Live or 2K5 Revisited

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:03 am

Guys who are playing hoops, how are you feeling about Live and 2K5? Anyone change their minds about which they prefer? Give me a shout out and let me know which you guys are still playing. Thanks.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:19 am

2K5 and it gets better each time I play. Guys that gave up on it after a couple games don't know what they are missing. Live is decent, but after playing both for two weeks, Live has been sold on Ebay. 2k5 is just a much better game for my tastes and style of play...plus the online interface is 20x better than Live which is big for me too.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:23 am

I really like both games and will keep them both but right now I'm preferring Live. I like the flow of the game, the shooting percentages, the fact that it's fun to play defense, and the fact that both teams actually make it to the line.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:29 am

I think 2K5 is the best game in the series, but I am loving Live 2005. They fixed everything that was wrong with last year's game and the stats are totally accurate with slider adjustments. I sold ESPN not because I think it is a bad game, but because I can't stop playing Live.

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:31 am

For those playing Live, what camera angle are you using? I'm renting it now, and need some help here. Also, anyone have any good sliders (Leebo?)?

NBA2K5 guys, any good sliders and a choice for camera angle? Yes, I've rented it as well.

I'm still interested in who's playing what, so please keep them coming. So far I see one for each (although Scoop is playing both).

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:33 am

Leebo33 wrote:I think 2K5 is the best game in the series, but I am loving Live 2005. They fixed everything that was wrong with last year's game and the stats are totally accurate with slider adjustments. I sold ESPN not because I think it is a bad game, but because I can't stop playing Live.

Leebo, can you hook me up with your sliders and what camera you are using? Thanks man.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:34 am

The "skating" issues in Live really bother me. I just can't seem to look past it. Also, the "coked" up movement in the game just seems a bit too unrealistic for me. Specifically the players themselves. They just react relatively too fast for the game. It's hard to describe but the passes are too fast and the player movement is awkward for my tastes.

That said, I am enjoying NBA2K5 more and more I play but I'm not overly impressed with it either. Part of it has to do that I'm not a huge NBA fan, and with this game it seems you have to rely on 1 or 2 star players to make up the majority of the scoring. I try to balance it as much as possible by passing it around and hitting the open man, but it still requires your star player taking the majority of the shots. Guess I'm too much of a college diehard to appreciate the NBA game.

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:34 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:2K5 and it gets better each time I play. Guys that gave up on it after a couple games don't know what they are missing. Live is decent, but after playing both for two weeks, Live has been sold on Ebay. 2k5 is just a much better game for my tastes and style of play...plus the online interface is 20x better than Live which is big for me too.

Hi Scott, can you help me on the 2K5 side? What sliders and camera are you using buddy? Thanks.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:37 am

I'd be interested in some good 2k5 sliders as well.

Great,
Check out the NBA Live sliders thread at OS and use Pared's sliders. They are really good and you can adjust them to your liking if you see something that doesn't work for you.

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:38 am

sportdan30 wrote:The "skating" issues in Live really bother me. I just can't seem to look past it. Also, the "coked" up movement in the game just seems a bit too unrealistic for me. Specifically the players themselves. They just react relatively too fast for the game. It's hard to describe but the passes are too fast and the player movement is awkward for my tastes.

That said, I am enjoying NBA2K5 more and more I play but I'm not overly impressed with it either. Part of it has to do that I'm not a huge NBA fan, and with this game it seems you have to rely on 1 or 2 star players to make up the majority of the scoring. I try to balance it as much as possible by passing it around and hitting the open man, but it still requires your star player taking the majority of the shots. Guess I'm too much of a college diehard to appreciate the NBA game.

I was playing Live last night (first and only game played), and did have trouble finding the open man. A couple of times I felt like I was stuck, almost forced into a bad shot. Needless to say, I was blown out. I'm sure it was just me. As I rented the games, no instructions except the back of the rental case. Are there set plays in Live and 2K5?

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:39 am

ScoopBrady wrote:I'd be interested in some good 2k5 sliders as well.

Great,
Check out the NBA Live sliders thread at OS and use Pared's sliders. They are really good and you can adjust them to your liking if you see something that doesn't work for you.

Thanks Scoop. What camera angle are you using?

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:49 am

grtwhtsk wrote:
Leebo33 wrote:I think 2K5 is the best game in the series, but I am loving Live 2005. They fixed everything that was wrong with last year's game and the stats are totally accurate with slider adjustments. I sold ESPN not because I think it is a bad game, but because I can't stop playing Live.
Leebo, can you hook me up with your sliders and what camera you are using? Thanks man.

