Inventory crash

[TrishKrish]

I just read the entire thread and it's ridiculous that one of the fixes someone suggested is using less inventory space! I like to pick up everything because I can use it to sell or to craft items. This is something that should be fixed because its not some small bug but a game breaking one.

Worse case scenario, I will delete the patch and play it on its default patch. I have the complete edition so I only lose the pro patch. I'd rather not have to go back down to 1080p from the check boarded 4k, but thats the only option so far.

I have hope that CDPR will fix the issues in the upcoming HDR patch but to be honest a bit annoyed that the fix hasn't come out yet. They have known about the problem since October. 3 months sounds like a decent amount of time to fix a bug...

 

[oli4567]

same issue

 

[TrishKrish]

same issue

Send a support ticket to CDPR. The more people that do, the better.

 

[SigilFey]

Hello, folks! Just a quick reminder to all to keep it calm, please. Nothing removed or edited, but there are a few posts that are getting heated. I know the issues are upsetting. Let's stay cool.

Send a support ticket to CDPR. The more people that do, the better.

And this.^ Discussing things here is not as effective as ensuring that you send in Support tickets and follow-ups (especially after new patches / hotfixes are released).


Now, about the inventory overloading bug -- it's in the engine, and there's nothing to be done about it now. It can't be "fixed", only worked around. It's like this (oversimplifying to get the idea across). I pick up a steel sword. The inventory assigns it a "tag" or "value": e.g. "Steel Sword A0". (Players don't see "A0", it's used by the engine to track of that sword. It saves the durability, any enhancements or special properties, any runestones available / applied, whether there is oil on it...etc.) I pick up another steel sword, and the game will call it "Steel Sword A1". Now, every time I save and load the game, or any time the game loads a new area, it must cross reference the prior / present data for both swords and re-save them as a new tag to ensure they load into the game / new area. (I can't simultaneously cross-reference something and save it as the same "tag". [That would be the equivalent of opening a Word document and trying to save a copy with the same filename as the already opened copy. Can't. So a computer needs to append something to the new file to distinguish it, like MyFile - Copy(1).doc.]) That's similar to what TW3 does when it saves each steel sword. Upon loading, each sword is cross-referenced, and the new instance is saved with an appended tag to ensure that its unique state is kept separate from all other items with the same name. So, "Steel Sword A0" becomes "Steel Sword A00", and "Steel Sword A1" becomes "Steel Sword A10". This process occurs for every, individual item, in turn, every single time the game loads a save-file or loads a new area. It's now a matter of time, especially if I have multiples of same item in my inventory over long periods, that my original steel sword has become "Steel Sword A0999999997" and the inventory screen will begin to lag as it tries to process all of these references with looong values. Eventually, the engine runs out of the maximum number of "decimal places" it can assign to a single item, and to avoid crashing the entire game out right upon loading, it's forced to cull data from the item. The item will become buggy. (The game will still run...until I interact with that item. Then crashy-poo.)

So, avoiding this is simple. Don't horde items and don't expect to play the same playthrough indefinitely. I know what other programs (like Diablo or Dark Souls or MMOs...) are like. I know what has become "customary" in gaming culture. Well, TW3 is different. It won't work like that. In TW3, you need to pick up only what you really need and a few spares. It's not an NG+++... style of game. Bethesda games also have this issue, for example. It's called "savegame bloat", and it's a bloody thorn if it happens. Similar crashes are common if a game or Skyrim goes on too long or a quest script gets looped too many times in Papyrus. It's the nature of gigantic, sprawling, non-linear RPGs. They will eventually reach the limit of what the engine is capable of doing. A surefire way to wind up with problems is push any engine to its limits.

Looking back (fallacy of hindsight), it's easy to say, "Oh, well, yeah. The inventory should have been handled better." But a limit had to be decided upon, and it was. Guess it's a lot smaller than some players would prefer. As stated: hindsight. Note for the future.

