I used to be hardcore into the ropes in W:A. Now that I have a side-scrolling flash game engine (the Citrus Engine), I decided to pay homage to the ropes by building it into a prototype. Check it out here (http://blueflamedev.com/blog/?p=101). As long as T17 won't sue, you'll probably see it in an upcoming Flash game.

You can check out the rest of the engine at http://citrusengine.com.

I think I've seen the things like this in a Flash game called Final Ninja (by Nitrome).

http://www.nitrome.com/games/finalninja/

EDIT: Here's another, called Mr. Walter's Grand Excursion (by Jmtb02)
http://jmtb02.com/mrwalters/

double post edit

BTW, you should have noticed this "glitch" that made your engine different from W:A.
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/9895/bendingrope.png
You see, the rope in W:A bends when it collides something, but in most engines (like Liero), it passes through.

There's another designer who has produced quite an advanced engine of this type, but I can't find it for the life of me

Edit: 30 seconds later; http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/525144

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/525144
That link is a mirror which doesn't work in my browser.
http://www.king.com/games/sponsored-games/ninja-ball/play/?language=en
This is where the original game is.

And YES, it bends like what I said.

Hiya, Rags. :p

My problem with the various ninja rope/grappling hook/what have you implementations in these and a few other smaller games is that none of them really feel right. By that I don't mean that they don't handle exactly like the Ninja Rope in Worms does [although that would obviously be quite an achievement], but rather that so far all of them that I've tried out, save one*, failed completely in providing the sort of challenge and depth that the Worms rope provides. Everyone who has at least seen the better videos that are up on WormTube, if not experienced the process of becoming a good roper himself, should instantly understand what I mean.

Anyway, what I meant to point out was that when coming up with a rope-like utility, there's probably no such thing as perfect physics and perfect variables to pick for it, it all depends on the type of experience that you're aiming for with your game and how significant a part of it roping should be. This, I feel, is where all the Worms clones out there so far have failed, because invariably the rope in them ends up feeling either too large or too small a part of the gameplay, or sometimes just generally clumsy and not balanced with the rest of the movement & attacking. Heck, I even got this same feeling when trying out some of the genuine 2D Worms games released after W2/WA/WWP.

I don't mean to derail this thread, though, or take away from the achievement of making the general idea of a Ninja Rope widely available to people making Flash platformers. It's also nice to see an old face come visit the community again. ;)

* Teeworlds, funnily enough a game that doesn't try to be anything like Worms.

Thanks for the links guys! That ninja ball game (while quite simple) is very close to that prototype. It's good to know that it's been implemented in some form.

I recognize that the ropes in worms are more like a chain of joints than a single (non-collidable) joint, allowing them to bend. Besides being different from Worms, do you feel like there's any significant advantage to this?

Thanks for the comments! I've posted another proof of concept for a completely different game mechanic here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPMomeyPKcY. Feel free to let me know if this one has more potential than the "ninja rope".

If anyone is interested in seeing where any of this goes, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/blueflamedev.

EDIT: Hey TRD, thanks for your comments too. Reading your post is exactly why I came over to this thread. I am very experienced with the Ninja rope (especially back in the day). If I went this route for the game, I would want to polish it so that it "felt right". I think that it already feels closer than any of the other games above. The ninja ball's rope doesn't shoot out the opposite direction of the previous rope angle, which I think is an important mechanic (it shoots in the direction that you hold the arrows, which isn't terrible either. But it means you can't do those dead drops, which I love).

I'm still trying to decide if/how a rope can be a well balanced mechanic in a game. It's one of the most fluid, pleasing elements that I've seen in a game. But that's what prototyping is for, eh?

I recognize that the ropes in worms are more like a chain of joints than a single (non-collidable) joint, allowing them to bend. Besides being different from Worms, do you feel like there's any significant advantage to this?

AFAIK, the rope in Worms does use joints to bend, that's why it's possible to pass through thin wall like this one (http://forum.team17.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38334).

CS has confirmed this glitch in that thread, too.

This looks nice! :D