There are other games that use auto-pause features out there for example. They may not be your kind of game, but they have good features. They use a system that you can tailor the events that will make the game pause to your personal preference. Reasons like, "enemy comes into view" or "your unit hit by enemy fire" or "one of your units are idle and need an order" etc. You should be able to pick and choose wich events will trigger a pause also, so your game isn't always pausing for things "you" don't considder valid.