Games
Avalanche explain how to hit high speeds a foot off the ground in the new open world adventure game.
There are rules to sequels. Certain... expectations. To compensate for the fear of diminishing returns, they need more explosions, more budget, more scope, generally more waterskiers jumping over sharks. Yet a year ago it was hard to imagine how Avalanche Studios could ever top Just Cause 2, otherwise known as 'The Most OTT Action Game Of All Time And That’s Saying Something'. Sure, gamers were clamouring for Just Cause 3. But how do you go big, how do you double down on a game that already lets you explode everything in a 400 square mile tropical paradise and then sail away to safety using your trusty, insta-folding parachute?
The answer seems so obvious in hindsight: wingsuits. Of course. It’s the natural progression from Rico Rodriguez’s physics-defying grappling hook. In Just Cause 3, you’ll not only be able to haul yourself away from a collapsing military base (while recording it, naturally), you’ll be able to open your wings and soar down the hillside to safety like a virtual Jokke Sommer. To prime ourselves for the game’s launch in December, we caught up with the man responsible for the wingsuit, Avalanche lead player mechanics and systems designer Joe Ishikura.
“I personally remember watching a ton of Jeb Corliss videos,” he tells us when we ask about the studio’s approach to wingsuit research and realism (ha). “But we also spent a ton of time trying out wingsuits in every game we could get our hands on. As with most mechanics, we try to focus on the ‘feel’ of the mechanic. For the wingsuit, it meant trying to capture the fear, the adrenaline, the thrill of speed. We try to hone in on what, in the most primal recesses of our brains, really excites us about using a wingsuit. Then we go about doing our best to recreate that experience in the game; from getting the controls just right to building a world filled with great areas to fly under, over, and around.”
Ishikura, as you might imagine, had a few tips for taking off and playing digital tourist above the island of Medici.
Opening up your wingsuit is easy
"Actually activating your wingsuit couldn’t be easier," Ishikura says. “It’s really simple: hit Y on Xbox One, Triangle on PS4 or the E key on PC at any time you’re in the air or while reeling in with the grappling hook to deploy it. As with a real wingsuit, the primary way of getting out of it (not including faceplanting) is by deploying your parachute with A, Cross or Space. There’s nothing that’s going to artificially stop you from wingsuiting. How long you stay aloft is really just up to your skill level.”
For an epic flight though, you’ll need to pick your location carefully
Opening up your wingsuit is the matter of a button press, but actually staying airborne requires attention. We don’t need to tell you what can go wrong. “Honestly, the most important thing to look out for is the ground. And trees. And buildings,” Ishikura says. “You’ll find you’ll be spending most of your time in the wingsuit skimming relatively close to the ground.” It helps to take a hike up Just Cause 3’s equivalent of Mount Chiliad first though.
“There’s no question that the massive mountains in Insula Striate, the northernmost region in the game, are absolutely amazing to wingsuit along. But I also love going over, under, and between any densely structured military base. Vigilator Nord is a personal favourite of mine. There’s something special about zooming between the catwalks and spires before deploying the parachute and firing a barrage of rockets. None of these are particularly easy places to wingsuit, but that’s sort of the point – the wingsuit is most fun when you’re just barely able to survive by the skin of your teeth. But the honest answer is: anything that’s remotely tall is a great place to start. If you need a little extra momentum, you can always go to the wingsuit directly while reeling in with your grappling hook. It’s like getting shot out of a cannon directly into a glide.”
Use your parachute to land safely
It’s the stopping that’s the hard part. Thankfully, it’s also where Just Cause 3 uses its grappling hook to make a hard right turn away from reality if you manage to get things wrong. “The parachute’s the real key to landing safely. Deploy it a few beats before running out of room and everything will be fine. If not, depending on how fast you were going, you’re about to faceplant. Hard. And possibly tumble down the entire length of a mountain. Which is embarrassing and painful and, since this is Just Cause, also hilariously fun.”
Advanced wingsuiting 101: Gain speed by slingsuiting
While even Mike Swanson wouldn’t dream of trying to fire a grappling hook mid flight, physics ain’t no thang for Rico. Naturally, in Just Cause 3 the grapple helps you prolong your flight, if used correctly. “We call using the grappling hook while in a parachute ‘slingshotting’,” says Ishikura. ”You use the grappling hook to pull yourself along, building up a ton of speed and altitude along the way. We call using the grappling hook while in a wingsuit ‘slingsuiting’ because we’re cheeky. Similar deal to slingshotting: think of it like giving yourself some extra thrust by pulling yourself along the ground. If you get really good at slingsuiting, you’ll only touch the ground when you want to. It’s also the only way to create any upward velocity while in a wingsuit.”
Use it to escape combat
Rico’s webbed limbs aren’t just for virtual tourism: the wingsuit is an effective way to invade an enemy base and escape from it too. “Oh, there’s no question it’s great to use in combat scenarios,” says Ishikura. “While you’re using the parachute, you’re still vulnerable to some brutal anti-aircraft guns, snipers, attack choppers et cetera, which are no joke. Any time you’re under fire is a good time to deploy the wingsuit. Use it to quickly escape trouble and find yourself a good vantage point to start your assault anew. Using the wingsuit in more confined areas like military bases is pretty tricky, so you’ll want to make sure you’ve got some practice in areas with a good deal of space first. Our wingsuit challenges are great opportunities for that.”
Then go for the stunts
Once you’ve got slingsuiting down pat, it’s time to start showing off – internet fame is only a press of the Share button away. “This is Just Cause: we’re hoping gamers will be sharing videos of them doing some insane stunts in amazing locations. We almost don’t want to suggest anything since we’d much rather be surprised,” says Ishikura when we ask for some tips on the best spots to pull together a great edit. “There’s something primal and satisfying about threading the needle at insanely high speeds. Insula Fonte, the southwestern archipelago, has more than a few perfect rock formations for that. I also found it uniquely satisfying to wingsuit through a tunnel alongside the speeding trains in Insula Striate.”
See if you can break a record
As you might expect, the team at Avalanche have been trying to master the mechanics of this, and see how long they can stay airborne. “In one of our earliest play tests, we had two testers spend a good twenty minutes competing with each other to see who could stay in the air the longest. I think they topped out around two or three minutes. I keep resetting my scores, but I think my best is somewhere around there. The key to wingsuiting for such atrociously long times is to plan yourself a decent route and really master the proper rhythm of slingsuiting.” Can you beat them?
Upgrade your wingsuit
Avalanche is keeping its cards close to its chest, but Ishikura confirms that you will be able to upgrade the wingsuit in some way over the course of the game when we ask. “It sure can. Can’t spoil those yet, though.” What’ll it be? Rockets on the back? Lasers guns? Titanium weave? Winged monkeys that fly around you shooting down nearby vehicles using banana mini guns? Anything is possible in Just Cause 3.
Just Cause 3 is released for PS4, Xbox One and PC on December 1.
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