Warnings
- The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.
BioShock Infinite is a singleplayer first-person shooter game in the BioShock series.
The PC version was noted as a quality port, including graphics and control options.[1][2]
The game has a built-in benchmark mode which can be accessed through launcher in Advanced menu. On Linux, however, the command line argument DefaultPCBenchmarkMap.xcmap -unattended needs to be included to access it. Aim-assist is on by default even when not using a controller, but can be fixed.
General information
- Port Report: BioShock Infinite
- 2K Games Forums
- Official support knowledgebase
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
- Windows versions use Custom Executable Generation DRM on Steam.
- All Linux versions require Steam DRM.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
| Name |
Notes |
|
| Season Pass |
|
|
| Early Bird Special Pack |
Exclusive to the Season Pass. |
|
| Columbia's Finest |
|
|
| Clash in the Clouds |
Part of the Season Pass. |
|
| Burial At Sea: Episode One |
Part of the Season Pass. |
|
| Burial At Sea: Episode Two |
Part of the Season Pass. |
|
Essential improvements
Enable GUI scaling
- By default, GUI elements do not scale with resolution, making these elements smaller the higher the resolution is.
|
GUI scaling tweak[3]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XUI.ini.
- Locate lines
MaxResolutionUpScale=0.0 and change value to something between 0.0 and 1.0. See screenshots for examples.
|
Skip intro videos
|
Replace files[citation needed]
|
- Download this archive.
- Extract to the installation folder and replace all files.
|
|
Edit Configuration File[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XEngine.ini.
- Locate section
[FullScreenMovie] and comment out these lines by putting a semicolon (;) at the beginning of each:
StartupMovies=2KLogoSweep720p2997
StartupMovies=IrrationalLogoTest
StartupMovies=UE3AnimatedLogo_ProRes
StartupMovies=AMDLogo720p
- Save the file as read-only to prevent the tweak from randomly reverting.
- Do not touch this line or you won't be able to reach the main menu:
StartupMovies=LoopingMovieUntilStartupFinishes
|
Skip launcher
|
Epic Games Store[4][5]
|
- Before editing, make a backup of the
A1C5450F42F031DBDEB4E2854FC6C5A7.item file in case the modifications go wrong.
- Go to
%PROGRAMDATA%\Epic\EpicGamesLauncher\Data\Manifests.
- Open
A1C5450F42F031DBDEB4E2854FC6C5A7.item with Notepad or another text editor.
- Using the Find function (Ctrl+F), search for
2KLauncher/LauncherPatcher.exe. There will be exactly one entry.
- Replace the text with
Binaries/Win32/ShippingPC-XGame.exe.
- Restart Epic Games Store.
|
Correct The Shadow Rendering
When deciding what Shadow Quality choice to use, avoid the Direct X 11 (Contact Hardened Shadows) choices. This will resolve the issue of a very obvious shift in shadow quality near the player. you can then apply these xengine.ini tweaks to potentially improve shadows to an even greater degree (ignore the first step telling you to use Ultra graphics preset, that will re-enable the Contact Hardened Shadows which you want to avoid).
Game data
Exiting to desktop or main menu reveals the local date of the last checkpoint.
Configuration file(s) location
| System |
Location |
| Windows |
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\BioShock Infinite\XGame\Config\ |
| macOS (OS X) |
|
| Linux |
$XDG_DATA_HOME/irrationalgames/bioshockinfinite/GameDocuments/My Games/BioShock Infinite/ |
- This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.
- Key mappings are encrypted which prevents sharing key bind files or creating custom commands.[6]
Save game data location
- Game creates an automatic permanent save at the beginning of each chapter. These saves are automatically overwritten if replaying from a previous chapter.
- Only one save game is able to be played at any one time.[7]
Video
In-game graphics settings.
- The HUD may not be centred automatically for multi-monitor setups.[citation needed]
|
Centering HUD on multi-monitor setups[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XGame.ini.
- Change
bUseDefaultSafeRect=true to bUseDefaultSafeRect=False.
- Change
SafeRectX0 and SafeRectX1 to the horizontal area you want the HUD to be within.
- Change
SafeRectY1 to the height of your monitors.
