# Bioshock 2 graphics not right?



## etherdose (Mar 20, 2007)

Love the series....

got the newer Bioshock 2 game. I run a Geforce 8800 GT card...should run this game just FINE. Even at low settings...everything looks REALLY blocky. Looks like it would have been made for the Playstation 2. Graphics run smooth, but at all settings then look truly rough. I updated the driver for the card, and when I turn off "monitor Sync" it gets weird colors then crashes. Any ideas? This game looks awesome..and I don't want to even touch it until the graphics look ok. I ran Borderlands earlier the same day with everything but the kitchen sink set on highest settings and it ran like cake. So...what gives??

thanks folks!

This hurts cuz I don't want to ruin the game by playing it looking all jaggy, and I really want to play this game BAD. So bad..in fact...I am considering getting on a ship...finding Rapture...and getting some splicing done to my brain so I will have the patience I will need to keep from playing it in "super blocky jagg mode". 

EDITED and added=

This is not my video, but when I turn off "screen sync"...my card does this with the game...and someone on you tube copied and linked it.


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## lilb (Sep 16, 2009)

etherdose said:


> Love the series....
> 
> got the newer Bioshock 2 game. I run a Geforce 8800 GT card...should run this game just FINE. Even at low settings...everything looks REALLY blocky. Looks like it would have been made for the Playstation 2. Graphics run smooth, but at all settings then look truly rough. I updated the driver for the card, and when I turn off "monitor Sync" it gets weird colors then crashes. Any ideas? This game looks awesome..and I don't want to even touch it until the graphics look ok. I ran Borderlands earlier the same day with everything but the kitchen sink set on highest settings and it ran like cake. So...what gives??
> 
> ...


What drivers are you running? best drivers for 8800gt are 180.48 newer ones have lots of problems with your graphics card.


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## peck1234 (Aug 27, 2008)

Bioshock does not offer AA (anti-aliasing by default) 

You need to go into Nvidia control panel and force it, 4x or 8x looks great. Going to high over-smooths the textures.


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## etherdose (Mar 20, 2007)

Tried that since you mentioned it. Forced AA on 8....screen the same. My drill looks super jagged and blocky. Any other ideas? Thanks for the responses!


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## peck1234 (Aug 27, 2008)

make sure you set it to override... and make sure your resolution is up in game!


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## lilb (Sep 16, 2009)

etherdose said:


> Tried that since you mentioned it. Forced AA on 8....screen the same. My drill looks super jagged and blocky. Any other ideas? Thanks for the responses!


Unistall your current drivers and download and install these : http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_182.08_whql.html

I have and 8800gt and a gts 250 and ive had simular problems with the 8800gt with the new drivers.


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## etherdose (Mar 20, 2007)

Ok...I uninstalled the nvidia drivers and even went as far as using "Driver Sweeper" to make sure it was clean. Then installed the suggested Nvidia drivers. I looked at the screenshot someone else took and I even used the highest settings. Good news it there is no serious performance lag. Bad news is some things look blocky still..some things look fluid. Example? The eye around your 'Big Daddy' first person view, (the border,) looks smooth and perfect graphix. The drill and items on the ground still look like crap. LOL..what the hey?


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## Masta Squidge (Jul 29, 2007)

please post a picture of this...

Its very hard to diagnose things which may otherwise be subjective opinions of how it looks.


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## wiley8425 (Nov 11, 2007)

Consider an upgrade. You can pick up a 1Gig 9800 GT for around $125. Doesn't have these issues.

ETA: My old cards were 8800s and the drivers never seemed to work right.


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## Mooncatt (Jun 20, 2008)

i paid £160 for a Point of View GTX260 premium overclocked, this is a much better value for money than the 9800GT.
back on topic all i can suggest is the driver change and change you AA mode to over ride any app setting. AA setting -x2 (or x4) and AA transparency to supersampling. try your res at 1074x768 or whatever it is. turn off v-sync AA gamma correction on. other than all that dont really know what else to suggest.


