How To Build a Parkour Map

By 5uperTrinity

The following guide to making parkour is in my specific style, you can change anything that does not suit your interest - Remember that I am teaching you how to build the actual stages in a parkour map, so creating a hub, world, etc, are not included.

This will be a text and image guide to teach you how to make your very own parkour map.

Before I get into the explaining, let me just point out that it is impossible to make a map, of any sort, that everybody will like. Everyone enjoys different types of parkour, different difficulties, and so on. Don't be intimidated by the amount of text there is as I have included a lot of pictures to help you understand, I'll try my best to section off this guide so it can easily read, and hopefully be easier for you to learn how to build good, quality parkour stages in your parkour map.

NOTE: THIS GUIDE FOCUSES ON THE BUILDING ASPECT OF MAKING A PARKOUR MAP!

Creating Your World:

If you want a normal, flat world, feel free to do so. The following text is going to explain to you how to create a blank world for you to start building:

The first thing you have to do is create a world. I normally use World Painter, but there is another way that is very simple for everyone to do.

Firstly, go to Single Player, and press 'Create New World'.



After that, change the gamemode to Creative, name your map, then click 'More World Options...'.



Then all you need to do is change generate structures to 'Off', change the world type to Superflat, then click 'Customize'.



Lastly, click on 'Presets'.



Then delete all the text that's in the text box at the top, type this then press 'Use Preset': 3;1*minecraft:air;2;

That's all you have to do to start your world, once you've finished, just start the world.

Once you're in, you'll be falling into the void, quickly double tap space so that you're flying (you should be in creative mode, then type /tp 0 64 0 into the chat. Once you've been teleported, type /setblock ~ ~ ~ stone into the chat. Once that is done, you are in the perfect position to start building!



Preperations:

Let's take a moment to put some gamerule commands into the chat, gamerules change and altar the game. For example, there's a gamerule command that stops the sun and moon from moving, this is good if you want your map to be played in daylight, or night all the time.

If you are new to all this gamerule stuff, here's a 10 minute guide on how to use them, once you watch this you'll know everything there is to know about gamerules:

The following list of gamerule commands are what I use, I recommend you type the following commands into your chat too, though it depends on what you'd like:

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Gamerules I use:

/gamerule commandBlockOutput false
(This stops command blocks from notifying players in the chat that a command has been played)

/gamerule doDaylightCycle false
(This stops the sun and moon from moving, you can change the time via command. Though once you change it, the sun and moon will remain to stay still. Type /time set 6000 for the middle of day, or /time set 18000 for the middle of night)

/gamerule doEntityDrops false
(This stops entities from dropping items)

/gamerule doFireTick false
(This stops fire and lava from burning all your blocks, such as wool or wood, this is useful if your parkour map has fire or lava in it)

/gamerule doMobLoot false
(This stops mobs from dropping items, parkour maps don't usually have mobs in it, though if it does have mobs, and you want them to drop their items, change it to true)

/gamerule doMobSpawning false
(This stops mobs from naturally spawning in your world, though you can still spawn mobs via commands such as /summon Zombie)

/gamerule doTileDrops false
(This stops blocks from dropping themselves when you break them)

/gamerule keepInventory true
(If this is on true, then players won't lose their items when they die, if it's on false, they will lose their items when they die)

/gamerule logAdminCommands false
(If your map has command blocks, keep this as false so that the commands don't fill up your chat log really fast. Keeping this on false stops quite a bit of lag as well)

/gamerule mobGriefing false
(If you have creepers in your map, turn this to false so they don't blow away all your hard work)

/gamerule randomTickSpeed false
(If you plan on having cactus parkour, or vine parkour, turn this to false so that they don't grow. If this is on true, then all plants will start growing)

/gamerule showDeathMessages false
(Turning this to false won't notify players when someone dies. I usually keep it on true, but most people prefer it to be on false)

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Note: I won't be explaining how to create your hub, this guide focuses specifically on building the parkour stages. Each person has their own style, so I'd recommend if you find your own style when making your hub. You can look at other people's maps and builds for inspiration.

Types of Parkour:

  • Classic Parkour
  • Vine Parkour
  • Lilypad Parkour
  • Carpet Parkour
  • Bed Parkour
  • Door Parkour
  • Wither/Poison Parkour (When withered/poisoned, you double jump when the tick goes off)
  • Cake Parkour
  • Effect Parkour
  • Ladder Parkour
  • Cactus Parkour
  • Fence Parkour
  • Head Parkour
  • Flower Pot Parkour
  • Time Trial Parkour
  • Water Parkour
  • Jump Boost Parkour
  • Blindness Parkour
  • Horse Parkour
  • Ice Parkour
  • Ender Pearl Parkour
  • Pane/Bars Parkour
  • Slime Parkour
  • Invisible Parkour
  • Momentum Parkour
  • Trapdoor Parkour
  • Speed Boost Parkour
  • Burning Parkour (When on fire, you double jump when the tick goes off)

Resource Pack Parkour
This is parkour that revolves around the textures of blocks and items being changed.

