Diagnostic Questions for Your Black Screen Issue in Mafia: The Old Country

[Administrator]

🛠� Fix: Black Screen or Stuck on Shader Loading
✅ 1. Wait Patiently (Up to 5 Minutes)
During the first launch, the game may appear stuck on a black screen while it compiles shaders.

This can take 2–5 minutes, depending on your system specs.

Don't force close the game right away—let it sit for a bit.

🔍 Why? Shader compilation is common in Unreal Engine 5 games and happens on launch or after driver updates.

✅ 2. Update GPU Drivers
Outdated or corrupted drivers can cause shader-related hangs or black screens.

Download the latest stable drivers from:

Nvidia

AMD

Intel

🔁 After updating, reboot and launch the game again.

✅ 3. Launch with Safe Settings
Try running the game in a windowed or lower resolution mode:

🖥� Steam (PC)
Right-click the game in your Steam Library

Click Properties

In the Launch Options, type:

diff
Copy
Edit
-windowed -noborder
This forces the game into windowed mode, which may bypass black screen issues.

✅ 4. Disable Frame Generation (NVIDIA Reflex / FG)
If you're using DLSS 3 or Frame Generation, this can cause stuttering or black screens—especially during cutscenes.

Open Graphics Settings in-game

Turn off Frame Generation or DLSS Frame Gen

Restart the game

🧪 Note: This has resolved black screen cutscenes and long loading times for some users.

✅ 5. Verify Game Files (Steam)
Corrupted or missing game files can cause infinite shader compiling or black screens.

Steps:

Open Steam

Right-click Mafia: The Old Country

Go to Properties > Installed Files

Click Verify Integrity of Game Files

Wait until this completes and try launching again.

✅ 6. Disable Overlays (Steam / Discord / GeForce)
Overlay apps can interfere with rendering:

Turn off Steam Overlay, Discord Overlay, and GeForce Experience overlay.

Also close MSI Afterburner, Rivatuner, or any FPS counters temporarily.

✅ 7. Check for Background Programs or Antivirus
Some antivirus programs block shader caching or Unreal shader files.

Add the game's folder to your antivirus exceptions list.

Temporarily disable antivirus or VPN when launching for the first time.

✅ Additional Tips:
Don't install the game on a drive with low disk space.

If using mods, disable them—they may break shader compilation.