Hi. My latest saved data file is just at 8 mbs and the stuttering I'm getting has nothing to do with how long I'm playing, seemingly, and restarting my PS3 (not my save, if that's what the title unintentionally implied) does nothing. The game simply has very, very frequent stuttering from the beginning in just about every area and an inherently sluggish (playable, but not comfortable, so probably in the 20-25 fps range with stuttering) fps in certain areas such as the fall forest, the marshes near Morthal and Solitude, and the geyser area. I also get quite frequent stuttering, but not a terrible fps, in Whiterun and, surprisingly, Solitude (surprising in that the framerate is pretty good, but frequent stuttering mars it), but then in, say, Markarth, the general fps is just consistently poor... all regardless of how long I've been playing into a single session.

I'm assuming that, regardless of playtime or saved data file sizes, the game generally just has a very unpredictably lowering framerate (as supported by lensoftruth and DigitalFoundry anolyses), but that the increased saved data file sizes are the primary source of the stuttering. To separate stuttering from lower fps (framerate per second), stuttering is the sudden and temporary sharp decline of framerate in contrast to an otherwise higher framerate while lower fps is just a consistently choppy and/or sluggish, no matter what one's doing, movement and running of the game. The stuttering is sometimes so frequent that people may interpret it as a low fps and this is a problem. I ran some tests and my original save I kept from near the beginning of the game confirms my thoughts. The fps at the beginning is consistent with what I'm getting now, 45 hours into the game, but there was far less stuttering back then.

Going to the fall forest area with that older save (roughly 3 mbs and just a few hours in), I get the same sluggish, but playable, fps I get with my newest save. In Whiterun, with that older save, I get the same smooth fps I get now, but without the massive stuttering. The difference is, between all areas, that while the general fps seems pretty similar between both my older and newer save that my newer save has far more stuttering in practically every environment on top of the existing framerates... stuttering so frequent that it practically doesn't even matter if the game is technically running at a smooth fps at any given time, but I'm sure of it... this game, regardless of saved data file sizes, has an inherently varied, but tolerable, fps as the tundra, for example, is inherently smooth while the fall forest is inherently a bit sluggish and choppy. I can live with that. The game was running smoothly enough for me to enjoy it when I first started out and even though I'm irritated by some areas seemingly pushing the engine and/or the PS3 too hard (personally would have preferred specific graphical tailoring to ensure those areas remained relatively smoother, but whatever), I can live with that.

The problems are the continually worsening and frequent stuttering arising from the saved data file sizes. The issues, at least for me at the moment, are separate. The PS3 version's fps, while not inherently all that great, is not seemingly affected much by the saved data file sizes, but stuttering is... drastically so to the point of rendering a technically smooth fps, even, uncomfortable. I am playing on a 160 gb PS3 slim I purchased late last year and haven't had these problems with any other game (except Fallout 3 GOTY edition, of course). It is not my PS3 and it is not how long I've been playing that matters, it's just a correlating, inescapable problem dealing with the saved data file sizes and stuttering... with a bit of unpredictably irritating fps on the side, but mostly the constant stuttering ruining an otherwise tolerable fps.

I just thought I'd share my side of the story, but that's what I've got from extensive scrutiny of my issue. I'm not getting the technically unplayable fps some are, yet, but it's hard to enjoy my game like this. I'm literally fighting to control what my character does in some of the more inherently sluggish areas and areas that started off smooth are no longer smooth. Riverwood used to be really smooth and while it seems to have the same general fps now, it has so much stuttering at any turn that it just isn't smooth and it's frustratingly jerky. I really hope that patch on Monday actually fixes it, although that would probably mean they knowingly sold us a game with this issue, but I would have preferred to wait to purchase Skyrim and just play Assasin's Creed: Revelations over my Thanksgiving break had I known this issue would permanently and negatively impact my impressions and experiences of Skyrim. I saw problems coming after sitting through the whole Fallout 3 fiasco, but Fallout 3's game-breaking problems didn't arrive until the DLC, at least, and what particularly irks me is that they, although not exactly perfectly, managed to get the game running pretty well on PS3 hardware only for this bug to start screwing it all up after barely denting Skyrim's surface.

As I said, the game initially ran smoothly (minus the frequent fps dips in certain regions, anyway) and I was impressed, but this stuttering is killing it and I can't stop playing... there's nothing else to do and it truly is a wonderful game beneath the problems, but these problems are becoming closer and closer to defining my Skyrim experience. I'm a fan of the entire series from Arena to Skyrim, now, and it saddens me to have to enjoy my most anticipated game of the year, if not of all time, in such a state. I really hope they'll fix it. That they initially put in seemingly quite a bit of effort into porting the game to the PS3 (if it was even a port, at all), have got so much acclaim for the game, have sold so much, ended up with this problem with the original, release version of the PS3 version of Skyrim (rather than a post-DLC version as with Fallout 3), and have gotten quite a bit of attention over this issue has me hoping that this upcoming patch really will fix it whereas Fallout 3 remained where it was, but I'm still skeptical and so tired over this. What do you think? What are you, specifically, experiencing and could you please specify which model of PS3 you have?

Holy wall of text...

Anyway, same here, 8mb and constant slowdown rather than accumulated lag. My main problem and the reason I've stopped playing until the fix is the fact that the controls have become very unresponsive.

Did you notice any texture streaming issues?

Yeah. A lot of the time, I can actually see the textures popping in but on certain textures, they seem to fail to do so completely, sometimes. For example, Argonian skin sometimes doesn't seem to be shiny (Bloom?) as it's supposed to and clothing textures are often problematic with how blurry they can be when not properly streamed.

yea texture load like crazy infront of me,include doors texture,wall,objects and clothing wth

That's it, I've had it. I shut my PS3 down because I can't take this anymore. I just played through a quest requiring I explore the ratways in Riften and not only is Riften (the entirety of the fall forest, really) running at a crappy fps with stuttering, but the Ratways were, as well, for the entirety of my time down there. Then, I had to go off to Riverwood and although the fps there isn't too bad, the constant stuttering is (except for in the tavern). Then, I went out to Markarth and Markarth is always running at a pretty sluggish fps, for me. Finally, I went off to a dungeon in the Reach for another quest and the constant stuttering in the Reach area turned to a consistently irritatingly choppy framerate when I fought a small group of Forsworn. I couldn't react properly to the battle, at all. The stuttering is just bad, but I can't take the fps in certain areas, either. This is not how a game is supposed to run and I just can't enjoy the game with this, anymore. The occasional fps dip and/or stutter I can tolerate and ignore, but constantly experiencing it for a full 2 hour play session is ridiculous.


P.S. My helmet's texture just didn't load, at all, for some reason.

thats why i stopped the game for now and wait for the miracle patch,they better fix it:/

All there is to do is wait and hope, unfortunately.

yep,cant return the game or anything,dont have this kind of policy in my country,the only thing i can do is trade in if the patch dont do anything,but then i dont wanna give up on it >.<