I can't keep calling this a driving game every time Rusty gets out of Bonita.
He has to carry parcels, meet people and reach places she can't. If walking and climbing feel like chores, the island will too. So I made him an ugly little test course and started there.
The list below is working in that course. It includes the ordinary stuff, plus ledges, ropes, poles and a grapple point. The point of the plain scenery is to catch bad transitions now, before I build a lovely mountain and discover he can't climb it.
What he can do so far
- Walking, jogging, running, turning and jumping.
- Vaulting, catching ledges, moving sideways while hanging and climbing up.
- Crouching, crawling and sliding, including checking whether there is room to stand again.
- Wall and rock climbing, ropes, bars, poles and grapple anchors.
The bit that needs work
It's still rough. Some actions borrow poses that belong to other moves, especially the rope and grapple. The timing and weight need more work before I'd call Rusty pleasant to control.
Next I need to put these moves on real island routes. A climb should feel like the obvious bad idea Rusty tries when the sensible road goes the long way round, not a checklist of buttons.