BioShock

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.

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.

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

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability[edit]

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 7 and SecuROM PA DRM.
Amazon.co.uk
GOG.com		Bundled with BioShock Remastered
Green Man Gaming		Mac OS X (non-Steam)
Humble Store
Mac App Store
Steam		Bundled with BioShock Remastered

The retail version uses 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.

All remaining Windows versions except GOG.com require Steam DRM.

A demo is available. Note that the 1.1 patch is not available for the demo.

Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions

Name	Notes
Plasmid Pack	Free, included with patch 1.1

Essential improvements[edit]

Skip intro videos[edit]

Launch the game with -nointro parameter^{[citation needed]}

Remove physics and animation frame rate cap[edit]

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

Use Bioshock Physics Unlocker^[2]

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[edit]

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

Patches[edit]

Patch 1.1 - Steam, GOG.com, and DRM-free Humble Bundle versions are already patched.

Game data[edit]

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location[edit]

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\Bioshock
macOS (OS X)
Linux (Proton)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/7670/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location[edit]

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Bioshock\SaveGames\
macOS (OS X)
Linux (Proton)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/7670/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game cloud syncing[edit]

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video settings[edit]

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		See Field of view (FOV).
Ultra-widescreen		Requires Patch 1.1 and Horizontal FOV Lock disabled for Hor+ FOV, or the 16:9 reference view will be stretched horizontally.
4K Ultra HD
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. Using flag `0x000010C1` also grants SGSSAA support.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	Physics and animations are locked at 30 FPS.^[3] See above how to modify the lock. No FPS or refresh rate cap.

Field of view (FOV)[edit]

3rd party fixes^{[citation needed]}

Use Flawless Widescreen or Widescreen Fixer.

Custom key binding^[4]

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)[edit]

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

Make HBAO work in DX9 mode[edit]

Use Nvidia Profile Inspector^{[citation needed]}

Use inspector as per usual (open Bioshock profile, etc.) and change flag 0x00020000 to 0x0002002D adding a "2D" at the end.
If you get issues you could also try it with a "23" at the end instead. Also if DX10 mode gives you issues you could replace the "02" in the middle of the flag with "14".

Input settings[edit]

In-game general control settings.

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 7.1^[5]^[6]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 5^[7]

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation, download.
Italian
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation, download.
Russian				Official localization by «1C-Softclub» – retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Russian				Fan translation by «DK Team»
Spanish

VR support[edit]

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[edit]

Minor spoilers ahead.

Arcadia: Langford's Safe[edit]

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[edit]

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.^[8]

Fort Frolic: Rapture Records[edit]

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.^[9] 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[edit]

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

Crash on startup[edit]

Update OpenAL or use OpenAL Soft^{[citation needed]}

Crash upon autosave/quicksave[edit]

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

Crashing applies default settings[edit]

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.

Delete Running.ini^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Trash the file Running.ini.

Process can be automated with an "if exist" batch script.

Video settings not saving[edit]

Force DirectX 9^{[citation needed]}

Launch the game with -dx9 parameter.

Audio cutting out[edit]

Edit the maximum number of channels^[10]

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^[11]

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]

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)[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Enable Stereo Mix in sound control panel^[12]

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)[edit]

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^[13]

Other information[edit]

API[edit]

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.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			32-bit only.^[14]

Middleware[edit]

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	FMOD
Cutscenes	Bink Video, Flash

Mods[edit]

Currently three gameplay mods are available:

System requirements[edit]

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.

Notes

↑ ^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

[Proton_path_note-3] 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.

[1] Activation limits removed on BioShock for the PC - 2K Forums

[2] Choppy Physics Fix

[4] New 120Hz Games Report

[5] usting FOV in bioshock 1 - Steam Users' Forums (retrieved)

[6] Sound Blaster Gaming: BioShock Audio Guide (retrieved)

[7] PC Gaming Surround Sound Round-up

[8] Techgage - Creative EAX vs Asus DS3D GX 2.0

[9] Known Bioshock Issues

[10] Fort Frolic - The BioShock Wiki

[11] Steam Community Guide - Fix audio cutting out - last accessed on 2017-02-12

[12] Sound cutting out in Bioshock 1

[13] Win 10 and no sound

[14] ttps://steamcommunity.com/app/7670/discussions/0/35221584692262783/

[15] Last chance to buy these Mac classics! | Feral News

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

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

Contents

Availability[edit]

Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions

Essential improvements[edit]

Skip intro videos[edit]

Remove physics and animation frame rate cap[edit]

BioShock Tweaker[edit]

Patches[edit]

Game data[edit]

Configuration file(s) location[edit]

Save game data location[edit]

Save game cloud syncing[edit]

Video settings[edit]

Field of view (FOV)[edit]

Anisotropic filtering (AF)[edit]

Make HBAO work in DX9 mode[edit]

Input settings[edit]

Mouse acceleration[edit]

Mouse sensitivity[edit]

Hold to Zoom[edit]

Pick individual items from containers[edit]

Audio settings[edit]

Localizations

VR support[edit]

Issues unresolved[edit]

Arcadia: Langford's Safe[edit]

Fort Frolic: Bathysphere[edit]

Fort Frolic: Rapture Records[edit]

Issues fixed[edit]

Crash on startup[edit]

Crash upon autosave/quicksave[edit]

Crashing applies default settings[edit]

Video settings not saving[edit]

Audio cutting out[edit]

Crashing upon changing resolution[edit]

Excessive screen tearing (Nvidia)[edit]

Frame rate stuttering[edit]

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

Sound missing after intro sequence (Windows 8 or Windows 10)[edit]

Other information[edit]

API[edit]

Middleware[edit]

Mods[edit]

System requirements[edit]

Notes

References