Thursday, March 21, 2013

Bioshock 2 (DX9 only)

Bioshock 2 - by mana84


Description:

- Smoke and fog effects are fixed
- Lighting and shadow issues are fixed
- Water effects are fixed
- Reflections and refractions on glass surfaces are fixed
- Added 3d  crosshair (based on real depth values)
- 3D HUD

The game had a lot of 3d stereo issued shaders, I've fixed thousands of them and I believe the fix should be 100% complete... make me know in case of other issues.

How to install/play:
- Extract "Bioshock2_fix.zip" archive in your "..\Bioshock\Builds\Binaries\" directory of the game, i.e. for steam version it's "..\Steam\SteamApps\common\Bioshock 2\SP\Builds\Binaries\".
- Start the game in DX9, i.e. create a shortcut for Bioshock2Launcher.exe, go to properties and append "-dx9" to the target field. Otherwise, if you have steam version, you can right-click on the game, click on properties->general->set launch options and add "-dx9" in the field.

I - key switches(cycle) HUD depth (3 variants).
U - key  switches (cycle) depth presets (3 variants).

If you want to save your custom convergence settings press "U" and select required preset, set custom separation/depth settings , then press F7 and your settings will be saved in the config file.


Download:
Bioshock2_fix.zip

55 comments:

  1. Nice work! I wish I could learn how to do these kinds of fixes.

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  2. Thank you very much for taking on your time to make those fabulous fix.

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  3. " Start the game in DX9, i.e. create a shortcut for bioshock.exe, go to properties and append "-dx9" to the destination field."

    Sorry what? Could you provide better instructions for this part? I can not find the word "destination" anywhere in the properties of the shortcut. I am useing win7.

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    1. Description updated, sorry I made a copy-paste mistake...
      I don't really know what's the name of the field becouse english is not my native language, my OS is in Italian. However I've just made a screenshot, I hope it can be of help for you: http://imageshack.us/a/img716/5614/dx9.png
      Please tell me the proper name of the field if you can, so that I can update the description.

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    2. Ok it was because I was not putting a space there befor the -dx9.
      the field is called "target"

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  4. thanks for your help.
    It will not go into 3d now. this option is grayed out now. Any idea?

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    1. I just needed to run the patch sry!

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  5. Thank you for your work!
    Bought today RESIDENT EVIL 6 ... And there were serious problems with the shadows (not to be treated even with low depth) and post-effects ... :-(
    Help! We curved hands ... Please.

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  6. Fix updated with "blood splashes" effect of the visor glass (appears at low health) put at screen depth so that you can increase convergence without messing it up (it could be a little off with high convergence).

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  7. Slightly off topic but knd of related, is there any chance Helix that you'll be releasing a fix for Bioshock Infinite?

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    1. If you have a question for helix. Ask in one of his game threads. He may answer, he also might not.

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    2. Nope, I already said that for now fixing DX10/DX11 games is impossible.
      I still don't have time to finish DX10/DX11 wrapper and I doubt that it can be done till summer.

      Delete
  8. Thanks Helix, Appreciate your eforts!

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  9. Thank you Mana84 for you hard word and generosity. I'm playing Bioshock 1 now, also with your fix, and enjoying it immensely. These games are incredible, and your efforts are much appreciated.

    Thank you Helix for the previous comment. Just knowing that you're working on a DX10/11 wrapper and that it may get delivered sometimes this century already makes me squeal of joy like a little piggy (hope my colleagues don't notice)
    :-)

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  10. Just think the same that the user of the last post, glad to hear it will be done someday, thanks for your efforts Helix!

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  11. Incredible fix, Mana!
    A great pleasure to play this fantastic game in proper s3D.
    Many thanks to you from a happy gamer!

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  12. Fantastic work looks amazing :D

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  13. Thanks, Mana84.

    Great work as always on this site.

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  14. Thanks for all the mods.

    For some reason I cannot get this to work. The issue is with the convergence. If I set any depth there is major overlap with the 2 images, not ghosting, just convergence issue. I've push U and can see the images move a bit and the HUD changes with I, so I know it's "working". I've tried adjusting the convergence, but it still won't line up or fix the issue. I have the game launch in DX9 mode. Any suggestions?

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    1. Don't know. Only suggestion I can offer is that for the older games, go back to an older driver. Latest drivers tend to be breaking stuff. Also, if you can experiment some, you can help others by ruling things out.

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    2. Can post a picture on 3dvisionlive.

      If your not positive its ghosting adjust your contrast to see. Tbh, Bioshock is a very dark game and when I hear 2 images and I know a game is extremely dark 9 times out of 10 its ghosting.

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    3. Seems to be working. I noticed my 3D drivers were not updated. No issues now, minor ghosting, but as you said the game is dark, looks very nice. Thanks!

      Delete
  15. I thank you so much for this amazing fix !! Without HELIX community 3D Vision would be not worth in existence. THX A LOT !!

