We all know that the PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect 3 is the worst, technically speaking of the 3 versions and as a result we have to deal with more bugs and problems than our Xbox and PC counterparts.
This thread will go over the most common technical problems on the PS3 version of ME3 and give you tips on how to overcome them or ways to solve them.
I originally posted this in the AHF Group but thought other PS3 BSNers should be informed. Hope this helps. I probably should have posted this earlier, like a year ago.
Please bump as people shouldn't fear the collectors anymore.
Memory Leak
Memory leak or "mem leak" is the technical term for the problem that PlayStation 3 (PS3) users experience which causes your frame-rate to continuously drop (making it look like you're watching a slideshow as opposed to a video game) to the point where the game becomes unplayable, forcing you to have to restart your system in order to play normally again.
The cause of memory leak is when your PS3 doesn't have enough memory to process the data it's receiving. This is usually due to poor coding, which creates a bunch of junk data that your PS3 then has to process and dump or insignificant ram to process the data bits.
As a result your PS3 starts diverting processing power and memory from other parts of your system to combat the the problem, due to the fact the PS3 has to take more processing power to process and dump the junk data. If the build up of junk data get too great This is where the symptoms may start to appear.
In simple terms you PS3 is receiving more than it can process and a build up of junk data starts to appear. Think of it as working in assembly plant and if one person screws up the whole assembly line can come to a halt as everyone has to put more effort to deal with that mistake. Read more Here.
Memory Leak: The Symptoms
There are multiple ways that the memory leak can present itself:
- Loss of frames (frames per second or fps). Video.
- Increased lag.
- Delay between waves spawning.
- Delay of objective/extraction waves spawning or not spawning at all. See this video Reev provided.
- Delay of enemies spawning.
- Delayed enemy response or player response.
- Teleporting/ Skipping across the map.
- Portions of the terrain vanishing.
- Absent audio files/sounds.
- Disappearing visuals. example biotics animations.
- PS3 Freezing/Crashing - This is the worst symptom. Video.
Memory Leak: The Culprits
- Collectors are one of the two culprits of memory leak. The Praetorians, Seeker Swarms/Seeker Plaques, use insane amounts of data to processes the animations. The more possessed enemies you have the the more ram is needed to process the data.
- All DLC maps create memory leak however certain maps create more than others. Theses are maps that your PS3 has the hardest time processing: HGhost, HGiant are the worse followed by, Goddess, Jade, & London. Other Hazard maps create some but it's not too bad most of the time compared to the maps listed above.
- Condor, Hydra, Vancouver, Rio, & HReactor create the least amounts of memory leak out of the DLC maps.
Memory Leak: The Solution/Fix
The Collector Protocol can fix most problems that most people have with Collectors. This works only on Gold & Silver Collectors only. On platinum there is no spawn cap, so you just have to fast and kill all the praetorians as quick as possible.
The Collector Protocol is this:
- Nuke (missile) waves that have 2 Pratorians per wave such as wave 8. Each Praetorian can only spawn 3 times, due to the Praetorian spawn cap. The goal is to remove all 6 crabs from the field as quick as possible.
- Nuke all crabs w6 and w10 if the objectives take longer than 2 minutes to complete.
- Focus on Captains to prevent them from creating Seeker Swarms/Plaques.
- Focus on abomination when they are present they are easy to kill and deplete the spawn budget quite fast.
- This protocol will not work 100% of the time but is does allow you at least finish your game and not worry about a system freeze as much. I tested this and got 90% success rate. You will eventually have to reboot.
Memory Leak: Other Tips
- Avoid HGhost and HGiant period, you will most likely freeze or freeze at the beginning of the next match.
- Avoid playing collectors on HGhost & HGiant period. If you get Collector on these maps leave immediately.
- If you get Collectors on; Goddess, Jade, London, you must to the collector protocol if you don't want to reboot after or possibly crash mid game.
- Play on the original 6 maps: Dagger, Ghost, Giant, Glacier, Reactor, White, if you don't want to worry about rebooting after playing collectors, like forever. I did 8 game back to back of Collectors, no problems.
- If you are host and you notice extreme symptoms of memory leak it is better to have the team wipe after you finish w10 objective then actually get to w11. This ensures everyone gets their credits as extreme delays usually result in w11 never loading up and then the host and possibly everyone else lose their credits. See video.
- If you have extreme symptoms of memory leak it is better to quit than try to fight it through especially if you are host as you are making the game unplayable for everyone else!
Memory Leak: Reboot Often
Turning your system completely off essentially forces the memory to be released, meaning that when you turn your PS3 back on, you will be starting with a clean slate. Reboot if you notice any extreme memory leak symptoms as they can carry over to other people's game.
Memory Leak: Individual or Collective Problem?
