I thought I'd run Elite tonight.

[veryDead]

There was a patch on the 24th.

Download.

Launch.

Uh.
Bindings. Bindings?
Yeah dunno where my back up is. Was.
Whatever.

The Patch doesn't backup your bindings for you does it?

No.

I'm still gone then.

See ya.

There is a straightforward method to guarantee your binds are never overwritten. Locate the Custom binds file. Usually located in:

/Users/Username/AppData/Local/Frontier Developments/Elite Dangerous/Options/Bindings/Custom.binds

Create a new bind file by copying Custom.binds to a new filename, for example "My-X55-Custom 1.0.binds". Then open the new bind file in a text editor, and find the line:

<Root>

and change it to:

<Root PresetName="My-X55-Custom 1.0" MajorVersion="0" MinorVersion="0">

Then save it again.

Now when you open Elite Dangerous, go to the Options >> Controls and select your custom bind file named "My-X55-Custom 1.0" from the dropdown list and save the changes. Next, edit the controls in Elite as you want and save your changes again. Then, just to be paranoid, go back to the folder where your custom bindings are, and make a backup of it and keep it somewhere that you won't forget, like the main directory of your Steam games library or Elite main folder.

That's it. Your custom file will NEVER be overwritten by any updates. Ever. Ever Ever.

I've used this method for years and have not lost a single custom bind setting from any update.

 

[Bill Clement]

"I found myself desperately missing flying my old Blenheim MkIV bomber around the Cliffs of Dover.
And I thought I would set that up when I got back from the morning’s drive. "

Tally ho, that reminds me of something....Il-2 CoD. But i suppose i have the same problem with Il-2, that you have with Elite. I bought a new HOTAS and just the thought of setting this baby up demotivates me a bit.

Yeah, I hear that. With me it's a new joystick. I tested it, but just enough to make sure it works. The need to sort out everything I've been using for the last (er, how many? ) years was just too daunting. I will do it, maybe over the Easter weekend? But for now it's a hassle I can do without.

I do feel for Ralph, though...

Happened to me.

I *had* mine backed up. No good, after restoring

Am still finding missing bindings.

I got less sympathy from the forum than you did. It's always the users fault.

I don't think it's the user most of the time. Most of us have just been lucky enough to not need to go rooting through the game files. Some self identified techies seem to confuse 'I've never had a problem' with 'I'm so PC literate and competent that it's never happened to me'.

 

[Spaceman Si]

I don't think it's the user most of the time. Most of us have just been lucky enough to not need to go rooting through the game files. Some self identified techies seem to confuse 'I've never had a problem' with 'I'm so PC literate and competent that it's never happened to me'.

No one should have to go editing xml files and making manual copies of them elsewhere. This should be pretty basic stuff for development!

I have sometimes had issues with bindings being lost, though not every time a patch hits. It seems a bit random. Because I have done the requisite fiddling with xml headers to name the bind set within the xml file individually, and then taken copies of those files to another drive, I've never actually lost anything; but I'm always left with a vague sense of disquiet when updating...

One thing that I'm pondering is if there is a connection with bind file loss and when the game "validates files"... If you make new copies of your bind files in the game directory (e.g "My_T16000_awesome_binds.xml" ) and don't edit the xml header to name it there to match, I'm wondering if the file validation process considers it non-game and removes it..? That would certainly have fitted one occasion I lost binds, though I'm by no means certain this is consistent.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

But any sense of pride and achievement has gone for me.

This has vanished from the game unless you are a new player. Nothing that i once felt was an achievement in this game remains, Ive hit the ceiling and new players catch up very fast now because... 'easy'.

The satisfaction of playing Elite and working towards something is pretty much undone for me now.

 

[Deadlock-3000]

There is a straightforward method to guarantee your binds are never overwritten. Locate the Custom binds file. Usually located in:

/Users/Username/AppData/Local/Frontier Developments/Elite Dangerous/Options/Bindings/Custom.binds

Create a new bind file by copying Custom.binds to a new filename, for example "My-X55-Custom 1.0.binds". Then open the new bind file in a text editor, and find the line:

<Root>

and change it to:

<Root PresetName="My-X55-Custom 1.0" MajorVersion="0" MinorVersion="0">

Then save it again.

Now when you open Elite Dangerous, go to the Options >> Controls and select your custom bind file named "My-X55-Custom 1.0" from the dropdown list and save the changes. Next, edit the controls in Elite as you want and save your changes again. Then, just to be paranoid, go back to the folder where your custom bindings are, and make a backup of it and keep it somewhere that you won't forget, like the main directory of your Steam games library or Elite main folder.

That's it. Your custom file will NEVER be overwritten by any updates. Ever. Ever Ever.

I've used this method for years and have not lost a single custom bind setting from any update.

How incredibly straightforward and intuitive.

 

[Kubicide]

You've been here since 2015 and in that time you've made 4.5k posts.

In all that time you surely have seen and been aware of the fact that bindings sometimes get lost during an update and its best to back them up before that.

So, is the right answer that players, no matter if new or long time ones, need to understand the finite and undocumented details of updates regardless of how long they've been a customer. Or, after 4 years, is the developer still simply not considerate or aware of what's important to their customers when they release updates? What do you think the right answer is?

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I haven't lost key bindings since 2.3. Even my beta keybindings carried over. You must be doing something wrong.

 

[CAPT. Ho Chi Minge]

Of all the updates ive performed on elite i dont think ive ever backed up or needed to back up my bindings , havent ever been wiped or reset to default .. dunno why this effects some players and not others.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

How incredibly straightforward and intuitive.

All Elite players are required to have CompTia A+, Network+, Security+ certifications, an MCP, and every Cisco cert. Plus, Powershell, and scripting, and C++, and Unix.

I'm pretty sure it's in the EULA...

 

[Patrick_68000]

And, a lack of sympathy.

Oh. This is the Elite forum.

The virility of Cmdrs.

 

[Kenneth McGrew]

Any1 for OP's stuff?,without bindings ofcourse!

is it still available?

*interested

 

[Marc_Hicks]

There was a patch on the 24th.

Download.

Launch.

Uh.
Bindings. Bindings?
Yeah dunno where my back up is. Was.
Whatever.

The Patch doesn't backup your bindings for you does it?

No.

I'm still gone then.

See ya.

It did mine. Sorry to hear it messed you up .