Daily Pop, Glitches, Web Development

Castle Crasher, FunBrain Flasher, and ASG Request-er!

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! What’s new? Well…

BREAKING NEWS: There is finally a Daily Pop in sight. Yes indeed, let the masses know, a Daily Pop has popped up. It is the first one this month, preceded by last month’s abysmally low count of two total Daily Pops. And now, let us ponder this momentous image:

Castle Crasher: A palace fit for a queen.
Castle Crasher: A palace fit for a queen.

The PHB reached out to hear what Poptropicans had to say on the picture…

“Astro-Twice? Please let it be Astro-Twice Island,” commented Cobalt Spinner, an avid Popspiracist.

“The party don’t start ’til I walk in!” declared DJ Saturday Nite, best known for ditching the party after the zombie apocalypse took over her turf. She was last seen enthusiastically greeting players into the Arcade on Home Island, a locale known for looking nothing like what its exterior suggests. “In my defense, I’m just here to get the groove on. You checking out this castle too? Hit me up!”

“There! We finally gave you guys a sneak peek! Now leave us alone, we’re busy!” an anonymous disgruntled Poptropica developer snapped before quickly rushing off to avoid press cameras. Okay, so that last quote didn’t actually happen… but hey, we want more Daily Pops!

What do you think this scene is about?

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In other pictorial news… Poptropica’s sister site FunBrain got a makeover! A lot of Poptropicans in the community have expressed in their My Place in Poptropica stories that this was where it all started for them. Well, some of us are probably not quite the elementary-aged target audience of FunBrain anymore either, but Poptropica felt it was right to give them a shoutout for their redesigned, mobile-friendly site with new games and a new look – and so, from the PHB as well, here’s to FunBrain.

The only thing is… let’s hope they keep placing ads for Poptropica. That’s how many of us came to know this place, and for the next generation, we hope they’ll find Poptropica too!

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And finally… here’s a little message from PHB glitcher WimpyKidFan regarding ASGs:

Hey guys! It’s me! Your all-time favorite person in the world, WimpyKidFan! I’m the new author here on the PHB! Awesome right?! Jk. This is just a guest post so don’t you worry. The real reason why I’m here is to discuss something new I’m taking on: the Poptropica Island ASG Request-er!

asg graphic

This Request-er is a form where you guys can request for Poptropica characters from islands to be made into ASGs. Using it will be a more efficient way of requesting ASGs than merely posting comments on the PHB or PHC and hoping for someone to create your ASG.

comments

Anyway, it’s a very simple procedure. To get started, just visit the Request-er site here [http://poptropicaislandasgrequest-er.weebly.com] and fill out the form! You don’t need to be signed into a google account to fill out the form). Other important information about the request-er and its rules can be found on the website.

Because the majority of requests for ASGs come from characters from islands (villains, heroes, regular NPCs), and because it’d be pretty hard to do more than that, for now we’ll be taking island ASG requests only. But you never know what might happen in the future. We’ll try to do every request we can!

Before I leave I would like to thank Slanted Fish and the PHB. I would also like to thank my ASG team: Red Lizard, Grand, and Magic Panda. Thank you everyone, and request on!  😀 — WimpyKidFan

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Stay tuned for more updates on the PHB… and as always, stay popping, Poptropicans!

–🐠🐠

Our Discovery Island

Our Discovery Island: A Comparison

Spencer

Hey folks, Cobalt here!

Remember Our Discovery Island, or as some of us endearingly call it, Orange Poptropica? You can catch up on that discovery in this old PHB post.

Anyway, with the help of an amigo of mine with his popular screen name Yujo_Jacy (hey Yujo!), I will be comparing the similarities and differences between Our Discovery Island and Poptropica. Despite both games running the same engine, they’re vastly different worlds. Let’s take a look!

One difference between Our Discovery Island and Poptropica is that progress is recorded in a “Report Card” screen. So in a way, 8 Our Discovery Island Gold Stars are essentially one Gold Island Medallion in Poptropica. You receive a silver star after you complete the primary objective of each scene – and earn the gold star after receiving an item from a new NPC afterwards along with completing a hidden game in that area.

