Game Save Freezing (PS3) *warning*

steven_dutch · 06-11-2010, 06:46 PM

The Sims 3 (PS3) just froze on me whilst saving, therefore losing the save.
I selected the file I wanted the game to be saved on, and it just froze on the actual saving screen.

I therefore advise anyone playing the game on this platform to create multiples saves and backing up to make sure the loss isn't as great as mine

EAUK_Aurora · 07-11-2010, 12:41 AM

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your save

steven_dutch · 07-11-2010, 11:36 AM

Thank you for your kind words.
I've posted the same thread on the official Playstation forum, and it seems I'm not the only one who has suffered this bug.

Could you please pass on this information to the EA development team to create a patch to stop this bug from re-appearing.

Thanks,
steven_dutch

EAUK_Aurora · 07-11-2010, 12:24 PM

I will certainly feed back the details that you give and thank you for the link.

riven65 · 07-11-2010, 03:22 PM

Have the same problem

steven_dutch · 07-11-2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EAUK_Aurora

I will certainly feed back the details that you give and thank you for the link.

Thank you for feeding back the details.
Just tried again, and it froze on me again, therefore rendering the game unplayable at the moment for me.

Hope to see the patch soon as I can't play the game till then.

Niroe · 07-11-2010, 08:14 PM

This just happend to me aswell but on the Xbox 360.. Saved after playing for about 30mins, during the save screen it just froze. Left it for 5-10mins and still nothing.. Had to restart console. Noticed a few people on other forums with this problem too.

And now it won't let me save AT ALL ... Even in a new save file.

To add some extra info:

Hardware: Xbox 360 Slim (250gb)

Crashes when trying to save ANY save game.
Have tried a new save game, same crash happens
Copied saves to USB stick and tried loading/saving from there, crashes on save when overwriting and creating new file. Which rules out a HDD issue on my side.

Tried running game on another Xbox from both HDD and USB and same save crash happens, again rules out any hardware issues with me.

steven_dutch · 07-11-2010, 09:07 PM

Niroe wrote "Tried running game on another Xbox from both HDD and USB and same save crash happens, again rules out any hardware issues with me"

Some users on the PS3 have also tried re-installing etc, also to no avail, therefore definitely a software problem.
Also the fact that it's happening on both consoles proves this.

Just out of interest, have you played this game for a while before it happened?
I've played it for at least 50 hours this week, as I've been down and out cause of flu.
Some of the users who seem to report the problem seem to have played this game extensively over the past week or so since it came out.

See link

Niroe · 08-11-2010, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steven_dutch

Just out of interest, have you played this game for a while before it happened?
I've played it for at least 50 hours this week, as I've been down and out cause of flu.
Some of the users who seem to report the problem seem to have played this game extensively over the past week or so since it came out.

Put in about 40 hours, so yeah played quite alot

I forgot I had another seperate sims game save, I was using for building - This one lets me save as does starting a brand new game (but how long for I don't know)

I've just sat and tried a few different things to see if anything effects saving:

I run three save files for the same sims playthrough (running through grandfather, father, son style) - All three crash on save (they are saved about 30 mins apart)
Playing whilst offline from both Xbox Live & EA Connect - Game crashes on saving
Cleared the cache on the Xbox HDD - Game crashes on saving
Moved every file except one of the crashing saves to a USB stick, removed stick and started game. So the only files in the Sims 3 folder on the HDD would be the save and the installed game file. - Game crashes on saving

So it seems like something has corrupted these three saves. The only thing I can think of is that before the crashes started, I removed some junk (or so I thought) from My Studio, I cleared out some downloads I wasn't using and some styles i'd created. Could this be linked to the problem with the save.

The one clean file that does let me save has not got a single custom style or download in it, I use it purely for building houses.

steven_dutch · 08-11-2010, 11:10 AM

Niroe wrote "The one clean file that does let me save has not got a single custom style or download in it, I use it purely for building houses."

I think you might be onto something there. Just been tweeted something very similar to this.
Unfortunately, I've only got one save file, therefore restarting the game (losing 50 hours of game play) is my only option.

Think I might wait for the official response from EA regarding the issue.
Don't fancy re-starting the game to have it crash on me again.

Niroe · 08-11-2010, 12:51 PM

Just submitted a ticket to EA tech support, i'll post back if I hear from them

steven_dutch · 08-11-2010, 02:14 PM

Looking forward to the reply

Niroe · 09-11-2010, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.

I am sorry for the delay in responding to you.

