Creators – Page 13 – 🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺

Graphic novel news: Lost Expedition, Mitch Krpata, and book 3!

August 6, 2016August 2, 2018 Brave Tomato

Hey guys, my name is Brave Tomato, and this set of news is not just some ordinary wheel or fancy pair of sneaker-related news for once. This will be interesting… as long as you’re a fan of the Poptropica graphic novel series.

Let’s start off about Book 2, The Lost Expedition, which will come out for the world August 16th. After over a year of not hearing from them, Oliver, Mya, and Jorge are back for a brand new adventure in the world of Poptropica.

The novel will be written by Mitch Krpata (I’ll get more into him later) and illustrated yet again by Kory Merrit. If you need a reminder, the summary is as follows, according to the Barnes and Noble page:

In book two,The Lost Expedition, Oliver, Mya, and Jorge continue their search for home, with a few hilarious stops along the way. As the friends set sail for new sights, they find the evil Octavian is still hot on their trail, and he’s determined to get his hands on their magical map. To make matters worse, a mysterious organization is keen on expelling the three friends from Poptropica. As the pals travel, they find that each island is filled with its own unique brand of peril, and the mystery surrounding the map and Poptropica itself begins to unfold. Will our trio be able to once again outfox Octavian and discover the identity of this secret society?

So with that up ahead, of course it’s going to get some minor coverage. This news article by the MetroWest Daily News may seem like an ordinary news article showing off the graphic novel, but if you look into it deeper, you’ll find not just the standard summary. The news article confirms that the Poptropica graphic novel series is on a four-book deal. It also says that Mystery of the Map will the only one of the four that’s written by a different person (Galactic Hot Dogs author Max Brailler) and Mitch Krpata will write out the rest of the series.

There are also some interesting quotes said by the man himself in the article. He describes The Lost Expedition as a novel that would teach about “accepting the responsibility” of a leadership role, as well as mixing in the more action packed parts of the books. He had been with Poptropica since its beginnings in 2007, calling the franchise his “life’s work” and he desires it to “survive and outlast [him]”. Check out the article here if you’d like to read about his inspirations and other information.

However, strangely enough, the news article itself isn’t the biggest plot twist of this post. It’s the video that should be drawn attention to as well. It’s only 28 seconds long, but it’s not entirely about the content- it’s about what you hear. (Although at the end of the video, it does show a preview of one of the pages.) You can find it on the news article, so take a good listen to how Mitch sounds.

Sound familiar? Well, if you don’t hear it, Mitch here sounds quite a lot like our favorite blogging and YouTubing pirate, Captain Crawfish! For reference, here’s one of his videos.

Captain Crawfish’s identity had been a major secret for years, and now that the identity has practically been revealed to us, we have yet another mystery off our backs. All those years of crawfish-nomming jokes have been worth it. (And thank you so much for shouting out to me on the Reign of Omegon walkthrough!)

Now, let’s get into the future here, because, everyone, I found the title, cover, release date, and summary of the third Poptropica graphic novel.

*Warning: There might be potential Book 2 spoilers ahead, especially in the summary, so tread carefully.*

Continue reading “Graphic novel news: Lost Expedition, Mitch Krpata, and book 3!” →

Creators, Guest Posts, PHB Sneak Peeks

PHB Sneak Peeks: Quick Q&A with Creator & More Dev Rooms!

July 8, 2016June 22, 2017 Slanted Fish

(This is a guest post by TechWizard, in which he shares a quick interview he had with Pop Creator Skinny Moon, as well as some more developer rooms from Poptropica’s files. Enjoy! –🐠)

tw guestpost

Hello Poptropicans! T—wait a minute, has someone been messing with my notecards? Well then…

Anyway, hello Poptropicans, TechWizard here with rooms, graphical bugs, and a quick question-and-answer session with a chubby sun! …No, not a chubby sun, a Skinny Moon! That’s right, it’s dat girl! I asked her a few random questions, and this is what I got. Her replies are italicized below.

> What’s the best part about working at Poptropica HQ?

I love being the social media manager and interacting with the fans. It really is so great seeing how much you all love Poptropica and how much you care about it! Also, the entire Poptropica team is AWESOME! Everyone is so creative and truly cares about the game and its fans.

> Do you like Pringles? If so, what’s your favorite flavor?

I like sour cream and onion best!

> Do you drink any soda?

