Strange Housing
Final Fantasy XIV Jump Puzzle Information Repository
This extension of Strange Housing aims to store all accumulated knowledge we have discovered together as a community. Here, you will be able to find in-depth information in regards to building and jumping techniques, as well as thorough explanations for the rating system and sub-types. While Strange Housing may not be the original place some of the following information originated, all of the compiled information was discovered independently by our members and the names and explanations may reflect that. We hope that this information proves useful for jump puzzle and housing enthusiasts alike, and that you feel free to share it as you like.
General Topics
Building Guide - Utilizing Your Space (In Progress)
Specialized Topics
Coming Soon
Building Guide - Utilizing Your Space
A (hopefully) easy guide for creating your own basic jump puzzle.
Dispelling Myths
Anyone can build a jump puzzle. This isn't strictly the domain of Third-Party Program (TPP) users.
It can't be denied that some people use TPP to build their puzzles and there are a few tricks that TPP users can do to save time, but there's no need to condemn that. This community exists to build and jump and anybody can build a good jump puzzle with only in-game glitches. You may come across a build at some point where you think "there's no way they did this without plugins," but you'd be wrong. Aside from backing up builds and creating pixel perfect replicas, anything a TPP builder can do, a plugin-free builder can do as well. The difference in building with and without comes down to time spent and practice!
Building jump puzzles is more 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 doesn't necessarily mean you will build. You have to be determined and love parkour if you want to finish your work.
Getting a space to build is easier than you think.
Throw away any misconceptions about private estates and their importance. An apartment (or FC room) is just as good of a blank canvas, for jump puzzles or normal housing. It's true that you get less item slots and that your puzzles will be smaller in an apartment, but you can absolutely build something amazing using only 100 slots and there are hundreds of examples of that. The majority of our listed jump puzzles are made in apartments and private FC chambers. As long as you have a room, you can build. See our alt prep guide on how to make yourself eligible to purchase a housing space if you are not already!
The Requirements
In order to build a jump puzzle, you will need the following:
A space to build: Seems obvious enough, 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 private FC chamber. For starting out, an apartment is the better choice unless you are confident that you will be with your free company permanently; an apartment is more expensive (500k vs 300k) but it will never demo due to being inactive, while a private FC room is dependent on the FC remaining active. If you leave your FC by choice or against your will, your private room will be demolished and you will lose your puzzle (though your materials are retrievable).
The right concept: Aside from "jumping on things," you need to have an idea of what kind of experience you want to create for the jumper. This is the culmination of all the subsequent elements in a way, but it's good to have your starting point here and shape everything else around it. Do you want something easy that most people can complete? Pick an objective: do you want to use the message book as the finish line, or do you want to use it to leave instructions for a scavenger hunt? These are the types of things to ask yourself to help guide your build.
The right furnishings: Probably the most important part of executing a build, picking the right furnishings can shape the puzzle's theme and/or difficulty, as well as how hard the puzzle is for you to build. You have to take into consideration things like which items have collision (as in you can stand/jump on them), which have lift (will pop you up when jumping into it from below), as well as objectives.
The right techniques: The storeroom glitch is by far the easiest method to build with, though it limits your furnishing selection to tabletop and wall-mounted items.
The right feel:
The Building Process
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Avoid these:
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Building Guide - Character Prep
For when one character isn't enough, here's a guide for making an alt for more Jump Puzzles while doing the bare minimum in Main Story Quest and Grand Company Rank.
The Process:
The goal is to obtain a Grand Company on the alt, reach the rank of Second Lieutenant, and reach level 50 on one job.
The Level Requirements
It's time to reach level 50, so focus on MSQ and enlist in a Grand Company.
Get through the starting area story (MSQ): Get through the opening story of Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, or Ul'dah. Reach the point where you can reach all three of these cities by airship. These quests will be named "The Lominsan/Gridanian/Ul'dahn Envoy."
Complete the first three dungeons (MSQ):Clear Sastasha, Tam-tara Deepcroft, and Copperbell Mines. Recruit either a friend or benefactor to unsync them for you, queue them in Duty Finder, or unsync them yourself if you boosted. As of 6.1, you can also use Duty Support in these dungeons to save yourself from queues if you are leveling as a DPS class.
Defeat Ifrit (MSQ): Do the Main Story Quest storyline in Eastern Thanalan involving Ifrit and clear the 4-man Trial. You'll be prompted to choose a Grand Company, then do the solo instance associated with Biggs and Wedge and finish the introductory quest. You'll be prompted to return to the Waking Sands for 300 seals, and this is a good point to start making sure you have the Seal Sweetener II FC buff rolling for the 10% bonus. Grab your seals and return to your Grand Company and pick up "My Little Chocobo," which requires a Chocobo Issuance to be purchased from the nearby GC Quartermaster using your newly acquired seals. Once you have it, complete that quest, name your mount, and be on your way.
Work on MSQ: Technically, you don't have to do any more MSQ if you don't want to. However, MSQ is the easiest source of experience in most cases, and having an upgraded job will help speed you along regardless of your leveling method. With that in mind, completion of the "Sylph Management" main story quest will unlock the ability to upgrade your class to a job. Anything beyond this point in MSQ is solely for EXP to help you reach level 50.
