Add pause / unpause console command

[ArthurDent0x2a]

TL;DR

Add a console command that mimicks the behaviour of clicking pause / unpause button in the menu

What ?

In multiplayer games admins (and players if only_admins_can_pause_the_game is false in server settings) can pause / unpause a game by either clicking the respective button in the menu or by using the assigned keyboard shortcut (default shift+pause).

I suggest adding a possibility to the same thing from the console.

Why ?

The ability to do so via the console would enable the possibility to pause/unpause a game via RCON.

Only current way to pause a game over RCON I found is:

Code: Select all

/c game.tick_paused=true|false

This however has a few downsides:

• Players do not get a message that the game is currently paused
• It will disable achievements

[JasonC]

As an alternative; would it perhaps also work if, instead of a new command, when game.tick_paused is set, players *are* notified and it does *not* disable achievements?

If it were addressed on that end then e.g. existing mods and stuff that set game.tick_paused would also become more well-behaved.

[ssilk]

The good question here is: why do you need to pause a game as normal player?

There are many reasons for that (thinkable), I want to see them listed here, because the OP has obviously a clear idea why this is needed, but doesn’t explain them.

[SoShootMe]

As an alternative; would it perhaps also work if, instead of a new command, when game.tick_paused is set, players *are* notified and it does *not* disable achievements?

At present, "/c" always disables achievements, regardless of what you use it for (even nothing). That's easy to both understand and implement, so I think a new command makes more sense.

The good question here is: why do you need to pause a game as normal player?

The (immediate) reason was clearly given as:

The ability to do so via the console would enable the possibility to pause/unpause a game via RCON.

But the reason for wanting that is unclear. Maybe it would help with Server: automatically pause when a new player is joining.

[ssilk]

“Maybe” is the child of discussion.

[Danjen]

While not as useful for a normal player (I have my pause bound to ctrl+space so I can toggle it quickly), I can see it having some use to modders: Perhaps when debugging a complicated script, you can have it fire a pause command to freeze the game state so you can inspect things just before they break

[ArthurDent0x2a]

Sorry, I somehow missed the replies here.

The idea for this feature request came up during preparation of a LAN party. At that event we will try to do a 100% achievments run. I'll be acting as a coach / coordinator and will not necessarily be in game. I'll use a rcon script to f.e. setup permissions (i.e. disable research / hand crafting for a certain group of people) and during breaks etc. it would be nice to be able to pause the game without the need to join the game.

I figured the functionality is already there, it would just need to be exposed in a different way so I'll posted it as a suggestion.

[ssilk]

While not as useful for a normal player (I have my pause bound to ctrl+space so I can toggle it quickly), I can see it having some use to modders: Perhaps when debugging a complicated script, you can have it fire a pause command to freeze the game state so you can inspect things just before they break

That’s called a debugger. It automatically pauses every step and AFAIK it’s already included into Factorio, because otherwise there is no way to develop this game.