The reality now is that the engine is simply not conducive to hoarding items over longer playthroughs due to the number of times inventory needs to be saved and reloaded. So the next time you ride around and massacre 30 bandits because you had an hour to kill...just let their gear lie. You've already got 2.6 million coins (in your saddlebags, apparently), and your own weapon is capable of cutting through time itself before lighting your victim on fire from the inside. You don't need their hatchets! Or their torn gambesons! Just leave them there! Just let the ghouls eat!

Oooh...ghouls... (Draws blade.)

 

[Duckmustard]

So, avoiding this is simple. Don't horde items and don't expect to play the same playthrough indefinitely.

Right. Now I just have to invent a time machine, go back 3 weeks and tell myself this, as well as telling myself to turn off boost mode, and lastly, don't set the autosave to less than 15 minutes.

 

[Johnnysurf7]

Sig I can appreciate the explanation but Broke Is Broke.
It used to work fine now it does not.
Who wants to play wondering if the next sword I pick up or maybe the next herb is going to break my game.

 

[TrishKrish]

Sig I can appreciate the explanation but Broke Is Broke.
It used to work fine now it does not.
Who wants to play wondering if the next sword I pick up or maybe the next herb is going to break my game.

I completely agree with this quote! This bug is not acceptable.

Hi Sigilfey! Thanks for the explanation but not picking up items and only playing a save file for a limited period of time really takes away from the game. I bought this game to play it for 100+ hours. So many games have inventories and they don't have any problems. I don't think its reasonable to expect the players to micromanage the game to make sure its playable. Thats the developers' job. I'm going to send another support ticket.

 

[mark5916]

Sig I can appreciate the explanation but Broke Is Broke.
It used to work fine now it does not.
Who wants to play wondering if the next sword I pick up or maybe the next herb is going to break my game.

>Who wants to play wondering if the next sword I pick up or maybe the next herb is going to break my game.

What you mean with that?

You get crashes by just picking a sword or a herb from a vendor?

 

[mark5916]

I completely agree with this quote! This bug is not acceptable.

Hi Sigilfey! Thanks for the explanation but not picking up items and only playing a save file for a limited period of time really takes away from the game. I bought this game to play it for 100+ hours. So many games have inventories and they don't have any problems. I don't think its reasonable to expect the players to micromanage the game to make sure its playable. Thats the developers' job. I'm going to send another support ticket.

How many items do you have in your inventory?

With how many items in your inventory, do you get crashes and in which circumstances?

So just wandering around, compare different items with an particular vendor, selling or purchasing items?

 

[TrishKrish]

How many items do you have in your inventory?

With how many items in your inventory, do you get crashes and in which circumstances?

So just wandering around, compare different items with an particular vendor, selling or purchasing items?

My inventory is around 100/120. I don't even need to be selling or purchasing items for the game to crash. The game just crashes randomly after just over 60 minutes of playing. One time I was just running around in Skellige, another time it was in the Hearts of Stone DLC Olgierd's house. I noticed crashes were happening more frequently so I did a test run. Put a timer on and just walked around in novigrad and velen. Fans go very loud after 5 minutes of play and the game will eventually crash at just over 70 minutes. My last 3 gaming sessions have ended via a crash after just over an hour of playing. Its been consistent. I haven't had any problems with merchants. The crashing problems started after 40 hours in my save. Since the beginning my inventory always usually remained nearly full. I barely used the stash. I think the crashing issues are cause by a combination of my save file hours and the inventory size. I'm just playing the game. I don't think it's reasonable to have to restrict my inventory.

 

[mark5916]

My inventory is around 100/120. I don't even need to be selling or purchasing items for the game to crash. The game just crashes randomly after just over 60 minutes of playing. One time I was just running around in Skellige, another time it was in the Hearts of Stone DLC Olgierd's house. I noticed crashes were happening more frequently so I did a test run. Put a timer on and just walked around in novigrad and velen. Fans go very loud after 5 minutes of play and the game will eventually crash at just over 70 minutes. My last 3 gaming sessions have ended via a crash after just over an hour of playing. Its been consistent. I haven't had any problems with merchants. The crashing problems started after 40 hours in my save. Since the beginning my inventory always usually remained nearly full. I barely used the stash. I think the crashing issues are cause by a combination of my save file hours and the inventory size. I'm just playing the game. I don't think it's reasonable to have to restrict my inventory.

