BioShock

BioShock

Developers
	Irrational Games
	2K Australia
macOS (OS X)	Feral Interactive
macOS (OS X)	Robosoft Technologies
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

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 some 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

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM
Amazon.com		Mac OS X
Amazon.co.uk
Gamesplanet
GameStop
Green Man Gaming		Mac OS X (non-Steam)
Humble Store
Mac App Store
Steam		Bundled with BioShock Remastered

The retail, and Amazon.com (Windows) versions use SecuROM DRM. There is no activation limit. 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.

All remaining Windows versions require Steam DRM.

Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions

Name	Notes
Plasmid Pack	Freeware, included with patch 1.1

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Launch the game with -nointro parameter[citation needed]

Remove physics and animation frame rate cap

By default, physics and some animations are capped to 30 FPS.

Use Bioshock Physics Unlocker Download Bioshock Physics Unlocker Extract BioshockPhysicsUnlocker.exe to the game's executable folder (typically located in <path-to-game>\Builds\Release\) Open BioshockPhysicsUnlocker.exe, type your desired frame rate, and push ↵ Enter.

BioShock Tweaker

Allows you to change settings that are not normally adjustable from the options menu (i.e. custom resolution).

Patches

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

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\Bioshock
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Bioshock\SaveGames\
macOS (OS X)

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game video settings.

Graphics option	Option	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Requires Patch 1.1 for Hor+ FOV.
Multi-monitor			See Field of view (FOV).
Ultra-widescreen			Requires Patch 1.1 for Hor+ FOV. Must disable Horizontal FOV Lock or image will be stretched.
4K Ultra HD			Requires Patch 1.1 for Hor+ FOV.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use Borderless Gaming.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Can be forced through the Nvidia Control Panel/AMD Control Center. Only in DX9 mode.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		Physics and animations are locked at 30 FPS. See above how to modify the lock.
120+ FPS		No FPS or refresh rate cap.

Field of view (FOV)

3rd party fixes[citation needed] Use Flawless Widescreen or Widescreen Fixer.

Custom key binding Go to %APPDATA%\Bioshock\ Make a backup copy of user.ini. Open the original copy and locate the keybinds by searching for "F10=". From here, you may use any unassigned keybinds to set a desired FOV, or to reset the FOV to its default value. For example, to make F10 set the FOV to 120, you'd change the line "F10=" to F10=SetFOV 120 To make F11 reset the FOV, you'd change the line "F11=" to F11=ResetFOV Notes The game may automatically reset your FOV upon loading or after cinematics. You may still use your custom keybinds to change the FOV to your desired value. Process can be automated using this tool.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Anisotropic filtering[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open bioshock.ini. Find the following lines, and set them to these values. [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] LevelOfAnisotropy=16 [D3DDrv10.D3DRenderDevice10] LevelOfAnisotropy=16

Input settings

In-game general control settings.

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	Native	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		See Mouse acceleration to disable.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		This mode hides most options menus.
Full controller support		Must be turned on in the customize controls menu.
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers

Tracked motion controllers		Supports the Razer Hydra.[citation needed]
Button/gesture prompts

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Mouse acceleration

Instructions[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open User.ini. Find the following lines and edit them accordingly: [Default] W=MoveForward | set Engine.PlayerInput MouseAccelThreshold 0.0 | set Engine.PlayerInput MouseSmoothingMode 0 [Engine.PlayerInput] MouseSmoothingMode=0 MouseAccelThreshold=0.0 You can download this small script in order to automate the process.

Mouse sensitivity

Instructions[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open User.ini. Find the following lines and edit the speed values of all 10 occurrences: MouseX=IF_MOUSE_LOOK_ENABLED Count bXAxis | IF_MOUSE_LOOK_ENABLED Axis aMouseX Speed=2500.0 MouseY=IF_MOUSE_LOOK_ENABLED Count bYAxis | IF_MOUSE_LOOK_ENABLED Axis aMouseY Speed=2500.0 You can download this small script in order to automate the process.

Hold to Zoom

Instructions[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open User.ini. Find the button zoom is mapped to (default is Z, in this case RightMouse) Change it so it looks like this: RightMouse=ZoomCycle | onRelease ZoomCycle Note: This works for walking and crouch as well, changes their lines to (in this case the buttons are Shift and CTRL) Shift=Walking | onRelease Walking Ctrl=Duck | onRelease Duck

Pick individual items from containers

Pick individual items from containers[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open User.ini. Scroll down to the [ContainerUIActive] section and bind CollectContainerItemInSlot 0, CollectContainerItemInSlot 1 and CollectContainerItemInSlot 2 to any unused keys.

