PlayStation 3 Skyrim Issues

The PlayStation 3 version of Skyrim has been, anecdotally, afflicted with more and greater Bugs and Glitches than other versions. PlayStation 3-specific issues may stem from the ever-increasing size of the game's save file. Users report that as the size of the game's save file increases, problems with framerate worsen.

Potential issues with the PlayStation 3 version of Skyrim were first reported by IGN on November 18, 2011.

Framerate "Lag" Issues

The most significant issue particular to the PlayStation 3 version of Skyrim is one of a drastically decreased framerate, often reported as PlayStation 3 lag or PlayStation 3 slowdown. Users report, and online videos confirm, that the framerate drops dramatically, often as low as zero frames per second, at later stages in the game. The framerate of Skyrim is typically steady at 30 frames per second when users first start the game.

The framerate issues are largely attributed to the size of the save file created for the PlayStation 3 version of the game. When users make a save, the PS3 menus specify the size of the save file. As the save file gets over 6MB large, users report noticeable slowdown.

Fixes, Solutions, and how to deal with PS3 "Lag"

On December 7, 2011, Bethesda issued the 1.3 Patch for Skyrim with some intention of addressing the PlayStation 3 performance issues, but the problems persist. Since then, there is no official fix yet issued for Skyrim's framerate issues on PlayStation 3, as Bethesda has yet to address the issue. However, users report some speculative, short term "fixes" to the problem that may or may not actually help.

• Disable auto-saves. Some users report that disabling auto-saving has a positive impact on the framerate issue with the PlayStation 3 game.

• Delete extraneous file saves. Speculatively, deleting extraneous save files may help alleviate framerate issues. Instead of having a log of 20 Skyrim save files, some users suggest keeping the save file count to under three.

• Keep the file size low. The file size of the Skyrim save appears to be affected by things like opened doors and items left behind, as the game remembers every changed position of such items. By closing doors (or leaving them in their original positions) and not leaving items like dropped weapons behind, some users report that the size of the save file is kept lower.

• Turn off the PlayStation 3. Some users speculate that the framerate issues are exacerbated by long play sessions, stretching multiple hours, and that by avoiding long play sessions the framerate issues can be minimized.

Other PlayStation 3-Specific Issues

IGN polled readers about PlayStation 3 issues with Skyrim. The poll results revealed significant numbers of users experiencing the following problems:

• Severe framerate drops: 36.02% of users reported that they experienced the issue.

• Textures fail to load: 19.03% of users reported that they experienced the issue.

• Excessive game freezes: 20.34% of users reported that they experienced the issue.

Public Response

Public response to the issues has been predictably heated. On December 5, 2011, IGN's Colin Campbell wrote the article titled "Skyrim Lag: How The Hell Did This Happen?". IGN reached out to Bethesda for a statement but as of the publishing of the article, Bethesda did not respond. Colin concluded his thusly: "Bethesda owes the world a full explanation, the sooner, the better."

Timeline of Events

• November 11, 2011 - Skyrim is officially released to mostly positive reviews.

• November 17, 2011 - IGN reported that Bethesda is "investigating the issue further as to why some folks seeing" PlayStation 3 slowdown issues.

• November 20, 2011 - After a deluge of reader reports, IGN polls its readers about PS3-related Skyrim problems. The results of that poll suggested that 75% of users experience some problems on PlayStation 3.

• November 28, 2011 - Bethesda issues the 1.2 Patch for Skyrim across all three platforms. The patch fixed some cross-platform issues, some PC- and Xbox-specific issues, but did not address PlayStation 3 slowdown issues. As well, the patch introduced some new bugs.

• December 7, 2011 The 1.3 Patch is released on PC and later on Xbox and PS3. The patch does not address ongoing PlayStation 3 slowdown, or "lag," issues.

[source ign.com]