>I don't think it's reasonable to have to restrict my inventory.

Well, reasonable or not, it seems the game woks that way. (as SigilFey described above)

But you have answered your own question actually.

So, you said:

Since the beginning my inventory always usually remained nearly full. I barely used the stash. I think the crashing issues are cause by a combination of my save file hours and the inventory size.

Well, why you don't try to place your additional armour or whatever you don't actually need onto your stash first and save the game.

Load that game after and continue your journey.

Can you reproduce the error (crash) after 50 or 70 minutes of gameplay?

>I haven't had any problems with merchants.

That's a problem!

Try to compare armour and gear with any major vendor you visit in your journey, (so make a test) by crafting Witcher gear and similar stuff.

Normally your console should crash.

That's the major problem that a lot of people are facing with the latest patch.

If that does happen on some people and not on others, then I'm afraid we will wait a long time before we get a new patch.

If that similar error can't be reproduced from CDPR on their consoles, there will be no patch any time soon.

A patch for what actually?

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Oh not to forget. About the fan noise problem. The game has become heavier as it seems, especially on the PS4 pro.

So, every time the fan goes up at instances on some locations and you can't live with that, just hit the tough button - wait for 10 sec - hit the tough button again and continue your quest.

That way the fan should go down to its normal speed state again.

 

[SigilFey]

Hi Sigilfey! Thanks for the explanation but not picking up items and only playing a save file for a limited period of time really takes away from the game. I bought this game to play it for 100+ hours. So many games have inventories and they don't have any problems. I don't think its reasonable to expect the players to micromanage the game to make sure its playable. Thats the developers' job. I'm going to send another support ticket.

You can, but it's like accusing Minecraft of not truly being an "infinite" world because of the Far Lands. Every engine on the planet has limitations that cannot be exceeded. The inventory system works as designed...even if it is a bit stingy for a certain type of playstyle.

And let me be clear that 1,000+ hours is approximately 2,000+ reloads. If you play through the entire game twice, that's going to be ~200 hours. It's only when players push the game waaay past the playtime it was designed for that the trouble will start. And that only goes for a single playthrough -- beginning a new game creates a new save-state. That "resets the clock", so to speak.

...as well as telling myself to turn off boost mode, and lastly, don't set the autosave to less than 15 minutes.

My inventory is around 100/120. I don't even need to be selling or purchasing items for the game to crash. The game just crashes randomly after just over 60 minutes of playing.

This likely has nothing to do with inventory. It's a separate issue(s). Remember that a lot of work is being done to try to identify causes for the various PS4 / Pro bugs and optimize the engine. That can and will introduce different bugs and glitches until everything is ironed out. Patching is quite a process. The inventory bug being addressed in this thread is only going to occur when you're on the inventory screen and trying to interact with items.

(Also, you can save as much as you want. It's only when the game needs to load that the inventory issue gets compounded.)

 

[Sooxzay]

SigilFey Can you confirm an upcoming patch for both PS4 and PS4 pro that will try to fix some of those performance issues?

 

[skovacevic96]

So, in other words, the bug wont be fixed?

 

[TrishKrish]

My save is not even a total of 50 hours! I have a lot of items but if inventory is such a sensitive matter, why was 120 carry limit added to the game? I haven't played for 2534 hours and accumulated 20,358 items or something. My save is 49 hours and 49 minutes. I probably have 200-300 items max, most of them being alchemy ingredients. I sell most of my extra armor sets. I can create gear but I have never compared them. I always keep 2-3 saves of my current progress. After 15-20 minutes, I save my progress over 2-3 slots. Maybe thats whats causing the issues? Honestly I would be fine with playing the game in 1080p (before the pro patch) if that fixes the problems. If CDPR can't produce this problem, maybe they can release a patch that has a toggle to disable 4K support. People who have no problems should have the option to keep 4K. I could send my save file to CDPR. But I have already sent a support ticket and no response. If they actually see my support ticket and ask for a save, I will give them it. I don't want to have to go through the trouble for no reason.