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.

Audio options	Native	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 7.1
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 5

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Russian				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Spanish

VR support

3D modes	Native	GG3D	Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision			See Helix Mod: Bioshock.
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
Devices	Native	Notes
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Issues unresolved

Minor spoilers ahead.

Arcadia: Langford's Safe

In Arcadia, searching Langford's safe with the Scrounger tonic equipped will cause the safe's contents—including an essential quest item—to disappear.

Fort Frolic: Bathysphere

In Fort Frolic, leaving the area by using the bathysphere adjacent to the entry bathysphere causes the stage curtains to close upon returning to the area, rendering the Cohen's Masterpiece quest un-completeable, and preventing the player from accessing the exit bathysphere.

Fort Frolic: Rapture Records

When attempting to kill Silas Cobb, using the Hypnotize plasmid, as doing so will prevent a scripted task from triggering, thus trapping the player in Rapture Records. In order to fix this issue, you must kill yourself (e.g., through the use of the Incinerate! plasmid), or reload an older save.

Notes

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

Issues fixed

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

Crash on startup

Update OpenAL[citation needed]

Crash upon autosave/quicksave

Delete last autosave/quicksave in save game data location and configuration file(s) location[citation needed]

Crashing applies default settings

Set configuration files to read-only[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. In properties, set bioshock.ini and User.ini to read-only. Notes Additionnal changes to settings cannot be made while files are set to read-only.

Video settings not saving

Force DirectX 9[citation needed] Launch the game with -dx9 parameter.

Audio cutting out

Edit the maximum number of channels Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open bioshock.ini. Find the following line, under [FMODAudio.FMODAudioSubsystem], and increase the number of channels. MaxChannels=128

Enable EAX Install OpenAL. Go to %WINDIR%\System32 (or %WINDIR%\SysWoW64 for x64 OS's). Copy over wrap_oal.dll into the same folder where Bioshock's executable is located (steamapps\common\bioshock\Builds\Release\). Rename this file openal32.dll. Enable EAX audio in the in-game options.

Crashing upon changing resolution

Edit default resolution[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open bioshock.ini. Find the following lines, and set the desired values. FullscreenViewportX=YourWidth FullscreenViewportY=YourHeight MenuViewportX=YourWidth MenuViewportY=YourHeight

Change resolutions while in windowed mode[citation needed] Push Alt+↵ Enter, before entering the Video Options menu. Set the desired resolution, then apply the changes. Leave the Video Options menu, then push Alt+↵ Enter again.

Excessive screen tearing (Nvidia)

Instructions[citation needed] Go to the NVIDIA Control Panel. Open the 3D Settings menu. Add Bioshock.exe to the list. Enable FXAA and V-Sync. Notes This should be necessary due to "somewhat broken MLAA"[citation needed]

Frame rate stuttering

Disable V-Sync[citation needed]

Force DirectX 9[citation needed] Launch the game with -dx9 parameter.

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

Enable Stereo Mix in sound control panel Right click the speaker symbol on the bottom right of your desktop Click "Recording devices" Right click in the box and click "Show Disabled Devices" Right click "Stereo Mix" and click "Enable" Now you should be able to turn on EAX in the Bioshock sound menu

Sound missing after intro sequence (Windows 8 or Windows 10)

In Windows 8 and later, Bioshock may have no sound, and it may be impossible to progress past the bathysphere scene as the NPCs become stuck and won't move.

Run the game in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9, 10
OpenGL	2.0	OS X only.
Shader Model support	3, 4	A shader model 2.0 hack is available here. Note that there were other attempts in the past besides this one though most links are dead, unfortunately.
64-bit executable		OS X only.[citation needed]

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	FMOD
Cutscenes	Bink Video, Flash

Mods

Currently three gameplay mods are available:

• Brazuca Difficulty and Balance Mod
• Silver's Bioshock mod
• Bioshock Reborn

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2	Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz	AMD Athlon 64 x2 Intel Core 2 Duo
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	8 GB	8 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6600 ATI Radeon X1300 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support	Nvidia GeForce 7900 GT (DirectX 9) Nvidia GeForce 8600 (DirectX 10) 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 10 compatible

Known to run on Windows 2000 using the tricks listed here. Separate patch for the demo version found here.

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.