deponia 2
starting in the opening scene the is a black bar rolling up and down the screen and it continues through the game. I'm using win8.1. any ideas

Make sure you aren't using Windows 8's standard graphic drivers, but Win 8 specific ones from the GPU manufacturer.
Check for updates, set the graphic cards control panel to default settings and reboot your system.

Also check if compatibility mode, e.g. for Win 7 or XP makes a difference (right-click the game's shortcut => Properties => Compatibility tab).

Try other resolutions and turn off High-resolution Videos for testing in the in-game settings.
Also windowed mode could fix this, if that's an option for you.