Learning the ropes: literally

[DRedshot]

is there a way to make ropes disappear or appear? (something like set
entity active, 'active' for the rope areas doesn't seem to work.)

You could set the rope length to 0. It would give the illusion that it doesn't exist.
Of course, anything that was attached to it would be hanging from the endpoint, so you would have to set the entityinactive (Unless you want it that way)

Changing rope length in script is quite tricky. First you must place a slide-door and a wheel/valve (Both out of sight)
Put the following script OnStart():
InteractConnectPropWithRope("RopeWheelConnect", "wheel", "rope" , false , 3 , 10 , 50 , false , 1);
InteractConnectPropWithMoveObject("DoorWheelConnect", "wheel", "door", true, false, 1);

Now you are all set to adjust the rope with script!
What you do is use "SetMoveObjectStateExt("door", afAmount, 15.0f, 20.0f, 0.0f, false);"
This command raises the door, which spins the wheel, which pulls the rope down!
If you set the ropes minimum length to zero, moving the door to position 0.0f will essentially make the rope disapppear. This also has the advantage of keeping the rope under your control more, without it stretching more or less than you want.