New Stratosphir Screenshots Cause Commotion

With the upcoming release of Project Stratosphir this month, the feeling of anxiety in the community has only heightened in the past few days. With a few groundbreaking screenshots posted, it doesn’t look like this hype will be dying anytime soon.

Marcod’s discovery in a recent jumpstart.

The first screenshot posted was in reply to the Atmosphirian Open Forum, by Marcod. In it, he has labeled several points of interest. First is a bar which is labeled “LV” which is presumed to stand for “Level.” This implies a possible leveling system which has been implemented into Atmosphir somehow. Next is a small blue circle labeled “VS.” It can be assumed that this refers to some kind of versus score. On the right side, there is a label which says “Tokens Collected.” At this time, we have no idea what this could mean. Below that is “XP Level,” which is most likely related to the “LV” point referenced before.

The next screenshots posted were from Adz, comparing Stratosphir to the current version of Atmosphir. These images can be seen here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=11152.0

The difference between each screenshot is evident almost immediately. To most obvious difference is the addition of shaders, which add a new level of depth to the display. Colors seems to be much more vibrant, which is shockingly beautiful. Gems now have an added glowing effect, making them stand out more in a level. Torches now have much more realistic flames, as well as serving as a noticeable source of light. After observing the textures on each block, you will see that detail has been increased significantly as well.

To say the least, these images are causing a large amount of conversation in the community. Each user is offering their own opinions and thoughts on the new screenshots, which makes for an interesting read. With the first day of December already here, the commotion is coming to a climax as we await Stratosphir’s launch sometime this month.

That’s all for today, thanks for reading!

Open Forum Announcement, Win A Google Wave Invite, Misc Announcements

To begin, the Atmosphirian would like to thank the community for their amazing activity in the open forum. It appears that this was a huge success, and we would love to continue to run this segment from now on. In order to do this effectively, we’d like to get your opinion on how often you’d like this to happen. At any given time, we would only like to have one open forum at a time. Would you like this to be weekly? Every other week? Every month? If you have an opinion, please tell us VIA Twitter at @atmosphirian.

To expand on our Twitter page, the Atmosphirian is proud to announce their first contest. Entry is easy; simply follow @atmosphirian on Twitter. That’s it. Next Sunday (December 6, 2009), we will draw three names from all of our followers to win a free Google Wave Invite. As with any contest, there must be rules.

1) No multiple accounts.

2) If the winner already has a Google Wave Invite, the prize may be transferred to someone else of their choosing.

3) Winners will be expected to provide the Atmosphirian with a valid Gmail account by December 12, 2009. Multiple prizes will not be awarded due to typos caused by the winner(s).

Good luck to all of you.

In other news, a clarification has been made regarding the launch of Project Stratosphir. Some community members have believed that the launch will be December 1st. Dave (OkaySamurai) stepped in on Wednesday to clarify. The current plan is to have Stratosphir online by the end of the month, although this is only a probable hope. In actuality, in the case of some serious event, this date could be pushed into next year. For now, however, it has been said that the expected release date will be “early December.” The official announcement can be found here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=10978.0

In other news, Arcade09 voting has officially closed. The results are being counted, and you can expect the results to appear in the following weeks. It has not been determined if the results will be announced in a Jumpstart or through a news announcement.

The deadline is fast-approaching for Moderator Applications. If you have not applied yet, and would like to, be sure to act now. The official announcement can be found here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=10933.0

That about wraps things up for today, everyone. Thanks for reading!

Open Forum – Should Atmosphir Adopt RPG Elements?

Atmosphir is meant to be a tool for people to design their own games. Various different types of games are welcomed, with new features such as racing and FPS-elements coming in the future. Yet one type of game that has been under some debate for quite awhile is the RPG genre.

An RPG (Role-Playing Game) is “a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.” (Wikipedia). Supports of this type of genre in Atmosphir support having a leveling system in-game, where you earn points based on your actions in Atmosphir. Some users will rise in the ranks while others fall. Those who are against this idea support a level playing field. No user is better than others in official rankings, only in the eyes of the community.

