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Bulls-Wizards Jersey for NBA Live 2005-08

Bulls-Wizards Jersey for NBA Live 2005-08

As I noted in my previous release for March Modness 2023, despite mostly focusing on roster projects over the years, I have tried to branch out at times. Although there are aspects of art modding that I’m still yet to grasp, I’ve been able to convert mods for use with other games, and repurpose existing textures and assets. That’s what I’ve done with today’s release: a Bulls-Wizards jersey for NBA Live 2005-08!

More specifically, this jersey is a half-Bulls, half-Wizards uniform, loosely based on the banner that the Miami Heat raised when they retired #23 in honour of Michael Jordan. The mod uses the original jersey textures for the Bulls and Wizards, combining them to create a fictional alternate jersey. I’ve provided both a home and away version of the jersey, as well as a custom teamgear.dbf file for easy installation. If you’d like to add it to an existing roster without overwriting its teamgear.dbf file, I’ve also included the appropriate values in the readme.

Download the Bulls-Wizards jersey at these links:

Please make sure that you download the correct version for the game that you’re playing! Once again, links to the release and support topics for my mods can be found in my NLSC Forum signature. More fun releases are on the way, so stay tuned!

2022 NBA Playoffs & Finals Logos for NBA Live 2005-08

2022 NBA Playoffs & Finals Logos for NBA Live 2005-08

Next up in my March Modness 2023 releases is a 2022 NBA Playoffs & Finals logo update for NBA Live 2005-08! Coming into this year’s March Modness, I had a goal of trying to release a mod every day. So far, so good! I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep it up – especially as I turn my attention to larger projects – but I’ll certainly try.

So, what’s the background here? Up until 2009, I was mostly just a roster maker. Faces, jerseys, courts, and so on weren’t my forte, and many of my attempts to dabble with them came up short (to put it nicely). However, when I found myself in need of a new Philadelphia 76ers logo update for the 2010 season, I decided to try my hand at making one. Flat textures proved to be much easier to work with, and it turned out quite well. From then on, I kept the logos up to date for my current season roster mods.

Thanks to an identical file format for the NBA Playoffs and Finals logos in NBA Live 2005-08, it didn’t take long to put together this 2022 update. I’ll probably create 2018 and 2019-2021 updates as well, to go along with my old update that covers the 2010-2017 seasons. As I work on some other retro updates, I expect I’ll look at making Playoffs and Finals logos mods for older seasons, too.

Download the logo update here! Once again, links to my NBA Live 2005-08 mod release and support topics can be found in my NLSC Forum signature. Stay tuned throughout the month for more March Modness releases!

Custom Blank Portraits for NBA Live 2005-08

Custom Blank Portraits for NBA Live 2005-08

As I try to ease myself back into tackling larger modding projects, one of my goals is to create smaller mods that are quicker to complete. To that end, my latest release for March Modness 2023 is a pack of custom blank portraits for NBA Live 2005-08. This mod was originally made using NBA Live 06’s files, but it should work with all four of those games.

In short, these portraits replace the default “No Portrait Available” placeholder for all players who don’t have a portrait file. I’ve taken the blank portraits from NBA Live 95, 96, 98, 99, 2000, and 2001 PC, so needless to say, credit to the old art teams at EA Sports for the original designs! As I’ve discussed before, I have a ton of nostalgia for the portraits in NBA Live 95 and NBA Live 96 in particular.

A quick note: if a player has been assigned a custom face file and are missing a portrait, they won’t use the default “No Portrait Available” placeholder. These custom blank portraits will only work for players who are set to use the default placeholder (including created players), though they could also be repurposed as placeholders for specific players. Feel free to do so; if you do, a word of thanks in the credits would be most appreciated!

Download the pack here! For links to my NBA Live 2005-08 mod release and support topics, check out the signature in my NLSC Forum profile. Stay tuned for more March Modness releases, and don’t forget to join in the fun for your chance to win a copy of NBA 2K24 PC later this year!

The Friday Five: 5 Ways NBA Live Modding Was Better

The Friday Five: 5 Ways NBA Live Modding Was Better

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five ways that NBA Live modding was better than the NBA 2K modding scene.

