Platforming wad progression for skill improvement (a longread)

Introduction

 

 

While wad difficulty progression for regular combat is a more or less covered topic or is at least a widely discussed question, this is not really the case for platforming wads. Platforming-focused wads are generally more rare, and often platforming maps are hiding in regular combat wads as a one-off treat. Moreover, difficulty of those platforming one-offs is usually quite unpredictable, so how do you even approach platforming practice? You stumbled upon map 11 while playing Hardfest and was completely destroyed by it - but what can you play to practice for such a difficult platforming map?

 

The purpose of the post is to outline a possible progression a player can take to get better at platforming and also just generally introduce players to platforming mapping goodness. The topic has been partially covered in various doomworld posts and discussions, but I want to bring more structure to it.

 

For the purpose of this post, I am going to include maps that rely on various movement tricks that directly affect platforming (archvile jumps, rocket jumps, thingruns, wallruns, jumps on scrolling floors) and also maps that combine platforming and combat. Important note: platforming in advances doom engines like platforming involving gzdoom jumping or zdaemon rocketjumping is out of scope for this post. I will be focusing only on vanilla physics and engines that keep it mostly unchanged, so vanilla, boom, mbf engines.

 

 

Where to start

 

The answer is really easy. Start with

1. Hopscotch. 20 short maps by lunchlunch.

This mapset is a great introduction to platforming. First of all, it is a rare case of purely platforming mapset (with barely any monsters thrown in for the gimmick). Secondly, the maps are very short and easy, the difficulty is slowly ramping up towards the final maps but it's never too hard. At the same time, these maps require no specific tricks to be learned (like rocket jumps), there are only occasional archvile jumps, but avjs can be understood intuitively.

Hopscotch is great even if your movement skills are already on point, but if you are just learning it's simply the best place to start.

Now that you have tasted blood and maybe started to enjoy a little what you have feared before, you can take two paths - do you want to hone your movement skills or do you want to start learning various tricks? (well, you can take both actually and I personally recommend doing that)

 

For the first route, honing your movement skills, the ideal continuation point would be

2. Jumpwad. 7 medium to long maps by Ribbiks and Grain of Salt.

The jump mechanic in jumpwad is simply a self-induced AVJ, except that you get no redscreen and can control the timing of the jumps. So this actually gives you a great understanding of what's possible and what is not possible with archvile jumps and a pretty good feeling of distance from the platform and speed you want to have when you are zapped. But even AVJs aside it really improves your movement skills, your ability to balance on small platforms, and generally your feel of space in doom (where you are relative to the platform floor, how big is that one gap, etc).

 

What makes it a great part of a learning curve is that you can't really fail in jumpwad, every fall is recoverable, every jump can be retried (with a few exceptions in map 07, but it never locks you out of reaching the exit). So you can approach each part however many times you want. And don't be ashamed to save in the middle of a difficult platforming sequence (like spiky platforms sequence in map 05 for example), it is ok to save/load even if you can't die.

 

Now let's look at the second route: starting to learn platforming tricks. And there is a dedicated wad for it:

3. Meowgi's Practice Hub made by none other than Meowgi.

Not all maps in it are about platforming, but many of them are. What's even better is that some of those maps have a supporting video tutorial.

 

Map 03 teaches you SR50. I don't really recommend using this particular map for SR50 practice, because it's easily cheesed by a wallrun sometimes even on accident. However, I really recommend watching Meowgi's video on SR50:

 

Map 05 is about AVJs. Unlike jumpwad, in real AVJs you need to also time it well, and this is a good practice spot for that. Try beating it with IDDQD first (or with a disabled pain palette), so you are not redscreened and can see what's happening. Once you beat it without pain palette - try again with pain palette enabled, this will be harder, but closer to the real world situations.

 

Map 06 is plain old platforming over some square platforms. Try beating it slowly at first and then try beating it in a single motion without stopping (this will be much harder).

 

And finally, map 08 teaches you rocket jumps. Rocketjumping in doom might not be super intuitive, so it requires practice to get used to. This map however is a great place to start. And that's because it has a video tutorial:

It explains the process very well. Watch it first and then try it for yourself. I really recommend following Meowgi's advice of practicing with disabled pain palette for a start - it helps a lot. Once you are comfortable with the jump timings, switch the pain palette back on. UV-maxing this map is very satisfying and would be a sign that you got a hold of it. But if you cannot max it without saves - don't worry, as long as you continue to encounter RJs in Doom maps and perform them, you will get this technique down.

While we are at it, I also want to mention one more subcategory of platforming - platforming fights. You might not enjoy hopping from platform to platform by itself too much, maybe having no monsters around is a bit boring, so maps with platforming fights can provide a certain middle-ground of what you can practice to get better at movement and platforming, while still having to use that SSG or BFG.
The most famous example of such a map is probably map 05 of Sunder (Precarious) and it's a good place to start because it's not too hard. As an alternative intro to platforming fights I suggest checking out GOODWAD maps 27 and 29 (more about GOODWAD later). More about platforming fights will be in the "Hard difficulty" section.

