Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City

Developers
	Rocksteady Studios
macOS (OS X)	Feral Interactive
Publishers
	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
OS X	Feral Interactive
Russia	1C-SoftClub
Engines
	Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows	November 22, 2011
macOS (OS X)	December 13, 2012
Reception
Metacritic	91
IGDB	91
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Adventure, Open world, Stealth
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Batman: Arkham

Batman: Arkham
Subseries of Batman
Batman: Arkham Asylum	2009
Batman: Arkham City	2011
Batman: Arkham Origins	2013
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition	2014
Batman: Arkham Knight	2015
Batman: Arkham VR	2017
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League	2024

Warnings

For Games for Windows - LIVE on Windows 8 or later, install the latest Games for Windows - LIVE software.

Batman: Arkham City is a singleplayer third-person action, adventure, open world and stealth game in the Batman: Arkham series.

General information

Arkham Wiki

Batman Wiki

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

OS X minisite

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 8 and Games for Windows - LIVE DRM. The standard edition has 2 DVDs while the Game of the Year edition has 3 DVDs.
Retail		2014 rerelease of GOTY edition.
Epic Games Store		Game of the Year Edition. DRM-free when launched directly from executable.
GamersGate		Game of the Year Edition.
		Game of the Year Edition.
GOG.com		Game of the Year Edition.
Green Man Gaming		Game of the Year Edition.
Humble Store		Game of the Year Edition.
Steam		Game of the Year Edition.
Developer website (unavailable)		Game of the Year Edition.
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)		SecuROM PA DRM.
Mac App Store (unavailable)		Game of the Year Edition.
Origin (unavailable)		Game of the Year Edition.

The retail version activates on Steam.

SecuROM PA and Games for Windows - LIVE DRM were removed from the Steam version in 2013.

The non-Steam OS X version uses Feral Interactive's DRM which requires online activation on their website.

The non-GOTY version upgrades to GOTY when activated on Steam.

Demo

A demo is available on Steam.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete or rename video files
Go to <path-to-game>\BmGame\Movies\. Delete or rename Startup.swf and StartupNV.swf.

Toggle Disable Startup Movies in the Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher[citation needed]

Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher

This custom launcher replaces the original one and includes all the features from the vanilla launcher along with common tweaks and bug fixes already covered on this page and more. Also supports more advanced tweaks to improve performance and visual fidelity beyond what the vanilla launcher allows.

Supports Steam GOTY, Epic Games Store GOTY and GOG GOTY releases. GFWL version is not supported. Windows and native Linux are supported.

A PCGamingWiki mirror of the launcher binary is available.

Game data

In-game general settings.

A well-written post on the Steam Users' Forums about the way the game handles save data. Note that this forum post is only relevant to the deprecated GFWL version.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\WB Games\Batman Arkham City GOTY\BmGame\Config\
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/200260/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\WB Games\Batman Arkham City GOTY\SaveData\
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\200260\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/200260/pfx/

Steam saves are compatible with the GOG.com version.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Origin
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud		Approx. 954 MB available.

Convert GFWL savegames to Steamworks

Use GFWL-stripper

Convert Xbox 360 save games to Epic Games Store version

This is a bit more involved and manual than removing GFWL above, but still easy. 0x refers to hexadecimal values. For example, 0x10 means "the hexadecimal value 10 (decimal 16), not decimal 10".

