I'm Andrew Wiles, although on this account I'm known as HPuterpop. I've played Poptropica since 2007, the year it started. I play on the users puterpop and puterpoptropica.
I'm a graphic designer, editor on the Poptropica Help Blog, and executive manager on the Poptropica Wiki.
Check out my links to find out what I'm doing at the moment - I like to stay active in the community and always have a couple projects in the works. Consider subscribing to my YouTube channel and following me on Google+. I would greatly appreciate it.
I'd like to stress how easy it is to contact me, so if you do need to, [email protected] is the one to contact. Thanks for reading, I'll see you soon. :)
And thanks to Muzzki for my current profile pic!
I know, the title is sorta snotty, but it’s true. We demand a lot out of the Creators, and sometimes we get a little impatient. 😉 There are a few key features of Poptropica that were lost when islands converted to SUIs, and one of the features that they got rid of… that has been a part of Poptropica since it started… was the Map. But, as the title states, we citizens of Poptropica want our way! That’s why, over the past week, I have developed fabricated SUI maps to be put on the PHB’s Maps page (Also, check out the fonts page for a plethora of new fonts to use!):
I tried to make them as accurate as possible to the original maps, and hopefully they will help a few of you guys out. Other than that, they’re a nice tribute! 😀
If you’re unfamiliar with the island maps, this was a feature that showed you where you were on an island and what places you had yet to discover. This was a great help to the beginners as well as the oldies. The PHB has a Maps page (under the Cool Stuff tab) that documents all of the maps as if you had already played the island. This told the player a little more about the island, and more about where he should go. Maybe it was just a little too easy with the Map to play Poptropica.
As you may have guessed, this is you guys’ prize for getting me 10 likes on my Following Up post. Let’s try to get this post 15 likes! I know you can do it! Who knows what the next prize will be… 😛
There’s a new ad building showing its face around Poptropica, advertising the new movie by Dreamworks, Mr. Peabody and Sherman. The movie itself doesn’t look bad, and no, I’m not getting paid to say that, but what’s experimental about the ad is… well, the ad itself! 😆
First of all, inside the building (which I found on the Main Street of Monster Carnival Island), it’s a multiplayer room. I’m not kidding. Of course it makes the room laggy and whatnot, but I think it’s actually sorta a good idea! It gives the player a new common room and environment to interact with other kids in, and as you interact, you can get brainwashed by advertising! I’m joking, of course. 😛
The downside is, the more they work on the common room aspect of the building, the less they can do with the special powers. You can get two new cards from this building: Scooter Power, and Zumba Power. All the Scooter Power does is makes Mr. Peabody and Sherman drive by the screen on a scooter. The Zumba Power shows an annoying clip of Mr. Peabody dancing.
There’s also a WABAC machine that shows yet another annoying clip from the movie. 😛
What’s really cool about the ad, other than the common room aspect, are the costumes. There is a Mr. Peabody costume, complete with dog mask, and a Roman/Greek/IDK Sherman costume next to it.
The mentioned things above are the highlights, but you can also watch the movie trailer, learn about the characters, and check out some snapshots from the movie. 😉
I bet you’re wondering — why the “photos” in the title? Well, it just so happens that the photos (from the Friends feature) for all SUIs have finally been released (thanks Squeezy Wing for the initial update)! We haven’t been able to replay all the SUIs yet, but if you have the new photos in your album (we already have Mocktropica’s) and want to help us out, please leave your username in a comment below, and we’ll add the photos to the info pages. 🙂
EDIT: There are currently only the Virus Hunter Island and Mocktropica pictures, which have both been added to the pages. 😉
Taking advantage of a design flaw.
I’m the Mancala Master.
See? You can make a difference.
I kicked their bots.
From 1956 on Monster Carnival Island to modern day Mocktropica, these photos are pretty close to time traveling. 😉
I’m going to start posting a new “Poptropican Problems” meme made by a different person each time (this time by me) at the bottom of every post. I’m calling it “Meme of the Day”. Tell me what you think in the comments! 😛
The Monster Carnival is coming back to town — but is it as great as we remember it? Did it fulfill our dreams? Follow me on my Monster Carnival Island Review! 😀 Psst! If you are looking for the Monster Carnival Island Guide, it’s out now!
First of all, wanna notify all you peezles that I didn’t release Poptropican Portraits last week because of the MCI excitement. I’ll post them sometime this week. c;
The Costumizer is finally operational on all the SUIs! Hallelujah! (Credit to Tech Wizard)
Also, I’m slowly updating the Monster Carnival Files to the current information, so check back to the category daily for more. 🙂 And now back to the scheduled programming. 😛
Story
The story is continual and develops as you play through it. First, the carnival is coming to town that very day, but it isn’t ready to open! You have to solve multiple problems for the carnies in order to get it into tip top, big top shape. 😛 There are three stages to the environment — daytime, evening, and night. In the evening, you learn that all of the booths are shams, and you have to fool the carnies. And as the plot thickens, and the night grows closer… well, I’m considering that “Spoiler Material”. You can see what happens next in the Spoilers tab of the review.
