GfWL died first. Please get the order of events right. You'd find it even less playable than a missing pause option, had Relic not worked on it.
That's not true for me. I know GFWL sucked for most people, but I was one of the lucky ones that had no issues with it. The game worked perfectly fine with it for me. If I had a time machine I'd go back and not update it. I gained nothing from the switch to Steamworks. All I got was losing the active pause. Basically, it was more playable for me with GFWL than with Steamworks due to the pause removal issue. Also, technically GFWL didn't die. I mean, it might as well be dead, but it's not dead in the sense that it's shut down. I can still launch my games that have GFWL and they work fine.
IMO we need to abandon this and start a new thread - especially if Relic think they fixed the "pause button don't work" bug. The way I see it, there's now a new bug (or at the very least, unexpected and unintended behavior) in the game now where the "Pause/Break" keyboard key is bound to the in-game menu. Said menu is and should continue to be bound to the F10 key, while the Pause/Break key should invoke the "active pause" functionality - at least, it should in games vs the AI.
I think it's a lost cause and at this point it's clear the removal of the active pause was intentional. I think I was pretty clear with what the issue was, and there's no way that their fix was a misunderstanding. I mean, their solution was part of the problem I mentioned. I mentioned how the Pause/Break key was just bringing up the menu in Retribution. Their fix was to make it open the menu in DoW2 also. So it seems like the bug wasn't that you couldn't use the active pause anymore, but rather that they forgot to replace the keybind that the removal of pause left.
I just got this game. I wanted to get back to it play it again so I bought it. I regret that decision. I just created the account to tell you I will never ever again buy any other game from you guys. I loved the active pause and it was only way for me to play this game. Now it's dead.
Why?
I will just download it from torrents and play it again with pause.
Jebatron, I still think Relic makes some of the best games ever. I think this issue was the result of doing the minimum hack to allow them to move off of Games for Windows Live. It killed the game for me but I recognize that I'm in the minority. Working in software development for many years means I understand that sometimes you have to make severe tradeoffs given budgetary constraints.
If, however, this feature ever gets removed from Coh/Coh2 or any new games they develop then it will be a different story.
If you get it working via downloading please post just that it works (no need for more info). I've thought of this but I don't know if you can prevent the game from upgrading which would remove active pause again.
That's not true for me. I know GFWL sucked for most people, but I was one of the lucky ones that had no issues with it. The game worked perfectly fine with it for me. If I had a time machine I'd go back and not update it. I gained nothing from the switch to Steamworks. All I got was losing the active pause. Basically, it was more playable for me with GFWL than with Steamworks due to the pause removal issue. Also, technically GFWL didn't die. I mean, it might as well be dead, but it's not dead in the sense that it's shut down. I can still launch my games that have GFWL and they work fine.
Ahh, you misunderstand me.
GfWL is intended to be dead at some point. Microsoft have no intention of carrying the service on. More than several developers went out of their way to remove GfWL because the presumption was that the service would be discontinued. I'm inclined to trust the judgement of multiple games development studios over anything else. Microsoft are on-record as recently as this week (Gamescon) stating that GfWL was a mistake and that they're simply focusing on supporting third-party applications, like Steam, on Windows 10 at the moment.
I used to be someone who defended GfWL because I, like you, suffered no problems from it. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that most people hated it (for whatever reasons).
Additionally, the removal of GfWL was not the only reason to update DoW II. The transition to Battle Servers was the intention, and done at the same time DoW was patched for similar reasons. It makes sense in software development to do all similar transition work at the same time, by the same teams.
I just got this game. I wanted to get back to it play it again so I bought it. I regret that decision. I just created the account to tell you I will never ever again buy any other game from you guys. I loved the active pause and it was only way for me to play this game. Now it's dead.
Why?
I will just download it from torrents and play it again with pause.
Given that you seemed to have torrented the game in the first place, you're not going to find much sympathy here, even if Relic were actively engaging with this forum.
I understand the frustrations of those posting in this thread. I don't have time for people who played it once, then decided to buy it, and now decide to complain about that purchase.
You just assumed that I didn't have this game earlier but this doesn't matter.
