Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! Slanted Fish here to make a splash on the silver screen!

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The big news of the day is that the Movie Theater on Home Island, which appeared a week ago, is now open for business! The sign is glimmering, and the door is open, so head on in. Inside, you’ll find a little room with a bright sign leading you into the theater. (Wait, where are the concessions?)

Once you click there, a video player will pop up, and the movies will begin! However, the movies aren’t anything we predicted in our previous post about the theater. Instead, this is a collection of kiddy videos – fun, educational, and everything in between – that a few of the Creators picked out for everyone.

(Notes: If you have AdBlock on, you’ll need to deactivate it on Poptropica in order for the videos to play. To see the videos without logging in, click here – thanks to idk for the link.)

If you click on the red video camera button in the top corner, you can browse through a really long list of videos. Here’s what the interface looks like:

The very first video that plays is a song about gravity with animated robots, and it’s very much aimed at a younger age group. However, there is quite a variety among the video selection, from comedy sketches to educational animations and more, and it’s possible to find clips that slightly older audiences can enjoy as well, if you click around. Still, having the starting clip be something so juvenile was a little jarring, to say the least.

All the videos are produced by sources outside of Poptropica. Poptropica must have obtained some kind of rights with the various different producers of these videos in order to be able to show them, but how they’ve worked that out is not clear. At any rate, some Poptropicans on the PHC have already been voicing out some disappointment in seeing that these videos are not Poptropica-produced, as many had hoped. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing, if they work at choosing videos that will interest the diverse tastes of all Poptropicans. At the moment, however, it seems that most of the videos are geared towards elementary-aged kids.

All in all, the Movie Theater wasn’t what most Poptropicans were hoping for – and the unfamiliarity and lack of organization among the videos has made this update fall a little flat for some eager Poptropicans. I think it would be a good idea for Poptropica, in the future, to arrange the videos by topic and/or age group in order to make it easier to find something you’re interested in.

The good news is, there’s still a wide selection and variety of topics explored in the fun-themed videos, so if you dig deeper, you can probably find something to your tastes (I personally enjoyed the “Types of Teachers” video!). And, this being a carefully curated selection, everything is child-friendly, which could make this a nice alternative from YouTube for the cautious parents out there.

As announced on the Creators’ Blog, the Movie Theater is up on the web now, and will be joining the Poptropica mobile app very soon.

Plus, they plan to mix up the selection of videos playing in the theater as time goes on, so be sure to check back to see what’s new!

What do you think of the new Movie Theater? Any videos you recommend among the huge list? Any videos you think are not worth watching? What else do you wish to see Poptropica do with the theater? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

~🐠

Guest Posts, Realms

Pre-Realms Tour: The Land of Chole

March 21, 2017June 22, 2017 Slanted Fish

(Hey Poptropicans! This is a guest post written by Sticky Clown, in which he gives a tour of his Pre-Realms Land creation, Chole. Enjoy! –🐠)

chole

Hello everyone! I am Sticky Clown, or SC if you’d like. I go by Starving Cereal on WordPress.

Today I wish to show you something a bit old, just for fun to distract from the Poptropica World stuff going on currently. It is my old home. As in, from Poptropica Land (that was the prototype before Realms, for those who don’t know). Now, a few of you who have known me since ye old glory days may object to what I am doing, as I have previously posted this on a few other blogs. But the reason I’m doing this is – well, there’s many. They are:

While Poptropica Land is about three years old, it’s still very similar to Realms and should be easy to digest. Plus, I’d say this can qualify as a period piece.
This is not going to be the exact same as that post I’ve made elsewhere. I have added several extra thoughts as well as some modifications. This is going to be 2-3 times as big as the original, at least.
Soon I hope to be doing a tour of my Realms, Chole (the code for that is 3vpqv, if you’re interested in checking it out for yourself </plug>). Think of this as a prelude to my adventure, a point which you can use for comparison.
And finally… I’m an egocentric bigoted unsatisfiable superficial narcissist hungering for infinite fame on the interwebs, ready to repost old posts just to gain more attention, even if it is based on a game aimed towards children.