The Grand Company Requirements
It's time to reach Second Lieutenant, so focus on GC Seal income and ranking up. Here are some options:
FATEs (Costa del Sol or Northern Thanalan are best)
Adventurer In Need bonus from Leveling Roulette
Grand Company provisions
Grand Company leves at Camp Drybone available from Kikiri (more on this below)
PVP unlock quest "A Pup No Longer" from your GC Commander (One-time reward of 1438 seals, 1582 with Seal Sweetener II)
GC Hunting Logs (first two ranks are required)
Use Silver Chocobo Feathers to purchase the latest tome gear
You can use the following charts to plan your income and spending.
Grand Company Leves: a Different Kind of Grind
Sometimes, an attractive alternative exists.
The GC leves available from Kikiri at Camp Drybone offer an alternative to dungeon grinding and FATEs that miraculously isn't a huge hassle. You can see in the graphic above that there is a 9000 seal deficit where the Hunting Log doesn't cover it and the Expert Deliveries are not yet unlocked. These Grand Company leves will fill that void quite nicely with minimal effort and time investment. When you defeat the golem during your starting zone experience, you will unlock Inn Rooms and Grand Company Leves. Talk to the NPC shown in the cutscene (it's unskippable so you'll get a good look) and pick up "The Leves of Swiftperch/Horizon/Bentbranch" according to whichever zone you started in. The next step of your MSQ should take you there so it's not out of the way. Turn in the quest and pick up the follow-up quest which will require you to complete a trial leve. Complete the leve and turn in that and the quest that required its completion.After this, you'll be ready to undertake levequests from Kikiri, who can be found near the Camp Drybone aetheryte. The important thing to remember is that this seal-grinding method is for GC seals, not for experience or leveling up. The higher level you are and the better your gear is, the faster this step will go. If you're lucky and get the fast leves (more below) you can gather roughly 1000 seals per round. The downside of this method is that it takes about 30 leve allowances, which you won't have right away.
Do these:
A Cold-blooded Business
Blood in the Water
The Burning Reason
A Heart Aflame
Don't Tear Down This Wall
The Third Prize Is that You're Slain
Avoid these:
Watch Me If You Can
Food for Thought
There will be some leves that ask you to poke enemies or gather items to reveal Trickster Imps or Wicked Souls, and the key to doing these quickly is to just pull everything you can that has the silver leve marker over its head. There will be circles on the map that generally show how far these enemies can be leashed before resetting. If you pull everything in the circle and no imps appear, just run on to the next circle without bothering to slay the enemies. Once you kill the 2 or 3 quest objectives, the rest of the enemies will despawn. It's literally faster to brute force these leves rather than do them as designed! With any luck you can knock out 9000 seals worth of leves in 45 minutes or less. Don't forget the Seal Sweetener II buff!
Some Helpful Tips
Some parting advice and suggestions:
Try to have fun with it: You'll be visiting some familiar places that may show in a new light thanks to MSQ progress on your main.
Don't Burn Out: Unless your target World is running low on apartments, your building space isn't going anywhere. Take breaks and don't rush!
Use a One-Time Password: Whether keyfob or app, using an OTP lets you set a destination as a free teleport. Change it often and abuse it to save gil!
Gear Matters: You can get by with Hall of Novice/early dungeon gear for a while, but don't be afraid to spend gil on marketable dungeon gear. Early 40's is a good example.
Chocobo Porters: The real MVPs at low levels. They can give you rides to early settlements and let you rent chocobos to get to places like Tam-Tara and Drybone.
Trade Leveling Services: Before you start your alt, plan with a friend or acquaintance to trade runs and transports. A huge time-saver.
Job Choice Matters: Starting zone, familiarity with playstyle, knowledge of job quests, they all factor into your leveling speed and dictate queue times and adventurer bonus.
Pick a Preferred World: Some servers will offer EXP buffs (i.e. Road to 80) and even a free one million gil. Choose these if you don't care what server your alt is on.
Purchasing Boosts is an Option, Albeit an Expensive One
With a level boost, you:
avoid the biggest time investment in procuring extra housing.
are always geared well which speeds up duties and hunting logs
can avoid queues altogether via unsync solo runs (they do give quest credit)
have access to Peloton immediately if you boost a ranged job or if start in Limsa and pick up Dancer
can make up the 9000 seal deficit with 3 adventurer in need bonuses
already have all the gear you need to turn in given to you with the boost (save some for your GC assignment dungeons!)
With a MSQ boost, you:
spend less as you only need ARR boosted for basic housing
can fly immediately, helping with job quests and Hunting Log
can take advantage of World EXP buffs if you prefer to grind levels the old fashioned way
avoid MSQ if you're burnt out, gain levels via leveling roulette instead (adventurer bonus active to take care of two tasks at once)
only want to use this option on a EXP boosted world server
With a Job Boost and MSQ boost, you:
can be ready for housing in as much time as it takes you to do your Hunting Logs, make 9000 seals, and solo Dzemael Darkhold and Aurum Vale
Good luck, and happy questing!
Puzzle Access Guide
It has become obvious that some Jump Puzzles are more difficult to reach and clear than others. Here are some important factors that affect the accessibility of Jump Puzzles. 1 character per region is required to fulfill these conditions for Optimal or Reasonable Access, with a total requirement of 4 characters for a Jumper seeking to complete every single Jump Puzzle.
