BioShock 2 FOV Fix/Hack Needed!

[joker0222]

It may not be in the official changelog, but it definitely exhibits different behavior than before. They did change it and I believe it is fixed regardless of it being on the official changelog or not. They said we will have it "very soon" and that it will be part of the first patch, so I'm pretty certain it's here.

they say: " Our work to fix other issues (including our widescreen fix) is still ongoing and they will be coming shortly."

it´s not only not in the official changelog, they say explicitly the widescreen fix is not included

[dopefish]

Well... something changed post-patch.

Before the recent patch it scaled vertically, and now after the recent patch it scales horizontally. Unless I'm missing something, it certainly seems fixed to me. My screenshots show it, too.

Here are the screenshots again in case you missed them:








Also, someone in the multi-monitor subforum tested it on three monitors after the recent patch and it scaled horizontally for them, too, albeit with a stretched HUD (expected). Prior to this patch, it was severely cropped.

[StingingVelvet]

They definately made it Hor+ in the patch, but they also definately said in the patch notes that the widescreen patch was still being worked on.

So... who knows.

If you "hack" the ini file and make a key alter the FOV to your chosen desire then it actually saves it, unlike Borderlands, so I don't see the issue anyway. Quick ini hack and you're up and moving with 90FOV or whatever you like.

I finished the game, its ending is a lot better than most of the rest.

[StingingVelvet]

In case anyone doubted dopefish here is official word from 2K tech support: http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=654354&postcount=6

Please note the FOV will not change from 75, and we do not plan to change it.

[Abram]

I can only assume there's still no useful change in multi-monitor... ?

[silhouette]

In case anyone doubted dopefish here is official word from 2K tech support: http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=654354&postcount=6

Please note the FOV will not change from 75, and we do not plan to change it.

I see. But do you know if there is any benefit from using a fov at 75 on a 16:10 monitor?
As far as I know, the fov should be adjusted to 85 to be correct for me. Am I totally way off track here?

I have already made adjustments myself, but I just want to know what is the proper (if there is such a term for it) fov for me. Please help :)

[joker0222]

with this: http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=655807&postcount=28

i can change the fov easy. and it seems, that fov 85 is the best for me (1440x900).

[silhouette]

with this: http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=655807&postcount=28

i can change the fov easy. and it seems, that fov 85 is the best for me (1440x900).

Thx a lot :) I will continue to use fov 85 then

[dopefish]

I see. But do you know if there is any benefit from using a fov at 75 on a 16:10 monitor?
As far as I know, the fov should be adjusted to 85 to be correct for me. Am I totally way off track here?

You would be right if the game were vert + or - still. Post-patch, it scales horizontally and the vertical FOV is locked to 75 degrees.

The horizontal FOV--the one you are referring to changing--actually changes dynamically based on the aspect-ratio, so you do not need to change it to have it be correct.

However, like you are doing, you may change the FOV yourself if you prefer something wider than default.

[cipher86]

Thank you for this FoV fix, whoever found it. I'm one of those who gets nauseous playing with a 4:3 FoV on a 16:10 monitor, so I needed a proper FoV in order to be able to enjoy the game.

Unfortunately, it seems like no official FoV fix will be heading our way:

http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58987

Post #6:

"Please note the FOV will not change from 75, and we do not plan to change it. "

[StingingVelvet]

It doesn't need a "fix" because it is not broken. I wish people would stop calling it a fix.

The FOV works perfectly and the game is even Hor+. If the FOV is not to your liking then that is a personal opinion, not a flaw in the design. Luckily we can "hack" the game and increase the FOV if we feel like doing so (and yes, I did).

[dopefish]

They sure are confusing...

NEXT BIOSHOCK 2 PC PATCH DUE TOMORROW

So they released a separate patch to fix the widescreen, when in reality they're actually fixing 4:3, and it changes nothing.

Here are the screenshots after the widescreen patch:





It's the exact same behavior as the fix from the first patch.


I'm not sure what to say to this. :)

Before the game is released, they announce it will have proper widescreen with a vertically locked FOV so widescreen is cool. After it's announced, it's discovered that 4:3 is vert+ and people complain. 2K then comes out and says a bug that cropped up right before release is the cause of this and that it will be fixed. They release their first patch and it's fixed; 4:3 is no longer vert+ and is now hor-. Then they release a second patch that does the same thing as the first patch. What I'm thinking is that since it was a bug, as they put it, that one of the developers had already fixed it for the first patch and just didn't make note of it. It could also have been a bug that affected multiple things, and one of the fixes they did for the bug inadvertently also fixed the scaling problem. So they fixed it but were unaware of it and then later released the fix separately.

Anyway, the changelog mentions this:

- Fixed an issue where 16:9 and 16:10 resolutions were letterboxed versions of 4:3 resolutions, thereby properly fixing the FOV by expanding the horizontal player view as intended.

As I stated before, this is wrong. 16:9 now is the same as it was upon release and 4:3 lost vertical and horizontal instead.



On another note, 16:10 users get the shaft.

The HUD elements are stretched vertically/squashed horizontally, and the helmet doesn't even appear at all.

[StingingVelvet]

Hahaha...

Is there maybe an FOV option in the menu now, like the original got?

Edit: No FOV option, but I loaded it up and the default FOV did feel better. Before I was quickly hitting F11 for my custom FOV but the default FOV now feels playable to me.

[dopefish]

There's no change to the FOV. I don't think this patch changed anything at all.

[StingingVelvet]

I dunno, I didn't test it or anything, but when I loaded the game it felt more open. Could have easily been my imagination.

I notice my F11 doesn't work either, they must have redid the ini.

[Abram]

Maybe they thought to include a fix for multi-monitor, but I wouldn't bet on it. The 2k guys seem pretty dumb, for develops. I mean, every class has poor student, right? And dipshits do tend to cluster...

[StingingVelvet]

Well this was all the 2K B-teams teaming up, remember.

Like a special needs videogame.

[dopefish]

Yeah, it was made by an entirely different development team than the first. This is why I find some of their mistakes this time around forgivable. At least they acknowledged the problem, made statements about it, communicated with the public about it, and (mostly) fixed it.

[Abram]

Well this was all the 2K B-teams teaming up, remember.

Like a special needs videogame.

Hah, so I guess that goes to validating my theory. But i did not know that. So they get a TINY break for it, but they still should have known better.
With widescreen home movies and televisions being so common now, you'd think that proper WS would be neigh-command knowledge. For devs, in particular.

[EvaUnit02]

Yeah, it was made by an entirely different development team than the first. This is why I find some of their mistakes this time around forgivable. At least they acknowledged the problem, made statements about it, communicated with the public about it, and (mostly) fixed it.

2K Australia handled the PC porting duties for BS1 and I believe that it was the same story with BS2 (listen to the podcast available here).

I sit down with Jake from 2K Australia and talk about the ins and outs of the PC version of BioShock 2 for the tenth episode of our podcast series.