I'll throw this in for what it's worth, and this idea came from a friend who probably doesn't want to post on blf anyways: the knife should be in the right hand and clicking will attack like normal, but the grapple hook should be on the left hand and triggered by right click. It's like akimbo and I don't have to frantically switch between my item slots which slows down aerial attacks a lot when I'm focusing on it. Then spacebar or some other trigger can pull the rope in so hanging is not a problem. Add in some style too, like a full body grappling hook like in AoT, I think people will like that.
And if you wanted to prevent hangers maybe you could write something that keeps track of their last position-updating move via MoveHandler, combined with some z-component filtering so they cant just tap left and right or something. Maybe just introduce a "grip strength" mechanic that decreases as the rope gets longer, and higher level players get more grip stamina, and when your stamina runs out the rope is cut. Obviously make this super high for when players play legitimately so it doesn't interrupt the rad moves people like to do like flying around and midairs.
And then there's lots of meme things like tracers and hats, sounds for when you get kill streaks, maybe add a tutorial so noobs aren't overwhelmed because the "mechanics" behind knifing are weird when it comes to lag compensation (although the game itself works really well as a tutorial anyways, but noobs fear strong people they can't kill at all, so throw easy-kill bots at them), and for grappling like speeding around on a horizontal plane and tips to not get stuck or land. Powerups too but make them equal among levels just to throw in a twist to some matches, like giving a noob the opportunity to take out a super experienced person. I hate when I play and a guy who has devoted his entire life to the game just clean-sweeps everybody every round, and I'd imagine it makes noobs want to leave if they think it's bullstuff. But don't make it so that practicing is an unworthy investment, make it so really skilled players can actually dodge certain powerups so it's not BS. Sniper rifles that damage based on range is a cool idea, it would force people to snipe those far away and point blank/near shots would do little damage while large distances are an instant kill.
I guess speaking generally its about creating a way to hone a skill that looks difficult on surface but with a little brainpower can get you far, ie, not a lot of knifers know that the knife really needs to be lag compensated despite its short range, and those who figured it out unlocked a secret and effective way to kill others. They have discovered its not random to kill someone and have a huge advantage because lag compensation is hard to "figure out" (may not be the case now, last time I played was a really long time ago). And this feeling of power is what drives retention-- can't be cheap, have to work for it, can't be just given to players. It's like CityRPG, the climb to power is semi difficult but sustainable and worth it in the long run because its fun to dominate noobs.
good
I need to remind everyone that """cancer""" is good. I don't really like grapple knife either (it's basically a social server now anyways, who cares if you're good at knifing) but it's like the only game I can think of that has that competitive feel to it that attracts new players easily, and makes them take it seriously. Like I know a ton of other servers attract noobs but grapple knife has this weird competitive atmosphere that is unmatched.
I WANT to go back to the days were there were "too many cityRPGs, knifeDMs, etc" because even if they exist a good server can just steal their players anyways. It's all about the potential.
