a Key to lock grapple hook length when held

This will mean those Tarzan swings when moving with the grappling hook would have a very precise circular path.
Also this would bring a kind of swing ride when locked, balancing yourself from left to right to gain speed.

The problem with this would be how would it react against negative forces. It would bounce in the opposite direction, just like bungee jumping: once the jumper reaches the limit of the rope he gets bounced back.

 

Rather than a key to lock the grappling hook length I would like to see some sort of mechanized control, what I am picturing is something along the lines of Batman's utility belt. It would allow you to control length at will and be able to make you forcibly ascend or descend.

When the grappling hook was initially released to the public I had very similar thoughts, below I have quoted part of my post relating to grappling hooks (I hope I am not hijacking your thread).

One minor change that I think would greatly improve the grappling hook as it stands, is to remove tree climbing while it is in use. It is quite annoying to be swinging from tree to tree and lose the majority of your velocity because you pass through a tree.

 

There would be a baseline velocity for reeling in the spool, the rope itself would have a bit of elasticity which would add to your overall velocity.

In my opinion, regardless of playstyle. The best way to stay alive is to anticipate your enemies and keep a margin of error (extra space) between you and your opponents depending on the situation. Agility plays a large role in keeping you unpredictable which in turn preserves your life, especially in when you are in close proximity to a knight.

As it stands, when grappling on horizontal terrain or moving from tree to tree for speed boosts, you throw your grapple and jump as it lands. The only difference is rather then tapping your up key "W" to jump and help propel you forward and remove friction, you keep your up key "W" pressed. This would not change the functionality of speeding along the ground, it would only give you more control over the length of your rope.

I am trying to keep a balance between speed and control which would allow for multiple play styles.

Granted with any suggestion, without proof of concept it is hard to grasp the nuances that it will bring to the table.

 

I'm with part of your sugestions Skinney. How I see this now is that the developers aren't going to make big changes to the vanilla features. I also would like the grapple hook to be quite different, beggining with the rope not going trhu tiles but using them to gain momentum. The lenght lock idea was a simple tweak instead of a big remodelation, as I was afraid of thinking in technicolour.

If you lock the length of the rope it won't change until you release the key. So, following the example below, if your radius (length of rope let's say) is 3cm, the only movement you can perform with it is a circle. It would have no elasticity when its length is locked. If the length isn't locked it will vary from 3cm to 7cm, making your bounce less controlled.