Technical
Engine
BioShock was initially developed using an enhanced Tribes Vengeance engine, the highly modified version of the Unreal Engine 2.5 technology used by previous Irrational titles Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, and SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate. In an interview at E3 in May 2006, Levine announced a switch to a modified Unreal Engine 3.0. Levine emphasized the enhanced water effects, which he claimed would 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." This graphical enhancement has been lauded by critics, with GameSpot saying, "Whether it's standing water on the floor or sea water rushing in after an explosion, it'll blow you away every time you see it." BioShock can utilize Direct3D 10 (DirectX 10) features and content if the player meets the hardware and software requirements, but it will also run on DirectX 9, if these requirements are not met, or if the video options are changed.
While industry rumors suggested that there might be a PlayStation 3 version of BioShock, based on the presence of text referencing the PlayStation 3 in the PC demo's configuration files, Ken Levine has denied that there is any PS3 version in development. The demo is reportedly from an older build of the game, and an exclusive deal has been signed with Microsoft since then, limiting the title to Windows and Xbox 360.
BioShock also uses Havok Physics, an engine that allows for an enhancement of in-game physics, and the integration of ragdoll physics.
System Requirements
Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) or Windows Vista
Minimum System Requirements:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz Single Core processor
System RAM: 1GB
Video Card: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 128MB RAM
(NVIDIA 6600 or better/ATI X1300 or better, excluding ATI X1550).
Sound Card: 100% direct X 9.0c compatible sound card
Hard disc space: 8GB free space
Recommended System Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo processor
System RAM: 2GB
Video card: DX9: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM
(NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT or better). DX10: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 or better
Sound Card: Sound Blaster¿ X-Fi™ series
(Optimized for use with Creative Labs EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0
or EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 compatible sound cards)
Important Note: Game requires Internet connection for activation.
Technical issues:
Since the game's release, several issues have been detected, particularly with the PC version.
Through the BioShock demo and release, it was observed that the field of view (FOV) used in widescreen was set such that it appeared that there was less visible display compared to the 4:3 display size, which conflicts with original reports from a developer on how widescreen would have been handled. This was a design choice during development and in a yet-to-be-released patch, they will allow users to alter the FOV value.
BioShock for the PC (both retail and through Steam) utilizes SecuROM copy protection software and requires Internet activation to complete installation. This was reportedly responsible for a cancellation of a midnight release in Australia due to downtime of the 2K Games servers on August 23, 2007, as the game would be unplayable until they were back up. Through SecurROM, users were originally limited to two installations of the game. Users found that unless they uninstalled the game prior to reinstallation, they were required to call SecuROM to re-activate the game. In response, 2K Games and SecuROM increased the number of installations to 5 before the user had to call in again, however, the fact that no information had been provided by 2K on the existence of these measures prior to the game going on sale (or on the retail box of the game itself) left many still dissatisfied. 2K countered by announcing that they would provide a special pre-uninstallation utility to refund activation slots to the user. Levine has suggested that this online activation will eventually be deactivated, removing all installation limitations, however this has not yet been officially confirmed by 2K themselves. It was also found the installation of the packaged SecuROM software triggered virus scanners and malware detectors. This has lead to a minor debate about "rootkits" being installed which has been denied. However, uninstallation does not completely remove both the installed files nor registry keys used by SecuROM software.
BioShock was also criticized for not supporting Pixel shader 2.0b video cards (such as the Radeon X800/X850), which were considered high-end graphics cards in 2004-2005, and accounted for about 24% of surveyed hardware collected through Valve's Steam platform at the time of BioShock's release. There are current user efforts to create a Pixel shader 2.0-compatible version of the software which have met with some success, but 2K Games has issued no statements regarding possible Pixel shader 2.0 support being added by an official patch.