FSX-SE Starting with 3.4 GB in VAS

[omnimae 0]

Greetings,

 

After buying LatinVFR-Miami I got again OOM problems landing at KMIA after departing FSDT KORD, I decided too start to monitoring the VAS and for my surprise after made an initial load of a free flight with PMDG 737 parked at KMIA my VAS was already in 3.4 GB, I made a flight to FSDT KJFK, and I was able to land without any OOM problems but during all flight the VAS was arround 2.5 GB and when I landed in JFK it reached again 3.4 GB, is this a normal behavior of FSX?

 

Add on installed:

 

AS16 + REX Soft clouds 

Fly Tampa CYUL

FSDT KORD

FSDT KJFK

LatinVFR KMIA

PMDG 737.

[STUART_H 12]

I would try turning off (disabling) in the scenery.cfg any airport that you are not flying to or from before starting FSX, as FSX loads all airport scenery that is enabled in the scenery.cfg even if you are nowhere near that airport!

 

A great tool for this is Scenery Config Editor. This also allows you to group scenery and disable all scenery in that group at once.

 

https://sourceforge.net/projects/fs-sceditor/

 

Stuart

[scianoir 610]

Those VAS readings would not be unexpected when using a resource intensive aircraft such as the PMDG 737 with a moderately resource intensive airport such as Latin VFR KMIA. I am just surprised that your VAS usage didn't hit a higher level while landing at FSDT KJFK, which I would describe as an airport add-on with a high resource demand. So, all in all, I think you actually did quite well!

 

I agree with Stuart's recommendation to use Scenery Config Editor or a similar program if you have lots of scenery installed (I use SimstarterNG payware for the same purpose). However if those 4 airports are the only addons you have installed then you may not need it yet!

 

Bill

[omnimae 0]

I would try turning off (disabling) in the scenery.cfg any airport that you are not flying to or from before starting FSX, as FSX loads all airport scenery that is enabled in the scenery.cfg even if you are nowhere near that airport!

 

A great tool for this is Scenery Config Editor. This also allows you to group scenery and disable all scenery in that group at once.

 

https://sourceforge.net/projects/fs-sceditor/

 

Stuart

Hi Stuart, thanks for your response, just one thing, I noticed with KMIA airport after departing when I was few miles away an immediate drop in the VAS of 500 mb, I notice that and I turn the view to the airport again and when I had it in sight boom VAS jumpud 500 mb to 3.4 GB again, I turned my head again to my panel away from the airport and boom 2.9 GB again so FSX is dropping the airport from the VAS, what i mean disable airports from the scenery library it will really help? it seems to me that fsx is already drooping airports from VAS when not used.

 

 

Those VAS readings would not be unexpected when using a resource intensive aircraft such as the PMDG 737 with a moderately resource intensive airport such as Latin VFR KMIA. I am just surprised that your VAS usage didn't hit a higher level while landing at FSDT KJFK, which I would describe as an airport add-on with a high resource demand. So, all in all, I think you actually did quite well!

 

I agree with Stuart's recommendation to use Scenery Config Editor or a similar program if you have lots of scenery installed (I use SimstarterNG payware for the same purpose). However if those 4 airports are the only addons you have installed then you may not need it yet!

 

Bill

hello Bill, My doubt will be if the VAS will not explode from KJFK to KMIA instead, it seems to me that fsdt did a pretty good job with memory management, I never got OOM error flying to JKFK or KORD but I got them with Fly Tampa and LatinVFR scenarios.

[scianoir 610]

Hi

 

I haven't flown into FSDT JFK for a few months but the last time I used it (with the PMDG 747) as far as I can remember the VAS usage was quite high although luckily I avoided an OOM. However that was probably with the older version of FSDT JFK so possibly their newer V2 version is a bit more VAS friendly. I only installed the V2 update JFK last week and have not flown there yet, so I must give it a try and see how it performs. I have a lot of scenery (airports and Manhattan) for the NYC area and, if I am flying a PMDG aircraft there, I have to be very careful to deactivate everything except the airport I am flying to, which is unfortunate, but anything to avoid the dreaded OOM!

 

Out of interest (and to try to avoid OOMs) I have actually been looking at VAS usage recently with various active scenery combinations and I have found that with all my add-on scenery deactivated (my 'bare bones' setup) FSX consumes just under 1.8GB of VAS on startup at a default airport using a default aircraft with no weather engine. If I have all my scenery addons activated then the same startup scenario has a VAS usage of 2.4GB without actually adding an addon aircraft or flying anywhere! So one of my projects at the moment is to look at the individual VAS usage of each of my addon aircraft (I have a lot!!) and hopefully this will enable to more accurately plan which sceneries to deactivate when flying into a resource intensive airport.

 

Bill

 

 

[Piotr007 165]

VAS is phasing us out of FSX, and straight into XPX. I am still on the fence, but not for long. Let's see what XPXI offers in the end.

[W2DR 1,860]

I would try turning off (disabling) in the scenery.cfg any airport that you are not flying to or from before starting FSX, as FSX loads all airport scenery that is enabled in the scenery.cfg even if you are nowhere near that airport!

 

A great tool for this is Scenery Config Editor. This also allows you to group scenery and disable all scenery in that group at once.

 

https://sourceforge.net/projects/fs-sceditor/

 

Stuart

 

Nope.....it doesn't load 'em 'til it needs 'em. The problem is that the VAS isn't released when they are no longer needed.

