too many instances)
- Player awareness (During loose balls players look at the ball rolling on the floor, PICK IT UP!!!!)
- Jumpshooting (jumpers don't feel smooth at all)
- Paint Cheese, it's very easy to exploit the paint w/ slashers (Hold Square Gang!!!)
- Zombie AI (cpu is just brain dead in certain situations especially if u don't call a play)

Overall im not seeing how this is a huge step up from the 14-16 interations. Seeing so many legacy issues it's not even funny....
- passing
- stiff animations
- player awareness
- paint cheese

I'll be interested in Live once they switch a new gameplay engine because personally I don't see any of the above issues being fixed anytime soon.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Operation Sports mobile app

[sarlndr]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

So far it's ok. I'm not a Park player so I skipped through that as fast as I possibly could. I'll have to keep playing but so far I can see where there is improvement. I can also see some areas that aren't very good. It's still early though.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Clappington]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Ok so I've played a bunch of Live Run and maxed out last night. My humble personal opinion (Please don't think I'm bashing just to bash) this game just simply isn't that good.
Players movement is awkward
The lay ups are weird and damn near go in every time
Centers really can't control the paint on defense due to the lack of abilities to block lay ups
Every jumpshot looks the same to me
Very easy to hit 3's. My friend kept pulling in people faces and would hit.
Can you stop a dunker after they get the animation to dunk, are even able to be blocked?
Delayed jumping when trying to block someone
When multiple animations are involved game looks very off.
Didn't like the crates.


Things I did like was:
Directional passing
If you reach you get thrown out of position is a nice thing
Clothes
Upgrade system

[stephenk24]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

My goodness, I'm really impressed. It's simple to play, (I find 2k so complex, especially as I work so much I rarely get to play), it feels responsive, I like the weight of the players.

I really like the passing, and effectiveness of simple moves and the movement of the ai who try and set up plays.

Unless this bombs on its full release, this is a buy for me!

Wow. I grew up as a Live kid, I feel like it's back. Finally, it's been so long!

[Schwall]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

I had a 80 block rating and yes i was holding LT . Why did you guy implement auto rebounding assist?

Yes, holding LT auto rebounds if you are in good rebounding position.

80 block should be decent at stopping guys. We are still testing and tuning so I can run with this feedback. Thanks.

[scottyp180]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

I'm very surprised by the game, both the look and feel are great. If what 2K has to offer is more or less the same I'm definitely pre-ordering Live.

I love the upgrade system, it doesn't feel like I'm grinding through pointless games just to get my overall up for The Street, I like how it's all tied together.

I only wish there were 3v3 games in The Street, too many ball hogs in most games.

Question for you or others that have the demo. Is there an offline type street mode or is everything online? I'm not a big online person and I don't even have Xbox live right now. Don't know if that severely limits my options.

[ph33]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Yes, holding LT auto rebounds if you are in good rebounding position.

80 block should be decent at stopping guys. We are still testing and tuning so I can run with this feedback. Thanks.

When the full game comes out, will we have the capability of creating multiple players?

[idigfoo9]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Yes, holding LT auto rebounds if you are in good rebounding position.

80 block should be decent at stopping guys. We are still testing and tuning so I can run with this feedback. Thanks.

Schwall, thanks so much for interacting with us here at OS. Can you confirm that there is a franchise mode?

[Schwall]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Schwall, will we eventually be able to create multiple players or is it just one type like in the demo? Thanks for popping in.

In the full game you can have multiple characters. That way you can try a few different ones and see which one you like. Also it's cool when your friends need a rim protector, you can choose that one and go help out.

[swac07]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Yeah after countless hours of playing ....the street mode is >than the NBA mode

Sent from my Illudium Q-36 Space Modulator,

[Impetuous65]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

EA's "The One" level up system is well thought out and superiors to 2K's "my player.

EA's Menu system is far superior to 2K17's

That's all I have to say, except for the gameplay took me back and in time and that wasn't a good thing. Welcome back EA, the roadmap what I call Route 66, you are in Illinois working your way west. Good Luck.

[Schwall]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Schwall, thanks so much for interacting with us here at OS. Can you confirm that there is a franchise mode?

Yes there is. Details coming at a later date.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

I like that big men arent overly lumbering...but like I was saying last year....they should have limitations...

https://streamable.com/n1xjg

This on superstar..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Operation Sports mobile app

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

As a 2K fanboy who is very happy to see multiple games of the same sport (pretty rare nowadays), these are my takeaways:

Good:
1. On-ball defense. The way the defender kinda just rides the ball-handler rather than stone-walling him like in 2K is great. The way you're rewarded for sliding the right way and punished for sliding the wrong way/not reacting quickly enough feels pretty good. The give-and-take between the ball-handler and defender is great.

2. Halftime/Post-game Show, the on-screen display of who is subbing in for each team. This is really well done; far better than what 2K has in place. The commentary is lackluster compared to 2K, but the other parts of the presentation are very good IMO.

3. Leveling up in The One. I like the way this was done. I like the stackable traits/signature skill thing. I'd still prefer a little more freedom in how we build our player, but I understand the balance involved there because some people will abuse that freedom online.

4. Clothes in The One. I'm weirdly obsessed with unlocking clothes and gear in video games, whether it be buying damn near every clothing item in GTA Online, running around in The Division trying to collect every clothing item that I possibly can, etc. The clothes are well-done in this game; definitely better than in 2K17. We'll see about 2K18; their shoes at least look incredible this year so I think the clothes may have been upgraded too.

