Pause and give orders

[phcoreilly]

Anyone got any idea why I can't pause and give orders in single player games?
I can pause using F3, but can't then queue orders.

[Alphakuh]

why should u

[XTAKK]

this is a real time strategy game

[FloosWorld]

Originally posted by Sev:

this is a real time strategy game

But nevertheless has this feature since 1999

[DMg Halt]

Yea, pausing the game in an RTS game means pausing everything. You don't get to go around and queue up a bunch of tasks, then unpause the game only to do it again as soon as you're attacked. To answer your question, "why I cant pause and give orders?" is because this is a real time strategy game. Allowing the game to function in the way you just described, would be counterproductive and change the genre of the game. You wouldn't make a Civilization game with a mode where you don't take turns would you? Makes no sense.

If you really want to be able to do this, there are ways you can emulate that effect. Such as saving the game every 5-10 minutes. Try out something, if it works, great, if not, you can always reload the game you just saved and try a different strategy.

[IVOL]

Originally posted by FloosWorld:

But nevertheless has this feature since 1999

A pause in this game is not needed so that you can slowly issue commands, but so that you can be distracted by extraneous matters without prejudice to the effectiveness of your game, for example, to answer a call.

[FloosWorld]

Originally posted by IVOL:

Originally posted by FloosWorld:

But nevertheless has this feature since 1999

A pause in this game is not needed so that you can slowly issue commands, but so that you can be distracted by extraneous matters without prejudice to the effectiveness of your game, for example, to answer a call.

I know. I rarely use the pause myself. My point is that despite being an RTS, this feature is in the game since its first version.

[mmmcheesywaffles]

Originally posted by IVOL:

Originally posted by FloosWorld:

But nevertheless has this feature since 1999

A pause in this game is not needed so that you can slowly issue commands, but so that you can be distracted by extraneous matters without prejudice to the effectiveness of your game, for example, to answer a call.

A pause if for whatever you want it to be in a Single Player game. The choice remains the players. RTS began with games that included Pause in SP just so you COULD plan and keep pace with the AI. The term RTS existed at least a few years before it was hijacked by those who think an RTS must be kept running all the time and 'tough' if you can't keep up.

I use Pause as part of my personal strategy very often. It allows me to avoid ill health through a raise in blood pressure that is both dangerous to me and wholly avoidable by using Pause. One good reason why I avoid MP games. It still requires that I can strategise.

In the very earliest strategy games players took turns as in games like Chess or Backgammon. Later as the technology developed we had games that allowed each player to take a turn but also have an element of response to immediate strategies. Games like Battle Isle and later Civ. Many of the first games to do away with Pause were less popular than those that retained it. The advantage of allowing the player to choose is that by doing so a publisher widens their market as there are many players like myself who use pause to even out the imbalance a fast AI would otherwise have over a competent, yet human, player

Personally I tend not to need or use command nesting to help me play. But I see no fault in a player using whatever means the devs include to make the game accessible to them.

[DMg Halt]

Originally posted by mmmcheesywaffles:

The advantage of allowing the player to choose is that by doing so a publisher widens their market as there are many players like myself who use pause to even out the imbalance a fast AI would otherwise have over a competent, yet human, player

Personally I tend not to need or use command nesting to help me play. But I see no fault in a player using whatever means the devs include to make the game accessible to them.

Except that's not what the OP is asking for. He wants to be able to "cheat" so to speak, which is fine, but it shouldn't be counted as actual game progress. And like you said, there's an advantage to letting the player choose, for example, if they want to use cheat codes. There's also a downside for the player though, and it's that they don't get any game achievements and campaign progress recorded to their profile, no gold trophies, nada. Whether or not they care about that stuff is a different matter.

[mmmcheesywaffles]

Originally posted by DMg Halt:

Originally posted by mmmcheesywaffles:

The advantage of allowing the player to choose is that by doing so a publisher widens their market as there are many players like myself who use pause to even out the imbalance a fast AI would otherwise have over a competent, yet human, player

Personally I tend not to need or use command nesting to help me play. But I see no fault in a player using whatever means the devs include to make the game accessible to them.

Except that's not what the OP is asking for. He wants to be able to "cheat" so to speak, which is fine, but it shouldn't be counted as actual game progress. And like you said, there's an advantage to letting the player choose, for example, if they want to use cheat codes. There's also a downside for the player though, and it's that they don't get any game achievements and campaign progress recorded to their profile, no gold trophies, nada. Whether or not they care about that stuff is a different matter.

