Out-of-the box idea: Auto-Pause

[Thomm]

Playing real-time under mission duration time constraints can lead to frequent pausing not so much for perfecting coordination of movement, but simply for saving precious game time.

The easiest way to avoid this problem (having to press Esc all the time) would be to make the missions last longer, or perhaps placing no time limit on them.

Another way would be to pause the game automatically as soon as a path is plotted or a target is designated, and un-pause it as soon as this process is finished.

Just an idea I had when fiddling with Esc all the time!

Best regards,

Thomm

[Pandur]

The easiest way to avoid this problem (having to press Esc all the time) would be to make the missions last longer, or perhaps placing no time limit on them.

thats no problem, thats the turn limit!

i find the current scenarios even too long. mostly i have all objectives or iam done 30 tunrs befor the end.

i mean i could just sit and peper everyting to dust from far away so much time we allready have.

every battle is at least 60(except QB´s) turns going up to 120 turns wich have to be ALL the time you need

i dont like to say this, but if someone cant handle RT, as me, he should play WEGO, as me.

[Thomm]

So do you like my idea or not?

Best regards,

Thomm

[Pandur]

if your idea was to shorten the time of battles a couple of tuns to make the ending worth anything and not a boring "i sit and let turns run out till the battle ends" thingy.

iam all for it!

if it wasnt, unfortunately

EDIT:

i dont want to sound ignorant

if it is possible to remove time limit JUST for RT, iam all for it too. but WEGO with the current time limit or none at all is a bit boring to the end. the battles are allready tailored to be played in RT as i can see when playing in WEGO mode, and in my tase they dont need to be any longer.

[Thomm]

Aha. Simply put we have the following dilemma:

* time limit too short for slow-paced real time action (as perceived by myself),

* time limit too long for WeGo (as perceived by Pandur.)

Again, my problems can - to an extent - be diminished by repeated pausing, but this is a little bit tedious, thus my original auto-pause proposal. Note, that this is about comfort, not lack of functionality.

About the WeGo issue. Hmmm. Perhaps we need indeed different time limits in RT and WeGo?!

Best regards,

Thomm

[Pandur]

About the WeGo issue. Hmmm. Perhaps we need indeed different time limits in RT and WeGo?!

as example, i dont know if you played this scenario in RT allready.

i played the "Al Amarah" scenario yesterday, wich is a 90 minutes scenario. at minute 41 i just need to cross a save street and touch the last ojective(unfortunately this turn allways crashes ).

than i could watch 49 minutes how nothing happens. yes i could go and hunt down some remains but that could get me casualties eventually so i defend in place.

in RT, where time is runing out of your hands even while you admire the sight, i can understand that someone simply needs more time to do the same.

so, if RT would get more time or no time limit(wich would be unfair in MP vs. an understrenth defender), its ok as long as WEGO doesnt get more time limit as it allready has.

[JasonC]

Just use the ceasefire feature, if you have a lot of turns left but figure the action is over.

As for pausing real time, to me the biggest use of it would be to do TCP-IP in "virtual we go mode". Meaning, put it in veteran setting (so orders can be entered while paused), and both players agree beforehand to only enter orders while it is paused, and to pause every 60 seconds. Presto, no second view slow-down, no giant file sizes to transfer, etc.

So yeah, I'd use an auto-pause feature, and it would be less clumsy to me than the present we-go set up.

[Thomm]

JasonC,

I am not so sure if we are writing about the same kind of auto-pause.

My original proposal was to auto-pause in single player/real time as soon as I press 'B' or 'G' (or similar hotkeys that will, hopefully, be brought back). A little idea that lets one plot a path without loss of precious mission time.

