Game Saving Remains Frustratingly Inefficient in 2025
In the realm of gaming, one of the most laborious tasks is managing saves, a process that involves opening the full save menu, creating a new save, and adding it to the list. However, for Fallout: New Vegas players, this tedious chore is a thing of the past, thanks to the Auto-Save Manager (ASM) developed by IStewieAI.
Joshua Wolens, a seasoned game writer with a penchant for CRPGs, immersive sims, and games with ambitious designs, argues that a brighter saving future, with more customisable game saves, is within reach and should be pursued. Wolens, who has contributed to Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times, expresses disappointment at the limited save options in new games, with only one autosave and one quicksave typically available.
The ASM for Fallout: New Vegas offers numerous and robust options for game saves. Players can set the frequency of autosaves, change what X means, and have multiple autosaves. Moreover, they can set the number of quicksaves and generate templated names for saves. This level of customisation is a far cry from the save freedom found in regular games.
However, mainstream games have generally not adopted deeply customizable autosave features like those in mods such as IStewieAI's Auto-Save Manager primarily due to the complexity, resource constraints, and design choices involved in integrating such flexible systems natively.
Development and Testing Complexity: Adding highly customizable autosave options requires additional development resources to implement robust systems that work flawlessly across all gameplay scenarios without causing bugs or performance issues.
Performance and Stability Concerns: Autosave functionality can impact game performance especially if saving occurs frequently or at inopportune times. Developers often prefer controlled save points or scripted autosaves to maintain smooth gameplay and avoid corruption or crashes.
Design Philosophy and Player Experience: Many developers deliberately design save systems to shape player experience, such as using save points or limited autosaves to add challenge or suspense. A fully customizable autosave system allows very granular control that could reduce intended game tension or difficulty.
Scope and Prioritization: For mainstream titles, the priority is often on core gameplay, graphics, narrative, and stability over highly flexible quality-of-life features. Mods like IStewieAI’s Auto-Save Manager are community-driven and focused precisely on filling these niche UX gaps, which official games typically do not target unless there is strong demand.
Platform Constraints: Autosave complexity can be limited by platform requirements (e.g., consoles with limited storage or different save APIs), whereas PC mods like those for Fallout: New Vegas operate in a more open environment allowing extensive customization.
While some recent mainstream releases have added basic autosave features for convenience, the highly granular customization seen in mods remains rare because it requires a greater development investment and careful balancing that official studios often avoid or implement in a simplified form.
In light of this, Wolens encourages readers to demand better save options in games. He even proposes a radical solution: bringing back black and white keys on Xbox gamepads to function as quicksave and quickload buttons for TV play.
Looking back, Wolens' first memory is playing Quake 2 on the family computer at a young age. His strong opinion about Deus Ex: Invisible War, however, remains a mystery, as he does not specify whether it is positive or negative.
For those seeking the best gaming equipment to enjoy customisable game saves, Wolens includes a list of recommendations for the best gaming laptops, PCs, handheld gaming PCs, mini PCs, and VR headsets.
In conclusion, while mainstream games may not yet offer the level of customisability found in mods like IStewieAI’s Auto-Save Manager for Fallout: New Vegas, the future of gaming could see a shift towards more player-driven customisation. As gamers, it is essential to voice our demands for better save options and push developers to prioritise this quality-of-life feature.
- Joshua Wolens suggests that more customizable game saves, similar to what is offered by the Auto-Save Manager (ASM) for Fallout: New Vegas, could be a reality in the future.
- Due to the complexity, resource constraints, and design choices involved in integrating flexible autosave features, mainstream games have not adopted deeply customizable autosave systems like those found in mods.
- To enjoy the benefits of customizable game saves, Wolens recommends seeking out the best gaming equipment, such as laptops, PCs, handheld gaming PCs, mini PCs, and VR headsets.
- Moreover, to push for a shift towards more player-driven customization in mainstream games, Wolens encourages readers to demand better save options from developers.
