Batman: Arkham Asylum

Game Of The Year Edition

README file 16/7/2013 Version 1.1

Table of contents:

Part 1: Things You Should Know

1.1 DirectX
1.2 Memory and Performance
1.3 Known Issues
1.4 Customising your settings

Part 2: Technical Issues

2.1 Installation & Set-up
2.2 DVD-ROM Problems
2.3 Crashes and Lock-Ups
2.4 NVIDIA PhysX Hardware Acceleration Support
2.5 Technical Support

Part 1: Things You Should Know

Please read through the DirectX section of this document. This section has information that is vital to
successfully running Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition on your system.

1.1 DirectX

This game is optimised for Microsoft's DirectX 9.0c. In order for you to play the game, you must have
DirectX 9.0c compliant drivers for your video card and sound card. Please note that although DirectX
9.0c is installed with the game, your video and sound card drivers will not be upgraded to DirectX 9.0c
drivers.

You will need to obtain the latest DirectX 9.0c drivers from the manufacturer or PC supplier. These drivers
cannot be supplied by Square Enix.

1.2 Memory and Performance

While the game will run fine in 1GB of RAM (2GB on Windows Vista), your playing experience will be
smoother if you have more memory.

Regardless of how much memory you have, you can maximize your available memory and increase the
overall performance of the game engine by doing the following:
  Closing any open windows
 Shutting down all other programs (including those that run in the menu-bar)
 Defragmenting your hard drive
 Shutting down the Windows Sidebar (Windows Vista)

Square Enix recommends that you have no other programs running at all while playing Batman: Arkham
Asylum. Other programs, including system utilities and screen savers can cause system degradation
when playing games and may conflict with the game for system resources, potentially resulting in
instability and crashes.

1.3 Known Issues

 Ensure you are running latest drivers from nVidia and ATI/AMD. There are several known issues
with earlier versions of their drivers that affect the performance and stability of Batman: Arkham
Asylum Game Of The Year Edition.
 If you experience any issues in game this could be linked to your sound card, Microsoft XP users
should try to fix the problem by reducing the hardware acceleration option within the DXDIAG tool
– To Run DXDIAG see the `Technical support section` below, once loaded select the SOUND tab
and move the slider option (Hardware Sound Acceleration) to the left. Please note, this option is
only available to Microsoft XP users.
 ATI Radeon X1000 series cards - (Radeon X1300, Radeon X1650, Radeon X1950 GT, etc.).  
These graphics cards may experience motion blur issues when “Detective Mode” is activated in
game. Batman (TM) may appear blurry and have several outlines. This issue can be resolved by
turning off the “Motion Blur” option in the launcher / settings. 
 A small number of users may experience a crash on start-up when attempting to initialise the
.NET Framework for the Launcher application. The Launcher application is required to customise
your settings and has to run before the game can be played. Please read the instructions to work
around this issue in the “Support” folder on your Batman: Arkham Asylum DVD.
 ATI Radeon HD 3600 series cards may experience problems when travelling through doors.
Restarting the game and continuing from last checkpoint will allow you to progress.

1.4 Customising your settings

 Some PC controllers invert the left stick controls. If you find this is the case, use the "Invert
Forward/Backward" option in the Launcher.
 Alternatively access this in the following way:
o Windows XP: Select Game Setup from the Start menu
o Windows Vista: Right click the game icon and select Launcher
 Part 2: Technical Issues

2.1 Installation & Set-up

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements are as follows:

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Microsoft Windows XP or Vista/Windows 7
CPU:
Intel Pentium 4 3GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3500+
RAM:
1GB for Windows XP
2GB for Windows Vista
GRAPHICS:
nVidia 6600 or ATI 1300
SOUND:
Microsoft Windows XP/Vista compatible sound card (100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible)
DVD-ROM:
Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive
HARD DRIVE:
9GB free disk space
INPUT DEVICES:
100% Windows XP/Vista compatible mouse and keyboard

The recommended system requirements are as follows:

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Microsoft Windows XP or Vista/Windows7
CPU:
Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4Ghz) or Athlon  64 X2 4600+
RAM:
2GB for Windows XP
3GB for Windows Vista
GRAPHICS:
nVidia 9800GTX or ATI 3870
SOUND:
Microsoft Windows XP/Vista compatible sound card (100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible)
DVD-ROM:
Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive
HARD DRIVE:
9GB free disk space
INPUT DEVICES:
100% Windows XP/Vista compatible mouse and keyboard / Xbox 360 Controller for
Windows

Preparing Your Hard Drive

To ensure that your installation is trouble free, you should check to see that your hard drive and file
system are both tuned for optimum performance. Windows comes with a utility programs that will help
optimise your hard drive performance.
You can optimise your hard drive's performance by running a program called Disk Defragmenter. You
can run Disk Defragmenter by clicking on the Start button from the Windows desktop, followed by
Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally Disk Defragmenter.

2.2 DVD-ROM Problems

Batman: Arkham Asylum requires at least a Quad-Speed DVD-ROM drive with 32/64-bit Windows
drivers.

I receive a "xxxxxx.xxx not found" error message when installing or running Batman: Arkham
Asylum.

