Does (fill-in-the-blank) cause game performance issues?

SimPoseyYum

I know that deleting one's "localthumbcache dot package"can help performance but I'm wondering about other things. Do any of these contribute to lag or crashes or extra-long loading screens (I abhor the loading screens, by the way -- mine run an average of 1 minute 45 seconds)?

• Number of in-game saves -- I currently have about 10 different saved games, many of which are completed Challenges that I keep for nostalgia. I'd rather not delete them.
• Number of saves in save file -- when I look at the save file in Documents, each of those 10 games noted above have up to 5 different versions. My Saves folder is currently 228MB.
• Number of screenshots -- I have a bunch of them. 185MB worth.

In addition to "localthumbcache", has it been officially determined yet whether the other "cache" items are safe to delete? In doing research, I've found conflicting (or not enough) information to feel secure in deleting these. Currently I have a folders named "cachestr" (31KB), "lotcachedata" (8.5MB) and "cache" (82KB). Is this enough to even be worried about?

Not sure if this is pertinent but I have several hundred GB free space on my PC. In any event, I'm curious as to what some of my options are to enhancing how the game works on my computer. Thanks for any insight!

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Edited because what I typed as a title isn't what showed up initially. /sigh

MsPhy

It seemed to me that having bunches in my Saves folder was causing longer initial loading, so I made folders (in a safe place outside the game) for each of my games. When I want to play Legacy, I put the Legacy save folder in and take out whatever was there. If I want to play a particular rotation, I put that one in and take the other out. I also cut down on the number of "Save as" files for each game. At one point I had about 50 for one game, which I finally decided was excessive. I keep about 10 now, but if I wanted to keep more, I'd move them out of the active Saves folder.

I blog my Legacy, so once I've used the photos I move them to a separate folder outside the game as well.

As I said, I have no documented proof that doing any of this improved my load time, but it sure seems like it did.

DarkAmaranth1966

Too many saves does seem to slow loading but, that's all it does. Thumbs will be re downloaded when you visit the gallery so, removing them just chews up bandwidth. The more CC and mods you have, the longer it will take to load into lots, but that's your choice to have those things in your game.

SimPoseyYum

Thanks, @MsPhy and @DarkAmaranth1966. I don't have any mods or CC and have never downloaded anything from the Gallery. Heck, I've only looked at it, may 4-5 times, tops . So, for me personally, that's not a contributing factor right now, but it's really good info to know. Thanks!

That's a good idea, MsPhy about moving saves. Thanks for the suggestion!

Oh, how I wish I could cut these dadblamed loading screen times. Or maybe just eliminate them altogether (yeah, wishful thinking, I know ).