So yeah, I think I’ve justified myself sufficiently. Let’s start on this wonderful journey, shall we? 🙂

To start, here is the bridge to my house – my first ever build!

Yeah… it’s a bit crappy. I’m not very fond of this myself, and that’s discarding everything else I’ve built. Let’s concentrate on the bridge as we cross it with my Mocktropica Narf companion, Narfy.

Continue reading “Pre-Realms Tour: The Land of Chole” →

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: TylerMaster

March 18, 2017March 15, 2017 Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of TylerMaster, a longtime Poptropica glitcher who continues to discover new things to this day. See below for how to send in your own MPIP!

mpip tyler

2007-2009 | The Start of My Adventures

I started playing Poptropica in 2007, very close to when it first came out, and I was seven years old at the time. I discovered the game at school and I had lots of fun playing it.

When I first started playing Poptropica, there was no friends list or anything like that. But I still had lots of fun beating islands.

Then one day, in 2009, I saw that they had added something new: the Store! So I saved up as many credits as I could get so that I could get lots of items. I had lots of fun doing that, but eventually got bored of it, so I took a break for a while.

2009-2010 | Returning and Discovering Glitching

So one day I was bored at school and decided to revisit Poptropica – and I immediately fell back in love with it!

As I was playing one day, I figured out some of the keyboard commands, such as Ctrl + Shift + S which changes your skin color (only works on non-SUIs). From there, I wanted to learn more cheats, and thus began my adventures in glitching. I learned all I could, from the ASG (Avatar Studio Glitch) to the CEG (Customize Everything Glitch, now done with MAP or iPop).

One day, I learned that there were different websites dedicated to glitching, such as DummyTron and MAP. Creating dummies was a ton of fun. I also used websites like PoptropAds to teleport to various retired advertisement buildings and games.

2010–2015 | Zombie Eyes

At some point I got bored of Poptropica again, and took another break. A whole year passed before I decided to come back to Poptropica.

When I returned, I found out that most of the glitches I’d enjoyed had been patched, although some of them were still around, like the ASG.

Anyway, one day I came across the PHB’s chat hangout, the PHC, and decided to join. My first friend on there was Red Lizard, also known as RL, and my second friend was NinjaDude, or ND. I really wanted to get zombie eyes on my Poptropican, so RL, ND, and I started poking around with Poptropica’s files trying to find some way to get them. Every day, our mission seemed to get more and more hopeless – until one day, RL made our first breakthrough! He’d found a temporary way to get the zombie eyes.

Eventually, as we got more people involved in our project, we decided we would only share our findings among each other. One day, I made the final breakthrough with figuring out a way to get zombie eyes permanently. But there was this one person who kept bugging me about them, so I gave in and shared my method. Well, wouldn’t you know it, the first thing that person did was turn around and leak the secret to the world.

2015–present | The Glitching Journey Continues

Seeing all my involvement with Poptropica, my parents decided that I should take a break from it for a while. So I did, for a few months.

When I returned, the PHC had moved to a different website (Discord instead of Xat), but it was still the PHC. My friend RL had made many more breakthroughs with glitching, including figuring out how to make dummies again. And there was now a tool called iPop, developed by Santorno, which RL had pro access to (which gives a few extra options that the public access key doesn’t).

Well, back when we had been working on obtaining dummy eyes together, we’d made a pact that we would always share new discoveries with each another. So he taught me about making dummies, but I was not allowed to get the pro access to iPop.

Anyway, I continued to spend time on Discord, and we made many more breakthroughs. We discovered the developer console and used that for a while, until the password to the dev console changed one day. But that was ok; we had discovered other things, like leaks for the rumored Crisis Caverns Island, how to make custom costume parts, and how to unpatch old costume parts.

