NBA Elite 11 News Post

NBA Elite 11 Interview with Creative Director David Littman

05:04 PM - August 24, 2010 by RaychelSnr

We recently had a chance to interview David Littman, creative director at EA Canada for NHL Slapshot, NBA Elite and the NHL series. He helped to oversee the re-imagining of the NHL series when the current-generation consoles were released, and he is now filling a similar role for NBA Elite 11. We wanted this interview to focus on the differences between the rebuilds of NHL and Elite, and we also wanted to get a bit deeper into why NBA Elite is going in a different direction this year.

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# 1 Jano @ 08/24/10 05:23 PM

Great interview!! This exactly the direction I've been wanting to see a basketball game go in. It hit on so many points I've been thinking about for years now, the whole animations arm's race bit in paticular.

To some this interview won't sound like much but the things he was talking about here are what I've been wanting to see in bball games since I played Live 2003.

This interview was so in-tune with my view of how a basketball game should be played its scary lol

# 2 mlp111 @ 08/24/10 05:34 PM

nothing new, still losing interest in this game more and more as the days past by!!!!!!!!

# 3 noshun @ 08/24/10 05:48 PM

I thought this was about basketball..read so much hockey info...didnt even finish reading.

# 4 TreyIM2 @ 08/24/10 05:49 PM

I can't wait to test this pup out in the demo. I just hope that the animations, smoothness and fluidity is there unlike much of what I've seen in the vids shown thus far. By far, this is my most anticipated game for the rest of the year.

# 5 ehh @ 08/24/10 06:03 PM

This was much more in depth but still pretty much the same, and only, thing EA has been talking about in regards to Elite.

# 6 brs2305 @ 08/24/10 06:15 PM

Great interview! Always interesting to see things from a producer standpoint.

Of course there are doubts, but think about the past. Whenever somebody came up with something absolutely new to people, these guys got laughed at at first or in many cases even worse (think about the world is round not flat kind of stuff).

Of course this will be far from away from a "round world theory", but it's the same problem (convincing people).

So all what I am saying is, that I will definitely try this game out. The worst thing that could happen is that it blows. But there is also a chance that it might be the beginning of something great like NHL 11.

# 7 nccomicfan @ 08/24/10 06:58 PM

I am first to admit I am not a stick virtuoso, I win or lose by strategy and knowledge of the sport..The more I hear from these guys, the more I worry that my enjoyment of this title may be hindered by the totally stick driven gameplay

Before you say it, I know I can use the button controls, but somehow I doubt that will be enabled for head to head online, which is where this game beat it's competition last year

# 8 nccomicfan @ 08/24/10 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	This was much more in depth but still pretty much the same, and only, thing EA has been talking about in regards to Elite.

agreed, it just keeps the theme that this is the year for the new controls and this title may not be fleshed out overall

# 9 tdplaya04 @ 08/24/10 07:01 PM

I'm not sure I like this new shot stick mess, remember this is a video game not real life basketball, i should be able to make shots according to how good the player can shoot, I dont want to miss open shots with ray allen all the time because I didnt aim strait on shot stick!!!

# 10 scottyp180 @ 08/24/10 07:11 PM

This is pretty much what we have been hearing from EA all summer. It seems like they are really banking on the demo to attract fans. Personally I'm a 2k fan, but I am a basketball fan first and foremost, I buy the game that I enjoy most. Last year Live's demo had me considering buying the game but I chose 2k in the end. I'm really anticipating this demo, as everyone should. I never understood fanboys who stand by just one game, both Elite and 2k11 have potential to be great this year, could be the first time since 05 that I actually buy both games.

# 11 Live_4real @ 08/24/10 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottyp180


	This is pretty much what we have been hearing from EA all summer. It seems like they are really banking on the demo to attract fans. Personally I'm a 2k fan, but I am a basketball fan first and foremost, I buy the game that I enjoy most. Last year Live's demo had me considering buying the game but I chose 2k in the end. I'm really anticipating this demo, as everyone should. I never understood fanboys who stand by just one game, both Elite and 2k11 have potential to be great this year, could be the first time since 05 that I actually buy both games.

