Author: Ultimate iPad Expert

Hello, I'm Paul, known on the interwebs as Ultimate iPad Expert (UiPE for short). I'm a big film geek, being a big fan of many franchises including Pixar, Disney, Animation, Gravity Falls, Star Wars, Marvel and so many more. I've been on Poptropica since 2011, being the head of the Poptropica Wiki (http://poptropica.gamepedia.com) and now an author on the biggest fan site for the game, the Poptropica Help Blog! Apart from fanbases, I love filmmaking and geography and hope to do something in the film world eventually.

Update: For our official walkthrough page for this island, see our Hub Island Guide!

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here with the details of a new island!

If you checked out today’s Timmy Failure code post, you may have read about a mysterious blank medallion entitled “Hub Island” spotted by our very own Slanted Fish. A little while after the post released, I decided to go check the medallion list again and saw an updated medallion!

HubIslandTutorial I immediately went to the map and spotted this new island…

HomeIsland

As it turns out, it’s almost exactly like the Tutorial Island on the Poptropica mobile app, and now it’s here on the online version! I dropped into the island to find myself with this explorer:

BridgeTutorial

I soon went exploring around the island to find multiple different buildings. The first building shown here is the Shop. If you decided to enter in, it brings you to the Poptropica Store.

The second building shown here is the Arcade. Entering it brings you to the Pathfinders tribe common room, no matter which tribe you’re in.

The final building shown is the New You building. Inside, you can alter your appearance!

You can pull the lever (shown in the picture on the right) and the curtain on the top will drop down to allow you to customize with endless costumes. If you click the curtain (shown in the picture on the left) you can use a Colorizer, which allows you to change your skin and hair colors.

If you exit the New You building and go to the left, you visit the tutorial portion of the island. You will first see the platform below:

TutorialIsland1

With a little exploring you will come upon this woman missing her lucky wrench.

TutorialIsland2

Simply look up on a nearby tree to find the Wrench and give it to her.

TutorialIsland3

She then offers to show you how to customize (because it is a tutorial island). If you continue left into a new room, and then all the way to the left of that room, you’ll see the explorer once again. He’ll mention that he wants to give you something but he can’t seem to find it.

This, of course, is the medallion. You can then go around the two areas in search for each of the parts. There are eight in total and they’re pretty easy to spot – they’re the glowing yellow chunks lying around.

Tree branch containing shard

Shard in Hub Island

Once you find all of these pieces, return back to the original location of the explorer, and he’ll award you with the Tutorial Island Medallion (and 150 credits!).

So, that’s an overview of the new Tutorial Island! Since you get 150 credits for completing this island, be sure to complete the island for a little more change to spend in the Poptropica Store. Plus, I feel like if I was a new player, this island would be quite helpful. 😀

So, what do you think about this tutorial island? Comment below!

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

Total-ly New Timmy Failure Prize & Hub Island?

August 14, 2015August 14, 2015 Ultimate iPad Expert

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here with this week’s Timmy Failure promo prize. Simply go onto Timmy Failure Island, walk to the left and talk with Timmy and he’ll give you a Total Costume! (Total is the name of Timmy’s polar bear sidekick in the series 😉 ) Check it out:

Glad Poptropica is releasing a costume themed for the island instead of the credits! Pretty cool costume, as well. Plus, like how they’re slowly coloring in the island (it was pretty black-and-white last week!).

And of course, be sure to tune in next Thursday for the next Timmy Failure Island prize!

—

Now for some really interesting news. If you go onto Poptropica Friends and look in your Medallion list, you will see this below:

Hub-Island

Props to Slanted Fish for noticing this first. 😉 I’m very curious as to what this mysterious island is. Slip suggested to me that it could be something like the Tutorial Island on the Poptropica App, which could be the case considering the name. The medallion is oddly placed between Survival Island (Episode 1) and Mythology Island in the list and I’m not completely sure why.

~~Being as curious as I am I tweeted out to the Creators. Haven’t had any reply yet, but I’ll be sure to update the post if they do.~~

UPDATE: Hub (Tutorial) Island has been released! Read all about it in my other post.

So, do you like this new Total costume? What do you think “Hub Island” is? Comment below.

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

Daily Pop-In

Daily Pop-In: Promo Codes & Prizes

July 28, 2015August 9, 2015 Ultimate iPad Expert

The Daily Pop-In giveaway is now over.
Check out our PHB Review of the Daily Pop-In by clicking here!

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s UiPE here to bring you the new Daily Pop-Ins! That’s the event where, every weekday starting July 27th and going until August 7th, you can log into Poptropica and enter a promo code that will only work on that day to receive a prize. More details in this post.

[Fri, Aug 7] Today is the final day of the Daily Pop-Ins on Poptropica! The Creators have decided to end the giveaways off with the code BIG100 which earns you a prize of 100 credits.

PopIn_SocialMedia

[Thu, Aug 6] Today’s magical code is MORECREDITS, so I think you can guess today’s prize is credits. 😉 20 credits to be exact. I’m not disappointed, however, because I’m sure this means we’ll get a special item and/or costume tomorrow for the final Daily Pop-In prize! Be sure to tune in tomorrow at noon EST for the final code!