Types of restrictions you will encounter:
Location Access: Some Jump Puzzles are located in places that not all characters / alts can reach. Puzzles in the first 3 starting zones may require airship access, puzzles that are in Empyreum require progression through the 3.0 MSQ, and puzzles in Shirogane require MSQ progression through the Sirensong Sea. These requirements can be circumvented by adding the builder to your Friend List and teleporting to their estate or apartment, but a truly devoted Jumper may decide to go the full distance and unlock these zones for themselves. It may not be possible to contact all builders either, which may make leveling and MSQ progress necessary.
Speed Access: Some Jump Puzzles cannot be completed without the proper amount of speed at certain chokepoints. This is different from Location Access because technically all characters meet this requirement with Sprint. However, depending on only Sprint when multiple speed boosts exist in a Jump Puzzle is miserable. Therefore, the reasonable threshold for an alt is Level 20 Archer for Peloton. For even more speed that may be helpful in the most difficult puzzles, Moon Flute from clearing 10 stages of Masked Carnivale on Blue Mage or Expedient from leveling Scholar to 90 can be useful. It's possible to rotate Peloton, Moon Flute, and Expedient for maximum sustained speed.
Job Access: Lastly, perhaps the most controversial and rare of Jump Puzzle requirements: specific jobs. This comes up very rarely, but there are a few Jump Puzzles on the list that require specific abilities from certain jobs. They are marked as (L) on the Jump Puzzle lists and are best avoided by all but the most determined of Jump Puzzle enthusiasts. The (L-) puzzles, however, can generally be cleared by anyone. Dragoon 35, Dancer 60, and Reaper 70 aid with fulfilling these requirements. The higher level your character is, the more options open up.
Requirements to have access to every puzzle:
4 Characters, 1 Character Per Region.
For the sake of simplicity, it's suggested to have a 60+ Character in the Current Requirements for Job Access where it is required. It is possible to be literally insane and only take Dragoon 35 for Job Access, however. It's also suggested to have a higher level if extensive MSQ progression is required. These requirements assume you do not Story Boost without a Job Boost. If you do, you can get away with a lower level in some regions.
Optimal Access (for reaching and clearing every single jump puzzle)
NA: Level 70+ Character, Sirensong Sea Cleared.
EU: Level 61+ Character, Sirensong Sea Cleared.
JP: Level 20+ Archer, Limsa/Gridania/Ul'dah reached.
OC: Level 60+ Character, 3.0 MSQ Cleared.
Reasonable Access (for reaching and clearing most jump puzzles without massive grinding)
NA: Level 20+ Archer, Limsa/Gridania/Ul'dah reached.
EU: Level 20+ Archer, Limsa/Gridania/Ul'dah reached.
JP: Level 20+ Archer, Limsa/Gridania/Ul'dah reached.
OC: Level 20+ Archer, Limsa/Gridania/Ul'dah reached.
Difficulty Ratings
The following guidelines have been agreed upon by our loose association of builders to offer consistent expectations for visiting players. Puzzle difficulty is notoriously difficult to evaluate, both for builders and challengers. Skill levels vary between people and difficulty is subjective. With that in mind, the difficulty has separated into five tiers. The five difficulties will now be covered in extensive detail to ensure ratings are as accurate as possible.
☆☆☆☆☆ Temporary/Event (T/E)
This rating is reserved for puzzles that are built with the intention to be updated, replaced, or destroyed after a short amount of time. Our listings are generally changed or updated at the discretion of the builder, so puzzles with this typing are most likely to have out-of-date information. Feel free to contact us via discord to report any closures!
☆☆☆☆☆ Instructional/Practice (I/P)
This rating is reserved for puzzles that are built with the intention to introduce new techniques or provide a space to practice them. Be sure to visit I/P puzzles if you are needing to learn new tricks to clear harder puzzles!
★☆☆☆☆ Beginner (1★)
A Jump Puzzle designed to be as simple to complete as possible. It should be possible to clear for the vast majority of players, but please account for the fact that some challengers are incapable of handling even Beginner courses because of their lack of natural ability. Do not take these people into consideration when rating your puzzle because they literally can't handle things like the Gold Saucer minigames.
Key factors:
Clear Rate should be relatively high, hindered only by people being literally unable to perform parkour in FF14. Meant to be educational.
Keep Gates to a minimum, and never use Job or Forbidden Gates. Reconsider using anything other than an obvious Doze Gate or Sit Gate.
Make the course relatively easy to understand and follow so players don't get lost.
Keep Goal restrictions simple and easy to understand. Don't make complicated Goals or randomly take away the ability of starting players to turn to things like speed abilities. That isn't a good learning environment for newbies.
No Void Jumps UNLESS the purpose is Void Jump education.
No speed required until the end of the puzzle. Maybe use it for the ending, but don't make newbies mess with Peloton or wait on Sprint cooldowns. They can use it if they want, but don't force it either.
Keep Mystery to a minimum. If you include it, please hint at how to do it as well as you can or think again and remove it.