There is one thing that I really have to mention, and it’s not quite a spoiler. Most everyone, member and non-member, can tell that Ringmaster Raven is the bad guy. 😛 Anyway, he has a lot of potential to be a classic villain, and… they really didn’t do much with him. Sure, he has a sad backstory, and he is pretty evil, but they didn’t expand him enough to be a really great villain. He could have been the best… he still is good, but not as good as he could have been.
Gameplay
One word: smooth. This island runs so much better than Mocktropica, and other than a couple minor glitches, it was a straight shooter when you’re talking about gameplay.
Although it’s not as gag filled as Mocktropica, there still are little things to giggle at, as well as many subtle messages that we have yet to decipher. Islands have evolved into something new, with a lot more attention to detail — the replayability has gone up tremendously. Running gags are part of the islands, and you will only get the gags if you replay the island. Also, there are so many moments where characters say something like, “After all these years, the carnival is finally coming back to town!”, which are golden. 😛
Some say it was too easy — Monster Carnival was planned to be the fourth island before being deleted, and islands back then were not very hard. They probably made it easy because it was going to be the fourth island — why not make it like was the fourth island? It just makes it feel like you are playing a classic Pop game, which is a great thing. You also need to keep in mind that Poptropica is a kids game. The islands these days have really become rocket scientist studies, and that’s not really a good thing for young kids.
Visuals
I’m talking the backgrounds, the animations, and everything that makes up the island that you can see. This island is one of the best when it comes to visuals. The backgrounds are so detailed, and everything about the environment is perfect. The transformation from day to night is so nicely and subtly done, with little things changing as the sun goes down. You may not catch everything at once, but gradually, the environment seems more and more evil as the day goes on. And that is really amazing. There’s nothing really more to add to it.
There are some islands where they make lots of quality animation (E.G. Ghost Story Island), and this is one of them. Something you may not know about me is that I am a huge animation geek. The animation was very nicely done. I enjoyed it. 🙂
Some people are saying that Poptropica is running out of characters, but this island proves them wrong. The variety of colorful characters and clothes are just overwhelming. In fact, I made a little combination of the best male clothing from the island, that is nearly completely customizable for nonmembers! You can find it in my closet @ “puterpop”. 😉
Soundtrack
This soundtrack is… well… I would be lying if I said it wasn’t AMAZING, AWESOME, AND APPROPRIATELY CREEPY! The soundtrack is very extensive, and fitting as well. What else can I say? Jeff Heim is a genius. 😛 My favorite track from the island was the Carnival Theme at Dusk. What was yours?
Monster Carnival’s soundtrack is the best one yet. As I said above, it’s very extensive (many different tracks), and it really shows what Jeff Heim can do. I’m excited to hear more of his work! 😀
You can listen to the full soundtrack on our Behind the Scenes page! 😀 A trip there will definitely be worth your while.
Spoilers!
The reason why I could only tell you half of the story up there is because the rest of it is spoilers. If you don’t want to know, skip this section of the review! 😛
After you solve the last problem for a carnie, all of the carnies disappear mysteriously into the woods. You go and check it out. When you finally find them, they all get hypnotized and turned into monsters by a mysterious cloaked person. When you return to the carnival, everything has been monsterized! From the carnies, to the music, to the scary Ferris Wheel face — and you have to get to the bottom of it! Ringmaster Raven sends you on a quest, and while you are completing it for him, you find multiple old newspapers. Read them below —
If you didn’t gather the story from above, here it is: the carnival had come to town before, this time with a strange attraction — the Bird Boy. He is the only Poptropican to have a nose. When the carnival leaves, Bird Boy is forgotten, and left at the town. No one wants him. Then, a fire burns down an auto repair store, Honest Gabes! The supposed culprit is found– Bird Boy. There is evidence that someone else did it, but the towns people wants him to leave. They drive him out of the village.
Bird Boy, as you may have guessed, is Ringmaster Raven. His plan is to hypnotize the whole town in order to get revenge. And, well, you have to stop him.
Bonus Quest
This quest is surprising, since all of the islands up until now have released their bonus quests the day that the island is released to all. The story goes like this;
Dr. Dan has gone missing in the woods, and you have to go find him. When you do find him, he runs away. When you finally catch up, he reveals his secret — he’s a monster too! He is scared that the townspeople will drive him away like they did with Ringmaster Raven. In all reality, the townspeople actually want him to stay, as he has been a great help to them — during their illnesses, and supplying many things. Good story, put across nicely.
