Electronic Arts · 2016–2017
NBA Live 18
My first AAA title. I scripted and skinned screens for Franchise and The League, including the draft, standings, contracts and the new conversation screen.
- Role
- Experience Technical Designer (UI Scripter)
- Studio
- Electronic Arts
- Years
- Oct 2016 – Jul 2017
- Engine
- Flash · ActionScript · XML
- Shipped
- NBA Live 18
- Modes
- Franchise · The League
The job
On NBA Live 18 I worked as a UI scripter with a large cross-discipline team, designing and scripting interfaces with Flash, ActionScript and XML. Most of my work was in the Franchise and The League modes.
Draft
I skinned and scripted the Franchise draft screen on my own, including the HUD in the top right, which animates to show the current pick and round. The draft board in the center updates live as picks are made. I worked with a software engineer to make sure the data came through correctly and was formatted well. Buttons on the left let players move through the draft at their own pace.
The Franchise draft.
Standings
Sports games are full of spreadsheets, and this is one of many I built. A shared base and styling let me skin these screens quickly, with room for per-screen touches like the legend over the team logo.
Team standings.
Contracts
The contract screen has a static version and an editable one, where the properties on the left become toggles. The toggles update the graph live, so players can see how each choice changes their offer. Nobody at EA had used the graph component in years. I cleaned up and modernized its code and skinned it to match the mock.
Contract offer.
Conversations
The conversation screen was a headline feature and the game’s first pseudo-3D UI. I worked on it with several other UI scripters, fixed many of the bugs the 3D treatment introduced, and worked with the audio team to add its sound effects.
The conversation screen.