It’s no mystery as to why I was far more involved with modding NBA Live than I am NBA 2K. NBA Live, and in particular the PC version, was the game that I grew up with. It’s the series that this site was founded upon – the NLSC did officially stand for the NBA Live Series Center, after all – and it was tinkering with my favourite hoops titles that got me into the hobby of modding. By the time NBA 2K came to PC, I was beginning to get burned out on creating mods, and it also took me a few releases to really warm up to the series.

With that being said, I am interested in creating mods for NBA 2K, and have been trying my hand at various roster projects. There have been several barriers that have stood in the way of releasing work, including free time to complete those projects, and the need to learn new methods and file formats. It’s been an interesting journey, and I hope that I can release some NBA 2K mods in the future. There are undoubtedly some aspects of NBA Live modding – or patching, as we used to call it – that I prefer. It’s why I’ll always have some desire to tinker with old favourites, as the heyday of NBA Live modding was a special time in our community. Here are five reasons why.

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NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE Highlights & NBA Live 08 Three-Point Shootout

NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE Highlights & NBA Live 08 Three-Point Shootout

Dee’s latest uploads to the NLSC YouTube channel feature highlights from his ongoing season with Stildo33 in NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE, as well as our Three-Point Shootout in NBA Live 08. The former showcases the fantastic 1995 season mod for NBA 2K19, while the latter demonstrates that despite having a few quirks, NBA Live 08 for PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 had some solid aspects.

In the MyLEAGUE highlights, you’ll see two epic showdowns that went down to the wire. The first game features Dee using the Denver Nuggets against Stildo33’s Orlando Magic, which means some great moments from a young Shaq and Penny, and a sharpshooting display from Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. In the second game, Scottie Pippen and Shawn Kemp have a spectacular scoring battle, as Stildo33 takes control of the Chicago Bulls while Dee continues his campaign with the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Three-Point Shootout also saw a clutch performance from Dee while controlling Ray Allen, as a CPU-controlled Jason Terry made for a worthy opponent. I’d like to think that I acquitted myself well with Ben Gordon, while also demonstrating how great Parsec is when connecting someone in Australia to a host in the United States!

Be sure to tune in to Episode #465 of the NLSC Podcast as we go into our experiences with the Three-Point Shootout in NBA Live 08, and Dee’s ongoing NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE with Stildo33. Don’t forget to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more great basketball gaming content throughout 2023 and beyond!

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NLSC Podcast #465: A History of Annoying Mechanics

NLSC Podcast Logo

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #465 of the NLSC Podcast!

Another NBA All-Star Weekend is upon us, but sadly, the event has basically lost its lustre for us. Call us grumpy old heads if you must, but we miss genuine competition in the midseason classic! On a brighter note, we had a blast partaking in All-Star activities in NBA Live 08 – including creating a 1988 dunk contest video, and enjoying a wild three-point shootout that went to a tiebreaker – as well as revisiting NBA 2K13 to play some Blacktop. As promised on last week’s show, we’re taking a deep dive into the most annoying mechanics in the history of basketball gaming, with our listeners also sharing their biggest frustrations on the virtual hardwood.

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

1988 Dunk Contest in NBA Live 08

1988 Dunk Contest in NBA Live 08

With Michael Jordan turning 60 today, it seemed only appropriate to celebrate His Airness with a basketball gaming video! As a fan of MJ since I got into hoops, his biggest triumphs are among my fondest basketball memories. However, I also loved learning about and watching his achievements that came before I was hooked on basketball, such as his iconic showdown with Dominique Wilkins in the 1988 Dunk Contest.

One of my all-time favourite NBA home video releases is Dazzling Dunks & Basketball Bloopers. It featured a segment recapping every NBA Dunk Contest to that point, which included the 1988 clash between Air Jordan and The Human Highlight Film. For a while now, I’ve had the idea of taking the audio from that segment, and re-creating it in a video game. Since I have some assets on hand thanks to a work-in-progress Ultimate Jordan mod, NBA Live 08 PC ended up being the title that I chose. Enjoy this re-creation, and see how it compares to the original segment!

One of my goals for 2023 is to get around to some articles, videos, and modding projects that I’ve been mulling over or keeping on the backburner for far too long now. Again, I devised this idea as a possible Wayback Wednesday feature some years back, so it’s extremely satisfying to finally put it together! Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel, as Dee and I will be uploading plenty of content in the days and weeks to come.

