I know it’s been months and months and months since I posted anything on the blog, but I’d like to basically bring official closure to Atmosphiric as Atmosphir is slowly dwindling away. The death of the Atmosphir community as we know it is already occurring and I am almost 100% positive the game itself will also never be the same again. Why is this happening? Well, the entirety of the Minor Studios Dev Team left the scene a little while after Dave Werner left because of disagreements with MiSt’s investors and parent company; Minor Ventures (abbreviated MiVe). Halsey Minor–the devilish head of Minor Ventures–has a horrid vision for the future of the game revolving solely on money and nothing more. This man, in my own opinion, is not going to improve the game with his ideas; rather, he is going to destroy it.

Atmosphir functioned almost perfectly whilst Dave Werner was the Creative Director of the Minor Studios team. The way Dave saw it, the game was a community-driven project where the love of the players was going to keep the game alive–and it did; it kept the game thriving on one of the greatest game communities one could find anywhere.

Now that Halsey Minor is closing his iron fist on the developers the community is being neglected and mistreated. The way I see it, and many others see it, without a community Atmosphir won’t get any new content. It may get new design content and new clothing for characters but without a thriving community there will be no new levels and no one online having fun in multiplayer. Atmosphir will become stagnant and the only levels to play will be reminders of what the game used to be and indicators of what the game could have (and should have) become.

I’m still sticking around as a moderator until all hope is lost, but that day will surely come soon. I can’t even log in right now because of some obscure site glitch and threads won’t even load when I view the forums as a guest. With a lack of devs at the moment the game is falling apart. Glitches and bugs are becoming more and more prominent and without anyone there to fix them they are affecting more and more people. It’s a sad sight to see–Atmosphir, a game I’ve been so closely involved with for over 3 years is reaching its final days.

It’s been a great ride I’ve had with all of you in the Atmosphir community, I hate to see this happen.

Oh, and one last thing… Go burn in hell Halsey Minor.

Late yesterday Dave announced the new moderators that would be joining our moderator team. There are three:

Boss0Alex [Teams]
Prototype [Support]
KaitouKid [Ideas]

Congratulations you three! It’s going to be great having the extra help in the ideas section and throughout the forums. If you didn’t get picked, don’t be discouraged–it was a tough choice. We had to pick 3 people out of 62 applications.

Also late yesterday, Dave left us some screenshots of an upcoming new game mode in Atmosphir: Atmoball! Below are the two screenshots he showed us in the thread.

As you can see, there are scaled balls that the player is playing with.

Just like the first picture, the character appears to be wearing a numbered jersey.

Very little else was said about the matter, but I’ll keep you guys posted on what does come up.

As promised, I updated the header of the site when I got my Atmos. I tried to keep it as true to the original as possible by taking the picture with almost an identical character and in the same level. The new header also marks the time when I will be much, much more active. As school finally comes to a close, I can sit down and blog more. I have much more free time now as we only have a week or so left in the school year.

My phone broke about a week ago too, and to replace it I ordered a HTC Droid Incredible. I’m using an unlimited data plan with the phone, so with 3G internet on the go I’ll be able to update Atmosphiric whenever anything of importance within the Atmosphir community occurs. So stay posted!

Atmosphir has been in a private beta stage for almost two years now (more like a year and a half). On June 7th that all changed. A week ago the Minor Studios team launched Atmosphir to the public–not as a finished product, but still as a beta. New users have been frequently posting on the forums and the kind members of our community have been welcoming them all.

My private beta shirt, to show off to all the new open beta users.

But I must warn everyone on the forums now: As the community grows, the moderator team will be much stricter. It’s a great deal of work sending out warnings to every person who spams the forums, so temporary bans may become quite common. Now, don’t take my word for it, but the team has been discussing things of this nature and I just thought I would warn all readers. Make sure you behave your best on the forums, because we will not tolerate spamming and/or flaming.

The following is a quote of Dave’s post announcing the next design challenge, Story10. The forum post can be found here.

“The next design challenge is Story10.

If you are an old-school member, you remember Atmosphir before info stickers. These wonderful simple little tools have added much-needed storytelling into the game, and it’s now hard to imagine them not being there. Yes, eventually NPCs and dialogue will take that to the next level, but it’s actually pretty impressive what users are already doing with multi-level adventures, secret messages, hints, and enemy dialogue.

In Story10, we’re looking for the best story-driven level – the only requirement is that you tell a compelling story of some sorts using info stickers, and preferably, the environment and gameplay. Some ideas to get you started:

+ A narrative-based adventure in one of the many worlds of Cirrus
+ A mystery level where info stickers provide clues to solving a bigger crime
+ A treasure hunt where there clues to hidden stashes of treasures
+ A trivia level where you have to know the answers to questions to proceed (pick the right door)
+ Having interesting characters/enemies who talk with you
+ An interactive story you watch from afar, like being in a theater
+ An Atmosphir recreation of a famous book, movie, TV show, video game, or song

Make sure to include [Story10] as one word in the title of your level to enter. The deadline is Thursday, July 1.

As usual, the top 3 levels as voted by the community will win atmos. But instead of a random winner this time, now that we’re live, the designer who has the level with the most number of plays by midnight PST on July 8 will get an Atmosphir tee-shirt – so tell all your friends to play your level!

Good luck!”

That’s it on Atmosphir news! Make sure to subscribe to us on Twitter at @Atmosphiric for all the latest Atmosphir updates and check the site everyday because I’m going to much more active over the summer and hopefully in high school.

Dave just announced today that enemy characters called “Bungees” will be added to the game in an up-and-coming update. He compared them to Goombas (for those who play Mario), saying that they will be less intimidating for younger users and will be much easier to defeat.

New enemies called Bungees will soon be implemented into Atmosphir.