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  16. Hello guys. Today decided to give Minerva's Den a go, and hit the wall... Can't make BioShock 2 to work in 3D propertly. The fix on this page doesn't contain d3d9.dll file, I have one from somewhere, and I remember it worked fine back then. But not now. When I try to start game in DX9 mode, it just crashes silently. No matter if shader overrides are included or not - just d3d9.dll is enough for game to crash. Have tried version which comes with BioShock 1 fix - result is the same. I'm on 358.50 drivers on Windows 7 64-bit.
    Thanks for suggestions, if any would come :)

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    Replies
    1. Hell YEAH! Decided to give a go to another forgotten game, Betrayer, and found out that it also uses DX9 wrapper. Applied it to BioShock 2 and... BINGO! It works perfectly!
      P.S. I think it would be nice to update BioShock 2 fix by including Betrayer wrapper in it...

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    2. Hi my Bioshock 2 is crashing a lot. How did you apply the Betrayer wrapper?

      Delete
  17. Hello, can you fix Bioshock 2 Remastered, its looks a lot better even on Pc, and would love to play it in 3d, i can even gift you the game to fix it

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    Replies
    1. Remastered version doesn't actually look better than the old version. There are multiple youtube videos showing side by side comparisons. The only reason they made remastered was to rerelease the game on Xbone and PS4.

      Making game fixes is unbelievably time consuming, and it's not a good use of time to revisit remasters that don't provide any value. However, if someone is deeply interested in a given game, it's their choice to spend their time how they like.

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  18. Please Fix Bioshock 2 Remastered

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  19. Thanks so much! I bought this back in 2011, but never played it past the opening scene...as I wanted to play the first game (which I did just this last week...finally).

    I see that they are gifting the re-mastered version to PC players on Steam, but I won't bother downloading that - since you've made this for us in DX9 for the original. Thanks again!

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    1. Good to know it's still working correctly, thanks for the report.

      No visual difference in comparison videos for remastered, and it's not likely a ShaderHacker will want to spend another 20 hours fixing this game when the DX9 version still works well.

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    2. I also notice there is no requirement to turn off certain effects for Bio 2's 3D fix - whereas in the 3D fix for Bio 1, I think three graphic effects needed to be turned off in order for it to not ghost (amongst other things).

      But both look great in 3D - so thanks for the fixes.

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    3. I don't understand what you mean. The Bioshock 1 fix is also made by mana84, and the current version does not require any effects to be disabled. Should be 3D Vision Ready.

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    4. The NVidia 3D rating states to turn off Shadow Maps, High Detail Post Processing and Distortion - when I applied the fix, and tried to play with one or all of these settings on, I got weird textures that made the game practically unplayable - turning them off made it perfect.

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    5. The NVidia rating would be the recommendation before mana84's fix. If you follow those steps you can get pretty good results, but not as good as the fix itself.

      I just ran Bioshock1 again, and it looks perfect to me with everything enabled, with the exception of the DX10 textures.

      Are you sure you have the fix installed and running correctly? If you press the I or U keys it should change the HUD or convergence.

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    6. I've now completed the game, so it's not an issue - but definitely without the 3D fix it had a lot of ghosting, so I know I installed it - and to the correct folder. Yet having those 3 effects on did mess up the textures.

      However turning them off didn't result in seeming to "lose" much (if anything) graphics wise.

      Bio 2 with the 3D fix certainly looks a lot "crisper" than Bio 1 - although maybe that's the result of the game being newer (and therefore better optimised).

      Delete
  20. OK< I just loaded Bio 1 - juggled around with those 3 settings - and all looks fine.

    That said I can see an option to have DX10 settings, and it's on.

    So either I was NEVER playing in DX9 (which I doubt, as with the 3D fix everything was great)

    - or after deleting my shortcut I am now playing in DX10 - but even then the 3D and graphics seems fine.

    I guess it'll remain a mystery!

    Note - the textures I mentioned happened in the earlier stages of the game - not sure if that can be proven now though, as once I turned off those 3 effects I never tried turning them back on while playing through the whole game.

    I have to say again though - Bio 2 looks a lot crisper - it's like HD compared to the original (and I am not playing the remaster!)

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    1. OK, thanks for experimenting. When I run it without the fix installed, there is a lot of sort of ghosting, it's actually misplaced textures. We usually call that haloing, reserving the word ghosting for hardware crosstalk.

      But, changing off those effects, I did not see the haloing get resolved, so I'm not sure what was up before.

      In any case, just for future reference, fix is working great still, no need to disable any effects. Still must add -dx9 to launch to force dx9 mode, or use 3D Fix Manager which does this for you.

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    2. Wow, I had no idea the 3D Fix Manager existed - have downloaded, and will choose one of the several games I have never got round to completing to install a 3D Fix via it! Thanks for letting me know!!


      BTW, is there any way of being notified via E-mail of when someone responds to me on any reply I make on this forum? I see a "Subscribe to" field below, but can't get it to work (using Chrome here).

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    3. Not sure about the email notification. There was recently a big problem with the blogger notifier because of the European GDPR that took the blogger notifier offline for a month. It's working now for me to be notified as an admin, but I had to delete my address and readd it. Might only work for new Notify Me comments.

      Delete
  21. Bioshock 2 crashes to desktop a LOT - especially with 3D on. It does also crash in 2D, but not nearly so much.