Even though crashes for me happen outside the inventory screen, I still think its related. My inventory is quite large and I do pick up lots of items (lots are also sold) so lots of inventory id numbers are created. I'm not going to play this game until a patch is released. Its quite annoying experiencing crashes.

 

[TrishKrish]

Load that game after and continue your journey.

Can you reproduce the error (crash) after 50 or 70 minutes of gameplay?



------------------

Oh not to forget. About the fan noise problem. The game has become heavier as it seems, especially on the PS4 pro.

So, every time the fan goes up at instances on some locations and you can't live with that, just hit the tough button - wait for 10 sec - hit the tough button again and continue your quest.

That way the fan should go down to its normal speed state again.

I'm not going to play this game again until the problem is fixed. I don't want to have to deal with so many rules that restrict gameplay. Big inventory? Problem. Long time in the save? Problem. Reloading? Problem. Might as well play it as a linear story without crafting gear or having an inventory over 20. Its too restricting to play that way. To be honest, I rather not play at all!

I can reproduce the crash after 50-70 constantly. Just leaving the game on anywhere after a while it crashes.

I don't have a problem with fan noise, but its happens everywhere. I was literally standing in Novigrad, listening to the fan noise and it was so loud. I was doing NOTHING. And I had only loaded the save a few minutes prior. In non demanding situations, why are the fans going crazy? It doesn't make sense...

This game is an amazing RPG. One of my favourite games of all time. If I didn't like it, I would just never play it and never talk about it again. But I like this game a lot and want a fix. However, I can't play and have fun with so many things to keep track of or else the game crashes

 

[TrishKrish]

You can, but it's like accusing Minecraft of not truly being an "infinite" world because of the Far Lands. Every engine on the planet has limitations that cannot be exceeded. The inventory system works as designed...even if it is a bit stingy for a certain type of playstyle.

And let me be clear that 1,000+ hours is approximately 2,000+ reloads. If you play through the entire game twice, that's going to be ~200 hours. It's only when players push the game waaay past the playtime it was designed for that the trouble will start. And that only goes for a single playthrough -- beginning a new game creates a new save-state. That "resets the clock", so to speak.




This likely has nothing to do with inventory. It's a separate issue(s). Remember that a lot of work is being done to try to identify causes for the various PS4 / Pro bugs and optimize the engine. That can and will introduce different bugs and glitches until everything is ironed out. Patching is quite a process. The inventory bug being addressed in this thread is only going to occur when you're on the inventory screen and trying to interact with items.

(Also, you can save as much as you want. It's only when the game needs to load that the inventory issue gets compounded.)

How stingy is it that after not even 50 hours of play, its reached its limit? I'm certain there are people who have played less hours in the game and have more items that I do. Most items, I pick up, I sell. The majority of my items are alchemy ingredients. There have been times where I just pass obtainable items because I just want to play the game and not waste time picking up everything. My save file is nowhere near pushing the limit. CDPR made this game to be an 100 hour game. Lots of people surpassed that total. I'm not even halfway there. It's already been 4 months since they were aware of this bug. I will be patient waiting for the next patch. But I'm not going to adjust my play style in order to bandaid fix the game.

