I've been thinking about this for a while now, and this idea came to me. Most of it I believe is similar to existing concepts, except for the part about what actually happens when a player exits the vehicle (which deals away with exit animations and such). I have no coding experience, but I think this is a worthy idea nonetheless. Thank you in advance for reading.
So - would it be possible to do this?
- Put three grappling hooks (or fastropes, in this concept they work absolutely identically to each other,) on the exit doors of the Black Hawk, the testbed helicopter.
- The pilot has the fire option to deploy fastropes, just as he would deploying crates.
- When fired, three hooks fall off the side of the Black Hawk, in the same manner they would if it were a Rifleman Specialist hucking a grappling line down downward, and for all intents and purposes, these line are nothing more than remodelled grapples. These remain in position for between five and ten seconds before completely disappearing from the gameworld. Because the ropes disappear, it's impossible (or at least stupid) for anybody to bother not going down the ropes, because they'll simply fall to their deaths in a couple of seconds. The lines aren't neccessarily anchored to the helo at all, they're more or less just sitting in space (or anchored to the aforementioned dummy vehicle).
- The players inside the Hawk exit it. When they exit,
they are falling as they would if they jumped out of the helicopter without fastropes. However, just as a conventional grappling hook works in the game, they have the option to grab on to any one of the three lines dangling off the helo, in doing so ending their fall instantaneusly and without injury (if they didn't grab the rope, they die from falling). In a way, this even mimics reality (you actually have to grab the rope).
- Animation, descent speed, is changed to fit fastropes rather than grappling hooks.
Possible Problems -
- Without further coding, players could also climb
up the fastropes.
- Players could freefall unrealistically to the very bottom of the fastrope and suddenly grab hold of it, as mentioned before, ending their fall.
- The helo could fly away while the ropes remain in position, creating a weird, physics-devoid situation where the ropes are simply sitting in midair without an anchor.
Possible Solution To The Above Problem -
Force the helo to hover in position but otherwise immobilely for X number of seconds after fastrope deployment.
Possible Problem With The Above Solution -
- Deploying fastropes would cause a helicopter to go from X miles an hour to zero instantly.
Possible Solution To The... Above Problem -
- Force a pilot to be under X miles an hour before deploying fastropes.
Again, thanks. Extremely sorry if this idea has been approached before.