Loading item textures takes ages

[Wuzzy]

Hi!
I noticed a problem/annoyance with mods and subgames which have a large amount of image files and item textures. When the setting “preload item visual” is enabled, loading all the item textures takes very long, compared to all the other stuff which is done while loading.

I also noticed that all textures are loaded again for every session you start. So if you quit the world (but not Minetest), then join in the same world just seconds after, Minetest starts to load all textures again. :-(

I hope there could be made some optimizations. Maybe some sort of caching would help. I don't know.

Setting the setting “preload item visuals” is a workaround, but this just moves loading the item textures to a different time in the game. It is really annoying to see all the flashing item icons if you open the inventory for the first time.