Difference between revisions of "Bionic Commando (2009)"

Revision as of 14:48, 4 October 2021

Bionic Commando
Bionic Commando	1988
Bionic Commando Rearmed	2008
Bionic Commando (2009)	2009

Key points

Very few video customization settings.

Uses Xbox controller prompts for keyboard and mouse.

Aim Acceleration cannot be disabled when using a controller.

In-game mouse movement depends on the framerate and is very jerky even at 60 FPS. It gets smooth when the game runs at around 100 FPS or higher.^[1]

Game lacks an FPS limiter or toggle Vsync and may be physics issues at high fps. See Frame rate capping for manually capping the framerate.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM disc check.^[2]
Steam

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Launch the game with the `-nointro -s` parameters^[3]

Download Replacement Video Files^{[citation needed]}
Download Blank Video Files. Go to `<path-to-game>\DATA\MOVIES\` Replace the .bik files with the new blank files.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\BC\data\settings\ <path-to-game>\data\settings\^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/21670/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

controls.xml stores control bindings.

renderer_settings.xml stores video settings.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\BC\saves\ <Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\21670\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/21670/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD		HUD elements, in-game text and button prompts don't scale up and are very small at 4K resolutions.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See Anti-aliasing (AA).
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Disabled. Force in the graphics card control panel or use D3Doverrider or Special K.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	Game issues with framerate higher than 144, see Frame rate (FPS).
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Windowed

Edit renderer_settings.xml^[1]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `renderer_settings.xml` with a text editor. Change `windowed = "false"` to `windowed = "true"` Save the changes.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Force SGSSAA (Nvidia only)^[4]

Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector.
Search for Bionic Commando in the profiles list.
Set Antialiasing compatibility to 0x004010C1.
Set Antialiasing - Mode to Override any application setting.
Set Antialiasing - Setting to 2x/4x/8xQ Multisampling.
Set Antialiasing - Transparency supersampling to 2x/4x/8x Sparse Grid Supersampling (the level must match the previous setting).
Optionally, set Texture filtering - LOD Bias to either -0.500 (if using 2x MSAA + 2x SGSSAA), -1.000 (if using 4x) or -1.500 (if using 8x). This will increase sharpness, but may mess up some visual effects.
Click Apply to save the changes.

Notes

Don't Alt+Tab ↹ out of the game without opening a menu first, otherwise the lighting will be messed up.

Alternative solutions^[1]
Morphological filtering (MLAA) can be forced in the graphics card control panel (AMD). Force SMAA using injectSMAA. Enable Virtual/Dynamic Super Resolution in the graphics card control panel and render the game at a higher resolution than the monitor's native resolution.

Frame rate (FPS)

The game physics breaks at a framerate higher than 144 (e.g. the throw mechanic doesn't work properly).

Cap the game at 144 FPS or lower to fix it (Special K is recommended for optimal results).

Notes

Don't Alt+Tab ↹ after starting the game otherwise it will start to stutter constantly after going back in-game.

Input

Control bindings.

Input device is selected by pressing either ↵ Enter or Start button at the start screen, which disables the other device from that point on.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Further remap by editing `controls.xml`
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		The Y axis is slower then X axis, see Mouse Sensitivity for a workaround.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Edit `controls.xml`
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers

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

Bind all secondary weapons to one key

Since you can't have multiple secondary weapons at the same time (in the single player mode), only one key is needed.

Edit controls.xml^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open controls.xml.
Find the lines:

<button name="equip_hiker" input="3"/>
<button name="equip_sniper" input="4"/>
<button name="equip_tarantula" input="5"/>
<button name="equip_bulldog" input="6"/>
<button name="equip_mgsj" input="7"/>

4. And for example change them to:

<button name="equip_hiker" input="3"/>
<button name="equip_sniper" input="3"/>
<button name="equip_tarantula" input="3"/>
<button name="equip_bulldog" input="3"/>
<button name="equip_mgsj" input="3"/>

Skip cutscenes by pressing "Space" two times

The game allow to skip cutscenes by pressing "Enter" after you press "Space".

For an easier configuration you can modify this behavior by let the game skip the cutscenes after a second press of the "Space" button.

Edit controls.xml^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open controls.xml.
Find the "skip_cutscene" line (upper line is presented for locating it more easily since there are multiple similar entries):

<button name="toggle_weapon" input="r"/>
<button name="skip_cutscene" input="confirm"/>

4. And change it to:

<button name="skip_cutscene" input="space"/>

Navigate through "Info Screen" by pressing "Space"

The game allow to select the specific voices of the "Info Screen" (Objectives, Challenges etc.) by pressing the "Enter" button.