[Wed, Aug 5] Enter the code POPSTORERULES for another 75 credits. Yup… that’s the third time we’ve gotten a code for 75 credits. Make use of it by getting something cool from the Store!

[Tue, Aug 4] Today’s promo code is TWINPOWER, and for entering that in, you’ll get a Twin Power! If it sounds familiar to you, that’s because it was a prize item from a Liv and Maddie ad two years ago (see this PHB post). Still, a recycled ad item that’s now permanent is a nice change of pace (as the clone of your character following you around would agree!).

twinpower

[Mon, Aug 3] Start off the week with the code DAILYDOSE for a free 75 credits! It’s enough to get you a costume of your own choosing at the Store. Still, not so useful for members.

[Fri, Jul 31] Today’s Daily Pop-In code welcomes a new prize! Enter in the the code WHOOPS to get an extra special Fart Gun. Thanks to Pixel for the glorious gif below. 😛

The code will last all weekend. Enter the code before it disappears on Monday at 12 pm EST. And of course, tune in on Monday, and every day next week, for new codes!

[Thu, Jul 30] Today welcomes the code LOVEPOP30 to give you a 75 credits! Put in your code by tomorrow at noon EST tomorrow, when it disappears. And, of course, tune in each day to this post for all of the other codes.

[Wed, Jul 29] The brand new code for today is HIGH5 and earns you an extra special 5 credits. Thnx Creators. XD Put the code in while you have the chance and be sure to tune in to this post for more codes! We know it feels like a joke – but Poptropica promises it’ll get better, and that “tomorrow’s prize definitely be worth more than 30 credits” (see tweet).

[Tue, Jul 28] Today’s code is GIMME50 and earns you 50 credits. Be sure to enter the code today before it disappears! And remember to tune in here each day for Daily Pop-In codes!

[Mon, Jul 27] The first Daily Pop-In is released, at 12pm EST! The first code is SURPRIZEME and earns you 200 credits, so be sure to enter the promo code in on Poptropica today before it’s gone.

And of course, tune in each weekday to this post to learn about the next Daily Pop-In! I’ll be updating this post every day to keep you posted on the current code and prizes, with the newest at the top.

What do you think of these daily prizes? Comment below.

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

Realms, Timmy Failure Island

Timmy Failure tour page & new Realms video!

July 14, 2015July 14, 2015 Ultimate iPad Expert

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here to bring you some new info from the upcoming Timmy Failure Island. The Creators just officially announced the island on their blog last week and now have released the its island tour page.

Along with the above logo and character design (which were revealed when the island was announced), we also have a little more of a look into the plot in this description:

When danger lurks, and criminals hide around every corner, you need the best detective money can buy. That detective is not Timmy Failure — but don’t try to tell him that. You’re about to come face to face with the craziest cast of characters ever to appear on a Poptropica Island. Trying to solve this mystery is only the beginning!

Next up is a look at the island scenery through these sneak peeks:

For more sneak peeks, check out our Daily Pop Sneak Peek Archive as well as our trivia page for Timmy Failure Island, where you can discuss the upcoming island!

Lastly, there’s a printable poster design as well, featuring Timmy and his buddy Total:

In other news, there’s a new Poptropica Realms video from the Creators to show off some of the newer features! Check it out below:

That concludes this round of news! Are you excited for Timmy Failure Island? I personally haven’t read any of the books, but some of the other authors have been mentioning to me that they’re hilarious, so hopefully it’ll be comedically great. Comment your thoughts below!

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

Creators

Q&A with the Poptropica CEO!

June 6, 2015October 13, 2020 Ultimate iPad Expert

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert it’s been almost a month since I asked you all for some questions for Mr. Jess Brallier, the current CEO of Poptropica. Was hoping I could have the responses for this Question & Answer session up sooner, but time got in the way.

Keep in mind, we couldn’t choose every question sent in, so some questions are not included.

Q&A with the CEO

Muddy Kid: Are there gonna be more classic islands updating to SUI Islands, and when?

Jess Brallier: Maybe. No specific plans. Nothing in the works. But it’s a weekly discussion.

Skinny Ice: When can we share our Poptropica Realms with other Poptropicans?

Jess Brallier: We’re aiming — but not promising — for a basic sharing function by end of June. You’ll start to see teasers for it on the site this month.

Prickly Monster: Any hints to the next island after MotM, Timmy Failure, and Arabian Nights Ep. 3?

Jess Brallier: Some place you don’t wanna be.

Shaky Bee: What was your favorite island to make?

Jess Brallier: Every Creator has her/his favorite. Mine was Time-Tangled Island.

WimpyKidFan: Since you’re not owned by Pearson anymore, can you change up Poptropica more and what will this mean for Pop?

Jess Brallier: We did what we wanted to do while at Poptropica. We’ll continue to do what we want to do. And what we want to do is animation and a lot more for our non-English-speaking fans.

Cherry_bombs: Are there certain things that you think that Poptropica should achieve? What are they?

