15.Mar..2007

Homecourt Producer Interview: Todd Batty

15.Mar..2007

How long have you been working at EA?

Almost 6 years, starting at EA in the summer of 2001.

What was the first title you worked on?

My first title worked on as a producer was NBA Live 2003.

Is this your first time working on STREET?

Yes, I moved over to the Street team in November 2005 to work on Homecourt.

What were some of the biggest challenges you and the team faced in developing a Next Gen STREET title?

From a high-level point of view, the first big challenge we faced was figuring out if we were going to port Street V3 and start from there, or if we were going to start with a clean slate. We couldn't make this decision until it was determined whether or not we were going to make Homecourt for both current-gen and next-gen hardware, or just for next-gen. Once the decision was ultimately made by the company to make this an exclusive next-gen only title, we decided the only way to deliver a truly new core gameplay experience was to start with a clean slate and rewrite the game from scratch. We already had an early Trick Remixer prototype up and running, so we ended up basically architecting the game around that. From there, we then were consistently faced with the problem of where to direct our focus - on the core gameplay experience only, or on trying to replicate the depth of Street V3 in terms of game modes and options.

How were you able to overcome these challenges?

Ultimately, we chose to make our core gameplay experience as polished and deep as possible, but we still wanted to deliver online gameplay, a basic create-player and a solid single player mode that would revolve around the Homecourt concept. Thankfully, we had an extremely talented development team that consistently over-delivered on the features that they signed up for, and while we obviously didn't achieve the depth of Street V3 we still feel that there is more than enough content to keep consumers happy for hours.

What were your expectations going into the project?

To be honest, I really wasn't sure what to expect. Coming from a simulation sports background, I was really excited to take on the creative challenge that comes with designing an arcade sports game, and now that the project is over I can say that it was definitely the most enjoyable and rewarding experience of my career.

There is a lot of Homecourt premium donwnloadable content coming to Xbox Live Marketplace. As a producer, what do you think about post ship content? What do you think about the Homecourt content that's coming?

I think downloadable content is a great idea, as long as it is truly content added post-ship and not simply content in the final retail game that is simply ?unlocked' when a consumer pays money. For NBA Street , we had some ideas for characters, gears and courts that we simply did not have the time or capacity to finish before our game hit the shelves. So, having a chance to work on that content after the game was finished and to be able to offer it to consumers so they can enhance their game experience is a great win for both our team and our company. I can't speak to the specifics of our downloadable content until it has been made official, but I really think people are going to like what we have coming for NBA Street Homecourt.

Homecourt is currently the highest rated PS3 sports title. What do you think is the most engaging aspect of the game?

Based on the reviews and the consumer feedback I have read, I would have to say the gameplay is the most well received area of the game, and that is good news considering we made it our key area of focus. People seem to really appreciate the fact that we simplified the controls without losing the depth of the core gameplay experience, and the new dunk and trick systems have been very highly acclaimed. However, you can't achieve great ratings without having an overall solid package, and the graphics, the audio and the single player Homecourt journey have all been very well received in most reviews and are as much a part of our success as anything. I think the key is that we never let the needs of our supporting features interfere with where we wanted to get to with the gameplay experience. A great example of this would be the decision to ship the game at 60 frames-per-second on both consoles. We really felt that our twitch-based gameplay needed this framerate to really allow consumers to enjoy the game to its full extent, but at the same time in order to support that decision we had to scale back on a lot of visual effects that could have made our game look even more stunning than it does. In the end, it's all about priorities and trying to strike that fine balance.

What did you think was missing from NBA STREET v3 that you wanted to see in Homecourt?

I actually thought Street V3 was an exceptional product, and certainly wasn't missing anything. However, after 3 different iterations of the same gameplay engine, we thought the biggest opportunity for improvement this year would be to deliver a new core gameplay experience. We wanted the game to feel tighter, faster, and more responsive. We also wanted to improve and exaggerate some of the athletic performances to edge the game a little more away from the simulation side of basketball. Speaking with the guys who were part of making V3, they thought that the gameplay may have gotten a bit too refined, losing some of the rawness that made the V2 play so well. In most of the consumer studies we did, an overwhelming majority of our customer base cited V2 as having the most fun gameplay experience, so we based a lot of our decisions around that information.

How do you see the NBA STREET franchise growing?

I think we have only scratched the surface of what is possible in next-gen gaming and the Street franchise is no exception. We have amazing opportunities to improve in the area of AI, in particular player-specific AI and really bringing these NBA stars to life through signature behavior. We will also be watching forums and message boards and gathering as much consumer feedback as possible in the hopes that we can shape and grow NBA Street in the direction that our loyal fan base dictates.