How to pause ScummVM?

[barslan]

Hello,

is there any way to pause ScummVM? My English is not good and when a subtitle on the screen I need to pause and switch to dictionary during gameplay.

Thank you.

[Praetorian]

Hello,

Which game are you trying to pause? It could be a different key combination depending on the specific game.

For example for LucasArts games, the spacebar key should pause the game.

There is a list of shortcut keys here, but I'm not sure how up-to-date it is:
https://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/User ... th_ScummVM

You could also try the global key shortcut Ctrl+F5 which brings up the ScummVM menu and should pause the game. Some games also support the Ctrl+D which brings up the debugger console (you can exit that with Esc) and I think that also pauses the game.

[Raziel]

Hah, learning english with adventure games...the good old times.

You could also try to slow the subtitle display down. In Options/Audio/Subtitle Speed

[barslan]

Thank you for replies.

Which game are you trying to pause?

Broken Sword 1.

That's exactly what I would like : When a subtitle is shown on the screen if I press a key (for example pause/break) everything should be pause. So I can read and understand the subtitle on the screen comfortably and stress-free. (like WinUAE amiga emulator)

Hah, learning english with adventure games...the good old times.
You could also try to slow the subtitle display down. In Options/Audio/Subtitle Speed

Yes, playing adventure games and learning English. But, the good new times for me!

[Praetorian]

Hmm, from the ScummVM source code for the Sword1 engine, I see that there's no pausing implemented, yet, for Broken Sword 1.

According to the "original manual" that GOG distributes with the their "Broken Sword: Director's Cut" listing (which includes the classic version), 'P' would pause the game. But this doesn't work for GOG's classic version (which uses ScummVM 1.6.0).

Perhaps this could be a feature request on the ScummVM bug tracker.

[MusicallyInspired]

CTRL+F5 should bring up the ScummVM menu in any supported game, shouldn't it?

[dreammaster]

CTRL+F5 should bring up the ScummVM menu in any supported game, shouldn't it?

True, although it does cover a lot of the screen, so frequently obscures on-screen text

[Praetorian]

It's the same with Ctrl+D (which is supported by Sword1). It obscures a smaller part of the screen (than the ScummVM menu) but a lot of the subtitles appear on top of the characters so they are hidden.

The only workaround I've found so far, is to play the game in windowed mode and left-click and hold the mouse on the window's title bar on top. This freezes the subtitle on screen (but not the game) and a character won't speak their next line until you let go of the mouse button. This only works ok with in-game dialogue, not the subtitles in the videos. This is also something I tested on Windows 10. It could have different behavior on other Operating Systems.