I used to love Diet Coke but I don’t drink it much anymore. I drink a lot of half iced tea-half lemonade. And coffee. Lots of coffee. 🙂

> Satellite or cable?

Cable — Verizon FIOS!

For more Q&As with ~~Chubby Sun~~ Skinny Moon, check out this PHB post as well as this one!

––

Well, hope you enjoyed that little Q&A with Skinny Moon! Onto the next part: I’ll be showing some more developer rooms from Poptropica’s files. (Please note: These are not meant to show up in-game, and are used by Pop developers for testing.)

Our first room is actually an add-on to a mass dialogue room I showed in another guest post here. In this room, you can receive a crowbar to take to a crowbar-loving NPC (non-player character) who’s offscreen. This is to test item receiving and giving.

room5

Our second room looks like a roller coaster. Not much goes on, except for some boxes and orb things that randomly spawn here.

room4

Our third room is… oh no! Where’s the floor?! Well, it’s invisible, and talking to an off screen Afro Guy will change the tile-set that’s visible here.

room3

But wait, that’s not all! Call now and I’ll throw in one graphical bug for the low, *low* price of $20.99!

While playing around one day with a secret rectangle capable of infinite powers, I stumbled upon this lovely bug. Where is the crystal? Where is the throne?? Let me explain!

Obviously, you’re not intended to be here after you’ve finished PoptropiCon: Episode 3 (but by my ways, here I am). Because the game doesn’t know what to do here, some parts don’t load, mainly because Omegon’s throne and crystal have been destroyed.

room2

That’s all for this time – hope you enjoyed this post!

– TechWizard

Creators, PHB Parties, Uncategorized

Creator Q&A: Strawberry Moon Party Edition!

June 21, 2016July 15, 2016 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! Did you get to enjoy the Strawberry Moon last night? 🍓🌔

Well, I sadly didn’t see it in my part of the world – but for those who attended the PHB’s 25M Hits & Summer* Kickoff Party (*or winter solstice, for those in the southern hemisphere), we were treated to a different, but very special, type of Moon: Poptropica Creator Skinny Moon! Which brings us to this…

strawberry moon

Yup, just a week after our impromptu Discord Q&A session with Skinny Moon, she’s back at it again to meet and greet more fans online! In this post, we’re reprinting most of the questions and answers that took place, so everyone has the chance to check it out. Note that this post is a little long and does not recap the party itself, which will have its own separate PHB post!

Skinny Moon showed up for about an hour, between around 8:40-9:50pm EST, taking questions she could answer (generally, not much could be revealed yet about New Poptropica) from those who were online. As she was on her iPhone, she could not join any of our Multiverse rooms, but it was still a fun time! Check out the Q&A below!

By the way, if you have a question for SM, you can let her know by tagging her on Twitter or other social media (if you don’t have any, message a PHB staffer on the PHC to ask them to pass it on!).

–

Poptropica Game Questions

“Sorry everyone, I can’t answer most of these questions. Plans for current Pop and New Pop are still top-secret! There are so many questions I’m just going to answer the ones I can and not responding to the ones I can’t answer.”

PoptropicaPerfectSky: Hey Skinny Moon, I don’t know if you can answer this but will we be able to access our old store items in the new Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: Don’t know that yet, sorry!

Jumpy Feather aka MP: What would the new poptropicans look like in the new pop?
Skinny Moon: That’s still top secret.

Shaky Skunk: Will our clothing be accessible? Like my cool shirt
Skinny Moon: Can’t give out info yet on current/new Poptropica specifics.

Cool Octopus: When will Poptropicans get an eye color change?
Skinny Moon: Can’t comment.

Slanted Fish: How involved is Jeff Kinney with Poptropica?

Skinny Moon: Jeff is involved with every creative decision. If it’s important, he’s involved with it!

Silver Wolf: Is there a possibility more Poptropican names will be added?
Skinny Moon: Yes I think there will be more in the New Pop.

WITHER STORM: Will E. Vile come back?
PoptropicaPerfectSky: Personally, I’d love if Ringmaster Raven came back.
Skinny Moon: I told the team that there are lots of requests to bring villains back! They like the idea (but no guarantees)!

Hyper Gamer: Are nonmembers every going to be allowed to submit realms?
Skinny Moon: Hmmmm, I don’t know. Sorry!

SydVC: How will our current accounts be “transferred” to new Poptropica? Will they basically be the same?
Skinny Moon: Can’t comment on plans for new Pop yet.