For an easier navigation you can modify this behavior by let the game enter those voices with the press of the "Space" button.

Edit controls.xml^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open controls.xml.
Find the "confirm" line (upper line is presented for locating it more easily since there are multiple similar entries):

<button name="equip_grenade" input="2"/>
<button name="confirm" input="confirm"/>

4. And change it to:

<button name="confirm" input="space"/>

Mouse Sensitivity

The Y axis is roughly 40% slower then X axis.

It's possible to have a workaround with mice that support separate DPI sensitivity per axis or more simply by editing the controls.xml

Edit controls.xml^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open controls.xml.
Find this line:

<axis name="look" controller="mouse" input="mouse" multiplier="0.05 0.05 0" lerp="1" no_limit="true"

4. And change it to:

<axis name="look" controller="mouse" input="mouse" multiplier="0.05 0.07 0" lerp="1" no_limit="true"

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music and sound effects.
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output through OpenAL.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		Use OpenAL Soft 1.20.1 or higher for binaural HRTF mixing.^[5]

OpenAL Soft 1.19.0 and 1.19.1 cause distorted audio in GRIN engine games. OpenAL Soft 1.20.1 fixes the audio.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Russian
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		2-8	Versus Can still be played through LAN party (like using ZeroTier)
Online play		2-8	Versus Not working anymore due to server closure

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues fixed

Game crashes on startup

Install a specific Physx version^{[citation needed]}
Download and install http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.13.1220-driver.html

Alternative Physx version^{[citation needed]}
Download and install https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/physx/9_18_0907/physx-9-18-0907-driver.html Run game in Compatibility Mode as either Windows 95 or Windows 98 / Windows ME

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX
Audio	OpenAL
Cutscenes	Bink Video

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2, Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon X2 5200+ 2.6 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1.5 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	8 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 7800 series ATI Radeon X1900 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible

Notes

↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/21670/.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (21670) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Verified by User:Antrad on October 13, 2018
↑ Reclaim Your Game - RYG's SecuROM 7+ DRM List
↑ FILEnetworks Blog: Fix Bionic Commando (PC) 2009 crashes, unlock content & troubleshoot video issues
↑ NVidia Flags
↑ OpenAL Soft 1.20.1: Fixed audio in Diesel engine games (Bionic Commando HRTF)

[gamedir-4] When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-5] 2.0 ^2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/21670/.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (21670) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[3] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[4] Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/21670/.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (21670) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[refcheck_Antrad-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Verified by User:Antrad on October 13, 2018

[2] Reclaim Your Game - RYG's SecuROM 7+ DRM List

[3] FILEnetworks Blog: Fix Bionic Commando (PC) 2009 crashes, unlock content & troubleshoot video issues

[6] NVidia Flags

[7] OpenAL Soft 1.20.1: Fixed audio in Diesel engine games (Bionic Commando HRTF)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[4]

[5]

@@ Line 377: / Line 377: @@
 }}
-==Issues fixed==
+==Network==
-===Game crashes on startup===
+{{Network/Multiplayer
-{{Fixbox|description=Install a specific Physx version|ref={{cn|date=November 2015}}|fix=
+|lan play             = true
-#Download and install http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.13.1220-driver.html
+|lan play players     = 2-8
-}}
+|lan play modes       = Versus
-{{Fixbox|description=Alternative Physx version|ref={{cn|date=November 2015}}|fix=
+|lan play notes       = Can still be played through LAN party (like using ZeroTier)
-#Download and install https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/physx/9_18_0907/physx-9-18-0907-driver.html
+|online play          = true
-#Run game in '''Compatibility Mode''' as either ''Windows 95'' or ''Windows 98 / Windows ME''
+|online play players  = 2-8
+|online play modes    = Versus
+|online play notes    = Not working anymore due to server closure
 }}
@@ Line 430: / Line 432: @@
 |play area room-scale        =
 |play area room-scale notes  =
+}}
+==Issues fixed==
+===Game crashes on startup===
+{{Fixbox|description=Install a specific Physx version|ref={{cn|date=November 2015}}|fix=
+#Download and install http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.13.1220-driver.html
+}}
+{{Fixbox|description=Alternative Physx version|ref={{cn|date=November 2015}}|fix=
+#Download and install https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/physx/9_18_0907/physx-9-18-0907-driver.html
+#Run game in '''Compatibility Mode''' as either ''Windows 95'' or ''Windows 98 / Windows ME''
 }}

Developers

	GRIN
Publishers
	Capcom
Engines
	Diesel
Release dates
Windows	July 28, 2009
Reception
Metacritic	69
IGDB	69