Obscure Entrance (O) puzzles may be included in this tier out of necessity. Challengers should ask for help with (O) puzzles or abandon them if no one offers assistance. The necessity stems from accommodating confusing but extremely short Jump Puzzles.
★★☆☆☆ Medium (2★)
A Jump Puzzle designed to offer a challenge to the average player while being simple for parkour enthusiasts. Here, we take things up a notch and add a little bit more difficulty and complexity... but only a little bit. Surprisingly difficult to create for veteran builders who are used to creating parkour courses of much higher difficulty.
Key factors:
Clear rates may be a little lower than Beginners, but it should still be possible for anyone from Party Finder to finish without sweating blood unless they are completely inept at parkour.
Feel free to throw in more Gates and play with Phasing, but stay away from Job Gates unless they are optional. Do not use Forbidden Gates.
The course can be a little more unclear and some Mystery elements can be included either through Hide and Seek or weird mechanics like windows. Don't overdo it though, too many mechanics and the difficulty shoots up.
Do not restrict speed in Mediums, but feel free to be a little more diverse with Goals by including factors like Hide and Seek.
Like with Beginners, try to save speed requirements for the end or for the occasional spot where the Sprint cooldown won't become a problem. Regular speed use is a Hard+ puzzle trait unless the puzzle is very short.
★★★☆☆ Hard (3★)
The ideal Jump Puzzle difficulty for Party Finder, combining accessibility and challenge. Hard is the highest difficulty where random visitors from Party Finder are likely to clear unless the challenger has exceptional natural talent or has practiced in the art of parkour. There are a wide variety of options available for Hard Jump Puzzles, so please take advantage of them.
Key factors:
Clear rates will either be relatively low or extremely high. This depends on how much exposure the puzzle gets in Party Finder and how desperate your datacenter is for parkour. Don't necessarily take clears as an indication of difficulty because Hards attract challengers that will not take easier puzzles seriously.
Use any Gates that you like other than Forbidden Gates and required Job Gates here. Forbidden should only be in Satan+ Jump Puzzles and Job Gates should be optional under 4 Stars.
This is a good difficulty to troll people with. Make super misleading paths, difficult-to-find entrances, and introduce weird mechanics. However, try not to go too hard on precision or length here. If either of those factors get out of hand, you're looking at a Satan or God puzzle quickly.
No more restrictions on Goals here. Use whatever Goals you want, but please be reasonable and don't make a ridiculous string of Goals that effectively cripple a player. The simpler and shorter the explanation, the easier it is for challengers to comply.
Void Jumps are encouraged at this point if they don't break your design. They can be used rarely in 1 and 2 Star puzzles, but should be very limited below the Hard difficulty if they exist.
Feel free to increase speed requirements here, especially through Peloton. Challengers should expect to bring Peloton or be really patient with the Sprint cooldown.
Please don't make the Mystery element "where exactly the high level precision point of landing is," at the 3 Star level.
★★★★☆ Satan (4★)
An extremely broad category above Hard Jump Puzzles that encompasses some of the most difficult courses created by our builders. When making or challenging these, expect the difficulty to increase significantly.
Key factors:
Clear rates may be much lower than Hards. Even experienced Jumpers may not be able to beat Satans in a timely manner (or at all). Exceptional Jumpers may still beat them quickly, so please take Jumper experience into consideration here.
All gates, including the Forbidden Gate and required Job Gates, may be deployed.
All Goal rules are allowed. Still, try to keep them as simple as possible. Feel free to use whatever restrictions you feel are necessary.
Frustrating precision and Mystery elements are highly encouraged.
Speed requirements may become crazy here. Sometimes the use of Moon Flute and/or Expedient may be expected and encouraged.
Because this is a broad category, several puzzles that might have once been considered God may be placed in this tier. Be prepared for that possibility.
Some of these Jump Puzzles may contribute to burnout. Please challenge them responsibly.
★★★★★ God (5★)
Designed to systematically annihilate human beings.
Key factors:
A God Puzzle should be considered the equivalent of the final dungeon of an RPG or the final boss of a raid tier in an MMO. In some cases, it may be considered the equivalent of a Superboss, Savage Endboss, or Ultimate Boss in FF14 terms.
Extremely punishing precision, traps, length, or all of the above may be present. Builders may include mechanics that would be frowned upon in lower difficulties.
A God Puzzle should induce a sense of dread in most people who approach it.
We will be very selective in rating puzzles God. If there isn't a great fear factor or exhaustion factor involved, I may not raise it without other opinions.
Jump Puzzles in this category are the most likely to cause burnout in Jumpers, so please be extremely responsible when you are challenging them and remember to take care of yourself. A clear isn't worth it if it causes you to quit the game for an extended period of time... or permanently. Please don't underestimate these builds. They are not meant to be cleared in bulk, at least not in a short period of time.
While these ratings are applied fairly consistently throughout the Strange Housing circles for the purposes of having a standardized address list, there are several builders that use their own rating systems or even refrain from using one at all. Most use the star diagrams in their estate greetings as an eye-catch, but do be aware that some listed puzzles may not have even have a puzzle name present in the greeting.
