Pausing game while in Solo

[Ian Skippy]

Had another little play today, by spamming the screenshot keys I kept a Solo instance just outside a ring station paused for 10 minutes before deciding that was long enough. Everything was fine but I was unable to request docking of enter SuperCruise (hmmm, didn't try Hyperspace, must try that next) so the Solo instance must've become de-synced from the BGS.
After more trials it seems that it's linked to the maximum time a Solo instance can be disconnected from the internet (which appears to be around 2min 7sec maximum). I've carried out successful pauses of 2 minutes in SuperCruise, 4 km from a ringstation with 10 NPCs visible and in a variety of Signal Sources.
Even in an empty instance the game still 'calls home' about every 2 minutes, why is that do you think? Can't be updating the BGS as there's nothing to update...

There's actually loads of mini changes in the BGS all the time, but I dont see the need for updates that frequently, other than for commodity pricing I guess.

 

[Arioch]

Ofcourse you can pause the game when in Solo, in theory, but when unpauzing you need to re-sync with the global state of the galaxy. Commodity prices need to be updated, stellar bodies need to be moved to the correct new location and any other changings that happened need to be incorporated. Which basically is the same as logging out and back in, as the unpausing would just give you the laoding screen again. The only solution is to sever the links between Open and Solo, so Solo is truly not connected anymore at all, or possibly only loads weekly updates for PP and such. We have a the Open vs Solo thread with a million and then some opinions on just that, feel free to check it out.

Been following that thread and it's predecessor since they started, ta very much. Why would you need to sever the modes? As you've stated all you would need to update after unpausing would be the sort of info that is presumably squirted to and from the instance every 2 minutes or so.

- - - Updated - - -

Didnt we have long threads about issue this a few months ago? Seemed bonkers to me then that anyone would think you could pause the universe while you went for a comfort break... Checked again and still bonkers

No, please read the thread, it's pausing the Solo instance, not the BGS or mission timers etc

 

[Cmdr Irenicus]

I find it annoying when wanting to pause the game that I am presented with a dialog that effectively says "Are you sure?", while my ship continues flying behind the screen. So I have two requests:

1. Could it be made possible to exit immediately to menu with a single key-press without requiring confirmation? (unless this already exists in the options - I'll check this in a moment)
2. When playing in Open, I fail to see the justification for not allowing a genuine pause even while in combat. Granted, the background simulation can't be paused, but if I'm hosting an instance for myself only, why shouldn't I be able to pause immediate gameplay etc so I can step away from the computer quickly?

Silly thread, solo is not offline, so no.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Been following that thread and it's predecessor since they started, ta very much. Why would you need to sever the modes? As you've stated all you would need to update after unpausing would be the sort of info that is presumably squirted to and from the instance every 2 minutes or so.

That would depend on how long you pause the game. There seem to be multiple levels of syncing going on: all of it is synced when loading into any given mode, and than it just needs minor updates every few minutes assuming you get these constantly. But what if you pause the game and went away for a day or even longer? By then the accumulation of hundreds of small sync updates have caused your client to be majorly out of sync, requiring a full re-syncing.

Again, that is my best guess on what we know of how the game works. I'm not game coder and we dont know exactly how the syncing works, so I could be miles off. If I'm right, maybe a split syncing system would work: pausing is instantaneous, when unpausing you get the usual loading screen with the spinning ship, but your local instance remains identical to what it was. As the local instance influences nobody else, there is no real reason to sync that bit. It would make pausing/unpausing slower than most games, but at least it would offer better continuity than re-logging through the menu...

 

[Arioch]

Silly thread, solo is not offline, so no.

May I ask if you use Solo mode?

 

[Arioch]

That would depend on how long you pause the game. There seem to be multiple levels of syncing going on: all of it is synced when loading into any given mode, and than it just needs minor updates every few minutes assuming you get these constantly. But what if you pause the game and went away for a day or even longer? By then the accumulation of hundreds of small sync updates have caused your client to be majorly out of sync, requiring a full re-syncing.

Again, that is my best guess on what we know of how the game works. I'm not game coder and we dont know exactly how the syncing works, so I could be miles off. If I'm right, maybe a split syncing system would work: pausing is instantaneous, when unpausing you get the usual loading screen with the spinning ship, but your local instance remains identical to what it was. As the local instance influences nobody else, there is no real reason to sync that bit. It would make pausing/unpausing slower than most games, but at least it would offer better continuity than re-logging through the menu...

The OP stated "why shouldn't I be able to pause immediate gameplay etc so I can step away from the computer quickly?" This is just a short term pause to enable Real Life things to happen without having to bin the game session (I've had to quit in the middle of dogfights, for example) My proposal in the Suggestion forum is for a pause that lasts for, say, up to 10 minutes then drops you back to the Main Menu. If whatever Life has given you cause to pause for (telephone, postman, family, large bowel movement etc) cannot be solved in 10 minutes, you'd probably not mind quitting out of the game.
Edit: Just started the game in an empty Solo instance, absolutely nothing apart from my ship. Locked on to the nearest star then spammed the screenshot button combo so the instance effectively paused for approx. 3 min 30 sec. Entered Hyperspace and was presented with the lost connection screen upon exiting. Looks like the 2 min 7 sec security check strikes again! Sorry, did I say DRM there? (joke, before anyone starts!)