The plan is for these enemies to have customizable skin, so that they fit with the mood of the level. Colors range anywhere from blue to yellow. I personally think these great new enemies will make a wonderful addition to my levels and I can’t wait for them to implemented into Atmosphir.

Atmosphir is constantly changing and new updates containing fresh new features are always being released. The latest version of Atmosphir is 0.7.5 and has been out for a little while now. It contains new features, namely the scaling and free-rotation of all blocks and platforms, minor bug fixes, and a sleek, refurbished marketplace.

Already the community has cranked out some unbelievable levels using just their new ability to scale and free-rotate blocks and platforms. It’s something that the Atmosphir community has done very well of the past two-or-so years: they’ve always made due with what they’ve got. Just a small little feature that Minor Studios may think is minute can cause some of the most drastic level design changes the game has ever seen. Just the last new feature with blocks and platforms has caused some people to create futuristic spaceships, perfectly rounded planets, and magnificent landscapes. It has totally moved Atmosphir out of the area of blocks and squares and landed the game in a whole new realm of possibility.

In addition to the aforementioned feature is the refinement of the Atmosphir marketplace and character creator. The two now go hand-in-hand as opposed to being separate from one another which has made a great change for the better. Right now the marketplace serves no real useful purpose but eye candy because no one has received their old Atmos yet, but once we all do get our money, the brand new marketplace will be much easier to navigate and use to preview and purchase Atmosphir character items.

“The next design challenge is Castle10.

Let’s face it – a castle is pretty much the ultimate video game environment. A walled fortress might require some brute force or stealth to enter. Huge towers beg to be climbed. Secret passages and treasury rooms could be around any corner. You could be in the middle of a battle, have to deal with royalty, or explore abandoned and haunted ruins. The possibilities are endless.

So your task is simple – make the ultimate Atmosphir castle adventure. What type of castle is totally up to you – Gothic, European, Sand, Space, Blockland, Forest…or whatever you can dream up. The very best levels will not only look great, but also have the gameplay to back them up…a big empty castle isn’t going to be fun for anybody.

The deadline for this challenge is 11pm PST on Wednesday, May 5. Make sure to include the tag “Castle10″ (as one word) in your title in order to be considered. As always, atmos will be awarded to the top 3 spots, and once again, one random entrant will win a free Atmosphir tee-shirt.

Good luck!”

Those were the words of Minor Studios’ Creative Director Dave Werner as he recently announced the latest design challenge: Castle10. I don’t think I need to add much to Dave’s notice but a wholehearted good luck! I can’t wait to see what the wonderful community creates this time!

On Friday night, the user marcod hosted a long-awaited Atmosphir LIVE Episode 14 podcast starring ZettaKuma and I in a Skype conversation. Marcod was contemplating a cancellation of the show, but after Friday night’s turnout, this thought has been wiped from his mind. We had nearly 20 people watching marcod play requested levels and ZettaKuma, marcod, and I battling it out in multiplayer Free Combat. I believe I won all of the matches we played, except the last one, which lagged out and didn’t work out very well. Everyone had great fun chatting with fellow players and watching the show. In conclusion, it was a great show, and we all can’t wait for the next!

Also on Friday, Minor Studios released already the second update to the new version of Atmosphir–version 0.7.3. There were a few things added to the game, namely improvements on searching and searching filters as well as the moving spike block and a FPS mode. There are also LOTD images on the main menu, which will be updated hopefully every few days. Other than that, there wasn’t much else to the update, just a couple cool new features.

Adz just released a screenshot of some new character items. A knight suit and a cat mask.

Keep updated at Atmosphiric for all your Atmosphir news!

A brand new spike block Dave says should hopefully be out before the weekend.

Dave just posted a thread containing a screenshot of a new block that should hopefully come to us tomorrow–as he said it should be out before the weekend. I look forward to this, because this sure looks very awesome, but I’m not expecting it tomorrow. I’ve learned not to trust Dave with dates anymore, after how delayed Project Stratosphir was. So, look for this in your design toolbox within the next few days!

In February of last year, users within the Atmosphir community were hard at work on their Tutorial09 levels. Back then, they didn’t have the tools we have today. That didn’t even have the Muka Tribe to work with. Now, over a year later, we are coming near to the closing of the current design challenge, just like last year, Tutorial10.

Basically, all you have to do is design a level that will teach beginners how to play in Atmosphir. Simple as that. Now that Minor Studios has added the info sticker, designers will be able to talk to the player, giving them descriptions and instructions during the level.

Your Tutorial10 entry must be submitted by Monday, March 8th, which at the time of writing is in exactly 4 days. Most if not all participants have already entered with their very own levels, but do not be discouraged! You still have 4 days, so you should give it a shot!

As always, the top three winners with receive Atmos as follows: First place will receive 1000 Atmos, Second will receive 500 Atmos, and Third will receive 250 Atmos. In addition to this, some of the very best levels will be chosen to become “official” tutorials, showing up in the ‘Tutorial’ filter in the play browser.

All the new features that have come with the new update open an entirely new world of opportunities; from scaling, to free rotating, even to dialouge! I wish all of the 500-or-so Stratosphir players a wholehearted good luck, may the best level win!

You can also read Dave’s full announcement here.

Finally, our eight month wait will be over in just four and a half hours! Look for a Stratosphir invite in your Email inbox at around 12 PM PST! The forums are buzzing with excited users and everyone is anxious to get their hands on the new update. I’ll be playing multiplayer for a long time today, so add me as a friend and invite me to some of your matches.

See you guys on the other side of Atmosphir!

Alright, so Dave has announced the Stratosphir will be delayed again, this time until Monday, Febrauary 15th, 2010. I’m annoyed just like everyone else, but we’ve only got to wait five more days until release. This is just a quick update… Nothing else to tell you guys about.