To this day, the joy of glitching continues, and we are still discovering new things. And that’s My Place in Poptropica. If you’d like to add me, my user is jellal2876534.

–

Hope you enjoyed this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Feel free to send in your own (please include a minimum of 550 words, type with good spelling and grammar, divide it into labeled sections, and include your username). If you send in your story, we will continue to post new community MPIPs!

~the Poptropica Help Blog

Escape from Pelican Rock Island, Guest Posts, Reality TV Island

Tips & Tricks for Escape From Pelican Rock and Reality TV Island

March 15, 2017June 22, 2017 Slanted Fish

(Hey Poptropicans! This is a guest post written by Gentle Fang, a Poptropica player in the community. In this post, she’ll be sharing some game tips, particularly for last month’s Islands of the Month, Escape From Pelican Rock and Reality TV. Enjoy! –🐠)

tips efpr rtv

Since Poptropica’s kickoff in 2007, we have seen many islands, each filled to the brim with adventures, puzzles, brainteasers, and fun. But within this wonderful world, there are also secrets that may not be obvious, things that I’ve picked up on through my experiences of playing the game. (For example, did you know that the later episodes of Survival Island are based on the short story The Most Dangerous Game? There’s a PHB post about it here.)

Anyway, this post will be all about these cool tips and tricks! I’ll be sharing with you all some tricks to help you succeed, cultural references, and other neat facts that you may or may not have caught onto.

General Tip: Explore around instead of overlooking things.

If you climb on the tops of buildings, you can find things and meet characters that, while maybe not important to the story, can be just as interesting as the people and things below.

An example of this can be found on Reality TV Island. If you jump to the top of one building, you see a woman holding a camera. She is not part of the story, but what she tells you is a hint about finding a celebrity in the motel.

Similarly, if you go inside buildings they might not seem important, you can still find super cool stuff, some of which you may need during the island quest. In 24 Carrot Island, I got my super cool bright teal hair from drinking the juice that changes your hair color. While not necessary, I do now look a lot cooler than I did before with my typical blonde hair!

Now we get into the specifics…

Although it’s March, I wrote this in February, so in honor of February’s Islands of the Month, I’ll share my tips about Reality TV and Escape from Pelican Rock. These are both some of my favorite islands. The competition of Reality TV really drew me in, as well as the fun escapades of EFPR.

Tips for: Escape From Pelican Rock Island

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In Escape from Pelican Rock, we have a prison on top of an island, with the city in the distance. The security is higher than that of the other prisons, like Azkaban from Harry Potter. As the guard with the brown hair so eloquently put it, “Break the prison rules, and you come here.” It’s a lot like a former real-life prison in California: Alcatraz.

For those who don’t know, Alcatraz was the highest security prison in America. It was where the worst criminals went, and it was home to many psychopathic people. The only comfort was the sea air, which has been eroding Alcatraz. Very few people were known to escape, and often they were later proclaimed dead. In short, it was a tough place.

Now for some tips regarding the island:

Get out of prison in 7 days

During the mini-game where you make license plates for cars, which is very boring and generally just a waste of time, I figured out that – assuming you made 7 sticks of gum per day (to the point where the machine breaks down) – you could get out of prison in 7 days.

On the first day, your character only makes 5 sticks of gum, not wanting to make the machine overheat. In total, to complete all purchases, you need 21 sticks of gum. So, you would need a total of three days of playing the game to get the total amount of gum. With four days gone (first day + 3 work days), you only need to work the day you overwork the machine and sharpen your spoon (day 5), and the day before your escape when you have fixed the air vents (day 6). On day 7, you can escape.

Trapped in vents?

When you are in the ventilation corridor right above the mess hall, if you misstep for any reason, you can fall through the vents into the kitchen. If this happens, don’t panic: the guards will not find you in the kitchen. While you can decide to take stuff or stir the mashed potatoes while you are down there, it is of no significance.

