Widescreen Gaming Forum

==Game Information==
Bioshock is Ken Levine's vision of a paradise lost. This first person shooter is considered the spiritual successor to the System Shock series. The game takes place in the underwater utopian city Rapture as it is in a state of impending collapse. You must survive the horrors that await.

==Version==

US Retail Version 1.0

The game natively supports widescreen resolutions but is VERT-, so our friend Racer_S has supplied an FOV hack to allow you to change your FOV setting manually. (Thanks Racer_S, you did it again!)

You can obtain this hack here:
http://dl.tocaedit.com/bioshockdFOV.zip
UPDATE:As of version 1.2, the hack SUPPORTS DX10.


==Method 1 Native== VERT-

You can simply choose your resolution from the Graphics Options.

==Method 2 Hack== HOR+

1. Run the hack.

2. Set your desired "Width FOV" and "Height FOV"
(Please refer to the readme.txt that came with the hack for more details)

3. Run the Game.

4. Press the "*" to activate the FOV settings once in game.

If you like the hack, please consider donating to the creator.
http://www.tocaedit.com/donate


I found that 16:9 users should set it to:
Width FOV: 0.75
Height FOV: 0.75

16:10 users:
Width FOV: 0.84
Height FOV: 0.84

(these looked almost perfect when overlapped with the standard 4:3 screenshot)

==Screen change Using the FOV Hack==

16:9 Hack (0.75 + 0.75)

16:10 Hack (0.84 + 0.84)

4:3 Normal



The rest of this detailed report reflects the standard game without the hack.

==Screen change==

16:9 Gameplay


16:10 Gameplay


4:3 Gameplay


5:4 Gameplay


Gameplay is VERT-


The menus are formatted in 16:9 and will letterbox accordingly.

16:9 Menu


16:10 Menu


4:3 Menu


5:4 Menu



Cutscenes display correctly at all aspect ratios. The movies are formatted in 16:9 and will letterbox accordingly.

16:9 Cutscenes


16:10 Cutscenes


4:3 Cutscenes


5:4 Cutscenes



Loading screens stretch to fit the desired screen format. The background photo appears to be formatted in 16:9 and does not stretch. It remains constant across all aspect ratios.

16:9 Loading Screens


16:10 Loading Screens


4:3 Loading Screens


5:4 Loading Screens



==Supported resolutions==

Note: This is only a list of what resolutions are available to me. I can add resolutions if requested/confirmed.

640x480
720x480
720x576
800x600
848x480
960x600
1024x768
1152x864
1280x720
1280x768
1280x800
1280x960
1280x1024
1360x768
1440x900
1440x1050 (Thanks Dazza360)
1680x1050
1920x1080
1920x1200


List of resolutions that were not tested/confirmed:

1600x1200
2560x1600


List of widescreen resolutions the game fails to run at:

None that I can test.


==Singleplayer anomalies==

None.

==Multiplayer support==

There is no multiplayer component in this game. Singleplayer only.


==Aspect ratio support==

The game automatically adjusts the aspect ratio (as shown in the above screenshots).


==HUD stretch==

Update: The HUD displays correctly at 16:9 and 4:3 resolutions, however the 16:10 and 5:4 resolutions introduce a slight vertical stretch. It is a very subtle stretch, but it is there nonetheless.

Notice the center circular reticule. I appears as a perfect circle in both 16:9 and 4:3 resolutions. They appear slightly oval vertically in both 16:10 and 5:4 resolutions. It looks like they stretched the 16:9 HUD elements to fit the 16:10 resolutions, and stretched the 4:3 HUD elements to fit the 5:4 resolutions.

16:9 HUD Elements


16:10 HUD Elements


4:3 HUD Elements


5:4 HUD Elements



==Summary==

Native, but rather disappointing implementation of widescreen support. VERT-. This can be overcome however, with the use of the Racer_S FOV hack as detailed above.

== Grading ==

Calculated grade: D+

Major unresolved issues: None
Minor unresolved issues: None

Summary of widescreen-related flaws:
Fanmade hack required for hor +

I would like to note and I figured this out earlier with the help of Elios

The Loading screens are rendered in 16:9, cropped for 4:3 when selected..

And for both 16:10 and 5:4 they appear to be squished from 16:9 and 4:3 respecitvely

So this is how it appears to be:
4:3 can be called the baseline
16:9 is a hor+ version of 4:3
16:10 is a squished version of 16:9 (it gets squished horizontally but not vertically, or so it seems.)
5:4 is a squished version of 4:3 once again horizontally

This only applies to loading screens... (or at least I know that it applies to loading screens but I am not sure about anything else)

FYI, the policy on screenshots has been updated since your last report. Now you're supposed to use the full screenshot resolution. The forum code will auto-resize everything appropriately.

Just one question. Are the cut-scenes rendered ingame or FMV? I'm guessing rendered ingame. Also:


==Singleplayer anomalies==

This doesn't sound at all like an issue with the game. Even if it is, it isn't related to widescreen, it's just a bug that affects changing resolutions, and I'm sure no one would encounter it twice if they weren't testing multiple resolutions for the purpose of a detailed report. Half-Life 2 has a bug that manifests when you switch resolutions without restarting, and it got a perfect score.


Another thing I noticed, though this has absolutely no bearing on the game's grade. There appear to be two loading screen formats; a 16:9 one and a 4:3 one. If you compare the 16:9 and 4:3 loading screens, the 16:9 is perfectly hor +. The 16:10 shot is crunched from 16:9, and the 5:4 shot is crunched from 4:3.


== Grading ==

Calculated grade: C+

Major unresolved issues: None
Minor unresolved issues: None

Summary of widescreen-related flaws:
Vert - gameplay

Cranky's coverage estimate: 100%

Just one question. Are the cut-scenes rendered ingame or FMV? I'm guessing rendered ingame.

The cutscene displayed in his post his FMV, though it looks like they used the game engine to make it, hence it looks similar.

There's at least one short in-game cutscene where you remain in 1st person perspective, but the game takes over control of your view. The screen goes letterboxed for all aspects ratios for this scene, presumably as a means of indicating to the player they no longer have control.

There's at least one short in-game cutscene where you remain in 1st person perspective, but the game takes over control of your view. The screen goes letterboxed for all aspects ratios for this scene, presumably as a means of indicating to the player they no longer have control.

I'd like to get comparison screenshots of that cut-scene, to see if it's anamorphic or vert -. The coverage estimate is now 99% (but the grade remains at C+).

Probably there is coming an official fix for this, now i know that racer_S has a fix for the demo :roll:

I'll edit the report to reflect the new Racer_S tool and will perhaps change the pics to full res.

This will have to wait as I am at work right now.

I haven't even gotten to actually play Bioshock yet. :cry:

I'll edit the report to reflect the new Racer_S tool and will perhaps change the pics to full res.

Is there one for the full version?

Yes ... http://dl.tocaedit.com/bioshockdFOV.zip

For some it works in Vista and others it doesn't but Racer_S is working on it.

In Vista 64bit DX9 it works for me ...
The thing is don't just run the game and disable the DX10 stuff in the game ...
Right click the game shortcut and run it in DX9 with the DX10 stuff turned off in the game ... and it works ... :D

Here's the game on my PC running @ 1400*1050 so you can add that to your list :)