slipperman12 wrote:
If I were you, Andy, I'd forget about LAA, at least with your current PC.
Hi Ged.
Very sound advice, As I am unlikly/Don't want to/ upgrade my computer, Im sure I can live with saving and restarting any jumbo size activities,
As it is Thames Mersey runs smoothly on my PC, That it is until the memory thiefs steal Crewe
Gee you cant keep anything tied down these days
Thanks anyway for the advice and help.
Cheers
Andy
Andy Moody West Moors Dorset. On the Old Road (Lymington Jn-Broadstone closed 1964)
I hope you don't think you have wasted your time. This seems to echo the many (largely over the pond) discussions about the efficacy of LAA with MSTS - some feel it makes a difference, while others don't.
I reckon it comes down to one of three things. Either (1) the effect is placebo, or (2) results from system differences (although the only appreciable difference between our systems is that I have an on-board sound chip rather then a dedicated card), or (3) it is something else entirely (leaving the field pretty open for future discoveries).
I done some testing on this matter a few years ago. I was getting frustrated with the SMS/error blah blah when approaching southhampton on Dorset coast. On my machine(winXP) it seems the MEM switch was the culprit on these big routes. Probably why Microsoft omitted it in the first place.
Try a very low setting of 256 or below. MSTS will default to none if you add a memory setting higher to what you have.
Delete all save activitys. For some reason, MSTS will load them in memory. Make sure you have a modified soundcfg.
This may or may not work on certain machines but it does cure my Memory/SMS errors on dorset coast when approaching southhampton or DC activitys with a high number of AI trains.
Hi Martin,
No, I don't think I've wasted my time!! In fact, I've got another test run planned, based on further information (see below)!
coolhand101 : Thanks for your comments; I know the problem's been around for as long as MSTS has! For my tests, there were no saves for any routes in the installation and I am using the "enhanced" soundcfg.dat file. Although I have more memory than specified in the mem switch, your mention of it reminds me of something I saw a long time ago, in trainsim.com I think. It said that MSTS wouldn't use more than 756 (or some similar value) as a mem parameter. I wonder if a value like 2048 is being ignored?
I will have a run of this activity up to Crewe with the lower mem value, and report my findings.
I saw the same problems as you on the Dorset Coast route, until I replaced the soundcfg.dat file.
I think the number you're looking for is 768. I've just tried mem:768 with LAA on BLS_2011 (my 'heaviest' route).
I've made a pretty demanding ITR, so I don't need any UI inputs. It runs as smooth as silk with framerates not seen before - mostly 58-60 and never below 28 even with AI 'in shot' and in built-up areas (I'm happy with that).
I ran it with Task Manager open. CPU usage got as high as 40% but averaged about 25%, while 'Physical Memory' was just rising (from 23% initially, although never got above 30% in my test). I did notice that AI (if it is properly written to 'drop out' of the game when it has fulfilled its usefulness) seems to get dropped by Physical Memory, whereas scenery doesn't - it just keeps adding in. This may point to an issue for activity writing on demanding routes.
This use of mem:768 (rather than 2048 or 4096 or whatever) seems counter-intuitive. It seems the more I learn about MSTS the more I find there is to learn. Now to try Bernina - which can also be a bit testing in places [PS - runs like a movie!].