    Just in case others reading this are having the same issue, I found a solution on the "Steam" forums, so am sharing -

    Set Texture detail to MEDIUM - it does make the game look uglier, but rarely (if ever) crashes.

    Or do what I do - play in HIGH texture settings - and SAVE often - although strangely pressing "Start" on your Xbox controller or "Escape" on your keyboard to enter the menu to Save results in the game crashing to desktop too!

    Bioshock 1 never had this issue.

    It's a shame this issue is there, as Bioshock 2 in 3D is a totally different experience to 2D.

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    1. As a data point, I just played 2.5 hours of B2, and had one crash. Driver 398.82, Win10. Game looks freakin' awesome in 3D.

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    2. Thanks - I am using 398.82 on Windows 10 too. I am uninstalling / reinstalling the game to see if that makes any difference.

      If it DOES stop the crashing, I'll report back here.

      Delete
  22. Pour se qui on le jeux qui plante en 3D.
    j'ai trouver une solution :)
    1-vous devez suivre se chemin pour trouver le fichier a modiffier: windows(c)/utilisateur/(votre nom)/Appdata/Roaming/Bioshock2steam.

    2-cliquer sur le fichier Bioshock2SP.ini, chercher (TextureStreamingMemoryLimit=) et définir sur 0.

    3-jai également modifier se fichier (TextureStreamingDistanceLimit=) je lai mis sur c'est valeur (=800000.000000)
    je n'ai plus aucun plantage je joue en 4k pour avoir une image net

    Merci a Mana84 pour se jeux en 3D

    windows 10 gtx 1080ti pilote 452.06 instaler via 3D fix manager.

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  23. I don't know why but the game keeps crashing for me with this fix on 425 and 452 drivers. I'm on a RTX 2080 Ti. The only fix I've found is to play with medium texture resolution but it looks so ugly.

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    1. As a data point, I just tried it here and it was working good. Looks great still. No crash, but I didn't play farther than the first two rooms. Driver 452.06, Win10 21H1, Steam version. Used HelixVision to setup and launch. Running at 1440p and textures at high.

      So game itself and fix seem OK. Maybe, other people have had this crash too. Try doing a fully clean DDU for the driver, it can get corrupted over time. Also worth trying HelixVision/3DFM to launch as some of our profiles are a lot better.

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    2. What is helixvision? I only know of 3dfm which I have used but it still gives me crashes

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    3. HelixVision is on Steam, and is a version of 3DFM that uses VR as the output device, so you play on an Imax size virtual 3D screen. No difference at this level between the two.
      Might be worth trying to experiment with removing some changed shaders. Like play without the fix, but in 3D and see if you still get crashes. If you don't, then you can add back half the shaders and see if you still do. Called a binary search. Not sure it will help, but in Bioshock Infinite there was one bad shader that caused crashes. Nonzero chance it's related.

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    4. I'm not familiar with fixes. But I do see a Shaderoverride folder in the Bioshock 2 fix. But there are two folders inside it. "PixelShaders" and "VertexShaders". And it has a bunch of random named txt files. Are these the files you want me to remove half off and experiment on? I'm also interested in playing Bioshock infinite. Might you recall which file was causing the issue for that game?

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    5. Those are the right files, all shader files that HelixMod replaces in the game. If you move them into a subfolder, they will be skipped during loading. Some will break the 3D worse than others, but I'd still suggest starting with them all removed first and see if you still crash. 3D will be visually broken and ugly though.
      For BI, IIRC someone reported which shader is to be skipped in comments.

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    6. Two other things that are possibly worth trying. Be sure to do a DDU style clean install of the driver, because it can get corrupted over time and cause weird side effects like this. Secondly, try a few other drivers, depending upon your video card. Lots of newer drivers are crap relative to when the game was released and can introduce crashes like this, so it would be worth using a driver that is closer to the time when the game was released. 425.31 was last one for 3D, but it's not a particularly good version, and I have better luck on 452.06 for example. But for this game, I'd go much older if you can. Try to dig up the old HelixMod threads on Bioshock2 and see what people were using.

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    7. I see. I am on an RTX 2080 Ti and yeah I did DDU but it didn't help. I don't know what in god's name happened. The game was fine in 3D then Windows somehow forced a 21H1 update on my 1809 build and the crashes started. Since then I have restored my computer to its older image and DDUd my driver and uninstalled and reinstalled Bioshock 2 since then. Still have that issue

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    8. Does HelixVision need a VR headset or does it work just like 3DFM for monitors?

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    9. HelixVision is based on 3DFM code, so it does everything it does, but also adds the VR output option. So for monitors/TVs/projectors, you can still use HelixVision too.

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  24. For those with crashing issues, I fixed mine by actually going against the directions here. I removed the -dx9 option (steam version) and ran the game in DX 10 with everything set to high. And only had a crash or 2 the from beginning to end of game including Minerva's den. I think the crash actually occurs because there is some issue with Dx9 and setting textures to high. Perhaps high textures try to trigger DX10. Anyways I fixed it by running in DX10 and everything at highest settings. No issues whatsoever. RTX 2080 Ti on Windows 10 1809

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