You do understand that active pause still exists in the game you can press pause on your keyboard, or open a menu and while having squad selected you can press "w" (for example) to throw a grande, unpause select another squad open menu again, order newly selected them to move somewhere else and both of the commands are going to be executed. Active pause exists in the game, it's still there.
I'm always of the opinion that this feature, given how it was never advertised, simply happened as a happy accident. I never said it was or wasn't in the game.
I did assume you didn't have the game earlier. You also threatened to torrent the game (ban material, FYI) and swore you'd never buy from Relic again.
If I were to buy the CD-DVD version of this game (not directly off of Steam) and install it without installing any of the updates or patches (if I disable updating beforehand), do you reckon I might be able to play the game in its original release form and be able to use the pause feature in the campaign? I understand everyone who thinks that being able to pause and look around the battlefield in the campaign of an RTS game "isn't important" or "isn't what an RTS should be" but please understand that this is the way I played the games for years (the feature WAS included in all 4 previous DOW games since 2006), being able to pause and appreciate scenes of 40K destruction and gore in a beautiful-looking game, and is essentially a deal-breaker for me. It's simply a HUGE part of how I enjoy this game myself and if you disagree with me... well, I hope you can understand a perspective and taste different from yours, even if I am just a filthy casual gamer In response to your last post, Gorb, I still believe that this feature was specifically added to the game, as most commands and orders were now blacked out and unusable in DOW II when this pause feature was activated, which tells me that someone specifically coded this small restriction into the game, unlike in the first 4 Dawn of War games where any order could be issued from Pause mode. I see no reason to think this was a strange coincidence instead of a deliberate design choice. It gave players the chance to look around the battlefield without being able to instantly issue new orders to every unit on the battlefield, which I agree, would make things too easy and would break the purpose of a REAL-TIME strategy game. I do believe that the removal of the pause feature was an UNHAPPY accident on part of the new patch. Also, first time posting on this website. Hope I haven't inadvertently broken any rules yet... I should also say that I'm not trying to do anything illegal or anything to hurt or steal from Sega or Relic. I'd just like to play my beloved DOW II like I used to play back in the day.
If I were to buy the CD-DVD version of this game (not directly off of Steam) and install it without installing any of the updates or patches (if I disable updating beforehand), do you reckon I might be able to play the game in its original release form and be able to use the pause feature in the campaign?
I have the DVDs of all the expansions but I suspect that the second you try to start the game things will go wrong. I would bet that the game has to have a server handshake to startup and that will result in updates. I know you can play disconnected but I'm doubtful about the initial install. You might have to mess with the hosts file and figure out how to spoof the initial negotiation or something along those lines.
I'm not sure Steam will allow you to play an unpatched copy, as the games are integrated with Steamworks.
@Eisenbison - I can understand if you think that the removal of such a feature was an accident. However, that doesn't mean that adding it back in is trivial.
That said, it doesn't look like the DoW series is receiving active support at the moment, so for something like this it's unlikely that it'll be fixed anytime soon, either.
I loaded this game up for the first time in a while only to discover that the ability to issue orders while paused has been removed. This is a travesty! I have zero interest in playing an unpauseable RTS (and zero interest in multiplayer, for what it's worth). I know many, if not most RTS players could care less about this, but I bought the Company of Heroes and Dawn of War Games almost entirely due to their active pause gameplay. Relic has killed the singleplayer component of this game with this decision. It is outright fraud to mutilate the basic gameplay of a game through unremoveable patches, a game that was previously purchased under entirely different pretenses. At least give us the option to download an old version of the game through the Steam beta patch feature. Relic, if you have any shred of credibility, RESTORE ACTIVE PAUSE!
I'm still unable to figure out how much more fun you get by pausing, commanding, then resuming. The game's not killed at all. Come on!
Your intellectual inability to understand such basic concept has been noted. Is there something more we can do for you?
The game can be obtained in unpatched (a.k.a. WORKING) and cracked version on Internet. I hope no-one would mind if someone who already owns a copy did it.
What has been noted is your lack of education. Have fun losing your time in asking for something that will never come, big boy. I'm done with this thread.
Your intellectual inability to understand such basic concept has been noted. Is there something more we can do for you?
This?
Don't do this. People are allowed to express an opposing opinion, and it is just as valid as yours.