So what do you think? The Atmosphirian presents this as their first-ever Open Forum question: Do you believe Atmosphir should adopt RPG-elements?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with how a respectful debate works, here are some guidelines:

-Respect the opinions of other people. The point of a debate is to argue a point. Arguing, however, does not mean disrespecting others. Be courteous of what others have said. Acknowledge their points respectfully, but feel free to fight against it as well. Any comments which are deemed disrespectful will be deleted without notice.

-Defend your points. One-line sentences will not help your cause in a debate. Support your argument with solid facts and/or well-thought-out opinions. While you don’t need to write a novel, make your arguments full of information. Use quotes from previous arguments to effectively display what you are fighting.

-Use good grammar and spelling. Whether we notice it or not, we are more likely to take an argument seriously if it is structured well. To ensure your argument reads well, take a moment to proofread it. An alternate option would be to check for spelling and grammar mistakes in a word processor, such as Microsoft Word. At the very least, the forums do have a Spell Check tool.

If this forum becomes too violent, unproductive, or heated, it will be locked. Please stay on-topic, and most importantly, have fun!

The forum can be found here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=11048.0

Moderator News, Arcade09 Voting, New Quick Look

To begin, the Atmosphirian would like to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving, or Happy Turkeylurkey Day as it has been named on the forums. Safe travels to anyone who is traveling, and have a great time!

There have been a few changes in the placement of moderators in the community. Long-time moderator Landorindustries has stepped down from his position in the Atmosphir board due to personal reasons. Therefore, former Support moderator Wowfunhappy has taken his place. Due to a lack of leadership in the competition section, former Ideas moderator Colinnn has taken over as moderator there. Please support these changes, and give them as much support as possible as they get situated.

For the first time in months, moderator applications have opened up. These applications are open to anyone in the community. From the applicants, the current moderator team will choose roughly five to join their ranks. Submissions are due by December 5th. The official post, with a link to the submission form, can be found here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=10933.0

Voting for Arcade09, the last design challenge before the launch of Project Stratosphir, has been opened. Votes are due by November 27, which can be submitted to Atmosphirvote. Remember to vote for the levels you feel are the best-fitting for the current challenge. Good luck to everyone! Don’t forget that there is a play challenge in effect as well! The official post can be found here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=10925.0

A new Stratosphir Quick Look has been released, featuring a new level named Linden’s Peak. This level, created entirely with the new engine, showcases many of the new features of the game, including scaling/rotation, new bomb-able blocks, moving platforms, and more! Be sure to check it out for yourself here: http://atmosphir.com/news/2009/11/quick-look-lindens-peak/

Well everyone, that’s it for today. Once again, safe travels and thanks for reading!

Announcement: In Light of Recent Events, New Editorial Staff

Within the community, things have begun to change. Many would refer to this time as the dark days of Atmosphir. Within the past weeks, two moderators have left the community, new rules have been established, and tensions are growing.

Long-time moderator Munchy365 has been stripped of his titles and demoted to a standard member of the community. In addition, he has received a temporary ban. When this was brought to light, many began to ask why. For a time, the moderators of the community remained silent. Stories began to originate from Munchy himself, who kept in contact with several members of the community. On November 15, 2009, head moderator Adz made a statement which explained the events of the following day.

In short, Munchy was banned for leaking information to Daisukii, another member of the community, who has since been banned. This information was meant to be kept safely stored in the Moderators section of the forums, where only moderators and Minor Studios staff may enter. Of course, there is much more to the story than that. For more information, please read the full story here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=10662.0

Another member of our community, PizzaBoy, has made the decision to leave Atmosphir for the time being. In a message to the community under an alternate account, PB said this: “The combined stress of several real life events combined with stress from recent events here are becoming difficult for me to handle. Deleting my account was a decision I made to attempt to relieve some of this stress. I may return later this year or early next year depending on how things go. If the state of things in my head does not improve, I may not return. I do not expect to remain a moderator if/when I return. I apologize for any trouble I have caused with this.”

