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BioShock

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 09:02, 18 February 2017 by Garrbot (talk | contribs) (updated template usage)
Template:Infobox game/row/osxporterTemplate:Infobox game/row/osxporter
BioShock
BioShock cover
Developers
Irrational Games
2K Australia
Publishers
2K Games
OS X Feral Interactive
Engines
Unreal Engine 2.5
Release dates
Windows August 21, 2007
macOS (OS X) October 7, 2009
BioShock guide on StrategyWiki
BioShock on Wikipedia

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
BioShock 2007
BioShock 2 2010
BioShock Infinite 2013
BioShock Remastered 2016
BioShock 2 Remastered 2016

This page is for the original version. For the remastered version, see BioShock Remastered.

Key points

BioShock may crash on startup on Windows 7 and later. See Crash on startup.
Physics and animations are locked at 30 FPS. See below how to modify the lock.

General information

Official Forum
BioShock Wiki - Large wiki for the BioShock series
Steam Community Discussions
Steam Users' Forums for game series

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Requires online activation
SecuROM DRM
Windows
Amazon.com
Requires online activation
Mac OS X
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Amazon.co.uk
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Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
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Windows
Incorrect store name. See here for available options.
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Windows
Green Man Gaming
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Mac OS X (non-Steam)
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Humble Store
DRM-free
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Windows
Mac App Store
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macOS (OS X)
Steam
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Bundled with BioShock Remastered
Windows
The retail, and Amazon.com (Windows) versions use SecuROM DRM. There is no activation limit.[1] An internet connection is required for installation.
All Mac OS X versions, excluding the Mac App Store, use Feral Interactive's DRM system which requires online activation.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Instructions

Remove physics and animation frame rate cap

By default physics and animations are capped to 30 FPS.
Instructions

Patches

Patch 1.1 - Steam version is already patched and the humblebundle DRM free version too.

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/7670/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game data location

Template:Game data/rowTemplate:Game data/row
System Location
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/7670/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Field of view (FOV)

Instructions
Instructions

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Instructions

Input settings

In-game general control settings.
In-game general control settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.

Template:Input settings

Mouse acceleration

Instructions

Mouse sensitivity

Instructions

Hold to Zoom

Instructions

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Russian
Spanish

VR support

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game.

Crash on startup

Instructions

Video settings not saving

Instructions

Audio cutting out

Instructions

Crashing when changing the resolution

Instructions
Instructions

Excessive screen tearing (Nvidia)

Instructions

Frame rate stuttering

Instructions
Instructions

Missing sound effects

Instructions

Sound cutting out

Instructions

Can't enable EAX in game after updating OpenAL and copying wrap_oal.dll to Bioshock folder and renaming it to OpenAL32.dll

Instructions

Sound missing after intro sequence (Windows 10)

Instructions

Gameplay breaking issues

Minor spoilers ahead.

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, do not leave the level using the Bathysphere that you begin the level next to. If you do leave Fort Frolic using that Bathysphere then when you return to Fort Frolic the curtain that needs to be open to perform the "Cohen's Masterpiece" quest will be permanently closed. If this happens then you cannot get to the Fort Frolic exit Bathysphere to progress to the next level.[2]

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.[3]

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.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9, 10
OpenGL 2.0 OS X only.
Shader Model support 3, 4
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Havok
Audio FMOD
Cutscenes Bink Video, Flash

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP SP2
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium IV 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 8 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 6600
ATI Radeon X1300
128 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible
Shader model 3.0 support
macOS (OS X)
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 10.5.8
Processor (CPU) 1.4 GHz
System memory (RAM) 1.5 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 8 GB
Video card (GPU) 128 MB of VRAM
Requires an Intel processor. The game does not support Intel GMA integrated video chipsets (older Mac minis and MacBooks), but does run on GeForce 9400M graphics cards or better.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/7670/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (7670) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References