Steve,

I would start with Pared's and tweak as needed depending on what team you use and your style of play. I think these sliders will get you in the ball park:

http://www.digitalsportspage.com/module ... pic&t=5220

I think these sliders will give you a great variety of fouls, good CPU substition frequency, and realistic fatigue. It adds a lot of strategy to the game.

I use the default camera (baseline low) fully zoomed. That may be the reason that I don't have problems with the court size (it is small, but nothing I can't live with) or players catching up from behind on fast breaks. In fact, the only player I've had caught from behind on a fast break was Corlis Williamson. Iverson, McKie, Ollie, Green, etc. have all had "breakaway" steals and coast-to-coast layups/dunks for me.

I learned something this weekend that really increased my enjoyment of Live: Lay off the sprint in the half court offense. It's much easier to work your way through traffic without it and this makes sense. Set picks and work the ball around on offense. I don't see much "Mario running" now and I really don't notice the "forcefield" much anymore.

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:54 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:2K5 and it gets better each time I play. Guys that gave up on it after a couple games don't know what they are missing. Live is decent, but after playing both for two weeks, Live has been sold on Ebay. 2k5 is just a much better game for my tastes and style of play...plus the online interface is 20x better than Live which is big for me too.

DB, I assume NBA2K5 has the same online league stuff as football and hockey?

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:55 am

I've got both and I still can't decide which I like better. There are things about both that I like and dislike.

- Live has an excellent amount of fouls for both teams
- Not enough spacing in Live, defenders recover way too quickly
- Player forcefields on Live are still annoying, especially for CPU
- Controls of ESPN feel delayed from actual button presses/movement
- Seems too easy to penetrate and dominate with PGs in ESPN, no matter who they are (on All-Star difficulty)

- Both games are set with generic plays for every team; would like team specific type plays for each team right out of the box

Am I overlooking something or is this definitely the case? Each game seemingly has a ton of different plays available, why they chose to give every team the same four lame default plays seems ridiculous. I shouldn't have to go and pick new plays every (for each team) every time I want to play an Exhibition game.

As for camera angles, I am using the Broadcast cam on Live (zoomed in two clicks) and NBA2K5 cam for ESPN (on default)...at least I think that's what they are called. Has anyone else tried the Broadcast cam on Live? This view reminds me so much of the ISO type look of past NBA Live games on Genesis/SNES, except with better graphics/animations.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:57 am

grtwhtsk wrote:
ScoopBrady wrote:I'd be interested in some good 2k5 sliders as well.

Great,
Check out the NBA Live sliders thread at OS and use Pared's sliders. They are really good and you can adjust them to your liking if you see something that doesn't work for you.
Thanks Scoop. What camera angle are you using?

Default camera.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 am

grtwhtsk wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:2K5 and it gets better each time I play. Guys that gave up on it after a couple games don't know what they are missing. Live is decent, but after playing both for two weeks, Live has been sold on Ebay. 2k5 is just a much better game for my tastes and style of play...plus the online interface is 20x better than Live which is big for me too.
Hi Scott, can you help me on the 2K5 side? What sliders and camera are you using buddy? Thanks.

Actually the only thing I changed in 2k5, was to lower the shooting percentages a bit and to lower the blocks some. Maybe 2 or 3 clicks each. Then I use the 2k5 camera and zoom it in a bit. It's the closest thing to the "drive" camera in ID.

My main problem with Live is the spacing. The courts are too small or the players are too big. I'm with SportDan...I just can't get over the fact that the guys skate all over the court. Couple that with courts that are too small and you have a graphically annoying game. I definitely prefer Live's Freestyle control over Iso motion, but it's a sacrafice I'm willing to make for correct spacing and actually being able to run fast breaks without guys stopping at the 3 point line.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:59 am

Bill_Abner wrote:DB, I assume NBA2K5 has the same online league stuff as football and hockey?

You are correct sir.

tsunami · Post by **tsunami** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:01 pm

Leebo33 wrote:I learned something this weekend that really increased my enjoyment of Live: Lay off the sprint in the half court offense. It's much easier to work your way through traffic without it and this makes sense. Set picks and work the ball around on offense. I don't see much "Mario running" now and I really don't notice the "forcefield" much anymore.

I don't use spint on offense (using Pared's sliders as my base) and I still feel like the CPU forcefield is too strong on drives to the basket. And, that the CPU defense recovers way too quickly on open men. It gets very frustrating to pass the ball around in the half-court and either never see a man open or find a man open only to have a defender in his face in a split second with a hand up and block the shot (even though it was a relative catch and shoot).

By the way, is it possible to set picks in Live without calling the "Pick and Roll" quick play? I haven't noticed that there is a "call for pick" button as in other games. Didn't they have this last year?

