Well done inibuilds I have publicly criticised many times for lack of Autosave . Even though Asobo are yet to implement such a thing they have implemented on there A350 keeping up with the likes of PMDG and Leonardo . The bad news is I said if they implemented it I would be as good as my word and purchase . This is going to hit my budget this month . Congratulations team to listening to feedback . 5 stars
I don’t have the A350, so would you mind explaining what this AutoSave function is, please?
Auotsave functionality is whereby the aircraft will at a set period chosen by the user (5 mins, 10 mins etc.) create a save file/scenario, which you can then recall. So say you’re completing a 10 hour long haul and 9 hours in you experience an issue, you can load into one of the autosave scenarios from before you experienced an issue to continue your flight. iniBuilds have taken this one step further, and allow you to create your own custom save scenarios, so lets say you want to practice single engine landings, you can just set up the scenario in the sim, create a custom save, and then load into that same scenario as many times as you like to practice.
There is already functionality within MSFS to load a save file which will recall information such as location, altitude, speed etc. however the complicated part is that when flying modern day airliners you also have a flight plan etc. that will need to be reloaded. 3rd party developers like PMDG have had a system in place for this using custom panel states for many years (pre-MSFS).
iniBuilds have produced a small video here showcasing the feature in their A350:
iniBuilds A350 Airliner Autosave | Microsoft Flight Simulator
Ah, so it’s an .flt file? Okay, that makes sense. I used that a few times in 2020, using it as a way of spawning where I want, C&D on the ground. I’ve not looked at that in 2024, and wouldn’t need to for that usage case as 2024 supports C&D anywhere now.
I’m unsure exactly how iniBuilds are doing it and whether it is a .flt file, for PMDG I’m pretty sure it’s a .pln file. With PMDG aircraft you’d need a compatible software such as Volanta or FSUIPC to automatically trigger a save file to be made at a set interval, whilst with the new iniBuilds implementation it’s all automatically done by the aircraft as you can see in the video!
Now if only there was less need for saving an Ini airliner flight in progress, compared to say a PMDG airliner?
It does kind of read as tacit admission that bad things are likely to happen.
I’m fairly certain iniBuilds haven’t implemented it as an excuse to not fix errors users are experiencing, in fact they reinforced their commitment to continue to improve the product during their recent Developer Livestream. The A350 is only just over a month since launch and has already had 5 pretty sizeable updates. Those of us who conduct long haul flights know how frustrating it is when anything gets in the way of completing that flight… I’ll never forget when my cat jumped up on my desk once during a long flight and pressed a few keys with their paws, causing my flight to lose control. There’s all sorts of scenarios that an autosave functionality can help with!
I think comparing it to PMDG who’s framework for the products they’re releasing in MSFS has existed for many years now (again pre-MSFS 2020 launch), is a little bit of an unfair comparison to a product only released this calendar year.
I usually go with the maxim “If they are okay to sell it for money then we are okay to criticise it.”, but I take your point about timescales. But then that does boil down to “So at what timescale after launch does it become acceptable to criticise?” For me, that’s the point at which the money leaves my account.
I will repeat well done to inibuild , congratulations to them . This is not about reliability many of us cannot complete a long haul flight in one sitting . So this is absolutely vital for people like me to enjoy the hobby. I have been getting to the point of quitting the hobby over this. Chewy PMDG saves two files including the panel state and .flt file . FSUIPC and Volanta can autosave . Also flight save24 on simmarket can do this with 2024 compatibility . Finally to keep the weather the same requires active sky on historic mode. Alternatively just a great way of resuming if you expeience a CTD definately a possibility with 2024 until matures. Not great if you have plowed in 16 hrs touch down and have a streaming problem.