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Amnesia (The Dark Descent to The Bunker) Motion Sickness: Why It Happens & What Helps

Fourteen years separate the two ways of making Amnesia comfortable. The Dark Descent era games still need config-file edits to remove head bob. The Bunker got an official accessibility patch in January 2024 that added reduced camera motion, reduced weapon sway and more, announced by Frictional Games themselves. Players also document an FOV slider in The Bunker with a default of 102 and a ceiling of 115. Which game you are playing decides which route you take. Checked September 2026.

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PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch ยท first-person ยท Partial settings ยท Player-reported motion-sickness risk: commonly reported by motion-sensitive players.

Reported risk: Amnesia (The Dark Descent to The Bunker)
  • Low
  • Moderate
  • High
  • Very high

Risk levels summarise what passengers and riders commonly report, not measured testing.

Key facts

  • Amnesia (The Dark Descent to The Bunker) runs on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch.
  • The camera is first-person.
  • Player reports place it in the moderate band for motion sickness.
  • The game ships some comfort settings, but not a full set.
  • 4 specific settings are listed on this page, starting with Reduced camera motion (The Bunker).

Why Amnesia (The Dark Descent to The Bunker) can trigger motion sickness

Amnesia's slow walking pace hides how much camera motion the older games carry: head bob sways the view with every step, and there is no menu option to stop it in The Dark Descent or A Machine for Pigs. The physics-driven interaction system adds its own movement, since doors and drawers are dragged with the mouse, swinging the view in close quarters. The Bunker changed the equation. Its 2024 accessibility patch shipped reduced camera motion and reduced weapon sway as real options, an unusually direct response to the exact complaints the older forums collected for a decade.

  • Head bob with no menu toggle in the pre-Bunker games
  • Physics-dragged doors and drawers swinging the camera in close quarters
  • Dark, low-contrast scenes that remove stable visual anchors
  • Lantern-lit sway where light and shadow move with every step

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Comfort settings in Amnesia (The Dark Descent to The Bunker)

Amnesia (The Dark Descent to The Bunker) ships some comfort settings, but not a full set.

SettingWhereRecommendation
Reduced camera motion (The Bunker)Accessibility options, added by the January 2024 patchOn. The patch reduces camera motion rather than removing it outright, and it is the biggest official lever in the series
Field of view (The Bunker)Video settingsPlayers document a default of 102 and a maximum of 115. Raise it if the view feels tight; the margin is small but real
Head bob (The Dark Descent, A Machine for Pigs)Config files, not the menusZero the CrouchBobMax, WalkBobMax and RunBobMax values, the community-documented edit. Unofficial, so back up the file first
Motion blur (older games)Graphics settingsOff. The older engines expose blur toggles even though they hide the bob

One guide explains these settings for every game: how field of view, motion blur, head bob and camera shake trigger motion sickness.

What helps beyond the settings

  • Pick your fix by game: menu options in The Bunker, config edits in everything older
  • Brighten the room around your screen; a lit reference frame outside the game helps when the scene itself is dark
  • Keep early sessions short, since dread plus camera sway compounds faster than either alone
  • A drug-free sound-therapy app like Dizzout is designed to help once symptoms have started, and you are already wearing headphones for a horror game

The fixes people reach for once they step away from the screen are covered separately, with the trials attached: the remedy verdicts.

Frequently asked questions

Does Amnesia: The Bunker have motion sickness settings?

Yes. Frictional's January 2024 accessibility patch added reduced camera motion, reduced weapon sway and other options to The Bunker. Note the wording: reduced, not removed. Threads asking whether head bob can be fully disabled report no complete off switch in the vanilla game, and mods cover the remainder for players who need zero.

How do I turn off head bob in Amnesia: The Dark Descent?

There is no menu option. The community-documented route is editing the config values CrouchBobMax, WalkBobMax and RunBobMax to zero, which removes the walking sway. The same approach applies to A Machine for Pigs. It is an unofficial edit, so copy the file before you change it and expect to redo it after updates.

Which Amnesia game is easiest on motion-sensitive players?

The Bunker, as shipped today. It is the only entry with official comfort options, added in the 2024 accessibility patch, plus a field of view slider players document at 102 to 115. The older games can reach a similar place, but only through config edits the menus never offered.

Other game motion-sickness guides

Sources & further reading

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Based on publicly reported player experiences and each game's documented settings, as of September 2026. Settings menus change with updates, so check your version. Game names are trademarks of their respective owners; Dizzout is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Motion-sickness sensitivity varies by person, so this is informational, not a game review or a substitute for a doctor's advice.