BioShock Technical Information

Information on the technology and technical requirements of BioShock.
== Engine ==
:Note: This information applies to the original release of BioShock.
BioShock was originally going to run on an enhanced version of the Vengeance engine, the highly modified version of Unreal Engine 2.5 technology used by previous Irrational Games titles, Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, and SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate.
However, in an interview at E3 in May 2006,E3 06: BioShock Interview Transcript Ken Levine revealed that "we've moved to Unreal Engine 3.0, we've done a lot of modifications on top of it," particularly to the way the engine handles water effects, which he claims will be very impressive, "We've hired a water programmer and water artist, just for this game, and they're kicking ass and you've never seen water like this."
BioShock utilizes the DirectX 10 feature set when available, but it also runs on older DirectX 9 hardware.The Cult of Rapture, 2kgames.com
Note that Shader Model 2.0 cards such as the ATI X800XT or X850XT require a community-developed and (as of 2007) imperfect modification to run BioShock.Forums, 2kgames.com
== Official requirements ==
===Original Release===
Announced on BioShock's official site and at E3 2007, the official system requirements for BioShock are as follows.
 	Minimum 	Recommended
Operating System 	Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista 	Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista
CPU 	Pentium 4 2.4 GHz (single core) 	Intel Core 2 Duo Or AMD Athlon 64 X2
System RAM 	1 GB 	2 GB
Video card 	DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600/ATI X1300 or better, excluding ATI X1550) 	DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA 7900GT or better) or DirectX 10 compliant card (NVIDIA 8600 or better)
Sound card 	100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card 	Sound Blaster X-Fi (Optimized for EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0/5.0 compatible cards)
Internet connection	Required for activation. 	Required for activation.
Hard disk space 	8 GB of free space 	8 GB of free space
Protection 	SecuRom; the purchaser is only allowed two installs per copy (this was later increased to 5 install per game)On June 19, 2008, the activation limits were completely removed.http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=20585	SecuRom; the purchaser is only allowed two installs per copy (this was later increased to 5 install per game)On June 19, 2008, the activation limits were completely removed.http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=20585
==== Game Activation====
BioShock on the PC initially had a limited number of "Activations", which would eventually stop the owner from installing the game altogether. This was criticized by the community, since a game that can only be installed and played a limited number of times is a rental, not a purchase. As of June the 20th, 2008, all activation limitations were removed, meaning the game can be installed on an unlimited number of computers.
Activation in BioShock (PC) originated from a new version of copy protection by Securom, which actively monitors the number of times the owner has installed and/or activated the purchased copy of BioShock and would eventually stop the owner from using the game altogether.
At the time of game's shipping, purchasers were only allowed to activate the game twice. An activation was also used up every time the game was played from a new user account. This meant that when the game was originally shipped, if the owner installed the game from an administrative account, then only one person could play the game. If the owner ever needed to reformat or reinstall the game, he or she would not be allowed to do so. Although this activation limit was later upped to five times on a single machine, this number of installations would still run out fairly quickly amongst people who regularly updated their machines."Updates on Securom, PC Activation, and a Technical FAQ" article on The Cult of Rapture
As of October 11th, 2007, an "Activation Revoke Tool" was posted to the Cult of Rapture website. This allowed activations on a computer to be revoked, effectively allowing the recovery of all five activations, assuming this is done prior to uninstallation, updates or change of hardware."BioShock Activation Revoke Tool Available Now" article on The Cult of Rapture It is also possible to have the support team manually revoke the activations from the server in the case of multiple formats or hard drive crashes (and thus replacements), and in special cases extra activations may be given should a legitimate activation key be provided. If multiple revoke/access attempts have taken place from several different IP addresses, proof of purchase may also be required.The Revoke Tool on the 2K Games BioShock support site
As of June 19, 2008, 2K Games removed the activation limit, allowing users to install the game an unlimited number of times. However, online activation remains mandatory."BioShock PC Install Limit Lifted, DRM Remains (Updated)" article by Aaron Linde at ShackNews.com
=== BioShock: The Collection ===
Announced on Steam.BioShock: The Collection PC Upgrades
 	Minimum 	Recommended
Operating System 	Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and higher 	Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and higher
CPU 	Intel E6750 Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz or AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz 	3 GHz Quad-core
System RAM 	4 GB 	8 GB
Video card 	DirectX 11 compliant card, AMD Radeon HD 7770 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 	2GB AMD Radeon HD 7970, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 or better
Sound card 	DirectX Compatible Sound Device 	DirectX Compatible Sound Device
Other Requirements	Software installations required including DirectX and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 & 2012 Redistributable Package.	Software installations required including DirectX and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 & 2012 Redistributable Package.
Hard disk space 	25 GB of free space 	25 GB of free space
== References ==
Category:BioShock
Category:Technical Information