Jess Brallier: Like Disney, we want to stay around for generations. We like to imagine our grandchildren smiling because of something Poptropica. We’d like to have a best-selling book series, a top ten iOS app, a record-breaking film, a wildly popular TV series, and a much-loved YouTube channel. We like to imagine a kid in Athens, Greece. He learns English in school using Poptropica English, on the way home he enjoys our animation or comics or novels or virtual world on his app, he might stop and buy a Poptropica comic book or novel, he plays that evening on his desktop, he watches Poptropica TV. He discovers the world — mythology, history, art, etc. — while laughing his butt off throughout all the danger, adventure, and thrills. But most of all, we hope that through our storytelling, art, animation, and programming to inspire a next generation of creators (just as we were by Herge, Disney, Mad Magazine, etc.). Each year get us closer to that moment when we hire a Poptropica Creator who actually grew up on Poptropica. That’ll be our best moment ever.

renaldiinfernus: How long do you think it will take to fully convert Poptropica to Poptropica HD (Sound Update)?

Jess Brallier: We don’t know. Not focused on that right now. Have our eyes on the app, animation, and non-English right now.

Hench-Bot: Does the separation from Pearson change anything about Poptropica in a negative way?

Jess Brallier: Not at all.

Hench-Bot: Will you ever finish ‘Legendary Swords’?

Jess Brallier: Maybe. Doing so is not on our current task list.

Red Spider: How long does it take to make an island?

Jess Brallier: Depends on the island….and vacations, sick kids, maternity leaves, etc. However, on the average, from concept to script to illustration to programming to testing takes about six weeks.

Samwow5: Who are Captain Crawfish & Comic Kid? (their real identities)

Jess Brallier: We’re not going there. Poptropica is about Poptropica and its users, not its staff. Except for Jeff Kinney, ‘cause that cat’s out the bag, purposely and wonderfully so.

Spotted Dragon: What kind of skills do you look for when hiring Poptropica Creators?

Jess Brallier: A love for storytelling and a desire to do what nobody else is doing. Many can illustrate or program, but do they do what they do because of a love and appreciation for storytelling. And our success is about doing what others don’t do. We’re not a book publisher, we’re not just another game, we’re not just another world with weird penguins or monsters or dolls running around in it. We seek not to copy, but to be the first to show up with something unexpected.

HPuterpop: Why are you producing so many sponsored islands?

Jess Brallier: We just sort of hit a stretch for various reasons. We simply love Timmy Failure, think it’s hilarious; that’s not a fact, just a gut reaction; and Stephan is like the most popular comics strip creator out there right now, just seems right that we invite him onto our creative team, along with Jeff Kinney, Lincoln Peirce, etc. As for Galactic Hot Dogs, we own that, were very lucky to have Simon&Schuster publishing it as a book, and we just wanted to do everything we could to make it successful — we think it’s very worth the effort. And with The Mystery of the Map, we wanted to introduce the Poptropica cast of characters (two of them in the comic strip, all of them in the graphic novel series to start publishing March 2016) and do all we could to position them those characters and their stories for a potential film, TV series best-selling book, etc. We don’t see any other sponsored islands on the publishing schedule right now.

Slippery Raptor: Is there any way for you to make the Daily Pop and the Store more functional and popular?

Jess Brallier: Oh, yet another constant discussion point. Couldn’t agree more. Just difficult to get it to the top of the to-do list.

Spotted Dragon: Will an island map ever be added to the SUI Islands?

Jess Brallier: Maybe. Never say never.

HPuterpop: Will there be more graphic novel islands following the adventures of Oliver, Mya, and Jorge in the future?

Jess Brallier: We have a story arc for the graphic novel that spans at least 12 books. If successful, we’ll surely find another story arc even beyond those 12. Abrams Books will publish the first four — March, 2016; Fall, 2016; March 2017; Fall, 2017). If successful, we’ll surely expand that four-book agreement to 12 books. Second book is now being written by a great writer by the name of Mitch Krpata, and it — like the comics and first book — will be illustrated by the incredibly talented Kory Merritt. Working title for the second book is “The Secret Society.” The editor at Abrams for the series is the same guy who does Kinney’s books.

HPuterpop: Do you ever plan to fix any of the HD islands’ glitches and overall lazy engine design?

Jess Brallier: Sure, in the plans. Again, it’s just a matter of getting to all that stuff. Meanwhile, it’s hot out, summer’s arrived, we’re feeling lazy….

★Brave Tomato★: Out of the staff at PopHQ, what percent of them do certain jobs (programming, art, writing, etc.)

Jess Brallier: Essentially all of them have a leading skill, but the creative process around the islands and the site and the app is all a team effort. Lots of discussions with everybody involved, then when it’s time to move forward, tasks are assigned per an individual’s talents.

So, this concludes our Q&A! Big thanks to Jess Brallier for participating and helping make Poptropica as great as it is. And also a big thanks to everyone who sent in questions! Feel free to comment your thoughts on Brallier’s responses!

• Ultimate iPad Expert •