I'm sorry to hear you are still experiencing difficulties, and apologize for any inconvenience.Please reset your Xbox 360's time and date setting to the 11/15/2005 by following the below given steps.
Press the Xbox Guide button on the controller to enter the Dashboard.
Sign out of Xbox Live by pressing the X button.
Select the System blade.
Select Console Settings and press the A button.
Select Clock and press the A button.
Change the date to 11/15/2005 and press the A button to accept.

Also Please follow the below given steps to clear your cache for the Xbox 360:
1. Locate the System section of the Xbox 360 Dashboard.
2. Select Memory, select Hard Drive, and then press Y to view the device options screen (You will see "Rename, Format, Clear System Cache, Transfer" ).
3. Select Clear System cache and clear it.

If you have any other questions, then by all means feel free to let us know. You can also refer to our extensive Self Help Knowledge base at http://support.ea.com for common technical questions.

Sincerely,

Michael;

EA Support Centre, UK and Ireland

Above is the joke of a response from EA Tech Support. He clearly didn't even bother to read my ticket properly, i'd already told him i'd cleared the System Cache.

But hey, i'll give anything a go and guess what, it makes not a bit of difference!

I've replied to the ticket, so lets see what happens next

steven_dutch · 10-11-2010, 12:10 AM

@Niroe.
I find the response rather insulting to be honest, especially since you've explained the problem quite thoroughly.

The fact that this bug happened on PC a year ago, and now on 360 and PS3, shows that it's a software problem.

Been through lots of forums and it's clear this game is bug ridden and in need of a patch.
I've tried contacting EA in many ways now in a polite manner.
Tweets, EA sites etc., and I'm greatly disappointed they haven't even acknowledged the problem yet nor even cared to respond.

If EA don't care and don want to patch it, then fine I won't go wasting my time no more.

I also won't buy any more EA games as this is the second time now in a relatively short period (FIFA 10), that an EA game has become unplayable for me due to bugs.

I'm greatly disappointed that they prefer to rush out a bug ridden game to cash in, over looking after their loyal customers.
I've been supporting EA ever since the NES/Megadrive days and have spent lots of cash on their products.

Unfortunately the trend isn't reserved to EA alone, as many game companies are going down the same road.
It seems that many games nowadays need patching before they can work properly, however, I can live with the odd glitch and small bug, but our games have become unplayable.

I'll check this forum in the next few day, but to be honest, I've already given up.

Niroe · 10-11-2010, 10:25 AM

I'm not going to let it rest.

We've paid our money therefore we are entitled to have a game that works. If they won't listen to our voices, then maybe they'll listen if more people know about the bug. Its coming upto Xmas and i'm guessing thats when they'll make most of their sales with this game. Therefore i've emailed a few big gaming sites to see if they'll run with a story of a save game bug. They do it for the majority of big releases, so why not this one

If I bought a car and the brakes were faulty, it would get fixed, if I buy a game and it has a game breaking bug, people think its ok to be ignored.

All EA have to do is ackowledge the bug and say they are working on it. I don't care if it takes a month or two, I want a working game.

steven_dutch · 10-11-2010, 12:09 PM

@Niroe
I hear what you're saying, and I couldn't agree more.

I think EA better start taking notice and responding to matter, as the list of bugs surrounding the game is growing.
You can tell by the number of page views on both this thread and the one I've linked in an earlier post.

A friend on my PSN friend list also wrote a Blog about it, and has told me that she got a record amount of views on the page.
Therefore people are looking for answers.

Well it looks like I've just changed my mind on giving up

Niroe · 11-11-2010, 12:43 PM

Still no response from EA Support

Thought i'd try posting at Forums - Community - The Sims 3 since it is alot more active, but you need a serial for the PC version of the game even though they have console threads

More people complaining about the save freeze here: Anyone else crashing when saving? - Xbox360Achievements.org

✿DEATHDLR-CupCake✿ · 11-11-2010, 01:54 PM

I've been reading through this thread and it sounds like this is a pretty serious bug

. I have yet to experience it though, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it happens to me as well.

Hopefully EA will start listening to their customers and start trying to figure out what's causing this to happen for everyone o_O. I don't think I would want to play the game anymore if starts to freeze when saving. There would be really no point in playing if you can't save anything =/.

Niroe · 11-11-2010, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ✿DEATHDLR-CupCake✿

I don't think I would want to play the game anymore if starts to freeze when saving. There would be really no point in playing if you can't save anything =/.

Thats exactly how I feel. I want to play, could quite easily start a new playthrough, but how long will it last before I get the same freezing when trying to save.

I've shelved the game until they fix it, but first we need to know they are working on that fix

steven_dutch · 11-11-2010, 03:02 PM

@EAUK_Aurora
Have you heard anything about any patch being made for this bug?
There are already people that are waiting to buy this game until it's properly patched.

Also here's a few more links on this to add to the ones I've given already.
Gamespot
Official Nintendo Magazine
Gamefaqs
Playstation Forum US

Some other bugs on link below as well.
PS3trophies.org

EAUK_Aurora · 11-11-2010, 03:31 PM

I haven't personally heard any news of a patch I'm afraid but I have sent details from this thread and the links that you have posted in a feedback report this week.

The-LIONS-Share · 11-11-2010, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ✿DEATHDLR-CupCake✿

I've been reading through this thread and it sounds like this is a pretty serious bug

. I have yet to experience it though, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it happens to me as well.

Hopefully EA will start listening to their customers and start trying to figure out what's causing this to happen for everyone o_O. I don't think I would want to play the game anymore if starts to freeze when saving. There would be really no point in playing if you can't save anything =/.

yet another fellow bad company player that plays sims. Did you have problems with bfbc? i did and ea or dice just fixed the problem 2 weeks ago on a 3 year old game i wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't get fixed.

i have not yet had the freeze while saving but i wouldn't be surprised if it happens as i play this game a lot. 90% of the time i play my game offline so i dont have a lot of so called "custom content" i keep it offline cause there is no point downloading something that i can recolor myself

✿DEATHDLR-CupCake✿ · 11-11-2010, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The-LIONS-Share

yet another fellow bad company player that plays sims. Did you have problems with bfbc? i did and ea or dice just fixed the problem 2 weeks ago on a 3 year old game i wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't get fixed.

i have not yet had the freeze while saving but i wouldn't be surprised if it happens as i play this game a lot. 90% of the time i play my game offline so i dont have a lot of so called "custom content" i keep it offline cause there is no point downloading something that i can recolor myself

Sims = loveeee well on the PC it is xD, the PS3 version is more like a love then totally hate relationship =P.

Yeahhh I've had problems with BFBC ever since I bought it, who hasn't? Haha.. I gave up all hope of anything being fixed on that game a long time ago. I still play it every so often though 'cause it's much more fun than BFBC2 lol.

I play The Sims offline a lot as well, I don't really care for the custom stuff(though I did get a few things) and it also seems to be more laggy-ish when you're online >.>. Like you I also doubt this problem will be fixed anytime soon. Sooo I will continue to play it until that freeze problem hits me, then when it does it's on the shelf until something gets done about it. Which will probably be never.

Niroe · 11-11-2010, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for getting back to us.

I'm sorry to hear that you are still experiencing difficulties.

If you have performed all the basic troubleshooting steps but still not able to play the game, then this is usually an indication that the console is having difficulty reading the game disc. This could be for many reasons; usually this is because the game disc is damaged or unreadable but in some situations this can be the sign of a more serious issue with your Xbox 360.

CHECK THE GAME DISK

1. If there are any noticeable scratches or smudges on the surface of the game disc, try to clean them off by using a non-abrasive cotton cloth. Note: Do not rub hard and do not rub in a circular motion as this could further damage the game disc.

2. If there aren’t any noticeable scratches or smudges on the surface of the game disc, try using that game disc in another Xbox 360.
a. If the game disc works in another system, this is an indicator that your 360 may be damaged. For information on getting your system repaired or replaced, you will want to contact Microsoft directly for assistance at 1-800-4MY-XBOX.
b. If the game disc does not work in another system, this is a good indicator that the disc is damaged or defective. To acquire a replacement game disc you will want to refer to your manual for warranty information specific to your product.

The options we recommend for game replacement, if needed, are as follows. You may replace the game through the store where you originally purchased it, if that option is still possible. This is by far the faster way to replace your game with a new copy. If the store is no longer able to replace your game, you may then make use of the EA Warranty, found on the inside back of your game manual, or you may use this link: My Notification Requests.

If you choose to use the warranty, please read through the instructions carefully. If you have any particular questions regarding the policy, please use the Contact Us link as you have before, and choose Warranty in the Category drop down box to direct your question to the Warranty department of Electronic Arts.

If you have any other questions, then by all means feel free to let us know. You can also refer to our extensive Self Help Knowledgebase at http://support.ea.com for common technical questions.