WITHER STORM: Any new Pop Quizzes? Because I haven’t seen any in 2 years.
Skinny Moon: I will ask my team! (*later response: “Prob no new Pop Quizzes anytime soon. Working on some NEW cool social features for the New Pop!”)

Pastelia: Why did you guys decide to design the characters like that?
Skinny Moon: Good question. I will ask! (*later response: “Pop characters weren’t designed in a particular way for a particular reason – that’s the design the original Creators liked in the end!”)

Yandari~Sama: Will there be any Create Your Own Island again?
Skinny Moon: Not sure, I will ask! I have a much smaller contest coming soon, though! (*later response: “Probably not another Create Your Own Island contest anytime soon. I am launching a much smaller-scale but definitely fun contest this week!”)

Sammeh (Samwow5): How many islands approx will be coming out the rest of the year? I have found over the years that Poptropica islands have decreased every year and I’m wondering if they might increase again soon also ;p
Skinny Moon: I can’t say anything about that. I know this year hasn’t been typical but we are going to launch cool stuff on current Pop and new islands will come to the New Pop!

“About Skinny Moon” Questions

“I’m on Twitter a lot. I do get TONS of messages and am tagged a lot, so I may not respond – but I see your tweets!!!”

Hyper Gamer: What made you want to be a Creator?
Skinny Moon: I started out managing Galactic Hot Dogs blog and social media. Poptropica asked me to take on their social media too, and I was thrilled to!

shirokurokuma: What role did you play in creating Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: I didn’t create Pop – I started working with the company in January 2015.

Shaky Skunk: Are you evil? like are you the true Poptropica villain
Skinny Moon: Not one bit evil. Pretty nice, actually.

shirokurokuma: SM, do you know where the name Poptropica came from? Have you watched any Perfect Sky movies? If so, which ones, and how did you like them?
Skinny Moon: I’m not 100% sure but I’m almost positive Jeff Kinney came up with the name. It’s his creation!

PoptropicaPerfectSky: Do you watch Poptropica videos?
Skinny Moon: I watch some videos. Best way for me to notice videos and blog posts is to tag me on Twitter!

Yandari~Sama: Have you watched Balloons by Perfect Sky? If so, what did you think of it?
Skinny Moon: I haven’t seen a @PoptropicaPerfectSky movie. Tag me on Twitter and link to one!

redpanda1677: Do you know Jeff Kinney?
Skinny Moon: The first time I met Jeff Kinney was when I interviewed him during the launch of the MOTM book. As you can imagine he is SUPER busy. But when I have a question he finds time to answer my email. He is a super nice guy!

idk: Are you in constant contact with the developers of Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: Yes, we talk every day. We use an app called Slack for communicating and have daily video conferences.

InnerBeast(CO): How did you get a job at Poptropica headquarters?
Skinny Moon: I knew someone who worked there who told me about the job opening, and I applied and got it!

Ruby: Who is your favorite villain in Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: Captain Crawfish, my blog buddy – naturally!!!

Hyper Gamer: Why are you the only creator who joins things like Discord chat, comment on PHB?
Skinny Moon: I’m the social media manager so this is kinda my thing.

Slanted Fish: What’s a typical day in the life of the Pop social media manager?
Skinny Moon: Oh wow. Every day is different. I check all out social media channels (not just Poptropica), manage email, think about what to post, attend meetings, plan fun things for the community, write blog posts, read people’s comments and questions and ask the team for answers when I don’t know the answer… Right now I’m planning a fun contest for the summer, too!

Slanted Fish: Are the meetings online or in the Poptropica HQ?
Skinny Moon: The team is all over the country – even out of country – so meetings are in HQ and virtual.

InnerBeast (CO): Do you have a private office in the Pop headquarters?
Skinny Moon: No, I am not located at HQ.

Yandari~Sama: Can you promise more visits soon?
Skinny Moon: I can’t promise anything but I don’t see why I wouldn’t visit more!

DJScratchStep: Just a random question, what’s your favorite fast food chain? XD had nothing else
Skinny Moon: I have a weakness for McDonald’s fries and cheeseburgers. Lol. It’s an occasional treat.

Yandari~Sama: Will you be my Senpai?
Skinny Moon: I’m honored! I wish I could!

Hyper Gamer: What do you like to do when you’re not working on Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: I like to write, read, and hang out with my family and friends!

