Having no pause in the tactical screen during battle would make things very difficult for a couple reasons I can think of... the first being that it would be a little bit harder to select ships moving on the map and such. It'd be a relatively minor thing, but it would be something. The second, and more obvious one, would be that when the tactical map is paused, you are able to assign orders and rescind those orders for a refund of your CP if you don't like what it appears it may do... or if you accidentally chose the wrong order/location/ship, etc. It would make it have to either revert back to no refunding of CPs or have to give you 'x' amount of time to take back your order which could abused in a number of ways.
It would certainly make for a good 'hard-mode' option, but I just don't see it being implemented as part of the overall playstyle and its options. If the CP system changes in the future in such a way to not make that refund bit an issue, then I could see it being used.
As for accruing command points, I think I'm still in the camp of not having it. There are a lot of older threads with such suggestions and many ways to try to handle it, but it just seems like it would favor stretching battles out longer... doing more running around the map and using orders more haphazardly. It feels like a system that would only favor the Human player and could limit the effectiveness of AI strategy.
I like the Accruing Command Points idea. I'm not so sure about the "No Pause" game mode. It sounds cool, but the big thing I use the pause for is to "test" my orders. I find myself cancelling a lot of the orders I just made because of ships obeying the order that I didn't expect. Maybe after the current command system has improved a little bit more.
Yeah, I agree. Being able to test out orders is very, very useful.
After playing Starfarer enough though, I feel that I can usually predict what will happen if I assign a ship to do something. With the accruing command point implementation, I'd imagine "botching" one order would have slightly less consequence as well. Further optimizations to what ships respond to commands will also make things easier.
In any case, it would be an option--I definitely wouldn't want it as the "default."
I'd be curious to know how much more 'testing' you'd need for your orders. When you give an order it displays what ships are assigned to the task, where they will go, etc. If you dislike what it's assigning you're able to cancel the order and get your CP refunded before you unpause. If you unpause, the order is then given and you don't get the refund... so, I'm not really following you guys about having to predict orders or being upset about having to cancel an order if it won't work the way you want, since it tells you exactly how the order will start and allow you to refund an order before its given. It's been this way for awhile, perhaps you weren't aware or playing an older version?
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In summary, no pausing in combat seems like a fun, keep you on your toes style of play, but I don't see it being implemented due to how it might affect some other gameplay features.
Getting CP over time, I also don't see being used in the current command scheme. It's been discussed in the past with no real resolution. Also, given the first suggestion being given as a more 'hardcore' option, I would think the OP would appreciate the subtle difficulty of limited CPs. I find it a good feature that rewards good planning, flexibility and most importantly experience. Like most games, I see it as a learning curve. The more you rely on fixing botched (or even countered orders... hey, no shame in being outplayed by an AI) orders, seconds after you realize it isn't working, due to a seemingless unending amount of CP (regening CP is just that) the less you will learn from mistakes. Part of learning strategy is being able to accept defeat and learn from your mistakes... which is why there is no 'game over' and that retreat is an option that shouldn't be ignored.