[Hoang 108]

Greetings,

 

After buying LatinVFR-Miami I got again OOM problems landing at KMIA after departing FSDT KORD, I decided too start to monitoring the VAS and for my surprise after made an initial load of a free flight with PMDG 737 parked at KMIA my VAS was already in 3.4 GB, I made a flight to FSDT KJFK, and I was able to land without any OOM problems but during all flight the VAS was arround 2.5 GB and when I landed in JFK it reached again 3.4 GB, is this a normal behavior of FSX?

 

Add on installed:

 

AS16 + REX Soft clouds 

Fly Tampa CYUL

FSDT KORD

FSDT KJFK

LatinVFR KMIA

PMDG 737.

Hi,

I believed it is normal, on the other side it might be good by looking at those VAS numbers.

I started up FSLabs A320X with LatinVFR Miami and it was always around 3.6GB 3.7GB at the airport. After departure it went down to only around 3GB, and when I landed in Flightbeam KPHX it went up around 3.5GB I think.

Cheers

Hoang Le

[airernie 263]

Nope.....it doesn't load 'em 'til it needs 'em. The problem is that the VAS isn't released when they are no longer needed.

 

I fly in windowed mode and find that if I hit the maximize button to reduce the window (not hide), wait a few seconds, then hit the button again to maximize it that I get some VAS recovery.  I do this a few times during a VAS heavy flight and it's kept from an OOM several times.

 

By reducing, but not hiding FSX I don't lose control of the aircraft.

 

I'm using FSUIPCs onscreen VAS monitor, so it's easy to see if a reduction occurred.

 

Ernie

[omnimae 0]

I fly in windowed mode and find that if I hit the maximize button to reduce the window (not hide), wait a few seconds, then hit the button again to maximize it that I get some VAS recovery.  I do this a few times during a VAS heavy flight and it's kept from an OOM several times.

 

By reducing, but not hiding FSX I don't lose control of the aircraft.

 

I'm using FSUIPCs onscreen VAS monitor, so it's easy to see if a reduction occurred.

 

Ernie

 

I certify, I did it during a flight and the VAS went down 200 mb right away.

[Hoang 108]

I fly in windowed mode and find that if I hit the maximize button to reduce the window (not hide), wait a few seconds, then hit the button again to maximize it that I get some VAS recovery.  I do this a few times during a VAS heavy flight and it's kept from an OOM several times.

 

By reducing, but not hiding FSX I don't lose control of the aircraft.

 

I'm using FSUIPCs onscreen VAS monitor, so it's easy to see if a reduction occurred.

 

Ernie

Wow, I must try it later today.

Thank you for the tip.

Cheers.

Hoang Le

/Been using simulator for almost 20 years and still learn something new every single day.

[Rocky_53 1,579]

I had more OOMs after moving to FSX-SE than I ever experienced in FSX! So I had enough and am now like a pig in muck with P3D!

[Alaaar 34]

Hello All,

Sorry for hacking to this interesting thread but I kind of felt very strange reading your VAS numbers and I will tell you why?

I did a flight yesterday KLGA-KATL using Leonardo Maddog MD82 

When FSX started loading the flight VAS was 3.0......Then when the plane is loaded in C&D VAS read was 1.5 or so ....... When the plane was ready for takeoff VAS was about 0.8......At the cruise stage, VAS went up to 1.1 or so.......Now 15-10nm from KATL VAS went down dramatically all the way to 0.6 and 0.43 with the nasty OOM warning sound ......On the flight, I hardly change views in or our or I would lose VAS again.......There are certain airports like KJFK or KLAX OR EHAM or EGLL or KATL or LFPG I try to avoid flying in or out for same reason

If anyone can help me with this it will be highly appreciated 

[scianoir 610]

Hi,

I don’t have the Leonardo Maddog but, as it is a systems intense product, I would imagine that it has a significant VAS footprint. I assume you are using addon scenery for KLGA and KATL and, if so, the combination of these with the Maddog would probably account for the VAS changes you are seeing. It is not unusual to see a dramatic increase in VAS usage as you approach a big addon airport and this can be even worse if you have a few addon airports situated in close proximity to each other. As you say, the other large airports you mention have similar issues.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread I use SimStarterNG to set up my FSX configuration and this can help VAS issues to an extent. The main ways it can do this is by allowing you to easily create and store different scenery and simulator configurations. If I was flying a VAS intense aircraft between KLGA and KATL, I would use a minimum scenery set (with no airports active but only background scenery such as OpenLC NA active) which I have created for the USA and only activate the arrival and departure airports within that set.

As far as simulator configuration is concerned I have created a number of configurations depending on the expected VAS demands of the scenario I am going to be flying. These scenarios vary from expected low VAS demand to extreme VAS demand in both VFR and IFR scenarios. Basically reducing VAS usage involves turning down (or off) various weather, AI traffic and scenery detail (autogen, water, etc) settings and the difference in VAS usage between my low and extreme VAS configurations is more than 1GB but this can only be achieved by sacrificing detail.

 SimStarterNG, once it has been set up, allows quick and easy selection of whatever scenery and simulator configurations you feel would be optimal for the flying scenario you have planned. I mention this product because I use it and I like it but I think there are also some freeware scenery configuration utilities out there which may help. I would emphasise however that this will only help FSX VAS usage to a certain extent and as I have said this is at a cost of environmental detail. 

Bill

[Alaaar 34]

Many thanks, Bill .......A lot to try to try to get a better performance out of FSX and my old system, I don't think ORBX FTX global or LC or victor, REX TD HD, REX WD airports, AS2016 are helping as well as KATL scenery from Imagine simulation.......I see your point, I will try soon the SimStarterNG perhaps it will help.