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!

107 Days In Review

The last serious update to the Atmosphirian was on August 15^th, discussing the community and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. Since then, many things have happened in the Atmosphir community. Tonight, I will be writing a brief overview of the past 107 days.

But first, I owe you, the community a formal apology. I will not make excuses for not updating the Atmosphirian for the past 107 days. I should have been able to fit in time to write, but I chose not to do so. From now on, I will make a better effort to write as much as possible. Believe me, this blog means as much to me as it means to you. It’s my way of giving back to the community.

First off, the Atlympics that we were following months ago have come to an end. The final round was between Cmmatzat and Drfuzzyness. Both designers entered amazing levels. Cmmatzat entered “Platforming through the Worlds” to match Drfuzzyness’s “The END Machine.” As expected, the final round was to be determined by the community. Unfortunately, we did not do our part in the voting. The final score was 1-0 for Cmmatzat. Although anti-climatic, this did declare Cmmatzat to be the overall winner. Both levels were amazingly well done, and both finalists should be proud to have made it as far as they did. It has not been determined if there will be a second round of the Atlympics at the time of writing. A poll reveals that the majority of the community wants another competition. Keep looking in the Competition section for any possible updates regarding this.

Space09, the last design challenge, has come to an end. As you may recall, the objective was to create a space-themed level in whatever fashion you preferred. There were many great entries, but as with all design challenges, only ten were mentioned and only three won prizes. In order, here are the winners: Flora of Elightiron (JessetheWanderer), Crippled in the Night II (EdacOnag), Mini Station Challenge (TheUltimateYoshi), Space Piracy (Lemon), The Core (Krakrjakz), In Space No One Can Hear You AHHWARGHAHEGAH (Bender), and Journey to the Star Realm (Wowfunhappy). The top three levels were: Escape From the Moon (Robcozzens) in 3^rd, Luminescent Skies (Boberto) in 2nd, and Munchy365’s Exploratorium: The Star Port (by Munchy365). As usual, 3^rd place will receive 250 Atmos, 500 for 2^nd, and 1,000 for first. Congratulations to all the winners, as well as anyone who participated!

Along with the closing of Space09 comes a new design challenge. As a matter of fact, the month of September is a dual design challenge, which essentially means that two challenges are taking place at the same time. Unfortunately, due to the lack of Atmosphirian updates, I haven’t been able to share this information with you until tonight, which happens to be the deadline. Just to review, the two challenges are Small09 and Big09. Your Small09 levels should be contained in a 20 x 20 x 20 space on the grid. Big09 levels should have at least one block on floor one, and at least one on floor 100. In addition, most of the space should be filled. As I said, the deadline for these two challenges was today, and voting will begin tomorrow. Remember to PM your votes to Atmosphirvote within the next few days, and look out for the winners in the next jumpstart!

The community itself has been altered a bit within the past 107 days as well. Some users have left us, while new ones have joined. New groups have been established. Events have come and passed. Overall, it has been a very exciting past few months.

First of all, it was decided that there would be a team of six users who would make up the Editorial Staff. The job of the Editorial Staff is to pick which creations will receive the honor of Level of the Day, as well as write a short review or summary of the level. Applications were open to anyone, and the results were picked by Dave (OkaySamurai) himself. Eventually, the team was announced. The results were: Adz, Boberto, Colinnn, EdacOnag, EliteBlackDragon, and Munchy365. Since chosen, the team has picked every LOTD since, with the exception of a few days that Dave stepped in. For the time being, the team has decided to remain at six members, although this may change in the future.

As time goes on, leadership positions in a community change. Some people leave us, while others take their place. It’s a never-ending cycle. Within the past month, it was decided that some new mods were necessary. Nuinethir stepped down from his position in Off-Topic, while Blunty and Frederik stepped down as well. The remaining moderators voted on who they would like to replace them with. Their decision brought three new moderators into the community: Marcod, Boberto, and Colinnn. Marcod will take over for Nuinethir in Off-Topic, while Colinnn and Boberto take over the Idea Box. Please give them your full support and a bit of patience as they adapt to their new jobs.

Today, acceptance for beta testing Atmosphir is coming to a close. It was announced by Dave that forum registrations have been officially been taken down until a later date. No more beta invites are being sent out. For the most part, there will not be any more newbies for quite some time, possibly until the release of Stratosphir.

Dave is in Buenos Aires this week, working with Martin to finalize plans for Stratosphir. The Minorstudios twitter has been updated with random tidbits of information about their work. Within the next week or so (hopefully), Dave and Martin will be filming a giant Mailbox episode together. Be sure to watch for an incredible amount of information.

Once again, my apologies for the lack of updates. I thank you all for sticking with me, and giving me the support and encouragement needed to open up Microsoft Word and begin to write again. As soon as I am back in the habit, I’m sure updates will come much faster. Until then, I will update when I feel able. So long everyone, and thanks for sticking with us.