TWD: Stuttering/lag (Disc version)
I bought all the episodes off psn but i wanted a disc version too share with friends. I tried playing through episode 1 off disc and encountered some rather off putting lag, and in some cases i would miss opportunities speak. I missed one speaking prompt and now clementine thinks i think shes dumb, which frankly broke my heart. In a game that hinges such prompts and quick input such lag can be a killer. I get some issues slip through the cracks but theres gotta be some solution to this right?
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Do you have an original or new slim PS3? What size hard drive do you have? How much free space do you have available on your hard drive?
I am tempted to return the disc version and opt for the digital in the future unless there is news of a patch in the works.
As whiny as that sounds, it's only because this issue is interrupting a fantastic experience. Thanks.
The stuttering is annoying, but it's essentially unplayable when it freezes so long that I can't make a choice and then someone is upset with Lee for doing nothing. The other issue has been when the audio skips so much that I don't actually know what the character said and then I'm forced to choose a response and hope for the best. I find it only stutters when it's saving, but it's saving CONSTANTLY.
I will definitely send a video if I continue to experience issues, since I hummed and haaa'd over deciding to grab it for the PS3/Xbox/PC/iPad, and am choked that I seem to have made the wrong choice!!
I also noticed, the lags occur when the game is saving (which it does A LOT!) so theres my question: I'm PS Plus Member and activated Online-Savegame Backups. Could that be a problem? The "saving" Status box, that appears all the time looks like a Playstation-UI dialogue, not like it's one from the game. So maybe it constantly backups the savegame online and thats the reason it's stuttering? Further, it seems like the Games are not installed on HDD so it constantly loads directly from the disc - could that be the problem? When I check the Download Content Section in the Main Menu it says "Installed" though...
Here some specs:
European Playstation 3 Slim (about 1-2 years old - not the new model)
Playstation is original, not modded
About 120 GB Total Space
About 30 GB Free Space
European PSN Account
Playstation Plus Member and Online-Game-Save activated
US Version of The Walking Dead Season One Retail Disk (original of course)
Loading from the disc might be an issue for some (I generally install to the HDD when I'm on Xbox to avoid lag), but, as prev mentioned, my Walking Dead is downloaded and installed from the PS store, so not the issue for me.
What I did:
- cleaned up hard drive, mostly to shrink backup to fit on my USB drive (I deleted any save games I didn't care about & deleted all downloads)
- tried backup, which failed
- booted into safe mode, reset defaults & did file restore (step 2 & 3)
- tried backup again, still failed
- booted into safe mode, again, did database rebuild (step 4)
- tried backup ... This time it worked
- re-downloaded and installed The Walking Dead
- played on without issue
So, it looks like Sony's bad HDDs are at least partly to blame.
My specs:
North American Playstation 3 Slim (about 2 years old)
Playstation is original, not modded
About 120 GB Total Space
About 80 GB Free Space (after cleanup)
Rough guess of about 100 hours of playtime.
North American PSN Account (no PS+ subscription)
The Walking Dead Game/Season Pass downloaded via PS store
p.s. So glad I got it working. Episode 2 was insane, I'm anxiously downloading 3 - 5 now!
p.p.s. Telltale, please don't lock your save game files. Locked save files is one of the most frustrating & ridiculous things I came across while trying to backup my my PS3 in case I needed to do a full format. Thanks.
Though I'd love to try and do what Kahlusha said they did, I can't say I find wiping my PS3 and going through backing up files or replacing the consoles hard drive, for a game that I feel should work smooth in the first place, to be a solution. I hope that doesn't sound rude... but I find it weird that a console game of all things isn't working properly on a console.
I'm curious if the 360 version has similar issues? I have a 360, PS3, and gaming PC, and somehow picked the wrong version of this game apparently.
You don't actually NEED to do a backup to do the file restore or rebuild database steps. It's recommended, just in case something goes wrong, but not at all required as the file restore & database rebuild (not to be confused with system restore) will not delete saved files. Check PS3 forums regarding safe mode for more info. I obviously do not want to be responsible for misinterpretation or loss of data.
