I'm experiencing crashes when importing saved structures into a park I'm working on.

The structures loaded correctly when testing with an empty park, and I've been using the same CSO sets for a long time, so I don't think the structures themselves is the issue.

The structure that I was trying to import is quite big (about 10 x 12), so I've tried splitting it into a multiple smaller files, but the game still crashed. I then tried removing some random objects in the park (walls, path covers, etc.), I was then able to import part 1, but the game crashed again when loading part 2. This makes me wonder if my park simply has too many objects in it and it was exceeding some sort of limit.

The size of my park file is about 7.75 MB. I know the game tends to struggle with larger parks, though I've always thought "large" is more like ~15 MB. Prior to this, the game has been very stable and I rarely had crashes.

I've tried using Large Address Aware, Park Cleanup, and turning off shadows, unfortunately none helped.

If anyone has experienced similar issues, I'd appreciate advice. Thanks!

Hmm, this one has me stumped. You said the structure(s) loads into an empty park without any problem, and you've tried all the usual things:

Shadows off- check. Large Address Aware- check. Park CleanUp- check.

All I can think of is double-checking that the game's .exe file is actually being used by Large Address Aware (it can be a little confusing). If the game isn't making use of the extra memory that LAA enables, I can see how that would let you load the structure into a blank park but not into a park that is already near the upper memory size.

I don't think there is a hard limit really...it depends on what your computer can handle in large part, but every machine starts lagging and having problems at some point...usually maxing at 15 MB..

14 hours ago, JB said:

Hmm, this one has me stumped. You said the structure(s) loads into an empty park without any problem, and you've tried all the usual things:

Shadows off- check. Large Address Aware- check. Park CleanUp- check.

All I can think of is double-checking that the game's .exe file is actually being used by Large Address Aware (it can be a little confusing). If the game isn't making use of the extra memory that LAA enables, I can see how that would let you load the structure into a blank park but not into a park that is already near the upper memory size.

Unless I've missed something very obvious, I do think Large Address Aware is enabled. I tried switching my RCT3.exe to a backup version that doesn't have LAA enabled, and the game couldn't even load the park without crashing.

14 hours ago, Wabigbear said:

I don't think there is a hard limit really...it depends on what your computer can handle in large part, but every machine starts lagging and having problems at some point...usually maxing at 15 MB..

To be honest, I was very surprised my park was big enough to be causing issues. I've been keeping an eye on the file size of my park, I thought it would be fine if it didn't exceed 10 MB. I was watching Silvarret's youtube videos, some of his projects like Eurasia Gardens and Rose Gardens were quite extensive with plenty of CSOs. I don't think my park was anywhere as big or complex as his.

It seems the only way to salvage the file might be to delete some of the pre-existing objects to make room for new ones. Either way, thank you both for your insight.🙂

You may well have done some of these, but here's some ways to check that LAA is working:

To check if Large Address Aware (LAA) is enabled and working on an executable, you must inspect the application's headers or monitor its active virtual memory allocation. [1, 2]

Because LAA is just an internal system flag embedded in the file's Portable Executable (PE) header, Windows does not show its status in the standard Task Manager properties. [1, 2]

Here are the most effective ways to check if the flag is active and working properly.

Method 1: Using the Visual Studio Command Line (Most Accurate)

If you have Visual Studio or the Windows SDK installed, you can use the built-in developer tools to read the file headers directly. [1, 2]

1. Open the Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio via your Windows Start Menu.

2. Navigate to the directory containing your .exe file by using the cd command.

3. Run the following command:

   cmd

   dumpbin /headers "your_game_or_app.exe" | more
   

   Use code with caution.

4. Look through the output for the FILE HEADER VALUES section.

5. How to verify: If LAA is active, you will explicitly see this exact line listed under the characteristics:
   Application can handle large (>2GB) addresses [1]

Method 2: Using Free Third-Party Tools (Easiest)

If you do not have Visual Studio, you can use specialized tools designed to read or apply the patch. [1]

• Large Address Aware Tool by TechPowerUp: Download and open the TechPowerUp LAA tool. Select your executable. The tool will display a checklist interface where a checkmark or a "True" status indicates that the application is already patched. [1, 2]

• 4GB Patch by NT Core: If you use the NT Core 4GB Patch tool to select your .exe, it will automatically analyze the file. If it tells you "Executable successfully patched," it was not active before. If it prompts you that it is already modified, the flag is working.

