NBA Elite 11 Video: Real AI

[TheKasmar]

1:09-1:16 was quite interesting. Thats some serious leaping ability with a defender in front of you.

[stepsix]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jano

I believe its a way for the dev team to replicate a players moves or tendencies on the court. So maybe at certain spots on the floor (like the wing) Durant will do the jab, pumpfake, and drive. It'll add some individuality to the CPU because now the players will actually be doing certain moves. For example Melo loves to use the jab step on certain parts of the floor so now with this real-AI he will. Where as last year they had his tendency to just go left, right, spot up, etc. Now they have actual moves for the AI to use. So it should get rid of a lot of the genericness that was in Live 10.

This is pretty accurate with how the system works with one exception. In the last paragraph, the synergy works at a different level with the AI, so it is actually using both systems at the same time. Synergy helps to decide if a guy should drive, catch and shoot, pull up off of a drive, or finish at the rim.

As an example, if a player tends to pull up when challenged on a drive, if he's mid-drive and someone gets in his lane, synergy will influence him to 'shoot'. Real AI then acts at a lower level, looking to see where the defense is, what sequences a player has, and then pick the best one. It might select a cross-over -> step-back -> jumper, or spin move -> leaner, depending on the defense and what type of player it is.

These are recorded sequences played back on cpu players, so in that sense they are scripted. There are a number of aspects that make them organic in nature though. Firstly, they are playing back on a dynamic animation system. If a sequence has a spin, but you cut it off, the animation will not just plow through you. It also looks at where the defender currently is relative to the recorded sequence, and he's too far out of position, it can break out and choose a different sequence. In that sense it is just as dynamic as the underlying animation system, and with the two systems combined you get some really cool and varied behaviour.

We've never had something like this for performing moves - it has always been 'hard-coded' as to when to do a cross-over vs spin move, and it ends up looking very generic. In addition chaining moves into relevant combos was non-existent.

This isn't just signature stuff, this encompasses every move performed by the AI. More prominent players get their own specific sequences, but we also have sets for power post players for example, as well as even more generic "what to do when a user is trapping in the back court" type stuff. So far we have thousands of sequences, and at this point in the project, if we see a situation that needs a new one, we just record it and throw it into ANT.

[JerseySuave4]

why would they ever put that sequence from 1:09-1:16 in this video? Usually in a video that you're putting together to hype up your game you won't put something so blatantly unrealistic or screwed up in there. The guy does a standing dunk from the nearly the top of the key on the right side. If he can do that then imagine what he could do in a dunk contest. Forget dunking from behind the free throw line, that guy would be doing it behind the 3 point line.

I just hafta shake my head at this video because i dont understand why they would put things in their video. That were so ugly. I'd rather real AI use the animations, physics and movement that the human players have to use to play the game instead of having stuff scripted.

[BlAcK_OpS]

Can't wait for the demo! Any idea if the demo will release in early August or at the end?

[bmgoff11]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jano

Lol I already know it can't be as bad as that game we would be able to see the signs already. That game looked horrible around E3 time, I still remember how bad the jumpers were and how ugly the dribbling was. This game looks nothing like that piece of trash. I think EA is just trying to stick to there guns this year which is the gameplay. We should be getting a treat with the demo though definitely won't be a barebones one according the devs. Hopefully it allows us to play a full game like the madden demo..

yeah it should because it is a showcase for ur create player for the draft when the game comes out

[intruda119]

I really feel bad for EA and the other game, you guys nitpick a little to much.

These recorded sequences are not canned animations, there pretty much tendency's amped up. If Durant is at the top of the key with one defender and a open lane, hell probably fake to the right and drive to the left and try to finish. There another word for go to moves, or signature moves. I can clearly see where Elite is going with this. Good luck EA, I wouldnt want your job.

[bmgoff11]

Quote: Originally Posted by FreshPrince22

so it's not an "animation," it's just a "recording" that plays back in the proper context. fine. it makes no difference to me whether some guy wearing a mo-cap suit is responsible or whether some canned joystick movements are responsible. semantics aside, how is the "recording" any different in presentation to the gamer than a typical "animation" (namely the ones in other games which can also be broken and have tendencies/AI to help the CPU adapt)? overall, i'm just trying to figure out the "innovative" part for the experience of the gamer but it's cool to hear it's not a two-man thing. it would've been nice to see durant's move in a different context than the defender jobbing on his pumpfake though

try thinking about it this way when u play bball u do certain things depending on where u are on the court . u have ur go to move but u change what u do depending on what the defense is doing against u. so u know what u want to do but u can change out of it at anytime same thing they are trying to do this year. to make the game feel like ur playing against someone and not the cpu/

[mlp111]

Quote: Originally Posted by rEAnimator

You're right, I can see where you're coming from now. In essence, from your perspective as a player, they may as well be animations. The real innovation from a gameplay standpoint is in the system that detects the context in the game and matches it to the context in a recording. From a technical standpoint though, mocapping these sequences as animations would be impossible both from a money standpoint and a memory standpoint. It is financially prohibitive to fly out every NBA star to do massive amounts of moves in all possible situations. And from a memory standpoint it is absolutely impossible to fit that much animation on current generation consoles. By recording inputs, we can record 100 times more data for all the contexts needed, and do that for 1000 times more players than if it was animation. We can also get people to mimic real life player tendencies a lot easier by using the joystick, and in the case of Kevin Durant, get the real life players to do it. Hopefully that clears things up.

nothing is going to clear up my doubts except for "5-ON-5 GAMEPLAY, recorded animations or whatever you guys choose to call it, just need to see some gameplay, i was feeling everything the trailer was saying and then at 1:00-1:17 or so they showed gameplay and everything i heard fell crashing to the ground, so i need video evidences not word of mouth he say or she say, or will just have to wait until the demo