This error message is usually the result of your computer using MS-DOS (16 bit) drivers instead of
Windows (32/64 bit) drivers for your DVD-ROM drive. You can easily check to see if this is causing
problems by opening the Control Panel (either click on the My Computer icon or click on the Start
button followed by Settings, then Control Panel).

In the Control Panel window, double-click on the System icon then click on the Performance tab. You
should now see a summary of the performance status of your computer. One of the lines should say “File
System: 32/64-bit” and the last line should say "Your system is configured for optimal performance." If you
see a message saying "Drive X is using MS-DOS compatibility mode," then you will need to contact your
system vendor to obtain and install 32/64-bit drivers for your DVD-ROM drive.

2.3 Crashes and Lock-Ups

When I start Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition my mouse cursor disappears and
my computer locks-up.

Chances are your installed audio card drivers are not compatible with DirectX. The only solution is to get
a DirectX 9.0c -compatible driver from your audio card manufacturer.

When I start Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition I receive the following error
message:

"The application ShippingPC-BmGame.exe referenced memory at address xxxx:xxxx that can't be read
from."

It's likely that your installed video card drivers are not compatible with DirectX 9.0c. The only solution is to
get a DirectX 9.0c -compatible driver from your video card manufacturer.

The Installer keeps stopping when a certain percentage is complete.

There a few likely causes:

 You may have run out of free space on your hard drive. Please remove unwanted programs to
free up additional space for the game, and then reinstall Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of
 The Year Edition
 There may be dirt or fingerprints on the DVD-ROM disc itself. Examine the bottom of the disc; if
you see any fingerprints or dirt, carefully clean the disc using a clean, soft, lint-free cloth by wiping
from the centre of the disc (near the hole) towards the outer edge in a straight line.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition is crashing to the desktop with no error
messages.

This problem can be caused by several different things. Here's a list of the most common culprits
associated with these crashes:

 Make sure the DVD-ROM is clean (check for both scratches and smudges on the reading surface
of the DVD).

 Make sure the game has been installed properly.

 Make sure DirectX 9.0c has been installed properly.

 Make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card and that they are DirectX 9.0c
-compatible.

 Make sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card and that they are DirectX 9.0c
-compatible.

 Make sure Virtual Memory is enabled on your system.

 Run Disk Defragmenter.

 Try exiting the game, rebooting your machine, and re-entering the game.

Note: If your system crashes to the desktop while playing Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of
The Year Edition you should probably reboot your computer before starting a new play
session. Otherwise, DirectX may be in a locked state, and the game will be unable to
use your sound or video hardware.

2.4 NVIDIA PhysX Hardware Acceleration Support

 Acceleration is supported on all NVIDIA CUDA enabled processors with at least 256MB local
memory and 32 bit processors. Both single and multi-GPU configurations are supported.  This
game features state of the art graphics and PhysX features and as such is best enjoyed on a high
performance system.
To enjoy the highest resolutions with all features the recommended configuration would be a
GeForce GTX260 for graphics complemented with a GeForce 9800GTX or higher dedicated for
PhysX, GTX280 or higher is recommended for single GPU operation.
 To enjoy PhysX GPU acceleration on Windows 7 all add-in graphics cards have to feature NVIDIA
GPUs. Mixed Vendor graphics will result in all the PhysX simulation being performed in software
on the CPU and performance will be not optimized and in some cases too slow for playability.
 PhysX Acceleration on the AGEIA PPU is not a recommended or a supported configuration for
 this game title.
 Please note on occasions that the combined graphics and physics load exceeds the system
capabilities, the game will gracefully reduce the amount of simulation occurring – this may be
seen as frozen paper and disabling some of the particle effects. This can be overcome by
upgrading your system or reducing some of the graphics settings.
 Performance is optimised for the default settings, in extreme cases slow down or instability may
occur if these are set beyond your recommended specification.

2.5 Technical Support

If you need further technical assistance after reading the Readme file please do not hesitate to contact us
using any of the methods listed below.

When contacting us, please be sure to provide us with as much information as possible. Make sure to
note the exact type of hardware that you are using in your system, including: your graphics card, sound
card, DVD-ROM drive, amount of RAM present, speed and manufacturer of your processor. Also, make
sure to include the version of the game and a detailed description of the problem.

It will also help if you prepare by creating a “DXDIAG” diagnostic file in Windows before contacting us.
Simply follow these instructions:

 Click on Start
 Click on Run
 Type dxdiag
 Click on OK
 Click on the Save Information button and save the file to your computer.

When you call our Technical Support line either have this file open or have a printed copy. If you send an
e-mail query please attach the file to the e-mail.

Technical Support Contact Details

Please visit us on the web at http://support.wbgames.com.

For Telephone Support, please call 410-568-3680 between 9am – 9pm (Eastern Time), 7 days a week.

You may also  Ask for Help  by completing a web inquiry  here.

For all International Support, you may complete the form linked above, or email 
[email protected].

Note: Hints and tips will not be given out over the Technical Support lines.

Alternatively, you may find help with hardware problems on one of the websites maintained by the
supplier, some of which are listed below:

nVidia http://www.nvidia.com/
AMD/ATI Technologies http://www.ati.amd.com/
Creative Labs http://www.creative.com/
Intel http://support.intel.com/

Thank you and we hope you enjoy playing Batman: Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition.

2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.