NBA Elite 11 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (PS3, 360)

[Playmakers]

Quote: Originally Posted by inkcil

I'm on a fast break with Ray Allen, no one in front of me and Kobe trailing me by 5-8 feet. Easy dunk (or layup) right? Wrong. At the top of the key, with no one in front of him, and Kobe closing in, Allen suddenly goes into the "I'm backing you down in the post animation." Of course, Kobe catches up to him and gets in between him and the basket. Along with the rest of the Lakers. Terrible.

You know at one time Live used to have the best fast break AI in the business hands down.

These last 2-3 years something has really gone wrong with the way AI handles fast breaks...

Every since they installed DNA the fastbreaks have been the biggest down fall of the new addition......everyone seems programmed to revert to DNA tendencies and not run the break properly at all. It also doesn't help that EA seems to code this game to deliberately not allow fast breaks

Last Year they had every single player in the game rated 0 for fast break anticipation...i still believe that code was used to allow the DNA to have precedence over the fast break logic of the players in order to keep it from becoming a unrealistic dunk fest on the break.

Sounds like a good idea but it destroyed the way players behaved on the break

[parkinson]

Quote: Originally Posted by poseidon44

Same here. The more I play the demo and learn the new control layout, the more I like this game. Also as Playmakers pointed out, "Superstar" difficulty setting is definitely the way to go. Also in the retail/final version....this game will be a 'tweakers' dream. Just imagine what can be done with global/user/cpu slider edits. Playmakers, Tomba....do you hear me?!?! While this game is far from perfect but I love the direction that EA has taken with this game. It feels fresh and new (something that hasn't been said about an NBA video game in a few years now). I had planned on purchasing both NBA games this year but for the moment I think I'm just going to go with Elite because the new control mechanism will keep my interest far longer than the typical button-style controls. Throw in NBA JAM and it's a wrap.

Yes, I agree with you. It needs time to find good things in Elite cause it's a totally NEW game due to the control scheme. I think this game's not that bad except low quality motions. I found even some amusable Live 10-ish things in Elite. One of those is Off-ball con. Icon pass is delayed so i can not use Off-ball well like I did with Live 10. But sometimes I succeed in powerful dunks or wide open jumpers with it. Very fun. It's a very challenging game so the feeling of reward comes big.

[BobbyColtrane]

i have enjoyed some NBA Live games in the past (especially back in the day) but this game really just makes me feel bad for the guys that worked on the game. it's terrible. the control scheme is innovative but that's the only positive. The player models are really bad and it seems like they start moving before they dribble the ball sometimes, which would be a traveling call in the NBA.

the graphics/movement/AI all need MAJOR overhauls. I agree that this is like playing a PS2 game.

[poseidon44]

Quote: Originally Posted by NBAttacKeR

JESUS. sorry if been posted before skip to 3:00 totally HILARIOUS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLPGD...eature=popular

Man this video cracks me up EVERYTIME I see it, and I've seen it about 15 times now. It's not the actual video of the gameplay but rather the guy himself.

A big "WTF" to him for bringing the ball up the court with Bynum.

[NBAttacKeR]

Quote: Originally Posted by poseidon44

Man this video cracks me up EVERYTIME I see it, and I've seen it about 15 times now. It's not the actual video of the gameplay but rather the guy himself. A big "WTF" to him for bringing the ball up the court with Bynum.

yeah the guy is what cracks me up too, his reaction is the BEST LMFAO

[Zer0xray]

Just gave the demo a try and deleted. Couldn't get over the awkward controls and the way it just looked. The rebounding reminded me of that juliane moore movie the forgotten where ppl got sucked into outerspace by the aliens. Lol

[dirtypuppet]

OK, all the flaws have been pointed out so I don't need to go over them again. Instead, I'm going to just give a list of realistic ways to improve this game via a patch. I'll try and break it down into cohesive sections and hope the rEAnimator and Stepsix give my thoughts good consideration. My impressions are from the PS3 demo.

Graphics:
- Increase the brightness/lighting on the player models and/ or overall
^^^
I turned up my TV's brightness to 90 (usually on about 65) and the graphics are so much better than the dark dull ones by default.

- Increase the visual effect that sweat has
^^^
This would allow you to see more definition on the player models (Live 10 did a good job of this)

- Thicken up the player models
^^^
I doubt this can be done but it's a major detractor for me so if there's any way at all....

- Remove Framerate issues with PS3

Contextual Animations:
now I'm not asking for new animations to be put in because that would be unrealistic, but instead for in context specific moments that better animation choices are made.

