probably we all know that the time taken by FS to load, depends by the number of the "model.cfg" it has to read.
To reduce this time, many of us, merge all the textures under the same directory, ordering the [fltsim.x] sections, that allow to FS to read only one time, the Models available for that aircraft.
The first aircraft for which I applied this method years ago, was the C-130 family.
At that time, I simply created a directory for every version available, so I have a dir for the C-130E; C-130H; C-130 H-30 and so on.
With the recent release of the updated Atsugi package, containing the C-130R, a doubt came to my mind.
Am I sure that all the C-130 I've installed have the same FDE?
Unfortunately, the answer is NO.
The differences are just in the [LIGHTS] section in the aircraft.cfg
I have reinstalled every MAIW package in a temporary directory and checked all the C-130, plus I've checked also the Hercules repaints, released by other authors, and installed on my system.
And here the explanation of the "nightmare".
I've found 42 different [LIGHTS] sections!!!
If someone is interested, in the attached zip, there is an Excel file that I've used, to keep track of all these differences.
It is quite self explanatory. Just few notes to understand it.
Sheet Air & Mdl; Column K "FINAL Directory" is where I've merged all the textures using the same [LIGHTS] sections. For future reference, the number indicates by how many rows is composed the [LIGHTS] section.
For example, if the next release of a C-130 H, has the [LIGHTS] section with 13 rows, it's enough to check the aircraft.cfg in the "C-130 H 13a" and "C-130 H 13b" directory.
In all the other Sheets, you can find all the 42 aircraft.cfg. Highlghted in green, the aircraft.cfg coming from the HTAI base model.
Hope this can help.
Regards, Giorgio
