BioShock X360 Update Solves, Introduces Issues (Updated)

September 7, 2007 11:42 AM

Update: Shacker sevogajre tells us that clearing the game's cache--accomplished by holding the left and right bumpers from boot until the appearance of the 2K Games logo--solves the stuttering issue in the Xbox 360 version.

Original Story: Like a bathysphere rising out of the depths, details have at long last surfaced on the mysterious BioShock title update that began prompting Xbox Live-connected players earlier this week.

According to publisher 2K Games, the brief download--which must be applied in order to stay signed into Xbox Live--resolves several slight issues. In particular, the update improves general game stability, especially when loading autosaves. It also tweaks the way enemies use health stations and fixes a slight audio glitch during menu loading.

However, it just wouldn't be a proper BioShock news item if it wasn't for the presence of unfortunate, and presumably unintended, technical problems. Various reports across internet communities--including this writer's own personal experience--indicate the update brings with it a host of stuttering and freezing issues.

The teams at ~~Irrational Games~~ 2K Boston and 2K Australia are aware of this development and are said to be investigating. There is no word yet on a patch for the PC version, but given the title's cross-platform development, one is presumably in the works.

Chris Faylor

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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valcan_s

 reply
September 7, 2007 8:17 AM

Well that is why I opted for the PC version. DirectX 10 on Vista sure looks great and it runs like butter on my system in 1080p.
- zehh
  
   reply
  September 7, 2007 8:20 AM
  
  Good for you. In my experience, the game is a lot less stable on a PC; they probably had a lot less time to test it. I hope they do release a patch soon.
  - rezombie
    
     reply
    September 7, 2007 8:24 AM
    
    I've been running it on Vista 64 bit with an 8800gtx and q6600 without a single problem. in fact, it's the most stable game on my system. I wish Company of Heroes was as stable as BioShock
    - jet-poop
      
       reply
      September 7, 2007 8:40 AM
      
      It crashes on me more than I'd like, but I suspect part of that's down to nvidia's beta drivers.
      
      Anyway, every game I put in a 360 locks the system after 10 minutes of play, and I finally got it to throw the reds two nights ago, so the PC wins on the stability front there. I suppose I should call support and get another replacement.
    - valcan_s
      
       reply
      September 7, 2007 9:25 AM
      
      Hmm I have a 64 x2 5600+ and always wondered how the 64 bit version of vista would work.
      
      Do you have any problems using it? I take it it can run all software in 32 bit mode? Have you compared the 32 bit version to the 64 bit of vista? I think the 64 bit version can take full advantage of more than 3 gig of memory that might be appealing?
      
      Sorry for the bombardment of questions but I don't know any one who uses the 64bit version and would like to make the switch.
  - Arcanum
    
     reply
    September 7, 2007 8:43 AM
    
    My experience is that it's very unstable with the DX9 renderer, but quite solid with the DX10 renderer. Damned if I know why.
  - Pneum0
    
     reply
    September 7, 2007 9:00 AM
    
    Worked perfect in DX10 on vista for me. I dont' think it crashed once. Ran super smooth too.
    - FragMeistart
      
       reply
      September 7, 2007 9:09 AM
      
      Ran fine for me too in Vista and DX10 (with the BioShock nVidia drivers). The only issue I had was no AA (a known issue in DX10 and this game).
      
      However, it crashed within seconds when I tried to run it in DX9 mode.
      
      I have completed the game now, and so a PC patch is too late for me (unless I play through again, which I might).
      - avatar_58
        
         reply
        September 7, 2007 9:16 AM
        
        I don't even need AA, considering the resolution it's running in (1920x1200). I can't even notice the jaggies.
        
        valcan_s
        
         reply
        September 7, 2007 9:22 AM
        
        I agree, I never use any AA on any of my games on the PC either since I run them at 1920x1080 with every thing maxed.
        
        My sys specs are 4gig ddr2, 8800 gtx 768, 5600 x2, with Vista and XP pro. I just recently moved all my games off XP and on to my Vista partition, and they all work much better.
        
        avatar_58
        
         reply
        September 7, 2007 9:32 AM
        
        Your games work better in Vista? Thats pretty interesting. I never installed XP on this new machine so I can't compare.
        
        My older PC wasn't a fan of Vista though, it loses quite a bit of performance due to the hardware setup.
        
        valcan_s
        
         reply
        September 7, 2007 10:06 AM
        
        Ya I have been putting off the switch to Vista for a very long time since I am quite happy with XP pro.
        
        But I have two hard drives and meant to run both and get used tow Vista. Basically I ran into a problem running Splinter Cell Double Agent and I said WTF why not try it on Vista and sure enough it fixed my graphical issue and ran like butter.
        
        Next thing I knew I tried more and games and had better performance Silver Fall lost the chunkyness and ran like butter. I have now moved all my games off and have zero issues.
        
        If you got two drives I would try it out, worked great for me I have 100% switched to Vista for my games.
        
        Its weird how all the bad media and reviews made me not even consider using Vista, I am glad I did. Being a software developer I usually always try things out for my self, and it paid off.
  - ZaldronGG
    
     reply
    September 7, 2007 9:59 AM
    
    Weird, game has never crashed for me. I'd say it's the first game in 6 years that doesn't crashes by some reason or another. I think it once stopped paying attention to my quicksaving for a while and ate a lot of my progress, but then again I could just have forgotten to save in the first place.
    - xpaladin
      
       reply
      September 7, 2007 10:01 AM
      
      Agree. Running it on XP64 w/ C2D 2gb DDR800 7900GTX, no crashes or issues ever. Only had to tilt the character models down to medium for smooth-as-butter performance.
- geedeck
  
   reply
  September 7, 2007 8:26 AM
  
  I enjoy the game of "which platform of bioshock owners will have the high horse this week". It is of the lolz.
  - pyros
    
     reply
    September 7, 2007 8:45 AM
    
    lolz lulz
- vrecan
  
   reply
  September 7, 2007 9:50 AM
  
  I played the whole game on XP on an 8800 and never had a single crash or hiccup. I would say for the first time ever a game is more stable on PC then a console.
- Skyburst101
  
   reply
  September 7, 2007 12:56 PM
  
  played perfect on my AMD x2 480+ and 2900XT, no stuttering, hicups,slowdowns, graphical glitches, etc. I was having screen tearing, but even after enabling vertical sync to get rid of it, it still had the performence as if vertical sync wasn't on...as good as you can get. It was perfect throughout the entire game. Makes me feel a little sorry for the consolers...nah...it was consolers that helped f**k over the Oblivion interface, and consolize a few other potentially great games that went from originally pc bound to multiplatform...they had this coming to them. And it only took a few months to overshoot the next gen console performence with pc's...don't know why consolers get so overconfident, thinking that their console will whip any pc that comes out within 3 or so years...they just don't get how the system works. Now time to play Sup Com in high resolution...sorry guys, not a console friendly game :D