Allow for concurrent, per-player pauses, each of which can be broken only by its initiating player
![soteforar](https://forums.beamdog.com/applications/dashboard/design/images/defaulticon.png)
Unless I'm mistaken, it's currently the case that a pause made by one player can be broken by any other player that has received the permission to pause/unpause. This can create the problem that players unintentionally break pauses made by other players, which can become an issue when, for example, both players press the spacebar to issue a pause command because a party member has suddenly become near-death, which results in the player first to hit the pause button pausing the game in the nick of time to have the imperilled character consume a healing potion, and the second player unintentionally unpausing the game in the crucial moment, ultimately leading to the character in question dying!
I suggest allowing switching on an option that allows for multiple concurrent pauses, one for each player, where a specific pause can only be broken by the player that iniated it. That way, six pause-initiating commands being issued at about the same time, from six different players pressing their spacebars, have same effect as a single pause-initiating command, and the game is not unpaused again until all players have issued an un-pausing command by pressing their spacebars again.
Of course, if a player who has paused the game gets disconnected, one might simply have his or her leaving the game coincide with the game automatically issuing an un-pause command to break that player's pause. (It could also be a good idea to allow the host to "force-break" a pause somehow, and/or for players to be able to break a pause through voting, but I'm not sure these would be all that worthwhile additions.)
Certainly, the players can establish a pausing etiquette, e.g. deferring all pausing and unpausing to one person, and/or go with one automatic pause per round, and/or automatic pauses being triggered by certain events (such as the event of a character having gone down to a certain percentage of its hit points - IIRC, this can be done), but I still feel this could be a useful feature.
I suggest allowing switching on an option that allows for multiple concurrent pauses, one for each player, where a specific pause can only be broken by the player that iniated it. That way, six pause-initiating commands being issued at about the same time, from six different players pressing their spacebars, have same effect as a single pause-initiating command, and the game is not unpaused again until all players have issued an un-pausing command by pressing their spacebars again.
Of course, if a player who has paused the game gets disconnected, one might simply have his or her leaving the game coincide with the game automatically issuing an un-pause command to break that player's pause. (It could also be a good idea to allow the host to "force-break" a pause somehow, and/or for players to be able to break a pause through voting, but I'm not sure these would be all that worthwhile additions.)
Certainly, the players can establish a pausing etiquette, e.g. deferring all pausing and unpausing to one person, and/or go with one automatic pause per round, and/or automatic pauses being triggered by certain events (such as the event of a character having gone down to a certain percentage of its hit points - IIRC, this can be done), but I still feel this could be a useful feature.
Post edited by soteforar on
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