Batman: Arkham City PC performance issues linked to DX11, patch incoming

by Ludwig Kietzmann on Nov 25th 2011 10:45AM

Having waited over a month for Warner Bros. and Rocksteady to tidy up the PC code for Batman: Arkham City, players have expressed frustration with severe performance issues encountered in the game. Warner has confirmed that a stuttering framerate is tied to DirectX 11 features, which should be disabled while a patch finds its way to Gotham's cordoned-off criminal depository.

Disabling DirectX 11 (under "Settings" in the Games for Windows launcher, and "Configure PC Options" in your Steam library) will drop the game down to DirectX 9. It's not as disfiguring as it sounds, but let's not make excuses for a game launching in such an unsteady state. We'll be sure to let you know when the punitive effects of tesselation and horizon-based ambient occlusion have been eliminated.

Via: Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Source: Arkham City Forums

Tags: Batman-Arkham-Asylum-2, Batman-Arkham-City, games-for-windows, patch, pc, Rocksteady-Studios, steam, warner-bros

Reader Comments (32)

It's horrible for me. With my GTX 560Ti, I'm only getting around 25 frames and it will drop down to like 10.

@Warlock234

Well, at least Rocksteady didn´t call us: "bitching pc users" like that "I am Alive" jackass of Tanislas Mettra, just for complaining about something that was COMPLETELY impossible to overlook.......and this is how they expect p.c. games to sell good??? with this lack of quality????.........3 seconds... that´s all it was needed to find this bug.......

@Warlock234

It's a direct console port. Consoles only use DirectX 9.

@Warlock234
Oh, and after disabling DX11, just like Joystiq said, the game is running at a solid 60 fps.

@Warlock234 Same card. Same problem. Really odd considering that I got the game coupon with the card. Just turn off DX11 for now I guess. When's that patch out?!

Tisk tisk..

So, they took a WHOLE MONTH to release the p.c. version because they were going to "optimize it" and nobody in the team took 3 seconds to play the game with DX11 ON?????? rocksteady needs some real beta-testers.....

@Hunter141072 Why pay Beta testers if people who pay for the game can do the same?

@Vidaluko

yeah, that´s true... I forgot that the industry in this times thinks that beta-testers means: "paying customers who are willing to give their money for a half baked product" at least they are going to release a patch, and not sell it............a special DLC content with DX 11 support, that´s the next step........

This is why PC games need demos far more than consoles do. Since there are so many variables in a PC configuration, there needs to be a way for the end user to verify compatibility before purchasing.

"It's not as disfiguring as it sounds, but let's not make excuses for a game launching in such an unsteady state."

I see what you did there. =P

@Hynad
i don't get it

I have a GeForce 9600GT...the games plays fine, but the cut scenes are choppy....so I basically have to read the subtitles ot follow the story......

@Timjoy

Your card only has DirectX 10 support... not directx 11... so the issues people are complaining about do not apply to you.

The game is so broken at launch...I'm suprised it passed QA....

@Timjoy

It passed because QA for them means "Question & Answer"

-Question: can we sell the game as it is???

-Answer: yes

-Cool!!!! send it to steam!!!!

@Timjoy
I'm not have you seen the state of PC games being ported? This is pretty close to being good... but this is a HUGE issue imo. If only because it's one of the seperating factors between PC and Console releases.
@Hunter141072
I lol'd

How could they overlook this? I mean really all they had to do was run the game to discover...that it doesn't run well! I booted it up with DX11 and immediately discovered I couldn't play it under those settings. Utterly ridiculous! I have to imagine they knew about it but released it anyway because they couldn't fix it in time for the release window...which they already pushed back a month.

Well at least they are fixing it...

*sigh*
Old media companies (WB) can't make new media (games).

Well, I'm glad I didn't buy this game yet. I do want to play it on PC but there is just too much restrictive DRM.

So I'm playing other games now and I'll probably get Arkham City when it hits the bargain bins and has been extensively patched.

I was wondering why it ran so bad with those features turned on. I knew it was made for Nvidia cards, but my 5870 handled Witcher 2 well enough and is currently duking it out with Skyrim. I've found the most expensive thing in Skyrim are shadows.

with the exception of this bug(affects me about 50% of the time when loading the game) i think the port is very well done

AH yes, first world problems... without DX11 the game still looks significantly better and also runs smoother than the console versions.