Instructions

Make a note of the save(s) you want to use on the PC version as above i.e. save 0, 1, 2, and/or 3 Insert a USB flashdrive into your Xbox 360 Use your Xbox 360 Settings menu to copy your Arkham City savegames to the drive Complete transfer of files to your PC - there will be a "Content" folder on your USB drive, and your saves will be in it, search for the files save0.sgd, save1.sgd etc. depending on which you want to convert Open the save file you want to transfer in your hex editor Go to offset 0xD000, or search for the first occurrence of 0x9E2A83 - I have only seen this near position 0xD000 in my saves, but it may vary. Delete everything before position 0xD000 You should end up with a file starting with 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x03 Insert 4 bytes of 00 80 04 00 at the start. Your file will now begin 00 80 04 00 00 00 00 03... Save your changes. Copy your edited save into the correct folder as documented above, or in Youtube - TUTORIAL Batman Arkham How To Install SaveGames

Convert Steam save games to Epic Games Store version

Instructions
Open your save file in your hex editor. It will start with 00 00 00 03. Insert the 4 bytes 00 80 04 00 at the start of the file, so it now starts 00 80 04 00 00 00 00 03 Save the file and transfer to the save folder as documented above.

Convert Epic Games Store save games to Steam

Instructions
Open your copied save file in your hex editor. Select and delete the first 4 bytes 00 80 04 00. Save the file and transfer to the save folder as documented above.

Video

External video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			Multi-monitor HUD: Position Affects Gameplay.
Ultra-widescreen			Some cutscenes are pillar-boxed.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Default is 4x ("MaxAnisotropy=4"), See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA or up to 8x MSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Set via launcher. Triple Buffering.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		See 120+ FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Use Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher

Change FOV

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BmInput.ini. To bind a FoV value of 100 to F10, add this line at the end of [Engine.PlayerInput]: Bindings=(Name="F10",Command="fov 100"). The result: Default FOV FOV 100 Notes The game might revert this change when graphic or control settings are altered, especially when using the separate configuration tool. In case of multiple edits to an .ini file, it is useful to make a copy of the customized file and copy it over the reverted one when necessary, in order to avoid repeated manual editing.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Use Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher

Anisotropic filtering (AF)[citation needed]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open UserEngine.ini. Under the [SystemSettings] section, add line MaxAnisotropy=16.

120+ FPS

Use Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher

Change Framerate

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BmEngine.ini. Search for SmoothFrameRate and edit all occurences of MinSmoothedFrameRate= and MaxSmoothedFrameRate= to the desired values. AND Open UserEngine.ini. Take the values for MinSmoothedFrameRate and MaxSmoothedFrameRate Add the entries under the section [Engine.Engine] Add a new section [Engine.GameEngine] Add the values there again. --- Now both files should contain: [Engine.Engine] MinSmoothedFrameRate=120 MaxSmoothedFrameRate=144 [Engine.GameEngine] MinSmoothedFrameRate=120 MaxSmoothedFrameRate=144

Arkham City Redux

Texture pack that features over a thousand upscaled, retouched, refined and manually improved textures, updating the visuals of the game's characters and environments while keeping the original aesthetics intact.

Input

External key map settings.

The gamepad layout for Batman: Arkham City

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		See Disable mouse smoothing.
Mouse sensitivity		See Mouse sensitivity.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Separate inversion of look, rotation, flight controls and Batarang flight controls.
Controller
Controller support		XInput supported, DirectInput has some mapping issues.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Disable Mouse Smoothing

Use Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher

Disable Mouse Smoothing
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BmInput.ini. Under the [Engine.PlayerInput] section, change the value of bEnableMouseSmoothing to false

Mouse sensitivity

Use Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher

Change Mouse sensitivity[citation needed]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BmInput.ini. Under the [Engine.PlayerInput] section, change the value of MouseSensitivity=X to your desired mouse sensitivity.

Mouse cursor reappears when using controller

When using a controller, entering menus (such as the map) un-hides the mouse cursor and positions it in the center of the screen.

Use AutoHideMouseCursor set to "Classic strategy"

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX, Music and Dialogue.
Surround sound		Auto configures up to 5.1 output
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Japanese				Fan Translation https://kakihey.com/pc-gaming/batman-arkham-city-japanese/
Arabic				Fan translation by AR Team, download.
Czech				Fan translation.
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish				Depends on Windows Language preferences, for Spain must be on any configuration of Spanish.
Latin American Spanish				Depends on Windows Language preferences, for Latin America, Windows language must be on Español (México), For configure through UserEngine.ini, change ESN to ESM.
Turkish				Fan translation.