Before we move on from the introduction to medium difficulty wads, let me list a few individual maps that are quite easy and can be a nice practice at this point:

NoSp2 map 31 (regular platforming)

Swim with the Whales map 01 (just a bit of platforming, but it's a neat map for movement practice).

Scythe map 28 is also a nice movement practice at this point.
D5DA3 maps 62, 73, 40 (regular platforming), 31 (teaches you that sometimes you have to disable autorun during platforming), 03 (simple avj fun).
laand map 01 (the only map, platforming + combat).
Abyssal Speedmapping Session 20 map 32 (sr50 and relatively easy rocketjumps).

 

Even more easy platforming maps (hiding under spoiler to make the post more readable):

 

 

Medium difficulty

 

Now that you got started with platforming it's time to increase the difficulty.

 

The wad to open the medium difficulty section is not purely a platforming wad - but a significant part of it is.

4. Axolotl by Xyzzy01.

The whole wad is a very unique and gimmicky experience, so I recommend checking out every map, however as platforming goes:
Map 02 - regular platforming, quite easy to finish with a normal route, but the secret route is very hard. So you might want to save maxing it for later.
Map 04 - not what you expect from "platforming" but I still think it is platforming in essence. Quite easy.
Map 05 - one of my favourite maps ever. It has rocketjumps and midtex wallruns, but if you already learned rjs, wallruns are pretty intuitive. The map is not very difficult once you understand how the jumps work, but it's so beautiful and atmospheric that honestly, if this map doesn't make you love platforming, I'm not sure what else can :) Just go play it.

 

To the next entry:

5. Four Perfectly Fine Lemons. 4 relatively short maps made by me.

The good thing about this wad for improving your skills is that it has difficulty settings that significantly change how hard platforming is. At this point, I recommend starting with HMP. You can switch to HNTR if it gets too tough or switch to UV if you are feeling confident. UV is quite hard (especially maps 02 and 03) and if that wad was UV-only it wouldn't make it to the medium difficulty section, but HMP is much more forgiving and HNTR is *very* forgiving.
4pfl is full of archvile jumps and rocket jumps (and even has a combination of both), so if you are interested in those - this wad is for you.

 

The next stop is

6. GOODWAD by msx2plus.

This is a full megawad, but platforming maps are once again a significant part of it. This is quite a step up in terms of difficulty so fasten your seatbelts and let's get through the platforming stuff (once again I recommend checking out the rest of the maps as well):
Map 01 - a racing map, quite similar to 4pfl map 04. Rather hard, so at the upper limit of this category.
Map 03 - a bit of a meme map, don't take it too close to the heart (especially if you have a potato pc).
Map 04 - a very nice and easy platforming challenge (if you take it slow). Maxing this is more about patience than about difficulty unless you want to go really fast.
Map 07 - a rockejumping corridor. If you haven't encountered those before - the idea is to go backwards and boost yourself off the walls in a tight corridor while invulnerable to gain speed. Don't worry if you cannot get this one now, it's quite hard.
Map 10 - regular platforming, not too bad.
Map 11 - regular platforming, but harder! Mostly difficult to max due to it being relatively long for a platforming map, but with saves you should be fine.
Map 15 - regular platforming, but with a gimmick. Not too bad.
Map 17 - a scroller that pushes you away from your goal, kinda like a racing map but in the opposite direction, not too hard once you understand it.
Map 22 - regular platforming, but on the harder end of this category.
Map 25 - climbing the ledges, is quite hard.
Map 27 I mentioned before - the platforming itself is pretty trivial, but if you are looking for platforming fights, this might be a nice intro to the genre.
Map 29 - another map where relatively easy platforming is mixed with combat.

 

And to wrap up the medium difficulty section I recommend playing

7. YUM. 10 very short maps by Meowgi.

The neat thing about YUM is that all maps change if you run them with -nomonsters parameter. And instead of regular maps with combat, you get platforming maps. It's like two wads in one, and -nomonsters versions is what we are covering here.
The maps are a bit harder on average than previously mentioned, but if you managed to beat the wads above, you should be fine. Just don't be discouraged by map 02, it is by far the most difficult map in the wad, so don't worry if you can't get it, just skip to the next map. Map 07 has rocketjumps but other maps are just regular platforming.

And once again before we move on to the hard maps section, here is a list of individual platforming maps that fit into the medium difficulty category:
Italo doom map 07 (platforming with some monsters around and rjs).
D5DA3 maps 13 (platforming over scrolling floors), 24 (sr50 rj), 68 (just one avj but a bit tricky).
Poogers map 04 (movement gimmick), 05 (rocketjumps, not too bad, has a fight at the end).
44shock.wad map 01 (avjs and rjs) and map 03 (sr50, avjs and rjs).
Noye map 03 (on the harder side), map 13 (racing!), map 21 (extra short but can you do it?).
D5DA map 25 (also racing but unusual one), map 29.

