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My PS3 version of Skyrim is unplayable

The PS3 version of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that Bethesda released is a slap in the face to gamers. Longer loading screens is one thing, but horrific frame rate issues that vary from frustrating to flat out making the game unplayable should never have been left in the final product.

here is some footage that is similar to what I have experienced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMu4Tzk2bdg&feature=player_detailpage#t=62s

These errors seem to occur as the file size gets bigger, meaning that they only pop up after 20+ hours of play.
The longer you play, the more the game punishes you.

Pete Hines (Bethesda) has tweeted that "On the list for this update is improved performance for long-term play on PS3." I am eagerly anticipating this update, but I wanted to say something because I don't think it is right for companies to release games in this condition in the first place.
With so many people experiencing it, I cannot fathom how they didn't catch this problem in testing.

I am a huge elder scrolls fan, and yes of course I would rather play on PC but I can't afford one powerful enough.
In any case, that shouldn't be an issue. The drawback of console versions should be lack of mods, not lack of ability to play the game!

From August: When asked if the graphics in the PS3 version of Skyrim would be similar to the Xbox 360 game, Bethesda’s Pete Hines said, “Yes, PS3 and 360 have reached a good place of parity….framerate, fidelity, etc. The PS3 version is getting a ton of attention”.
http://gamingeverything.com/8293/bethesda-ps3-version-of-skyrim-getting-a-ton-of-attention/

Apparently, it didn't get enough :p. I can't help but partially blame the rigidity of a cross-platform release date formulated months before the game is finished.

I just want to play Skyrim again :(
 

Card Boy

Banned
The PC your typing from, how good is it?

Trust me i know you said its not powerfull enough but i'd advise you to invest in it.
 
I hear ya on this !

My problems: Frame rate drop (Sometimes severe), Slowdown, Texture's not sizing back up to HD (Most notable on armor, wooden fixtures, and sometimes weapon.), Extended load times.

Size of my File: 9708 KB.
Amount of time: 59 Hours 23 minutes.
Console: Slim 160 GB.
My Play-style: Stealth build, Assassin type. Extended combat is not my area of expertise. I NEVER fast travel, but will use the carriage to get from one side of Skyrim to the other, if need be. I loot corpses but only sometimes. My character sleeps the night hours away except when indoors or in dungeons. Valuable's are always stored in safe chests or kept on person. I always try to make my save in an interior cell as that appears to cut down on the file size.
 
From August: When asked if the graphics in the PS3 version of Skyrim would be similar to the Xbox 360 game, Bethesda’s Pete Hines said, “Yes, PS3 and 360 have reached a good place of parity….framerate, fidelity, etc. The PS3 version is getting a ton of attention”.
http://gamingeverything.com/8293/bethesda-ps3-version-of-skyrim-getting-a-ton-of-attention/

Apparently, it didn't get enough :p. I can't help but partially blame the rigidity of a cross-platform release date formulated months before the game is finished.
Did you want him to say: "Nope it will suck. Buy a good pc."





'Cause thats what he wanted to say if there wasn't a PR guy right behind him.
 

RyanDG

Member
My save file is nearly 14 mb.

At least once I've had to revert to a cloud save because Skyrim locks up on loading the original.

I have to delete all auto saves routinely (scary in a Bethesda game), clear out game data, and reinstall Skyrim to get it playing well again.

It only plays for about an hour before it starts chugging - sometimes less if I spend more time in cities or dungeons.

My wife loves me and is allowing me to go ahead and get a computer upgrade this christmas so I'll be playing Skyrim on the PC before too long again (tried it originally and just didn't get the performance I wanted), but until that happens I'm not a happy camper.

At first I wouldn't argue that it wasn't 'unplayable', but the more I'm playing with this mess, the more and more the adjective fits (especially once your save file reaches the 10mb file size or above).

Blah.
 
The PC your typing from, how good is it?

Trust me i know you said its not powerfull enough but i'd advise you to invest in it.

I understand what you are saying, and I am looking into upgrading my PC in the future.

The point is that companies should be held accountable for releasing broken games, and shouldn't get away with patching it weeks later and everything being hunky-dory.

Attention should be brought to this and Bethesda should be thoroughly ashamed. I'm sure their egos are pumped up due to all the great press Skyrim is getting (deservedly so IMO), but this shouldn't slip through the cracks.
 

JdFoX187

Banned
I can't even get mine to play anymore. I'm on the 360 and it locks up any time I try to load a save and go anywhere near the "Trouble in Skyrim" questline in this cave. Really pissing me off.
 

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
Hasn't pretty much every Bethesda game this gen had this problem? Hell, I seem to remember it being an issue on the XBox version of Morrowind as well.
 
