The Time Is Upon Us

Today is the day we’ve awaited for nearly a year. Provided nothing goes terribly wrong last minute, today 500 or so players will be welcomed into the next generation of Atmosphir.

At the time of writing, anything related to the game has gone seemingly crazy. #Atmosphir currently has 52 participants. The forums broke the previous “Most Online” record, raising it to 92. Currently some members of the community are attempting to make #Atmosphir a trending topic on Twitter, which essentially means it is one of the most discussed topic at the time.

Dave has been feeding the community information through Twitter as well. just recently he has informed us that 3 PM EST should be the official start time, which means the invites will be sent out and it will all begin. Currently the plan is to admit 500 members who signed up through a form posted on the forums, as well as anyone who currently has Player’s Club membership in-game. These members will receive an email informing them about how to access the game.

In the last hour before we all begin anew, the Atmosphirian would like to thank you for the support you have shown since the very beginning. This truly is a great time for Atmosphir now and forever, and the Atmosphirian is proud to be a part of it.

And so it begins. Expect exciting news about the new version of the game from Atmosphir’s leading news source, The Atmosphirian!

See you all on the other side!

Getting to Know Project Stratosphir - Snapping

The grid has been around since the very beginning of Atmosphir. Spanning 100 spaces in each direction and climbing 100 floors, designers have been given 1,000,000 spaces to fill with various blocks, props, and other objects from the toolbox. However, placement within these 1,000,000 spaces was limited. The bottom center of every object rested in the exact middle of the space it was placed in. Certain things could overlap, such as treasures being placed on the same space as a floor tile. Even then, they were forced to remain in the center of the space, unable to be placed freely.

Project Stratosphir will feature a new type of placement control, which is activated using the F key. Using this tool is rather simple. To begin, choose an object from the toolbox. Keep in mind that not all objects will work; props, interactives, and a select few other pieces. Once you have made your selection, hold the F key and move your cursor onto the map. The piece will not rotate to place its base wherever you are pointing. This includes blocks, ramps, and essentially any other surface on any floor you can see. If the cursor is not pointing to a surface, you will be able to place the object on any space on the current floor.

However, each object you place using the Snap technique will still take up a space. This space is determined by the center of the object being snapped. The same rules will apply to placing multiple objects on a single space. This means you cannot have a snapped Gravity Changer on the same space as the base of a ramp, or a key on the same space as a springboard.

Because you can place objects on any surface, this leads to some very interesting possibilities. One of the most used possibilities is to snap a gravity changer to a ramp. When the player runs on the ramp and touches the changer, the level will shift as an uncommon angle. With this in mind, it’s more than possible to rotate a level in any possible direction. Using the free rotate tools on a ramp and snapping a gravity changer to said ramp opens a world of possibilities.

One common use for this technique is to make loops. By making a circular formation of ramps in order to give the appearance of a loop, you have laid the foundations. From there, place gravity changers on each ramp. As the player runs up the ramp, the gravity will shift, giving the appearance of running on a loop. Add some speed powerups and you’ve created a high-speed stunt. Be careful with this however; it’s very easy to accidentally create exploits when messing with gravity like this.

The loop was only one example of what can be done with this tool. It is my hope that you, the designers of Atmosphir, will put this feature to the true test and come up with some incredibly crazy ideas for us all to enjoy. I can’t wait to see what you do! Thanks for reading, everyone!

Getting to Know Project Stratosphir - Single Player Rules

In addition to being able to build your own levels, Atmosphir has also allowed designers to determine how their levels are played. Using the Rules menu in the design mode, designers were able to determine various concepts, such as run speed or jump velocity. In Project Stratosphir, many of these variables return alongside some exciting newer features.

Before continuing, please note that these variables are subject to change. New features may be added or some may be taken from the game before launch time. Please keep that in mind as you read today.
In today’s article, I will be discussing the various aspects of the Single Player rulebook. While the Multiplayer Rulebook does have some varied features, the basic concepts are mixed with the Single Player rules. Another day we will discuss the aspects of Multiplayer Rules.

