A good VAS saving operations tip:

[Orbx Flyer]

I thought just to share a flight simulation operation that keeps VAS load-in to a minimum on flight start-up;

 

Anticipate, or plan, your next usage of either FSX or P3D, and just about when you are finished with your present usage of either sim, place a plane, at the airport you wish to next operate out of, and then SAVE and DEFAULT-flight that airport.

 

Now, let's say you were just now flying near an ORBX GLOBAL regional airport, but next, for purposes of discussion, wish to fly out of KORS (Orcas) that operates out of the North America Region.  No prob...before you shut down your flight out of the Global area...again, as the last thing you do, go to KORS, make it the DEFAULT flight, and then exit the sim.

 

Now...don't forget to change From Global, to North America in ORBX Central 2.

 

That's it.  The next time you fire up either FSX or P3D, your flight will load into the airport and region, on the first pass. This is important, for if you did not do this...but only changed the REGION, but still loaded out to that airport within the GLOBAL area, you would now have to change over to KORS, and your VAS will be significantly reduced, for two complete texture load-in's into the VAS memory map, are going to occur, rather than if FSX or P3D loaded into your 'KORS' default scenario at initial start-up of the sim platform.

 

So...again, try to anticipate the next airport you wish to fly out of.....go there as the last thing you do in the present usage...drop out of the sim....go to Central...load in the supporting REGION...and away you go, the next time you fire up either sim.  VAS usage will be kept to the minimum because of this.  

 

Places like Friday Harbor, really benefit from this way of doing things.  

 

Cheers, and flight plans....

 

 

[Stewart Hobson]

Good advice, especially if you are anticipating a flight out of one those heavy VAS areas (PNW or SCA).

[hwh86]

I worked it out the hard way. Thanks for the good advice. I would like to add, I have also found that disconnecting my modem from the broadband (Internet) and disabling my antivirus (AVG) speeds up the loading process and possibly helps? the VAS load. When I finish simming, I reactivate AVG and plug in my Internet connection (in that order).

[Stewart Hobson]

To my knowledge, neither of your solutions are relevant to VAS problems.  Sorry.

[Orbx Flyer]

6 hours ago, Stewart Hobson said:

To my knowledge, neither of your solutions are relevant to VAS problems.  Sorry.

Right, Stew...it not how fast or slow your scenery load in's go...it's the amount of memory that would be dedicated, by having to load textures twice, because the sim didn't start out at the airport you actually wanted to fly out of.  Even if you used the quick setup, to pick another airport, the sim has already placed in memory the airport that shows up in the map display.  

 

If you had made the next airport a default flight, then THAT would be loaded in...and you only have to press OK to finish out the load.

I have used my technique for years, even with FS9, and believe me...it really keeps any might-be OOM's to a minimum.  Hopefully, when that er...'new' sim comes out in 64 bit....you won't have to plan anything..but like in XP...you pull back on the stick...and fly until your forehead hits the edge of the computer desk...

[Bermuda425]

12 hours ago, PNW User said:

Anticipate, or plan, your next usage of either FSX or P3D, and just about when you are finished with your present usage of either sim, place a plane, at the airport you wish to next operate out of, and then SAVE and DEFAULT-flight that airport.

I need to ask. This here is all I have to do when flying only in Global?

[Bruce Hamilton]

This is a hobby, I don't flightsim everyday. I can't anticipate when I will fly next, let alone from where.

[Bermuda425]

@Bruce Hamilton Wherever the road leeds you. That's the benefit of simulation.

[Ripcord]

 

Actually, Bruce, what I do is set up a handful of saved flights with certain aircraft at each location.  So it is just a starting place, and it doesn't dictate exactly where I am flying to.  Right now I'm setting up some flights in Holland, as I am in the middle of updating some NL2000 scenery there. 

 

Only thing is I don't generally change my default flight.  When I load the sim, I just go into my documents/prepar3d folder and click on the saved flight file and I'm off.

 

[MarkH]

8 minutes ago, Bruce Hamilton said:

This is a hobby, I don't flightsim everyday. I can't anticipate when I will fly next, let alone from where.