I don't understand how a problem like this went undetected, unless NO ONE at bethesda bothered to ever play more then 10hrs of the PS3 version
 

vireland

Member
My favorite is the inventory item named "DO NOT DELETE" that looks like a chest.

I'm sure the game was a complete bear to test, but some of this stuff is ridiculous.

(PC version with just a few texture mods looks pretty sweet already...)
 

lastendconductor

Put your snobby liquids into my mouth!
I was considering getting this game for PS3 (I have no plans to upgrade my PC right now), but in its current state, I'll pass, and I'm going to be very cautious even after a patch.
That's nice, full price releases without QA, they must've made a good chunk of money that way.
 
Did reviewers not address these problems in their reviews, or was the embargo not lifted till it released?

This is another great question that I don't know the answer to.
I can only assume very few reviewers played long enough for it to start getting as bad as you see in the video.
 
So glad I've waited to start this -- I was playing something when it came out... (Yakuza 3, maybe) so I wanted to finish that first and I saw people complaining that the ps3 version had this issue once you put a bunch of time into the game and decided I'd wait for a patch and confirmation that it solves the issue before starting. Played Deus Ex instead. Seems like I made the right choice.

To those of you being punished for starting the game immediately, I'm sorry, this sucks, and you have every right to be PISSED. I test software for a living and if we ever let something like this get out to customers, heads would roll. I've been really surprised lately at how bad some of these high profile titles are when they're released. Quality assurance has apparently been tossed out the window. :\
 
I don't understand how a problem like this went undetected, unless NO ONE at bethesda bothered to ever play more then 10hrs of the PS3 version

I am thinking the same thing, how do testers not notice this kind of thing, 20 hours isn't that long when those guys do like weeks worth of stuff, and i'm sure they KNEW that people out there would be playing skyrim to 200+ hours easily.
 

Speevy

Banned
Hasn't pretty much every Bethesda game this gen had this problem? Hell, I seem to remember it being an issue on the XBox version of Morrowind as well.



It was horrible on the Xbox.

You couldn't walk 10 feet without the game locking up after you had saved it a certain number of times.
 
The point is that companies should be held accountable for releasing broken games, and shouldn't get away with patching it weeks later and everything being hunky-dory.

unfortunately i wouldn't count on them patching the ps3 version. bugs in oblivion and FO3 were never corrected, including the similar save file bugs in FO3.
 

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
10/10.

Game of the Year.

The most critically praised game release of 2011.
 

vireland

Member
Did reviewers not address these problems in their reviews, or was the embargo not lifted till it released?

Just between you and me...most mainstream reviewers are lucky to play a RPG 5 -10 hours before writing a review. Shhh...it's a secret.
 

Speevy

Banned
This combined with stories of scaling, walled off cities, loot based on your level, I'll pass.

Dark Souls wins.
 

GeoramA

Member
Re-installing the game data helps a little.

But yeah, that patch needs to hit ASAP. My save file is 12MB...makes sense why they didn't send out any PS3 review copies.
 

bill0527

Member
It's a helluva good game so far and I hate to see these kinds of technical problems for anyone who put down money for this game regardless of platform.

What I've learned with Bethesda though ... If my PC can't run it decently, I'm not buying it, period.
 

NBtoaster

Member
Oblivion had the issue of repeatedly freezing as file size increased as well. I seem to remember going out and collecting every item I had dropped, selling it to a vendor, and waiting until it's inventory reset (which removed the need to store that items location in the file), which reduced the save file size a bit and could help.

Or I'm remembering wrong :S
 

DrBo42

Member
I am eagerly anticipating this update, but I wanted to say something because I don't think it is right for companies to release games in this condition in the first place.
With so many people experiencing it, I cannot fathom how they didn't catch this problem in testing.

In game QA we wipe saves/all created data any time we receive a new build so that any new issues reported aren't a result of bad data. Chances are this was definitely caught, but late in the testing process and put on the back burner by the powers that be. In short, don't blame QA. It's not on them.
 

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
It's a helluva good game so far and I hate to see these kinds of technical problems for anyone who put down money for this game regardless of platform.

What I've learned with Bethesda though ... If my PC can't run it decently, I'm not buying it, period.
My PC can run the game just fine, but that doesn't help when NPC pathing issues make it literally impossible to complete quests related to the major guilds in the game.
 
I love Skyrim so much, but it's really shitty that they pushed the game out like this. There is just no way they weren't aware of this shit. No way.

Anyway, I have a pretty low end computer(GTS 250, Q66 2.4ghz and 4GB of ram), and I can play Skyrim on high/1080p and get 30fps.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
If what I've read about this being a problem in FO3 + NV is true, Bethesda should face a class action lawsuit. They have now shipped THREE products with the same bug that renders the software UNPLAYABLE. If that is not acting in bad faith, nothing is.
 

zlatko

Banned
I've had 0 issues on my PC version.