The community, although sad to see him go, must respect PizzaBoy’s decision, and understand that he has done this for a reason.

A full announcement regarding these two events can be found here: http://www.atmosphir.com/forum/index.php?topic=10662.0

Dave has also made the decision that office tours will no longer be offered when visiting Minor Studios in San Francisco. Although this is sad news, he has promised that he is more than willing to meet with players for a cup of coffee or lunch if they happen to be in the area.

Despite these sad events, there have been good events as well. Today, Swordsman761 and DuffyZeEmu joined the Atmosphir Editorial Team, the committee responsible for choosing the Level of the Day on the Atmosphir news page. The team welcomes the newcomers, and promises that readers should be expecting great things in the future. Excitement for the next update, also known as Project Stratosphir, also continues to mount as December draws closer.

Stay with us, Atmosphirians. Great things are coming.

Community Events: RAM Finale, New Atmosphir Logo, Website Changes, New Art Assets

With Project Stratosphir approaching quickly, the community is in a flurry of activity as final preparations are made Discussions are being held everywhere, plans are being made, and everyone is acting as if Christmas is tomorrow. Here’s a brief summary of what to look out for these days…

-Random Atmosphir Moments Finale. Kaiserg, long-time member of the Atmosphir community and Creative moderator, will be ending season two of his famous Random Atmosphir Moments (RAM) series this Friday, November 13. Keep an eye on his YouTube Channel, IslandNetwork, for the release at the end of the week. If you aren’t familiar with the series, take a moment to check out one of Atmosphir’s earliest machinima series. Kaiserg has also given the Atmosphirian exclusive rights to say that the third season of Random Atmosphir Moments will begin on New Year’s Day.

-New Atmosphir Logo. As some of you may have noticed, the new logo for Atmosphir has been released. As pointed out by Boberto in a topic on the forums, the new logo has several minor changes made to it.

(Left: Old Logo, Right: New Logo)

There are only two real changes that can be seen here. First, the shape of the flag has been altered to be more pointed, as opposed to the older rectangle. The new ladder is straight, as opposed to the older version, which had a different edge. Dave has stated that the glow effect on the new logo will not be seen everywhere.

-Website changes. While much of this is old news, the new aspects of the Atmosphir website are hot discussion topics. The most noticeable change is the new “Beta Signup Waiting List” button that has been added to the front page. Anyone who has tried to access the beta website will notice that it has been taken down. You will still be prompted to enter your beta sign up information, but no page will load when you are done. It is still possible to download Atmosphir, however. If you need to do so, please contact any moderator on the forums, and they will be able to help you. Have your beta login and password ready in case you will be asked for it.

(The New Beta Sign Up Waiting List Graphic)

-Art Assets. Dave (OkaySamurai) announced that the art assets for Project Stratosphir have been released, and can be downloaded here: http://atmosphir.com/extra/artassets1.zip. These graphics will be used to design the new website, but may also be used for any purpose you see fit, so long as they are not commercial purposes. Some of these graphics are already being used around the site.

The events discussed above are only the beginnings for what is to come. As we anxiously await the release of Project Stratosphir, take some time to participate in community events. If nothing else, be sure to take a chance to join the Atmosphir IRC channel, #atmosphir, for a chance to chat with the rest of the community.

Thank you to everyone for reading!

New Stratosphir Footage

On November 6th, as promised, a new Quick Look was released, showcasing some of Statosphir’s new tricks. Unlike other footage, this was completely unedited, totaling six minutes of content. Here’s a summary of what happened and what we saw:

-Improved graphics. Although this has been known for awhile, many people were amazed at how much the graphics and overall appearance of the game has been improved.

