Pause and speed control

Owns a time scale, paused or one of several multipliers, and the rule that converts real time into simulation ticks. At higher speeds the loop runs more ticks per real second up to hardware limits; while paused no ticks run but the player can still give orders. Some games pause or slow automatically on events. RimWorld runs 60 ticks per second at normal speed and multiplies that by 3, 6, or 15, the last only in development mode, and runs as close to the target as the machine allows; SimCity and Paradox grand strategy games offer pause and several speeds; flight simulators call it time compression. Inputs are the player's speed choice and event triggers; outputs are the tick rate of every other system.

Control over attention. The player slows down or pauses for crises and detailed orders, then fast-forwards through quiet stretches such as waiting for crops or construction. Pause makes real-time games playable at a thoughtful pace, and fast-forward removes dead time.

• number of speeds and their multipliers
• whether orders can be given while paused
• auto-pause and auto-slowdown triggers, such as raids or letters
• speed restrictions in multiplayer or during events
• whether higher speeds change simulation fidelity, such as larger time steps

• High speeds the hardware cannot sustain silently run slower than shown, so late-game fast-forward feels broken.
• Larger time steps at high speed can destabilize physics or give different outcomes than normal speed.
• Multiplayer games must reconcile players' speed preferences, often by host control or voting.

• Players alternate between paused planning and fast-forward waiting, creating a two-tempo play pattern.
• Fast-forward exposes the compute cost of every other system, making simulation performance a gameplay issue.
• Auto-pause rules decide which events players notice.

• Can learned surrogate simulators let players skip long quiet stretches without running full-fidelity ticks?