 

[skovacevic96]

Same goes for me. I always sell my armour and weapons, I keep only the ones I actually use. The thing I wasnt selling a lot were alchemy items, books, quest items and other stuff that dont consume space in the inventory and are useful in crafting. I would sell them from time to time if I had a lot of something I would usually sell half and then go back to playing. The point is that weaponry part of the inventory, saddle bags and all that which consumes space was sold all the time. I really cant figure it out why would my game crash because I was stashing flowers and beast teeth and whatnot.... Its not just the crashing, I had about 50-60 hours too, its the lag. The inventory windows were becoming so laggy it would take me 2 seconds just to scroll from one item to the other. Hiding description and all said stuff wouldnt help me after some time passed and I am, I repeat, 100% sure that this isnt actually a bug but a limitation to the game engine which will sooner or later happen to every player who is playing. I am telling you this because everyone I know who owns the game on ps4 is experiencing the same thing. The inventory of the game was poorly designed and its just way over the ps4 league which makes the console fry while trying to load the game. It might be due to the RAM issues as ps4 doesnt have that kind of a memory at all, if it simply cant fit then the game will explode. I really dont think that this can be fixable without doing the entire inventory from the ground up which is something they wont do because it would create even more problems...

 

[Jenot]

Regardless of crash issues i would like to know where is HDR patch for PS4 Pro ? Why it takes so long ? Is that a big problem to release a patch that only adds HDR support and later release a patch that fixes crash issues ?

 

[SigilFey]

How stingy is it that after not even 50 hours of play, its reached its limit? I'm certain there are people who have played less hours...

Read again what my response said. There isn't only one type of bug. If you're seeing crashes while using inventory after only 50 or so hours, you're likely not seeing the same issue. It's possible for something else to have gone wrong with an item you picked up, or perhaps the data was corrupted somehow. What I'm referring to is the process that will occur to anyone if they have too much stuff in their inventory for too long: players will start seeing lag when accessing inventory / trade screens. That's a sign that the item IDs for your stuff have gotten too large. Time to sell things or deposit stuff into the stash and travel between regions. (That will reset the item IDs to short ones again.) If players allow it to to go on for too long, they will eventually wind up with crashes, and then there's nothing that can really be done.

There are other things that cause similar issues though, like the runestone / glyph bomb that can occur right away if you have too many of the same runestone / glyph in your inventory. I don't think the actual cause of this could be found. At other times, e.g. if you have a quest item in your inventory while also being at a certain stage in the corresponding quest, then update the game to a new version and reload, it can make the quest item become glitchy. Again, too many possible variables and situations that might give rise to that. Some of these solutions can be found and fixed, others cannot be re-created. All of these completely different problems might all look like "my inventory isn't working"...but they're all completely different.

By and large, though, there are no issues for vast majority of players. I wish I could offer specific feedback for PS4 in particular, but I don't own one. I can say that playing on PC, I was forced to restart my first 3 playthroughs back in the 1.0x days because of issues, but I'm now in my 5th complete playthrough with only minor bugs (all of which I simply need to work around because they're embedded in the game). I've never once had the slightest issue with inventory (except for landing with the runestone bomb once, and I had a back-up save handy, so I didn't lose much progress). Mileage will vary based on countless differences with different systems, playstyles, and random issues that may have arisen over time. The only thing to do is pay attention carefully while you play, and try to identify the exact sequence of events leading up to your crashes. If you experience a lot of them, then there will almost definitely be a pattern, even if it's difficult to see. That's the info that needs to be submitted to Tech Support so that they can try to track down the source.

Regardless of crash issues i would like to know where is HDR patch for PS4 Pro ? Why it takes so long ? Is that a big problem to release a patch that only adds HDR support and later release a patch that fixes crash issues ?

Over 1,000,000 lines of code written by a large number of individuals over almost 10 years (many of whom are no longer around to identify what they did and how), a web of non-linear complex mechanics working in tandem with thousands of possible combinations and outcomes based on player choice, a graphical engine capable of proceduraly rendering tens of miles in all directions with a dynamic weather and lighting system, and over 80 hours of cinematic, narrative gameplay being simultaneously supported for 3 completely different platforms. There's no "easy" or "fast" about anything involved.

Plus, a game engine is all interconnected, sometimes in very odd ways that may not make sense at a glance. I can't change any one thing in a game's code without it potentially affecting everything else.