Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City

Developers
	Rocksteady Studios
macOS (OS X)	Feral Interactive
Publishers
	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
OS X	Feral Interactive
Engines
	Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows	November 22, 2011
macOS (OS X)	December 13, 2012
Reception
Metacritic	91
IGDB	91
Taxonomy
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.

Key points

Games for Windows - LIVE and SecuROM have been removed from the Steam version.

General information

Developer minisite

Arkham Wiki

Batman Wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Technical Issues section of the official forum.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 8 and SecuROM PA DRM. The standard edition has 2 DVD's while the Game of the Year edition has 3 DVD's.
Developer website		Game of the Year 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.
Mac App Store		Game of the Year Edition.
EA app		Game of the Year Edition.
Steam		Game of the Year Edition.

The retail version activates on Steam.

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.

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.

Fix for 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 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 beggining 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.

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

Convert GFWL savegames to Steamworks

Use GFWL-stripper

Transfer/Migrate/Convert Xbox360 save games to Epic Store version

Note: this is bit more involved and manual than the removing GFWL above, but still easy. "0x" refers to hexadecimal values e.g. 0x10 means "the hexadecimal value 10 (decimal 16) NOT decimal 10".

1. 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
2. Insert a USB flashdrive into your Xbox360
3. Use your Xbox360 Settings menu to copy your Arkham City savegames to the drive
4. 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
5. Open the save file you want to transfer in your hex editor
6. Go to offset 0xD000, or search for the first occurence of 0x9E2A83 - I have only seen this near position 0xD000 in my saves, but it may vary.
7. Delete everything before position 0xD000
8. You should end up with a file starting with 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x03
9. Insert 4 bytes of 00 80 04 00 at the start.
10. Your file will now begin 00 80 04 00 00 00 00 03...
11. Save your changes.
12. Copy your edited save into the correct folder as documented above, or in Youtube - TUTORIAL Batman Arkham How To Install SaveGames

Transfer/Migrate/Convert Steam save games to Epic Store version

1. Open your save file in your hex editor.
2. It will start with 00 00 00 03.
3. 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
4. Save the file and transfer to the save folder as documented above.

Transfer Epic save games to Steam

1. Copy and paste your save file.
2. Open your copied save file in your hex editor.
3. Select and delete the first 4 bytes 00 80 04 00.
4. Save the file and rename to desired save slot.
5. transfer renamed file to save folder for steam.

Save game cloud syncing

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

Video

External video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			Multi-monitor HUD: Position Affects Gameplay.
Ultra-widescreen
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)		See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA or up to 8x MSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Capped at 62 FPS; see High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Field of view (FOV)

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)

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

High frame rate

Run the game's benchmark.[citation needed]
You will need to do this every time you start the game.

Raise frame rate smoothing[citation needed]

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BMEngine.ini. Search MaxSmoothedFrameRate. Best value should be your monitor refresh rate +2 so e.g. with 144hz monitor value should be 146. Change configs value to this. There may be multiple instances so change them all. Save file and make it "read only". For more information, see the Unreal Engine 3 page. A second fix for the GOTY Edition: If the method above does not work, try this one: Go to <path-to-game>\BmGame\Config\. Open DefaultEngine.ini. Search MaxSmoothedFrameRate. Best value should be your monitor refresh rate +2 so e.g. with 144hz monitor value should be 146. Change configs value to this. There may be multiple instances so change them all. Search for bSmoothFrameRate and change it to FALSE Save file and make it "read only". For more information, see the Unreal Engine 3 page.

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
Keyboard and mouse prompts
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

Disable Mouse Smoothing

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

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.

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
Brazilian Portuguese
Czech				Fan translation.
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian
Polish
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.
Japanese				PC version not released in Japan.

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. 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

Change launcher language[citation needed]
Every time you start the launcher, the game takes over the launcher's language settings, so you should consider changing this, too. Open <path-to-game>\BmGame\Config\Launcher.ini Search for '[Launcher.CultureMap]'. Put a semi-colon in front of each line except 'default=Int' and your desired language.

