Bethesda: New Vegas Dev Is Wrong About Skyrim's PS3 Lag

[The Wooster]

Bethesda: New Vegas Dev Is Wrong About Skyrim's PS3 Lag

Bethesda has responded to Fallout: New Vegas lead developer Joshua E.Sawyer's technical analysis of Skyrim's lag issues, claiming that his comments "don't reflect how the current tech works."

Last week, while answering questions on Formspring [http://www.formspring.me/JESawyer], Obsidian's Joshua E. Sawyer took a stab at diagnosing Skyrim's severe lag issues. He posited that the game's lag and microstuttering, which is most obvious in the PS3 version, is an engine issue, and claimed that New Vegas had exactly the same problem. Pete Hines, Bethesda's VP of PR and Marketing, reckons Sawyer doesn't know what he's talking about.

When asked about Sawyer's comments on twitter, Hines responded: "Josh Sawyer did not work on Skyrim nor this engine and his comments don't reflect how the current tech works."

While Fallout: New Vegas used the aging Gamebryo engine, Skyrim uses Bethesda's new Creation Engine.

When asked if Sawyer's claims "scare" Bethesda, Hines responded in the negative. "No, it isn't true," he said. He brings up issues we solved long ago."

Bethesda claims the recently released 1.2 patch has "fixed the long-term play issues for most PS3 users" but also admits that "this is not the case for some." It's promised another patch to increase game stability and fix the problems introduced by the last patch. I must admit, watching the people at Bethesda trying to fix bugs in their games is hilarious. It's like watching a man trying to arm wrestle a swarm of bees.

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[Nikolaz72]

Its funny that the exact same bugfix (By a modder) for the lag worked in both New Vegas and Skyrim. All it needed was pretty much a namechange and it worked, aka. They run on a very similiar engine, very similar tech. So, ehm... Hines is probably lying, not sure what he is standing to gain from it though, ego boost?

Mind you this was on PC, but I bet the PS3 uses a whole different engine than the pc -sarcasm-

Or the more possible option, the PR manager doesnt have shit on a developer in terms of the know-how in terms of actual developement.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Oh he said she said, just fix it if you can. I bought it on PS3 for my fiancée and if the issues aren't fixed I'll make sure to take one of you out before she can hunt me down for buying her a faulty disc!

 

[-|-]

I wish they'd fix the one where I don't have any soul gems big enough even though I have 13 empty grand soul gems in my inventory. It's very annoying.

 

[Spaec]

Its funny that the exact same bugfix (By a modder) for the lag worked in both New Vegas and Skyrim. All it needed was pretty much a namechange and it worked, aka. They run on a very similiar engine, very similar tech. So, ehm... Hines is probably lying, not sure what he is standing to gain from it though, ego boost?

"VP of PR and Marketing" <- There's why. It's his job to make the company look good.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

While Fallout: New Vegas, the game Sawyer was lead developer on, used the aging Gamebryo engine, Skyrim uses Bethesda's new Creation Engine.

When asked if Sawyer's claims "scare" Bethesda, Hines responded in the negative. "No, it isn't true," he said. He brings up issues we solved long ago."

Except you didn't. If your past few games suffered from a specific issue on a specific console,and your new games suffers from the same issue on the same console, then that's a textbook definition of that issue remaining unsolved.

It's be nice if they could just admit that the Creation Engine is an unpdated Gamebryo Engine. The longer they keep proclaiming that it's some revolutionary piece of tech, the sillier they're going to end up looking.

It is pretty funny.
"He is wrong. We solved that issue on that engine a while ago. Our new engine just has the exact same issue. Uhhhh.....take that!"
You gotta love a PR guy talking out of his ass.

 

[T'Generalissimo]

Good heavens, the head of the marketing department is claiming that the game is not unfixably broken! Who would have guessed it?

Honestly, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they've got a horribly understaffed QA department rather than a fundamentally unsuitable engine, but it will require them to actually fix the problem in the long term.

