How Many Airports Does Anyone install To FS9?

[casey jones]

I was wondering how many airports does everyone install? I think I have maybe a hundred, but what is the limit so my FS9 does not crash?


Cheers

Casey

[Dangerousdave26]

I think the scenery.cfg file is limited to 1000 entries.

The number of entries probably is not as much a problem as what you put in and where it is on the priority list. The more you add the more likely you are to have conflicts.

So it is a good idea to have good backups of your FS9 folder off FS9 computer. That way it will be easier to restore parts or the whole.

[Wild Bill Kelso]

From my current scenery.cfg:
399 Areas. And counting...

IIRC, FS2002 has had an upper limit of scenery entries, whereas FS2004 doesn't (but I may get corrected).
Maybe the simmer's patience concering the loading time will be the limiting factor...

Cheers,
Markus.

[Sunny9850]

I agree the number is less of a problem than organization of the entries and possibly their interaction with each other. For example there is an ongoing debate of whether or not duplicate AFCAD files will definitely cause crashes or just increase the potential.
Just as with aircraft the load time does get longer and longer the more you stuff into the sim.

I disable areas I am not planning to fly in and remove airplanes to a hangar folder once the load time reaches my personal limit.
:ernae:

Stefan

[Wild Bill Kelso]

Good point, Stefan!

A very handy tool to clean up the scenery is this (already recommended it elsewhere):
Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Utilities (http://library.avsim.net/index.php?CatID=fs2004util) FS Scenery Manager v1.8 http://library.avsim.net/images/ZipDive.png (http://library.avsim.net/zipdiver.php?DLID=155839) http://library.avsim.net/images/Download.png (http://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=155839)
File Description:
FS Scenery Manager is a little tool to manage easily sceneries of FS2004. The main function is the possibility to classify scenery into folders, for a simplified management of several sceneries in one click. Moreover you can add more than one scenery with the scan function. Version 1.8 adds a check function (available in the V1.7 but with a possible crach) and now this functionality is documented. For more details see the pdf in the zip file.


Filename:fs_scenery_manager_v1.8.zipLicense:Freewa re, limited distributionAdded:12th January 2011Downloads:777Author:Lionel UzanSize:199kb


No need to re-start the sim after altering the scenery.cfg file anymore!

[Clarke123]

Just as with aircraft the load time does get longer and longer the more you stuff into the sim.

I disable areas I am not planning to fly in and remove airplanes to a hangar folder once the load time reaches my personal limit.
Stefan
I have to disagree on the load times. Only the Aircraft folder affects load times, because the sim scans it every time for updated or new entries, whereas the scenery folders already know what's there from the scenery.cfg and just gives a cursory glance for any individual files that may have been added or deleted. I have a ton of scenery added and a shedload of planes and AI resulting in an excess of 20 mins loadup. For quickstarts to check anything I've added or fiddled with, I have a secondary aircraft folder with just the default planes inside and the sim loads in an instant. Give it a try with all your scenery enabled and just a few select aircraft in the folder and I doubt you'll see a difference. Especially when weighed against the time taken to enable and disable select area's.

[Sunny9850]

It does make a difference if the areas I am disabling is close enough to my flight location to be loaded in during the normal start scenery, landclass, textures steps of loading.
For example currently I have decided to stay warm in Hawaii but don't always fly in and out of PHNL where I have very detailed addon scenery.

If I don't plan on going there I disable it and it ticks up the load time a bit but also avoids the occasional stutter when the scenery might affect the overall frame rate during flight.

You are of course correct that the larger culprit for slow load times is the aircraft folder. So I keep that at a manageable size.

Stefan

[Clarke123]

Ah, well, when you're talking about that close a proximity, you're absolutely right. I was talking more about the initial startup from desktop to welcome screen, anyways. That's the real pain for me.