Halloween09 Results, Final Pre-Stratosphir Design Challenge, YouTube Channel

Happy Halloween from the Atmosphirian! Hope you had a great time!

Yesterday, Dave (OkaySamurai) announced the winners of the second Halloween design challenge, Halloween09. There were many great entries, but as usual, only the top ten were mentioned. As is custom, 3^rd place will win 250 atmos, 2^nd will win 500, and 1^st will win 1000. So here they are, the community-picked winners:

10. Demonic by Daimon

9. Forbidden Fortress by Quigon

8. Castle of Legends by MarcoK

7. The Temple of Xar by Creator7

6. Dry Bone Dungeon by Maxinima

5. Inferno Tower by Boberto

4. Welcome to the House of Fun by DuffyZeEmu

Coming in third was Trinity Castle by JazeGeek. As Dave explained it, “When you first approach Trinity Castle, you find your path blocked by a double-locked door. A little exploring in the outside area takes you to an abandoned well, where you descend to begin finding keys and other secrets that will aid you on your journey. Once inside, you’ll progress through multiple colored tile rooms, many with additional secrets of their own (there’s a clever trick for getting into one that I hadn’t seen used before). A fun adventure with a satisfying ending.”

Next, in second place, was Trick or Treat by Saunby. “This title doesn’t give you much of a choice, but there are actually quite a few treats (in green gem form) scattered around this stonewalled temple. But the tricks are definitely there too…one particular ingenious puzzle has you figuring out how to jump into a hole in the middle of a sea of spikes. Saunby has really stepped up in the world of Atmosphir designers, and it’s nice to see him get recognized for it here,” as Dave said.

And finally, coming in first for the second year in a row was none other than the community’s biggest Tolkein fan, Frodo. His level, Mining Moria, is a revised version of his Halloween08 level, The Mines of Moria. As said by Dave, “It seems pretty fitting that frodo has reclaimed the Halloween design challenge crown for the second year in the row. This followup throws you back into Moria, but now things feel a little more open-ended with lots of treasures and secrets to uncover. I really enjoyed the novel use of ceiling spike traps to create obstacles like midair staircases, and the constant collectables definitely help engage the player and keep them moving forward right to the end.”

Once again, congratulations to the winners, as well as anyone who entered.

The next design challenge will be released in the very near future. One thing to note about this particular upcoming challenge is that it will be the final design challenge before the release of Project Stratosphir. As many pointed out, this means that the time is almost here. These suspicions will be confirmed in the next podcast done by Martin and Dave, as they will supposedly be announcing the official release date, as well as answering questions from the community. Keep an eye on Twitter and the news page for official news regarding the podcast, as well as the next design challenge.

In Atmosphirian news, we’ve created our very own YouTube page! There isn’t much to look at right now, but it will be improved over the next few days. With any luck, the Atmosphirian might start hosting video journals, level walkthroughs, and many other things. Want to tell us what you think of that? Send us a message on Twitter at @atmosphirian! The YouTube Channel can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Atmosphirian - Be sure to subscribe if you want to stay up-to-date with Atmosphir’s leading news source! Don’t forget to follow Atmosphirian on Twitter if you haven’t already!

Once again, Happy Halloween everyone. Thanks for reading!

Halloween09 Voting, Fair Design Challenges, Atmosphirian News

Well everyone, the design period for Halloween09 has come to a close. With a total of 62 entries this time, it will be an interesting competition. Voting begins today and will continue until it is closed in a few days. As usual, send your votes to Atmosphirvote.

After the Small09 and Big09 results were announced, there seemed to be a wave of complaints that the design challenges were biased towards well-known designers, and that lesser-known designers did not receive the credit they deserved. Since then, a large debate has been started concerning the future of design challenge judging. Would you like to add to the debate? Post in this topic and give us your suggestions/criticisms: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=9812.0

However, the system for voting will remain the same for this challenge. However, if you’d like to be fair about voting, the biggest suggestion that can be made is simple: Play as many levels as possible before voting. Try playing levels by lesser-known designers, as well as the “pros.” You may be surprised to find something you like!

And now for a few notes from the Atmosphirian…

The Atmosphirian has been around for several months, yet it hasn’t entirely changed. The banners and colors have remained unchanged since day one. In true seasonal spirit, the scheme of this site has been altered to reflect the season of autumn. If you have any comments on the new design, please feel free to send us a message!

For the time being, it has been decided that the Atmosphirian will no long be doing Level of the Week reviews. I understand that this has not actually happened since mid-August. The reasoning behind this is that I (Colinnn) am a member of the Editorial Staff, and therefore write an article once a week on a level I think is deserving of a mention. If you’re interested in seeing which levels I am impressed by, please refer to www.atmosphir.com/news and look for reviews written by me.