Bad:
1. Transitions between animations, shot animations, ball-handling animations. Some of the transitions between animations are just grotesque and completely kill the immersion of the game. Jumpshot animations are also pretty terrible. Ball-handling FEELS pretty good, but there's simply not enough freedom to get creative with the ball-handling (and on a smaller note, while I understand the rationale behind requiring you to rotate the right stick to go behind the back, I think just tapping it back is much better).

2. Playcalling/natural player movement. The playcalling options and the way plays are displayed/run on the court is simply a long ways behind 2K.

3. Player models. They simply pale in comparison to 2K for almost every player and I don't think some of the non-gameplay related behaviors are accurate. For example, guys like Klay Thompson were doing the Steph Curry shoulder-dance celebration and stuff like that; it just doesn't feel like Klay.

4. Phoenix Suns jerseys. I'm hoping this is just a weird glitch in the demo, but the numbers on the Phoenix Suns new jerseys are wayyyyy messed up. It's a gigantic eye sore, and considering I was drafted by the Suns, I cannot handle it if I'm stuck with that glitch in the retail version.

5. Post game. It's just very shallow and clunky compared to what 2K17 has (which I think was a step back from previous iterations of their games).

Undecided:
1. The One, overall. I really like the way this game implemented Pro-Am leagues, street courts, etc. However, I can't say at this point in time that the mode will hold my interest long-term due to the fact that we haven't gotten to try the NBA part of it yet. The Pro-Am/Street part basically revolved around isolations and pick and rolls, which is cool, but if the play-calling/AI movement is poor, the NBA portion of the mode will be frustrating/boring to play through. On the flipside, I'm really digging the cut scenes/text messages and stuff.

2. Finishing around the rim. In 2K, with the sliders I use, it felt too difficult to finish through contact at the rim. In Live, it feels too easy to me, but it's nice to see some good-looking and-1's and some of the double-clutch animations are beautiful to watch. On the flipside, I don't have the same control over how I finish around the rim in Live as I do in 2K. For example, in 2K, I have so much freedom in the types of dunks I perform to protect the ball from potential shot-blockers. It doesn't feel like I have that freedom in this game. It's also much easier to trigger a floater in 2K than it is in Live in my opinion.

Unknown:
1. Franchise Mode. Between the playcalling woes and my guess that the franchise mode will be pretty bare-bones relative to 2K, it's hard to envision myself doing much in this game outside of The One, and even then, it might make the NBA part of The One feel weak. I want to be able to get into the Franchise mode to take advantage of the presentation that this game has, but if the mode is as weak as the other EA Sports games generally are, I have a hard time believing it will hold my interest.

Overall, I'm happy to see some competition in the market again, and EA's decision to offer this game at a much lower price point is very smart. I doubt they'll make much, if any money on this year's version of the game, but they need to be doing whatever they can to get it in people's hands to try to carve out a market for themselves after how much they've struggled in recent years. If I can stack the Best Buy Gamers Club discount on top of the $40 price point, I might consider picking this game up even if I'm certain I'll play 2K more. There's definitely some really cool aspects to the game, and some things that I think they're doing better than 2K. But overall, it's still a ways behind if we're supposed to consider this a simulation game.

[Schwall]

Re: NBA Live 18 - Demo Impressions

Random question(s) while you are still browsing the forums.

Any particular reason for the cutoff for online play at level 20 instead of say level 25?

This is going to sound really really rediculous. Trust me, what I'm about to suggest is nothing more than a pipe dream and I can understand why it won't be possible. But any way to simply patch the ability to still play online past level 20? An easy fix would be to just lock the upgrades out past 20 (while still accumulating them for the base game if someone wants to carry over)?

I do have a gameplay related question. So. When you are operating out of the triple threat and you do a stepback dribble is the rating being used to influence the shot the Shot Off Dribble rating? The Mid Range rating? Post Move rating? Combination of all 3?

Same goes for doing a post fadeaway or a stepback out of the post. Is it going strictly off the Post Move rating, Mid Range rating or Shot off Dribble rating? Or a combination of them?

Because I noticed with my Post Anchor that I could get a couple post stepback and fades to drop at about a 2/5 clip or 40% rate, but once I unlocked my Mid Range and got a couple buckets to go in they were going in at around a 4/5 rate. Which suggests to me that it's a combination of Mid Range and Post Moves.

Also, is triple threat effectiveness tied to the Dribble rating? I noticed that it wasn't all that effective to face up as a Post Anchor (which is why I was saddened Hybrid Wing was taken out of the demo. You don't know how badly I wanted to recreate Melo) and that I had a much easier time using jab steps to shift people out of position with a Slasher and Wing Scorer (who get the Counter Moves trait to make it all the more easier).

Also, I am enjoying the demo, just some questions are puzzling me. Going to experiment in the post more. I do like how ya'll have the stepbacks this year tho. They are real nice. Haven't been able to do Derozan's signature hesitation into sidestep/stepback yet. Or, at least I haven't gotten it to fall.

I can only answer about the gameplay (since that's my area).

Regular stepbacks are your off the dribble rating + the shot distance you are from (mid or 3).

Post step backs are post rating + shot distance you are from.

Getting the space is the biggest thing, which is tied to your dribble rating for off the dribble step backs and post for post stepbacks. The more of a mismatch you have, the more likely you are going to get space.

And you're correct in triple threat being tied into dribble rating for effectiveness.