- For example, on a 5760x1080 resolution it would be
SafeRectX0=1920, SafeRectX1=3840, SafeRectY0=0, SafeRectY1=1080
|
- There is an FOV slider in the game options, however it only increases/decreases FOV by 15% from the default value of 70° (59.5° - 80.5°).
|
FOV slider expansion[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XUserOptions.ini.
- Locate line
MaxUserFOVOffsetPercent=15.000000 and change its value to 100 for maximum variability. This value is in percent and not degrees. See table below for precise field of view values.
- Start the game and set your field of view via slider in menu.
Default FOV slider to the max.
Slider offset set to 100 and slider set to the max.
|
| Maximum FoV by slider |
MaxUserFOVOffsetPercent value
|
| 85 |
21.43
|
| 90 |
28.57
|
| 95 |
35.71
|
| 100 |
42.86
|
| 105 |
50.00
|
| 110 |
57.14
|
| 120 |
60.00
|
Increase light shaft quality
- Makes light shafts higher resolution.
|
Edit configuration file
|
- Set
light shafts to on in the in-game settings.
- Exit the game, open the
XEngine.ini file and set the following line accordingly:
UseHighQualityLightShaftRendering=True
- Save the file and close it.
|
Increase shadow quality past maximum setting
- Makes shadows retain high quality even when cast by small objects or viewed close by.
|
Edit configuration file
|
- Set
dynamic shadows to ultra in the in-game settings.
- Exit the game, open the
XEngine.ini file and set the following lines accordingly:
MinShadowResolution=4096
MinPreShadowResolution=4096
MaxShadowResolution=4096
MaxPerObjectShadowResolution=4096
- Save the file and close it.
|
Disable depth of field
- Does not provide any performance gains.
|
Edit configuration file
|
- Set
postprocessing to alternate in the in-game settings.
- Exit the game, open the
XEngine.ini file and set the following line accordingly:
SM5DiffusionNearBlurScale=0.000000
SM5DiffusionFarBlurScale=0.000000
- Save the file and close it.
|
Disable lens flare and dirt effect
- Both effects are controlled by a single setting.
|
Disable lens flare and dirt effect[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XEngine.ini.
- Change
LensFlares=True to LensFlares=False.
|
Disable all post-processing effects
- Some of the post-processing effects can only be disabled in the game's XEngine.ini file. These effects include depth of field, light bloom, and color correction.
|
Disabling post-processing[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XEngine.ini.
- Change
DepthOfField=True to DepthOfField=False.
|
Turn off texture streaming
- May cause game to enter an infinite loading loop. If it does, turn texture streaming back on, leave that area of the game, and turn it off again once you leave the area.
|
Edit Configuration File[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XEngine.ini.
- Change these lines and save as read-only:
MipFadeInSpeed0=0
MipFadeOutSpeed0=0
MipFadeInSpeed1=0
MipFadeOutSpeed1=0
OnlyStreamInTextures=True
PoolSize=0
LoadMapTimeLimit=999
LightmapStreamingFactor=0
ShadowmapStreamingFactor=0
bAllowSwitchingStreamingSystem=False
UseDynamicStreaming=False
|
Input
Mouse speed slider tweak
- Slider for mouse speed is set to very wide range, which can be unsuitable for high precision mice.
|
Mouse slider tweak[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XUserOptions.ini.
- Locate lines
MinMouseLookSensitivity=0.010000 and MaxMouseLookSensitivity=1.500000 and change values to your taste. Values 0.05 for MinMouse and 0.5 for MaxMouse works OK
- Start the game and set your desired sensitivity via slider.
|
Change aim down sights behaviour from toggle to hold
|
AutoHotkey script for hold to aim[citation needed]
|
- Download and install AutoHotkey.
- Let application create sample script. This script file should open after installation.
- Delete everything and insert the lines below.
- Open AutoHotkey window (green H icon in tray area), navigate to
File and hit Reload Script.
#IfWinActive BioShock Infinite
$mbutton::
Send {mbutton}
KeyWait, mbutton
Return
mbutton Up::Send {mbutton}
Notes
- This is script for default bindings where aiming is bind to middle mouse button. For aiming by right mouse button replace
MButton for RButton.
