Ladders
From FleshWorks
by nivanhye
Ladder Use
It's possible to create ladders by using the ladder4FT, ladder1FT and ladderTop actors found under WorldObj/Environmental/Ladder. Anything can be made into a ladder by adding the property Climber/blsLadder and setting its value to true but one always gets the sound effects for climbing a metal ladder.
There is a property Climber/blsRope but this doesn't seem to work in that Garrett can jump onto the rope and will stay in position but cannot climb up or down.
The only way off a ladder is to back off the bottom or climb over the top. Leaping off as in previous thiefs doesn't seem to work. If you do an indian rope trick with an unsupported ladder Garrett will climb over the top as though there's a level surface there and fall down the other side.
Further experimentation has revealed that using sideways motion and jump together will allow Garrett to jump off onto a surface at the side of the ladder (like the sarcophagi in city of the dead in thief one) as long as the surface is wide enough and he can get high enough above it (by experimentation seems to be 64 units out from wall ladder is on and garret needs to be able to get 64 units above it on the ladder). He can get back onto the ladder by walking into the side though care is needed.
Garrett can also climb up a ladder which passes through a hole cut out in the floor. The hole only needs to come out 32 units from the wall for it to work. In 3rd person view Garrett climbs through the floor so need 64 units for the 3rd person to look right.
There is another Climber property blsRailing. This seems to have no effect so is probably not implemented. There is an animation for Garrett to vault a railing but it doesn't seem to be used.
Ladder positioning
Sometimes there are problems in the game with ladders that are not positioned optimally. If it is difficult to get onto a ladder at the bottom (the game freezes for a few seconds and then falls back without grabbing the ladder), the ladder is probably too close to the wall behind - try moving it forward slightly.
Alternatively, if it is difficult to get off at the top of the ladder (e.g. you have to run and jump repeatedly to avoid falling back down), then the ladder top mesh is probably buried too deeply in the floor at the top - move the whole ladder assembly up slightly.
Back to Mission Design: World Objects Tutorials Page
