BioShock

Template:Infobox BioShock (series)

General information

Official Forum

Steam Hub Discussions.

General Series Steam Forum

Patches

Patch is currently at Version 1.1. It is heavily recommended to patch to the latest version, as the un-patched game can become unbeatable at one point. If purchased or activated from Steam, the game is automatically patched to the latest version.

Video settings

Field of view (FOV)

Instructions

Input settings

Mouse acceleration

There are two configuration files that you will need to modify. They are located at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\2K games\BioShock\Builds\Release\DefUser.ini

C:\Users\$USERNAME$\AppData\Roaming\Bioshock\User.ini

Open up both files and make the following changes to each one:

1) Add this to the end of each file:

[Engine.PlayerInput]
MouseSmoothingMode=0
MouseAccelThreshold=0.0

2) Find the section of the file with the key bindings. It will look like this:

A=StrafeLeft
B=AmmoSelectionDown
C=Duck
D=etcetera

change one of the binds to J=set Engine.PlayerInput MouseAccelThreshold 0.0 | set Engine.PlayerInput MouseSmoothingMode 0, with J being replaced with the key of your choice.

3) Do a search and replace on both files, replacing every instance of Speed=2500 with Speed=500if you are a lower sensitivity player, or maybe "Speed=1000" if you like higher sensitivity.

4) With all of that, everything should be fixed. Not quite. Each time you start a new game the mouse will be screwed up until you press that key that you bound to "set Engine.PlayerInput MouseAccelThreshold 0.0 | set Engine.PlayerInput MouseSmoothingMode 0". So, press that each time you start a new game or level or spawn or whatever.

5) Disable Vertical Sync in the graphics options to reduce mouse lag. This will cause graphical tearing, so it's up to you which one is more important.

Issues and Fixes

Game-Breaking Issues

Extremely minor spoilers follow, but they detail glitches that should be avoided. In order of possible encounter:

In Arcadia (the fifth level), do not have the Scrounger tonic equipped around the time you search Langford's Safe. The safe holds a required quest item. To fix this issue, you must reload an earlier save and remove the tonic by visiting a Gene Bank. Once you have the item from the safe, you can safely use the Scrounger tonic for the rest of the game.

In Fort Frolic (the seventh level), "if you leave the level using the Bathysphere you entered with before you complete Cohen's Masterpiece when you return to the level: the curtain that needs to be open to perform that quest will be permanently closed." (Good luck decyphering that; I can't.) Source

In Fort Frolic, it is possible to get trapped in Rapture Records. When trying to kill Silas Cobb, don't use the Hypnotize plasmid. If you do and the Big Daddy kills Cobb before he's able to perform a scripted task, you must return to the main map by killing yourself. (The Incinerate! plasmid at your feet works well.) Reloading an old save is also an option. Source

If your saves to do not go far enough back then the first two are game-ending issues. Technically, modifying the save file or using a trainer would also fix the issue, but neither solution has been documented.

Excessive Screen Tearing

If you are noticing excessive tearing on Nvidia cards, Go to the control panel, 3D settings, add the Bioshock.exe to the list, and under options enable both FXAA and Vsync. This forces the stay at your refresh rate and fixes the somewhat broken MLAA that caused tearing.

Field of View

Options - Graphics Options - Horizontal FOV Lock - Off

This is vital for users on widescreen monitors. Otherwise, what's visible on-screen will be less than what you'd get from a 4:3 resolution.

Can't Change Resolution From 1024x768

Instructions

Alt-Tabbing

If you run at a different resolution than your desktop resolution, BioShock will not be fullscreen when you return to it. To fix this, change the resolution to anything other than its original resolution, and cancel when it asks you to confirm. Alternatively on Windows, hit

alt+enter.

Slow Loading Times

If you are experiencing extremely slow loading times (> 1 minute), but have a high-end PC, it is most likely related to Securom DRM.

Instructions

Audio

No Sound

Instructions

Crash on startup in Windows 7 64-bit

With some Windows 7 installations, Bioshock will crash on startup due to a bug with how OpenAL is implemented. To fix this:

Instructions

Improvements

Skip Introduction Logos

Edit the shortcut (right click -> properties), then:

• Steam: set launch options -> -nointro
• Windows: Target: "C:\...\*.exe" -nointro