Topic: Bioshock 1+2 -> Update: PC HD Remasters have some issues...

[MysterD]

My copy of this Bioshock 2 PC arrived today - along w/ Age of Pirates 2.
Gonna go check Bioshock 2 out.

[MysterD]

So, I spent about 3 hours w/ this Bioshock 2 - Single Player portion last night and couldn't stop playing, despite some of its flaws and whatnot...

Story
It's good so far, but it just ain't Bioshock 1 - and we all know how amazing Bioshock 1's story is/was. It seems very odd that this Sofia Lamb character is mentioned by Andrew Ryan in audio logs here and there in Bioshock 2, but I really don't ever recall Ryan mentioning her much or even at all in Bioshock 1. I'm guessing 2K Marin added her to the story? Anyone wanna help me out here...?

There seems to be cut-scenes here more often than the original - but, they're not long at all.

Graphics
I am trying to recall here, but did Bioshock 1 have AA and AF settings in the Options? For some reason - I'm thinking there was - as I don't recall seeing these jaggies or blurry textures in the distance in Bioshock 1. So, let me say this now - there isn't any AA or AF settings for in Bioshock 2 PC - and at 1024x768, I see some jaggies here and there and some textures in the distance are blurry.

Gameplay
Ahhhh...where the sequel shines is in the improved gameplay.

The Drill and Rivet Gun for the Big Daddy are awesome in every regard. Drilling someone - especially in the face - or slamming them in the face w/ the drill - is extremely satisfying.

Also, I do like the new hacking system and distance hacking tool item you have at your disposal. If you do the hacking right, you may wind-up w/ an extra item or some sort of bonus - depending on what you hack.

And the combat has improved. Instead of say having a key to switch b/t weapons and plasmids (Bioshock 1), now you dual-weild them in Bioshock 2. On the PC version here - left button is guns, right button is plasmids by default - you can of course change and configure the keys to your liking. So, combat feels quicker and a lot fresher.

And oh yeah - Big Sisters are pretty cool enemies, I might add.

And, what Beo said rings true - defending Little Sister kicks ass. Basically, you carry a Little Sister to somewhere, she smells out where there is Adam. You find it - as she basically points you in the direction of it. Then, as she harvest Adam, you battle waves of Splicers and you have to protect her until she harvests Adam. Then, find a vent - you can decide to Harvest or Rescue a Little Sister.

So, I'm gonna go play this some more...

[gpw11]

Graphics
I am trying to recall here, but did Bioshock 1 have AA and AF settings in the Options? For some reason - I'm thinking there was - as I don't recall seeing these jaggies or blurry textures in the distance in Bioshock 1. So, let me say this now - there isn't any AA or AF settings for in Bioshock 2 PC - and at 1024x768, I see some jaggies here and there and some textures in the distance are blurry.

Like a lot of Unreal Engine 3.0 games (I think), the first game didn't have the settings for either in the menu...unless I'm getting confused with something else here. UE games seem iffy when forcing through the control panel as well.

[Pugnate]

Yea basically the new Unreal engine doesn't allow for antialiasing on the PC -- which is bullshit.

Developers who make the effort to implement it, can, but it requires a lot of resources apparently.

To bolster marketing, NVIDIA has worked with developers (i.e. paid them $$$) to allow AA and PhysX to work with their cards.

edit:

D, if you are on a widescreen, get the FOV patch. I can't believe they fudged that up again. It makes a big difference.

[MysterD]

Yea basically the new Unreal engine doesn't allow for antialiasing on the PC -- which is bullshit.

Developers who make the effort to implement it, can, but it requires a lot of resources apparently.

As popular as UE3 is, you'd think AA and AF would be supported. I mean, this is quite silly it's not supported - even if it does require a lot of resources.

Really, though - ain't more modern PC's getting powerful enuff to the point w/ such bad-ass vid cards and multi-core processors that you'd think Epic would at least allow the feature and let the gamer and their PC decide to run it or not run it? 

[gpw11]

Just did a quick google search.  Yes, it is a limitation of the UE3 engine and no, PCs aren't powerful enough. UE3 uses deferred lighting and/or shadows....something that doesn't mix well with MSAA at all. Basically, it looks like it would either bug out or have such a high performance hit that no one would be able to enable it and play it.  Epic decided to just disable AA.  I believe Super-Sample AA may work, but at the time cards didn't support it well at all. When researching my new gpu a few reviews mentioned that the ATI 5x00 series is the "return of SSAA", meaning that the last few cards either didn't support it or didn't run it well at all...which has always been the case since MSAA became developed enough to provide good FSAA with relatively minimal performance impact.

