We are proud to present part 2 of our 2 part interview with the NBA Live 2005 team. We'll be covering the Presentation and Gameplay departments.

PRESENTATION

Operation Sports: Will the arenas in the game be more realistic looking, with more detail then in last year’s game?

NBA Live 2005 Team: We added some new arenas that we did not previously have the rights to such as Indiana’s Conseco Fieldhouse and Houston’s Toyota Center. There are also some brand new stadiums such as Memphis’ FedEx Forum. In the Dunk Contest and 3 Point Shootout we’ve also added some nice touches such as camera flashes and the electronic LED arena signage.

Operation Sports: Will the presentation be improved?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Most definitely! You'll notice much more polished Menu screens, all-new overlays, new scripts and tweaked camera angles. The entire graphics engine also got an overhaul which results in way better looking arenas and players - ever player in the league looks absolutely like their real-life counterpart. For the 3 Point Shootout and Slam Dunk contest we've been able to squeeze some extra poly's out and turn things up an additional notch. We think this is the best-looking version of NBA LIVE in the series so far.

Operation Sports: Will the in-game play-by-play and color commentary be improved?

NBA Live 2005 Team: We've added quite a lot of new phrases for Marv and Mike and they deliver their trademark-quality PBP and Color commentary. In addition, we've signed Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson to do the play-by-play and color commentary for the 3 Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk contest and they comment in the events just like they do in real-life. If you don't do all that well in these modes get ready to be humiliated by Kenny 

Operation Sports: Any halftime or end of game wrap-up with highlights from the game you just played.

NBA Live 2005 Team: This is another thing that we unfortunately didn't have the time to implement this time around.

Operation Sports: Have player models been added and tweaked?

NBA Live 2005 Team: This year we redid all of the player models to make them more realistic. We’ve also added a couple more custom player models to help differentiate some of the NBA’s stars and make them even more recognizable. In addition, we’ve upgraded the resolution on the skin and uniform textures. This means that everything will be clearer and better defined such as the jerseys and the player tattoos.

Operation Sports: Could you tell us the names of the artists on the soundtrack?

NBA Live 2005 Team: We have a lot of great artists on this year’s soundtrack representing all genres of hip hop from east to west to dirty south to dancehall to old-school. Artists such as Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, Murphy Lee, Will.I.Am. from the Black Eyed Peas all lend their distinctive sounds to this year’s game. Throw in up’n’coming artists such as Dirtbag, Bump J, Stat Quo, and Nomb and you’ve got a soundtrack you’ll be nodding your head to in no time. Other artists on the soundtrack include MC Lyte, Joell Ortiz, Don Yute, Pete Rock and Kardinall Offishall, Wylde Bunch, The D.O.C. and Brand New Heavies.

GAMEPLAY

Operation Sports: What is the biggest gameplay enhancement we can look forward to seeing this year?

NBA Live 2005 Team: There are really three things that stand out. First off we did an enormous amount of work on the CPU AI. This year you will see far more play-calling, Freestyle moves, intelligent passing, mid-range jumpers, post moves, etc. when playing against the CPU, making for a much richer, more strategic experience when playing the CPU. Secondly, the Freestyle Air feature really brings a new element of strategy to gameplay. Trust us when we say that successfully executing a put-back jam in traffic over a defender is one of the most satisfying experiences you will have. And, with tip-ins we tuned the success rate to be as realistic as possible so they do not always go in, leading to some mad scrambles under the basket where you can tip the ball not just once, but 3 or even 4 times before it goes in (assuming, of course, that a defender doesn’t grab the rebound between attempts). Finally, further improvements to animation and the 10-man Freestyle feature have made the game look and feel even more authentic. Other notable improvements are the mid-range game, no more CPU catch-up speed bursts, failed Pro-Hop scenarios and more. Although we spent a fair amount of time on All-Star Weekend this year, we would not have done so if we couldn’t address all of the fan requests and complaints regarding 5-on-5 gameplay, as this was still our primary focus.

Operation Sports: How has the computer teams' midrange game been tweaked this year?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Not only will you see the CPU taking many more mid-range shots, but because we eliminated the CPU’s ability to ‘catch up’ at extraordinary speeds it has become much easier for a User to work the ball around and get an open look. The mid-range game is an integral part of the game, especially when trying to compete at the Superstar skill level.

Operation Sports: Will each team have its own individual style?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Yes, to a certain degree. Some teams are more prone to running the break while others will slow down and set the offense up more often. On defense you will find some teams more physical than others. For example, against a team like Dallas you will find it easier to get off a clean dunk in traffic, while Detroit will contest everything and either block your dunks or send you to the line to earn your 2 points. A lot of the differentiation is dependent on personnel, so you will see this change as you progress through Dynasty Mode.