The Friday Five: 5 Reasons NBA Live Had The Best All-Star Weekend

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five provides five reasons as to why NBA Live had the best All-Star Weekend.

As I’ve said numerous times in previous articles and on the NLSC Podcast, the fall of NBA Live and its disappearance from the basketball gaming space has led gamers to forget how great and innovative it was in its prime. That of course is assuming you’re old enough to remember NBA Live’s heyday in the first place, as there’s a generation of basketball gamers that didn’t grow up with NBA Live at its peak. There was a time when it was the brand leader though, pioneering concepts such as franchise mode, right stick dribbling, and realistic tendencies.

And of course, NBA Live 2005 brought us All-Star Weekend mode. It wasn’t the first representation of the NBA’s midseason classic on the virtual hardwood. Konami had featured the All-Star Weekend in the NBA in the Zone series, and most sim games have represented the All-Star Game (or at least allowed us to use the East and West All-Stars in exhibition play). EA Sports built Jordan vs. Bird around the Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Shootout, and NBA Live itself had also featured the latter. When the series adopted the full All-Star Weekend experience however, it was the best representation of the event to date. Here are five reasons to back up that claim.

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Wayback Wednesday: Freestyle Air in NBA Live

Wayback Wednesday: Freestyle Air in NBA Live

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at Freestyle Air in NBA Live.

The entire history of basketball video games provides us with countless examples of developers striving for deeper controls. From the addition of sprint and steal buttons, to right stick dribbling and advanced shot types, the games have evolved to give us more and more control over the action. In the early to mid 2000s in particular though, we saw major additions and frequent changes as developers attempted to implement mechanics that were long-term solutions, or could pave the way for them. Dual analog gamepads becoming the standard peripheral also freed up buttons for new functions.

When NBA Live 2003 introduced us to right stick dribbling with Freestyle Control, it was indeed a revolution. The ability to perform specific moves on cue instead of just having to hope for the best with our press of a generic dribble moves button changed basketball gaming forever. However, while it was vital that we had more control over fundamentals such as dribbling, stealing, and stance, we also needed to direct the action when we left the virtual hardwood, and that’s where Freestyle Air comes in. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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The Friday Five: 5 Things I Randomly Discovered Years Later

The Friday Five: 5 Things I Randomly Discovered Years Later

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five things that I quite randomly discovered in basketball games, several years after they were released.

The internet has made it difficult to keep secrets and spoilers hidden, though it does also facilitate the quick spread of misinformation. When it comes to video game secrets, it’s all too easy for someone to post a fake code, Photoshop a hoax, or try to pass off a mod as original content. At the same time, it’s easy for others to debunk hoaxes and urban legends, as well as keep others informed about factual aspects of various games. From strategies and functionality to hidden content and modding tutorials, a plethora of information is out there.

Obviously, someone has to discover secrets and techniques, and it’s always fun when you’re the one to stumble on them. Back in the day, I remember accidentally finding the Cheats menu in Donkey Kong Country 2, and actually looking forward to going to school on Monday so that I could tell my friends about it! No doubt that information was already out there somewhere, but my friends and I didn’t know about it until then. Over the years, I’ve randomly discovered things in basketball games, completely by accident or chance, and long after they were released. Indeed, it’s one of the reasons that I enjoy revisiting old games, because you never know what you’ve overlooked.

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Wayback Wednesday: 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16

Wayback Wednesday: 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16, as well as how the mode has changed since then.

There was a time when I was very reluctant to play online. Technically that refers to the present day as well, as I no longer find the scene appealing in NBA 2K. To that point though, for a while I was far more enthusiastic about online play. I’d dabbled with it in the past, but was generally content to play franchise modes, or stick to the NBA side of MyCAREER. However, when Kenny invited Arcane and I to play 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 along with community members The X, Valor, and zzcoolj21, we were hooked. NLSC THRILLHO was born!