Thank you based master race machine. <3 dat Skyrim.

At least once a year there is some horror story about a game for PS3, and sometimes more. The sad truth is I use mine for exclusives only, and my multiplatform gaming goes between PC and 360.
 
Just between you and me...most mainstream reviewers are lucky to play a RPG 5 -10 hours before writing a review. Shhh...it's a secret.

The relationship between gaming media and game developers is awful.
The way they feed off each other...write a great review of a game, get inside access on that dev's next game, get more page views for your site, rinse/repeat and you get bought journalism that is nothing more than an extension of marketing.

I don't think I'm going to buy another game on release day for a long time.
 

Big-E

Member
Every time something about testing gets brought up, people usher in ignorant comments. Most of the time QA finds all the bugs you bitch about. It is developments job to read what bugs in the game, to then address the bug. Addressing the bug could mean fixing it or if it is too hard of a fix or there is just not enough time, it gets pushed. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft thoroughly check all games and come back with reports when games are submitted and they do a really thorough job. From my experience, Sony seems to be the most thorough but just a little bit more than Microsoft and Nintendo. Nintendo is the most fucked up though as they sometimes come back with issues that are so stupid and mean nothing that they want addressed.

This was probably found by Bethesda and Sony but talks allowed it to be pushed.
 

KageMaru

Member
Wasn't this discussed in the Skyrim console performance thread? It really does suck and I hope the upcoming patch fixes the issue for you OP.

Did reviewers not address these problems in their reviews, or was the embargo not lifted till it released?

Reviewers were sent the 360 or PC version for review. Most did not even play the PS3 version.

Edit:

Here's why Bethesda didn't catch this big:

They didn't give a fuck.

Hopefully that clears some things up.

SMH
 

Mrbob

Member
If what I've read about this being a problem in FO3 + NV is true, Bethesda should face a class action lawsuit. They have now shipped THREE products with the same bug that renders the software UNPLAYABLE. If that is not acting in bad faith, nothing is.


Yeah, sounds really shady. Surprised it has taken multiple game releases for this problem to be finally noticed. Where has the gaming media been for the last couple releases?
 

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
Wasn't this discussed in the Skyrim console performance thread? It really does suck and I hope the upcoming patch fixes the issue for you OP.



Reviewers were sent the 360 or PC version for review. Most did not even play the PS3 version.
This did surprisingly little to stop them from posting PS3 labeled reviews for more hits with less work on their end.
 
Every time something about testing gets brought up, people usher in ignorant comments. Most of the time QA finds all the bugs you bitch about. It is developments job to read what bugs in the game, to then address the bug. Addressing the bug could mean fixing it or if it is too hard of a fix or there is just not enough time, it gets pushed. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft thoroughly check all games and come back with reports when games are submitted and they do a really thorough job. From my experience, Sony seems to be the most thorough but just a little bit more than Microsoft and Nintendo. Nintendo is the most fucked up though as they sometimes come back with issues that are so stupid and mean nothing that they want addressed.

This was probably found by Bethesda and Sony but talks allowed it to be pushed.

I don't think anyone would blame this on an oversight by QA.

Bethesda clearly knew about this and figured it wouldn't be a big enough issue to affect their bottom line.

Part of the reason I made the thread is because I want that to change.


Does deleting old saves do anything?

Nope. You can only slow it down by saving less.
 

Speevy

Banned
During the holiday months, the sole purpose of gaming journalism is to reinforce the grandiosity of big releases.

If you injected truth serum into the head honchos of these websites and magazines, you would discover that they plan to have at least one game score a 10. Every year.
 

Dresden

Member
It's an incredible game, but this is one of the many things about the game that I find baffling. Weren't these issues around for previous Bethesda games using the same engine? It says much about the company that they'd release such a product to millions of customers.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Wasn't this discussed in the Skyrim console performance thread? It really does suck and I hope the upcoming patch fixes the issue for you OP.



Reviewers were sent the 360 or PC version for review. Most did not even play the PS3 version.

Edit:



SMH

I'm really having a hard time of coming up with a reason besides "they don't give a fuck" if the bug has been in their software for 3 releases, has been widely reported and documented, and still isn't fixed. Please explain an alternative reason. Your options would be incompetence, don't give a fuck, or inability to fix. I would doubt #1 and #3 should mean they should not ship the product. So maybe I'm missing something.
 
If what I've read about this being a problem in FO3 + NV is true, Bethesda should face a class action lawsuit. They have now shipped THREE products with the same bug that renders the software UNPLAYABLE. If that is not acting in bad faith, nothing is.

Agreed, its not acceptable at all
 
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