Operation Sports: Is the constant ice hockey like sliding gone from the game play?

NBA Live 2005 Team: We spent a great deal of time on this issue this year and for the most part it is now fixed. However, there are still instances where you will notice the player’s feet slide during replays. The reason we allow this to happen is simple – without allowing some sliding of the feet, the game would feel less responsive from a control point of view - It’s that simple! So, from a design perspective we feel that ultimate responsiveness is a fair trade off for occasional foot sliding. In real life if you are moving in one direction you cannot change that direction in an instant - it takes a moment to stop your momentum, plant your foot and push off in the new direction. If we were to animate everything this way it would look perfect and feel terrible – probably not the smartest choice.

Operation Sports: Do teams have play sets automatically set to the teams?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Yes, for CPU-controlled teams.

Operation Sports: What have you done to eliminate the players being fouled and hacked on dunks and lay-ups that were followed by no whistle, but the same play the CPU got a foul call?

NBA Live 2005 Team: While this may be your perception of what is happening, in actuality there was simply a random chance that a foul would be called on a mid-air collision last year, and that chance was equally fair for both a User-controlled or CPU-controlled player. This year we have improved on that logic so that we have collisions of varying degrees (some are more straight-up incidental-type contact while others are more obvious ‘hacks’) and the foul frequency increases based on the severity of the collision. There are still no guarantees though, because just as in real life the referees are not perfect and almost every call (or non-call) is debatable. And again, there is no preference given to either a User or the CPU in all of these cases.

Operation Sports: Have you guys toned down the in-air collisions from behind on fast breaks?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Yes we definitely have. It is much harder to disrupt a dunk from behind on a fast break, particularly with a small, speedy guard (the player who is usually doing the chasing on a fast break).

Operation Sports: Will the AI adjust to your style of play on offense and defense?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Yes they do.

Operation Sports: How will the AI react to mismatches on defense/offense?

NBA Live 2005 Team: We put in some nice logic this year regarding defensive switching. Now, if the defenders get off their primary assignment, not only will they try and switch back to their original check at the first possible opportunity, they will also make interim switches with teammates better suited to guard the ball carrier if that opportunity becomes available. For example, if you are controlling Chauncey Billups and you run a pick and roll with Ben Wallace that forces the defense to switch (defender gets caught on screen and is out of position) resulting in a Center guarding a PG ball carrier, if the PG gets close enough to (IE) the SG, the defending SG will switch with the C because this is at least a better match-up in the interim. It makes for some really interesting strategic decisions and is awesome to watch.

Operation Sports: How will the AI play in crunch time situations?

NBA Live 2005 Team: They will go to their primary threat as often as possible (player(s) with the highest primacy rating) and also make strategic decisions to hold as long as possible or score quickly if a 2-for-1 opportunity exists. Also, they will take a 3 if required and use the Intentional Foul strategically if trailing late in a game.

Operation Sports: Will you be using the 0-99 rating system or 50-99?

NBA Live 2005 Team: 0-99. This gives us better player skill differentiation. Incidentally, we frequently read feedback regarding ratings that are off/wrong, but we base all of our numbers directly from the end-of-season NBA statistics. So, before complaining that Walter McCarthy’s 3 point rating is higher than Paul Pierce, check the stats. 

Operation Sports: Are there any fouls called on rebounds, loose ball fouls etc away from the player with the ball?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Very rarely. While we agree that this is definitely a part of NBA Basketball, we do not think it translates well into video game basketball. There are enough foul calls on steal, charge and block attempts to keep the end-of-game stats perfect for a simulation.

Operation Sports: Do they have any new passes or pass styles?

NBA Live 2005 Team: We completely re-did all of the pass animations this year. We added some more forceful long-range passes, did away with the majority of jumping passes and also introduced the Pro-Hop pass which is awesome. Now, you can drive in the lane, execute a Pro-Hop, and as the help defender slides over dish a no-look pass to your post player for a big dunk - very nice! We also added some moving passes and receptions during fast breaks that really make the game flow up and down the court during the break. One thing to note that we have read as an occasional complaint is the jumping pass reception. These only occur when the User is passing out of a jumpshot (not an easy thing to do in real life and very exploitable in the game if it’s a perfect pass every time) or if the pass is longer than 60ft in length. This is to force the User to make tic-tac-toe passing when executing a fast break, bringing a little more skill into the game, making it more realistic and also preventing players from ‘cherry picking’.

Operation Sports: Are there any technical fouls?

NBA Live 2005 Team: Only when a User calls a timeout when they do not have any left.

Operation Sports: We would like to thank you for your time with this interview, is there anything else you would like to add?

NBA Live 2005 Team: We'd like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to offer some more inside information. We hope you guys will have as much fun playing the game as we had making it.