The parkour itself is normal, though the experience is completely different due to the resource pack, here are some examples:

The Negative Zone by Mirgeaux
Infinitum by Henrique Colini
2 Bits - Black and White by Foleros

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Command Parkour

This is a weird one, commands can altar how we play parkour a lot.

I usually focus on making unique parkour, I do this by using commands made by either me, or Noricum:
https://www.youtube.com/user/computerfuzzi

Since commands are so complicated, it's something you will have to learn over time, here's a list of parkour maps that revolve around command blocks to make it completely unique from the rest:

Hologram Parkour by MrGarretto
Don't Stop Jumping by 5uperTrinity
Cubical Parkour by Cubical Industries
Block Rider by 5uperTrinity
InfiniteCube by 5uperTrinity
The High Ground by Drewisdom


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Note: There's probably more types of parkour that I have not listed.

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Another big thing to think about before making your parkour map is how your map will be laid out.
-Is your map just one parkour course?
-Is there multiple courses to choose from/unlock?

If your map has multiple stages/levels to unlock or choose from, there will have to be some sort of hub that includes a button/pressure plate to teleport the player to that specific stage.

Building the Parkour:

Step 1: Layout

I don't recommend generating normal Minecraft worlds and just placing a bunch of floating blocks in the sky, these maps don't look good, the gameplay is bad, and overall not fun for anyone. It's important that before you start building that you choose what layout your parkour will be in. For example, Don't Stop Jumping by 5uperTrinity has 14 parkour stages, each of the stages are placed in rectangles.



Or you can make just one big course across the sky as seen in iCrave parkour or Blazing Hot by 5uperTrinity.





The one course doesn't always have to be in the air with floating blocks everywhere, you can create your single course inside a rectangle, or whatever shape you choose. Working with square shapes are much easier since they don't take much skill/effort to make.

Some people ask me how I made 54 levels in InfiniteCube 2. I didn't build them all by scratch, this is when MCEdit, a program specialized for this kind of stuff comes in handy. If you're unsure how to use MCEdit, try searching up some guides for it on Youtube. Here's the download link to MCEdit: http://www.mcedit.net/

And here are the levels from InfiniteCube 2, remember that MCEdit helps me copy structures (in this case they are the cubes) from one place to another. So all I have to do is rebuild the parkour that are inside the cubes, this makes making maps much easier.



But if you prefer to build your own landscape, that also works. As long as you have some sort of layout, and somewhere to build your parkour. Most people tend to make parkour in the air as it's easier to work with and build.

Once you know your layout, it's time to actually build the parkour. Here's an example of parkour in a box with a nice layout, design, and of course, fun parkour (made by me).



As you can see, the box has a lot of detail, the walls have been made to suit the theme of the level. Make sure to do this if your parkour is themed. For example, if you have a Snow Stage, when you make the box to put the parkour in, make the box out of snow and think of a cool design. People love it when stages are well made, try your best to make sure your stage is looking really attractive and appealing to the human eye. Ask yourself when you finish a stage "Is this good?". This refers to the design, gameplay, ect. If you say no, then redo it, keep trying until you say yes. I do this all the time until the stages suit my liking.

So let's put together everything we've learnt so far.

Step 1. Design the layout
(Tip: You can choose what the top of the shape can be made out of, eg: Glass, barriers, etc)
(Tip: I always skip to step 2, because I already know my layout + theme of that stage)



Step 2: Design the theme
(Tip: It doesn't always have to be a biome)



As you can see, we have the shape of the parkour stage, and the theme. Now we are ready to build the parkour!

Let's start with some simple parkour since it's the first level. We will try to include some easy jumps, as shown in the pictures below.







The two pictures below are examples of a little difference that can make a stage look better. Depending on each person's opinion, you will choose which one suits your interest based on which you think is better. I feel as if the first one is too plain, but you may think it looks good.





Something to take note on is the wool blocks, notice how they are yellow? The yellow wool matches the desert theme, unlike colors like green and blue which are total opposites. With simple parkour like the examples listed above, you can create a whole stage while only knowing the basics. The parkour will be simple, fun, and addictive. Make sure to use other types of blocks, here is an example of the completed level.


Notice how I used the blue? The only reason that stands out, and why it doesn't match the theme is to grab the player's attention. This is because the finishing pressure plate is on top it. Also noticed how I used lava? That's because in the desert biome you often find deposits of lava generating in the ground. Play close attention to the blocks to use in your stages that match that specific theme.

But there's something wrong about this stage, why is there no desert blocks in the actual parkour? We have to change that since the theme is desert! Let's get our sand, sandstone, cactus and lava blocks to make it look like an actual desert stage!

(Note that the above picture above would be fine to use if the theme was wool, and not desert. You can change the theme by changing the walls and floor to wool so that the parkour itself matches the theme, then you would have a rainbow stage!

A bit like this:



I'm trying to show you that it's fine to make mistakes, and that you can turn your mistakes around to make it work with the map. But anyway, let's turn this stage into a REAL desert themed stage! But before that, let's check out what items suit the desert theme. Items that should be used should relate to sand: In color or theme. For example, sand and yellow go well together, but not sand and blue. Blocks like sandstone, fences, lava, stone and dead bush also match the theme.

