Factorio Forums

This game is about automation and I find it annoying that in single player, when I look at my research and am deciding what to research next, the game pauses. I like the behaviour that multiplayer has, where I can browse the research tree and my factory keeps working.

I know I can load the game as a multiplayer game, but I shouldn't have to.

Please remove this behaviour where the game pauses when I open the research window, or at the very least add an option to turn this off.

I second this notion.

I can understand why pausing the game while selecting a new research item might sound good on paper by allowing the player time to select a new research item without worrying about biter attacks, etc.

However, for those of us who choose to play without aliens (and for more experienced players who play with them enabled), pausing the game while taking time to make a decision really just wastes productivity.

Adding the option to enable or disable pausing in the research menu would resolve this.

There is already a setting called "Singleplayer game pauses when a research is completed" in Options->Other

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Progman wrote:There is already a setting called "Singleplayer game pauses when a research is completed" in Options->Other

Yes I know this, but I specifically said, when the research window is up.

This setting only keeps the game running when a research completes, it still pauses when you open the research GUI regardless of this option.

Then load your game into multiplayer mode. Unset visibility public and set a password. You will trick the game you are not in singleplayer and the game will not stop when you open research panel.

An option to turn pause off in research screen is fine. Default setting must be to pause though.

Doing anything else would be incredibly hostile to any player who hasn't yet burned the research tree into his subconscious.

In an ideal world, I could see it to where in SP it is possible to have it auto-pause and throw up the research menu when the current research item is complete (ignored if you have fired your weapon in the last 2 seconds). But if you open the research menu of your own volition, and research is still ongoing, then it would remain unpaused. At least, this would be the way it would work for veteran players, I can understand it auto-pausing for new players so they have ample time to explore the tech tree without feeling pressed for time because their factory is still running and there are things that need to be done ASAP.

vtx wrote:Then load your game into multiplayer mode. Unset visibility public and set a password. You will trick the game you are not in singleplayer and the game will not stop when you open research panel.

You didn't read my post it seems. I said "I know I can load the game as a multiplayer game, but I shouldn't have to."

The game supports single and multiplayer, as such, this is a weakness in the single player mode. What you suggest I already mentioned and it's a workaround, not a fix.

Also multiplayer requires me unchecking at least 2 boxes every time I load the game (keep it private, and don't verify users). The game should remember my previous settings, which it does not. This is another weakness in the game.

Lav wrote:An option to turn pause off in research screen is fine. Default setting must be to pause though.

Doing anything else would be incredibly hostile to any player who hasn't yet burned the research tree into his subconscious.

I'm fine with an option (as I suggested), as long as it's saved and I don't have to set it every time I play or start a new game.

Also, I don't think pausing for new players is as important as you may think. Granted it has some advantage under some situations, but new player's factories won't be producing much for it to matter. There are only two things that can really happen by letting the factory run. First, more goods will be produced, which isn't a bad thing, or the player will run out of resources stored in buffer chests etc and their factory will shut down. Both are part of the game and they will have to deal with this regardless. The second thing is biter attacks from pollution. But early game, they won't be generating enough pollution to be a big issue. Pollution spreads slowly, and trees absorb a lot of pollution and they are everywhere. In other words, if you think about it, how important is this really even for new players?

I'm not saying this against having a toggle option, just something to think about. Another thing to consider is many new players want to play with their friends right from the start of getting the game, and in multiplayer, your factory doesn't pause while you look at the research tree. I think this is inconsistent between single and multiplayer and it shouldn't be inconsistent in my opinion.

Another option is to add a dedicated pause key and let the user still look at the research tree and pick research to do.

Just something to think about.

Frightning wrote:In an ideal world, I could see it to where in SP it is possible to have it auto-pause and throw up the research menu when the current research item is complete (ignored if you have fired your weapon in the last 2 seconds). But if you open the research menu of your own volition, and research is still ongoing, then it would remain unpaused. At least, this would be the way it would work for veteran players, I can understand it auto-pausing for new players so they have ample time to explore the tech tree without feeling pressed for time because their factory is still running and there are things that need to be done ASAP.

I'm not against a toggle to pause or not when the research window is up, but is there really anything that needs to be done ASAP in this game? It's an infinite map game where there is no real end goal (yes there is the rocket, but it doesn't do anything when you launch it). The only thing I can see as being urgent to do is setup defences if you know a biter attack is coming. In that case however, you could easily say that you should be setting up defences instead of browsing your research queue. I mean it doesn't take long to craft and palce a few gun turrets.

Just a thought. Again, I'm fine with a toggle option as long as it's setting is saved between games.

factoriouzr wrote:

Frightning wrote:In an ideal world, I could see it to where in SP it is possible to have it auto-pause and throw up the research menu when the current research item is complete (ignored if you have fired your weapon in the last 2 seconds). But if you open the research menu of your own volition, and research is still ongoing, then it would remain unpaused. At least, this would be the way it would work for veteran players, I can understand it auto-pausing for new players so they have ample time to explore the tech tree without feeling pressed for time because their factory is still running and there are things that need to be done ASAP.

I'm not against a toggle to pause or not when the research window is up, but is there really anything that needs to be done ASAP in this game? It's an infinite map game where there is no real end goal (yes there is the rocket, but it doesn't do anything when you launch it). The only thing I can see as being urgent to do is setup defences if you know a biter attack is coming. In that case however, you could easily say that you should be setting up defences instead of browsing your research queue. I mean it doesn't take long to craft and palce a few gun turrets.

Just a thought. Again, I'm fine with a toggle option as long as it's setting is saved between games.

Depends heavily on how you build early and your map settings. My first time out the gates with the full game (had played the demo a bit before) I had to reload my save a few times because I got caught unprepared for a sizable biter attack (the first one that was severe enough that I needed a turret to defend against it; and a while later, the first one big enough that they killed my turret since it wasn't walled in)

factoriouzr wrote: that needs to be done ASAP in this game?

Who said ASAP? And who said (I know you didn't, but it could be read this way) that any suggestion, if it's not "OOOOH, URGENT" should never be mentioned? It's a suggestions (see the title of this subforum) and a wish.

Me, I'd like to have it. 's why I came here, obviously, noticing the stoppage again and being somewhat annoyed. No, it's not a game breaker, but it would *really* be nice. Lots of stuff has be proposed as "would be nice" and then was implemented. Mods have been added (some pretty much verbatim).

+1 wish for option to have research window up not pause the game in single player mode.

+1 to the OP. The Options>other should remain as the ability to disable auto-pausing every time an item completes, but opening the research window on your own should not pause the game. Nothing else like this freezes time in the game (choosing recipes, etc), so choosing the next research item should not either. Further, starting a map as multiplayer should not have to be the forced solution to what should be a default behavior or otherwise a second level amplifying option underneath the current related one.

Agree with the op. An option to disable pausing with the research window up would be good.

This would indeed be a nice feature to have. Especially in the early stages when you do not have a lot of resources I find myself browsing the tech tree while waiting for factories to produce, this doesn't work in single player since the game pauses.

It is pretty silly that I have to open up a closed multiplayer game to force the game to not pause. Speedrunners also do this to reduce their times.

This is the discussion of the week is it?

Lav wrote:An option to turn pause off in research screen is fine. Default setting must be to pause though.

Doing anything else would be incredibly hostile to any player who hasn't yet burned the research tree into his subconscious.

I'm with Lav, I like the pause, and want to keep the pause, but I can also understand why people would want the game to not pause (like in multiplayer). If I were doing this change, I'd make it an option, so players who like it how it is now (which greatly helps new players) can revert to the game pausing.

Lav wrote:Doing anything else would be incredibly hostile to any player who hasn't yet burned the research tree into his subconscious.

I think that new players would benefit most. They need minutes to think what to choose next and factory could product for example science bottles during thinking and game would run faster forward. Experienced players typically know already what to research next. Situations in which waiting will harm the player are extreme rare in this game, because there are no finite lifetimes, wearing effects, finite resources etc. Maybe screen could go off automatically if biters damaged the player.