- For bindings to other keys, see Hotkeys and KeyList sections of AutoHotkey documentation for button syntaxes.
- If your zoom gets stuck, you can reset with the run key.
|
Change aim down sights behaviour from toggle to hold - Version that solves getting stuck with reversed controls
|
AutoHotkey script for hold to aim[citation needed]
|
- Download and install AutoHotkey.
- Create a new text file using any text editor you like and save it with the extension .ahk
- Paste the code below and save the file.
- Run the file as administrator by right clicking on the file and choosing "Run As Administrator"
#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
#Warn ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
#IfWinActive BioShock Infinite
ShiftKeyPressed := false
RButton::
Send {RButton}
ShiftKeyPressed := false
While (GetKeyState("RButton", "P"))
{
if (GetKeyState("LShift", "D"))
{
ShiftKeyPressed := true
break
}
}
RButton Up::
if(ShiftKeyPressed) {
return
} else {
Send {RButton}
ShiftKeyPressed := false
return
}
LShift::
Send {LShift}
While (GetKeyState("LShift", "P"))
{
if (GetKeyState("RButton", "D"))
{
break
}
}
LShift Up::
Send {LShift}
Notes
- This version prevents your aim from getting stuck reversed and having to press shift to get out of it.
|
Audio
| Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
| Separate volume controls |
|
Master, music, SFX and voice. |
| Surround sound |
|
Auto configures up to 5.0 output.[9] |
| Subtitles |
|
|
| Closed captions |
|
|
| Mute on focus lost |
|
|
| EAX support |
|
Linux only. In alsoft-config set HRTF Mode to Force On at the HRTF tab. |
| Royalty free audio |
|
|
Localizations
| Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
| English |
|
|
|
|
| Traditional Chinese |
|
|
|
|
| Czech |
|
|
|
Fan - 1 |
| French |
|
|
|
|
| German |
|
|
|
|
| Hungarian |
|
|
|
Fan translation. |
| Italian |
|
|
|
|
| Japanese |
|
|
|
|
| Korean |
|
|
|
|
| Polish |
|
|
|
|
| Brazilian Portuguese |
|
|
|
|
| Russian |
|
|
|
Official UI/subtitles localization by «1C-Softclub». Fan (audio) localization by CGInfo |
| Slovak |
|
|
|
Fan - 1 |
| Spanish |
|
|
|
|
| Turkish |
|
|
|
Fan translation. |
VR support
Issues unresolved
Windows
Freezing and crashing
- There have been reports of crashing and freezing, possibly related to i7 processors.[10][11] 2K is aware of this issue and there should be patch soon.[citation needed]
|
Possible fixes[citation needed]
|
- If the game crashes on start-up, disable any on-screen display applications like MSI Afterburner.
- Disable overclocking or underclock your graphics card.
- Disable Killer e2200 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller or any other virtual/VPN network adapters like Hamachi.[12]
- Backup and move the Bioshock Infinite folder in your Documents folder/My Games/Bioshock Infinite/. Start up game to let it rebuild the folder itself to fix crashes during loading
- Disable the Nvidia Overlay
|
Issues fixed
Stuttering during gameplay
|
Texture Pool Size Fix[13][14]
|
- Set the PoolSize variable in
XEngine.ini to about 400 less than the total number of Megabytes RAM your video card has (e.g if you have 2048 MB of video RAM set this to 1600).
- Add this launch option in Steam:
-ReadTexturePoolFromIni.
- Alternatively, use the
-DisableTexturePool launch option.
|
Texture streaming quality problems
- When the game can't detect or detects wrong video memory size, it automatically enables only Very Low and Low options for texture quality.
- There is also an issue on some systems that selecting Very High or Ultra for texture quality will cause to textures never load properly and game tries to load them over and over.[15]
|
Low texture quality and streaming fix[16]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XEngine.ini.
- Locate section
[TextureStreaming] and change appropriate lines as shown:
[TextureStreaming]
UseTextureFileCache=False
TexturePoolSizeReductionMB=1500
PoolSize=3000
LowPCTexturePoolSizeMB=3000
|
FPS dropping
- Nvidia cards experience FPS drops in certain areas when
Dynamic Shadows is set to Very High or Ultra.
