I want to play Might and Magic 7 and the last time I played it, the enemies would hit me but I couldn't fight back as it was real time. Im new to this-How do you give orders to turn based combat your characters?

If I remember correctly, its the space key.

RTFM?

A Key for Attack with weapons. If you see red around your characters, you are at hand to hand combat (Swords etc). If you see yellow you will be at range weapons (most of the time).
If you see green around your characters, you are out of range (again, most of the time).
C Key for Cast Magic Spells
S Key for set Spells or, if no spells, it will revert to normal weapons.

Hit Enter to go from Realtime to turn-based. A hand will appear in the upper corner indicating when you can move. In M&M7, if you are trying to stay a specific distance from an enemy (such as trolls), you turn 180 degrees from your enemy and move the distance that the "turn-based" will allow in one turn. If you keep looking at the enemy and just back up, the enemy will gain ground on you. This is okay if you want to do some damage with range weapons then finish them off with swords or maces. But Mountain Trolls, for example, with one swipe can kill one of your characters, so you may want to keep your distance in the early part of the game.

Bob

macAiplin explained most of it, but there are also mouse controls (at least in MM6, I have not played past that game). After initiating turn-based combat with the Enter key, one of your four characters should be highlighted; it is currently that character's turn. You can click on an enemy to have that character attack it with weapons. Similarly you can click on targets for spells (depending on the spell, some simply fire without a target). But it's usually faster to use the keyboard shortcuts as macAilpin said.

For a full discussion, you can check the game's manual which is included in the GOG version. It should be a PDF in the game's install directory, and it's also available separately in the bonus content.

Although the turn-based option exists in MM6-9, I think it's generally considered more difficult to use it than the real-time system. I always found that the game lends itself very well to using a lot of archery and ranged attacks. Melee is more for mop up when weakened enemies get closer. All of this is much easier to do in real time than turn-based.

That said, I know some people force themselves to do turn-based only as a challenge, which it definitely is. It also will make finishing the game take a LOT longer, which might be good or bad depending on your amount of free time. :^)

You can theoretically complete the entire game without going into turn-based mode, but I personally find it to be pretty useful in situations where you're cornered or otherwise need a different strategy than walking backwards and mashing the "A" and "S" keys alternatively.

As gammaleak said, sitting back and slinging arrows is incredibly effective at the beginning of M&M VI-IX, though it becomes less effective as time goes on (getting everyone Master Archery in Mandate of Heaven notwithstanding), though at that point you'll have the melee and spell damage to compensate. If we're talking about another tactic that doesn't work so well in turn-based, running up to enemies and applying Shrapmetal at point-blank range isn't nearly as easy as it is in real time.

False. I know there are some who have the reflexes and enjoy the 'twitch gaming' over turn-based and a few who use real-time for specific fights (re: the dragon on the first island you start at) but turn based is MUCH easier to use than real time for the rest of us. False again. Almost impossible in real time and even for twitch gamers who lack the patience for turn-based gaming it is much easier to go with turn based. And here is the root of your presupposition/bias. Real time gamers usually do not have the patience or contemplative nature to deal with old school/traditional RPGs and strategy games. They have to always be mashing buttons and frantically moving their hands while seeing non-stop explosions and action. Turn based is "too long..." for them. A good analogy is with movies: Real time gamers are akin to Michael Bay/Fast and Furious type movie fans while turn based gamers tend to appreciate things like plot, dialog, acting and direction...movies like Gladiator or The Remains of the Day.

One problem with Turn Based Mode in early-game when you have weak characters, is that you cannot move to dodge ranged attacks... which is usually a great bonus to newbies (and essential in single-character plays and such). For example against the Dragonflies at the start of MM7.

However, the issue for me is that you can't move (at all IIRC) in turn-based mode in MM6. I use it often in 7&8.

LOL. Dude, you don't know a thing about me. I prefer turn based over real time any day of the week. MM6-8 just don't implement the turn-based combat very well. That's all there is to it.

I'm glad you're skilled at MM6-8 turn-based combat. I'm not sure what the point of resurrecting an old thread just to try and rip me a new one is. Go back to RPGCodex if you're going to be a troll.

M&M 6 is not as good a game IMO (not NEARLY as good as 7 but better than 8 for the most part). The inability to move during TB combat in M&M 6 I don't recall being much of an issue for me. Possibly because there were so many other issues I disliked that overshadowed this.

I am not a Codex troll kiddo. I used to visit the Codex back when there were mostly intelligent posters there with a few harmless, comedic trolls. Now the place is a mess of Cleve Blakemoore fans (or trolls) and "Spiderweb games are teh suck bcuz WTF aer this graphics?! LOL!" type idiots.

My reaction to your post was because you stated unqualified assertions that "in general" players of M&M 6-8 preferred real-time mode over turn-based and then went on to baldly assert that most of the turn-based players were only doing so because they sought a greater degree of difficulty/challenge which is just plain absurd!

I have met and spoken with a LOT of M&M 6-8 fans and I can count on a few fingers the number who preferred real time over turn based even in limited spurts (such as defeating the dragon on the first island) and most of them do so because they are not up for the difficulty of using real time combat. Real time combat in M&M 6-8 still requires mindless, fast button mashing which many of us admittedly do not have the coordination for and also oppose on philosophical grounds (in that a RPG with real time combat tends to be less of an RPG because the character's success is dependent on the PLAYER'S reflexes.

Your mistake would not be as big a deal if not for the sorts of idiotic comments that come from teenaged fans of newer real time RPGs.

I hear what you're saying, and I appreciate it. I apologize for my less than graceful response when I felt I was under attack.

We'll just have to agree to disagree, but I find MM6-8 (and 9?) to have subpar turn-based combat and the game is simply easier for me in realtime mode. Perhaps that's why I greatly prefer the Xeen games. :^)

Being an old school CRPG player and having played MM6 twice, I'd say that in general (that is, in areas where you have room for strafing) real time combat is easier than turn based.
The most efficient is to use a mix, but being a purist doing that would hurt my sensibility.

I think I understand what both of you are saying, in that if one has the ability to play RPGs in real-time mode and are not overly bothered by doing so, real time can be easier or at least complimentary than the turn-based combat of M&M 6-8.
My personal experiences are that most fans of M&M 6-8 (particularly 7) do not fall into the above. I can still play and enjoy games like Duke Nukem 3D or Tyrian 2000, which are real time but for RPGs I have a strong philosophical objection to real time and I usually play 'party-based' RPGs rather than single character games so real time becomes enormously more problematic for me.