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Minerva's Den Added to Steam. GFWL/Securom removed from Bioshock 2

G

Grief.exe

Member
Downsampled from 1440p, Bicubic Sharper

iZk1HaCU2VNzW.png
 
S

SparkleMotion

Member
It's a little weird that buying the game direct through Steam is now undesirable, as buying a boxed copy and inputting the key will get you Minerva's Den for free.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
I've been playing so much Hearthstone the past couple of days since I got into the Closed Beta, but gonna get back into Bioshock 2 before I have to leave for class.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Cuban Legend said:
What do i lose graphically from playing in DX9 vs DX10... I've about had it with these hard crashes and CTDs.
Click to expand...

Here are all of the changes, I don't know what 2K Marin implemented. My guess would be DX10 is mostly optimizations.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_Vista#DirectX

chupon said:
I know retail copies of bioshock 2 can be had for around $8 - $10 online
Click to expand...

On sale, BioShock 2 with Minerva's Den should be cheaper than that.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
I posted some sound fixes I found in another thread a page back or so. I would suggest turning reverb off in the audio menu.

Grief.exe said:
Going to post this for the next page for those who only have 50 posts per page set. I would like to try to get these audio issues fixed so people can enjoy the game.

Grief.exe said:
My Solution
Hey guys.. have you solved the problem already? it's quite a bit that you don't bump, yet i've seen no solutions

I've been tinkering with the audio settings and I've modified quite a bit of little things.. however the one which is the most noteworthy in my opinion is a place in the Realtek Audio HD Management (in the control panel) where it pretends synthesizing a Dolby effect out of your two speakers. Disabling that thing has completely worked for my case. Imagine that I couldn't even go past the intro scene where you knock on the hole for the Sister without it getting on my nerves. And now it works perfectly.
Click to expand...

Many of the issues listed in this thread appear to be configuration woes either relating to physical speaker setup or driver settings. Please follow these steps, you’ll be listening to the exact same thing we hear.

Step 1: Check Speaker Set-up.

1. In Control Panels/Sound select your output device.

2. Choose ‘Configure’

3. Pick the correct speaker setup (stereo, 5.1, 7.1, etc.) for your system.

4. Use ‘Test’ to make sure the speakers are wired and placed correctly around your room.

5. Click ‘Next.’ Follow the instructions until finished.


*These instructions are for Windows Vista/7. XP has a similar set of controls.

Step 2: (If you have a Creative Labs card) Open the Creative Audio Control Panel.

1. Mode Tab: Choose ‘Audio Creation Mode’

2. Speaker Tab: Make sure the Speaker Configuration matches what you set in the Windows Sound control panel. This *should* set itself automatically. If not, do so yourself. Under ‘SVM’ select the ‘Off’ position.*

3. EAX Effects: Uncheck the ‘Enable EAX Effects’ box to turn EAX Effects off.

4. X-Fi Crystalizer: Uncheck the ‘Enable X-Fi’ Crystalizer’ box to turn the Crystalizer off.


Step 2.5: (If you are using Alchemy).
1. Remove or disable BioShock 2 from Alchemy. (I do not have it and cannot provide specific instructions. I believe you have to add games it yourself, so if you have done so I’ll assume you also know how to remove them.)


Step 3: In-Game settings.

1. Choose Options/Audio Options.

2. Choose ‘Default’ as the speaker mode. This should make Bioshock 2 mimic your Windows settings.

3. If you made changes, hit ‘Apply’ and restart the game.

4. If the in-game sound is still not correct, set the mode by hand. Note that if you chose 5.1 in Windows, you need to choose 5.1 in the game (Not ‘Surround’). Restart the game again.


If you’ve done everything correctly, you now have the same settings we use here at 2K Marin to develop the game. (We each have and listen through a Creative Labs X-Fi Fatality card with 6 discrete lines going to a level controller and then woofer/speakers). Hopefully this will take care of most of the issues we’ve been seeing throughout this thread.