Make the Game Hor+
|
Edit Configuration File[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XEngine.ini.
- add this line:
AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainYFOV
|
Disable aim-assist
- Aim-assist is on by default even when using keyboard and mouse.[19]
- There are some auto aim variables in the .ini files but these variables are reverted to True every time you start the game.[20] There is no permanent fix yet.
|
Permanent Partial Solution[21]
|
- This fix affects user options configurations, if you need to make a config in game do it before trying this.
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
XUserOptions.ini.
- Change
bAimAssist and DefaultbAimAssist to false
- Save the changes and make
XUserOptions.ini read only.
|
|
Temporary auto aim fix[22]
|
- This fix needs to be applied every time the game is started.
- Start the game with a controller plugged in.
- Go to controller options and turn off Aim-Assist.
- Unplug controller and play the game.
|
Windows
Crash on start for some Windows 7 and 8 users
|
Force start in Windowed Mode[citation needed]
|
- Run the game with the
-windowed command line argument.
- Open the graphics options and set the game to run full screen.
- Close the game, remove the launch option, then restart the game.
|
|
Run Steam as an administrator and the game itself NOT as an administrator[citation needed]
|
Change the Documents folder back to default if it has been moved[citation needed]
|
Cannot restore game after Alt-Tab
Xbox controls even with no controller attached
- Bioshock Infinite auto-detects any controllers/joysticks attached to the system including virtual ones. This could make the game uncontrollable, cause the camera to spin, and label the menu with Xbox prompts.
|
Remove all controllers[citation needed]
|
- Remove all physical controllers and joysticks.
- Disable all virtual controllers
- These can be included in software for gaming mice and keyboards
- Disable Unified Remote.
- Disable virtual adapter for 3DConnexion devices.
- To disable controller support, edit
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\BioShock Infinite\XGame\Config\XEngine.ini and change AllowJoystickInput=1 to AllowJoystickInput=0. Save your changes.
|
Microstuttering
|
Adaptive and dynamic V-Sync[citation needed]
|
- These forms of V-Sync significantly reduce micro-stuttering.[24][25]
- For Nvidia cards, Adaptive V-Sync can be enabled through the driver control panel. Set
Vertical sync to Adaptive.
- For AMD cards, Dynamic V-Sync can be enabled using the third-party program RadeonPro. Click the
Add new profile icon and find the BioShock Infinite executable (<path-to-game>\Binaries\Win32\BioShockInfinite.exe). Click the newly created profile and click the Tweaks tab. Set VSync Control to Always on. Enable Dynamic Framerate Control and set Keep up to to 60.
|
- Mice with high polling rates can sometimes cause microstuttering.
|
Fix for Razer mice[26]
|
- Open Razer Synapse.
- Click on the "Performance" tab.
- Change the "Polling Rate" to 125 Hz.
|
Audio crackling
|
Update GPU drivers[27][citation needed]
|
|
Run the game in compatibility mode[28]
|
|
Audio stutter may also be fixed by enabling compatibility mode for Windows Vista SP2.
- Go to
<path-to-game>\Binaries\Win32\.
- Right-click on
BioShockInfinite.exe, go to the compatibility tab, tick the box and select Windows Vista Service Pack 2.
|
Linux
Game starts on the wrong screen
|
Start with a a command line option[citation needed]
|
- Launch the game with
--eon_force_display=#, replacing # with the index of the monitor you want the game to launch on.
|
Game starts on the wrong screen, wrong aspect ratio
- In a multi-monitor configuration where 1 monitor is portrait and 1 monitor landscape and where game starts on portrait monitor and is forced to run on the landscape monitor using
--eon_force_display, game does not recognize landscape monitor's aspect ratio and will only allow portrait aspect ratios/resolutions.
- No real fix is available at this time.
|
Pending fix[citation needed]
|
- De-rotating the portrait screen will allow selection of landscape aspect ratios, but it is not persistent. The portrait monitor must be de-rotated before playing as a workaround.
