Wanted for SoW: Resume mission feature

[julian265]

Regarding offline missions/campaigns...

Take this scenario - you've warmed up your engine, done your checks, taken off, and followed your map to the target. It's taken an hour to fly there, not counting the stuff on the ground. Suddenly the action starts - you spot bandits and prepare to engage, when:
* the phone rings or you need to leave the computer for a while, for whatever reason, or
* your computer crashes, or
* an unseen bandit or flak kills you.

I like flying, and I like the difficulty settings turned up, start-up procedures, and a decent flight to target, so I won't simply settle for quick missions. But I can't say I enjoy repeating the whole 1+ hour uneventful flight to the target again and again, when a combination of computer crashes (only with RoF for me...) or deaths makes them necessary to pass the mission.

I can say that this situation has caused me to walk away from a few campaigns, even a flight sim for a period, or indefinitely in the case of DCS:BS (OK, repetitious targeting and firing of missiles, like addressing and sending emails didn't keep my attention too well either)

Wouldn't it be better if you had the *option* to resume at the last (or earlier) saved point?

It's not as if the computer isn't capable of recording everything necessary to resume later - it wouldn't need too much more than the current track recorder in IL-2.

I suggest a snapshot be taken of the units and conditions every 10 minutes, and automatically save them until you exit the mission.

This is a feature that has been missing from all the flight sims I've flown, and one which I believe would aid the longevity of a sim, by removing the tedium of repeating the slow bits of a mission. Don't get me wrong, I like a long mission the first time around, but not the need to restart from the beginning.

What do you reckon?

[KaHzModAn]

You can do that in FSX, but FSX is basically only uneventfull flights

I agree i'd like that even if, like you, i like difficulty.
and it definitly should'nt be too hard to implement using tracks

But it had a bad side effect on me with Silent Hunter serie, since you can save anytime you want, sometimes i can't restrain myself (when you have been scanning the blue for 2h without spotting anything) from saving just before i fire a torpedo, and i reload if i miss or if something goes wrong...

it's completely my fault but it does remove a lot of the fun too...
-go to intercept a convoy
-save
-approach without being seen (reload if wrong interception course)
-save
-fire torpedo (reload if missed)
-save
...

[zapatista]

Originally Posted by julian265

Wouldn't it be better if you had the *option* to resume at the last (or earlier) saved point?

this has in the past been repeatedly requested from oleg to include in BoB, and i agree it is very much needed (except the fake real crowd usually starts complaining in these discussions, failing to grasp it would be an OPTION to use or not use and they can still do whatever they choose)

many games have this feature, including 1e person shooters etc, where you can save a "resume" point after yo have passed a tough series of challenges so you can resume from there on and dont always need to boringly replay the same sequence to get to that same point of play on your next day of gaming.

the good news is that oleg has indicated he has taken this on board, no formal confirmation yet, but i am hopeful he has included it in some form.

[julian265]

Good to hear that it's been heard by Oleg.

Perhaps the resume feature could be enabled or disabled, like all the other difficulty settings - before a mission or campaign, so you don't have to fight temptation in the air!

[BadAim]

+1 on all the above. It'd be great to not be afraid to start a long mission when I'm on call. (you know the phone will ring at the worst possible time if you do, and you'll be sitting around twiddling your thumbs if you don't!) DOH!

[Furio]

+ 1, following BadAim.
Any option that can be reasonably implemented is good and worthy for me (and should be good for anyone, as long as it remains an option).

[Blackdog_kt]

This would be terrific for flying offline campaigns over 1:1 scaled maps in a future expansion. A 6 hour escort mission to Berlin? No problem if you can save in mid-flight

[julian265]

That's a really good idea! It does seem that a somewhat easy (relative to some...) feature like this would add a good amount of enjoyment to the sim.

[Bloblast]

Save option would be good option for long mission.

[Feathered_IV]

There are a lot of scenarios that we miss out on through lack of time. A save function would make up for that a lot.