Choppy Physics Fix

How to patch the game's physics framerate.

What this mod does

If you have played Bioshock before, you probably know that the game suffers from having a permanent 30 FPS cap on the physics engine. I made a mod that fixes that.

(Note: You must watch the video in 720p or 1080p 60 FPS to notice any difference.)

This has only been tested with the Steam release of the game, though it should also work with the retail 1.0 and 1.1 releases. I have heard it does not work with the Direct2Drive release of the game, presumably due to some form of DRM.

1. Download the unlocker

First, you will need to download the patcher files. Click here to go to the GitHub release page[github.com], just download the latest version.


If you would like, you can also check out the source code[github.com] of the mod.

2. Extract the patcher

Once you have the patcher files downloaded, you will want to extract "BioshockPhysicsUnlocker.exe" to your Bioshock directory. The Bioshock directory is typically located at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\bioshock\Builds\Release

3. Run the patcher

After you have placed the BioshockPhysicsUnlocker.exe file inside the Bioshock directory, run it!
The program will automatically begin to patch your Bioshock executable.

You may need to run the unlocker as administrator (Right click -> Run as administrator) if it says it can't find the executable.

Once it has scanned it, you can choose what you want to set your new physics FPS to. For most people, 60 FPS will be sufficient.

(If you have a sick rig you can push it up to whatever you want.)

You're done!

That's all there is to it. Just downloading, extracting, and running!
The next time you launch Bioshock the physics engine should be smooth as silk.

[Arockah]

KING S***

[SnazzyNaz]

@Keta This is only intended for the original release. The remaster already includes higher framerate physics.

[[1m4] Keta Klaus im Peterschmaus]

wait.. does this work on both, bioshock and bioshock remake?

[Falco]

@Turtle huh, that's strange... No, I don't use things like that, so I think at this point it's my eyes playing with my perception, because the game looks good. :P

[Turtle]

@Falco No problem! The mod doesn't change the lighting, that was an effect added into the video. There must be a different program somewhere changing your color output settings. Maybe the Windows "Night Light" setting is turned on and made the screen more yellow? Other than that, I have no clue ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Falco]

Thank you for this mod!

As of August 2022, it works, 144 FPS no problem, the physics is there, the lighting is different (as shown in the video but I didn't think it was also in the mod) and that's fine, but I would have liked to have a way to disable it.
Still, I don't mind, it looks good.

The only issue I've encountered is about mouse sensitivity, I think it goes back to default, which should be 3, I'm not sure of it. I had to change it again, no big deal.

[Hugo78]

Thank you

[Slavanomics]

hey turtle, i shot you a friend request i wanted to ask you some questions regarding the development side of this mod if that’s okay.

[TyrannoWright]

Remastered already has fixed physics... Unless you're that kind of person that wants 144 or 240 fps physics.

[Necromorph]

Looking forward to a version for the remastered game.