Sub-type Designations
Puzzle sub-types refer to the elements found within a puzzle that may have an effect on its difficulty rating. They are represented by a single letter code at the end of a puzzle listing. They are as follows:
Skill (S)
Skill Puzzles focus on jumping skill and overcoming platform configurations. Skill Puzzles are about correctly guessing or learning momentum and angle of jumps, using speed boosts, dealing with high precision, avoiding headbangers and hitboxes, and ruling out whether platforms are fake. Certain features like Ninja Walls and Semi-Solid Gateways are Skill Puzzle components. Most Jump Puzzles have at least some of this.
Technical (T) or (T-)
Technical Puzzles focus on unconventional techniques to overcome obstacles that can't be handled with pure jumping talent. If the Jump Puzzle has "gates," it's a Technical Puzzle (Sit Gate, Doze Gate, Phase Gate). Someone who doesn't know about gates may confuse this with a Mystery Puzzle. If T-, the gates are optional.
Mystery (M) or (M+)
This category is for those "where the fuck do I go" kind of courses. If you find yourself asking that question a lot even after knowing about gate techniques, you're probably dealing with a Mystery Puzzle. Mazes, obscure entrances or pathways, forks in the road, finding clues... Mystery Puzzles are that. (M+) means it's even more confusing, often a full-blown maze.
Haise Slide (H) or (H+)
A combination of Technical and Mystery, a Haise Slide requires certain technical emotes or other character placement interactions to open or close pathways. If H+, uses the Niniki Pump.
Limited (L), (L+), or (L-)
This means the Jump Puzzle can't be done without certain jobs due to Job Gates, so don't visit if you don't have many jobs or are on a low alt. Have Dragoon 35, Dancer 60, or Reaper 70. If L+, must bring specific jobs. If L-, isn't required to clear.
Forbidden (F) or (F-)
Jump Puzzles that feature the Forbidden Technique. If F-, it isn't strictly required to reach the Message Book or uses a corner. More info can be found in the Jump Techniques section.
Obscure Entrance (O)
Reserved for Jump Puzzles that are difficult to enter, either in terms of precision or simply finding where the entrance is.
Velocity (V)
Reserved for Jump Puzzles where large amounts of Sprint, Moon Flute, or Expedient speed boosts are required to clear. May require waiting around. This does not include Peloton or passive ninja speed.
Warp (W)
Reserved for Jump Puzzles where the teleporting-down bug has caused interference in the build, intentionally or not. May lead to automatic resets.
Ghost (G)
A Jump Puzzle where platforms may vanish based on your position in the puzzle, necessitating proper platform use and rushing through some segments. This type of puzzle may not be possible to clear depending on your FPS and hardware.
Event (E)
Reserved for Jump Puzzles used for events or puzzles that change regularly.
Extra/Unknown Type (+)
Added if there may be types present in a puzzle that are unknown. Usually tagged on uncleared high-difficulty puzzles.
Jump Techniques & Other Info
There can be more to a jump puzzle besides "just press W and Space Bar." The puzzles created by players employ an extreme variety of mechanics that explore and exploit the weird physics associated with housing furnishings. Below are the most common techniques used as well as some terminology used within the jumper/builder community. It's not necessary to know or remember all of this, but this list can be helpful when encountering obstacles that you can't seem to pass, or even phrases in conversation that you don't know the meaning of.
Parkour Survival Tips & Basic Properties
Social --> Housing --> Front Door: Something that every builder and challenger should know. Useful for escaping sticky situations without porting out of the puzzle room.
Jump Fatigue: The term for someone getting exhausted in a Jump Puzzle. Easier to trigger with higher precision and difficulty. Relieved by drinking water, taking a short break, and/or returning another day.
Cross-Contamination: A phenomenon where a challenger learns about a puzzle from watching another challenger trying to complete it. Inevitable at PF-hosted Jump Puzzles or events. To minimize this, only invite one person to your puzzle at a time while keeping it private, but trying to prevent it completely is usually too much work.
Builder's Advantage: From making and testing a puzzle, a builder may have a significant advantage when running a course compared to challengers. Can also be passed to other people if they watch you build your puzzle or help test it.
Nerves: The phenomenon where a challenger clears a really difficult jump, then encounters a slightly easier segment of jumps that -must- be completed correctly or the really difficult jump must be repeated. Usually elevates the heartrate and / or raises adrenaline.
Shirogane / Empyreum Blues: The result of building a Jump Puzzle in Shirogane or Empyreum. Access for sprout players or alts will be restricted. Can be overcome with a Friend Warp, but severely limits traffic from random strangers from Party Finder.
Tour Experience: Where a builder (or jumper) explores other Jump Puzzles in order to get new ideas and possibly improve themselves now or in the future. Almost certainly involves other puzzles in the same region, but may also involve creating alts in other regions.
Failed Shortcut: If the unintended shortcut being used by a challenger in a puzzle takes way more time and / or effort than the normal way, it probably isn't worth doing in the first place with rare exceptions. In turn, it most likely isn't worth fixing on the builder's end either.
The Prize Technique: Paying people gil to challenge or finish a Jump Puzzle. This is often a good idea because it can attract jumpers or builders who otherwise wouldn't participate and may become future discord members.
The Extortion Technique: Charging people gil to challenge or finish a Jump Puzzle. This is probably a bad idea because we sometimes have to pay people to get them to complete Jump Puzzles as it is.