It's no skin off my back though; my pattern recognition skills have taught me never to buy a Bethesda game within throwing distance of the release date because they're going to release a number of patches for it. And always get it for PC so the modding community can fix everything else. I would probably be less forgiving if I actually owned the game.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

How did you solve this problem years ago if people are still having the problem now, on your "new" engine?

 

[GonzoGamer]

While Fallout: New Vegas, the game Sawyer was lead developer on, used the aging Gamebryo engine, Skyrim uses Bethesda's new Creation Engine.

When asked if Sawyer's claims "scare" Bethesda, Hines responded in the negative. "No, it isn't true," he said. He brings up issues we solved long ago."

Except you didn't. If your past few games suffered from a specific issue on a specific console,and your new games suffers from the same issue on the same console, then that's a textbook definition of that issue remaining unsolved.

It's be nice if they could just admit that the Creation Engine is an unpdated Gamebryo Engine. The longer they keep proclaiming that it's some revolutionary piece of tech, the sillier they're going to end up looking.

Exactly.
Also, Pete Hines is just some PR Gimp. What the hell does he know? I'd sooner believe the guy who worked with one of the game engines rather than a guy who's just hired to talk about them.
Talk is cheap. If Sawyer is wrong, they need to prove it because he makes a lot more sense.
The fact that they are obviously attacking this as a PR issue rather than a technical issue only further incriminates them: they knew this shit was going to happen and they're probably not going to fix it.

 

[Epona]

If the problem were solved long ago, why weren't FO3 and NV patched with the fix? Why does Skyrim have the same problem?

Bethesda doesn't want to say this is the same problem because then it will be obvious to everyone that they released it with a memory problem they've known about for years. It also throws into question just what differences there are between the old engine and this supposedly new one.

IGN is calling out Bethesda for this PS3 disaster.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1214016p1.html

I called Gamestop and told them that I have no confidence in Bethesda fixing the game and asked if I could even-trade my PS3 version for a PC version. They said yes, unless there is some misunderstanding this will no longer be my problem anymore.

 

[GeorgW]

Well, that's good news, even if I won't believe them until the game is lag-free. It's starting to affect my 360 version now.

I must admit, watching the people at Bethesda trying to fix bugs in their games is hilarious. It's like watching a man trying to arm wrestle a swarm of bees.

That was brilliant, thank you!

 

[Trishbot]

I think MOST people are still experiencing unplayable lag... and the numbers are growing according to forums and their technical support threads.

 

[Agayek]

Hynes is talking out of his ass and trying to do damage control. I know for a fact Skyrim runs on the same Engine the Fallout games did. How do I know this? There's fucking PipboyRadio methods in the Skyrim console.

THESE DO NOT APPEAR BY ACCIDENT. Either it's using the same base engine, or someone added Radio functions to a high fantasy game. I'm pretty sure the safe money's on the former.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

I wish they'd fix the one where I don't have any soul gems big enough even though I have 13 empty grand soul gems in my inventory. It's very annoying.

You need black soul gems to capture the souls of people.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Soul_Gem

 

[-|-]

I wish they'd fix the one where I don't have any soul gems big enough even though I have 13 empty grand soul gems in my inventory. It's very annoying.

You need black soul gems to capture the souls of people.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Soul_Gem

Yes, I realized I was being a dumbass.

<get's coat and leaves thread in embarrassment>

 

[Mrsoupcup]

I wish they'd fix the one where I don't have any soul gems big enough even though I have 13 empty grand soul gems in my inventory. It's very annoying.

You need black soul gems to capture the souls of people.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Soul_Gem

Yes, I realized I was being a dumbass.

<get's coat and leaves thread in embarrassment>

It's cool man, also do this quest if you want a Grand or Black soul gem that never breaks: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Black_Star

Really makes enchanting easy, just soul trap bandits and forsworn.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Pete Hines, Bethesda's VP of PR and Marketing, reckons Sawyer doesn't know what he's talking about.

Hold on a moment...the VP of Marketing claims that a lead developer doesn't understand game engines or bugs? I actually want to buy an airplane ticket to fly stateside, hire a car to drive to his office and actually laugh in his face.