For Dolby ProLogic II users: The game will encode a ProLogic II signal. To use this option you will need a device to decode the signal between your computer and speakers. Most A/V receivers and home theater systems will do this. Here are the proper settings:

1. Windows = Stereo.

2. Creative Console = Stereo.

3. BioShock 2 = ProLogic.

4. Make sure your receiver is set to ProLogic II. Many receivers will detect the signal type but some will not.


One final note. There is a setting in BioShock 2 called ‘Use Reverb.’ We included this so people with lower end systems have the option to disable reverb and get a performance boost. This option has nothing to do with EAX effects and only disables our software reverb. If your system is not able to fully handle BioShock 2 you can try disabling reverb to get a slight edge.

*SVM allows the sound card to decrease the difference between the loudest and softest portions of the game. Enabling this will help you have a better experience in many cases. If you play in a noisy environment and cannot hear the quieter sounds, try enabling this. Also, if your speakers are tinny, tiny, or otherwise of lower quality, this might help you hear more of what’s going on in the world.
Click to expand...

Looking through the ini file I found an option for lowquality sound.
Could you set this to True to see if it makes any difference.

users/*username*/appdata/roaming/bioshock2/bioshock2sp.in
Click to expand...

Go to C:Users*username*AppDataRoamingBioshock2 open BioShock2SP.ini and edit the lines

[FMODAudio.FMODAudioSubsystem]
MaxChannels=128
MaxStreams=8
StreamBufferSize=64

with values 32, 8, 64 and if this doesn't work with values 32, 4, 32
Grief Note: 24 channels is another possible value
Click to expand...

http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?56994-Bioshock-2-sound-cutting-out-with-Reltek
Click to expand...
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
It looks like 2K is working on the multiplayer portion again. Hopefully patching in good mouse controls.

Just updated the Digital Extremes depot a few minutes ago.
 
A

AJ_Wings

Member
Cuban Legend said:
cool thanks! Well I finished up Minerva's Den, it was fantastic and worth the audio bugs and crashes, 100%.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's also much longer than a traditional 10$ DLC. Took me 5-6 hours to finish it(Well, I explored everything I could've explored). Level design was the real star of this DLC. Really impressed.
 
J

Jinroh

Member
I'm a bit late to the party, it's not possible to add the Bioshock 1 retail key on steam as well? Does it concern only the second game?
 
D

D-e-f-

Banned
Jinroh said:
I'm a bit late to the party, it's not possible to add the Bioshock 1 retail key on steam as well? Does it concern only the second game?
Click to expand...

See above for proper answer. You can regularly get BioShock 1 steam keys for next to nothing in the various amazon.com sales, for example. So "upgrading" that wouldn't be that costly.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Jinroh said:
I'm a bit late to the party, it's not possible to add the Bioshock 1 retail key on steam as well? Does it concern only the second game?
Click to expand...

Only for the second game, but keep on the lookout for franchise sales. Plenty of digital resellers have acquired Steam keys for the title.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
2K should have added cards for this game, I would have crafted the badge.

Meanwhile, I'm about to sell the cards for Infinite.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Rarest Achievements have been invaded by Bioshock 2

iHnAljv0G3SDr.png


After I beat the game, I am going to put the Achievement Collector with Big Brass Balls and Against All Odds.

oH89m0U.png
 
D

D-e-f-

Banned
Grief.exe said:
Rarest Achievements have been invaded by Bioshock 2

iHnAljv0G3SDr.png


After I beat the game, I am going to put the Achievement Collector with Big Brass Balls and Against All Odds.

oH89m0U.png
Click to expand...

Aw yea. I'm totally gonna do it again. I platinum'd it on PS3 but I'm totally game to do it all over again on PC now lol.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
D-e-f- said:
Aw yea. I'm totally gonna do it again. I platinum'd it on PS3 but I'm totally game to do it all over again on PC now lol.
Click to expand...