PoptropicaPerfectSky: Do you ever just hang out in common rooms or multiverse rooms?
Skinny Moon: Yes!

WITHER STORM: When did you make your Skinny Moon account?
Skinny Moon: I think this past August.

Silver Flame: What is your favorite island?
Skinny Moon: I like MOTM a lot! Choosing a fave island is like asking me which kid is my fave.

Slanted Fish: How did you decide on the name Skinny Moon? Do you like it or would you change it?
Skinny Moon: I took the first name Poptropica gave me. I liked it! Seemed very “Poptropica.”

shirokurokuma: Do you like Danganronpa?
Skinny Moon: I haven’t seen/read it, sorry!

PoptropicaPerfectSky: Do you ever add people on Poptropica if they tell you their usernames?
Skinny Moon: Sure, I’ll add people!

Ruby: Silly question, but do any of the islands tug at your heart strings?
Skinny Moon: Lots do!!!

And perhaps the best Q&A of all…

TechWizard: Do you like Pringles?
Skinny Moon: OMG OF COURSE

–

At about 9:50pm EST, Skinny Moon wrapped up her time on the PHC with, “Okay, I have to go. Sorry I can’t answer all questions! This was fun!!!” It was indeed! Thanks for popping by on this night of the Strawberry Moon, and thanks to everyone who participated!

Also, you may notice that a few of the questions have a “later response” tagged onto them in parentheses – at about 11am EST the following day, Skinny Moon popped back on the chat to deliver some answers to questions she wanted to get back to, which you can see above.

She also added, in response to a question Young Hippo asked her privately: “Yes, Lunar Colony and Mission Atlantis are connected – they have the same alien race.” Pretty interesting! Signing off, she messaged on the PHC, “I have to go – lots to do today – have a great day everyone!!!”

Thanks for checking out this Q&A! Hope you enjoyed all the insights Skinny Moon provided both about herself and Poptropica, and hope you’ll check out (or continue to visit) the PHC – you never know what friendly faces you might meet! If you were at the PHB party, thanks for coming – a recap will be made in a separate post on the PHB, so be on the lookout for that!

As always, stay popping, Poptropicans!

– 🌊 slantedfish 🐠 –

Creators

Creator Q&A: PHC Discord Edition

June 14, 2016June 15, 2016 Ultimate iPad Expert

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here. Today, I was simply minding my business on the Poptropica Help Chat (PHC), chatting here and there with the community.

And then suddenly, she appeared… At around 1:20pm EST, the one and only Skinny Moon (Poptropica’s social media manager) decided to drop in to the PHC and chat some with the community. We thought it would be a good idea to compile this little impromptu Q&A session in a post for you guys, and so, without further ado, here it is!

qa sm

Tall Cactus: Any news about the New Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: Nothing I can say yet. Trust me, when I have news, you guys will know!

Slanted Fish: Any behind the scenes info?
Skinny Moon: Ummmmmm… well…. hmmmmmm….

Tall Cactus: When will you have news? lol
Skinny Moon: I know you guys are starved for info, but I don’t have the go-ahead to give any out. We are SUPER busy working on both the current Poptropica and new Poptropica!

Slanted Fish: Any info about the contest winner’s call with Jeff Kinney?
Skinny Moon: The call got SUPER delayed because of a ton of things – health problems, business trips, etc. – and I just got access to the video recently. It’s on my list of to-dos to watch it and figure out if it needs editing before posting on YT!

Slanted Fish: Any news about officiation of the wiki/other sites?
Skinny Moon: Wiki also on my to-do list!

Slanted Fish: Would you guys be able to update the Daily Pop at least with some old pictures of the creative process and such, since you can’t share anything new at the moment?
Skinny Moon: I asked about posting older stuff on the Daily Pop and we’re going to look into it!

idk: Is the new membership page mobile-friendly? That’s what it looks like.
Skinny Moon: Yes, new membership page is mobile friendly

Tall Cactus: When do you think New Pop will be released, at least? And will there be a new island on the current pop?
Skinny Moon: New Pop scheduled to be released late this year and there will be new islands (plural!) on it!

Ylimegirl: Are we still going to be able to play the old Poptropica islands with the new Poptropica?
Skinny Moon: The old Pop won’t just disappear when the new Pop debuts, so you’ll still be able to play old islands there.

