all i see is fire...

[KrazyKate]

So i downloaded the demo to see what the game's like. the menus and videos all work fine, but as soon as I am given control of the character, the game goes weird. I watched the cinematic set in the 1960s with a short line about "They said I was special...". Then I got a black screen with what seems like a ring of flames. I can't see the character himself (i think i'm supposed to see his arm or something), the ground, or anything else for that matter. just the fire.

What's up?

some of my specs (ask if you need any more):

Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor: AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-52 1.60 GHz
RAM: 894 MB
System Type: 32-bit Operating System

[vrap]

We'd need a little more detail on those specs, do you know what video card you have? It's possible that you have one that does not support Shader Model 3.0, which is what the game requires. Certain older cards run the game but just aren't able to show it properly, resulting in messed-up graphics. You're supposed to be treading water in that first area, with the fire surrounding you.

[coffee009]

So i downloaded the demo to see what the game's like. the menus and videos all work fine, but as soon as I am given control of the character, the game goes weird. I watched the cinematic set in the 1960s with a short line about "They said I was special...". Then I got a black screen with what seems like a ring of flames. I can't see the character himself (i think i'm supposed to see his arm or something), the ground, or anything else for that matter. just the fire.

What's up?

some of my specs (ask if you need any more):

Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor: AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-52 1.60 GHz
RAM: 894 MB
System Type: 32-bit Operating System

it possible your moniter is too dark? like set too dark or something? do you see the light house?

[SplicedUp]

I cant help but laugh at this it's no glitch, when u first start out u have no weapons, hence no need for the float-o-arm, u prob just swam strait into some fire and cant find ur way out

[CherryIcee]

Probably is just running some wimpy chipset that doesn't support SM3.0. Could be wrong though, so maybe posting your video info would be a good idea

[ReverendTed]

When you say the menus are fine - do you have a mouse cursor on the main menu? Most people who have the "ring of fire" and distorted graphics in-game also lack a mouse cursor on the main menu, which (as the previous posters have mentioned already) is indicative of an ATI Shader Model 2.0 or 2.0b card, while Bioshock's minimum specified requirement as stated on the box is a Radeon X1300 or better (Shader Model 3.0). The rest of this post is based on the assumption that you are running an unsupported card and may be incorrect if there's a different issue at play:

If you want to get the full Bioshock experience, you'll need to upgrade to a Shader Model 3.0 card.

However, if you cannot or do not want to upgrade at this time, you can try one of the community-produced fixes that have added a degree of SM2.0 support to Bioshock:

[ ShaderShock Project Forums ]

[KrazyKate]

You're right about the cursor. I forgot to mention that. I can't see the cursor when i'm in the menus.
Can you tell me how to see what kind of video card I have? chances are I have a bad one, but I'd like to know what kind I have anyway.

I went to the ShaderShock forum, but I can't figure out what to do from there. I'd really like to do everything I can before I buy a whole new video card.

[CherryIcee]

Hold down the WINDOWS key (the one with the Windows logo on it) and press the R key. Then in the RUN window box, type in DXDIAG and hit enter. Then go to the DISPLAY tab in the new window that pops up and tell us what it says for the CHIP TYPE. If it's only a chipset then you can't upgrade it and even if it is a dedicated "card" you won't be able to just buy one and your options will be very limited as to what the motherboard will support depending on slot type and form factor so you would most likely need to go through the manufacturer to see if they have an upgrade. However, since it appears you don't have SM3.0 support, your upgrade path would not include a card that did have SM3.0 support anyway.

[ReverendTed]

I went to the ShaderShock forum, but I can't figure out what to do from there. I'd really like to do everything I can before I buy a whole new video card.

In any of the ShaderShock forums, there's a stickied topic at the top called "[Read First!] Project Summary" which should explain the basics of what you'd need to do if you want to try using one of the ShaderShock fixes on your card.

The drawback to the ShaderShock fixes is that they aren't perfect - there will be some missing effects, and level load times are increased significantly (up to as much as 8-10 minutes, though we're still crossing our fingers that hope may be on the horizon for this issue).

[KrazyKate]

well, it kinda worked....

The graphics are a bit better, but now everything's white.

[ReverendTed]

well, it kinda worked....

The graphics are a bit better, but now everything's white.

For support with the ShaderShock fixes, it would be best to post on the ShaderShock forums. It sounds like you may be using one of the SM2.0b fixes (like AOH) on a SM2.0 card. Again, it would help if you posted the name of your video card (which can be found using the instructions CherryIcee provided).