Why does Bioshock give me a headache?

[keniakittykat]

I know I'm late to the party, but I just got myself a copy of Bioshock infinite yesterday. And it's just as good as people told me it was.

But I noticed one thing; this game gives me a hell of a headache! If I play this thing longer than 45 minutes, it starts to feel like my brain is rolling around loose in my head. My neck starts to hurt and I feel dizzy.

Normally I never get motion sickness, and I've never had this happen before.

I've googled it and found nothing about this outside of epilepsy or potion sickness, so I'll just ask my fellow gamers. Does anyone have any idea why this happens, and if there's anything I can do about it?

 

[Doom972]

Are you playing on a PC or a console?

There isn't much for me to recommend if you're using a console, but if you're playing on the PC, the following things might help:

1) Sit farther away from the screen and/or increase the FOV.

2) Decrease some settings to get a better framerate.

3) If possible, try using a controller.

 

[Flutterguy]

Well if you're having problems already I'm sorry to say line-riding is a major mechanic for this game. You'll only encounter more.

Try Doom's advice, and make sure you aren't dehydrated, I get headaches/vertigo pretty easily myself if I don't get enough water.

 

[shrekfan246]

I'll echo the suggestion of tweaking the FOV (field of view), which I believe is an option in-game. Try turning it up as high as you can.

That's about the only explanation I could think of, at least. Many other people do tend to mention that first-person games with low FOVs give them headaches.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

It might just be the visuals. I find that some games give me headaches no matter what I do with the fov, brightness, contrast, etc.

The worst game I've ever played with this in mind was Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. The whole game just gave me a headache and the jittery explosion effect didn't help. Then came the mission where the HUD got buggered up.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

Weird, my girlfriend says the same thing happens to her when she watches me play the original Bioshock. No other games bother her, not even other shooters, just Bioshock. Maybe there's just one hidden factor in the way the game engine runs that affects a small percentage of people in an unexpected way.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

Has this only happened in one sitting or on separate attempts at the game?

I can get similar symptoms if I've not drunk or eaten properly that day, but I imagine this may not be relevant if you've only ever experienced this with Bioshock.

Can you turn off motion blur and other effects like that and see if that changes anything?

 

[Bertylicious]

I've had this problem with console ports before. I've sometimes found that turning on VSync helps but with some games it's just impossible to play them for more than an hour without inducing a headache.

 

[OneCatch]

It's not just you!

http://day9.tv/d/mongoose22/adjust-the-settings-before-you-play-bioshock-infinite-on-the-pc/

The FOV thing seems to be the most major problem. That said, use FRAPs to check your framerate, and if it's lower than about 45FPS lower some graphics settings. Leave vSync on.
Also, are you on an HD monitor?

 

[USIncorp]

If you play on PC then try turning things like bloom. Flashes of bright white light are frequent throughout the game and turning down bloom might help alleviate this.