Slanted Fish: Are all the current islands going to be on the new Pop, with the new art style?
Skinny Moon: Can’t yet talk about on specifics regarding current islands and New Pop. We’re super busy working on new features for both the current Poptropica and making the New Poptropica. I know you guys are used to bunches of islands coming out each year and this year isn’t typical. But trust me, we have SO MUCH awesome coming your way!

Perfect Sky: I think I’m the only one wondering if there will every be new popgum….
Mad Apper: Every new PopGum? Even Island-Flavored? What am I saying? Yep. New PopGum to go with every island.
Skinny Moon: Oooooh, I like the idea of new PopGum for every island!

Ripley: Wait aren’t you the one who runs the FB page?? I’m Lizzy, that chick you roasted in January. ^w^
Skinny Moon: Hi! Nice to see you! All you PHC people – if you’re on Facebook, come say hi there, too – like Lizzy!

Tall Cactus: So, will there be a new island on the current Pop?
Skinny Moon: I can’t comment on potential new islands. Sorry!

Criaha: What’s your personal favorite island?
Skinny Moon: Hmmmmmm… that’s tough… I like MOTM a lot.

Slanted Fish: If it’s okay to ask, how is Poptropica doing financially? There have been a few rumors in both directions, but they’re mostly speculation.
Skinny Moon: Poptropica is doing great!

idk: Since the new Poptropica is being built in Unity, have there been any changes within Poptropica’s development team? Any new creators because of this change?
Skinny Moon: Our Creators are loving working with Unity. I’ve seen some awesome early animation – I wish I could show you!

CraftyPoptropiqueen: Is Binary Bard ever gonna come back? ;w;
idk: E. Vile come back, please.
Criaha: Wait, I don’t want to sound annoying, but will ringmaster raven come back? O3O
idk: Dr. Cumulo Nimbus gets no attention either.
Tall Cactus: What about Black Widow?
Skinny Moon: I will let the Creators know you all want to see the villains come back!

Brave Tomato: How’d you get the community contact job? ^^
Skinny Moon: I’ve been working for the company since January 2015 and was hired to manage the GHD blog and social. That went well, so they gave me Poptropica. And then that went well, so they gave me everything social media-related under the StoryArc Media umbrella – though right now I’m pretty Poptropica-focused.

Tall Cactus: Is there gonna be a Pop TV Show?
Skinny Moon: Though we’d LOVE a Pop TV show, that’s not something in the immediate future…

Angry Tomato: Any new islands?
Skinny Moon: All I can say about new Islands is there will be new islands in the New Poptropica!

Criaha: I was just wondering, will you ever have LGBT characters?
Skinny Moon: Excellent question. I don’t think I can officially say anything about this yet, but trust me when I say allowing full customization of a player’s character is something we’re discussing for the New Poptropica.

MissEligon: I have a question, I feel like this might be something to hide until later, but will we ever hear more about the infamous for villains?
Skinny Moon: Hmmmm… TBD…

––

Quite the interesting Q&A session, despite being an unexpected visit. It really was a fun time, and we’re hoping Skinny Moon will stop by more often! 😀

Jessica also showed off her 5-month-old puppy, Toby, while on the chat, so I gotta add that in here. 😛

JessPuppyToby

If you’re not already part of the PHC community, we would love for you to join. It’s a friendly place where you’ll get to hang out with lots of Poptropicans, including PHB authors, other Poptropica bloggers and artists, and as you just saw, even the occasional Creator! Find out more on our Chat page!

Meme King out. 👑

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

Creators, Sneak Peeks

PHB Sneak Peeks: What are those?

April 20, 2016April 20, 2016 Spencer

Wihi folks, Cobalt here!

Please don’t hate me for bringing back an old meme. 😛

The Creators have announced on their blog that they are officially making shoes an item on Poptropica! Is this in anyway connected to my post Top Five Items We Wish Existed in Poptropica? Either way, amazing coincidence.

Captain Crawfish added that there’d be a little something to do to go with the shoes as well: “We’re not just giving away these kicks, though. You’ve got to earn them!”

blueShoes

Well, I was just haxxing as usual, and I ran into these babies (behind the scenes):

Screenshot at Apr 20 17-57-39

From the Creator’s blog post, I was not expecting these to have multiple colors! I do find it a bit weird it isn’t just one card with the color changing options they do have for some costumes, but this will probably make “earning them” so much better!