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## wiley8425 (Nov 11, 2007)

Mooncatt said:


> i paid £160 for a Point of View GTX260 premium overclocked, this is a much better value for money than the 9800GT.


Sure. £160=$250. I can see how that's a much better value, considering I just picked up TWO 9800s for that..


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## etherdose (Mar 20, 2007)

Ill post a pic soon. This WAS my upgrade. I was using a Radeon HD 3800...and this card runs FAST, and truly I think it has nothing to do with the card. All my other games run incredible. 'Borderlands'? All settings on high and its running at a super frame rate. So, I really don't think this is the deal. Sadly, I bet it's the game somehow. I will install some type of screen capture program and post a shot. I been sick with food poisoning, so this post went on the back burner for the last 3 days.


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## wiley8425 (Nov 11, 2007)

etherdose said:


> Ill post a pic soon. This WAS my upgrade. I was using a Radeon HD 3800...and this card runs FAST, and truly I think it has nothing to do with the card. All my other games run incredible. 'Borderlands'? All settings on high and its running at a super frame rate. So, I really don't think this is the deal. Sadly, I bet it's the game somehow. I will install some type of screen capture program and post a shot. I been sick with food poisoning, so this post went on the back burner for the last 3 days.


Have you tried the 180.48 drivers?


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## Mooncatt (Jun 20, 2008)

1 point of view extreme OC 216cores...not the standard 196 gtx260 will still outperform x2 9800gt....you have to bear in mind that you only get 25% performance increase running SLi not 100% as some may think, and the 9800 just doesnt have enough frame buffer at the higher end of the scale. and not all games scale well with SLI, i know because i had quad sli running 7950gx2 and it didnt work as well as i hoped
sorry for hijacking this post...carry on


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## etherdose (Mar 20, 2007)

here's some example picks...sorry they are a little dark, but the floor shot really defines what I mean.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/etherdose/ScreenHunter_04Feb180801.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/etherdose/ScreenHunter_03Feb180800.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j294/etherdose/ScreenHunter_02Feb180759.jpg

Also keep in mind that while in movement, the graphics don't flow and there is some weird light ripping that goes on. I tried to disable monitor sync, and this causes the weird effect I posted on the video above.


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## Mooncatt (Jun 20, 2008)

all those jaggy edges simply look like there is no anti aliasing turned in your nvidia control panel. but as you have already tried this i wouldnt know what else to suggest apart from the post ive already made about the AA and supersampling stuff


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## etherdose (Mar 20, 2007)

great...so I suspect it's a patch thing???


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## Screamer216 (Nov 2, 2009)

that looks like its just a very low resolution, do you have the resolution on 1024x768 or higher?


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## Screamer216 (Nov 2, 2009)

the resolution has to do with the blockyness.
whats happening in that video is probably a driver problem.


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## Mooncatt (Jun 20, 2008)

1024x768 should be perfectly fine tbh. but yer looks like a driver issue


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## etherdose (Mar 20, 2007)

yes...the video is set to 1024 x 768. I have tried like 3 driver versions...so I suspect it's a flaw in programming somehow. :-(


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## Syst3mSh0ck (Jul 11, 2009)

I would say that this is yet another regression in NVIDIA's recent 19x.x line of drivers, I personally havn't had any problems but I can see that a lot of people have. Specifically, I think your problem relates to a mip-mapping problem which you won't be able to fix without downgrading to a know good driver like 180.84 which someone recommended earlier, or it could be that the game profile is not configured properly and as a result your getting lacklustre IQ, I recommend you download nHancer and force FSAA 4x and see if that helps.

You could also find that a patch to the game might fix your woes, let's keep those fingers crossed!

Hope this helps.

Edit: I just read your latest post, running at a resolution of 1024x768 is NOT good enough and you will see jaggies as a result, also running at such a low resoltion will mean that your system is more CPU-bound than it is GPU and as a result your GPU will not be being utilised to full effect, I suggest you run at a minimum of 1280x1024 or 1680x1050 ideally.


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