Entry #3: Onwards to 2026
2025 is pretty much hours away from being over here in the lands of Roman (and probably elsewhere too, I don't know, I don't keep up with the timezones of island nations and territories in Oceania to know (actually by the time I finish writing this, Kiritimati would've already entered 2026, maybe)), and I thought I'd revive my blog section on the forums to talk a bit about how 2025 was for me, both when it comes to Marble Blast adjacent stuff (Community & Game) and when it comes to my real life.
Marbles
When it comes to what I'm best at (imo), level building, I... haven't really made that many levels this year. Out of the 14 levels I've uploaded on Marbleland, 2 of them are shitpost levels, so if we don't count those, I only made 12 levels. I guess this is what Uni does to someone, or laziness, or a mix of both. But these 12 levels are levels I can honestly be really proud of. Tropicalis is beautiful, Ring of the Sundering looks amazing, and Evening Stroll provided everyone with a nice pathfinding challenge. Spring Theory isn't the best looking level I've ever made, but God it feels so satisfying to play (at least to me). Although, there is one level I would've loved to touch up on more before releasing it, and that's Frostbound Bastion. While some people liked it, most people said it is way too drastic of a difficulty spike, and compared to the next MBPC Expert level (Grasshopper), way much harder (when normal difficulty progression would recommend otherwise :^) ). There is also one thing in Grasshopper that I would love to be able to come back to, and that is adding return triggers to every platform which is triggered by the player, thus avoiding the many times people have gotten soft-locked while playing the level.
Speedrunning wise, I haven't done much? I don't think I've done anything actually, besides breaking my ~3 year old World Record on Nadir (a Gem Hunt level, so it's debatable how much this fits here) of 185 with a 189. This genuinely took so long to do and I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it until I got it. One of my 2026 New Year's Resolution items is to get more into Speedrunning, which is a part of Marble Blast that I don't think I've explored to it's full potential. Or, I guess, to my full potential.
When it comes to the Tournaments of this year, looking back in retrospect, I'm not too disappointed with my performances. I wish I could've gone further in the Summer Tournament, and I wish me and Bobirika won the 2v2 one, but you can't always win, and that's fine. I will take both experiences as opportunities to improve for next year's competitions, and who knows, maybe I can even win one of them. I would like to thank ShadowVisions for always pushing me to improve in spite of me wanting to quit whenever I ran into roadblocks when it came to Gem Hunt. Without him, I don't think I'd even be writing this paragraph of the Marble section of my post. I'm looking forward to playing more friendlies with you (and with my other friends, Endy, Eguy, and whoever else would want to play with me) next year so I can sharpen my skill-set in preparation of the big tournament.
Dev wise, this year has been a pretty dry one on my end. I look forward to changing that in 2026. I want to be way more involved in the development of this game, and I feel disappointed with the little output I've had for PlatinumQuest this year. Of course, I'm also not beating myself up too much over it, but still. When it comes to my personal projects, I've had quite the progress when it comes to the development of my mod, Marble Blast Fusion, so much so that I ported it over to a newer Torque Game Engine Version (T3D 4.0.1), and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2026 Connie has in store for the game(s). I've also started some other projects that I want to either make more progress on or put on hold in 2026 so I can focus more on PQ and Fusion, but I'll see.
Community wise, I can't say I'm disappointed for what this year had in store for me. I (FINALLY) finished Marble Blast Therefore within my streaming series, Mission "No Mods Left Behind", and we (FINALLY) moved on to another mod, Marble Blast Happy Roll. This year also marks the first time the level Traps was beaten the intended way, with a group of people, during my Co-op Traps Attempts livestream series during Session #8 . When it comes to my relations to other people in the community, this year I've gotten closer to a few people, especially Nockess, Stormson, and enderman, and I'm seriously so so very thankful to have them in my life. Nockess even made me a birthday level! I was genuinely speechless and couldn't muster a word while playing it, it was so awesome! Genuinely one of the coolest gifts that someone ever made me.