So, yeah...no FSAA. Not sure about AF, but I've noticed many games don't have an in-game option for it anymore but rather have it default to 4x/2x/whatever.  Any card that can play any modern game supports it and AF has a negligible performance impact these days.

[MysterD]

Bioshock 2 - Patch notes for ALL versions.
This patch should be deploying to PC, PS3, and X360 versions "soon."

[Xessive]

So this is for the 3rd patch, I assume. The game has already had two patches released. Patch #2 fixes the aspect ratio/FOV issues. Says a lot when it took them two patches to fix that old bug!

[MysterD]

So this is for the 3rd patch, I assume.

Correct - which is coming "soon."
It has NOT been released yet.

[MysterD]

Took me 15 hours - just finished Bioshock 2 - SP portion. It was pretty good, actually. It got better as it went along.

(click to show/hide)

I played it quite evil and Elanor wound up taking me to the cleaners, in the end and she escaped...

EDIT 1:
I've been playing the Multiplayer - namely, Regular FFA Mode. Yeah, that's been quite fun - and the leveling/ranking sense for this kind of MP shooter works fine here and all.

EDIT 2:
2K on the challenges of marketing Bioshock 2.

[MysterD]

Three DLC's coming tomorrow for PS3 and X360.
PC will get all of these later on.

1. Kill 'Em Kindly DLC - FREE
This MP game-mode added is a Golf-Club Swinging Melee Deathmatch.
2. Rapture Metro MP Map Pack DLC - 800 MS points or $9.99.
3. MP Character Pack DLC - 160 MS Points of $1.99.

EDIT:
Kill 'Em Kindly FREE DLC - Trailer.

[MysterD]

Bioshock 2 PC has been patched.
You can get it through G4WL.

[MysterD]

From GameStop's Twitter...

Heads up! Get BioShock 2 TOMORROW for $22.99 (360/PS3)/$19.99 (PC) from 11am-12pm CST, while supplies last (gamestop.com only)

[MysterD]

The more and more I see uneventful $DLC like this announced, the more I wish I could have more of the old days w/ full-fledged sequels and expansion packs...

[idolminds]

Hope you weren't looking forward to that DLC on PC.

Hey guys,

I have an update on the status of patches for BioShock 2 and some answers to questions on features that have been outstanding for a while. We will not be adding vending machine sounds into any version of BioShock 2 and we will not be adding playlists for the multiplayer DLC maps – we did look in to both options but due to technical and timing issues, these two fixes are not feasible. We are planning patches for the 360 and PS3 to fix some functionality issues, but they will not drastically change gameplay (and I’ll post the patch notes when I get them – these two items are still in with QA.) We will also not be offering Protector Trials and Minerva’s Den on the PC in the future – and I want to say that I’m sorry for the disappointment this will cause to PC players out there. As always, if any of these issues change in the future, I will update you guys first, but at this point in time I don’t want to make you wait any longer and these are the most definite answers I have and you guys should deem them final decisions.

Please feel free to PM me or email with any questions – I’ll follow up in this thread as best as possible but if I miss your comment, I’m not ignoring you – I might just not have read the post – If this happens, again, just ping me and we can chat.

Thanks,

Elizabeth

[MysterD]

So much for them releasing a GOTY Edition w/ All DLC on the PC at a later date, eh? 

That really sucks we ain't getting the rest of the DLC here. I'm tired of us PC gamers being left behind like 2nd class citizens, in many instances. We've had DLC left out before on the PC - which is what happened w/ both Saints Row 2 DLC's; Prince Of Persia: Epilogue DLC; both Tomb Raider: Underworld DLC's; etc - I'm sure there's more, can't think of all of them at this second in time. So now, now we can add Bioshock 2 to the list, unfortunately - bleh.

[MysterD]

Funny response on Kotaku

I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the DLC for his game? 'No!' says the woman from 2K, 'It belongs to the consoles.' 'No!' says the man from Washington, 'It's too violent for children and must be banned' 'No!' says the man from Activision, 'Only if you pay 20 bucks per map!.' I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture, a city where the designer would not fear the censor, where the games would not be bound by petty genres, Where the PC would not be constrained by the consoles! And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.

EDIT - 10-9-2010:
2K Forums -> Looks like 2K's boards are getting slammed over the lack of no last two DLC's for Bioshock 2 PC.

[idolminds]

They...listened?

I have some good news concerning the BioShock 2 PC patch as well as the development of Protector Trials and Minerva's Den for the PC. Not to keep you in suspense any longer, I'll sum it up with one sentence: We have resumed development on all three and they will be coming to PC.