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 unresolved

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

Issues fixed

Fatal error "QA_APPROVED_BUILD_JANUARY_2011"

1. Go into the Binaries\win32 folder
2. Right-click on BatmanAC.exe and go to Properties
3. Go to the Compatibility tab and check "Run this program as administrator"
4. Click Ok
5. Right-click on BMLauncher.exe
6. Go to the Compatibility tab and check "Run this program as administrator"
7. Click Ok

Stuttering

Delete configuration files
Game constantly stutters, while GPU usage is low. Go into %USERPROFILE%\Documents\WB Games\Batman Arkham City GOTY\BmGame\Config\ Delete following files: bmengine.ini, bmgame.ini and userengine.ini Launch configuration tool from game launcher, choose your settings Launch the game

Low FPS

Turn off PhysX and DX11, as both of these features are resource-intensive.

Ensure you have the latest DirectX End-User Runtimes.

Game crashes

Force 2-core affinity[citation needed]

Gray screen after fight with Joker

Gray screen after fight with Joker[citation needed]

After beating Joker in the Steel Mill, you may encounter a gray screen that looks to be a cutscene that refuses to load. It tells you you can skip it by clicking the left-mouse button, but doing so will have no effect. If you encounter this problem and you have the game on Steam, try validating your cache. Right click on Batman: Arkham City in your Steam library Select Properties Select Local Files Select "Check integrity of game cache files". Notes The process might complete too fast (less than three seconds for a game of several gigabytes). If that's the case, launch the game and load up the menu. Press Alt+F4 and GfWL will helpfully inform you that you might lose unsaved progress. Click Yes to continue. Try validating your game's cache again. If validating your cache did not work or you do not have a version of the game on Steam, delete the game's local files (Steam -> Batman: Arkham City -> Remove local files), reinstall the game and try again. Luckily your saves are stored in the Steam Cloud.

No sound or weak sound

No sound or weak sound[citation needed]

Update your sound card drivers. If problems persist, ensure sure you have volume set to max for Batman Arkham City in the volume mixer (click on the little speaker icon in the bottom-right of your screen in the system tray). If you're in-game, just Alt+Tab ↹ out of the game and check if Batman Arkham City is set to max in the volume mixer. In some cases using the .ini tweak (Command: bForceNoMovies=true) to skip intro videos causes loss of gameplay sounds (Like fighting or ambient sounds) In this case it is recommended not to use this solution. Instead you can use the sfw method for skipping the intro videos. Notes Another tip you could try is to go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Communications Tab then select the "Do Nothing" radio button to permanently fix this issue.

Game crashes right after launch

Game crashes right after launch[citation needed]

The Windows 7 event log may show entries like this: Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: BatmanAC.exe Application Version: 1.0.0.0 Application Timestamp: 00000000 Fault Module Name: BatmanAC.exe Fault Module Version: 1.0.0.0 Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000 Exception Code: c000001d Exception Offset: 0348d7d2 OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Information 1: b1da Additional Information 2: b1dad02de602a574f3e3edfa7bc260e4 Additional Information 3: 3984 Additional Information 4: 3984b60a0d265364fe265f881509cbd0 If you are using EMET and set SEHOP to opt-out, Batman Arkham City needs to be added to the opt-out list. To do this: 1) Create an empty text file 2) Add theses lines: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\BatmanAC.exe] "DisableExceptionChainValidation"=dword:00000001 3) Save it as batman.reg (name doesn't matter, just the .reg extension is important) 4) Double click it 5) Run Arkham City If that doesn't work, you may have to try disabling SEHOP globally: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\kernel] "DisableExceptionChainValidation"=dword:00000001

Game crashes during introductory cutscene

Install PhysX or disable it[citation needed]

Missing Penguin Statues

Sometimes Penguin statues may become invisible, and cannot be destroyed, but can be locked on with a batarang.

Missing Penguin Statues[citation needed]
Verify the game cache or reinstall the game.

MSI Afterburner OSD does not show

MSI Afterburner OSD does not show[citation needed]
Open RivaTuner (the tool that comes together with MSI Afterburner), add the game file BatmanAC.exe, and activate or deactivate Custom Direct3D support depending on the global setting.

Microsoft .NET Framework - Unhandled exception has occured in your application.

Access to path is denied
Run the game as administrator.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9, 11
Metal support		macOS >= 10.14 only

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

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX
Audio	Wwise
Cutscenes	Bink Video

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
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	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
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	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.