Well actually the initial insult was Molul's condescending concern troll. He might as well have said "suck it up buttercup" but was a wee more polite than that. The fact that you can't see that as an insult is merely the result of confirmation bias on your part.
"condescending concern troll"? "insult"? ...Honestly, you take different opinions way too seriously :-/
Gorb, I'm sorry if my reply was against the forums rules, but I can't shut my mouth at childish "I'm-cooler-than-you" replies like that, specially when I wasn't even trying to bother anyone.
IMHO, the biggest trolling in this thread is coming back to it to ask for the same thing after so long. It's not likely happenning.
@molul Please accept my apologies. There was no reason for insulting you.
I think it is noteworthy and noble of you that you did your very best to "figure out" our problem. Your failure is therefore recognized as a result of ... external factors, and not of a bad will.
Still -- I don't really know what can we do for you now. You comment in this thread, maybe you want something from us? You want us to change our minds and agree that this is really not a problem? I am afraid that will not happen. I have strong personal opinion in the subject, and since the subject is about SUBJECTIVE feel of what is important feature of a game, then really it is hard for you to provide ANY argument that would influence our opinions. Have you ever tried to convince someone that music he likes is not good? Or that he should change what food tastes good?
And regarding "something that will never come" I posted some time ago a screenshot of a game where "never" happened. I also gave instructions on how to get it done. In the very comment you replied to, I might add.
Well actually the initial insult was Molul's condescending concern troll. He might as well have said "suck it up buttercup" but was a wee more polite than that. The fact that you can't see that as an insult is merely the result of confirmation bias on your part.
You're not helping yourself, either. Let's try and avoid the attempt at one-upmanship here?
People are allowed to not believe in what other people find fun.
You're not helping yourself, either. Let's try and avoid the attempt at one-upmanship here?
People are allowed to not believe in what other people find fun.
I will credit you with good intentions. But you apparently have no idea how infuriating molul's comment was. The question was not asked in good faith, in my opinion, because we've gone on and on (as you well know) attempting to support our position. At some point one either resorts to silence or mockery. And I don't like being silenced.
No problem, swat. I'm sorry too that my comment offended you. It never was my intention, no matter what other people say. Honestly, it's really childish/coward offending someone and then saying you didn't want to; that's not me. I know many people does this in internet forums, but I find that really ridiculous, so I was shocked when I saw people saw my post as an insult.
I don't want to give the impression I want anything from those who want this feature back. I just wanted to say that in my opinion it's not that tragic. I mean, I don't see the game is broken because of this. It's not broken. It's not that you play and crashes everytime, or that squads don't response well to your commands. That doesn't mean I want you to change your opinion, just that I find the game amazing as it currently is. It's not I want to discourage you. It's that I want to say the game is not **++heresy redacted++** as you people seem to say.
Also, with my post I wanted to note that it's really unlikely that this feature ever comes back, and that maybe, after one year talking about this, it could be the time to give up and either enjoy the game as it is, or enjoy some other game if this is not making you happy. It's like saying "get over it", but that sentence sounds a little hard and more easily insulting, but I say it in a positive way, like "there's some much more stuff to enjoy out there".
Not trying to insult anyone, just trying to bring some reality to the thread. If this wasn't about pause/command but about bringing more characters to The Last Stand, I would say the same: Relic knows some people want this, but after a year they haven't developed it, so, I don't know, repeating the same claim over and over doesn't seem like helping. But if you still have the time and energy, of course, keep at it
Game IS broken. It is unplayable. Reason for it: it is no longer FUN to play it. Games are to be enjoyed, if they don't serve this purpose they are BROKEN. And it became like that from one single change in interface. Change that was introduced YEARS after release of product. Years after I PAID for it.
I will repeat something that you refuse to grasp -- I would never play this game without active pause. So for me the product could not be broken ANY MORE than it already is. If it did not even start that would not be worse than current state.
There is workaround for it. Problem is that this workaround involves (at least in some countries) braking of the law. This is not a small problem.
All in all behaviour of Relic is very bad. Not only because they introduced change of pause functionality, but also because they refuse to acknowledge there is something wrong with their product. I am strongly inclined to AVOID this company in future AT ANY COST. Relic = "NO GO".