As usual, thanks for sticking with us everyone!

Community Project - ProtOzone

Community projects have always been a big part of Atmosphir, since the very beginning. Users collaborate together to create a finished project that everyone can benefit from in some way. A popular example would be modifications to the game. A group of users get together and divide up some of the common tasks involved with the process; some gather audio, others work on textures, and the rest work on various other steps in the process. Once the process has been completed, the community enjoys the end result, a finely crafted product that the contributors should be proud of.

Anyone who has been around the forums should be familiar with the name Prototype. A common face in the community, he admits that actually playing Atmosphir isn’t a strong point. As he described himself, “When it comes to the actual game, I'm not that skilled of a player. I can play a maximum of intermediate levels. SOMETIMES Advanced. But I would consider myself a creative designer. All of my levels I spend over a week on. But my levels aren't that well known.” While he may not be the most popular person in-game, he’s certainly a trustworthy friend to the community members.

Mid-September, Prototype announced a new community project that would involve anyone who wanted to contribute. Titled “Project Ozone,” he wished to make a movie using Atmosphir’s resources. When I asked him if this would be classified as a “Machinima” project, he said no. When I asked what else would be involved, he replied “Well, that part is a SECRET right now. I can't release that much info until I have posted the actual thread.”

The community still questions what the project is meant to achieve, however. “ProtOzone is meant to entertain people, and to give a sense of accomplishment to the Atmosphir community,” Prototype answered. “If you have worked hard on something, you'll want it to look good. So I, Prototype, strive for perfection. Most of the Atmosphir community is made up of younger users, and most of them don't experience that sense of accomplishment very often.”

On October 5^th, a sad announcement was made, stating that due to lack of participation and interest, Project Ozone was cancelled. After some thought however, the project was revived October 15^th with the promise of a new name and system.

The new name was ProtOzone. The objective remained the same: To tell a story through Atmosphir. Details have not been officially announced as of the time of writing. In a forceful statement addressed to the community through the official ProtOzone topic, “ProtOzone isn't going to be like the last one. I'm NOT turning it in for a book report, it's NOT going to be based on a story that no one cares about, and most importantly, it's NOT going to be engineered where if one person doesn't do their part, it causes the whole project to be on a standstill.”

Also included in the topic was a trailer for the project. With impressive music and clips, this trailer may have restored some faith in the project without revealing much of anything. It felt reassuring to see actual clips with decent quality and impressive titles. ProtOzone will definitely be a project that should catch some eyes as long as it continues to progress with the same assurance this trailer showed us.

When asked, Prototype requested to leave some closing words for the readers: “If you have ANYTHING at all that you would like to submit to ProtOzone, than send it in a PM to the user Prototype. An official thread will be up soon announcing more info.”

Whether you plan to be involved or not, ProtOzone certainly looks promising and has attracted some attention on the forums. The Atmosphirian will be working closely with ProtOzone to keep you updated on any interesting happenings as the project goes on.

Be sure to check out the ProtOzone topic here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=9656.0

The trailer for ProtOzone can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mNXBiDUyGU

Thanks for reading!

Big09 Design Challenge Results

The month of September carried two design challenges with it: Small09 and Big09. Small09 was a challenge to create the best level possible within a 20 x 20 x20 grid space. Big09, on the other hand, was a challenge to create the largest level possible, with a block on floor one and one-hundred. This challenge ended on September 30, 2009, and voting began the next day.

As with every design challenge, the community was given several days to vote for their favorite levels. Anyone who wished to could submit their vote for three levels from each challenge in a single PM to Atmosphirvote, which is managed by Adz. He then counts the votes and sends Dave (Okaysamurai) the results. Since then, we have waited anxiously for the results.

Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule, Dave has not been able to make an official announcement regarding the winners… until now. Through Twitter, he announced that the Small09 winners will be released on Thursday of this week and Big09 on Friday. True to his word, the Big09 results were announced this morning. Although it was not a video, Dave wrote a short summary of each of the ten winners in a single news post on the Atmosphir website. The results were as follows:

10. Old Egypt - Flex

9. Coconut Kingdom – BlazingPlatinum

8. The Incredible Ice-Geysers of Icicleta - signman

7. Run I - eyeofsauron

6. Quicksand Castle - Krakrjakz

5. AtmoTown - Maspaceha

4. Overflow - DuffyZeEmu

Taking third was Titan’s grave by Groud. Earning Level of the Day on October 9, Titan’s Grave is a massive level that’s all about exploring. Hidden throughout the level are numerous treasures that would take a true treasure hunter nearly an hour to find. As Dave said, “Groud continues his winning streak of incredible levels with this massive adventure through a mountain environment. Finding 10,000 points is a daunting task, even though 100-point gems seem to be scattered at every turn. Caves, waterfalls, elevators, and even a flying dragon make this one of the most visually stunning entries we saw. It’s great to progress and higher and deeper through the level to reach seemingly unreachable heights.”