Well no, but to put it another way, you decide where you want to fly, set it up and then restart fsx. (Not saying it works, but if it does it is doable in practice, just a bit tedious.)

[Bruce Hamilton]

22 minutes ago, Ripcord said:

Actually, Bruce, what I do is set up a handful of saved flights with certain aircraft at each location.

 

I do the same thing through simstarter.

[Ripcord]

Ah yes, probably a more efficient way.  I use the freeware Sim Launcher in the process of creating and saving many of my flights.

 

Like you I really don't know far in advance where I want to go.  And honestly I probably spend as much time setting up flights as I do actually flying but that is what I like to do, and using the sim for enjoyment is the whole idea, I suppose.

[Chunk]

I don't have as much time to fly as I used to, so I usually pick a random airport/plane and go from there.  The thing that has saved me from VAS/OOM hell has been Scenery Config Editor.  I have set-up custom libraries for where I fly, and have not had an OOM since; even in the death triangle that is Friday Harbor.

[Steve Colbert]

54 minutes ago, Chunk said:

I don't have as much time to fly as I used to, so I usually pick a random airport/plane and go from there.  The thing that has saved me from VAS/OOM hell has been Scenery Config Editor.  I have set-up custom libraries for where I fly, and have not had an OOM since; even in the death triangle that is Friday Harbor.

 

Death Triangle - I like it!   I love flying there but am always "on edge" as more than once (but not every time), I've ended up with an OOM.   Although I have done FHR-ORS-Anacortes without a crash.   And FHR-Vancouver (once I uninstalled my FSDT Vancouver) - all with Alabeo or early Carenado products.

 

What is Scenery Config Editor - the boxes you check in Flight Sim Library, or an add on program?

[Stewart Hobson]

SimStarter does the same--I have separate set-ups for NA, Europe, and Oceania, although I don't think this in itself solves the OOM issues.  However, setting Scenery Complexity to Normal and Cloud Draw Distance to 60 km when flying in SCA and PNW/NCA definitely helps.  When flying any other Region or Global, I go back to more robust settings for each.

[Triplane]

51 minutes ago, Republic DC-9 said:

 

Death Triangle - I like it!   I love flying there but am always "on edge" as more than once (but not every time), I've ended up with an OOM.   Although I have done FHR-ORS-Anacortes without a crash.   And FHR-Vancouver (once I uninstalled my FSDT Vancouver) - all with Alabeo or early Carenado products.

 

What is Scenery Config Editor - the boxes you check in Flight Sim Library, or an add on program?

 

It's a freeware add-on program. Neat little utility. One place to download it is here:  https://sourceforge.net/projects/fs-sceditor/  .

You can do the same job going directly to the scenery library but, for me, this makes the job a lot easier.

 

Doug

[Bullfox]

I would like to hear from some one  who actually has the ability to track vas usage after they tried the above.  

[MarkH]

29 minutes ago, Bullfox said:

I would like to hear from some one  who actually has the ability to track vas usage after they tried the above.  

 

This is how I do it...

[Mickel]

I would have thought that disabling pre-load would have done the same thing since it's not loading the default flight while you're messing around with the whens and wheres in the set up screen.  But I have been known to be wrong from time to time.

[Simu67]

Hi,

 

Another way to directe start is clicking on the flight file. So, you have not to save your flight as default, have not to know from where you begin the last time.

 

For sure, if you start your sim and go now to another place in the world, your VAS will be affected. (P3D V3.2 can better manage this).

 

Regards

[Steve Colbert]

6 hours ago, Triplane said:

 

It's a freeware add-on program. Neat little utility. One place to download it is here:  https://sourceforge.net/projects/fs-sceditor/  .

You can do the same job going directly to the scenery library but, for me, this makes the job a lot easier.

 

Doug

 

Thank you!

 

Although, I got brave and did a four airport hop starting in Friday Harbor, ending Skagit with Orcas and Anacortes full stops and taxi and No OOM with the Alabeo Aztec!

 

Yee haw!  I taunted the OOM beast and won!

[Stewart Hobson]

Nice!