So thanks for bringing "amazing game reality", but it is only YOUR subjective reality. For others this reality is different.
I've just noticed that pausing with the pause button *still* lets you move around the map, zoom in, pan the camera, and even select units, but there's just the annoying pause menu up which blocks a good portion of the paused action, and keeps you from being able to take screenshots of your favorite battles, so the feature is still there, but it's pretty much useless now. So this pretty much throws Gorb's theory out the window in terms of the feature being removed on purpose. SEGA just did a really bad job with the patch and likely did this on accident when they removed pausing from the multiplayer and either didn't know about it or didn't care enough to fix it, which doesn't really surprise me, given the direction the company has being going in over the last few years and how poorly they treat their IPs and franchises. *cough* Sonic Boom *cough* At least Relic didn't get bought by Konami... *shudders*
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Taters
I think it's a lost cause and at this point it's clear the removal of the active pause was intentional. I think I was pretty clear with what the issue was, and there's no way that their fix was a misunderstanding. I mean, their solution was part of the problem I mentioned. I mentioned how the Pause/Break key was just bringing up the menu in Retribution. Their fix was to make it open the menu in DoW2 also. So it seems like the bug wasn't that you couldn't use the active pause anymore, but rather that they forgot to replace the keybind that the removal of pause left.
Jebatron
Why?
I will just download it from torrents and play it again with pause.
Lemurcatta
If, however, this feature ever gets removed from Coh/Coh2 or any new games they develop then it will be a different story.
If you get it working via downloading please post just that it works (no need for more info). I've thought of this but I don't know if you can prevent the game from upgrading which would remove active pause again.
Gorb
GfWL is intended to be dead at some point. Microsoft have no intention of carrying the service on. More than several developers went out of their way to remove GfWL because the presumption was that the service would be discontinued. I'm inclined to trust the judgement of multiple games development studios over anything else. Microsoft are on-record as recently as this week (Gamescon) stating that GfWL was a mistake and that they're simply focusing on supporting third-party applications, like Steam, on Windows 10 at the moment.
I used to be someone who defended GfWL because I, like you, suffered no problems from it. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that most people hated it (for whatever reasons).
Additionally, the removal of GfWL was not the only reason to update DoW II. The transition to Battle Servers was the intention, and done at the same time DoW was patched for similar reasons. It makes sense in software development to do all similar transition work at the same time, by the same teams. Given that you seemed to have torrented the game in the first place, you're not going to find much sympathy here, even if Relic were actively engaging with this forum.
I understand the frustrations of those posting in this thread. I don't have time for people who played it once, then decided to buy it, and now decide to complain about that purchase.
Jebatron
You do understand that active pause still exists in the game you can press pause on your keyboard, or open a menu and while having squad selected you can press "w" (for example) to throw a grande, unpause select another squad open menu again, order newly selected them to move somewhere else and both of the commands are going to be executed. Active pause exists in the game, it's still there.
Gorb
I did assume you didn't have the game earlier. You also threatened to torrent the game (ban material, FYI) and swore you'd never buy from Relic again.
Call me cynical.
Eisenbison
I understand everyone who thinks that being able to pause and look around the battlefield in the campaign of an RTS game "isn't important" or "isn't what an RTS should be" but please understand that this is the way I played the games for years (the feature WAS included in all 4 previous DOW games since 2006), being able to pause and appreciate scenes of 40K destruction and gore in a beautiful-looking game, and is essentially a deal-breaker for me. It's simply a HUGE part of how I enjoy this game myself and if you disagree with me... well, I hope you can understand a perspective and taste different from yours, even if I am just a filthy casual gamer
In response to your last post, Gorb, I still believe that this feature was specifically added to the game, as most commands and orders were now blacked out and unusable in DOW II when this pause feature was activated, which tells me that someone specifically coded this small restriction into the game, unlike in the first 4 Dawn of War games where any order could be issued from Pause mode. I see no reason to think this was a strange coincidence instead of a deliberate design choice. It gave players the chance to look around the battlefield without being able to instantly issue new orders to every unit on the battlefield, which I agree, would make things too easy and would break the purpose of a REAL-TIME strategy game. I do believe that the removal of the pause feature was an UNHAPPY accident on part of the new patch.
