[TIP] Better Ladder Gameplay

[Sonoma]

Ultimately the best type of ladder gameplay, is none at all​

However, if you find the need to implement ladder gameplay, there is a better alternative than what I see most people do

The typical implementation of ladder gameplay I see in maps use the clip brush method, this is cringe for multiple reasons

1. Jittery movement
2. Does not allow you reliably descend them
3. Does not prevent fall damage, meaning you can die while trying to descend the ladder
4. Makes movement from one area to another nearly instantaneous, which I believe is bad because ladder routes should have a tradeoff, the tradeoff being time it takes to scale the ladder
5. Pretty much makes class movement speed irrelevant

So what is the better solution?

Use a trigger_add_tf_player_condition instead of clip brushes

Set the condition to TF_COND_SWIMMING_NO_EFFECTS, and have it's duration set to -1, which makes it only apply this condition so long as the player is touching the trigger.

What are the benefits of using this method?

1. Smoother movement, no more jank, basically uses swimming movement
2. Allows you to ascend and descend, similar to Minecraft, look up or down while holding forwards to move in the desired direction, hold your jump button to ascend or let go of it to slowly and smoothly descend, it also accepts the swim up and swim down key bindings if you are one of the 2 people to ever have those buttons bound
3. Prevents fall damage, no more taking fall damage on a ladder
4. Actually feels like you are scaling a ladder
5. Respects individual class movement speed by using their swimming speeds, so scout still scales the ladder faster than a heavy

Hopefully this helps you make better ladder gameplay

 

[Tiftid]

Here's a prefab I made to fix a couple of issues I have with this method:

• You can't go up by just holding W into the ladder like in other Valve games
• Climbing the ladder doesn't make any sounds

I also discovered that putting a "fake water trigger" above a vertical jump pad makes it marginally less infuriating to use.
However, don't use jump pads. That is all.