🏗️ Jump Puzzle Building Guide

A guide for creating your own basic Jump Puzzle, by Emerald Ares.

🧙‍♂️ Dispelling Myths

There are a few things that I want people to know before going into the building process.

1) Anyone Can Build A Jump Puzzle

This isn’t strictly the domain of Third Party Program (TPP) users! I won’t lie, some people use TPP to build their puzzles and there are a few tricks that only TPP users can utilize, but we’re not here to condemn that. We’re here to do parkour, and the point is anyone can build a good puzzle with only in-game glitches. This guide is primarily focused on manual building, but don’t look down on TPP puzzles just because they weren’t made by hand. They offer the same kind of parkour fun.

2) Jump Puzzles Are About Creativity And Willpower More Than Resources

It doesn’t matter what gil, furnishings, glitches, tools, or plugins you use… if you aren’t ready to be creative and focus on building, you aren’t going to get anywhere. That doesn’t mean you have to build quickly (some people build quite slowly and still make amazing puzzles), but having the means to build Jump Puzzles doesn’t necessarily mean you will build them. You have to be determined and love parkour if you want to finish your work.

3) Getting A Space To Build A Jump Puzzle Is Easier Than You Think

Throw away misconceptions that only Private Estates are important in Jump Puzzles (or normal decoration, really). It’s true that you can make bigger puzzles in Private Estates, but you can also build amazing puzzles in 100 slot rooms. In fact, the majority of Jump Puzzles we have created are made in these spaces. As long as you have an Apartment or FC room, you can build with us.

📋 Requirements

In order to build a Jump Puzzle, you will need the following:

1) A Space To Build

Obvious, right? But if a player hasn’t interacted with the housing system at all, they obviously can’t produce a Jump Puzzle. Most players don’t have access to a Private Estate and don’t have building rights in their FC House, so the best way to start building is to use an Apartment or FC Room:

• Apartments: 500k, never demolish, fully under your control.
• FC Rooms: 300k, can be destroyed if you are removed from the FC (usually for inactivity, but sometimes personal conflict).

I suggest starting with an Apartment, then making the FC Room. That means 500-800k in building space costs. If you do decide to do only the FC Room, be aware of the risks. Try to pick a stable FC or a Jump Puzzle FC.

2) The Right Furnishings

Jump Puzzles require certain furnishings in order to be successful. The barebones of what you need to have a typical Jump Puzzle:

• Ceiling Breaker Furnishing Or Bed: You either need to break through the ceiling with a furnishing that has lift or put a bed into the wall to break out of the room. The typical Doze Gate is difficult to set up without TPP, so I suggest a lift furnishing like:
  • Model Star Globe
  • Zabuton Cushion
  • Dragon Floor Lamp

Other options work, but those are the most common ones. Pick the Zabuton Cushion if you’re short on gil and/or reputation.

• Message Book: You need a Message Book so people can sign at the end of your Jump Puzzle. Some easier puzzles don’t use this setup and have the Message Book in a normal location, but for the most part this helps to establish a goal for challengers. Avoid leaving it out.

• Orchestrion / Table Orchestrion: Sounds stupid, but I consider this essential to a puzzle. The right choice of music can really help with a Jump Puzzle’s atmosphere.

• Stage Panel / Wooden Loft: Not strictly required, but these tools will help you build effectively.

• Housing NPCs - Furnishings and Dyes: Also not required, but to avoid making excessive trips to the Market Board or Apartment Lobby these are a good idea.

• Summoning Bell: Having to leave the puzzle to access your retainers is annoying. Put a stop to that problem while building.

• Miscellaneous Platforms: Anything you decide to use to create the actual sequential path of jumps through the room and void space. Choose strategically to change the look, feel, and strategy of your puzzle.

3) Level 50 in One Job & 2nd Lieutenant Grand Company Rank

Read Jump Puzzle Glossary if this isn’t already done.

🛠️ Building Process

Alright, it’s time to build a typical tabletop and wall-mounted furnishing puzzle.

Why Only Tabletop And Wall-Mounted Furnishings?

Any furnishing can be used in Jump Puzzles, but one of the most central tools for manual puzzle builders is the Storeroom Glitch:

Storeroom Glitch: First Method

A) Putting a tabletop or wall-mounted furnishing in the storeroom.
B) Selecting the item from the storeroom, causing it to pop out in front of you.
C) Mashing the * key (PC) or hitting Square → Confirm (Playstation) to glitch the tabletop or wall-mounted item into place.

Why is this simple glitch important? Because it allows you to set up platforms in the void where none exist. Your current position and camera angle will determine where the furnishing can be placed. This can be manipulated not only by moving your camera around but also by changing your position and elevation. In other words, jumping up onto a Porcelain Vase will let you storeroom glitch an item higher. This is important, but there’s another side of the Storeroom Glitch that matters:

Storeroom Glitch: Second Method

A) Set out a Stage Panel or have a surface like a wall or showcase nearby.
B) Select a tabletop or wall-mounted item from the storeroom.
C) Grab the item that pops out with the move command.
D) Drag it into position on the stage panel, wall, or showcase at your preferred elevation. For ceiling-breaking lifts, this should be close to the top of the room while still allowing the bottom of the lift furnishing to be jumped up into.
E) Mash the * key (PC) or hit Square → Confirm (Playstation).