Coming in second was Munchy365’s level, Escape. Don’t let the simple name fool you, Escape is a huge level packed with action and exploration. Dave’s description really sums it up: “Atmosphir meets Mirror’s Edge is the best way I can describe this cityscape level from the always-reliable munchy365. The concept is great: you start by disposing of your “boss” and making a run from the Muka police through ventilation shafts, open windows, rooftops, hallways, and much more. It’s unforgiving, but luckily there’s also a practice version of the level that always illuminates the right path with colors and arrows. A brilliant idea brought to life through stunning design.”

And finally, taking first place was Return to Lush by Colinnn. As Dave described it, “The original was big enough, but this sequel takes what made the first Lush battle so interesting and refines it in many ways. As you jump through a long, winding river, you’ll find caves and secrets tucked away in the surrounding canyon walls - which hold several nice timing-based moving platform puzzles mixed with classic platforming. It’s a lengthy adventure that will require advanced skills and a little luck to beat, let alone place on the leaderboards. Very nicely done.”

Congratulations to the winners. Atmos prizes should be delivered shortly.

Small09 Results, Halloween09 Design Challenge

The month of September carried two design challenges with it: Small09 and Big09. Small09 was a challenge to create the best level possible within a 20 x 20 x20 grid space. Big09, on the other hand, was a challenge to create the largest level possible, with a block on floor one and one-hundred. This challenge ended on September 30, 2009, and voting began the next day.

As with every design challenge, the community was given several days to vote for their favorite levels. Anyone who wished to could submit their vote for three levels from each challenge in a single PM to Atmosphirvote, which is managed by Adz. He then counts the votes and sends Dave (Okaysamurai) the results. Since then, we have waited anxiously for the results.

Unfortunately, due to a busy schedule, Dave has not been able to make an official announcement regarding the winners… until now. Through Twitter, he announced that the Small09 winners will be released on Thursday of this week and Big09 on Friday. True to his word, the Small09 results were announced this morning. Although it was not a video, Dave wrote a short summary of each of the ten winners in a single news post on the Atmosphir website. The results were as follows:

10. The Land of Lost - Wiifanjr

9. Atmosphir Brick – Nate Dog

8. A Small Taste of Atmosphir - Pico

7. Inside A Crate - Robcozzens

6. The Exertion of Authority - Saunby

5. Volcano - Pkdevo

4. Chamber of Courage - MarcoK

Coming in third was Operation DMB: An Experiment in Time and Space by DuffyZeEmu. As Dave described it, “An exceptional floating wooden structure with a well-made nonlinear design. Brown has never looked so good in an Atmosphir level; the wooden Muka blocks and tents are used to great effect in making a diverse landscape. While 500 points and a finish flag is all it takes to secure a win, there are quite a few secrets and hidden things along the way, demanding multiple playthroughs. Every aspiring Atmosphir level designer should play this and take notes. I did.”

In second was Treeleaf Relief by Memphiston. This level received Level of the Day on Wednesday, October 14, 2009, and was given a play challenge; if twenty players could beat this level with a perfect score by midnight, a Quick Look video about Project Stratosphir would be released. Once again true to his word, the Quick Look was released this morning. This level is an interesting climb through a magnificent tree. As you climb higher, the difficulty of the level increases. Although not necessary difficult, you have to take your time if you want a perfect score of 1000.

The winner of Small09 was none other than Sunburst Islands by Boberto. An excellent leaderboard challenge and community favorite, it was no surprise that Boberto once again placed in a design challenge. As Dave said, “A bright level reminiscent of a hot summer day, Sunburst Islands is an impressive coconut collection quest. The level twists, turns, climbs and falls through a number of smartly-designed areas, and a couple of nice secrets (spoiler alert: the boat in the palm tree?) help keep the leaderboards competitive. It’s a good mix of platforming, mini-puzzles, and exploration, making it a worthy winner of Small09. Nice work!”

Congratulations to all of the winners. As usual, first place receives 1000 atmos, 500 for second, and 250 for third.

In other news, the new design challenge for October has been announced. Due to popular demand, Halloween is returning. In 2008, Halloween08 was one of the earliest design challenges. In seasonal spirit, Halloween09 is here. As the name implies, the objective is to make a Halloween-themed level. Other than that, you’re free to do what you want. The deadline is October 23. Good luck to everyone!

Tomorrow, the Big09 design challenge results will be released. Keep reading the Atmosphirian for more information!