Even more medium difficulty maps:

 

Hard difficulty

 

Hard category is going to be opened by wads some people probably anticipated at this point:
8. A trilogy of Frog, Toad and Frog and Toad by Ribbiks.

While "Frog" and "Toad" individially are mostly focused on gimmicky fights, when they are together in "Frog and Toad" they really love some platforming. These maps are not just hard, but also beautiful and atmospheric (and occasionally just goofy and fun). It might be hard to appreciate them if your combat and platforming skills are not that great yet, but if you have beaten most of the stuff listed above, you should be ready at least for platforming challenges the trilogy offers.

 

Let's go through platforming maps in the series:

Frog map 10 - difficult gimmicky platforming.
Toad map 07 - the platforming itself is not too bad, and would fit medium difficulty category nicely, but it is followed by a very challenging fight.

Toad map 10 - more an atmospheric walk with just a few platforming jumps, was mentioned already in the "easy" section.
Frog and Toad map 02 - not exactly platforming, but this map's main part is a lot about quick movement around he ledges. Not too hard.
Frog and Toad map 03 - medium difficulty platforming and avjs.
Frog and Toad map 07 - the wad difficulty is ramping up with this map.
Frog and Toad map 08 - difficult and precise platforming and long jumps. This map will take some time, but it is 100% worth it.
Frog and Toad map 09 - if you played Axolotl before Frog and Toad, now you know which map Axolotl 02 was referencing. This time however getting an exit is not as simple. This map is difficult, so prepare your sr50s.
Frog and Toad map 10 - maybe one of the most iconic platforming maps. Many jumps are quite precise. A serious test of your skills. Once again sr50 is required, but don't forget that some platforming sequences are actually easier with autorun off.

Frog and Toad map 31 - mostly combat, but it has a few neat platforming sequences.

Frog and Toad map 32 - a sequence of rocketjumps during a big fall. Short and not too hard but fun.

 

So, now that you have completed the trilogy: first of all, welcome to the Honorary Frogs, and secondly, time for something slightly different.

9. Arch-Vile Jump. 32 mostly short maps by termrork.

Early maps are pretty tame and many of them are much easier than some of the stuff we covered before, but later maps will start to require sequences of pretty precise avjs, sometimes mixed in with rjs and just a bit of regular platforming and sr50 setups. Despite the fact that maps are pretty short, going through 32 maps of mostly only avjing can be quite fatiguing, so I recommend playing this wad in multiple sessions. Occasional RJ maps are pretty good, too, map 12 is especially fun. The amount of different avj setups in this wad is astonishing, so if you want to practice your avj timings and angles, there is a lot to try here. Difficulty-wise the wad could have been mentioned earlier, but I think from the point of view of skill progression it's more of a specialised avj training, so it makes sense to postpone it until now.

 

I promised to talk more about platforming fights at the start of this post, so let's discuss them now.

Platforming while fighting is a special kind of challenge because you have to have a really good feel of your position, so you can focus on dodging projectiles and fighting monsters. Many challenge mappers eventually start introducing more platforming to their maps - to increase the difficulty or to break the pacing a little or just because they love platforming. Interestingly enough it's quite rare to find a map with platforming fights on the easy side of the difficulty scale - most of them are really hard, so this part naturally went to the "hard difficulty" section. Sometimes platforming sequences are just small breaks between fights, sometimes the fights themselves require platforming while fighting, and sometimes the whole map layout is just constant platforming, so I will include all 3 of those in this writeup even though it's not always "fighting and platforming simultaneously". If you enjoy that kind of a challenge, I will list some wads and maps that you might want to check out. Having your platforming skills improved by the previously discussed wads should make these maps more approachable for you now.

 

A really famous example of a difficult wad with a heavy focus on platforming is Toilet of the Gods by Benjogami. Only 4 maps, with map 04 being pure platforming. But maps 01 and 03 require both excellent combat skills and excellent platforming skills from you (also get ready for some elastic collision), map 01 specifically being an example of a map where the whole layout is based around platforming.

 

Fractured Worlds by Nirvana uses occasional platforming sections quite a lot. Map 01 has a neat platforming sequence before the final fight (platforming also changes with difficulty setting which is neat), map 05 has tons of let's say incidental platforming, and also several fights encourage you to run on small platforms to get more space and map 06 also has several platforming sequences. Also, the earlier single-map release by Nirvana, Entropy has a very creative platforming fight midway through the map, which is worth checking out.

