SetFOV command not working in Bioshock 1

[drem]

Hi, I'm getting desperate trying to change the FOV in Bioshock, and I'm hoping to find some help.The game is pretty much unplayable for me with the standard FOV setting due to headaches and nausea.

I bought the game recently on Steam, it's the localized German version, I'm playing on Win 7 (64 bit) with a 4:3 monitor.

What I've tried:
-binding the commands "SetFOV 95" and "ResetFOV" to unused keys in User.ini (in appdata\roaming\bioshock) under [Default].
-> Nothing happens when I press the keys.

-binding the command "exec console.txt" to an unused key and creating a console.txt file in *BioShock\Content\System where I enter the lines
SetFOV 95
Say test123

-> It DOES display "test123" on screen when I press the key, so I know the console is working, but the FOV doesn't change.

What I've also tried:
-using extreme angles like 45 or 150 to make sure I'm not missing the difference, somehow.
-Several variations on capitalization, or entering the number as 95.0.
-Turning "horizontal FOV lock" on or off ingame doesn't make a difference.
-Deinstalling and reinstalling the game.
-changing the FovAngleDegrees line in Bioshock.ini or making the above changes in DefUser.ini or DefUser_deu.ini instead of User.ini didn't help, either.

I'm dying to finally play this game and would really appreciate some suggestions. Am I missing something obvious? Many thanks!

[IllusionOfLife]

Moving to Tech Support

[headkase]

In the Bioshock Tweak Guide, setting the field of view is mentioned on this page (under console commands). You do appear to be doing it correctly, I don't know why it's not working. Is Bioshock crashing on you? When Bioshock crashes it creates new user.ini and bioshock.ini files from defaults.

It wouldn't hurt to go through that entire guide - there's lots of settings in it that are useful.

[drem]

Thanks for your answer! I went through that guide, that's where I have most of my info from. I never had the common crashing and sound problems with Bioshock, and my User.ini is unchanged from my last modifications. The weird thing is that the "test123" line that displays on the screen seems to indicate that the game is reading and understanding my commands.

I've meanwhile tried the "Widescreen Fixer" program, but I can't get to make any visible changes to the game.
Is there any way to edit windows registry settings like in some other games? I can't find any.

I can't seem to find a single person with a similar problem on Google. I'm sure that means I'm doing something fundamentally wrong, but I can't figure out what it might be.

[headkase]

Bioshock doesn't store any settings besides the SecuROM DRM settings in the registry. It's all in Bioshock.ini and User.ini. I wish I had something more to suggest, in the guide it tells you where the default .ini files are - perhaps editing those (after backing them up!) might help?

[drem]

Thank you for trying to help! Maybe I'll try to install the game on a different PC, to see if the problem is my system or my stupidity.

[headkase]

You're welcome, good luck!