Although some improvements were made to 2K Pro-Am following its introduction in NBA 2K16, I’d still say that the original incarnation of the mode is one of the best. The novelty of it being a fresh new experience certainly contributes to my nostalgia for it, but many of the changes to MyCAREER and the online scene since then have taken it in a disappointing direction. Once again though, that first version of 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K16 was a blast, and that also carried over into NBA 2K17. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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The Friday Five: 5 Retro Gaming Technical Frustrations

The Friday Five: 5 Retro Gaming Technical Frustrations

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five technical frustrations that one might encounter when retro gaming.

I love retro gaming! As I’ve said before, when I think back, I was probably born to be a retro gamer. The first console I ever played was one that came out before I was even born, and part of the 1983 video game crash. It’s not that I don’t enjoy playing new games and all the technological advances the medium has made, but my early forays into gaming have undoubtedly influenced my ability to overlook dated aspects if I still enjoy the gameplay. Some games hold up better than others – especially basketball and other sports titles – but bottom line, I can still have a blast with the classics.

Of course, over the years, that hasn’t always been easy to do. This is particularly true of older PC basketball games following upgrades to a new system. At the end of the day, retro gaming (basketball or otherwise) is still something of a niche interest within the hobby, with technical frustrations arising because it’s not kept in mind when new hardware and operating systems are being developed. Fortunately, there are usually workarounds, though they can be intimidating if you’re not technically savvy. I’ve been able to find ways to get all of my old games running for my retro gaming and content creation purposes, but there have definitely been some technical frustrations.

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NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: December 10th, 2022

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

A heavily-guarded three-pointer is impressive, we’ll marvel at a circus shot, and a gamewinner at the buzzer will bring us out of our seats. At the end of the day though, what makes an exciting highlight reel in basketball, virtual or otherwise? Dunks, dunks, and more dunks! This week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays is packed full of slams, courtesy of titles representing the current NBA, classic NBA, and college basketball. By all means keep those other highlights coming, but as I’m sure you’ll agree, you can’t go wrong with dunks!

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

Monday Tip-Off: Fixing & Enhancing Old Mods

Monday Tip-Off: Fixing & Enhancing Old Mods

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with a discussion of fixing and enhancing old mods.

It’s vital to know when to step back and stop working on a creative project. You may be familiar with the phrase “put down the brush”; the advice given to painters so that they can declare a piece finished, and avoid ruining it with unnecessary changes. The brush is quite literal there, but as a metaphor, it applies to any art or creative work. In video game and software design, it may take the form of “feature creep“. Just as extra brushstrokes can spoil a painting or stand in the way of its completion, a game or app can become bloated or delayed indefinitely if you don’t “put down the brush”.

The same goes for a creative endeavour that our community enjoys: modding. It’s all too easy for projects to be pushed back, or indeed never released, because we get hung up on minor details that aren’t a problem, or can be fixed later. It’s the reason why Version 1.0 doesn’t need to be the best and definitive version of a mod. To that point though, once the work is out there, we can always go back and try to fix a minor issue, or add further detail and content. This obviously happens quite often, but what about particularly old mods? Frankly, I’m all for it! Just because a mod is old and largely “finished”, there’s no harm in releasing new fixes and further enhancements.

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The Friday Five: 5 Roster Oddities in Basketball Games (Part 2)

The Friday Five: 5 Roster Oddities in Basketball Games (Part 2)

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five more roster oddities in various basketball games.

I’m always trying to brainstorm interesting ideas for my weekly features, and while that’s obviously a good idea, the downside is that as new topics come to mind, others get pushed aside. This is a follow-up to a Friday Five that I published way back in 2017, and considering how many other sequel articles I’ve written since then, it’s definitely overdue! On the plus side, letting the topic breathe (and then some) has allowed me to revisit other games, and discover examples that I might not have thought of had I written Part 2 closer to Part 1!

With that being said…roster oddities! There have been a number of interesting and quirky ones over the years, sometimes due to oversight, other times due to a game’s rosters capturing a very specific moment in time. In the first instalment, I covered Clyde Drexler coming off the bench in NBA Live 95 PC, oddities with M. Williams in NBA Live 09 PS2’s rosters, Brad Daugherty’s extended NBA career on the virtual hardwood, Kobe Bryant’s premature prominence in the first NBA Courtside, and the weirdness of roster editing functionality in NBA Full Court Press. In that same vein, here are five more examples of roster oddities that you may or may not remember.

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