How do I glide in "Batman: Arkham City" during the "Demon Trials"?

I am playing Batman: Arkham City on the PC (Windows). I am stuck on the Demon Trials level where one has to follow a blue path through the air by alternating between gliding and dive bombing.

I have looked online, and everywhere says the same thing. One simply holds down W+Space to glide, and W+Space+Left CTRL to dive bomb. So, essentially, one should just hold down W+Space the whole time, and switch between holding down the Left CTRL and not holding it down, in order to dive bomb or not, respectively.

However, every single time, I start in glide mode, then I do a dive bomb, and as soon as I let go of the Left CTRL button, Batman stops gliding and plummets to the ground like a bag of wet cement.

I have read some things that seem to indicate pulling back (or forward) on the mouse makes a difference, but not as far as I've experienced. I've also tried every variation I can think of for how I switch between keys and which ones I hold down in what order, but nothing makes a difference.

How can I get Batman to glide and dive bomb using a PC keyboard and mouse as is necessary to pass this level?

Solution 1:

It could be your keyboard and key combinations that's causing problems.

The key here is to never release the glide button (Space) and you don't necessarily have to hold forward (W) IIRC. Hold forward and glide (W + Space) to start the initial jump off the ledge and gliding. While gliding, make sure you're holding the glide button (Space) to keep on gliding. The movement buttons (W, S, A and D I assume) controls your pitch and yaw (fly up/down, left/right).

Every once in a while, you'll need to dive-bomb to not only follow the path but also gain some needed momentum. While gliding, hold the dive-bomb button (Ctrl) and don't release the glide button! After diving for a while and gaining speed, release (only) the dive-bomb button and fly upward (S or W if inverted flight is off) to gain more altitude. The speed you got in the dive should allow you to fly back up close to the height you started diving but you'll be gliding forward a bit faster. And repeat as necessary.

Assuming you're doing all this and not releasing the glide button at any point, you should be fine. If you still stop gliding after releasing the dive-bomb button, try changing your glide button to a different key and see if that makes a difference. Try Alt as it's a modifier key and should be able to be combined with most other keys (though Ctrl + W + Space and possibly A/D shouldn't cause problems on most keyboards today).

Solution 2:

Gliding in this level is not different from anywhere else. As you said, you should just hold down W+Space, pressing Ctrl to dive. Even in case you start falling, pressing Space again should let you glide again(but you won't regain altitude in this case). Pay attention to always stay high in the air, if you get too low you'll fall down and fail the trial. Also, the blue path is only a suggestion, you don't have to follow it closely (but don't go too far either).

If you're struggling to complete it, maybe you should first practice going around in Arkham, trying to alternate diving and gliding.