- please make ANY shot attempt near the rim contextual. A mixture of runners/ teardrops/ layups/ hooks/ runnings hooks/ flip shots etc. (from the existing library of animations).
^^^
Too many times under or near the rim (and sometimes even running towards the rim) I try attempt a dunk (up on the stick) but instead the player tries either a jumpshot or a (terrible) leaning forward jumpshot. I understand the attempt at total control, but first this result is not the users intention and second there needs to be better context for the animation.

I'm implore you to do this, if shots beyond half court can have context sensitive animations (heaves) then why can't near the rim?

- Attempting to rebound should not always result in a jump
^^^
There should be an element of awareness to my player. If the ball comes off the rim and I press rebound, my player should attempt to rebound the ball where it is. If it's on the ground or in front of me, by pressing the rebound button I would expect to attempt to grab the ball or lunge for it.... not jump over it. This is very obvious when shooting around in the gym. The only time the rebounding action is relevant is when the ball bounces high off the rim and you catch it on the full.

- Jump shot gathers
^^^
These were excellent last year. I'm guessing they were removed because they didn't completely apply to 'total control' but IMO having to gather your feet for a jumpshot looks and controls a lot more like real basketball.

Momentum jumpshot animations
^^^
When running parallel to the basket with momentum and pressing up to shoot, last years momentum jumpshot animations would work so much better than what is currently in the game.

- Defensive Stance
^^^
This should probably be controlled and NOT contextual because it is currently very annoying the way it is triggered.

- Rocket Dunks
^^^
Have been mentioned enough

Player Control:
- Vertical Jumping ability/ Jump shot blocks
^^^
It's been mentioned a lot, please fix this, the problems are obvious. Lowering the vertical should be applied across the board to blocks/ rebounds/ dunks etc.

- Add a step-back dribble control
^^^
Why on earth does pulling back on the stick have no dribble move attached to it? Last years retreat dribble (pulling back on the right stick when moving forward) was my favourite part of the control scheme, please put that back in. A similar result can happen for stationary dribbles, a short retreat/ protect ball dribble should happen

- Flip the defensive right stick control
^^^
Pushing right and left on the right stick is the reversed from offense which makes things confusing.

- Fast Break Layups should be easier
^^^
Too many times on a fast break I've tried doing a eurostep into a layup, only to end up under the rim with my layup hitting the bottom of the rim.

- Pump fakes under the ring don't work
^^^
When you're under/ near the rim and attempt to flick the right stick up for a pump fake instead you get a rushed and therefore missed shot/ layup attempt. Please change the sensitivity of this

- Turbo?
^^^
Some sort of (subtle) speed burst control would add in an element of basketball. Live 10 did this excellently last year animation wise. Streaking down the court with Josh Smith was sooo good. This may also help with the defensive catching up that happens on fast breaks.

- Subtle crossovers
^^^
Some times a simple change of dribble hands is all you want to do but even if you slowly move the stick you get a fast paced crossover dribble

- Increase the Effect of RTP in the post
^^^
Pau Gasol has trouble gaining position on Ray Allen etc. when posting up

AI:
- Late game decisions
^^^
Too many intentional fouls when the game is out of reach. Plus, they happen too easily. Players should get wrapped up every now and then with a hard foul (Like Live 10)

- More Shooting fouls
^^^
For all the contact that happens there are hardly any fouls called from contact around the ring. Almost all fouls are from steal attempts.

- Hopestep/ Eurostep Charges
^^^
These happen too often. I know it's a result of player control, but instead of a charge every time the results should vary between charge/ loose ball/ heavy physical contact with the chance of losing the ball/ players bouncing off of each other etc.

General:
- Slow down animation speed/ game speed

- Any chance of amending the running animations?

- Remove the lag in icon passing

- Alley Oops are horrible looking and look like an exploit

I'll probably update this later, or attempt to give it it's own thread.

[Forever_Young83]

I knew the game would be bad by the way the Dev's kept over emphasizing the word "Fun". I just don't think that fun should be the focal point of a so called simulation game, the focal point should be realistic. Not to put the other game in this, but when you read the box you don't see "fun" all over the place. The other game has statements like this on it's box "unbelievably realistic", and thats how it should be.

There should be fun in simulation, but not just fun. NBA Jam is fun, but it's not realistic. I didn't see much realism in the Elite demo and hardly had any fun. All i can say is good luck next year, or the year after .