I see no cheating in what the OP asks for. We as players remain free to choose when we apply commands presented through the game UI. Cheating is employing unofficial application of codes or commands sometimes actually defined by the Publisher.

There are several RTS games that I have played which do indeed allow nested commands to be set in a pause phase. That is not cheating if it is part of the developers optional gameplay. ie play that is available through the set up screen and not through the loading of special maps; game editing or special secret code entry.

What would be cheating imho is using a script or code to enable a 'kill' switch allowing a player to pause and kill an enemy rather than adopt a winning strategy to beat them. Enabling a player to pause then command wounded troops to fall back; other reinforcements to redirect fire and perhaps use a waypoint to skirt around say a castle or tower.... these enable a strategy rather than an overpowering control.

As a player with nearly 100 % of the achievements in AoE II HD 2013 I would hate to cheat my way to win those last achievements. Were I to cheat I could probably score the remaining achievements in less than a day. However, it may well take me another year or two.

It would appear your experience of the full range of RTS games is limited to those that do not include all the range of strategic options many games have had. Personally I find games that exclude those strategic option mentioned often lack playability and end up being overly formulaic melee fracas. Often very linear as winning strategies are often very limited.

The beauty of AoE II is that by varied triggers and pauses, a player can use skills to muster a force that can make winning easier and more fun. Eg a map may include a population limit of 125. So a clever strategist will use up that limit by making extra villagers or troops BEFORE they trigger an additional support force. That is not cheating. Cheating would be the ability to spawn extra forces regardless of pop limits and resources at any point.

[joaosantos92]

You can pause and give orders in single player, it's just that you can't see what orders were given until you unpause, that is, the queue and building foundations will only show up after you unpause.

[76561199169650260]

Originally posted by DMg Halt:

Except that's not what the OP is asking for. He wants to be able to "cheat" so to speak

And he's able to!

You make these massive, elaborate comments, yet you did not even bother to take 15 seconds to launch a quick Skirmish to verify that pausing and issuing commands in single player still works, and has worked since the game's launch.

A stunning display of ignorance and hubris.

[Frosthowl]

Damn there is a whoooole bunch of nerdgins in here, hastily skimming through dictionaries for big words.

[mmmcheesywaffles]

Originally posted by Frosthowl:

Damn there is a whoooole bunch of nerdgins in here, hastily skimming through dictionaries for big words.

I don't skim dictionaries. Nor do I need to in order to know you just invented a word ;P

Sometimes a couple of rarer words can convey a much bigger message, much better. A lifetime of learning tends to expand our vocabulary. Sometimes I, for one, forget that many players in here have not had many years of learning yet. I don't look down on those who have trouble with vocabulary, as I have big problems in other areas. I'm just grateful that I learned so many words when I was struggling to write as a child. I took up typing as my
handwriting is too poor for most people. Even with typing I have to make MANY corrections as I am actually Dyslexic.

[DMg Halt]

Originally posted by Alsvenska:

Originally posted by DMg Halt:

Except that's not what the OP is asking for. He wants to be able to "cheat" so to speak

And he's able to!

You make these massive, elaborate comments, yet you did not even bother to take 15 seconds to launch a quick Skirmish to verify that pausing and issuing commands in single player still works, and has worked since the game's launch.

A stunning display of ignorance and hubris.

Ah ok, no I didn't bother to confirm. I simply took what the OP said at face value and assumed that he knew what he was talking about. Now that someone with more experience than me has come into the conversation and pointed out to me that I was incorrect, I can admit that I was wrong, now I know.

I think you have mis-assumed that I think of myself as some authoritative source of information for AoE2 and everything it entails, when in actuality, I am just an experienced player giving their opinion. And I actually appreciate it when someone comes along to correct me if I am wrong, because I do value the truth. Thanks buddy.

[DMg Halt]

Originally posted by mmmcheesywaffles:

Sometimes a couple of rarer words can convey a much bigger message, much better. A lifetime of learning tends to expand our vocabulary. Sometimes I, for one, forget that many players in here have not had many years of learning yet. I don't look down on those who have trouble with vocabulary, as I have big problems in other areas. I'm just grateful that I learned so many words when I was struggling to write as a child. I took up typing as my
handwriting is too poor for most people. Even with typing I have to make MANY corrections as I am actually Dyslexic.

Thesaurus is a good one XD