If you have been trying to enjoy the new Skyrim game on your PS3, you have undoubtedly experienced freezes and the game slowing down whilst playing. These issues have been a significant source of frustration for many players, leading to widespread discussions and complaints within the gaming community.
Now Joshua Sawyer of Obsidian has explained in a personal Q&A on Formspring that the problems being experienced by Skyrim PS3 gamers are due to the console’s divided memory pool and how the game’s engine fundamentally saves off and references data at run time. This technical explanation sheds light on why these performance issues are more pronounced on the PS3 compared to other platforms.
Understanding Memory Pools
Joshua Sawyer of Obsidian explains:
“The Xbox 360 has a unified memory pool: 512 megs of RAM usable as system memory or graphics memory”, Sawyer said. “The PS3 has a divided memory pool: 256 megs for system, 256 for graphics. It’s the same total amount of memory, but not as flexible for a developer to make use of”.
This distinction is crucial because a unified memory pool allows developers more flexibility in allocating resources where they are needed most. In contrast, a divided memory pool restricts this flexibility, making it more challenging to optimize performance. For instance, if a game requires more system memory but less graphics memory, the PS3’s divided memory pool can become a bottleneck, leading to performance issues such as freezing and slowdowns.
“As with Fallout 3 and Skyrim, the problems are most pronounced on the PS3 because the PS3 has a divided memory pool. The longer you play a character, the more bit differences on objects (characters, pencils on tables, containers, etc.) get saved off and carried around in memory. I think we’ve seen save games that are pushing 19 megs, which can be really crippling in some areas”.
The Impact of Save Game Size
The size of save games is another critical factor contributing to the performance issues on the PS3. As players progress through the game, more data about the game world and the player’s actions get saved. This includes the state of various objects, characters, and other in-game elements. Over time, these save files can become quite large, sometimes reaching sizes of up to 19 megabytes.
Large save files can strain the PS3’s memory, leading to longer load times, more frequent freezes, and overall sluggish performance. This issue is exacerbated by the PS3’s divided memory pool, which limits the amount of memory available for handling these large save files efficiently.
Bethesda is aware of these issues and is actively working on solutions. The company is hoping to correct the problems experienced by PS3 gamers with the rollout of a new patch very soon. This patch aims to optimize memory usage and improve the overall stability of the game on the PS3 platform.
In the meantime, players can take some steps to mitigate these issues. For example, regularly clearing the system cache and keeping save files to a minimum can help improve performance. Additionally, players can try to avoid creating too many new save files and instead overwrite existing ones to keep the overall save file size manageable.
Despite these challenges, Skyrim remains a beloved game with a dedicated fan base. The game’s rich world, engaging storylines, and immersive gameplay continue to captivate players, even in the face of technical difficulties. With Bethesda’s ongoing efforts to address these issues, PS3 players can look forward to a more stable and enjoyable gaming experience in the near future.
Source: Lazy Gamer
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