Goal: An additional objective set on a puzzle address, often asking challengers to avoid using certain techs or to follow other special rules. A Goal will also be applied if a Jump Puzzle's Message Book is not at the finish line.
Bonus Stage: Adding a segment to a Jump Puzzle after the Message Book and / or Goal Endpoint. Generally speaking, this is usually harder than the rest of the Jump Puzzle.
Puzzle Types
Cloud Puzzle: A Jump Puzzle mostly made out of disjointed furnishings floating away from each other in the middle of the void space, like moisture in a rain cloud. Tends to have several jumps and doesn't reuse platforms often, but is resistant to the Forbidden Technique and exploits from Phasing or Void Jumps.
Structure Puzzle: A Jump Puzzle where many of the furnishings are touching and visually form a structure, with less furnishings just floating alone in the air. These tend to look more realistic and some furnishings may be used multiple times, but Structure Puzzles tend to have vulnerabilities to the Forbidden Technique, Phasing, and / or Void Jumps.
Commission Puzzle: A Jump Puzzle created for someone else who may or may not be involved in the Strange Housing Jump Puzzle Community. Commission Puzzles come with certain restrictions, like limited access or possible outright destruction by the owner. Don't make these without accepting the possibility of low or no exposure (or not being listed on the discord in some cases).
Immortal Puzzle: A Jump Puzzle that won't go away unless the builder destroys it. How does a builder make one of these? Build in an Apartment. FC Rooms are subject to the whims of the FC Leader, FC Houses are the same, and Commission Puzzles don't belong to the builder. Even a Personal Estate can demolish if the owner doesn't pay attention. Apartment puzzles are the most secure and are my #1 suggested location for people to place their most important work.
Skill Course Properties (S)
Furnishing Properties: The builder takes advantage of different furnishings to change platform / hitbox properties (To put it simply, different furnishing create different jumps).
Ceiling Lift / Elevator: Using furnishings near the roof to jump into the void, usually Star Globes or Dragon Lamps but several other options exist. Usually this or the Sideways Bed Entry is used to enter a puzzle.
Sideways Bed Entry: Using a bed in the wall to enter the void sideways, also a form of Doze Gate. Usually this or the Ceiling Lift is used to enter a puzzle. Be aware this usually requires the use of TPP to execute.
Speed Jumps: Jumps that can only be cleared with a speed boost. Please limit Sprint to near the end of puzzles below the 4 Star level and limit Peloton use below the 3 Star level.
Directional Jumps / Bodybangers: Requiring challengers to land on specific sides of platforms or launch from specific sides due to midair obstacles or obstructions.
Headbangers: Using higher furnishings to knock challengers down based on how they jump.
Platform Size: Adjusting difficulty based on platform size (big platforms are easy, small or low-collision platforms are hard).
Hitboxes: Using the hitboxes of certain furnishings to create obstacles that knock challengers down or cause them to slip off, often raises difficulty.
Course Length: Increasing the difficulty by using more slots to lengthen the course. This can have a drastic effect on difficulty after a certain number of platforms. Some Jump Puzzles are an Endurance Match, especially in Private Estate and main FC House spaces. Once a certain threshold is exceeded, difficulty skyrockets due to the amount of successful jumps that must be undertaken in a row.
Minor Dropping: Requiring the challenger to drop down to a slightly lower surface because jumping won't work.
Leap of Faith: The challenger must make a huge downward jump to land on a distant platform, often small. Raises difficulty.
Mid-Puzzle Lifting: Ceiling Lift / Elevator concept only mid-puzzle, uses furnishings to rise to a higher part of the puzzle. Star Globe / Dragon Lamp, Zabuton Cushion, Macaron, Stained Glass Ornament / Fool's Portal common.
Wall Pegs: Setting up tabletop / wall items like Wooden Handrails on walls or showcases to produce platforms similar to the Kugane Tower Jump Puzzle.
Void Intrusion: Placing furnishing outside of the housing cube to create parts of the void wall where challengers can navigate, works across entire Z axis above the furnishing. Necessary to expand the width of a Jump Puzzle or create separate sections.
Checkpoints: By either dividing up a housing instance with Void Intrusions or setting up raised flooring, it's possible to allow challengers to make progress in Jump Puzzles and proceed without losing all progress on a fall.
Ninja Walls: By using the lower lining of certain partitions like Glade Partitions, you can create narrow surfaces to walk and jump on. A Ghoul classic.
Nearly Impossible Platforms: Using items like Il Mheg Lamps and Hingan Firepits to create jumps that are nearly impossible to land without high FPS. Rarely a good idea, 5 Star material.
Void Jump: Using vertically-lined furnishings in the void wall to run at the void wall for about 3 seconds and jump, immediately raising to the furnishing above. Sometimes used by builders as a shortcut or to observe challengers. Often banned by Structure Puzzle builders.
Airplane Wings: Building to the side of the housing cube rather than simply up. Requires supporting furnishings like lofts to function, as it's a form of Void Intrusion. So named because it extends the puzzle width like the wings of an airplane.
Purgatory: Building under the housing cube rather than simply up. Requires supporting furnishings like lofts to function, as it's a form of Void Intrusion. So named because a well-made Purgatory is difficult for challengers to escape.
