Grappling Refinement

Hello, all! I just recently backed this game, shortly after I saw it. Honestly, I was sold pretty quickly on the idea. =)

So far, all that I’ve really done in the game is explore the different worlds, which means that I’ve been using the grappling hook excessively. For obvious reasons, I find this generally most enjoyable in worlds that have natural floating islands/chunks of land. But, as I continued to use it, I found the functionality to be a bit awkward, sometimes. So, I’ve made a short list of tweaks I’d like to suggest.

1. When the grappling hook first attaches to a block, only have it pull the player if the player is on the ground. This avoids players rocketing around at high speeds by grappling the ground mid-jump, and also helps avoid accidental ceiling/wall collisions when moving at higher speeds.

2. Preserve more momentum when starting to grapple. I was a bit disappointed when I saw I couldn’t slingshot myself off of objects by using high falling velocity. Doing this would make grappling feel a bit more natural and smooth as a bonus, I’d wager.

3. Preserve more momentum when ending grappling. I don’t know if this was just a perspective thing, but it seemed like unless I was whipping around a tower at insane speeds when I released the hook, I wouldn’t move very far from where I let go. This made trying to swing myself over to another platform a little frustrating at times, especially if I started from just hanging there and had to swing back and forth to get momentum going.

4. Let players “climb” up and over ledges using the grappling hook. It was a little frustrating to find that I could grapple onto any ledge I wanted, but that without placing a block to jump from, I was just stuck hanging there as if I didn’t know how to use my hands.

5. Add a daredevil mode to the grappling hook! While it’s toggled on, your character would stop trying to hold on to their location on the cable/rope. The end result is that the player could hook themselves to a ledge they’re on, go into daredevil mode, and jump off the ledge. They would only be stopped when the maximum length is reached, or they toggle out of daredevil mode. This way, players could easily and naturally swing underneath a ledge they’re currently standing on, as well as quickly lower their swinging height if necessary.

Most of these ideas came from my experience using grappling mechanics in other games. My personal favorites are the Hook & Rope in Starbound (not the lolGrapplingHooks that are basically bungee cords, though), and the core grappling mechanic in the Attack on Titan Tribute Game (Google it. It’s a webgame!). What I was suggesting here was a bit more like the Starbound mechanics, but it would be ideal to try and aim for something that feels smooth, like the AoT mechanic.