Even though I’ve been burned by the Manual Cache process several times, about once a month I get the bright idea to try again.
While I think the MSFS manual cache is a good idea in theory, in execution is it terrible. The more area you try to cache, the slower it gets until it becomes unresponsive. And this is before you even try to download it. Many times trying to download the selected area results in a straight CTD. If you do somehow get a small area downloaded, then when flying over that area it’s slower and causes stutters (even with MSFS on a m.2 nVme drive) than having no cache at all. Trying to go back into the Manual Cache setup afterwards rewards you with a system brought to it’s knees and the only way out is to completely exit MSFS and delete the file manually. I wish they would just completely remove the option from the game.
Being that I’m an older stubborn SOB and my CRS is rocking hard, I’ll probably be going through this again in about a month.
Yes sir, until a fix has been posted, the UK update (the very large 24 gb download for me) resulted in a non-functional manual cache. I’m hoping the developer team makes it a priority to repair, and also improve. I was just beginning to get the hang of it when the update took it out. Once it is repaired, I plan to tame the beast and post a step-by-step guide to manual caching. It’s really needed in this forum.
Do you have a technique on how to select an area that has four connected areas to make a large continuous cached block, as the selected grid moves out of sync with the map when panning or zooming out making the process hard to select another area right next to what has just been cached, this is what stops me using the manual cache most of the time, it seems the grid and map are not connected. That would be great if you could tell how you overcome this, this beats me every time!
They really need to add a way to select an area and specify what detail level that selection should be, not by zooming in and having to painstakingly select tiles bit by bit. Then you have to do it all over again when recreating the cache.
I know exactly what you mean! It is but one of the issues that make me think of this task as “taming the beast.” Hopefully, the developer team will not put this on a back burner, and get it up and running again. To my knowledge, it is dead in the water since the latest update. Once it’s back, together we can make “manual cache” work for us. One thing I did when it was operational, to address your issue, was I simply overlapped the areas, and would highlight an area nearby the area already cached. Then, cache the next area as closely as possible. Next, zero in (center) on the newest area cached, and zoom it in closer before caching it again.
First of all, the area needs to be part of a Photogrammetry area. Once you go to the “Data” tab of MSFS, Manual Cache is at the bottom of the list. “Regions” are specific areas you designate to “manual cache.” Done by right-clicking and dragging mouse over the gridded area. But you have to zoom in closer and closer to get the highest level of detail. The larger the geographic area, the more “regions” need to cover. Even a smaller city like Louisville, KY took me about 6 separate regions. So, you can image what cities like Chicago and San Francisco Bay Area would require. I was working on those when the latest update took away the feature of “manual cache.”
100% agree.
If I want to cache the whole state of New York, I should be able to quickly draw that state and then select which resolution I would like to cache it.
Right now they have it all backwards…
Exactly. One shouldn’t have to zoom in extra close to select high res and then continue doing so over and over until the things slows to a crawl just to be able to cahce the area they want. The only limiting factor should be the data limit your set for the cahce, and that’s it.
So…I just got through caching a couple of areas, east side of San Francisco Bay area, and Louisville, Kentucky. Brought my pc home from office. About to fire up MSFS, try to get it to load (an adventure in itself), and see if I can see the cached scenery. Wish me luck!