This “second method” is almost essential for breaking into the void. Understanding both methods well is key to building a good Jump Puzzle manually. The First Method is for the actual platforms of the Jump Puzzle while the Second Method is for ceiling lifts and specific “peg” placements. Remember, there’s no manual surface for placing items overhead. Learn these.

📹 Video Of First Method Being Used In Normal Decoration

Shei is only using this to get furnishings closer to the wall, but if you stand on top of items or floating platforms and adjust your camera angle you can set tabletop and wall-mounted items at various positions and elevations in the air.

📹 Video Of Second Method Being Used In Normal Decoration

Shei is only using this to float tabletop and wall items in the room and isn’t doing quite the same thing, but set up a Stage Panel like at 2:45 and then follow the directions of the Second Method listed above.

🧩 Sample Puzzle Process

1) Set Up A Ceiling Lift (Storeroom Glitch 2):

A) Set out your Stage Panel.
B) Select a Zabuton Cushion, Model Star Globe, or Dragon Floor Lamp from the storeroom.
C) Grab the selected item with “Move.”
D) Drag it up the Stage Panel until it’s almost in the ceiling, then mash the * key (PC) or hit Square → Confirm (Playstation).

Set up furnishings so you can reach the ceiling lift, either via naturally-climbable furnishings or platforms. Enter the void.

2) Make A Super Basic Jump Puzzle (Storeroom Glitch 1):

A) Put a bunch of Porcelain Vases in your storeroom.
B) While standing in the void, select a Porcelain Vase from the storeroom.
C) Adjust your camera angle until you’re satisfied with the Porcelain Vase’s position.
D) Mash the _ key (PC) or hit Square → Confirm (Playstation).
E) Jump on top of the Porcelain Vase while outside of editing mode.
F) Enter editing mode again, but only move your camera. If your character moves, you’ll fall to the floor.
G) Select another Porcelain Vase from the storeroom, angle it, and place it.
H) Jump on the new Porcelain Vase.
I) Repeatedly put out new Porcelain Vases and jump on them until you can’t anymore. The Void has an upper vertical limit where even the Storeroom Glitch doesn’t work.
J) Find your Message Book in the storeroom after going slightly lower than the void’s vertical limit. Select it.
K) Mash the _ key (PC) or hit Square → Confirm (Playstation).

Congratulations, you have made a basic Jump Puzzle.

🎉 Now What?

If you successfully did the sample puzzle, you can already create Jump Puzzles that are worthy of challenging any parkour enthusiast. Some tips for the next one:

1) Try Different Furnishings To Aid In Building

Porcelain Vases are still good for raising your elevation, but you can remove them after placing other tabletop or wall platforms. You can also use other tools to move around like:

• Porcelain Vase (From Above): Significant Vertical Movement
• Zabuton Cushion: Horizontal Movement
• Five Ages: Less Vertical Movement
• Oriental Pipe Box: Tiny Vertical Movement
• Wooden Steps: Crawl downward in the air (also useful for reaching a lower elevation and setting up Wooden Loft floors outside the housing cube)

2) Try Different Furnishings In The Course

Jump Puzzles are deeply influenced by what items you use. Try as many as you can and find what creates your unique building style. Don’t be afraid to use items that others have tried out, though. Reusing concepts is allowed, just like in housing decoration.

3) Read Building Help

There’s a lot of good information there for people once they know the basics of building.

4) Try Daisy Chaining

To use furnishings in puzzles other than tabletop or wall-mounted without TPP, you need a method like this:

THIS IS SLOW, TEDIOUS, AND DIFFICULT! You need to understand the glitch in this video to even attempt this: Daisy Chaining Video

A) Stage Panel raise a partition.
B) Raise another one, then use the second to raise the first one higher into the void. THIS WILL INVOLVE LOOKING THROUGH THE CEILING FROM ABOVE AND SLOWLY RAISING ADDITIONAL PARTITIONS THROUGH. (Set up a loft in the void wall to avoid falling during lifting)
C) Repeat until you are as high as you want to go in the void.
D) Use the raised partitions to raise other items like beds, chairs, etc.

Alternatively, you can use Wooden Beams or similar to slowly raise items like you would with a Stage Panel. This is also difficult, but allows for on-the-fly adjustments in the void.

5) Tour Other Jump Puzzles

One of the best ways to learn, just like with normal design, is to see what others are doing. Expose yourself to a variety of Jump Puzzles. The more you see, the more ideas you’ll get. You’ll either use some of their techniques or even come up with your own mechanics!

6) Decide Whether Or Not To Use TPP

Some builders rely on TPP to build or simply to avoid tedious processes like Daisy Chaining. Never mention TPP like BDTH in-game, but feel free to discuss Third Party Programs used for building in this server. Treat them like parsers, basically.

7) This Guide Is Only The Beginning

It’s impossible for me to adequately explain everything about Jump Puzzles in this channel. The purpose of this guide is to give people a basic understanding of Jump Puzzles, allow them to build basic ones, and give them some tools to go beyond. For additional questions, ask in Building Help or General Chat!

Happy Building! 🎉