Overview
A community guide made by players to help get Bioshock 2 working for everyone.
Introduction
UPDATE!!! You might find my guide a bit empty, since GFWL was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ got removed from the game, all GFWL troubleshooting has been removed. Still, you can contribute troubleshooting info and fixes for some problems for this guide.
Bioshock 2 is one of those games you are looking forward to play after playing the first one. You try your best to contact steam or the developer, and yet no avail. Well, long story short, I will list the common problems the people have come across and will show how to fix them.
Launching Issues
Right Click on Bioshock 2 in your “Library”, then click “Local Files tab”, then click “Verify Integrity of Game Cache.”
Possible Fix 1: Navigate to ‘Steam/Steamapps/common/Bioshock 2/SP/Builds/Binaries’ and right click on Bioshock2.exe. Select ‘Properties’ then the ‘Compatibility’ tab then check the box that says “Run this program as Administrator”. Apply the settings.
Possible Fix 2: Go to Bioshock 2>Properties>Set Launch Options… and put in -dx9. This will disable the use of DirectX10.
Possible Fix 3: If you are running Windows 7, delete the KB2670838 update.
Possible Fix 4: Delete the qs9.bsp file from your save directory.
Gameplay Issues
The problem lies within “Bink Video,” a unique video type for games. For the choppy video, download this file:
[link]
This will change your Bink Video files to a lower FPS rating. The program file will automatically detect where your Bioshock 2 folder is.
Then, download this file:
[link]
Extract the contents of the file to Steam/Steamapps/common/Bioshock 2/SP/Builds/Binaries. Note: Your Folder should look something like this after ordering the files:
WARNING! When launching, your mouse may get stuck because of a pop-up window about changing Graphic Card Settings. You may have to wrestle your mouse or alt-tab in order to get to that pop-up window and press enter. Annoying…I know.
There are three possible ways to fix this. You can reload until it comes back, die and respawn, or mash the Left Mouse Button repeatedly while zooming in and out making the radial menu pop up.
What NOT to do to fix it
I figured I could tell my story about the pain and frustration I went through with this game years ago.
So yeah when I first got it, it was during a sale. It was the two Bioshock games for 5 bucks only, not each. I was happy with Bioshock 1 and couldn’t wait to start Bioshock 2. Then…I had problems…I googled, I asked, I did everything possible within my power. I couldn’t use emails, which sucked even more balls.
I ended up going to my computer store to check and see if they could fix it. They couldn’t do much, but suggested I’d upgrade my video card. I did. I forked over…about…300 dollars…and that didn’t fix it. That’s 50 dollars for them checking and 300 dollars for the new card. Nearly 400 dollars.
So, whatever you do, do not bring your computer to a shop or even upgrade your OS for it. It’s not worth going through the pain and wasting your money over to fix it.
Still not fixed?
Please note this is a community-contributed guide for all users on Steam. If all fixes listed don’t work or a fix isn’t listed, please try the following urls:
[link]
(possibly more to come)
If you were able to fix something using one of those addresses, please post and contribute so I can list it! Thanks!
Want to Contribute?
You can post in the comments section about any problems I’ve missed and if a fix has been found for it! I know it isn’t much of a guide yet, but hopefully it would be a more thorough guide for others who play this game. 🙂
Credits and Contributors
merchantmudcrab – For note on v1.5 Patch.(Since GFWL got removed, doesn’t matter. Still, credited anyway for trying to contribute 🙂 )
Harbringer-HU – For the -dx9 command.
Matt – Correction for the -dx9 command.
Kendall1980 – For finding the Windows 7 Update that causes the crashing.
=R.R=theHommer – Finding that deleting the qs9.bsp file may fix the crashing.
Dibzahab – For finding out how to fix the left hand that disappears in-game.
[+]Tosoth – For finding a fix when Bioshock 2 crashes after a couple of minutes.
[link] – For hosting of the fix files.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duj0l-7-0jE
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