TLDR: A theoredical change in pause menu code could save a lot of electricity across all computers that run this game. What When we pause the game the simulated world stops, however the graphical engine still renders the paused world and uses it as a background for the pause screen menu. As the world does not change while in the pause menu, I propose that rendering be stopped and a static image be used for the background. Furthermore, this image could be a copy of the screen just before the pause menu shows up, allowing for a seamless transition that could look no different then it does now. Why As TSW is a graphically intense game, it takes a toll on graphics cards and eats up quite a bit of energy. I think this is a feasible way to cut down on the amount of electricity players use while playing TSW. I personally often pause my game for 10 minutes or more if I have to go attend to something else, and during that time the game is burning power unnecessarily. Im thinking that if a change like this were to be rolled out to all your customers we could save a combined few megawatt hours per year. Not much on a global scale but certainly nothing to scoff at. How Unfortunately Im not a shader dev, and the limited shader knowledge I do have applies to unity. I believe this would be possible on unity but I don't know enough about UE4 to make a judgment on this end. But I still this idea is worth a look at by your own shader dev.
