TWD: Stuttering/lag (Disc version)

[ZombieEpidemic]

So issue with lag persists but now im getting a game freezing issue where the game literally has frozen but still has background audio and full menu functionality. Also had the same issues happen on another ps3 (fat model) but at different game locations. I took video of this issue and am tempted to throw it up on youtube to see if we can get some hits and get Telltale to respond on this issue. At this point i would just be cool with them giving us the xbox solution on the ps3 (as i do not think they will patch this issue based on the 360 appeasement/ resolution). Again, still a fan loving this game but would very much like to see some kind of acknowledgement from ttg on this. If i find any new info or testing results i will post them here.

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.

[ZombieEpidemic]

Thanks for the update Jackal. Seems odd this is their answer as i have tested this disc on a standard slim ps3, older fat ps3 and issues persisted on both at the same spots when playing on the retail disc (disc is spotless). Go figure. I pushed through and finished the game and experienced much less of these issues in episode 4 and 5 but still a little bit of it. Great game and definitely deserved of Game of the Year, but this disc release is a very unfortunate representation of this fantastic product. Since this seems to be their response i will cease further posting about this issue and just take appropriate precautions when further purchases from telltale are made.

Again, amazing game and excellent art. Please keep making these games Telltale, but please invest more in testing on future disc releases.

[bigtimmbo72]

They should call this game "The Walking Lag". Seriously, how can a game that is pretty much just made of dialogue choices lag so bad? I just purchased the PS3 disk yesterday, and played through Ep. 1. The game worked great up until the last moments of the pharmacy. Then as everyone else has stated, voices stopped being in synch, and the stuttering is so jarring, that it completely takes you out of the game. I missed a couple of key choices simply because the game kept stuttering and at one point just froze for about 3 seconds. Ive played a lot of the TellTale games, even "Bone" which left ya hanging after one episode, and have never had these problems. My PS3 is fine. I take very good care of it. I never have these type of situations with any other disk. Was this game even tested for issues before they sent it to be pressed for retail purchase? Please Telltale, could you do something for us fans of your games to help us out, and not just switch the blame to our consoles. Obviously we are all having the same problems at the same spots, and I dont think its a coincidence.

[cemelc]

Lol, acording to that answer my ps3 is the problem? Give me a break i know my ps3 and it works just fine... this is them washing their hands on the subject. Im going to send mails to ign and gamespot to see if they can publish this crap for everyone to know.

[NukelearOne]

I purchased the PS3 disc version for my girlfriend's Christmas present, not realizing there were going to be performance issues when compared to the downloadable version. She finally has some time to play it and is loving the game, but she is really aggravated at the constant choppiness (as in every 30 seconds during game-play).

Telltale, please provide us with downloadable copy keys upon proof of purchase of the retail disk edition, this is beyond frustrating!

[Thrazor]

I bought this game a couple weeks ago and experienced the same lagging issues at the end of the first episode, and in subsequent episodes as well. While it's a terrific game, I feel that the issues plaguing it are awful and should be fixed. If that's not possible, I feel that PS3 users experiencing this should be awarded a code to download the game in full from the PSN store.

I want to play through the game again, but I don't want to sit through all of the hiccups . Playing through it the first time was almost unbearable. Please fix this issue.

[cemelc]

It seems to them we are second class citizens given that no one seems to be answering i wrote to ign about you ppl should too better than doing nothing in this forum

[bigtimmbo72]

Seriously? Not even some kind of reply from any devs or tech support on this issue? The bad game performance is obviously happening to a large amount of people. There are many forum topics on many different sites that are asking about this. Why are us PS3 users getting the shaft here? If Xbox360 users can get help, then why cant we?

[MattP]

We are aware that a small number of users are affected by hitching on the PS3 and have been looking into the issue. We do know that the issue affecting 4GB Xbox users of the game not being able to cache properly would not affect PS3 users as all units come with a physical hard drive.

However, we do know that if the game audio is not synced during gameplay this can be an indicator of a fragmented hard drive. Following the steps posted by BigAl6ft6 on page 2 to restore the PS3 Database and File System should resolve this issue and may resolve any major hitching you encounter. Please select the direct link below to view this helpful post:

http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/...8&postcount=40

[erickroll]

Hello,

I am having an issue as well, for one I cannot even get this game to update on the PS3. I do have a launch console, but have upgraded the hard drive to a 250gb hard drive. I have about 160 GB free. This game cannot be played because it always refuses to update. I am forced to unplug from the PSN to even get the game to play, and then it is partially playable. If you all can fix the game, then please do so, otherwise I do not even want the game anymore in its current state and will kindly send it back directly to the company.

[Thrazor]

I did what the poster suggested in the link, Matt. There is still significant lag throughout episodes 1-2 so far. This is not just an isolated incident. I've seen people on various forums complaining about frame rate issues.

No disrespect intended, Matt, but I feel that blaming it on the PS3 hard drive is a cop out. Skyrim is the only other PS3 game I've had any slow down with, but the frame rate is far worse in this game.

The game itself definitely deserves Game of the Year, but the hitching is unbearable. If nothing is done about this I'll be very hesitant to purchase another Telltale game in the future.

[ZombieEpidemic]

Hi Matt, i followed the previously (and reposted) steps from the link and the same issue occurs. Again, terrible in the end of episode one (lag, audio sync, scene jumps due to "lag"), beginning of episode 2, and end of episode 2, and at one point when you are stopped at the station in ep. 3 (although that may just be the large environment at that scene). Again episode 4, 5, and most of 3 didnt have much of any issues but 1 and 2 still acting up horribly ( in the same exact spots). I tried these test play throughs with different choices and same spots were affected. This was tested on my ps3 slim (not the new 2011 one), and on an original ps3 fat. Same spots, same troubleshooting, same issues. Both devices have unaltered factory HDD's. i'm posting this at this point to help further illustrate that this does not seem to be a ps3 (user end) specific issue. If there is an update to fix this in the future cool. Will we get replacement codes for ps3, probly not (and at this point ive accepted that with no animosity). BUT, and i cant stress this enough, please make note that there IS a legitimate issue here for ps3 owners who bought the disc release and let TTG know that these issues need to be addressed for both sides of the coin (either console) for future disc releases as a show of good faith to TTG's customers and fans. Again, love the game, hope for more, all respect to you and TTG, but please provide this data to whoever needs to see it to help prevent further issues like this. Thank you very much.

Again, not asking for anything more here from TTG other than followup on future disc release (or digital) issues for both user bases. You still have a loyal fan here, but i gotta state my case on behalf of users with issues. Again, thanks for all you all do.

[cemelc]

Just did that process, it didnt work, heavy lag on first episode in the exact same place at the farmacy... is not the ps3.

60gb model and upgraded to 120 gb.

[MattP]

Hi all,

Thank you for the feedback. I am sorry that the workaround posted on the previous page did not resolve this issue. We would like to look into the matter more closely, so if possible, can anyone affected by hitching or lag on the PS3 retail version of The Walking Dead provide the following:

• A video showing the hitching and out of sync audio (please upload videos to a file sharing website like youtube and provide the direct link to the video)

• More information about your PS3 such as:

How old is your PS3?

What is your PS3's model number? This can be found at the end of the serial number or the bottom fo the console and starts with a 'CECH' designation.

Have you replaced your hard drive? If so, please provide make and model number of the new hard drive.

Have you ever cleaned or replaced your Blu-Ray drive? If so, please provide any relevant details.

Any other information you can provide would also be helpful in trying to isolate the cause of this issue.

Thank you!

[Lonney McD]

Hi, I just made an account to add my info to the discussion.

I was experiencing terrible stuttering with the disc based TWD game. It was really bad towards the end of chapter one, and was rendering the game unenjoyable, if not unplayable.

It looks like I may have fixed this issue by removing the dynamic theme I had installed on my ps3. After I changed it back to a default theme, The end of ep 1 ran much smoother and I encountered no significant problems in ep 2 (there was some stuttering during the 1st minute, but after that, there were only very minor hiccups for the rest of the ep.)

PS3 Info:
60GB launch model w/ 260GB hd installed
Dynamic theme (Journey) was installed, issue cleared up for me when dynamic theme was removed.

[MattP]

Thank you for the input. We will research the possibility of the theme interfering with the game.

In the meantime, does anyone else have experiencing this issue have a dynamic theme enabled? If so, which one?

[RollTheDice]

Hi there,

I am also experiencing severe framerate drops and audio/video desynchronization with my disc copy of TWD on PS3. I have a freshly fragmented, serviced, wiped cache, restored, etc. file system, and a recently cleaned Blu-Ray drive that plays other games and movies without incident.

It is an older 80GB PS3 that came with MGS4 on the game's launch (CECHExx.)
I am not running a dynamic theme, and have recently cleared up space on the HDD (pre-defrag) so that I believe there is close to 30GB of free space on the console.

I have tried everything I can think of to get the game to work, which is quite a bit, considering I work in QA. Please let me know what steps I can take for my wife and I to play the game again.

[Afro137]

I had The Walking Dead since Christmas and have been eyeing this topic since then in desperation. Got really frustrated a few weeks back and gave up but today I followed McD's advice and disabled my dynamic theme (Flower) and the game's lag and stuttering issues dropped dramatically.

I have missed some dialog ques early in Episode 2 due to the game stuttering every time something loads or autosaves but I highly suggest anyone having problems to try this out. I'm at the finale of Episode 2 now and I am having one heck of an experience.

[Faab]

here's a complete constructive feedback, I'm sorry i can't provide any video.

ps3 slim 300 gb
160 gb free!
sytem version 4.31

- my ps3 is one year old
- cech 3004B
- never replace anything.. hard drive, blue-ray drive...
- never install PS3 themes, but downloaded some
- played something like 70 games, also dvds films, blue-rays films.. never observed this kind of lag
- european ps3, i'm based in France

- 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.. particularly at the beginning and the end.
not very playable.


I personnaly thing there's a reason to that lag. It's impossible my ps3 only had the problem with that game disc.
I almost never uninstall anything. Disc fragmentation can't be the problem, in my opinion.
The fact everything else I do, every other game I play works just fine seems to prove it.

thanks for your attempt to fix it.

[Lonney McD]

I have only played to the end of ep 3 so far.

Removing my dynamic theme seems to have helped a lot, but not completely cleared the issue.

I did see some stuttering flair up pretty bad towards the end of ep 3, when in the area encountering the hanging tanker by the train tracks. The stuttering cleared up when I went to the next area to check the station, and returned when I got back to the tracks.

It went away again when the story left that area, so in this case, I'm betting that bit might not run so smooth for anybody.

Looking forward to Eps 4 & 5!