- In
XUserOptions.ini setting ResolutionX=<DesiredWidth>, ResolutionY=<DesiredHeight>, and DisplayMode=0 (fullscreen) will allow the game to run in widescreen, but you are restricted to fullscreen play.
|
|
Wayland fix[citation needed]
|
|
On Wayland, an alternative solution is to use gamescope acting as a virtual single monitor, to avoid issues caused by a multi-monitor setup.
Install or build gamecope and add the following to Bioshock: Infinites launch options in Steam:
path/to/gamescope -e -w <DesiredWidth> -h <DesiredHeight> -W <DesiredWidth> -H <DesiredHeight> -f -- %command%
|
Game uses system mouse acceleration
- The game uses mouse acceleration, even if mouse acceleration is turned off in-game.
|
Disable mouse acceleration in the system before game launches[citation needed]
|
- Open the terminal and type
xinput list to look up your mouse name (the Virtual core pointer section)
- In Steam, go to the Bioshock Infinite launch options (Properties -> SET LAUNCH OPTIONS...)
- Copy the following into the text-field (replace 'MOUSENAME' with the name you got in step 1, include the quotation marks):
xinput --set-prop 'MOUSENAME' 'Device Accel Profile' -1 ; %command% ; xinput --set-prop 'MOUSENAME' 'Device Accel Profile' 0
Notes
- This will disable mouse acceleration in your system before launching the game and enable it again when the game closes (which might take a couple of seconds).
- Graphical user interfaces for mouse settings (e.g. mate-mouse-properties) might not be aware of the changes. It's best not to touch them while the game is running.
|
Other information
API
| Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
| Direct3D |
10, 11 |
|
| OpenGL |
3.3, 4.1, 4.2 |
3.3 on OS X, 4.1/4.2 on Linux. |
| Shader Model support |
4, 5 |
|
| Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
| Windows |
|
|
|
| macOS (OS X) | |
|
32-bit only.[29] |
| Linux | |
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
| Physics |
PhysX |
|
| Audio |
Wwise, OpenAL |
OpenAL is used in Linux |
| Interface |
Autodesk Gameware, SDL |
SDL is used in Linux |
| Input |
SDL |
Linux only, for gamepads. |
| Cutscenes |
Bink Video |
|
Gameplay overhaul mod
- Works with Steam, EGS, and GOG game versions.
|
The mod implements FOV and sensitivity scaling, sprint normalization, hitmarker sounds, a better DOF calculation, health and salts regeneration and the option to remove the head bobbing effect.[30]
|
- Download the mod here, then extract its contents in
<path-to-game>\Binaries\Win32\.
- Open
ModernWarfare_Settings.ini.
- Change the options as desired and save.
Options
- Custom Base Game FOV.
- Custom FOV scaling while aiming.
- Custom Sensitivity scaling while aiming.
- Custom FOV and Sensitivity scaling for the Sniper.
- Custom Hitmarker and Killfeed sounds.
- Custom Health Regeneration.
- Custom Salt Regeneration.
- FOV and Sensitivity Normalization while Sprinting.
- Better Depth of Field calculation for the weapons.
- Removal of Head Bobbing effect.
- Aim while Holding.
|
System requirements
| Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
Vista SP2 |
7 SP1 |
| Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz |
Quad Core |
| System memory (RAM) |
2 GB |
4 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
20 GB |
30 GB |
| Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT
ATI Radeon HD 3870
Intel HD Graphics 3000
512 MB of VRAM
DirectX 10 compatible
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 560
AMD Radeon HD 6950
1 GB of VRAM
DirectX 11 compatible |
| Sound (audio device) |
DirectX compatible | |
| macOS (OS X) |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
10.12 | |
| Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz | |
| System memory (RAM) |
4 GB | |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
30 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 640M
ATI Radeon HD 3870
Intel HD Graphics 4000
512 MB of VRAM
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 775M
ATI Radeon HD 5870 |
| Linux |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
Ubuntu 14.10, Mint 17.1 | |
| Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz |
Intel Core i5 3 GHz |
| System memory (RAM) |
4 GB |
8 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
20 GB |
30 GB |
| Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia or AMD
OpenGL 4.1 compatible
| OpenGL 4.2 compatible |
References