Change language

By default the Windows system language takes over other preferences.

Change game language

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open UserEngine.ini for Steam version or BmEngine.ini for Epic version. Change the language to the code of your desired language. Notes Menu texts preference can be simply overridden with -LANGUAGEFORCOOK=XXX parameter Dialogues preference can be simply overridden with -LANGUAGE=XXX parameter Language codes (XXX) and available localizations can be checked in the <path-to-game>\BmGame\Localization\ folder

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision
TriDef 3D			DirectX 9 only.
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Fix Catwoman's Quickfire Disarm key missing on keyboard

Although it is possible to do Catwoman's "Quickfire Disarm" with a gamepad, this move is made unavailable with a keyboard after unlocking the Caltrops as the Quickfire Caltrops move (double tap "2") replaces the Quickfire Disarm (the only way to do a disarm then being first selecting the whip then holding the left mouse button and clicking the middle mouse button, which might lead to broken combos). Note that the Quickfire Disarm is a different move from the Quickfire Trip (double tap "1").

Edit BmInput.ini and UserInput.ini[citation needed]

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BmInput.ini. Find the line IniVersion=6.9. Under this line add Bindings=(Name="KEY",Command="HoldToZoom | QuickGadgetY", Shift=false, Control=false, Alt=false, bIgnoreShift=false, bIgnoreCtrl=false, bIgnoreAlt=false):META:COM_QUICK_GADGET1,1,-1,-1,"",false,true,CI_QuickWhip. Replace KEY with the desired key for the quickfire batclaw/whip disarm. Note that if a key is already used for another function it can't be associated with this action. Save the file. Now open UserInput.ini. Find the line IniVersion=6.9. Under this line add .Bindings=(Name="KEY",Command="HoldToZoom | QuickGadgetY", Shift=false, Control=false, Alt=false, bIgnoreShift=false, bIgnoreCtrl=false, bIgnoreAlt=false):META:COM_QUICK_GADGET1,1,-1,-1,"",false,true,CI_QuickWhip. Note that differently from the BmInput.ini file, there has to be a dot "." at the beginning of the line. Replace KEY with the same desired key for quickfire batclaw/whip disarm you have set in the BmInput.ini file. Save the file.

Set the Catwoman Disarm Fix key remap to key of choice through Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher[citation needed]

DirectX 11 lighting bug

Replace graphics cache files from GFWL version
Download the Zip file here. Alternatively, copy both GlobalShaderCache-PC-D3D-SM3.bin and GlobalShaderCache-PC-D3D-SM5.bin in <path-to-game>\BmGame\CookedPCConsole\ from the GFWL version. Extract the contents of the archive/copy the two files to <path-to-game>\BmGame\CookedPCConsole\ and overwrite the existing files.

Use the Batman: Arkham City - Advanced Launcher[citation needed]
The fix will be automatically applied when using the launcher.

Game crashes during introductory cutscene

Install PhysX or disable it[citation needed]

Storyteller achievement not unlocking

The game only tracked 10 years from launch so 2021 and further will be bugged.

Set the date of your PC to any date before year 2021[citation needed]

Massive stuttering

Running the game from a conventional HDD causes extreme stuttering when traversing the map due to loading. Moving the game to an SSD may fix this issue.

Move or reinstall the game to an SSD

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 11
Metal support		macOS >= 10.14 only
Shader Model support	3, 5

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			macOS only.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX
Audio	Wwise
Cutscenes	Bink Video

Center Main Camera View

By default the game's main third-person camera view is off-center (i.e. the character stands at the left side of the screen). For those who prefer the character to be central to the screen, the camera position can be changed via an in-game console command.