But I completely understand where you're coming from. It was something I was willing to do since I have noticed extended load times in another game recently, so figured it would be worth a shot. Being a developer myself, I hate to blame devs for a problem when it MIGHT be a hardware issue. I'm still not entirely sure if this is Telltale's problem or Sony's, but I'm mid-episode 4 now and have had zero issues since my troubleshooting.
And I don't really think it's their fault, it's likely a combination of factors, and considering that not too many people are posting about this issue, it must be fairly limited in scope.
I'll edit this with the results I get. I'm hoping at least to get much fewer stutters like in_vein.
Thanks again!
Edit: Did the restore in safe mode and it's still just as bad as before.... Guess I'll see if I can get in touch and maybe get the game for 360 instead?
I finished the first 2 episodes, but there is a persistent problem I'm having with the game: it lags very frequently. There are always a few seconds of loading in between scenes, and sometimes the audio plays first and then the character animation follows without sound. It really breaks the immersion for me, and is a problem when rapid actions are required after scenes.
I'm wondering if this is something other PS3 players encounter and if this is specific to Blu Ray (i.e., if players that have it downloaded it via PSN have this problem). If it is, would TTG consider adding an option to install the game to the harddrive?
I merged your thread with this one.
Hey, I'm wondering if you had the same lag with the downloaded psn version as with the disc version. If not, seems like an option to install the game would solve a lot of these issues.
And during the last scene of episode one, almost all the voices were out of sync. Someone would hold a conversation with Lee during a freeze frame then unfreeze and skip to the character mouthing everything in silence.
I'm not sure if I should start episode 2 or wait because having to chug through another episode like that would be disheartening. The PS3 is only a few months old and it's the 160Gb Slim, not one of those Super Slims though.
I made an account on these forums for this exact reason. I got the gamestop collector's edition for christmas, which includes the disc based game. Plus everything you listed above I had the exact some problem with. I though Clementine was going to die when the game freeze framed for a good 10 seconds as a walker (or in this case, crawler) went for her in the pharmacy. Not to mention I didn't even get a chance to answer whatever it was she said in the final scene. Usually it would wait and load whatever the options were within the framerate issues, but not in that instance.
I wanted this game, because I've heard great things, but now I'm also wonder whether or not I should continue onto episode 2 or wait for a possible fix/patch to come out.
EDIT: PS3 is 120g slim, but not the newest slim. It was sent to me by Sony after my original 60g fat ps3 had the yellow light.
A few issues sure but nothing as game breakingly frustraing as the disc version. Nothing that rendered the game unplayable.
http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42138
Both the 360 and PC versions have their share of stuttering issues. I was offered the game on Steam and got similar hicups during quick time events.
I also bought the PSN version yesterday and met the same problems during episode 1. I even had one "game over" because the screen froze for a full second while I was trying to move the reticle on my target during a QTE (parking lot sequence).
FYI: the PS3 safe mode is *not* recommended to fix game issues, it is only meant to repair the OS in the event it becomes corrupted.
Tried the first 2 episodes, by the end of the second one when it was raining the game shuttered real bad, same with episode one by the end.
When is a patch coming out.... or to the very least let us install the game or dowbload it.
Thanks
As i told in my previous post i have a 60gb fat ps3... heavy shuttering on episode 1 and 2, lip sync is off and audio and movement from characters are off too
Pls help
terrible customer service
I have now restored my ps3 to try and play this game- losing all of my game data- it is still completly unplayable. It is therefore not fit for purpose in my opinion- if a patch is not released or if means of downloading a copy for free are not made available I shall be requiring a refund. This product should not have been released in the state it is in. Please reply- or at least give me telltales customer service number
I have about 100GB of free space. The game plays fine till you get to the end of episode one. Then the audio/video doesnt sync up. The audio will be way ahead of a serious video lag. So bad that you have about 2 seconds to make a choice when the video catches up. At the end of episode 3, it gets really bad when the zombie horde gets on screen, its so choppy and the animations are so broken up that you cant really tell whats actually going on. From what I have read on various forums, this is effecting the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions across the board. This is my first telltale purchase and I'm a little concerned about purchasing any further telltale games. What I have played of the game with out problems I have loved so far.