Instead, in order to get back up, go to Home Island and click on the island icon that shows up below the blimp to continue. This will restart you from the end of mess hall.

Skip (most) meals

Uh, Cook’s food tastes disgusting. You can never stomach her food, and the twins are pretty sure that s/he never trained at the Cordon Bleu. (I certainly agree…) So with that being said, do you really have to sit through mess hall? The answer is no.

The exceptions are: on the first day when you get your second spoon, and when you get the noodles, as well as when you dump plaster into the potatoes and start the food fight. All of the other days, it is not important in the slightest to sit down. The people say the same things every day.

With that being said, if Alcatraz was still operating with all of the breaking and entering I’ve done in Poptropica, I would be there!

Tips for: Reality TV Island

balanced diet

Well, look at you! You managed to get onto a Reality TV show! And now you have to pick off the other seven contestants in an array of mini games! Well, while someone has to get voted off every round, there are definitely ways that you can minimize your chances of being that person.

Here are my top three tips for Reality TV Island:

Pay attention to what people are saying!

If Merry Muse says that she’s in it to win it and Sickly Skull says she doesn’t care, it might not seem important. But it actually is. The more devoted a person is to winning, the longer they tend to last, and the less likely they are to get voted off.

Therefore, you want the person in the final round to be someone who cares the minimal amount. I know this seems crazy, but I have played the game multiple times and found this to be true for me.

Geyser Guess

In Geyser Guess, the mini-game where you step on different geysers and contestants are eliminated one by one, it seems all you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best. That’s true for the first round.

However, after the first person gets eliminated (hopefully it isn’t you), your strategy should be to pick the geyser that just exploded. Based on my experience, it’s less likely to erupt again because it already did. Using this strategy, I have won multiple times.

Don’t sweat it

If you know you cannot win no matter what you do, don’t sweat it. Unless it’s the last round, chances are, people will either vote off the person who came in second place (because they are a threat) or will vote off someone who constantly wins but didn’t this round. If you come in dead last, you are actually one of the least likely to get voted off.

With that being said, I wish you luck on your drama-filled adventures with the seven other characters you’re up against. Grandma Gracey and Merry Muse hate me for some reason, no matter how many times I play. Honestly, they’re probably just jealous of my gorgeous hair. (I’m so vain…)

This also concludes February’s Island of the Month hints. If you guys like this, I may do one for March’s Islands as well!

-Gentle Fang

–

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Gentle Fang!

The PHB welcomes guest posting from anyone in our community if you have something to share, whether it be sneak peeks, My Place in Poptropica stories, or any other ideas you might have. We also encourage sharing on the PHC (Poptropica Help Chat).

If you have an idea for a guest post, send it in to [email protected]!

Social Media

Chrome, Coaching & More with Skinny Moon

March 14, 2017March 13, 2017 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish here with a special guest!

The full moon may have come out, but it was looking a little skinnier last Thursday night when Skinny Moon popped into the PHC for a brief visit. For those who missed it, this post is here to recap what went down.

(And yes, that is her current outfit!)

At about 10:30 p.m. (Eastern time) last Thursday, March 9, Poptropica Creator Skinny Moon talked with Poptropicans on our Poptropica Help Chat hangout for about 45 minutes. She started off by introducing her latest blog post about fixing problems with Google Chrome’s compatibility with Poptropica, saying:

Hey everyone!

Quick update. Chrome updated today and it’s not playing nice with Flash for everyone. Here’s what to do if Poptropica won’t run for you on Flash: http://blog.poptropica.com/2017/03/problems-with-google-chrome-and.html #fastestblogpostever

Wanted to get it out there because we know lots of people play at night!