The problem is people don�t care about basketball, they don�t look for the best basketball/NBA experience, they look for that specific company experience regardless

Good read, I just hope that people that qualified this guy as the "Hockey guy" realize that he is a intelligent dude and he nows what to do to revolutionize sports gaming by giving extra user control, even if he is not a basketball brain, they have people at EA that are, so that "problem" invented in the beginning was non existing

Time will tell if this 3 year project will put Elite series in the 90`s regularly, and time will tell if NBA ELITE 11 will be a TOTAL experience, knowing that the 1 year dev cycle could be short, to do the necessary changes that NBA live 10 NEEDED

PeAcE

# 12 scottyp180 @ 08/24/10 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdplaya04


	I'm not sure I like this new shot stick mess, remember this is a video game not real life basketball, i should be able to make shots according to how good the player can shoot, I dont want to miss open shots with ray allen all the time because I didnt aim strait on shot stick!!!

I feel you but what worries me is the complete opposite. If shooting is as skill based as they say then I should be able to perfect any players shot. So if I have kobe or ray allen's shot down pat will I not miss a shot with them unless I make a mistake or the computer blocks me? My guess is that the players hot spot (the point you release the stick/ball) will change depending where you are on the court and how well someone is defending you.

I just hope that good shooters shouldn't ruin the game. I shouldn't be able to just rain down shots all day just because I am good with a player's shot. Whether I am someone as good a Kobe or a poor shooter like rondo learning and knowing someones shot should not make them better than they actually are.

# 13 Tha_Kid @ 08/24/10 07:56 PM

Thing is there is a lot I like in this interview, but the game footage just hasn't been living up to it. I'm looking forward to better footage and a demo of (hopefully) the final build.

As far as the Skill Stick (cute name), I have to say I am in favor of it. Shooting in basketball games is generally kind of up in the air but usually rewards strategy & execution, etc. Whatever Live 10 was doing wasn't rewarding for a lot of gamers and it showed on these forums. I look forward to skill based shooting as there are situations in 2K where I know (or feel strongly) that a player probably has no chance of making a certain shot (see J.R. Smith, once his shooting streak hit blue in the new video). That shot going in is a rarity, but I'm excited about being in complete control of whether or not he can shoot himself back in the game.

# 14 nccomicfan @ 08/24/10 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Murder


	Well aim strait, otherwise its your fault.

I think that is his point, the shot should be made or missed based on ratings, not purely on his stick movement

# 15 thesniper321 @ 08/24/10 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottyp180


	I feel you but what worries me is the complete opposite. If shooting is as skill based as they say then I should be able to perfect any players shot. So if I have kobe or ray allen's shot down pat will I not miss a shot with them unless I make a mistake or the computer blocks me? My guess is that the players hot spot (the point you release the stick/ball) will change depending where you are on the court and how well someone is defending you. I just hope that good shooters shouldn't ruin the game. I shouldn't be able to just rain down shots all day just because I am good with a player's shot. Whether I am someone as good a Kobe or a poor shooter like rondo learning and knowing someones shot should not make them better than they actually are.

tbh I absolutly disagree!! I mean did you read how shooting in the game works before posting? The sweet spot is not always same , it changes with the distance, it changes if you're well guarded. Which means 1 player doesn't have 1 release but MULTIPLE ones!!
And as littman said it shouldn't be underling stat and a random dice and roll effect which decide if I make a shot with rondo or kobe it should be ME and only ME.
If I work HARD to shoot well with a poor shooter that's MY choice. Because the fact that he's not reliable reflects in a higher difficulty to hit a jumper. Nobody would be mad if someone hits 6/6 mid range jumper with rondo because we would all know how hard it is to shoot with him.
And the last sentence of your comment annoys me so much!! Each nba player has his weapons and weaknesses like I said it shouldn't be the game BUT ME who decide how good is Rondo, me me and nobody or nothing else because in the end I will be the guy who uses Rondo skills and therefore MY decisions and of course the situations will determined how good he is.
Let's take a very simple example. Rudy Fernandez is a good shooter but he doesn't drop a lot of points because of his PT and the blazers doesn't runs a lot of play for him. If I decide to shoot a lot with him, run a lot of plays for him and burn you with 30 points will you pm me and say "you're a cheater rudy isn't that good in real life??"
hhhmmmm think about it again