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/10/walking-dead-xblm-codes-being-given-to-players-with-disc-version/
What about us PS3 users?!?
how come i been here for 10 days and i cant even contact a spoke person. Who run this? Customer services are hands down one of the worst ive seen.
i need my game fixed, a replament or a refund please
here's my experience. I hope it can help to patch the game quickly.
- I played psn version of episode 1: no problem
- i bought the disc version, keep the save file from the psn episode 1, delete the episode 1 psn game
- then i played episode 2 disc version. lots of lags, sounds & videos..
not very playable.
ps3 slim 300 gb
160 gb free!
sytem version 4.31
also I'm worried to see you don't post a message to keep people informed.
I don't play the game for now..I wait to know about a patch or at least a free psn correct version to continue the experience.
so please keep us, your customers informed as soon as possible.
PS3 Slim / 120gb (only 20 gb used) / unmodded / all console updates completed
No save file issue in the first 2 episodes for me but the same freezing and lag others here are describing. I had to stop playing as it was freezing everything on screen for a good while and eventually catching up but then not giving enough time to select my choices. I have not played further than midway through chapter 2 due to this issue so i do not have feedback for those yet.
Please let us know what we can do to address this issue as i very much would like to play this game i spent money on. Thank you in advance for your prompt response.
Slim - 320gb
everything updated
Random stuttering....
Waiting for a fix to continue playing, finished just the first act, missed some conversations because of the random "lag bug"
There is a setting in the PS3 when you hold down the power button a few times that will eventually send you to a menu where you can "ps3 restore database". NOT "restore PS3" because that will wipe out everything. But "restore database" takes out any corrupted files and, yes, the game does play better. There's still lag, but better. At least for me. And I have an old, old 80 gig model.
Here, this guy explains it better than me. Remember "ps3 restore database". Doesn't wipe your PS3, makes it better.
http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-Home-Support/Restoring-your-PS3-File-System-Database-Helps-to-Maintain-PS3/td-p/37322987
For those that don't know, the PS3 has an operating system capable of restoring damage to the hard drive's file system/database - these can get damaged when the PS3 is shut off completely (pulled the plug while playing/power outage), when a game crashes (RDR, Skyrim, GT5, PSHome, etc), or when the system hangs when trying to do something and you soft reset. (stuck in the PS3's underwhelming web browser, etc). In addition, if you install and delete many games, applications (Netflix, Hulu, PlayMemories, Qriocity, etc), even videos and music this can also fragment your hard drive, thus slowing down your system.
By restoring, you can get your hard drive to start loading and playing games more smoothly, which results in less freezing, faster data retrieval (think defragging), and can also speed up the time it takes to sync trophies (yeah, if it's taking you more than 2 minutes to sync trophies your HDD is in need of this maintenance).
What to do:
1.) Turn off PS3 so the red light is on.
2.) Hold and keep holding the power button. The console will turn on, and eventually turn off again.
3.) Once off, with the red light on again, press and hold the power button. You will hear one beep, another single beep after that, and then two beeps in a row. After the two beeps, let go of the power button so it doesn't turn off again and you'll end up in the system recovery menu.
From here there are a few options. Now this is important, "DO NOT CLICK ON 'RESTORE PS3". That will wipe the hard drive clean. You don't want that.
What you want is the other two options:
A) "Restore PS3 Database" (this might take a little time be patient).
PLEASE NOTE:
These two options will not delete any content on your HDD, but it will nuke all your sent and received messages as well as music playlists you have, and if you edited track information on any mp3s, say you renamed them all to something less ambiguous than "track 01", the names and other altered data will revert. (seriously, get a keyboard) For any messages you want to save, I would suggest sending them to another account you have, then send them back later.
recovery_menu.jpg
Do this and you'll notice a significant improvement on your performance in proportion to how much you use the machine. Keep in mind that any hard drive intensive game like RDR, Skyrim, GT5, PSHome, PSN downloads, etc will make a mess of your hard drive over time, so restoring the database at least will tidy it up and reorganize files to faster access. If you have a 300gb hard drive and your drive is almost maxed out you're probably going to want to do this twice a month.
Update: was able to restart the system and relaunch saved game. This seemed to resolved the freezing issue. But still getting the lag and choppyness ( tends to only be happening during large action sequenses or areas with lots of sequintial choice events). But frozen screen issue is no longer persisting.