[Orbx Flyer]

On 4/1/2016 at 4:02 AM, Bermuda425 said:

I need to ask. This here is all I have to do when flying only in Global?

Yep...it isn't about the region, because you always need to change into whatever before you fire up FSX or P3D.  It's about the initial airport that FSX or P3D is going to parse through your .cfg file..and load all textures from that airport and the LOD value you have.

 

So...yes...even if you do not ever go out of ORBX Global, you need to do this, if you wish to fly out of any other airport, but your normal default, of which I always think of as my F.B.O. 'default'.  This morning, you are flying out of Detroit.  This evening you want to fly out of San Diego.  So...before you finish your Detroit session, as the last thing you do before dropping to the Desktop...is to pick your plane, to place in a parking spot, or gate, in San Diego....highlight the DEFAULT flight on start-up button, and then save the flight...you can always call it the DEFAULT Airport Pick...and continually overwrite that selection with each new anticipated airport for the next session of FSX or P3D.

 

Cheers,

 

PNW

[Bermuda425]

Awesome, very nice. Thanks a lot!

[Andrew 737]

Better to save the flight (rather than overwrite default flight) and execute direct from the flight file as Simu says.

 

a lot of add-on aircraft initialise and whilst doing so, refer to the default flight.

[shortspecialbus]

Wouldn't what you're suggesting be accomplished simply by disabling preload in the fsx/p3d config?  

 

-stefan

 

Edit: oh holy flipper, this was an old topic!  Sorry for raising it from the dead!!

[allan prewett]

I don't get it.

My FSX opens on the Free Flight page, it sounds like other actually open to the default flight on the tarmac, is that correct.

Because otherwise, with my limited knowledge, I don't see the benifit.

My Free Flight page has the default airfield listed but it has not loaded that terrain.

Only when I select to fly does it do that, so what is the benefit, unless, like I said, others don't open to the free flight page and go straight to the default save, but I don't know how to achieve that.

Sorry, if I am not clear.

Allan

[MarkH]

1 hour ago, allan prewett said:

My Free Flight page has the default airfield listed but it has not loaded that terrain.

 

 

I think you'll find it has loaded the aircraft model and terrain.If you click 'fly now' soon after FSX has opened, it takes forever to start. If you leave it at the 'free flight' screen for a few minutes, then when you click ' fly now' it's much quicker. That aside, you can arrange to launch straight into the default flight if that's what you want. You can activate via a particular FLT file in Windows Explorer(double-click, make a shortcut to one, etc.). I think you can also supply the flight name as a command line argument.

[JimmiG]

1 hour ago, MarkH said:

 

 

I think you'll find it has loaded the aircraft model and terrain.If you click 'fly now' soon after FSX has opened, it takes forever to start. If you leave it at the 'free flight' screen for a few minutes, then when you click ' fly now' it's much quicker. That aside, you can arrange to launch straight into the default flight if that's what you want. You can activate via a particular FLT file in Windows Explorer(double-click, make a shortcut to one, etc.). I think you can also supply the flight name as a command line argument.

 

Preload can easily be disabled:

https://fsxtimes.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/fsx-cfg-disablepreload/

As the link mentions, it can cause hangs and lag on the flight creation page. It will also consume VAS which might not necessarily get reclaimed when you load the flight at your intended airport. With preload disabled, the procedure talked about in this thread is not needed.

 

Preload is already disabled by default in Prepar3D. Prepar3D does not however display the flight creation screen by default - it loads directly the default flight.

If you go to Settings, General, you can enable "Show Scenario Startup Screen".

[MarkH]

1 hour ago, JimmiG said:

Preload can easily be disabled

 

 

Non sequitur?

[allan prewett]

Thanks, added some reputation to both.

 

Allan

[birdguy]

I have over 300 prepositioned flights saved at airports all over the world.  I just click on the location I want and I am brought directly to my aircraft.

 

I label my flights by region, location and IACO.  Bonneyville Alberta is labeled AB Bonneyville  (CYBF) and when I click on it I am brought here; ready to climb in and start flying.  They are all in alphabetical order by region/location so they are easy to find

 

 

Noel