# 16 Haval93 @ 08/24/10 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nccomicfan


	I think that is his point, the shot should be made or missed based on ratings, not purely on his stick movement

This is a hard subject for different people but I agree with the team on this. If I make the shot thats because of and if I miss thats on me as well. Also remember that each players sweet-spot is different. Ray Allen will be more forgiving then other shooters so you can still make a bit of error and drain the shot. This is for the best, I don't want the CPU to decide whether or not I should make the shot. Anyways the interview was nice but how come OS couldn't cop a couple new screens for us

# 17 Tha_Kid @ 08/24/10 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haval93


	This is a hard subject for different people but I agree with the team on this. If I make the shot thats because of and if I miss thats on me as well. Also remember that each players sweet-spot is different. Ray Allen will be more forgiving then other shooters so you can still make a bit of error and drain the shot. This is for the best, I don't want the CPU to decide whether or not I should make the shot. Anyways the interview was nice but how come OS couldn't cop a couple new screens for us

I agree. Also, for the Rondo example, if you practice his shot and get good with it, aren't you just doing what Boston fans want Rondo to do? Don't you find it cool to potentially have a direct hand on his shooting progression in a Dynasty?

There was a thread about skill vs. ratings gameplay : http://www.operationsports.com/forum...-gameplay.html

rEAnimator had a very good post on it: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2041362898

Quote:

Originally Posted by rEAnimator


	This discussion is a good one. I'm excited that people are as passionate about gameplay as I am I'm hearing quite a bit of concern over the "stick skills" aspect of the game so I wanted to comment on that a little bit. Yes, how well you execute your shot with the right stick will determine if the shot goes in or not. If you execute the perfect shot every time the shot will go in every time. Having played the game, seen data on shots made by people who are playing the game for the first time or have been playing the game since we started development last year I can say with confidence that we can tune a difficult shot to be almost impossible to make. We can also tune an easy shot to be so easy my grandma could hit the shot (with a little instruction and practice maybe). The difficulty of the shot will be determined by player ratings and context (contested, settled, distance, momentum, etc). What this means is that if you want to try and master the stick skills, go right ahead. You'll hit a higher percentage of difficult shots and you may have an edge. But you would have to be super human to hit every shot. I don't think it's going to happen, and if it does we'll know and we'll re-tune things to correct it. However, if you know your personnel, understand what makes a high percentage shot, you can overcome poor stick skills with superior strategic skills and patience. For me this mirrors real life. Some players may not have a good basketball mind, but they can use raw skill to make their mark. Other players may not be the most skilled, but their basketball knowledge makes them effective. The best players will be the players that master both. But if you get good enough on either extreme you should still be able to compete. And the game is not all about shooting either. Defense plays a huge role, more so than ever before in my opinion. Playing defense is fun, and I could not say that about last years game. Bottom line is I'd like to reassure you that the game is not just about stick skills. Basketball strategy and defensive skill play a huge component. We're trying to make it as close to real life as possible, and balance skill vs. strategy as best we can to give you guys the best experience possible. Stick skills are being emphasized because this is a first for basketball games and should make playing the game more consistent and rewarding as a player. It is not meant to take away from the strategic elements of the game. It should in fact make them even more realistic and relevant.

# 18 neptuneniq @ 08/24/10 08:37 PM

dude kept talking about NHL, nobody cares

# 19 Jano @ 08/24/10 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neptuneniq


	dude kept talking about NHL, nobody cares

Lol wow you obviously didn't read the interview. There was a reason he talked about that game..

# 20 Tha_Kid @ 08/24/10 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neptuneniq


	dude kept talking about NHL, nobody cares

Quote:


	We wanted this interview to focus on the differences between the rebuilds of NHL and Elite

The answers are going to reflect the questions. Read the thread.

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