 

Flotsam also has a bunch of platforming maps and sections. Notably maps 01 (with platforming being affected by difficulty settings again), 05 (platforming breaks), 06 (constant incidental platforming). Also map 31 is a movement-only version of map 05 without monsters.

 

Sepia by Petyan has a lot of maps that combine combat and platforming. It is a full megawad and starting from episode 3 (map 15 onwards) almost every map has platforming in one way or another. There are several very gimmicky platforming fights setups that require you to watch your step (map 16 secret fight, map 22 secret fight, map 24 plasma fight), several maps that are just constant incidental platforming (15, 21, 25, 34) and some maps just include small platforming breaks (18, 20, 23). Sepia is probably slightly easier than most of the wads mentioned in this part, so it may be a good place to start as well.

 

Dimensions by MrZzul. Maps 02 and 03 (mostly 02) use platforming for breaks between the fights, map 02 featuring a famous upside-down platforming section. The combat in the wad is naturally extremely hard as well.

 

Dance on the Water by el inferno would also be mentioned here, but I'm going to cover it in more detail in the next section.

 

Other mentions of individual platforming combat maps:
Haste map 10.
Capybara maps 03 (not hard), 32 (very hard).
Finely Crafted Fetish Film map 07.
DIY maps 19, 28, 32.
Abandon maps 02, 06, 10.

 

More platforming combat maps:

This list of platforming fights wads/maps is by no means comprehensive but should provide some notable examples.

 

And before we go on - obligatory individual maps list for the hard category (pure platforming):
Disarray map 05 (rocket jumps with very cool setups)

Noye map 31 (rocketjumping) and map 33 (racing).
Toilet of the Gods map 04 as mentioned above (navigating over very small platforms while being targeted by an archvile)
Poogers map 20.

30 monsters challenge map 60 (has a very cool racing section!)

 

Even more hard platforming maps:

 

Very hard difficulty

 

Ok, time for very hard stuff.

 

10. Dance on the Water. 9 medium to huge maps by el inferno.

Dotw is not a purely platforming mapset, but it has a really heavy emphasis on platforming and platforming fights in particular and is significantly harder than most of the things mentioned above.

Once again, let's go through the platforming (or partially platforming) maps:

Map 01 - the very first fight that the wad greets you with requires platforming, so that sets the tone of the wad very nicely. Most of the fights in the map happen while you have some sort of environmental hazard and many of them have platforming, and, of course, the combat itself is also very hard.

Map 02 - platforming section between two major areas of the map that forces you to do it fast.
Map 03 - a total monster of a map with huge fights, platforming and gimmicky setups.
Map 04 - in this map you have a choice, do the platforming route or the combat route. Both are pretty hard and each route leads to a different next map.
Map 05 - a ridiculous climb to the top only to meet... well, you'll see. Lost souls are here to make your platforming more fun.
Map 06 - climbing the ledges in a dark cave. There is an additional challenge in the map - collecting all the items. You would have to go through timing the damaging floor tics and doing extra precise elastic collision platforming for that.
Map 31 - this map is mostly about the gimmicky combat section, but to get there you have to do a platforming sequence first.

Map 32 - red circles platforming fight makes you do a peculiar movement pattern and it's also quite a spectacle

 

Conquering dotw is a huge achievement as these maps are not just very hard but also quite long.

 

Maps in the next entry are not as long, but they are tightly packed with extremely difficult setups.
11. sliw. 3 maps by kraflab.

sliw requires you to do insane amount of tricks from rocketjumping off the imp to walking on instakill floor ledges, and be very fast and precise during many of the tricks.
These maps are ridiculous, but they are very creative and fun, and if you got there - you will likely enjoy them a lot.

 

And the third and last entry in this category is one map that I want to mention specifically

12. Hardfest map 11 by el inferno.

The whole hardfest wad is honestly very cool, check it out as well, but this particular map feels to me like the ultimate platforming challenge, so I want to make it the final entry in our progression list. It has a series of extremely difficult jumps and climbs, precise avjs, rjs, ridiculously difficult platforming fights and a very complicated progression, it's very long but also just beautiful.

 

Hardfest 11 was the final step of the ladder, but I will still mention more very hard individual platforming maps:
Zzul bases map 31.
D5DA3 maps 27, 57, 80 (rj + avj, it's very interesting once you understand it), 90.
Abyssal Speedmapping Session 52 map 17 (lego map!).
Poogers maps 24, 32.

 

Even more very hard platforming maps:

 

The end

 

Hopefully this post will be useful both for people getting into platforming and for established platforming enthusiasts. Please let me know if you think I missed some important milestones in this writeup or if you just want to mention another cool platforming map that I'm not aware of.

 

Additional thanks to @4shockblast and @Billa for reviewing the draft of this post and people in Meowgi's discord making suggestions about maps I might have missed.

 

Cheers.
 

Edited June 25, 2023 by Ravendesk