By the same token, ESPN seems a little too easy to get penetration by guards, on All-Star difficulty.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:01 pm

grtwhtsk wrote:I was playing Live last night (first and only game played), and did have trouble finding the open man. A couple of times I felt like I was stuck, almost forced into a bad shot. Needless to say, I was blown out. I'm sure it was just me. As I rented the games, no instructions except the back of the rental case. Are there set plays in Live and 2K5?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Yes, there are set plays. Use the D-Pad to assign them. Unfortunately, there aren't any diagrams though. Learn to love the pick and roll button.

2. Make sure you lower the blocked shots. They are too high by default.

3. 10 man mo-capture is awesome. Pay attention to the whole court. You can see your players "pull a Reggie Miller" and push off to create space. Watch your post players jockey for position. If you time it right it can greatly increase your chances for a good feed. On the break look for players who are calling for the ball.

4. Don't forget "free style air." You can change your shot mid-air by hitting the button again.

5. Practice your freestyle moves to create space. Learn to string a couple freestyle moves together.

6. Find the mismatches and exploit them. I think Live is excellent this year as far as ratings go. Sometimes you will look up and see Steve Nash guarding Kenny Thomas or a power forward guarding small forward after a bad "switch." Take the appropriate shot. Pay attention to the CPU substitutions and make them pay for bringing in poor defenders off the bench. Pay attention to the defense the CPU is playing and whom they are double-teaming on your team.

7. Use the black button to bring up the passing icons, and unlike 2K5 they actually stay up for a reasonable amount of time.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:11 pm

tsunami wrote:I don't use spint on offense (using Pared's sliders as my base) and I still feel like the CPU forcefield is too strong on drives to the basket. And, that the CPU defense recovers way too quickly on open men. It gets very frustrating to pass the ball around in the half-court and either never see a man open or find a man open only to have a defender in his face in a split second with a hand up and block the shot (even though it was a relative catch and shoot).

Tsunami,

Try lowering "on ball physical defense", increasing "freestyle effectiveness", and goofing with sliders like the "CPU fakeout percentage" or whatever it is called. That may open the game up a bit for you. I really don't know what to say. I can usually get plenty of good looks through a set offense, driving and dishing back out, or by faking a drive with freestyle getting the defender to step backwards and then shooting or drop stepping.

spooky157 · Post by **spooky157** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:28 pm

These are the sliders I'm using with ESPN. They're a slight variation of the ones posted by Bizcanos on the OS boards and I'm getting great results with them.

The numbers represent number of clicks from the zero setting all the way to the left.

HUMAN/CPU
-----------
Inside Range: 17/17
Mid Range: 19/19
Long Range: 22/22
Dunk Success: 20/20
Layup Success: 18/18
Swat Jumpers: 0/0
Swat Dunk/Layup: 0/0
Blocking Hops: 0/0
Rip Success: 0/0
Sagging D: 15/15
Pick Success: 25/25
Pick Strength: 25/25
Off Transition Speed: 20/20
Def Transition Speed: 15/15
Steals: 0/0
Blocks: 0/0
Ballhandling: 9/9
Dunk: 9/9
Off Dbl Team Awr: 20/25
Off Court Vision: 15/15
Def Court Vision: 10/15
Injury Chance: 15/15
Injury Effect: 25/25
Fouls: To the Max

EDIT: Forgot to mention I'm playing on the Superstar level.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 1:30 pm

Online - ESPN NBA 2K5
Offline - NBA Live 2005

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 1:32 pm

Leebo33 wrote:I think 2K5 is the best game in the series, but I am loving Live 2005. They fixed everything that was wrong with last year's game and the stats are totally accurate with slider adjustments. I sold ESPN not because I think it is a bad game, but because I can't stop playing Live.

Leebo - What did you like which 2K5 had over Live, and what in 2K5 just doesn't measure up to Live? Thanks.

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 1:34 pm

Boom wrote:Online - ESPN NBA 2K5
Offline - NBA Live 2005

Boom - What is it about the offline experience in Live that is better than 2K5, or is it something that 2K5 is lacking in? Thanks.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:31 pm

grtwhtsk wrote:Leebo - What did you like which 2K5 had over Live, and what in 2K5 just doesn't measure up to Live? Thanks.

There are three things that I enjoy more in Live:

1) Fouls. There are plenty of foul calls of many different varietys in Live. I know people are claiming they have realistic foul totals with ESPN and I believe them, but the problem is I wasn't seeing it. I played too many games of ESPN with hardly any fouls or not nearly enough foul shots. I love that in Live fouls influence my substitution pattern and the way I attack the CPU.

2) I like freestyle a lot more than ISO.

3) I like playing defense much more in Live.