High Precision: Requiring exact angles and momentums to make certain jumps, usually raises difficulty significantly. IMPORTANT!: If Precision is stretched to the limit, your puzzle will be classed as a Satan at minimum!
Corner Grab: Sometimes, it's possible to jump around a weak corner or Bodybanger and swerve onto a landing surface on the other side without falling.
Staggered Lift: To use some nearby lifts, it may be necessary to jump sideways into them to either immediately make them work or produce sticking to then make them work with a jump.
Bullet Lift: To catch the lifting properties of some furnishings near the ground, it may be necessary to rapid-tap the movement key and jump key together. Seen with Dress Forms and some housing skins.
Partition Transfer: Moving from one side of the lip of a Ninja Wall partition suspended in the air to the other by going around the corners without the help of any nearby furnishings. The difficulty of this technique varies widely depending on what kind of method the challenger uses and how much they have practiced it. Leads to unpredictable ratings when applied to Jump Puzzles.
Speed Boosts (S) (V)
Speed Boosts do not stack. Only the highest active speed boost is applied.
Peloton: Available to Physical Ranged DPS at Level 20. Increases movement speed of self and party members by 20%. Extremely valuable to have in several Jump Puzzles. The Golden Standard of speed boosts, this allows jumpers to consistently jump further without a cooldown. Useful for several 3 Star or higher puzzles.
Sprint: Increases speed by 30% for 20 seconds with a 1 minute cooldown. Necessary in many Jump Puzzles, but should only be used sparingly in puzzles below 4 Stars.
Ninja Passive Speed: Increases speed by 10% at all times. Jump Puzzles are usually not balanced around this, but may make some jumps smoother when faster speed isn't in use.
Expedient: Available from 90 Scholar. Increases movement speed of self and nearby party members by 30%. Useful for Velocity (V) puzzles where Sprint isn't cutting it alone, usually in 4 Star or 5 Star builds.
Moon Flute: Available from Blue Mage after learning 10 spells. Increases movement speed by 30%. Useful for Velocity (V) puzzles where Sprint isn't cutting it alone, usually in 4 Star or 5 Star builds. Must have beaten the MSQ up through the base 2.0 patch to unlock BLU.
Technical Gates (T) (L)
Sit Gate: Have to use the /sit command to teleport slightly upward and/or sideways to proceed to a chair or chair-like object.
Doze Gate: Have to use the /doze command to teleport slightly upward and/or sideways to proceed to a bed or bed-like object.
Phasing: Requires the challenger to phase through certain furnishing in order to proceed, often walking straight into solid walls and then dropping to lower surfaces. The Forbidden Technique is a type of Phasing. Often banned by Structure Puzzle builders.
Advanced Sit / Doze Gate: Utilizing the /sit or /doze command in a specific position to end up on top of a furnishing jammed through a chair or bed. Difficult to construct.
Vertical Gate: Invented by Emerald Ares. Setting beds or chairs near and above the ceiling to create a vertical gate. This allows passage through the ceiling with an emote instead of a jump and can be created without TPP.
Job Gate: Invented by Brynhildr Romantia, this unpopular tech uses a job skill like En Avant (Dancer 60), Hell's Egress / Ingress (Reaper 70), or Elusive Jump (Dragoon 35) to bypass void wall and reach a nearby platform. WARNING: This will limit access of sprouts and alts to your puzzle!
Phase Pad: By balancing on top of the hitboxes of multiple items like Il Mheg Lamps or Bomb Cauldrons, it's possible to trigger a special jump. Run in place for a few paces, then jump in any direction before Phasing kicks in and drops you. Nearby furnishings may be Phased by this action. This technique is considered to be different from the Forbidden Technique.
Return Dash: After falling from a great height and sticking, it is sometimes possible to use a Job Dash like those used in Job Gates to return to the point where the challenger fell in a puzzle. This technique is unreliable and should not be depended on. (edited)
Deception / Mystery (M) (O)
Mazes: Creating a maze with furnishings. Popular with normal designers inside of housing cubes as well, it can add a new dimension to solving a Jump Puzzle.
Obstructive Windows: Using windows to compromise the camera of the challenger to raise difficulty, often a cruel move.
Semi-Solid Windows: Using items like the Stained Crystal Ornament to create narrow openings to jump through that aren't obvious to inexperienced challengers.
Void Wall: Using the walls of the void as an invisible or hard-to-notice obstacle, usually a cheap and cowardly move.
Fake Platforms: Intentionally using furnishings with no collision to mislead and possibly reset the progress of challengers.
Sunken Platforms: Hiding platforms in the top of the housing cube so challengers have to tilt the camera to see/find them. May completely deter inexperienced challengers.
Just Walk Over It: An AVGN classic. If two platforms are close enough together, their hitboxes will overlap just enough to facilitate running between them when other options like jumping fail. This one is difficult to implement.
Invisible Wall Pegs: Placing furnishings behind a wall in such a way that the edges can be landed on but can't be seen. A favorite of Aina Zelkova.
Goblet Shell: In Goblet houses and rooms, the outside rim of the housing cube can be walked on. This can become a mechanic in certain puzzles. Applies to a limited extent in other housing zones.