Method 3: Verifying if it is Actually Working (Live Memory Test)

Even if the flag is set in the header, you want to ensure Windows is honoring it and giving the app more memory. You can monitor this dynamically as the application runs: [1]

1. Download Process Explorer from official Microsoft Sysinternals.

2. Launch your application or game, then open Process Explorer.

3. Locate your application's .exe in the list, right-click the top columns bar, and click Select Columns.

4. Under the Process Memory tab, check the box for Virtual Size. Click OK.

5. Play your game or run your application until it loads heavy assets (mods, large database queries).

6. How to verify: Watch the Virtual Size column. If the memory usage successfully climbs past 2.0 GB (2,048 MB) without crashing, LAA is active and functioning perfectly. Non-LAA 32-bit applications will instantly crash with an "Out of Memory" or "Access Violation" error the exact moment they try to pass the 2 GB threshold. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Crucial Troubleshooting Requirements

• 64-Bit Executables: If your application is native 64-bit (x64), it is Large Address Aware by default. This check is strictly necessary for legacy 32-bit (x86) applications. [1, 2]

• Steam Executables: Standard Steam game .exe files are heavily DRM-protected. Directly patching or checking them will fail or revert when launched through Steam. You must use a DRM-free or unencrypted .exe variant for the patch to permanently stay active. [1]

I noted the very last item - is this a standard Steam version of the game or run from disc? It's been so long since I played RCT3 that I've forgotten much of this stuff...

There is not a limit to objects. As others have said, it will affect how the game behaves in terms of lagging. @Wabigbear did share the common tools we use in the RCT3 realm.

On 6/28/2026 at 5:57 AM, Wabigbear said:

You may well have done some of these, but here's some ways to check that LAA is working:

To check if Large Address Aware (LAA) is enabled and working on an executable, you must inspect the application's headers or monitor its active virtual memory allocation. [1, 2]

Because LAA is just an internal system flag embedded in the file's Portable Executable (PE) header, Windows does not show its status in the standard Task Manager properties. [1, 2]

Here are the most effective ways to check if the flag is active and working properly.

Method 1: Using the Visual Studio Command Line (Most Accurate)

If you have Visual Studio or the Windows SDK installed, you can use the built-in developer tools to read the file headers directly. [1, 2]

1. Open the Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio via your Windows Start Menu.

2. Navigate to the directory containing your .exe file by using the cd command.

3. Run the following command:

   cmd

   dumpbin /headers "your_game_or_app.exe" | more
   

   Use code with caution.

4. Look through the output for the FILE HEADER VALUES section.

5. How to verify: If LAA is active, you will explicitly see this exact line listed under the characteristics:
   Application can handle large (>2GB) addresses [1]

Method 2: Using Free Third-Party Tools (Easiest)

If you do not have Visual Studio, you can use specialized tools designed to read or apply the patch. [1]

• Large Address Aware Tool by TechPowerUp: Download and open the TechPowerUp LAA tool. Select your executable. The tool will display a checklist interface where a checkmark or a "True" status indicates that the application is already patched. [1, 2]

• 4GB Patch by NT Core: If you use the NT Core 4GB Patch tool to select your .exe, it will automatically analyze the file. If it tells you "Executable successfully patched," it was not active before. If it prompts you that it is already modified, the flag is working.

Method 3: Verifying if it is Actually Working (Live Memory Test)

Even if the flag is set in the header, you want to ensure Windows is honoring it and giving the app more memory. You can monitor this dynamically as the application runs: [1]

1. Download Process Explorer from official Microsoft Sysinternals.

2. Launch your application or game, then open Process Explorer.

3. Locate your application's .exe in the list, right-click the top columns bar, and click Select Columns.

4. Under the Process Memory tab, check the box for Virtual Size. Click OK.

5. Play your game or run your application until it loads heavy assets (mods, large database queries).

6. How to verify: Watch the Virtual Size column. If the memory usage successfully climbs past 2.0 GB (2,048 MB) without crashing, LAA is active and functioning perfectly. Non-LAA 32-bit applications will instantly crash with an "Out of Memory" or "Access Violation" error the exact moment they try to pass the 2 GB threshold. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Crucial Troubleshooting Requirements

• 64-Bit Executables: If your application is native 64-bit (x64), it is Large Address Aware by default. This check is strictly necessary for legacy 32-bit (x86) applications. [1, 2]

• Steam Executables: Standard Steam game .exe files are heavily DRM-protected. Directly patching or checking them will fail or revert when launched through Steam. You must use a DRM-free or unencrypted .exe variant for the patch to permanently stay active. [1]

Thank you for the extremely detailed guide! I checked using Developer Command Prompt and the game indeed has LAA enabled. Here are the results:

Dump of file RCT3.exe

PE signature found

File Type: EXECUTABLE IMAGE

FILE HEADER VALUES
14C machine (x86)
4 number of sections
5F316745 time date stamp Mon Aug 10 08:27:01 2020
0 file pointer to symbol table
0 number of symbols
E0 size of optional header
123 characteristics
Relocations stripped
Executable
Application can handle large (>2GB) addresses
32 bit word machine

OPTIONAL HEADER VALUES
10B magic # (PE32)
11.00 linker version
C3DC00 size of code
5D4200 size of initialized data
0 size of uninitialized

On 6/28/2026 at 5:58 AM, Wabigbear said:

I noted the very last item - is this a standard Steam version of the game or run from disc? It's been so long since I played RCT3 that I've forgotten much of this stuff...

My game is the Complete Edition from Epic Games (btw, the game is available for free right now in case anyone doesn't have it yet). Neither Steam nor Epic's own launcher is needed to launch the game, so I don't think it would be an issue.