Thank you,

Smith
EA Support Centre, UK and Ireland
http://electronicarts.co.uk
http://electronicarts.ie

Awesome support, I mean again they ignore every single word of my message. The funniest part about it though is that tech support has copy and pasted the US version yet they claim to be EA UK :P 1-800-4MY-XBOX useless information for me

@EAUK_Aurora Thanks for reporting the problem.

steven_dutch · 11-11-2010, 06:53 PM

@Niroe
Looks like tech support haven't got a clue what they're talking about.
Don't think they'll be able to solve anything.
Only a patch can solve our problem.

@EAUK_Aurora Thanks again for reporting.
I just hope they're working on it, and patch it as fast as they can.

I understand it may take a bit of time to patch, however a simple statement saying they're working on it, would show a bit of respect to those who have bought a faulty product.
It's more the lack of communication that I'm ticked off about, than the default product itself.

06-11-2010, 06:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	Game Save Freezing (PS3) warning The Sims 3 (PS3) just froze on me whilst saving, therefore losing the save. I selected the file I wanted the game to be saved on, and it just froze on the actual saving screen. I therefore advise anyone playing the game on this platform to create multiples saves and backing up to make sure the loss isn't as great as mine

07-11-2010, 12:41 AM	#2 (permalink)
EAUK_Aurora Forum Admin Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: UK Posts: 81,957 Blog Entries: 280	I'm sorry to hear that you lost your save __________________ Aurora Forum Admin Electronic Arts Currently playing Left 4 Dead 2 and The Sims 3 Showtime Looking forward to SimCity Are you a Simmer? If so then join us at The Sims 3 UK on Facebook

07-11-2010, 12:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
EAUK_Aurora Forum Admin Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: UK Posts: 81,957 Blog Entries: 280	I will certainly feed back the details that you give and thank you for the link. __________________ Aurora Forum Admin Electronic Arts Currently playing Left 4 Dead 2 and The Sims 3 Showtime Looking forward to SimCity Are you a Simmer? If so then join us at The Sims 3 UK on Facebook

07-11-2010, 08:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
Niroe Rookie Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 19	This just happend to me aswell but on the Xbox 360.. Saved after playing for about 30mins, during the save screen it just froze. Left it for 5-10mins and still nothing.. Had to restart console. Noticed a few people on other forums with this problem too. And now it won't let me save AT ALL ... Even in a new save file. To add some extra info: Hardware: Xbox 360 Slim (250gb) Crashes when trying to save ANY save game. Have tried a new save game, same crash happens Copied saves to USB stick and tried loading/saving from there, crashes on save when overwriting and creating new file. Which rules out a HDD issue on my side. Tried running game on another Xbox from both HDD and USB and same save crash happens, again rules out any hardware issues with me. Last edited by Niroe; 07-11-2010 at 08:48 PM.

11-11-2010, 03:02 PM	#20 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	@EAUK_Aurora Have you heard anything about any patch being made for this bug? There are already people that are waiting to buy this game until it's properly patched. Also here's a few more links on this to add to the ones I've given already. Gamespot Official Nintendo Magazine Gamefaqs Playstation Forum US Some other bugs on link below as well. PS3trophies.org Last edited by steven_dutch; 11-11-2010 at 03:10 PM.

07-11-2010, 11:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	Thank you for your kind words. I've posted the same thread on the official Playstation forum, and it seems I'm not the only one who has suffered this bug. Could you please pass on this information to the EA development team to create a patch to stop this bug from re-appearing. Thanks, steven_dutch

07-11-2010, 03:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
riven65 Hi, I'm New! Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 1	Have the same problem

07-11-2010, 09:07 PM	#8 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	Niroe wrote "Tried running game on another Xbox from both HDD and USB and same save crash happens, again rules out any hardware issues with me" Some users on the PS3 have also tried re-installing etc, also to no avail, therefore definitely a software problem. Also the fact that it's happening on both consoles proves this. Just out of interest, have you played this game for a while before it happened? I've played it for at least 50 hours this week, as I've been down and out cause of flu. Some of the users who seem to report the problem seem to have played this game extensively over the past week or so since it came out. See link

08-11-2010, 11:10 AM	#10 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	Niroe wrote "The one clean file that does let me save has not got a single custom style or download in it, I use it purely for building houses." I think you might be onto something there. Just been tweeted something very similar to this. Unfortunately, I've only got one save file, therefore restarting the game (losing 50 hours of game play) is my only option. Think I might wait for the official response from EA regarding the issue. Don't fancy re-starting the game to have it crash on me again.