Best regards,

Thomm

[Pandur]

hm, the ceasefire thingy!? i never used that, does that just end the battle in a way it would end when the turns are over!? means ther comes the AAR and the battle is WON or LOST or is it saying both sides agreed to a cease fire and thats it...!?

as for "recreated WEGO in TCP/ip"

i still dont know till now if there is a "pause" in RT multiplayer currently. becouse i dont think there is and to get a "pause" wich can be activated by "both" players independently wont make it into he game i think.

i more hope for a TCPip/WEGO substitute by BFC with "fixed and uncontolable" pause every 60 or 30 seconds.

the 30 seconds arent a must have but with the faster changeing envoirement i think it could make sense to be able to set if you like 60 or 30 sekonds turns.

[Mud]

Auto-pause on the arrival of reinforcements would also make sense -- especially since there's no guarantee that the reinforcements aren't immediately taking fire, the controlling player might be busy elsewhere, and there's no mini-map or message log to indicate a problem.

Aside from that... having the ability to customize one panel of 'frequently-used' hotkeys to avoid panel-flipping would be nice. 'Target' and a few other commands ('quick', 'reverse', 'fast', 'pop smoke' come to mind) might be used much more often than others when things get hairy, for instance.

[MikeyD]

'Out-of-the-box' is the operative phrase in this discussion. Playing Realtime while still learning the camera controls can be a bit of a pain. But eventually the camera and menu controls become entirely second nature and your need for frequent pauses drops GREATLY! if it weren't for occassional urges to visit the refrigerator during gameplay it would currently take me not much more than 1 hour to get through a 1 hour game.

[MarkEzra]

Originally posted by Pandur:

[QB] hm, the ceasefire thingy!? i never used that, does that just end the battle in a way it would end when the turns are over!? means ther comes the AAR and the battle is WON or LOST or is it saying both sides agreed to a cease fire and thats it...!?

That's about right. Remember, too, the cease fire is actually a request so the AI can ignore you if it still has enough forces to tip the scales it's way. I use it a lot just to move the game along...But I'm not too hung up on the win/lose thing when it comes to the AI.

[Platoon Crusher]

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.

[Pandur]

They use a system that you can tailor the events that will make the game pause to your personal preference.

thats right! but the only ones i can think of right now are E5 and its successor 7.62 and the new UFO:aftermath/aftershock etc parts.

thats all squad based genre...i think that wouldnt be easy to do the same with much more squads.

also they implemented this sytem to have a realtime engine without realtime chaos(in case of E5). thats a JA2 successor and isnt playable in realtim due to too much stress.

[MikeyD]

About Cease Fire request. I'm pleased to say against the AI cease-fire's pretty much guaranteed to end the game, unlike that annoying CMx1 AI habit of ignoring your requests! Its pretty much an 'end in place' command without the indignity of having to surrender and with the ability to visit the untainted after-game map.

That's against the AI. Against a human opponent? The decision's no doubt still up to him in that case.

[MarkEzra]

Originally posted by MikeyD:

About Cease Fire request. I'm pleased to say against the AI cease-fire's pretty much guaranteed to end the game, unlike that annoying CMx1 AI habit of ignoring your requests! Its pretty much an 'end in place' command without the indignity of having to surrender and with the ability to visit the untainted after-game map.

That's against the AI. Against a human opponent? The decision's no doubt still up to him in that case.

Well that is new... In set up mode I just read the cease fire request pop-up stating the computer will except. I stand corrected. That works much better as an end of game routine against the AI

[Thomm]

Originally posted by Mud:

Auto-pause on the arrival of reinforcements would also make sense

Great idea!

I tend to miss those regularly!

Best regards,

Thomm

[jomni]

Originally posted by Rollstoy:

JasonC,

I am not so sure if we are writing about the same kind of auto-pause.

My original proposal was to auto-pause in single player/real time as soon as I press 'B' or 'G' (or similar hotkeys that will, hopefully, be brought back). A little idea that lets one plot a path without loss of precious mission time.

Best regards,

Thomm

So far, I find the mission lengths adequate despite playing in real time. For your auto-pause suggestion , I might find it annoying. You can actually pause the game and give commands to everyone yourself (except in Elite). I would like to do the pausing myself. Hope they give the option to pause on elite.

[Thomm]

Several options are always preferable!