Also, first time posting on this website.
Lemurcatta
Gorb
@Eisenbison - I can understand if you think that the removal of such a feature was an accident. However, that doesn't mean that adding it back in is trivial.
That said, it doesn't look like the DoW series is receiving active support at the moment, so for something like this it's unlikely that it'll be fixed anytime soon, either.
phinweg
molul
swat
The game can be obtained in unpatched (a.k.a. WORKING) and cracked version on Internet. I hope no-one would mind if someone who already owns a copy did it.
molul
Gorb
Don't do this. People are allowed to express an opposing opinion, and it is just as valid as yours.
Lemurcatta
molul
Gorb, I'm sorry if my reply was against the forums rules, but I can't shut my mouth at childish "I'm-cooler-than-you" replies like that, specially when I wasn't even trying to bother anyone.
IMHO, the biggest trolling in this thread is coming back to it to ask for the same thing after so long. It's not likely happenning.
swat
I think it is noteworthy and noble of you that you did your very best to "figure out" our problem. Your failure is therefore recognized as a result of ... external factors, and not of a bad will.
Still -- I don't really know what can we do for you now. You comment in this thread, maybe you want something from us? You want us to change our minds and agree that this is really not a problem? I am afraid that will not happen. I have strong personal opinion in the subject, and since the subject is about SUBJECTIVE feel of what is important feature of a game, then really it is hard for you to provide ANY argument that would influence our opinions. Have you ever tried to convince someone that music he likes is not good? Or that he should change what food tastes good?
And regarding "something that will never come" I posted some time ago a screenshot of a game where "never" happened. I also gave instructions on how to get it done. In the very comment you replied to, I might add.
@Gorb I agree, I should not use such words.
Gorb
People are allowed to not believe in what other people find fun.
swat
I would never, but I do believe that some others like it.
Lemurcatta
molul
I don't want to give the impression I want anything from those who want this feature back. I just wanted to say that in my opinion it's not that tragic. I mean, I don't see the game is broken because of this. It's not broken. It's not that you play and crashes everytime, or that squads don't response well to your commands. That doesn't mean I want you to change your opinion, just that I find the game amazing as it currently is. It's not I want to discourage you. It's that I want to say the game is not **++heresy redacted++** as you people seem to say.
Also, with my post I wanted to note that it's really unlikely that this feature ever comes back, and that maybe, after one year talking about this, it could be the time to give up and either enjoy the game as it is, or enjoy some other game if this is not making you happy. It's like saying "get over it", but that sentence sounds a little hard and more easily insulting, but I say it in a positive way, like "there's some much more stuff to enjoy out there".
Not trying to insult anyone, just trying to bring some reality to the thread. If this wasn't about pause/command but about bringing more characters to The Last Stand, I would say the same: Relic knows some people want this, but after a year they haven't developed it, so, I don't know, repeating the same claim over and over doesn't seem like helping. But if you still have the time and energy, of course, keep at it
swat
I will repeat something that you refuse to grasp -- I would never play this game without active pause. So for me the product could not be broken ANY MORE than it already is. If it did not even start that would not be worse than current state.
There is workaround for it. Problem is that this workaround involves (at least in some countries) braking of the law. This is not a small problem.
All in all behaviour of Relic is very bad. Not only because they introduced change of pause functionality, but also because they refuse to acknowledge there is something wrong with their product. I am strongly inclined to AVOID this company in future AT ANY COST. Relic = "NO GO".
So thanks for bringing "amazing game reality", but it is only YOUR subjective reality. For others this reality is different.
molul
swat
Morfeas
I love you man.
Cheers.
Eisenbison
So this pretty much throws Gorb's theory out the window in terms of the feature being removed on purpose. SEGA just did a really bad job with the patch and likely did this on accident when they removed pausing from the multiplayer and either didn't know about it or didn't care enough to fix it, which doesn't really surprise me, given the direction the company has being going in over the last few years and how poorly they treat their IPs and franchises. *cough* Sonic Boom *cough*
At least Relic didn't get bought by Konami... *shudders*
Gorb
SEGA didn't do the patch, Relic did. Let's not point fingers, especially at the wrong parties.