They also have some of the best implementations of keyboard/mouse controls but hey.. it'f fun to hate!

Also you know what other games on whatever platform on the market have problems at launch? All of them.

It still isn't finished downloading from Steam (damn Verizon DSL!) but hey I'll stick to Skyrim until this nonsense is fixed.

LOL@ppl saying direct port.

10 different anti-alias settings, 3d vision support? Yes please.

It's not just that. There's also that GfWL DRM that has this weird 5 activation maximum that's sitting on top of Steam. Right now I'm not even sure if I own the game anymore.

@FZero

You get more then 5 activations if Arkham City is using that method of DRM.
Companies using GFWL for DRM have two options, either 15 activations across any number of profiles/PCs or tiying the CD key to a single profile that can play it on any PC.

If you do somehow hit the 15 activations limit then you can contact the developer and they will generally reset your activations/give you a new key.

This is why I never buy PC games at launch anymore. Too many times, devs release outright defective products for full value. The games industry is just about the only one where releasing half-baked products is not only accepted, but actively encouraged!

With this and rage-inducing DRM fcukfests... eff it, been burned too many times.

I'd rather wait for Steam sales. At least then, I only pay $10 to get stressed out by mind-numbing stupidity.

Ive played around 3 hours on the PC so far and I havent had any issues... yet. Besides the random stuttering every once in awhile it hasnt been running too bad for me all maxed out.

Im running on an i5 @ 4.8ghz, 8gb 1600mhz and 2 560Tis running in SLI. Looks absolutely badass. Possibly contender to BF3 graphics wise.

oh shit, i just got it

the only reason they delayed it for PC was to boost console sales. This is the same tactic that the movie companies are using when delaying movies to redbox and netflix. To boost sales.

Nvidia is the one that should really be pissed, this was given away with loads of their cards in order to showcase the new tech, and so far its crap.

@FunkTion Yeah, this is how I got my copy, with my GTX 570. Still, when I booted it up with DX 11 it was gorgeous (the tesellation is great!) in those times when the framerates were steady, before I gave up due to the dips. It definitely makes me happy to have hardware that will run it that well when it's patched.

As for comments to "all titles on all platforms have bugs on launch", well, yes. But in titles from major devs they're usually buried deep in the game somewhere and are things like missing textures, clipping, missing text, etc, that aren't immediately visible within 5 minutes of launch. This is a show-stopper that hits you in the face right away, not some ordinary launch bug.

I was gifted the game but still I was just going to buy it on 360 till I knew that I was getting it given to me on PC, so I waited and was anxious to play and when I do the framerate dropped. At first I thought it was possibly my hardware which was shocking to me because I could run all my other new games at max graphics and then while monitoring my hardware I realized there was no way and when I talked w/ a co-worker he confirmed it was happening to him as well.

Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City PC performance issues linked to DX11, patch incoming

Reader Comments (32)

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 10:55AM Warlock234 said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:08AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:45AM Ballistic H said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 3:46PM Warlock234 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2011 7:43PM shintopig said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 10:56AM xiLeShadow said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 10:57AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:07AM Vidaluko said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:11AM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:15AM pjfan said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:24AM Hynad said

Posted: Nov 26th 2011 12:39AM acme64 said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:38AM Timjoy said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 9:19PM SBMfromLA said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:40AM Timjoy said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 12:08PM Hunter141072 said

Posted: Nov 28th 2011 1:19PM Grimbear13 said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:55AM Startbuttonnews said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 12:09PM b3n said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 12:46PM Assmar said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 1:38PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 2:57PM Pr1mus said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 4:09PM TheRedComet said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 6:04PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 7:38PM FZero said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 11:07PM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 9:46PM ion orov said

Posted: Nov 25th 2011 9:49PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 26th 2011 12:39AM acme64 said

Posted: Nov 27th 2011 12:46AM FunkTion said

Posted: Nov 28th 2011 1:55AM loblaw said

Posted: Nov 28th 2011 1:27PM Grimbear13 said

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