A way to pause the game

[matan]

Just started playing, but I have a question:

Did anyone find out a way to pause the game in the middle of a conversation? I've tried pressing "escape" but the menu won't come up...

[jp-30]

Just don't select a new line?

[jeffbot]

Uhhh,
there's like a drop down, via a gear looking icon near the top left hand. It drops down the save/load, quit stuff. Doesn't that pause the game?

[matan]

I'm talking about during a time the characters actually TALK! Not during a conservation when I'm supposed to pick a dialog line (maybe the same problem also happens during cut scenes etc. but I haven't tried)

For example, Sam is talking to the rat in the hole. The rat is about to reply, then the phone rings... but I can't pause the game! escape won't make the gear drop down, and the icon for dropping the gear disappears...

[MeaningOfLife]

I'm talking about during a time the characters actually TALK! Not during a conservation when I'm supposed to pick a dialog line (maybe the same problem also happens during cut scenes etc. but I haven't tried)

For example, Sam is talking to the rat in the hole. The rat is about to reply, then the phone rings... but I can't pause the game! escape won't make the gear drop down, and the icon for dropping the gear disappears...

Yes, I was hoping there was some sort of option like olden days where a good hit of the space bar would pause the game anytime and anywhere so I can go do something else and then come back to where I left off.

[matan]

Bone had that option (you could press escape anytime, even during dialogues and cut scenes to open the menu and stop the game) and I don't know why they decided to disable it here...

I hope they'll bring it back in future versions! (because I'm a very busy person and without a pause option I'm just having to miss some of the dialogues :( )

[imedina]

I cant read english very fast, so a pause option (probably using space button) would we great.

[Erwin]

I think an option to set the speed of the subtitles would be more convenient for you. (That's another game option I haven't seen in ages. :P)

--Erwin

[Yohmi]

Just hit "alt" and voila ;)

[klucki]

Just hit "alt" and voila ;)

"Don't say voila" :p

[xChri5x]

You can't wait 2 seconds for a cutscene to finish?
Where do you live? Iraq?

[klucki]

You can't wait 2 seconds for a cutscene to finish?
Where do you live? Iraq?

"I'm sorry, I just bypassed my 'good taste' chip"

let see if anyone gets THAT obscure reference...

[IronCladChicken]

"Don't say voila" :p

Don't hit Voila! - He's had a hard life, what with his fear or French bread pizza and having one toe on each foot much bigger than any of the others - Just leave him alone on the park bench, crying into his hands & rocking to and fro -

Just casually mock and heckle him as you walk by, or hang him by his ankles from a branch in the nearest tree, maybe laugh out loud and point at him as his parents hurry past, ignoring him, embarrassed that he's their son - but don't hit him, that would just me mean.

[tabacco]

"I'm sorry, I just bypassed my 'good taste' chip"

let see if anyone gets THAT obscure reference...

Allow me to quote you a space directive, here.

[matan]

Hey, just wanted to file a formal request for Telltale to PLEEEEASE bring back the pause button (alt/escape/whatever) as it would certainly make my life ALOT easier when playing the game!

Why was it removed in episode 2?

[Jake]

Was a pause button removed? Esc pauses the game anywhere but in dialog, and always has as far as I know?

[matan]

Pausing the game not during a dialog or cut-scene is meaningless (I don't really mind max going around doing stuff while I go answer the phone/door) but in episode 1 the ALT key could pause the game anywhere (even during dialogs and cut-scene) and that is the pause button that was removed
(in episode 2 ALT does nothing)

By the way, in Bone the escape key works perfectly as it also pauses the game anywhere.

[Jake]

Ahh interesting. I didn't know "alt" was ever a supported keypress in the game.

[Nocturn]

Allow me to quote you a space directive, here.


Blink!
Red dwarf?!
I think I missed it, i have all episodes on dvd...

Space directive blabla: No crew member shall conduct oral s*x in zero gravity with false teeth (IIRC) (that's about the only one I remember on top of my head :)

Switch to red alert!
Are you sure sir? It involves changing the light bulb.

[ShaggE]

Best. Sitcom. Ever. Besides. Frasier.

"He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer
More reliable than a garden strimmer
He's never been mistaken for Yul Brynner
He's not bald and his head doesn't glimmer"

[Benni]

Hitting <Alt> freezes an immense amount of programs, even games, due to reservation for menus.

[Erwin]

Hehe, indeed. I think this ALT key really isn't a supported keypress in Ep. 1.

--Erwin

[matan]

Hmm. Well, whatever's the reason for it working in episode 1, even if it's not supported in it, it's ANTI-SUPPORTED starting from episode 2 :)

[Dangerzone]

i use a ghetto way of pausing the game..... i have a widescreen laptop, so i run the game in a window to prevent the game from getting distorted (and i personally do not mind this) and i just click outside the game window.... it pauses the game, and freezes the image in screen

you can also slowly move the mouse around the game window when it is paused to play the game animation in slow motion, it was cool to watch the episode 5 reality 2.0 crash in slow motion.... but as long as the mouse is idle, the game will be paused

you just click the game window to restore it and have it play normal once again....

but yeah, an "actual" button that pauses the game during a cut scene would be cool.... a slow motion button that can do what the "ghetto pause" feature can do would be cool as well

P.S. if that ghetto pause thing suddenly dissappers.... i will be pissed, so can you please keep it in your games telltale, thanks

[Hero1]

wow red dwarf..that takes me back.. i have a autographed picture of the cat! :p the red dwarf movie is taking about as long as a new sam and max game..

[matan]

i have a widescreen laptop, so i run the game in a window to prevent the game from getting distorted

I also have a widescreen laotop, and in the beginning anything I ran in full screen was distorted and it drove me nuts. Later I found out I can configure the screen to never distort graphics. Now, when I open games in full screen, I get black bars on the sides, so the screen is not distorted. Maybe you can configure yours the same way?

[UnderTheGun]

Pausing is a pretty fundamental and basic part of any game... in any newbie game programming tutorial after you have made the "game-loop" the very next things you do are programming quiting it and pausing it.

I would assume its ommited due to a bug of some-such.... prehaps the sound files dont play well on some hardware when you start and stop them.. or somthing of the like.. prehaps

[marsan]

could be, because when you pause the game with alt in the first episode, it doesn't really pause. It just slows down until it stops, and in some locations it will keep playing the music ahead, so when you un-pause the game you hear nothing until the next piece of sound.