Other than dispensing advice for the Chrome issue, Skinny Moon also stayed to answer some of the latest questions burning in the minds of the Poptropican community. From Pop Worlds development to coaching soccer, Jessica had plenty of insight to give, and what follows is a Q&A style post to recap what she shared:

idk: I have a question. Why is the Snowpocalypse game on Home Island formatted with the smaller screen? Was it just easier to develop in this case?
Skinny Moon: You know, I really don’t know!

Tall Cactus: Will the Snowpocalypse game still be available on Monday? I’m on vacation and I didn’t bring my computer.
Skinny Moon: Yes it’ll be up for a while!

Tall Cactus: I just find it funny that I just arrived in Florida and a snow themed game comes out lol
Skinny Moon: Wish I were in Florida right now!!!

idk: When will the snow and stuff disappear from Home Island?
Skinny Moon: We don’t have a definite date. March is cold here in Boston – we’re getting snow tomorrow. BOOOOOOOO. So we’re feeling the cold here.
idk: “Boo”? For snow? You Bostonians are crazy! D:
Skinny Moon: I’m so sick of the cold. I want spring!!!

Smart Flame: @Skinny Moon How are you?
Skinny Moon: I’m good! Tired. Very busy!!!

Smart Flame: Will Poptropicans be able to have accessories (Example: Watches, bracelets…)
Skinny Moon: I don’t know exact details… but pretty sure that’s the plan! I don’t know for sure about which accessories, though.

Smart Flame: Have you played Snowpacalypse? And if so, what’s your high score?
Skinny Moon: I’ve played it a couple times and my score is EMBARRASSING.

Tall Cactus: when will the costume contest winner’s designs be added to the store?
Skinny Moon: The grand prize winners are in final design stage now. Then off to a developer!

Pusheen: What did you have for lunch today?
Skinny Moon: Hmmmmm, what DID I have for lunch…??? Thinking… Oh! A baked potato. And a cookie. I’m running low on food. LOL

idk: Skinny Moon, when do you think Poptropica Worlds will release? Expecting any more delays?
Skinny Moon: I can’t give any dates on Worlds. I can say it’ll release in Spring. That’s really all I can say right now!

Smart Flame: Dr. Hare or Binary Bard?
Skinny Moon: That’s like choosing my favorite kid.

TallMeloniscool: Who had the idea of making Poptropica Worlds? And why did you make Poptropica Worlds? What were you Creators thinking!
Skinny Moon: Not one person in particular as far as I know. As for why… You may know that Flash isn’t going to be supported anymore, eventually, by Chrome and maybe other browsers (I don’t know exact details). And Poptropica, like many other games, is built on Flash. So we are now using Unity to develop Poptropica, and that’s what we’re developing Worlds!

Smart Flame: What’s your favorite part of Pop Worlds? (that you can tell us)
Skinny Moon: I am really excited about Poptropicans having their own houses they can decorate!

idk: How much behind the scenes stuff do you see at Poptropica HQ? Anything that the public will never know?
Skinny Moon: Oh, sure! Lots of stuff! But most of it is everyday work stuff – not exactly exciting! What is fun is being in on the development of Worlds as it’s been happening. It’s really a privilege.

Smart Flame: From the pictures we have seen of houses, is it safe to say they’ll be on their own separate island, or will it be on the Home island of Pop Worlds?
Skinny Moon: I think I know the answer to that but I shouldn’t say, just in case things change! Unexpected stuff can happen in game development!

TallMeloniscool: On non-SUI islands, why was the map feature removed? You know, the one where you see where you are?
Skinny Moon: Some sort of technical reason, I believe. Honestly I don’t remember. Sorry – that’s a boring answer but the truth!
TallMeloniscool: Ok, so why was the homepage removed?
Skinny Moon: Again, I don’t remember… something technical.