Getting 100% in games tends to frustrate me now. I tend to just play through and get what I get rather than focus on achievements.

Now that we have the Achievements showcase, I better go back and get some of the cooler ones to show off!
 
D

D-e-f-

Banned
Grief.exe said:
Getting 100% in games tends to frustrate me now. I tend to just play through and get what I get rather than focus on achievements.

Now that we have the Achievements showcase, I better go back and get some of the cooler ones to show off!
Click to expand...

Yea, I might not do everything again. But if I recall correctly, the BioShock 2 achievements all were fairly good or interesting. Not sure if I'll do multiplayer, though. I really liked it but ...hmm.

At least the No-Vita Chambers & Hard Mode ones are making the game more interesting to play in a certain way for me. And I still remember A Man Chooses one from the beginning :D
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
D-e-f- said:
Yea, I might not do everything again. But if I recall correctly, the BioShock 2 achievements all were fairly good or interesting. Not sure if I'll do multiplayer, though. I really liked it but ...hmm.

At least the No-Vita Chambers & Hard Mode ones are making the game more interesting to play in a certain way for me. And I still remember A Man Chooses one from the beginning :D
Click to expand...

You are better off plugging in a controller and playing the multiplayer that way if you decide to go that route.

M/KB controls are still not good. They did update the beta depot for multiplayer the other day, so maybe they are in the process of a fix.
 
D

DodgyGeezerFella

Member
Still doing my SP playthrough, no deaths yet, hoping to do a 1 playthrough sweep and get all achievements (so far so good !). Still really rusty with weapon/plasmid swapping and being a true boss. Have the drill smash now, and still feels damn good .....

Bonus shot -

1dtuv9.png
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Ogs said:
Still doing my SP playthrough, no deaths yet, hoping to do a 1 playthrough sweep and get all achievements (so far so good !). Still really rusty with weapon/plasmid swapping and being a true boss. Have the drill smash now, and still feels damn good .....

Bonus shot -

1dtuv9.png
Click to expand...

Great picture, I thought that area was worthy of a screenshot as well.

I have my plasmids set up as Decoy, Hypnotize, Swarm, Shock, Freeze. I use them all, in order, then I cycle back through.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
before I start playing, how bad is the FOV if you don't mess with it? is it really that terrible?

I don't know if I want to bother if I have to press a key to change it every time a cutscene comes up or every time I aim down sights
 
S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Htown said:
before I start playing, how bad is the FOV if you don't mess with it? is it really that terrible?

I don't know if I want to bother if I have to press a key to change it every time a cutscene comes up or every time I aim down sights
Click to expand...

It's pretty tight, if you get motion sickness or headaches from low FOV then this will definitely bug you.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Sinatar said:
2 of them are from Minerva's Den, you play that yet?
Click to expand...

That would explain it.

Htown said:
before I start playing, how bad is the FOV if you don't mess with it? is it really that terrible?

I don't know if I want to bother if I have to press a key to change it every time a cutscene comes up or every time I aim down sights
Click to expand...

You don't need to use aim down sight in this game. The only time you need to press it is after you load a game, and you also need to have a key set up for turning off mouse acceleration.
 
D

DodgyGeezerFella

Member
Well im a god damned muppet, completely fluffed my 100% achievement playthrough, didn't bother checking out the Mermaid Lounge to get the power to the people upgrade, completely forgetting about it thinking the mission would take me there .... DUMB ASS. Saved my game after the water erupted and lost the chance to go back :(

I think I made the same mistake on my original playthrough at release .....
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Wow I took a ton of great screenshots but MSI Afterburner didn't save them?

That is unfortunate.

The program shows that a screenshot is taken, but it is not saving it in the folder I have always used.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Finished it off and got some new achievements to show off on the profile.

The only ones I set out to do initially were the Brass Balls and Against All Odds achievements, the other ones I unlocked naturally through exploration.

i7UNJ77.png
 
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