In my experience memory leak is individual problem as one person out of a group may be experiencing it, however if you are host and you have memory leak it can carry over to everyone else in that game, and as a result everyone can suffer, thus becoming a collective problem. This is due that everything is based off the host.
So if you are not host the problem can be isolated to you alone, but if you are host it can become a collective problem. However I've had game where everyone but the host was suffering, so I honestly am not sure as it varies from game to game. The best thing is to resolve those symptoms by rebooting all together.
Other Notes:
Uninstall Reckoning and Retaliation DLCs
This will eliminate the issue entirely, but you will be severely limiting the number of people you will be able to play with, to the point where you will have to solo almost every match unless you convince your friends to do the same.This may be mandatory for some people if they notice their PS3 struggling constantly. Note Removing Reckoning alone removes a lot of the problems, however the problem still originates from Retaliation.
PS3 Safe Mode
PS3 safe mode can be a way to remedy the problem temporarily. You can read more here.
You should select either: Rebuild Database or Restore File System.
Do not select: System Update, Restore Default Settings, or Restore PS3 System.
System Update is irrelevant, Restore Default Settings is self explanatory, and Restore PS3 System will reformat the hard drive and permanently erase all data.
PLEASE NOTE:
These two options will not delete any content on your HDD, but it will nuke all your sent and received messages as well as music playlists you have, and if you edited track information on any mp3s, say you renamed them all to something less ambiguous than "track 01", the names and other altered data will revert. For any messages you want to save, I would suggest sending them to another account you have, then send them back later.
To Access PS3 Safe Mode follow these steps:
- Make sure your PS3 is off.
- Hold down the power button. The system will turn on, then turn back off.
- Once it shuts down, release the power button and hold it down again until you hear 2 beeps followed by another pair in quick succession.
- Release the power button once you hear those 2 quick beeps.
- Plug in your controller with the USB cable and press the PS button; the Recovery menu will pop up.
Official Support?
No, BioWare has officially cut support for this game, so there will not be an official fix. They also seemed to not acknowledge that there was a problem on the PS3 despite our complaints and footage showing there was. My solution is the best you can get.
Memory Leak: Video Footage
Memory Leak: Frame Loss
Memory Leak: Hard Freeze
Memory Leak: Teleporting
Video
Memory Leak: No Objectives Load
Video
Waiting For Other Players (WFOP)
Waiting For Other Players or WFOP as it's more commonly know is a communication error to the server. It usually happens to the host but not always. It can also happen when trying to join a person's lobby or game. WFOP is usually sign that you should re-sign into EA severs or reboot your PS3.
The best way to deal with this depends on the circumstance of the WFOP screen. If you are trying to join a person's lobby and you, you see this message appear, try having the host start a Game In Progress (GIP) and then join the game.
If you are joining a GIP or if you're in a map and you get WFOP, try rejoin using another invite from anyone in that game. This works best if the lobby is set to private instead of public and is another reason why most people send a spare invite out.
WFOP appearing at the end of a match is the most common. Wait until you hear the cash noise as seen in the video below, as sometimes you see the WFOP screen as the scoreboard loads, but it then disappears.
If you get WFOP at the the end of a match, use a spare invite to rejoin the lobby. If you have multiple people WFOP have the host back out and use a spare invite to rejoin your lobby. This will cause a host migration and save the the host from going through two loading screens. You can also have the host just re invite everyone.
WFOP Screen
Video
Stuck (Purgatory)
Suck (Purgatory) is where usually where you get infinitely suck in loading when trying to join a friends lobby or game. You will either see the loading screen or the MP menu screen with the words "Communicating" in the top left corner. There are multiple ways to resolve this.
One way to get out of this is to use a spare invite and when at the character select screen just press back, instead of choosing a kit. This will take you back to the main menu of Mass Effect 3.
Other way is to just sign out of PSN, as that will disconnect you from both EA servers and PSN. To do that follow these steps:
- Press the PS button to bring up the PS3 XMB
- Scroll over to "Account Management"
- Press Triangle and then Sign Out.
This will disconnect you from PSN and EA Severs so you will have to sign in again, but it will save you the reboot process.
Note sometimes a GIP can resolve the problem if a person is getting stuck joining a lobby. You can also change the lobby to public and telling your friend the map settings and have them try joining that way. I like Condor Collectors Plat as very few pug search that filter.
Rebooting is the third way to resolve this problem, but also the slowest as you have to sometimes deal with Sony's improper system notification. Only reboot if all other methods have failed.
Special Thanks to:
- Pearl
- DragonRacer
- ASmoothCriminalX
- chcknwng
- Ser Reeco Von Bartlesby
They provided me the video footage.
I know there may be typos here and there, I wrote this half awake.
Edit: For link errors and other minor mistakes. I forgot BSN only allows 2 videos per post.
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Still I wouldn't switch even with all the troubles we have with our version.
