Pausing
Pause is the most frequent command I issue. Apart from the fact that
it is virtually essential to taking screenshots, it makes controlling large
fleets, keeping track of the 'health' of your ships, moving ships accurately,
spotting enemies on the map early enough to send your forces to give them a
warm welcome, telling damaged units to dock and a host of other commands
doable. The computer (unless it has multiple CPU's) cannot multitask. It can
only consider one ship at a time, issue one command at a time, etc. but it
can interface with the game significantly faster than any human since
a human has to keep moving the mouse to focus a different ship and press buttons
on the keyboard to command them. Whereas the computer never needs to 'focus' a
ship; it merely considers it, takes into account its range of vision and its
current tactics and orders, and commands it from there. In a fraction of a
microsecond (even if that is sometimes an 'improper' fraction.) Remember this
one Rule Of Thumb: If in doubt, Pause. Then look, evaluate,
decide. But do your thinking in paused mode!
Note: you cannot issue orders while in Pause, so if you want to issue commands: