First Impressions: Atmosphir

After poking around some of my usual haunts to find interesting new games to show you, I stumbled across Atmosphir. Granted, it's not a true MMORPG -- I will tell you that up front. I knew, however, that it was something that needed to be shown for several reasons. It's totally free-to-play but features an optional subscription that will get you a monthly 500 points to spend in the cash shop for optional customizations and items. All weapons are already balanced and equal, so there's no "buying power" in this game.

Customization is a blast, and the characters feel sharp and bright. I was able to make a unique-looking character despite having initially limited choices. Paying the monthly subscription opens up many more choices, making it easily worth the six dollars or so. The real game shines when you load a custom-made level and rack up points. If you like what you see, you might even have a chance to edit the level yourself or make a brand-new level of your own design.

Let me me explain a bit more and you'll see why this might be a very important game to keep an eye on.

First of all, the game runs completely within your browser, thanks to the wonderful Unity engine. Loading does cause lag and pulls down your processing a bit, but once loaded the worlds run smoothly and look great. I was shocked at some of the quality of the levels made by players -- some felt like professional releases. Of course, I came across my share of duds, but generally most levels were challenging and fun.

The web interface makes searching for levels easy. You can sort them by rating or type, and within seconds you can have a level loaded and running. The ratings were especially helpful because they include a difficulty rating. This means that if you play a certain level and it was nearly impossible to finish or explore, you can rate it for difficulty. The rating not only warns other players who might not have the chops to accomplish the tasks the level is requesting, but also gives the creator of the level much-needed feedback. You can also leave comments, and those comments are accessible before you load the level. These simple tools make finding fun levels a snap.

You can even sort the levels by multiplayer, the real reason I am recommending this game for Massively. While multiplayer sessions are instanced and can only support up to eight players right now, future plans include more players, linking adventures together into persistent MMO-style creations, and even co-op design! Remember, Atmosphir is in beta still, and Unity's multiplayer support is still in its "infancy stages." Atmosphir is laying out similar groundwork for player-created content like the content in Second Life and other virtual worlds, but it makes designs more consistent and easier to work with. Also, players might have an easier time running a browser-based instanced world that uses a limited number of textures than a world that needs to constantly load new items.

I played with a few of the co-op missions, and they worked pretty much how you would expect. It was exciting to see other players, for sure, but it was more exciting to imagine future play sessions that would allow us to go through longer adventures together.

Building your own level is worth the recommendation alone. It's not only easy, but a blast. Literally within minutes I had built a maze. Soon after that, I had a goal to accomplish within the maze. The next day I had peppered enemies within the maze and figured out how to make them talk and drop items. Atmosphir should be looked at by players even if just for the chance to get a peek behind the design curtain. The tools it provides make design seem easier than it is, but you get to feel what developers feel as they lay out dungeon levels or try to figure out pacing or story.

The design layout is intuitive and easy to follow. You open up the selection of blocks, floors, monsters, triggers and other assorted tools and just drag and drop them onto the grid. Menus are easy to read and tutorial videos explain how to make it all work together. It's really impressive when you start stacking blocks on top of each other and realize you can make a level that is 100 blocks deep. If you look at the screenshot below, you might get an idea about how big that would be. Within minutes you can have an impressive layout just waiting for monsters, traps, and other platforming staples to be added.

Most custom levels you will find are essentially platform-style, but once in a while you play through one that just makes you smile at how clever its designer was. I found myself really loving one particular level in which the designer had placed gravity-changers on the different sides of a cube-world. As you fell off one side of the world, you would activate a gravity-changer and the world would rotate and save you from falling. Eventually I figured out that the gravity-changers were part of the strategy -- and most of the fun. While many levels offer very simple goals, some give out basic lore or story. I can only imagine what could be made once linking is allowed: Designers could literally make quests and long stories involve the player in the level.

I hope that, by now, you have opened a new tab on your browser and are already signed up. It's free, so it's definitely worth the look. While you play through some levels -- and especially design your own -- imagine what player-created content might mean for MMORPGs in the near (and I mean near) future. Yes, there are concerns about keeping true to the "lore" and timeline of particular IPs, but what if the lore of the game allows for it? Multiple universes, anyone?

So, while Atmopshir is not a true MMORPG, it's getting there. I wanted to take a look at it because of what it means for the near future of MMO gaming and for browser-based games. There are several games being released that use the Unity engine, which is exciting for anyone who might not have a beast of a machine.

Now, I think I might go add another boss monster to my maze. I need to get that thing finished and uploaded.