Having the option to pause during a single player game. Age of Empires IV

Greetings Age of Empires community, this is my first discussion. I have a concern, and that is that I prefer to play single player games, but I like to pause, and while I move the camera and execute commands with my units to feel on par with the AI. However, in Age of Empires IV it seems to me that this cannot be done, and this is one of the reasons why I have not been so keen to play this title, because the AI ​​outperforms me even in the easiest games. I do not feel comfortable. And it seems to me that the developers have not said anything about it. I understand if there are those who don’t want multiplayer to be paused, but I’m only talking about skirmishes and campaign matches. Does anyone know if the studio has mentioned this?
In advance thank you very much for your attention.

8 Likes

You can pause, I do it all the time (just hit ESC). What you CAN’T do is interact with your units while in pause mode.

This is an interesting request for sure but most RTS I have played behave in the same way. Just out of curiosity, is there a particular RTS you’re coming from that allows this sort of “active pause”?

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Greetings Eric.
Well look, yes, I am aware that you can pause with ESC, but what I really want is to be able to move the camera while I am paused and execute commands with my units. You ask me for any RTS that allows this active pause, and well, let me inform you that almost all the RTS that I have played allow it. Age of Empires IV is the only one that doesn’t have it. I’m talking about Age of Empires II Definitive Edition, Age of Mythology, Age of Empires III and 0AD too. That’s why I would like to see it in Age IV as well.
The key for this in the other RTS is the “Inter Pause” key, located above the arrows.

4 Likes

Completely agree, pausing and issuing orders in SP games is absolutely needed in AoE4. This feature has been in every AoE game so far, there is no excuse. Relic needs to add it ASAP!

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100% agree! Pause to position and give orders is ESSENTIAL to enjoying a single player game (of course not in multiplayer). Especially if fighting multiple fronts. This was available in previous versions of AoE, and both CoH games (my all-time favorites). I WILL NOT BUY THIS GAME UNTIL THIS OPTION IS AVAILABLE. If you want me to pay full price add this small thing in. It is a deal breaker for me - non-negotiable - and I will not be shamed into playing single player games at a multiplayer pace. Shame on relic. Fix it. Of course, I have to follow community rules when playing multiplayer, but DO NOT try to control how I want to play single player. Give me freedom to enjoy the game my way.

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What the heck. Seriously … I get not having pause in multiplayer, but this game was pitched to me as a kind of sim. The single player challenges are nearly impossible to get medals on (especially “gold”) without the ability to stop and get bearings, figure out what the next move is, etc … and what about people with processing or more challenging dis-ability? Total garbage.

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the SP chalenges are definitely possible, even to obtain gold, without “active pause”

it would be nice niche feauture, but the game does not need it

Niche? I don’t think so. Literally every other strategy game I’ve ever played allows for pause to coordinate movements.

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these strategy games You have played were probably designated to play with “active pause”

The classic RTS formula (Dune, Command & Conquer, Warcraft, Starcraft, Age of Empires) with base building do work without that - these games are designated to play in “real-time”

If You consider Age of Empires 4 as “Total Garbage”, because it does not have “active pause”, than this game is just not for You, the game is fine without it

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AoE 1, 2, 3 and Myth had active pause for SP. Even if you won’t use it, it’s definitely a QOL feature worth adding as it makes the game more inclusive for other playstyles.

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I love pausing the game to have a quick analysis of the situation, so I can figure out what’s the best move. Always did that in all the AoEs, in IV I have to improvise and check the replay later, and that’s surely awkward and time consuming, or save and load often to try other things. So totally a lower QoL for me in that regard. The funny thing is that it would be an easy thing to implement.

Well I agree, it would be nice feature, I would even welcome it

I react to the people, who claim, that is “esential” feature for RTS, or the game is “total garbage” without that

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I bought this game a couple weeks ago, then realized it had no useful single player Pause feature… so I returned it. I am an instant buyer if they ever add this small feature, but not without it.

need pause button really for campaings