Today we delve into the depths of the dangerous and unstable world of multiplayer. Why do I say dangerous? Because players like daimon, KaituoKid, and I love to kick some butt. And why would I say unstable? Because connections can time out at any second, and objects like lasers may be left suspended in mid-air. I’d like to give every person reading this guide the best chance of winning a multiplayer match as well as the best experience while playing in one. It’s a short guide instructing you on the basics of what items are best for what circumstances, and what kinds of weapons are the best to use. It will also touch upon the optimal situations when First-Person and Third-Person views should be used.

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As of now, only about two thirds of all the weapons are available in Stratosphir. Below is a list of which weapons do the most damage at the moment. This is how the information stands now, and it will likely change quite soon. The best weapons in the game are the short sword and the pulse sword. Each only take three hits to knock someone out.

The best way to take a weapon better than your is to block, and then quickly hit the opponent while they’re stunned, or to jump on their head.

• Scimitar (Anubis Sword) – 6 hits
• Wooden Sword (default) – 5 hits
• Fists – 10 hits
• Pulse Sword – 3 hits
• Short Sword – 3 hits
• Bounce Hammer – 5 hits (I’m pretty sure, I honestly can’t remember)
• Head-bouncing – 3 hits
• Lasers – 4 hits
• Bombs – 2-4 hits depending on the accuracy of the shot

Hopefully soon, Minor Studios will effectively balance out weapons, because using my Scimitar is just annoying.

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In Atmosphir, there are many different preferences that you can set to get the optimal play experience. For me, I like to turn the auto-camera off, the auto-aim on, the First-Person off, and auto-block on. I haven’t found exactly what auto-block does, but it hasn’t seemed to effect me in any way. As for the other preferences, read below the find what time is the best to use them.

Auto-Camera. So far, I have not found any benefits of auto-camera. It just get’s annoying with the camera resisting the way I want it to be facing. If I were you, I would leave this option permanently off.

Auto-Aim. There are a lot of players who hate auto-aim simply because it helps you with your shooting, and they say it is cheap in multiplayer matches. I leave this preference on, because otherwise is almost impossible to hit people. It’s not very great, but it should be enabled all the time if you want the best chance of getting a KO. If you think you’re good enough, turn it off, and compare how many KO’s you get. I’m certain auto-aim will help you significantly.

First-Person. First-person shooting view is best used in an instance where you are 10-15 blocks away from your opponent. It is too hard to see during close combat, and when you are a large amount of blocks away from someone, it is very inaccurate. I’ve chosen to leave this preference off simply because there are more situations where I don’t need it than situations where I do need it.

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Hopefully I’ll see all you readers in a multiplayer session soon, and good luck! I hope this guide helped you to improve your playing skills, and that you enjoyed reading. Happy multiplayer-ing!

Munchy365 has made quite a name for himself over the past year or so by creating some of the most awarded levels in Atmosphir history. I received a PM from him yesterday asking if I would be able to help him test a new Co-op level he’s working on. I said ‘sure’ and joined his session.

Playing Co-op last night was a blast! I’ve never seen moving platforms used in such an inventive way! And almost throughout the entire level, munchy or I stood upon each other’s head, taking a ride to get to taller ledges. We had to work together with absolutely no jump power completely hazards puzzles and defeating challenging bosses all created by the wonderful mind of munchy.

I really look forward to the release of the level, and I recommend everyone plays it with a friend of theirs. It was a great level that can only get better!

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!

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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.

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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!

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.

Just going update you all on a few things… Well, Stratosphir is out, and I’ve had tons of fun matches with a bunch of awesome users, but don’t worry if you didn’t get it–it’s very buggy. Below are just a few random screenshots that may amuse you. I’ll be writing another article later this week that will be more lengthy and interesting. And also a heads up, the blog’s header and stuff won’t be in Stratosphir until I can get my actual character back, because right now you can’t even buy sets and I have 0 Atmos… Anyways, enjoy these:

I’m wearing an exclusive Beta shirt for the first 500 people in that screenshot. Pretty cool shirt if I do say so myself.

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.

I’ll just leave Dave’s update message here for you all to read…

“Prebeta launch tomorrow is not looking good. We’re all working hard today, but some things that are just outside of our control – they’re not worth getting into here. I’m frustrated, but determined that we’ll be able to find a solution soon.

Best-case scenario, things work out and the 500 prebeta invites go out tomorrow; worst-case scenario, you have to wait another week. At least that’s my best estimation at this point.

Anyway…we will try to think of some way to thank you for your endless patience. In the meantime, a new trailer will be revealed in the next day or so, so stay tuned…”

Today is Saturday, February 6th. Stratosphir is scheduled to be released on February 8th. That means there’s two more days until the single largest update in Atmosphir history. I’m sure you all know what will be coming with Stratosphir, but for all of you that don’t know, here is a short recap of all the new features:

• Better graphics
• Running in a web browser, rather than installing the game
• Faster loading times
• Gravity options
• Multiplayer
• Laser guns and ammo
• Free rotating and resizing of objects
• New blocks, music, and skyboxes
• The ability to change the music and skybox mid-level
• Information stickers with dialouge
• Better combat
• Better aiming system for bombs and lasers
• Improved main menu, design interface, pause menu, marketplace, and play browser

And so the long, nearly eight month wait will finally conclude on Monday, bringing us all the features above and more. Stratosphir will be running in the Unity engine, and you will need to download the web player which you can find on the website. It’s free and easy to download, and it is required to play Stratosphir.

The community has been solely focussed on Stratosphir for weeks now, and I hope we can finally get back to normal on the 8th, or in the week that follows… A week after people get settled in with the new update, Minor Studios will be starting the next design challenge, which will be Tutorial10. They hosted Tutorial09 a while back, but now with all the new features, they’re hoping the community can once again make great new tutorial levels for all the first-time users. Also a week after, the Editorial Staff will resume writing Level of the Day reviews for the outstanding levels that are always abundant in the Atmosphir play browser.

I’m just as anxious as everyone else, so don’t be worried if you’re getting really excited for the new update. I can’t wait to see all of my great Atmosphir community friends in multiplayer, and hopefully sometime I’ll host a multiplayer tournament with an Atmos prize or something. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys their last weekend before Stratosphir, and my only advice is to just not think about it. Go about your daily life without your mind set on Stratosphir and then your days won’t seem as long.