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.

Jumpstart 8.12.09

Today, at long last, a new Jumpstart was released. This morning, the Minor Studio’s twitter us updated with a notice saying they were filming. Roughly five hours later, the new Jumpstart was released.

The first thing to be reviewed was the final set of results for Mini09. After some very exciting voting, here they were:

10) The Obstacle Crab by Krakrjakz – Very interesting level. I was not actually able to beat it. The goal is to lure the crab around in order to complete certain challenges.

9) Bridgebuilder by Groud – One of my favorite levels. You must find all the moving platforms in the level in order to build a bridge across the valley.

8) Shooting Shaman by Boberto – Another interesting level. The goal is to shoot all the Muka shaman before time runs out. Another level I didn’t manage to finish.

7) Race Through the valley of the Gods by Cmmatzat – This level took me a few tries, but I did beat it. Challenges include running along a wall, climbing a mountain, and flying through several floating rings.

6) Muka Carnivale Game by Bigdrip681 – Similar to Shooting Shaman, the goal here is to fire bombast moving mukas.

5) Vertigo by Drfuzzyness – A classic survival. A moving platform travels across the level, and your goal is to stay on it until it reaches the end.

4) Ando Prime by Munchy365 – In my opinion, the best looking Mini09 level. Race a moving platform to the finish flag.

3) The Two Minute Test by Mrcoble – The first Mini09 level I played, and one of the best in my opinion. See Jumpstart for Dave’s opinion.

2) Evolution of Speed by Frodo – Hey, it’s the winner of the Level Spotlight not too long ago! See Jumpstart for Dave’s opinion.

1) Time Trial Tower Dash by Colinnn – It’s my level. Although Munchy told me to brag, I couldn’t. So see Jumpstart for Dave’s opinion.

As usual, that’s 1000 Atmos for first, 500 for second, and 250 for third.

Next, Dave talked about Space09. Click here for my article: http://atmosphirian.blogspot.com/2009/08/space09.html

Next was a Project Stratosphir update. Things are going well. Nearly all of the art assets have been imported. Also, all levels are now playable under the new engine. A few new features were seen in the video as well. First, it would appear that the health bars above enemies have been replaced by numbers representing their health. Second, it would appear that we get to fire lasers. They’re testing an over-the-shoulder view, which is looking interesting. A crosshair of sorts was also seen.

Finally, there was a mini mailbox. First, Dave was asked how many levels can be entered into Space09 by any one player. There is no limit, but it would be wise to focus on a single level. Second, Dave was asked if NPCs will be available with the new engine. Apparently they will not be added right away, but they will in time. Finally, Drfuzzyness gave Dave a cheat code for thirty extra lives. That was interesting.

After destroying the camera with a paper ball, we were given a nice surprise. A minute or so of cats attacking Atmosphir cutouts (and each other!) followed the video, closing with a name: Catmopshir. You really have to see it yourself to understand.

To watch the new Jumpstart for yourself (if you haven’t already), click here: http://atmosphir.com/news/2009/08/jumpstart-81209-space-30-lives-and-catmosphir/

That’s all for today everyone. Good luck with Space09!

Design Challenge: Space09

Design challenges are a driving force behind the Atmosphir community. They give us a challenge that we must fulfill, and they keep our imaginations running by forcing us to develop various levels to meet certain standards. Each design challenge has a different objective in mind. For example, Tutorial09 was a challenge to design a level that would teach new players how to play Atmosphir. The most recent design challenge was Mini09, which directed us to design a level that can be beaten in less than two minutes.

Mini09 was my first actual competition. When I first joined, Expert09 was in progress. Since I was a newbie to Atmosphir at that point, my level was pretty bad and received poor reviews. In addition to that, nobody knew who I was. I didn’t have a name for myself, and nobody cared if I won or not. To be honest, it was pretty discouraging. But once I started figuring out how things worked in Atmosphir, it became easier and easier to design new levels. When I entered my Mini09 level, it flew to the top of the charts in almost no time.

Today, the next Design Challenge was announced. This time, the theme is Space, for Space09. As the name implies, we are supposed to create a space-themed level… without a space-themed pack. This could get very interesting. Already there have been some impressive levels modeling a planet’s surface, flying spaceships, and everything else. Space09 will definitely be a design challenge to remember.

So what are some ideas for Space09 without a Space Pack? Dave left a few suggestions in the official thread. A big thing would be low gravity. While we can’t actually alter gravity, we can give players the ability to jump high, as if they were in space with very little gravity. Moving platforms were also recommended. Really, this is more of a futuristic challenge. It really will be interesting to see what the community can come up with.

As a side note, Dave entered the live chat today. I wasn't there to witness it, but apparently he mentioned "lasers" as a hint about some new features. What could it mean?

Best of luck to you all, and have a great day.