While I'd consider most of my community relations to be good, there is one which has soured throughout the year, and while usually I wouldn't think about it and just move on, since this is in the Marble Blast Community, it's incredibly hard for me to do so since this is a community where I'm active basically every day in some way. So, in spite of me keeping my "social guard" up, in a show of (what I think) is emotional maturity, the words I'd like to extend to this individual (if they're even reading) is that I'm ready to turn over a new leaf and start over, and that I'm sorry for doing whatever I did to upset you in this way.
And with this, I'd say my 2025 Marble Blasting experience is wrapped up. Thank you to everyone who took part in it and who helped make it awesome, and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2026 has in store for me and for us.
Real-life
My real life this year I'd say was also pretty good. I went through my first and second exam sessions at Uni and I'd say I passed with flying colors. Hell, I even got a scholarship in year 2, so that's really awesome! I've settled in more in Bucharest and got more used to just how much freedom the move from a small town in the Moldova region of Romania to Bucharest gave me. There is so much life in Bucharest it's unreal, and there are so many people of all kinds there.
This year I've continued to be active when it comes to my civic life. I've attended several protests in support of the pro-EU presidential candidate in Romania (who also ended up winning!), and several anti-corruption protests late in the year before departing to my hometown for the holidays. I also attended one pro-Palestine protest in University Square, and I plan to attend more of these in 2026 if they are organized. I am still not a member of any political party, but in 2026 I plan to change that and I plan to finally contact the political party which I believe best aligns with my beliefs (SENS) and actually become a member.
When it comes to everything else, I'd say this year was a stable one. My nucleus of irl friends has stood strong even if we are separated by distance nowadays, and every time we meet up (either for the holidays or for the summer break) it's always a good time. My hometown has also not changed a whole ton. It's the same quiet town that I've come to know all these years. At most, maybe some restaurants have opened and closed here-and-there, but I don't care about that all that much.
Aaaand I think that wraps up my 2025 Real-life wise. Pretty much most of the same-old. I wonder if 2026 will be just as monotone, or if it'll bring me something more. Eitherway, I'm glad to experience it (even if the world seems like it's imploding right now).
Cheers everyone! Here's to a fruitful and amazing new year!
(There's a non-zero chance I'll go back to this and edit it later to change up the wording or whatever, but yeah, have a happy new year everyone
)
Marbles
When it comes to what I'm best at (imo), level building, I... haven't really made that many levels this year. Out of the 14 levels I've uploaded on Marbleland, 2 of them are shitpost levels, so if we don't count those, I only made 12 levels. I guess this is what Uni does to someone, or laziness, or a mix of both. But these 12 levels are levels I can honestly be really proud of. Tropicalis is beautiful, Ring of the Sundering looks amazing, and Evening Stroll provided everyone with a nice pathfinding challenge. Spring Theory isn't the best looking level I've ever made, but God it feels so satisfying to play (at least to me). Although, there is one level I would've loved to touch up on more before releasing it, and that's Frostbound Bastion. While some people liked it, most people said it is way too drastic of a difficulty spike, and compared to the next MBPC Expert level (Grasshopper), way much harder (when normal difficulty progression would recommend otherwise :^) ). There is also one thing in Grasshopper that I would love to be able to come back to, and that is adding return triggers to every platform which is triggered by the player, thus avoiding the many times people have gotten soft-locked while playing the level.
Speedrunning wise, I haven't done much? I don't think I've done anything actually, besides breaking my ~3 year old World Record on Nadir (a Gem Hunt level, so it's debatable how much this fits here) of 185 with a 189. This genuinely took so long to do and I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it until I got it. One of my 2026 New Year's Resolution items is to get more into Speedrunning, which is a part of Marble Blast that I don't think I've explored to it's full potential. Or, I guess, to my full potential.
When it comes to the Tournaments of this year, looking back in retrospect, I'm not too disappointed with my performances. I wish I could've gone further in the Summer Tournament, and I wish me and Bobirika won the 2v2 one, but you can't always win, and that's fine. I will take both experiences as opportunities to improve for next year's competitions, and who knows, maybe I can even win one of them. I would like to thank ShadowVisions for always pushing me to improve in spite of me wanting to quit whenever I ran into roadblocks when it came to Gem Hunt. Without him, I don't think I'd even be writing this paragraph of the Marble section of my post. I'm looking forward to playing more friendlies with you (and with my other friends, Endy, Eguy, and whoever else would want to play with me) next year so I can sharpen my skill-set in preparation of the big tournament.
