I just want to play this game...

[drwatson42]

Hello all,
I am sure many have experienced these problems, and there are some excellent suggestions on how to get around the serious problems that people have when trying to play BSI. I am unable to get past the 2k logo, and the benchmark fails to save at all. Here are some solutions I have tried:
Validating files (1 always gets re-downloaded)
Creating a folder pathway for the save in My Documents (both game and folder are on my D drive)
Placing game files on security exclusion list
Ensuring all NVIDIA drivers are up to date (they are)
Checking to see if MSI Afterburner is active (I do not own it despite having an MSI)

I am unfortunately a luddite when it comes to technology, so any help would be greatly appreciated. I hate how much effort is required to play this game, I really enjoyed it when it came out and now I want to get back to it again. Please help, I am at the end of my rope here.

[Solarmech]

I know you did some of these already.

Stock Response that fixes most problems: Run an integrity check of the local game cache, make sure you are running Steam as an Administrator, make sure your drivers are current, make sure there isn't a program called Razor for Games running, make sure that BioShock Infinite is on the main "C" drive, make sure you have not had a failed Windows Update and check to see that your anti-virus isn't blocking BSI in some way.

Some other things to do.

Turn off all monitoring programs. (Such as MSI Afterburner/Rivatuner)

Does the Benchmark run ok?

Go to “User Profile”\ My Documents\My Games\BioShock Infinite\XGame\Config\ and find a file named “XuserOptions” and delete it. Then rerun the Benchmark again.

Right click on the game title and go to Mange -> Browse files
Go to ...\binaries\win32
Right click on BioshockInfinte.exe
Right click
go to Properties -> Compatibility
Run troubleshooter

Make sure you have Microsoft DirectX Runtime, Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2008 SP1, and Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable 2010 SP1 installed.

[drwatson42]

The benchmark is the problem I feel. It just never saves my options, despite my best efforts. The XusersOptions folder didn't appear when I first downloaded the game, so I created the folder myself to give it a pathway, but nothing ever appeared in it. The compatibility troubleshooter also did nothing. I probably did something wrong somewhere because I suck at these kinds of things.

[Solarmech]

If the benchmark isn't creating the file make sure that the folder/directory is NOT marked as "read only". Also run Steam as an Administrator. Another possibility is that for some people putting BSI and it's files on the "D" it causes a problem. We never figured out why and with some people there is no issue. sm

[drwatson42]

I made sure the folders were unmarked for "read only" and ran steam as admin without success. I suppose I can try moving things around, but that's a real hassle given BSI's size. I'm so glad I didn't pay full price for this, because this is NOT worth that kind of money anymore.

[drwatson42]

Whenever I try to run the benchmark, it goes through the test animations and then pops up with this error message: failed to save to "D:\\MyGames\BioshockInfinite\Benchmarks\DefaultPCBenchmarkMap-(date and time).csv."
Any ideas as to what that could point to?

[Solarmech]

Yeah, something on computer is stopping the benchmark from saving the file. Might it be your antivirus? sm

[drwatson42]

How would I fix that? I believe Windows defender acts as my antivirus, so would it be that I need to exclude the files from being scanned?

[Solarmech]

Maybe these might help

https://steamcommunity.com/app/8870/discussions/0/1743342647550397609/

https://appuals.com/how-to-fix-bioshock-infinite-crashing-on-windows/

[drwatson42]

After many hours the long journey has finally ended. My thanks to you Solarmech, may the Songbird always sing your praises!

[deancgy]

Not sure if this will help you but i resolved my issue this way:

1)BioshockInfinite exe in Propereties i set compatibility to Windows Vista Service Pack 2
2)Add Bioshock to your Windows Firewall exceptions....i use Peerblock as well and the game was trying to connect to steam servers to verify the VC++ Redist and it was being blocked so Firewall was part of my issue...
3)Check in Windows Defender if it blocked the game in protected folder access & allow the game there as well.
Game launched after i did the above

[Archangel]

If you use an anti-virus/malware software( I use Windows Defender) make sure to grant access/unblock the folder...For Windows Defender you have to go into "Manage Controlled Folder Access" and "Allow an app..." That's what worked for me.

[drwatson42]

I fixed the issue a while ago, but I appreciate all the other suggestions.

[Fynn]

Originally posted by NotAnyMore:

Not sure if this will help you but i resolved my issue this way:

1)BioshockInfinite exe in Propereties i set compatibility to Windows Vista Service Pack 2
2)Add Bioshock to your Windows Firewall exceptions....i use Peerblock as well and the game was trying to connect to steam servers to verify the VC++ Redist and it was being blocked so Firewall was part of my issue...
3)Check in Windows Defender if it blocked the game in protected folder access & allow the game there as well.
Game launched after i did the above

Did it for me - but with Kaspersky Internet Security there was a bit more fiddling - anyway thanky, was worth a price for me ;)