Fix: Black Mesa Stuttering, Lags, or Freezing constantly

Black Mesa is a first-person shooter video game that’s developed and published by Crowbar Collective. It is a third-party remake of Half-Life game. The Black Mesa game was initially released as a free mod in September 2012 for Microsoft Windows and Linux platforms. To recall, Half-Life is also a first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation and launched in 1998.

To run the game requires enough hardware configuration to run properly, especially for PC, because not everyone may have such a configuration to run the game in full resolution and higher FPS. It’s pretty standard for most PC titles because they’re performance-hungry. Here we’ve provided steps to fix Black Mesa Stuttering and Lags issues.

Unfortunately, while in gameplay, some Black Mesa PC players are experiencing multiple issues like stuttering, lags, crashes, frame drops, etc. Depending on the compatibility factor, it can be a severe issue on some PCs. So, it’s always better to fix the problem so that at least you can play the game with a respectable FPS count. There may be several reasons behind such an issue that can be resolved by following this guide.

Check System Requirements

Check out the system requirements of the Black Mesa game below to ensure that your PC configuration meets the game’s system requirements.

Minimum Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 (32/64-bit)/Vista or Greater
• Processor: 2.6 Dual Core Processor or Greater
• Memory: 6 GB RAM
• Graphics: 2 GB Dedicated Video Card or Greater
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 20 GB available space

Recommended Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 (32/64-bit) or Greater
• Processor: 3.2 Quad-Core Processor or Greater
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: 4 GB Dedicated Video Card or Greater
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 20 GB available space

Fix: Black Mesa Stuttering and Lags Badly

Fixing in-game lags or frame drop issues isn’t easy because it depends on multiple factors, such as PC hardware, the display resolution of the game, maximum FPS limit count, conflicting third-party apps, and more. So, we recommend you try following all the methods individually until the problem gets fixed or reduced. Changing the in-game graphics-related settings or keeping them low can fix several problems in a jiffy.

It may include the Screen Resolution of the game, in-game Texture Resolution, Shadow Resolution, Maximum Frame rate, number of Characters Displayed, or other visual effects that require higher graphics or memory. So, you can follow the steps below to try reducing the lags or frame drops to some extent, depending on which resolution and quality you’re playing the game, apart from FPS count.

1. Use Launch Options

• Open your Steam client > Go to Library > Right-click on the Black Mesa.
• Select Properties > On the General tab, you’ll find Launch Options.
• Enter the launch options -fullscreen = Forces the engine to start in fullscreen mode.

2. Update Graphics Drivers

• Right-click on the Start Menu to open up the Quick Access Menu.
• Click on Device Manager from the list.
• Now, double-click on the Display adapters category to expand the list.
• Then right-click on the dedicated graphics card name.
• Select Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
• An update will automatically download and install the latest version if available.
• Once done, make sure to reboot your computer to change the effects.

3. Run the game as an administrator

Run the game exe file as an administrator to avoid user account control regarding privilege issues. You should also run the Steam client as an administrator on your PC. To do this:

• Right-click on the Black Mesa exe shortcut file on your PC.
• Now, select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
• Make sure to click on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to checkmark it.
• Click on Apply and select OK to save changes.

4. Set High Priority in Task Manager

Make your game priority in the higher segment via the Task Manager to tell your Windows system to run the game properly. To do this:

• Right-click on the Start Menu > Select Task Manager.
• Click on the Processes tab > Right-click on the Black Mesa game task.
• Select Set Priority to High.
• Close Task Manager.
• Finally, run the Black Mesa game to check for the issue.

5. Verify the Integrity of Game Files

If there is an issue with the game files and somehow get corrupted or missing, then make sure to perform this method to check for the issue easily. To do so:

• Launch Steam > Click on Library.
• Right-click on Black Mesa from the list of installed games.
• Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.
• Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
• You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
• Once done, just restart your computer.

6. Change GPU Settings

Make sure to change the graphics card settings on the PC by following the steps below to check whether the problem has been fixed.

For Nvidia:

• Open up Nvidia’s Control Panel > Right-click on the desktop screen.
• Click on Nvidia Control Panel > Click on Manage 3D Settings.
• Select Program Settings > Find ‘Black Mesa’ and manually add the game if it’s not in the list:
  • Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
  • Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
  • Threaded optimization: On
  • Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
  • Texture Filtering – Quality: Performance

For AMD:

• Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
• Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
• Threaded optimization: On
• Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
• Texture Filtering – Quality: Performance

7. Disable Fullscreen Optimizations

Full-screen optimization and DPI settings are the default ones on Windows. You should try disabling it by following the steps below:

• Locate the Black Mesa game directory.
• Find and right-click on the Black Mesa.exe file.
• Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
• Checkmark the ‘Disable Full-Screen Optimizations’ box.
• Now, click on the ‘Change high DPI setting’s button.
• Checkmark the ‘Override high DPI scaling behaviour’ > Select ‘Application’ from the drop-down menu.
• Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.

8. Update Black Mesa

If in case, you haven’t updated your Black Mesa game for a while, follow the steps below to check for updates and install the latest patch (if available). To do this:

• Open the Steam client > Go to Library > Click on Black Mesa from the left pane.
• It’ll automatically search for the available update. If there is an update available, make sure to click on Update.
• Installing the update > Close the Steam client may take some time.
• Finally, reboot your PC to apply changes, and then try relaunching the game.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide is useful to you. For further queries, you can comment below.