First, let's create the starting pad and place a gold block in them middle to signify that this is where the player starts the stage at.



Stages can have hazards in them too, but this depends on the theme and difficulty. Let's place some lava since this hazard matches the theme.



Now you're probably thinking "Woah! That's too much lava man, get rid of it! It's meant to be an easy level!"

I know, but we will be replacing a lot of the lava with blocks to parkour on.



Easy levels need an easy start, that's why we have to go slow and not put hard jumps straight away. You dont' want players to rage quit while playing for only 2 seconds. Let's add some more parkour while adding a cactus and some dead bushes to suit the theme.



Since deserts have sand wells, let's add that to the theme.



The sand well has to able to mix in with the parkour, let's work on that!



As you can see, I added some platforms to jump on, and made the finishing platform stand out by making it blue. You can change structures like these to suit your needs.
So right now, we've created the rainbow stage and desert stage, and there's an endless amount of stages you can create! Remember to include hazards in your maps, this makes it much harder if playing on a harder difficulty.

Alright, making those style of parkour stages are now done, you can change anything you like to make it suit yourself. Now let's work on the parkour maps that take place in the sky.


First of all, let's start with a starting platform, here's a bunch that I made:





You're probably wondering why there's so much quartz. Well that's the thing, quartz is probably the most good looking block in the game that matches well with pretty much any theme. If you have played my maps before, then you know that I love to use quartz.

Once we've made the starting platform, let's begin making some sky parkour! It may be a good idea to make the parkour stick with the theme of the platform. Let's start off with some easy parkour.



Next let's add some more that suit the theme, I think I'm feeling a more 'Magical' themed parkour stage, purple and pink go great with magic. As you can see I am sticking with 1 and 2 block jumps, this is so the parkour progresses from easy to hard as you keep playing/building.



Let's keep building, since these maps usually have 1 big track, though I will probably will not make a full map since this is only an example.

Notice how the next picture has fences? Both fences and ladders are awesome when building parkour, they suit with pretty much every theme while making the parkour look awesome, and making it quite difficult if you decide to build fence parkour. But fences are usually used for decoration or to spice the stage up a bit.



Also note how the purple platform have darker fences below it? This is because purple is darker than pink, and this spruce fence works better with purple than oak does since spruce is darker than oak. Sometimes your parkour needs more variety, each little detail counts.



Maps like these tend to get really repetitive, that's why after a series of normal jumps, we add something to spice it up. You can choose to make anything.





Every so often in these sprint type maps that take place in the sky always have little sections that change things up. You'll know what I mean in a bit. You can add a box of parkour, a big wall with parkour, anything that adds variety to your map and makes it less repetitive.

Box:





Wall:





Note how I place the purple wool on the purple blocks instead of placing it on the pink blocks? This makes the wall's design much more attractive and clean.



Also note how I placed a trapdoor to change things up? The last thing you want is for the players to leave because it's getting boring and repetitive. Scroll back to the top of the guide to see the different types of parkour. You can include any type of parkour as long as it suits the theme.

For example: Fence, ladder and trapdoor parkour suit the theme, but vine parkour does not. Vine parkour would be better in themed stages such as forests/jungles. This is because they not only randomly generate in those biomes, but the color of vines matches the biomes itself.

The next picture shows some examples of ascending and descending. It's important to change it up a bit and not leave the parkour all on 1 flat y-coordinate.



If your map isn't revolved around 1 theme, then you can change themes throughout building the map. Maps with multiple themes are more attractive and overall more fun. The next picture shows the platform of the next theme, which will be snow/ice.



Since the next stage is stage #2, it should be harder than the first. And the good thing about the snow/ice theme is that you can use ice, which is harder to parkour on. Water also suits the theme, so we'll add some ice with water in it. You can choose how you deal with the water, I chose to place barrier blocks under them so the design stays flat and neat.



Alright, so a lot has happened in the next few pictures. This is an example of backtracking. The ice structure has been modified so you can walk on top of it. The new structure requires you to go through the bottom floor, climb the ladder to the top floor, then run back to the top floor on the ice structure. This allows you to change direction, add some interesting structures, and makes the map overall more interesting.







Now it's time to finish the map off with a finishing platform. On the platform you can congratulate them, give them some diamonds, link them to your other maps, etc. This guide doesn't focus on what to add to spawns and finishing platforms, but here's just an example of the end.






Last last step is to put down your spawnpoints, you can choose to do this at the end of the map or while you build. Put some pressure plates with command blocks under them with the /spawnpoint @p command in them.







Final result:



Remember that this was only an example, and is pretty short. Good maps have great design, gameplay, and are normally lengthy. Remember that if you do choose to make them lengthy, do not make it too repetitive. It's fine to make short little experiences, but this puts more pressure on you to put more work in the design and gameplay as it is a short map.

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This guide features a lot of my builds and my style of building. Please refrain from copying my style, as I hope you guys find your own style that you prefer to use much more than mine! :)

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GUIDE MADE BY 5UPERTRINITY

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My Website: 5uperTrinity.com

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