I reinstalled my entire PC and so also AFS2 and this gave me the opportunity to test the initial loading time (going from desktop to the menu).
The loading time going from the menu to the cockpit depends on where you position your plane: the default AFS2 location takes some 3 seconds to load while an airport near New York or Miami takes some 30 seconds. This is obvious. What does surprise me though is that the initial loading time gets a lot longer depending on the scenery you have installed.
Take note: all my tests were done with a hard reset of the computer in between!
- Going from desktop to menu with all IPACS DLC installed takes 11 seconds.
- Going from desktop to menu with True Earth Netherlands added takes 26 seconds... and that is with my plane still in the default USA location...!
What's happening here? Why does the loading time gets more than doubled when TE NL is installed but you aren't even near it yet? As a test I moved the Orbx folder to another location and... loading times were back to 11 again! What happens if more TE sceneries will be added... will loading times get even higher?
Isn't there something to be gained here by somehow NOT loading whatever gets loaded when you start AFS2...? Why does AFS2 apparently load something from TE even if you are not planning to fly over there?
BTW As a bonus I was also able to test if the Duchess increased loading times (as I though it did): it didn't!
I will do some more testing because lately, before my reinstall, loading AFS2 took minutes instead of seconds... As if things get slower over time. So I will now load the Duchess in Amsterdam and then relocate back to the US and see what difference it all makes.