[MysterD]

I just saw that on PCG Forums.
I am VERY happy.
TY, 2K.

I'll have good reason to reinstall Bioshock 2, when they release this whole thing - since Protector Trials is going to be FREE.

[MysterD]

2K Forums -> Steve G. of 2K Marin explains why vendor sound don't play in Bioshock 2 and why they haven't fixed the issue - since it's been one of the issues that has been a long-time complaint w/ the game.

I can give more detail from the dev side: the reason this isn't feasible is that it's not a programming issue, it's a content issue. The way our data is set up, the sounds for each level are baked into that level's package file, which is shipped on the disc as one big piece of compressed data.

To put the vending sounds into the campaign levels from BioShock 2 would mean re-packaging and re-distributing every level in the game. This would mean releasing a patch that would be many, many gigs (if Minerva's Den was 1.1 gig, then all of BioShock 2 would be 4-8,) which Microsoft and Sony don't allow (patches are only allowed to contain code, not content.)

So, really, it's not a business decision but a technical limitation of the engine architecture we used for BioShock 2, one that cannot be resolved. This is what further investigation, following Michael's initial statement, revealed. Sorry, folks.

On the upside, this is also why vending sounds are in the Protector Trials and Minerva's Den-- because we found the problem before shipping them, and ensured that the sounds were properly embedded in the level files for the DLC.

[idolminds]

You would think for the PC version they could have the patching mechanism unpack the files, insert the needed parts, and then repackage them.

[Xessive]

You would think for the PC version they could have the patching mechanism unpack the files, insert the needed parts, and then repackage them.

That's what BethSoft did with Oblivion and Fallout 3 but only when it was absolutely necessary, otherwise they just used overrides with newer files added.

I'm glad 2K decided to finally do right by the PC customers but the way they're doing it's like they're trying to hold it over them like they just did them a solid favour like "Ok, fine we'll do it but you owe us big time!!"

[MysterD]

2K Forums -> 2K Elizabeth updates info on Bioshock 2 PC DLC and what to expect in next patch.

Hey guys,

I have an update for you! As of today, we’re tracking to submit the Protector Trials to certification at the end of January.

Minerva’s Den has some more work to be done on it still and is tracking to submit to certification in the beginning of March. I’ll let you guys know when we do submit but our release date will change depending on how that process goes (which is why I don’t have a firm release date for you guys yet.)


I don’t have a final patch list for you yet, either, but one item I know many of you will look forward to: we have fixed mouse sensitivity issues and many v-sync option bugs.

Next update will probably be about our submission – until then, I’ll answer whatever questions and clarifications you may have here.

[MysterD]

Joystiq -> Bioshock 2: Protector Trials PC DLC released too early - it doesn't work.

I'll let you know once they get it working...

[MysterD]

Protector Trials DLC for PC coming FREE on March 14th.
Patch coming March 14th, as well.

[W7RE]

From the Bioshock Infinite thread:

Oh, I'd like to hear your thoughts on Minerva's Den DLC for Bioshock 2, some time.
I missed out on that.
I really wish they did a Bioshock 2: Complete Edition re-release w/ all of the DLC's.

I finished Minerva's Den earlier tonight. It was pretty good. I played it coming directly from Bioshock 1 and not having touched Bioshock 2. The locale isn't as fresh, but the combat is slightly better. I found myself enjoying working my way through the levels, where in the original I was just wanting to get through them. The guns are nice, and I really liked about half of them, the others were at least unique and interesting. The story was a lot better than I expected too, especially for DLC.

The enemies did start to respawn a bit weird near the end though. I had 1 little sister left to find and had to backtrack to find her, and I was getting tons of splicer respawns. I would kill 3 within a 15 second timeframe, and in 5-10 seconds there would be 2-3 more. This went on until I had killed 15 or more, and just left because my ammo was all running out and they weren't dropping enough ammo/cash to make up for what I was using. I also found myself short of adam. I'm not sure if that was an intentional side effect of harvesting all the little sisters or not. If you don't harvest them, you can go around and gather adam from bodies with her. Defending them from splicers didn't sound like fun, so I harvested them all.

Also, security bots seem OP. I was using a tonic that let me repair them, and another that gave them more hp when I hack them. They followed me around and were killing most things for me. I got rid of them though, because it was too easy and I wasn't getting to shoot things enough (which I was having fun with). Also, they were constantly in my way in tight areas.

[MysterD]

Thanks for the impressions on Minerva's Den DLC. Much appreciated.
If G4WL actually ever has a sale on it for PC version's DLC; or the PC version ever gets re-released w/ Minerva's Den DLC, I'm gonna have to pick it up.