Interior Platforms: The permanent interior of a house or room itself can be used as part of the platforms of a puzzle (what exists without furnishings).
Hide and Seek Collision: Hiding furnishings with collision inside of furnishings that don't have collision to create hidden pathways. Very similar to Sunken Platforms but generally happens in the middle of a puzzle.
Fake Entrance: Setting up fake entrances to your Jump Puzzle. This should only be used for harder puzzles, it will deter new jumpers.
Bed In The Stairs: If you're stumped as to how to proceed, try /doze on the walls or on stairways in the main house or room.
White Noise: Intentionally adding a bunch of extra furnishings to a puzzle to distract challengers from the real path or objective. May consist of platforms or entire segments that are actually useless.
Environmental / System Setup Factors (W) (Misc)
Dark Areas: Adding darkness to puzzles, necessitating light sources. Difficult to pull off without a high slot count. Experimentation from Daranae reveals it may not be a serious hazard, but it still affects some jumpers.
PvP Door: A door partition that requires Phasing to land on top of the door, but is disabled when the door opens. Becomes problematic when a large number of challengers are present. WARNING: People can grief with this and "lock" a course with it, so we suggest not using this below the 5 Star level.
Teleporting / Warping Down: A phenomenon where a challenger is teleported down to a lower surface, usually while walking off the edge of a platform. Happens at the edges of the housing cube or outside of the housing cube when gaps exist in flooring. Avoid at all costs for a fair challenge, but if it exists (W) typing is applied.
Full Screen Gamma Settings: Adjusting the Gamma settings in the game and on your monitor may help you see in the darkness to help with gloomy puzzles.
/gpose and /icam: These functions can help you navigate and solve Jump Puzzles, depending on how they are used. Avoid using these in high level clue-finding puzzles or the challenge will be lost.
FPS Manipulation: It's possible to make some precision jumps in Jump Puzzles easier by lowering/raising FPS, but most puzzles below the God level will have other ways to reliably manage difficult jumps.
Advanced Techs (F) (H) (G) (Misc)
BLU Cheese: Using Self-Destruct to skip segments of a puzzle with the assistance of an ally with resurrection. Frowned upon by most builders, but challengers rarely have the patience and coordination to pull this off with noticeable success due to the 10 minute cooldown. Must have beaten the MSQ up through the base 2.0 patch to unlock BLU.
Koi Jump: Theorized by Koi. Turning off a Speed Boost during a Leap of Faith in order to make sure you don't overshoot the jump. This is probably nearly impossible and doesn't exist in a puzzle yet. If it did exist, it would probably be in a God Puzzle.
Henteko Blockade: Invented by Piki Pipiki of the Mana Datacenter. This involves floating solid furnishings above a floor just high enough to prevent Phasing but low enough to still block progress.
Vertical Tunnel: Invented by Emerald Ares. By combining solid furnishings with length or in multitude with a lift furnishing, you can create an extended elevator in your Jump Puzzle.
Ghost Lift: Invented by Emerald Ares. An extended lift can be created by furnishings interacting vertically even without a physical connection.
Cube Lift: Invented by Emerald Ares. Using the entire cube as a lift to reach other furnishings in the Jump Puzzle in an otherwise impossible manner. Commonly seen in the Goblet.
Sit Jump: Invented by Momona Namo (Lon). While sitting on some chairs or beds near a moderately high wall, it's possible to scale the distance and land on top of the wall when a jump would normally fail.
Haise Slide / Lock: Invented by Japanese designers and Haise Sasaki of Ghoul, then refined and distributed by Daranae Ashe. By sitting, dozing, resetting to the front door, or ressing, certain furnishings jammed through other furnishings may suddenly change their position temporarily for only that person. Usually involves multiple partitions and wall-mounted items.
Vega Phasing / The Forbidden Technique: Invented by Vega Aegis. By walking into a wall while centered and jumping before phasing kicks in after about 2 paces (typically), you can phase through some furnishings without phasing through all of them. Famously known as the Forbidden Technique.
Pipe Phasing: Discovered by Zimanta Zytus and Daranae Ashe and analyzed by CutestFox. Some furnishings like Industrial Wall Pipes have an unreasonably long Phase range and will stay Phased until moving an extreme distance away (Between 8y-15y). If you can sit in a chair, you're far enough away. Phasing elsewhere or using room lifts may also fix it. Notably, this can be used to Phase out pipes near other objects by Phasing out the other objects.
Niniki Pump: When multiple wall items with snapping intersect and anchor to other surfaces, it's possible to make complicated Haise Slide Mechanisms that loop. Notated by (H+). This variant technique was devised by Niniki Nimu.
Lunar Ghosting: When used in a puzzle build, the character's position causes platforms to phase in and out in the puzzle. It may be necessary to stand on specific platforms or rush quickly to maintain the path. Depending on FPS and hardware, it may not be possible for some challengers to handle Lunar Ghosting.
Staggered Phase Lift: By Phasing through or using Forbidden on some furnishings, you can stick into the bottom of them and then use them as lifts. This is most often relevant in God Puzzles.
Semi-Solid Void Barrier: Using an extremely thin slice of Void Wall to produce the conditions necessary for Void Jumps. Becomes more solid at high FPS and less solid at low FPS.