-A new level made with Project Stratosphir. The basic concept of the video was watching Dave play through a level made with the new tools. This showcased some of the new features, including tile rotation, scaling, and gravity flips.

-Multiple uses for blocks. A few of the blocks offered in the game already have been modified to work with the new features. For example, the wooden floor found in the Adventure Set now serves as a ladder when put on its side, and a scaled stone door has many places where the player can climb.

-On-The-Go Customization. Although we have heard of this and seen some of it in action, on-the-go character customization was showcased. Accessible from the pause menu, you may change what your character is wearing in the middle of a game. You may also take your icon screenshot from the same menu. When you are done, your character will display a short animation of them looking at their new clothes.

-Gravity switches. Quite possibly one of the most anticipated features in the new update, we were finally able to see gravity changes in action. Activated by touching floating orbs with arrows, changing the gravity will cause the level to flip a certain direction (based on the arrow), causing you and any enemies to fall with it.

-Combat. Throughout the video, the player fights several enemies. The combat system has been greatly improved, with new fighting movements and enemy responses. When a flying skull was destroyed, a large distortion effect took place around the explosion. We were also able to see the new bomb cannon being used. A crosshair mode has been added, allowing you to see where you are aiming the cannon.

All in all, this was an amazing Quick Look. With Stratosphir set for launch in December, the community is only growing more anxious.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Platforms 1.11.09, Arcade09 Announced, Atmosphiric

November 1^st has been a busy day for Atmosphir. Early in the morning, the newest Platforms episode launched, totaling 64 minutes of discussion between Dave and Martin. Later in the day, Arcade09 was announced as the November design challenge.

Going in chronological order, the Platforms episode was filled with information. This was an mp3 recording of Dave and Martin discussing Stratosphir progress, answering your questions from Twitter, and discussing their gaming habits. The most important piece of information given regarded Stratosphir’s launch. Expected release date is early December, though a solid date has not been put into place. All of the features that will go with the launch have been implemented. Now Minor Studios is working on polishing up everything and weeding out the bugs.

Unfortunately, not everyone will receive access to the new beta at the same time. Right now, it looks as if roughly 100 people will receive invites every day. From what has been said, it sounds as if the current plan is to send each person a unique code that will activate their account for Stratosphir. It has not been determined how these invites will be distributed.

The rest of the podcast was spent answering questions that were asked by the community through Twitter. There were many interesting questions that both Dave and Martin answered. Given the time and amount of content put into this podcast, it would be much more beneficial to you to take the time to listen. There is no video to accompany this, so feel free to listen while you do something else, such as homework, cleaning, or playing Atmosphir.

Arcade09 was also announced as the November design challenge, which will be the first before Stratosphir’s release. This month the focus is on leaderboard-friendly levels. These levels should have simple gameplay techniques, fast-paced, and has a high replay value. Some levels offered as examples are Lunch Break Mayhem by EliteBlackDragon, Muka Carnivale Game by bigdrip681, and Leaderboard Tower by munchy365. You have until the 23^rd to enter a level, so get moving!

Accompanying this design challenge is a play challenge. Whoever has the best scores on the top three levels will receive atmos prizes. These prizes will match those for the design challenge; 1000 for first, 500 for second, and 250 for third. Since you will not know who the winners are until the challenge is over, it is recommended that you play as many levels as you can. As another rule, designers cannot earn points for the challenge on their own level.

Good luck to both designers and players!

Just another note the Atmosphirian would like to add on behalf of Boberto, one of the Atmosphirian’s biggest fans. He has decided to create his own blog, Atmosphiric. Expect these two blogs to partner up in the future for reasons unknown. While the writing style is slightly different than that of the Atmosphirian, both blogs strive for one thing: To bring you, the player/designer, the most up-to-date news in the Atmosphir community. Boberto’s blog can be found here: http://www.ritger.com/blog/

Thanks for reading everyone, and remember to continue to subscribe to our Twitter and YouTube channel!