As in the previous versions of Atmosphir, the basic concepts still remain. The first is the Timer. The timer determines how much time you are given to complete a level. This slider goes from an unlimited time limit to 10,000 seconds (166 minutes 40 seconds). Next is the Initial Lives variable. This goes from an Unlimited number (-1) to a total of 100. Extra lives and time can be found within a level.

Unlike past versions, Project Stratosphir allows you to determine how often you receive time and lives based on your score. Two sliders control this: Extra Life Score and Extra Time Score. The extra life score variable ranges from zero to 50,000. This variable moves in increments of 500 (0, 500, 1000, 1500, etc.) If it is at zero, no lives will be awarded based on your score. If the variable is set to 500, you will receive an extra life for every 500 points you receive. The extra time score variable works in the same way, with the exceptions being that it ranges from zero to 30,000, and it gives out time as opposed to lives.

Along the lines of basic variables are the Jump Velocity and Walk Speed. These features remain unchanged from previous versions. Jump velocity determines how high the player can jump, ranging from zero (no jump) to a velocity of ten. Walk Speed ranges from one to ten, with one being the slowest movement possible. Both of these variables can be altered through the use of run and jump powerups.

Jump Velocity goes hand in hand with the new Gravity Force variable. This variable determines how high/quickly/slowly objects and players fly, and how quickly/slowly they fall. The range for this goes from one (low) to 20 (high). Low gravity will result in high, lazy jumps with slower descents. High gravity means very low jumps with faster falling. So far this cannot be changed in-game, but anything is possible for the future.

Single Player game modes remain largely unchanged. The same modes are still available, namely Find the Finish Flag, Survive the Time Limit, beat the Score, Defeat the Enemies, and Defeat the Bosses.

Find the Finish Flag is the basic gamemode which can be completed by simply touching the green finish flag in the level. Survive the Time Limit simply means surviving until the timer runs out. The other three modes have a little more to them than that.

Beat the Score is a mode which involves meeting a certain score requirement in order to beat the level. The Target Score variable determines the score you must beat. It ranges from ten to 100,000 points.

Defeat the Enemies and Defeat the Bosses modes also go hand in hand with one another. The Number of Enemies to Defeat and Number of Bosses to Defeat variables both range from zero to 100. On each enemy, there is a choice to set an enemy as a boss or a standard enemy. Muka Bosses are, by default, bosses, while every other enemy is considered standard.

Keep in mind that these modes can be mixed and matched. For example, you could have a survival level in which you have to kill a certain number of enemies, or a find the finish flag level with a certain requirement for points. Any number of these conditions can be applied to a single level.

Next are the score multipliers given at the end of a level. As in the previous version, they include the Lives Left Multiplier, Time Left Multiplier, and the Score Multiplier. The Lives Left Multiplier (0-5000x) gives you a set amount of points for each life you have remaining at the end of the level. The Time Left Multiplier (0-100x) gives you a set amount of points for each life you have remaining at the end of the level. The final multiplier, the Score Multiplier (.25x-10x), multiplies the points earned during the level by a variable.

A new kind of multiplier is also introduced in Project Stratosphir, titled the Enemy Score Multiplier. This multiplier is applied as you play, and therefore does not appear at the end of the level. In the new update, each enemy can give you a certain number of points upon death. The Enemy Score Multiplier takes this number and multiplies it by a variable between zero and 100.

Along with this is a new switch, Enemies Give Points On Kill Only. This switch determines how you receive points. When it is on, you will only receive your points upon killing (reducing its health to zero) the enemy. If this option is off, you will receive a fraction of the points upon each strike, determined by the amount of damage you do.  If you do all the work, you get all the points. This feature would be handy for Co-op maps where multiple players are fighting the same creature but do not want to share the points.

Finally are the Skybox and Music features, which will be discussed another day. Along with that is thepreview Fog switch, which turns on or off the fog while working in design mode.

While many of the rules are not new to many who is reading this, it is always good to get a refresher in. My apologies for the lack of screenshots; the information presented here is hardly appealing for a screenshot. It is my hope that you will make the most out of the new and old rules alike. I’m looking forward to some interesting setups from you! Thanks for reading!