A modder has rowed one of Red Dead Redemption 2's longest rivers using a real-life rowing machine

YouTube channel ShakeMistake has found an unusual way to combine fitness and virtual travel, transforming a cowboy action game into a fully-fledged exercise machine. He connected a rowing machine as a controller and decided to canoe one of the game's longest rivers, where every stroke of the paddle directly controlled the character's movement on-screen.

The community chose the route for the test. The river ran across almost the entire map and included dangerous sections with waterfalls. To control the direction, the modder attached a phone running the Steam Link app to the handle of the machine and, using the program Steppl, converted physical rowing movements into character movement. Despite the presence of fully-fledged rowboats in Red Dead Redemption 2, he used a canoe because it interacted more accurately with the mods installed.

Proceeding across the water was difficult. While in-game characters can row faster thanks to stamina, ShakeMistake didn't increase his pace, navigating sharp turns and drops in the water slowly but relentlessly. Comparing the webcam recording with the in-game action clearly showed how much easier it was for the character in RDR2 than for someone doing real physical work.

When the strain became almost unbearable, the modder upgraded his mod set, synchronizing his movements with the character's "sprint" to keep up with the game. But at some point, the current shifted and began to resist, making the challenge even more difficult.

Despite fatigue and pain, ShakeMistake finally reached the end of the route. He had previously attempted similar experiments, traversing the RDR2 map on a treadmill, transferring every step into the game. Back then, the challenge ended with almost seventeen thousand steps, which, as it turns out, seemed far more humane compared to the grueling nature of rowing.