I've actually heard and read it is quite a bit better than Bioshock 2.
I'd guess since Minerva DLC is a DLC, it might be a bit shorter?
How long it take to get though Minerva?

[W7RE]

It's hard to judge how long it took me. All I have to look at are the times listed on saves, which are clock times, not how long I had been playing. I paused it for a while several times because of distractions, and played through it in 2 sittings.

howlongtobeat.com shows 5 to 5.5 hours average.

[MysterD]

@W7RE
Thanks for the info.

[MysterD]

MAJOR Bioshock 2 PC update.

Anybody have Bioshock 2 PC from Retail or anywhere else digitally - you may now activate that key on Steam.
Activate that key and you'll also get 3 DLC's + Minerva's Den DLC b/c you own the game early (before the conversion)!
Don't own Bioshock 2 PC at all - you'll have to buy everything, whether from Steam or anywhere selling a Bioshock 2 key.

G4WL has been removed from Steam-version of Bioshock 2.
Steam Version has full-blown Steamworks support w/ Achievements, Matchmaking for MP, etc.
This version also supports X360 controller now and Steam's Big Picture Mode.

[Cobra951]

My favorite Bioshock in terms of how it plays and feels.  Infinite lost that emotional big-daddy/little-sister dynamic.  Elizabeth did not make up for it.  I hated where that story went too, so even as far as story goes, I like 2 better.

[iPPi]

I picked up the retail version of this game for $1 a couple month ago.  Haven't had a chance to play it yet though.

[Quemaqua]

I still see the CE floating around stores, usually reeeally beat up, for a couple bucks. I thought about grabbing it but never did.

[K-man]

I still see the CE floating around stores, usually reeeally beat up, for a couple bucks. I thought about grabbing it but never did.

i paid 99 for it.  Had to have that record.  As far as CE's go, it's pretty nice.  Plus, if you throw a black light on the included posters you get some hidden messages.

[scottws]

I never played this.  I wasn't a huge fan of Bioshock.  I absolutely loved the setting, but I wasn't fond of the shooter mechanic.  It seems like it would have been better as an adventure game.

[gpw11]

I never played this.  I wasn't a huge fan of Bioshock.  I absolutely loved the setting, but I wasn't fond of the shooter mechanic.  It seems like it would have been better as an adventure game.

I can get behind this 100%

I played mainly for the setting and the audio logs.  I didn't mind the combat as much as some seem to, but it definitely wasn't the highlight for me.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, same here. I enjoyed the game thoroughly regardless, but what I wanted after the first wasn't another shooter. It was a first or third-person adventure game set in Rapture during the period when it was actually a working city.

[Xessive]

Yeah, same here. I enjoyed the game thoroughly regardless, but what I wanted after the first wasn't another shooter. It was a first or third-person adventure game set in Rapture during the period when it was actually a working city.

That's what excites me about the premise of the Bioshock Infinite upcoming DLC.

[MysterD]

Took me around 8 hours in total of playing yesterday and today - now the Minerva's Den DLC is now done.

The gameplay is certainly is like the Bioshock 2 base game in terms of gameplay - but it felt a bit more difficult, amped-up, and certainly quite a bit more challenging. I certainly was running to buy Health Kits & to the Health Station; and dying to then be sent back to the Vita Chambers quite a damn bit.

The storytelling here was certainly MUCH better than the BioShock 2 base game - and it's a much more personal of a story here, too.

[MysterD]

So, if you have Bioshock 1, 2, and/or Minerva's Den DLC on Steam - whatever you own you should have the respective game's HD Remaster version now also should be sitting in your Steam account.

Bioshock: Infinite is NOT getting a Remaster on PC yet b/c it's really too new & still in great shape (technically); while the others (Bioshock 1+2) got some improved stability, lighting, and textures at least.

Though right now, Bioshock 1+2 HD Remasters on PC have some issues - stability (at times), performance, 5.1 sound not working properly, graphic options omitted in-game, mouse acceleration issues, and other nonsense.
Some of this can be fixed via INI files, though - check the RPS post about how to fix some of this stuff below.

Anyways, here's the obligatory "PC versions of Bioshock 1 and 2 have issues" posts from major publications:
RockPaperShotgun...with also some ways to fix some of the issues - https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/09/16/bioshock-remastered-fixes/
Destructoid - https://www.destructoid.com/pc-port-report-bioshock-1-2-remastered-387660.phtml?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Polygon - http://www.polygon.com/2016/9/16/12942684/bioshock-remastered-pc-issues-fix