Ride rail



Ride rails, also known as ride-rails, are a mechanic found in single-player modes, Octo Canyon and the Octo Expansion, as well as Shifty Station and Ruins of Ark Polaris. In Octo Canyon, they replace the Inkrails from the first game in the campaign, while in the Octo Expansion, both can be found. They can also be found in Return of the Mammalians.

Description
Ride rails act very similar to Inkrails in that the player uses these lines of ink to travel and jump further in squid or octopus form, but they differ in the fact that the player can grind on the ride rails by turning into humanoid form, and that contrary to their counterpart they are unidirectional. Weapons can be used by the player while on a ride rail. Ride rails are one-way, in contrast to Inkrails which allow the player to travel back and forth.

Ride rails appear to be ropes of ink-covered metal spirals containing ink inside that connect to platforms or are suspended mid-air. They can be activated by the player's ink hitting a slightly larger bulb that is similar to the Inkrail bulb but with propellers at the end, or are sometimes activated automatically depending on the player's actions, such as when there are several inactive rails in a row and activating one activates all of them. The player can hop from a rail to another or a platform by pressing to jump while tilting  towards the direction wanted. Jumping like this can be used to perform tricks in reference to real-world grind rails that are used to perform skateboard tricks by jumping. When using the ride rails, it is also possible to fall off if the player does not time jumps correctly and misses their landing. The player can get on a ride rail by jumping on it while it is activated, or by dodge-rolling into it with dualies by pressing. They can also activate the rail that way.

In multiplayer stages where ride rails appear, they gain additional properties similar to the implementation of Inkrails, where both teams are able to activate each ride rail. Activating the ride rails will have the bulb show the ink capacity visually decrease until it empties, which deactivates the rail. Ride rails can only be used by players of the same ink color, where the team can ink the bulb to refuel it, while opponent ink will deplete it faster. In Ruins of Ark Polaris, ride rail bulbs can become deactivated during certain phases, being unusable until certain phases.

Shifty Station

 * Layout 15: Railway Chillin'

Salmon Run

 * Ruins of Ark Polaris

Octo Canyon

 * Sunset Octocopter (Mission #3)
 * The Octopark (Mission #05)
 * Octozeppelin Invasion (Mission #06)
 * Back-Alley Cleanup (Mission #07)
 * Beaker's Depot (Sector 3)
 * Octoseeker Shakedown (Mission #10)
 * The Floating Garden (Mission #11)
 * Parking Garage (Mission #14)
 * Octocommander Fortress (Mission #17)
 * Towering Heights (Mission #18)
 * Octolings Ahoy! (Mission #21)
 * The Octo Shower (Boss 4)
 * Cephalon HQ (Sector 5)
 * Underground Expressway (Mission #22)
 * The Octogalaxy (Mission #23)
 * Tide Goes Out (Sector 5 Boss)

Octo Expansion

 * Abandoned Station
 * Notorious Station
 * Bodacious 8-Ball Station
 * Abracadabra Station
 * Ink from Above Station
 * Radical Rails Station
 * Targetbuster Station
 * Heinous 8-Ball Station
 * Squee-G Funk Station
 * Bodacious Rotation Station
 * Stamped-Up Station
 * Duh-Oh Station
 * Jump Station
 * Gnarly Rails Station
 * Righteous Rails Station
 * Ride with Me Station
 * Radio Station
 * Poppin' Fresh Station
 * Stick 'n' Move Station
 * Spinal Phase
 * Turf War

Alterna

 * Get to Know Alterna, Your Only Choice
 * Relic Restoration
 * Splitting Crosshairs
 * The Ink-Conservation Project
 * Easy Ride, Tricky Targets

Trivia

 * No inkrails are found in Octo Canyon, due to being replaced by ride rails, but they were introduced into multiplayer instead.
 * However, this does not carry over to the Octo Expansion and Return of the Mammalians, which feature both.
 * "Grinding", a term often used in characters' dialogue when referring to riding a ride rail, is a reference to grinding on a skateboard.
 * Additionally, if Agent 8 jumps while having no main weapon on a ride rail in an Octo Expansion mission, they will bring their feet up to their side and grab onto them, a reference to a similar move in surfing and skateboarding.