Yeah the queue in Kotor was great except the AI tended to put stupid actions in it when left unattended.
Anyway in such games (Vampire: The masquarade, baldur's gate) with active pause I tend only to use the pause button as a panic button, or when Superior Strategic Approach (TM) is needed, not for mundane things as swapping between spells.
But what the hack, one has to adapt to the interface, if the other way around is not possible.
