Is there a way to pause the game and issue commands while the game is in real-time mode? When preparing for a big battle I find that spells expire by the time you finish with all the spells. -Mike
You could assign temporary hotkeys with ctrl+<key> to the spells you want to cast, so you can cast them rapid-fire without having to navigate the radial menu every time.
When you enter combat mode (by pressing C on the keyboard), you can take as long as you wish to act with the chosen character. I'm not sure what time passes when you exit combat mode and then reenter it again with another character (or the same one, casting another buff). Besides that, you must cast buffs in opposite order to the spell duration. THings like barkskin and stoneskin go first, along with protection from evil, etc. Then attribute buffs like bull's strength, and only then things like bless, haste, and divine power...
ESC effectively pauses the game, but no action of any kind can be done and no time passes. Leaving in ESC for an extended period of time causes erratic movement when you resume game.
Actually the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale series and Planescape Torment had the ability to pause the game and issue commands to each character and then resume play. TOEE does not have that ability. TOEE requires a little bit more planning in weapon and spell selection. Information gleam from other NPCs is important. Example , Wonnilon tells you after you return his crossbow and scroll that you will need the scroll more than him, because of where you are going. He tells you about the fungi (molds etc) that can be found on the lower levels. With this information you may want to invest in some blundgeoning weapons. You would not want to hit a black pudding with a sword or arrow.
Pressing C on the keyboard works sufficiently well. It would be nice if you could stay in combat mode for an entire round, but it's not a big deal. -Mike
