The Atmosphir Story

[Mr Meow Meow]

Once long ago, like three or four years ago, a man named Dave created something that had not been achieved before. The world of Cirrus[1] would never have been formed from the darkness, the darkness of the imagination, if it wasn't for Dave Werner. In the beginning Atmosphir was a platforming game with three simple levels, and if you fell off into the void, a message proclaiming 'You Lose" was shoved in your face, and you would promptly be unceremoniously transported to the next level. There were two main characters in the original were only Male and Female, the male dubbed 'Hero’ and the female left unnamed.

Then something happened. Whether Dave himself mentioned it, or one of theinitial developers, but someone mentioned customizing, or creating, or something of the like. It caught on; someone started testing an idea out. Then came the level creation; the drag-and-drop feature to create your own levels. After this was added Atmosphir exploded; everyone wanted a taste of the amazing creation; it was never seen before. You have to realize that this was only slightly after Minecraft[2]; way before it was a worldwide sensation. The sandbox feature of Atmosphir could only be matched with a fan-made Minecraft map, not implemented until almost half a year after Atmosphir.

The game was booming; 2011 was dominated by Atmosphir; the community was besieged with exuberant fans, new users were signing up in droves. MinorStudios were investing greatly in the human power, not only riding, but pushing the wave by rewarding the maker of the best levels 'Atmos'; the in-game currency. Atmos could be used to buy character customization items. Character customizing wasn't like the 'skins' used by Minecraft; this was huge. Weapons, clothing, eye color, skin color, armor, shields, and cars to name a few were available to purchase, all at verying prices. People could even become a member of the 'Club' for a monthly orannual fee, and get a free armor set and flaming sword to boot. Countless profiles proudly flaunted the small smiley face, indicating that they were members ofthe club. The symbol meant true Atmospheric support, for anyone who possessed it.

Each update brought new mechanics to the gameplay, new blocks and textures, new enemies, new AI, it always had something to look foreward to. I remember eagerly waiting for the patch to come out. The last update ever to be made implemented the highly anticipated cars[3], the racing track props, and some quick fixes of minor bugs. Atmosphir was on a roll, a snowball falling down a hill gaining more and more power as it went along; nothing could stop its crushing force... or so it seemed. Hidden beneath OkaySamurai's[4] happy posting, swept under the rug, hidden from view, was the problem; the big problem. Many theories have been placed forward on the reason that the game died; developers leaving, loss of funding; a large list can be made why a huge game indie game to come crashing down, like a flimsy tower of children's blocks.

And it happened. Slowly it stopped. The forums were no longer had an abundant amount of dev[5] posts, the LOTD's and XP[6] levels were not being updated, and support was no longer available. No one really noticed, not until it became so obvious. First, people had trouble downloading the Atmosphir client[7]. Then itwas accessing their accounts. Soon the problems piled up, and like that stinkypile of garbage hiding in your corner or under you bed, it can't stay hiddenforever. A few people noticed, and rallied to Atmosphir. 'We are finding solutions", was the reply. After six months of nothing, on January 1st,the Atmosphir server closed, stopping anyone from accessing the website, playing levels, anything at all. The money, time, and effort of thousands of people were deleted in an instant.

Any player, noob or veteran, will ever forget Atmosphir. And they won't have to. Attempts led by a few people[8], the leader called/named Nazmus, are on a mission to rebuild Atmosphir. It will never be the same, but they will try their best. You can see what they have done at this website:www.stratosphir.wordpress.com. Atmosphir is an amazing example of something that was so genius and innovative that is was hard to believe that was crushed. Don't let that happen toanything that you know; protect what you love. Even if it is just a computer game...
Mr_Meow_Meow
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1) Cirrus is the world where Atmosphir exists. This does not make sense, you create the world in Atmosphir, unless they mean that Cirrus is a gaseous planet, and just has enough mass to support random, human-created structures.
2) I doubt many people do no know about Minecraft, but Minecraft includes the elements of placing blocks down.
3) Cars, and the respective props were one of the most highly anticipated features. The reson being that Atmosphir/Minor Studios advertised greatly the new to concept.
4) OkaySamurai was the codename used my Dave Werner in his account.
5) Dev= Developer
6) LOTD (acronym for Level Of The Day) and XP (Experience) were levels, selected by staff that were amazingly fun, cool, or beautiful levels to play.
7) Atmosphir was able to play of both the web browser and the desktop.
8 ) Proud to say that I am one. I am also obliged to mention WowFunHappy... Hello WowFunHappy
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Questions you might be asking:
Who wrote this?
I did, all me, no plagiarism, so sir!
Where did you get this information?
I got the info from my own personal experiences. I loved Atmosphir.
I like your writing can I see more?
Ohh... Your embarrasing me =3 http://www.booksie.com/lordfinnagin
How can I contact you? I have something to add?
You can send me an e-mail at [email protected], or send me a message on my website www.thekittywinkles.webs.com

[Miniike]

Great retrospective! We should make this into a youtube video or series of some kind in the Nostalgic Gamer style.

[Mr Meow Meow]

Great retrospective! We should make this into a youtube video or series of some kind in the Nostalgic Gamer style.

I guess... Maybe you should do it. I will put it on my website and YouTube channel If you want more video game related work check out here :http://diveintothepage.blogspot.com/201 ... k-out.html It is a little out dated but yeah.

[Lysander789]

Love the retrospective. So many great memories of Atmosphir.

[boss]

"There were two main characters in the original were only Male and Female, the male dubbed 'Hero’ and the female left unnamed."

Actually, Hero was just a red stick-figure-like character that was never implemented outside of the dev version of the game. The Male and Female characters were named Cameron and Ashley, but Ashley was never actually implemented.

The more you know!~~~

[Mr Meow Meow]

"There were two main characters in the original were only Male and Female, the male dubbed 'Hero’ and the female left unnamed."

Actually, Hero was just a red stick-figure-like character that was never implemented outside of the dev version of the game. The Male and Female characters were named Cameron and Ashley, but Ashley was never actually implemented.

The more you know!~~~

Really? Well, thank you. Most of my knowledge comes from a collective during the two-three years I played. Thanks, I will try and get to change that... Maybe not; I am quite lazy.