What I’m really frustrated about is the prize you win after you complete the quest. He gives you the potion that turned him into a monster. When you use it, you turn into a monster! But the annoying part is that the costume is temporary, and it leaves after you go to the next screen. You can’t even save it to your costume closet. I give this bonus quest only 3 stars.
—
I still can’t believe that MCI is now on the map… but I give this island only 3 stars out of 5… WHY?
I tried to be optimistic in the review above, but if I’m really honest — this island disappoints me. I liked the island, but… I just have mixed feelings about it. 😦
On one hand, the island has many great things about it — the backgrounds, the story, and the music– but on the other hand, there are many things that are missing.
Ringmaster Raven is not focused on enough, and neither are the monsters. All they do is bat at you when you get close, and you can easily jump over them. It’s like they focused too much on the glamor and special effects to be able to expand the island more in character development, etc.
I enjoyed the island, but it did not meet my expectation. Below is a list of minor things that need to be done to the island that will make it incredibly better:
Make the monsters do something. They need to chase you for longer periods of time.
Make the Chemical X costume from the Bonus Quest able to be saved to your closet.
That said, what do you think of the island? Tell me in the poll below. 🙂 And Non-members, what do you think about the island after reading my review? Tell me in the comments. 🙂
Quick post — Monster Carnival Island is now out for members! I am overwhelmed with the great magic boom boom joy of it! 😆 Also, non-members can play a demo of the island! Let’s go! 😀
update #2: Looks like the public access date for non-members will be March 20, 2014 – this is seen at the end of the demo, though the 2 is likely a typo since that day would’ve already passed:
update #1: Sam and I have finished the Monster Carnival Island Guide, as well as a walkthrough for the bonus quest! You can find it here on the PHB. 😀 If you want to listen to the full island soundtrack, check it out on the Behind the Scenes page! Also, I was the #10 finisher of the island:
Up until Monster Carnival is released, I’m going to post a series of “files” that go into detail about certain elements of the island as we know it. The fourth file will be about the attractions of the Circus of Bizarre as we know them.
—
You’ve probably seen that picture of Monster Carnival Island’s island microcosm before. It was in the third Monster Carnival file, and is also featured on the Mystery of Monster Carnival page. But we need to take another look at it, because this file is about the attractions of Monster Carnival, and this picture is the first time we ever got a glimpse of the attractions.
Behind the “Coming Soon!” sign, we can see a Ferris Wheel, and a dark tent with two devilish eyes peeking out from within. In the teaser trailer, similar looking curtains and devilish eyes are seen.
The Ferris Wheel in the picture will be used in the upcoming island. We first saw a glimpse of the new Ferris Wheel as the page background of the island tour. The page also has a desktop wallpaper that shows an evil version of the carnival, including the Ferris Wheel, at night! On February 15th, I posted about an unreleased poster that has been showing its face around Poptropica — the Monster Carnival “Now Out For Members” poster! On it, we can see yet another alternate view of the Ferris Wheel, at a different time of day — afternoon. It seems that we will be watching the carnival morph into madness as the sun goes down…
Now that we have covered the Island Microcosm, and the attractions that are shown there, we can take a look at the Haunted Amusement Park island ideas page, where we can find even more of the possible attractions. In the page, many attractions are listed. I’ve copied all of them into a list below, and commented on the points that we know about;
Long list, eh? We still aren’t done. Let’s go into detail about the Carnival games.
We first became aware of the Carnival games from the Haunted Amusement Park page, of course, but we knew which ones made the cut by the Daily Pops.
Van advertising “pop the balloon” and “weight guessing game”
“Junior was here”
Possible carnies for the Duck Game
Duck game
In the first Daily Pop listed, there is a truck with three names of the games we will be playing — the Duck Game, Pop the Balloon, and the Weight Guessing Game.
On FunBrain, there are numerous ads for Monster Carnival, one being a high quality image of the attractions (Thanks Aang for the lead)! On the picture, we can see what the Duck Game and Pop the Balloon attraction will look like, along with a refreshment booth!
Lastly, lets talk about the Tunnel Of Love. It is probably the first Monster Carnival element to be shown on the Daily Pops. In the background of many of the posts, there is a “No PDA” sticker on the background. What is the PDA? It may stand for a heart disease, or perhaps a digital assistant. “PDA” simply means “public display of affection”.
The attraction was confirmed as part of the island in the print out poster for Monster Carnival. We also know what the evil version of it will look like from the desktop wallpaper.
This is all we know about morphing, refreshing, broken, buttery, and lovely attractions of Monster Carnival Island — I’ll be updating this post when the island comes out, so check back when that happens! 😀
This is the last addition to the Monster Carnival Files — see you at the show! 😀
🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺 