08-11-2010, 12:51 PM	#11 (permalink)
Niroe Rookie Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 19	Just submitted a ticket to EA tech support, i'll post back if I hear from them

08-11-2010, 02:14 PM	#12 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	Looking forward to the reply

10-11-2010, 12:10 AM	#14 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	@Niroe. I find the response rather insulting to be honest, especially since you've explained the problem quite thoroughly. The fact that this bug happened on PC a year ago, and now on 360 and PS3, shows that it's a software problem. Been through lots of forums and it's clear this game is bug ridden and in need of a patch. I've tried contacting EA in many ways now in a polite manner. Tweets, EA sites etc., and I'm greatly disappointed they haven't even acknowledged the problem yet nor even cared to respond. If EA don't care and don want to patch it, then fine I won't go wasting my time no more. I also won't buy any more EA games as this is the second time now in a relatively short period (FIFA 10), that an EA game has become unplayable for me due to bugs. I'm greatly disappointed that they prefer to rush out a bug ridden game to cash in, over looking after their loyal customers. I've been supporting EA ever since the NES/Megadrive days and have spent lots of cash on their products. Unfortunately the trend isn't reserved to EA alone, as many game companies are going down the same road. It seems that many games nowadays need patching before they can work properly, however, I can live with the odd glitch and small bug, but our games have become unplayable. I'll check this forum in the next few day, but to be honest, I've already given up.

10-11-2010, 10:25 AM	#15 (permalink)
Niroe Rookie Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 19	I'm not going to let it rest. We've paid our money therefore we are entitled to have a game that works. If they won't listen to our voices, then maybe they'll listen if more people know about the bug. Its coming upto Xmas and i'm guessing thats when they'll make most of their sales with this game. Therefore i've emailed a few big gaming sites to see if they'll run with a story of a save game bug. They do it for the majority of big releases, so why not this one If I bought a car and the brakes were faulty, it would get fixed, if I buy a game and it has a game breaking bug, people think its ok to be ignored. All EA have to do is ackowledge the bug and say they are working on it. I don't care if it takes a month or two, I want a working game.

10-11-2010, 12:09 PM	#16 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	@Niroe I hear what you're saying, and I couldn't agree more. I think EA better start taking notice and responding to matter, as the list of bugs surrounding the game is growing. You can tell by the number of page views on both this thread and the one I've linked in an earlier post. A friend on my PSN friend list also wrote a Blog about it, and has told me that she got a record amount of views on the page. Therefore people are looking for answers. Well it looks like I've just changed my mind on giving up

11-11-2010, 12:43 PM	#17 (permalink)
Niroe Rookie Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 19	Still no response from EA Support Thought i'd try posting at Forums - Community - The Sims 3 since it is alot more active, but you need a serial for the PC version of the game even though they have console threads More people complaining about the save freeze here: Anyone else crashing when saving? - Xbox360Achievements.org

11-11-2010, 01:54 PM	#18 (permalink)
✿DEATHDLR-CupCake✿ Forum Guru Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Canada Age: 22 Posts: 2,073	I've been reading through this thread and it sounds like this is a pretty serious bug . I have yet to experience it though, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it happens to me as well. Hopefully EA will start listening to their customers and start trying to figure out what's causing this to happen for everyone o_O. I don't think I would want to play the game anymore if starts to freeze when saving. There would be really no point in playing if you can't save anything =/.

11-11-2010, 03:31 PM	#21 (permalink)
EAUK_Aurora Forum Admin Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: UK Posts: 81,957 Blog Entries: 280	I haven't personally heard any news of a patch I'm afraid but I have sent details from this thread and the links that you have posted in a feedback report this week. __________________ Aurora Forum Admin Electronic Arts Currently playing Left 4 Dead 2 and The Sims 3 Showtime Looking forward to SimCity Are you a Simmer? If so then join us at The Sims 3 UK on Facebook

11-11-2010, 06:53 PM	#25 (permalink)
steven_dutch Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 14	@Niroe Looks like tech support haven't got a clue what they're talking about. Don't think they'll be able to solve anything. Only a patch can solve our problem. @EAUK_Aurora Thanks again for reporting. I just hope they're working on it, and patch it as fast as they can. I understand it may take a bit of time to patch, however a simple statement saying they're working on it, would show a bit of respect to those who have bought a faulty product. It's more the lack of communication that I'm ticked off about, than the default product itself.