VOGONS


First post, by TheMLGladiator

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Recently, whenever I try to install BioShock, it fails to connect to the auto patch server. It worked a few months ago, so I'm not sure why it's not working now.

EDIT: For anyone looking for a solution that doesn't involve installing a cracked version or buying the game again, here is a good solution.

bubish wrote on 2020-11-14, 04:00:
I was able to get the installer to complete! Here's how I did it: I downloaded the Mongoose web server (https://code.google.com/ […]
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I was able to get the installer to complete! Here's how I did it:
I downloaded the Mongoose web server (https://code.google.com/archive/p/mongoose/) as it's light weight, free, and doesn't require any installation. Just drop it in a folder that will serve as the root of the "web site".
Then I created a folder in the root folder called "bioshock". I copied the patch file posted above in there and renamed it to "installer" with no file extension.
I then started mongoose on port 80 by running "mongoose-5.0 listening_port 80".
The last thing I had to do was update the host file (c:\windows\system32\driver\etc\hosts) to point www.2kgames.com to my local machine. The line to add is "127.0.0.1 www.2kgames.com". Just add it to the end of the file.

From there I ran the installer. It picked up the patch, finished installing, and ran fine from there.
Sorry to revive a dead post, but I'm hoping this can help someone in the future.

Last edited by TheMLGladiator on 2021-08-18, 23:20. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 24, by DosFreak

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Back when the game was released I monitored the download process during the install and backed up the executable. You can probably just use the cracked executable you can find on the internet since the game also uses copy protection. If you can't find the original executable I can attach the file but it uses copy protection and I'm not sure the DRM works on modern Windows if you are using a new version of Windows.

VOGONS BioShock Review
Study of BioShock activation

/EDIT

BIOSHOCK_patch.gz is the file downloaded by the autopatcher during the installation process.
I am saving this file in case the server goes down because the BioShock executable is not included on the CD.
This doesn't protect against the activation servers going down but at least it removes one of the points of failure.

Make sure you install "BioshockVersion1.1PatchWorldwideRetail" as well.

Attachments

  • Filename
    bioshock_patch.gz
    File size
    10.75 MiB
    Downloads
    1306 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline

Reply 2 of 24, by TheMLGladiator

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I'm trying to run it on a system running Windows XP. I just tried installing it again in a VM (the ethernet to the system can be a bit sketchy at times) and it seems like the autopatch servers really have been taken down. What should I do with the file attached? Should I run it while the auto patcher screen is up during the install? Or should i copy it into the game directory?

Reply 4 of 24, by RoyBatty

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Since SafeDisc and Securom no longer work on windows 7 through 10 (although you can get around it on 7 and 8) they don't have the servers on anymore I would gather. The steam remasters are what they expect people to buy. It's a shame really... They should release a post mortem patch to address this.

Reply 5 of 24, by DosFreak

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https://web.archive.org/web/2018*/http://www. … shock/installer

Looks like it was changed from:
http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/installer (this now redirects to https://2k.com/en-US/)
to
http://downloads.2kgames.com/bioshock/patch/b … oshock_patch.gz

Unknown how you would get the installer to look there. They really should do a redirect on their server.

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline

Reply 7 of 24, by TheMLGladiator

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Wow, Thanks for finding this! I agree, they really should release a patch fixing this, or at least making a redirect. It really does seem like they want people to buy the remasters.

Reply 9 of 24, by duga3

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Davros wrote:

Try editing your hosts file maybe

I think HOSTS file accepts only IP addresses as destination. But in theory you could try pointing the HOSTS file to your own server IP and then setup that server to redirect to the desired webpage.

98/XP multi-boot system with P55 chipset (build log)
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Reply 10 of 24, by bubish

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I was able to get the installer to complete! Here's how I did it:
I downloaded the Mongoose web server (https://code.google.com/archive/p/mongoose/) as it's light weight, free, and doesn't require any installation. Just drop it in a folder that will serve as the root of the "web site".
Then I created a folder in the root folder called "bioshock". I copied the patch file posted above in there and renamed it to "installer" with no file extension.
I then started mongoose on port 80 by running "mongoose-5.0 listening_port 80".
The last thing I had to do was update the host file (c:\windows\system32\driver\etc\hosts) to point www.2kgames.com to my local machine. The line to add is "127.0.0.1 www.2kgames.com". Just add it to the end of the file.

From there I ran the installer. It picked up the patch, finished installing, and ran fine from there.
Sorry to revive a dead post, but I'm hoping this can help someone in the future.

Reply 12 of 24, by DosFreak

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IIRC you don't need to jump through any hoops.

1. Install game. When it errors out about not being able to contact the website do not cancel the install.
2. Go to the directory where bioshock is installed.
3. Copy the bioshock folder to another folder
4. Cancel the install.
5. Extract the contents of bioshock_patch.gz to the bioshock directory
6. You now have the same copy of bioshock as if it was installed except without any registry changes that aren't needed anyway.
7. Install the Bioshock patch.
8. Use a crack.

It may be unnecessary to install bioshock_patch.gz, or installing the v1.1 patch. All you may need to do is install the crack since IIRC that's all that bioshock_patch.gz and the v1.1 patch are is the executable but it's been awhile since I've installed Bioshock since I just use the copy I made to make it offline back when it was originally released.

Last edited by DosFreak on 2021-01-21, 18:29. Edited 1 time in total.

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline

Reply 14 of 24, by duga3

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chrismeyer6 wrote on 2021-01-21, 13:25:

I want to purchase Bioshock from GOG does this effect their version as well?

AFAIK GOG only sells the remaster, not the original. OP's question was about the original.

Next time don't "buy" games with DRM 😜

red4dave wrote on 2021-01-21, 04:49:

Hi bubish,

Could you please be more specific with which host file to edit in the System32 folder? Thanks!

"hosts" file is a specific concept, have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_(file)

Last edited by duga3 on 2021-01-21, 18:03. Edited 2 times in total.

98/XP multi-boot system with P55 chipset (build log)
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10Hz FM

Reply 16 of 24, by duga3

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chrismeyer6 wrote on 2021-01-21, 17:54:

Perfect thank you

Sorry! It was not true! If you actually read the GOG product page for the remaster (I just glanced at it at first) then the text says:

BioShock™ Classic is included with your BioShock™ Remastered purchase

https://www.gog.com/game/bioshock_remastered

It also says "DRM free" there, which is a good reason to buy. Just beware that GOG games are often stripped of old tech such as EAX, etc and aimed towards working the best on modern (W10) PCs.

I would also think that it already comes patched, I think GOG games are generally distributed as patched to the (at the time) latest version.

98/XP multi-boot system with P55 chipset (build log)
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10Hz FM

Reply 18 of 24, by duga3

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chrismeyer6 wrote on 2021-01-21, 18:05:

I've had no issues with any games with EAX from GOG I just make sure I set them up with alchemy and everything works.

Maybe it's luck of the draw or they have gotten better in this regard. It's not my own experience as I rarely play older GOG games, it's just something I read around here. For example PhilsComputerLab mentions that "GOG version of Splinter Cell doesn't support EAX" and other little quirks here:

Re: Original setup files missing from GOG games

98/XP multi-boot system with P55 chipset (build log)
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10Hz FM

Reply 19 of 24, by chrismeyer6

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I guess they must be doing things differently cause I've had zero issues with EAX based games. I just installed the first Witcher game and set it up in alchemy and was able to enable eax support and it sounds the way it's supposed to.