Center Camera View

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BMInput.ini. Under the [Engine.PlayerInput] section, add a key bind line to enable the console: Bindings=(Name="F10",Command="set console TypeKey F10") Launch the game and play until you can control your character normally. Make your character run (i.e. hold Space by default). Press the F10 key. The in-game console should appear at the bottom of the screen. Quickly paste the following code into the console and hit return: set R3rdPersonCamera WalkCamConfig (StateFreeCameraSitOffsetMin=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=0.000000),StateFreeCameraSitOffsetMax=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=0.000000),StateFreeCameraPullOffset=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=0.000000),CameraPivotOffset=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=65.000000),ZoomedOffset=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=80.000000),maxPitch=14500.000000,MinPitch=-13000.000000,MinFreeCameraDistance=300.000000,MaxFreeCameraDistance=300.000000,ShortCamSpringConst=250.000000,LongCamSpringConst=250.000000,DefaultCameraPitch=-910.000000,CameraSitOffsetPower=1.500000,bUseSeparate43Settings=True,StateFreeCamera43SitOffsetMax=(X=0.000000,Y=25.000000,Z=60.000000),StateFreeCamera43SitOffsetMin=(X=-100.000000,Y=67.000000,Z=-20.000000),bDontModifySitOffsetWhenLookingUp=False) The camera should now remain centered. Note the character must be running while you execute the console command. Note you will have to repeat this process each time you launch the game. It may be possible to bind this command to a single key, but for the moment the only published workaround is via the use of AutoHotKey or a similar macro program to issue the commands as a single key.

To simplify this process, you can bind this command to a hotkey.

Center Camera View via hotkey

Go to <path-to-game>\Binaries. Create a new text file in that folder named center.txt with the following content: set R3rdPersonCamera WalkCamConfig (StateFreeCameraSitOffsetMin=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=0.000000),StateFreeCameraSitOffsetMax=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=0.000000),StateFreeCameraPullOffset=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=0.000000),CameraPivotOffset=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=65.000000),ZoomedOffset=(X=0.000000,Y=0.000000,Z=80.000000),maxPitch=14500.000000,MinPitch=-13000.000000,MinFreeCameraDistance=300.000000,MaxFreeCameraDistance=300.000000,ShortCamSpringConst=250.000000,LongCamSpringConst=250.000000,DefaultCameraPitch=-910.000000,CameraSitOffsetPower=1.500000,bUseSeparate43Settings=True,StateFreeCamera43SitOffsetMax=(X=0.000000,Y=25.000000,Z=60.000000),StateFreeCamera43SitOffsetMin=(X=-100.000000,Y=67.000000,Z=-20.000000),bDontModifySitOffsetWhenLookingUp=False) Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BMInput.ini. Under the [Engine.PlayerInput] section, add a new key binding line like the following: Bindings=(Name="F8",Command="exec center.txt", Shift=false, Control=false, Alt=false, bIgnoreShift=false, bIgnoreCtrl=false, bIgnoreAlt=false) Launch the game and while running press the key to center the camera. Notes You will need to press the key once each time you launch the game. The character will still need to be running while executing this command. To add the command to an existing keybind, precede it with a pipe (|) character. For example, to make the F8 key change the FOV and center the camera: Bindings=(Name="F8",Command="fov 110{{!}}exec center.txt", Shift=false, Control=false, Alt=false, bIgnoreShift=false, bIgnoreCtrl=false, bIgnoreAlt=false)

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	Vista, 7, 8
Processor (CPU)	AMD Athlon X2 4800+ Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz	2.5 GHz Dual Core
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	17 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 3850 Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	AMD Radeon HD 6970 Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 DirectX 11 compatible

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.14
Processor (CPU)	Intel 2.0 GHz	Intel 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	16 GB
Video card (GPU)	512 MB of VRAM	512 MB of VRAM

Users with macOS versions prior to 10.14 can select the branch mac_retail_11 - macOS 10.13.6 or older only from the Beta tab on Steam. This enables the game to run with the legacy OpenGL backend on macOS >= 10.9.5.