ABSORBED: Who is your favorite Poptropica Help Blog author?
Skinny Moon: What is it with you all asking me to pick favorites tonight? LOL! I can’t choose! Are you going to ask me my favorite song ever next?
ABSORBED: Hahaha what is your favorite song?
Skinny Moon: OMG I HAVE NO IDEA

Korikasai: Will all the islands in the original Poptropica be remastered in Pop Worlds?
Skinny Moon: I’m guessing not all because we’ll create new islands, too.

bd: Do you work at Poptropica HQ or from home?
Skinny Moon: I mostly work at home. My office is decorated with #PoptropicaArt you all do!

Tall Cactus: Will new Creators be joining when Worlds comes out?
Skinny Moon: That’s a good idea!

TallMeloniscool: What were you creators thinking when you made 7 islands only for members?
Skinny Moon: I wasn’t with Poptropica then, but I’m guessing yes – what @RedLizard2015 said. It’s a way to make membership more valuable. Only 6 are members-only now. Remember you guys, Poptropica is always FREE. Membership sweetens it, but you can always enjoy Poptropica without membership.

Smart Flame: Will common rooms be in Pop Worlds?

Skinny Moon: Hmmmmm, good question! I don’t know exactly.

TallMeloniscool: What! So that means maybe there might be no multiplayer! Nooo battles!!!
Skinny Moon: I don’t know for sure. Don’t make assumptions! I just don’t know the answer to every question.

Tall Cactus: Will there be sponsored islands on Worlds? Members only islands?
Skinny Moon: Don’t know for sure. Some things I just can’t say – need to maintain the element of surprise!

Smart Flame: Will store-bought items be transferred onto Pop Worlds from original Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: Can’t say about store items. Not sure. I can’t get into lots of details you guys, sorry.

At 11:06 pm, she wrote on the chat, “Okay, I’m falling asleep at my keyboard. It’s been a loooooooong day” – but stuck around for a little while longer.

Smart Flame: What’s your favorite fruit?
Skinny Moon: Ooooh, that’s a tough one. Yikes. I’m very indecisive about favorites. Maybe blackberries.

The Judge: other then monkey wrench island, in your opinion what island is a good island for beginners to play?
Skinny Moon: Probably 24 Carrot. It’s not too hard and it’s got Dr. Hare, who’s so iconic for Poptropica!

shakyskunk: Why is Mya white? Do you find it weird talking to a bunch of kids?
Skinny Moon: Re: Mya — she’s not white.

Here’s an interesting tidbit for you: Skin and hair color is all done with code. So mockups that are done in pure art software doesn’t have the same skin and hair varieties as in-game. It’s just how it turned out on the graphic!

And no, I don’t find it weird talking to kids. I’ve always liked “working” with kids – I was a camp counselor for years and working with tweens and teens was always the most fun for me. Now I’m a soccer coach – and a mom.

shakyskunk: So you’re a… soccer mum?

Skinny Moon: I’m a soccer coach. And mom. And soccer mom, I guess, though I don’t like that term. And Poptropica social media/community manager. And more!

TallMeloniscool: wow you have a busy life

Skinny Moon: I am perpetually tired. LOL. I soccer coach in my little town. For second graders. It’s awesome.

TallMeloniscool: How did you become a Poptropica creator?

Skinny Moon: Back when Poptropica’s parent company needed someone to manage some social media and blogging for Galactic Hot Dogs, I got that job. Then they liked what I did, so I transitioned over to Poptropica.

Hyper Gamer: How often does your kids play Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: few times a week. They love it!

TallMeloniscool: Do you know about Poptropica glitches like dummies and Avatar Studio Glitch?

Skinny Moon: Yep!

Finally, at 11:17 p.m., she wrapped up by reposting the Chrome blog post, and saying, “Ok, I’m exhausted and falling asleep while typing. I have to go! Have a great night!”

–

Thanks for stopping by, Skinny Moon! As always, it was a pleasure to get some answers and just get to know a Creator who also happens to love coaching soccer for kids.

If you want to meet the coolest Poptropicans of the community, the PHC is where it’s at. Pop in anytime, we’re always open.

Stay popping,
–🐠

Author: Slanted Fish

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