Dev wise, this year has been a pretty dry one on my end. I look forward to changing that in 2026. I want to be way more involved in the development of this game, and I feel disappointed with the little output I've had for PlatinumQuest this year. Of course, I'm also not beating myself up too much over it, but still. When it comes to my personal projects, I've had quite the progress when it comes to the development of my mod, Marble Blast Fusion, so much so that I ported it over to a newer Torque Game Engine Version (T3D 4.0.1), and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2026 Connie has in store for the game(s). I've also started some other projects that I want to either make more progress on or put on hold in 2026 so I can focus more on PQ and Fusion, but I'll see.
Community wise, I can't say I'm disappointed for what this year had in store for me. I (FINALLY) finished Marble Blast Therefore within my streaming series, Mission "No Mods Left Behind", and we (FINALLY) moved on to another mod, Marble Blast Happy Roll. This year also marks the first time the level Traps was beaten the intended way, with a group of people, during my Co-op Traps Attempts livestream series during Session #8 . When it comes to my relations to other people in the community, this year I've gotten closer to a few people, especially Nockess, Stormson, and enderman, and I'm seriously so so very thankful to have them in my life. Nockess even made me a birthday level! I was genuinely speechless and couldn't muster a word while playing it, it was so awesome! Genuinely one of the coolest gifts that someone ever made me.
While I'd consider most of my community relations to be good, there is one which has soured throughout the year, and while usually I wouldn't think about it and just move on, since this is in the Marble Blast Community, it's incredibly hard for me to do so since this is a community where I'm active basically every day in some way. So, in spite of me keeping my "social guard" up, in a show of (what I think) is emotional maturity, the words I'd like to extend to this individual (if they're even reading) is that I'm ready to turn over a new leaf and start over, and that I'm sorry for doing whatever I did to upset you in this way.
And with this, I'd say my 2025 Marble Blasting experience is wrapped up. Thank you to everyone who took part in it and who helped make it awesome, and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2026 has in store for me and for us.
Real-life
My real life this year I'd say was also pretty good. I went through my first and second exam sessions at Uni and I'd say I passed with flying colors. Hell, I even got a scholarship in year 2, so that's really awesome! I've settled in more in Bucharest and got more used to just how much freedom the move from a small town in the Moldova region of Romania to Bucharest gave me. There is so much life in Bucharest it's unreal, and there are so many people of all kinds there.
This year I've continued to be active when it comes to my civic life. I've attended several protests in support of the pro-EU presidential candidate in Romania (who also ended up winning!), and several anti-corruption protests late in the year before departing to my hometown for the holidays. I also attended one pro-Palestine protest in University Square, and I plan to attend more of these in 2026 if they are organized. I am still not a member of any political party, but in 2026 I plan to change that and I plan to finally contact the political party which I believe best aligns with my beliefs (SENS) and actually become a member.
When it comes to everything else, I'd say this year was a stable one. My nucleus of irl friends has stood strong even if we are separated by distance nowadays, and every time we meet up (either for the holidays or for the summer break) it's always a good time. My hometown has also not changed a whole ton. It's the same quiet town that I've come to know all these years. At most, maybe some restaurants have opened and closed here-and-there, but I don't care about that all that much.
Aaaand I think that wraps up my 2025 Real-life wise. Pretty much most of the same-old. I wonder if 2026 will be just as monotone, or if it'll bring me something more. Eitherway, I'm glad to experience it (even if the world seems like it's imploding right now).
Cheers everyone! Here's to a fruitful and amazing new year!
(There's a non-zero chance I'll go back to this and edit it later to change up the wording or whatever, but yeah, have a happy new year everyone
)
Playing since 2008-2009. Member since 2015.
- Check out my levels!
marbleblast.com/index.php/forum/mb-custo.../9615-connies-levels
- For my Marbleland pack of what I consider to be the best levels, head over to...
marbleland.vaniverse.io/pack/251
connieofro.neocities.org/
