Create grappling hook mechanic

All of the pieces are in place for me to add a grappling hook mechanic to the game. There are several ways of adding in the grappling hook, but the approach I'm going to try first is having a grappling hook that shoots out to a target moon and creates a tether that the avatar can then use to cross over. However, tethering the moons together modifies their motion, which I think could lead to some interesting consequences.

Rules: (1) The grappling hook shots out orthogonally from the surface that the avatar is standing on (there is no targeting) (2) The grappling hook takes a short but finite amount of time to go from one moon to another. Thus it is more difficult to catch a moon that is further away than one that is closer. (3) if the tether, once created, touches another moon the tether is destroyed. (4) if either of the moons that the tether is attached to is destroyed (say, by a collision), the tether is destroyed. (5) if the avatar is on the tether (not at the beginning or end) when it is destroyed, the avatar dies. (6) the avatar can move up or down the tether. (7) the avatar can only create one tether at a time. (8) a tether can be intentionally destroyed by the avatar when the avatar is either at the beginning or the end of the tether (no suicides) (9) a grappling hook that is in transit to another moon can be aborted by the avatar in mid flight.

Problems: How is the tether modeled? Is the tether flexible or inflexible? Does the tether have a finite length? How does the tether affect moon rotation, or how is the tether affected by moon rotation?

Ideas: It would actually be interesting to allow the avatar to create multiple tethers to control the movement of the moons.

jdowner / moonhopper

Create grappling hook mechanic #18