Eight_Gold_Stars_-Film_Studio_Island_Report_Card

You also have to get all the gold stars for the reset button to work. (In Poptropica, you can reset your quest whenever you’d like!)

Eight_Gold_Stars_-Ice_Island_Report_Card

There are also Common Rooms in Our Discovery Island. One apparent difference is that the questions asked are paired with voices, just like the rest of the dialogue in Our Discovery Island.

Games like Sky Dive, Hoops, and Star Link are in both Our Discovery Island and Poptropica. However, there are some other games exclusive to Our Discovery Island.

common

One thing you’ll notice for sure is that parachute jump is without a doubt Sky Dive, whilst hoops and star link have the same name. I won’t show all the ODI games, but here’s a glimpse of the game Match Card, where you match the picture with the word. I wonder why they felt the need to change that name, but keep Star Link. 😛

There is also a single player version found outside of the common room, and you click a random hidden location in a scene to start it. The timer is at around 80 seconds and you have to match every card before time is up in order to complete it.

Match_Cards

The aesthetic is overall incredibly similar to Poptropica, but in my opinion, despite it looking similar, I really get different vibes, and the background scenery is a bit different.

There are also some animations that have never been seen in Poptropica, but seen in ODI – such as this UFO, and fishing on Ice Island. (Bet there was a huge brainstorm session going on at ODI dev for this island’s name, am I right?)

However, some animations are recycled from Poptropica, like this handcuff animation from Super Power Island.

Noooo_Cheesy_Dialogue_-_Ice_Island

*coughs *They seriously couldn’t make the handcuffs gray? Why would she need the super villain ones? *coughs some more*

Doctor_Al_on_the_PDA_-_Ice_Island

One thing you’ll notice about the dialogue is that normally in Poptropica, you have 3 questions you can usually ask said relevant character to the plot, and they answer. On ODI, it tends to be a pretty much everything you could possibly ask all smashed into one. Though, I do like it. 😀

Right before I conclude the post, I’m going to go a little back on ODI, to the creation of our ODIan. The names are pretty similar to Poptropica’s, but there are some new ones here. I didn’t compile an entire list, but here are some interesting mentions:

Now, back to the present. The island quests are very similar to Poptropica’s. Here’s an example. Space Island is about helping the inhabitants out with fixing the mess caused by the Space Tricksters, pictured above – their outfits are very similar to costume designs from Super Power Island, Astro-Knights Island, and even the Big Nate Island Scuba gear.

The Space Tricksters have powers of super speed, changing signs, discoloring environments, animating objects, and more mischief. (They also feature in a Poptropica English app called Phonic Tricksters, which is owned by Pearson, not so much Poptropica.)

The_Space_Tricksters_-_Space_Island

Also, yes, the dialogue box is in a different font, but one also used in Poptropica. It is the same font for card descriptions: Billy Serif.

Future Island is about helping man named Zero Zendell fix what once went wrong. In his past, he kidnapped figures in history and placed them within exhibits of his museum. His request is for you to go back in time and prevent these kidnappings from happening.

The island’s concept is very similar to Time Tangled Island, with a museum as a hub world for each area. My friend Yujo couldn’t get screenshots since he only had access to this island for a short while, but he did create this amazing inventory card compilation for items from Future Island!

Future_Island_Items_-Our_Discovery_Island

Also, doesn’t the baseball cap totally look like Dipper’s from Gravity Falls? 😀 I’m going to wrap this up with one more shocking game changer. (Yes, that is a pun, but also can be taken seriously!)

Poptropica is iconic for its blimp and map-clicking travel. ODI lacks both of these. Each account only has access to one island.

Film_Studio_Island_Access_-_Our_Discovery_Island_For_Cobalt_Edit

On the login screen, you literally only see one of the islands – no way to change it. Once you enter the island, you cannot return to the screen unless you log back in. The right arrow allows you to enter the island, and the edit details button is for your account info (your username and password).

Another flaw that Our Discovery Island has is that access to the island will expire after 2 years or so. Essentially, the account is useless after that unless you renew access.

Yujo also had this to add: “Our Discovery Island is actually quite enjoyable for something that borrows from another game’s engine. Both games have a certain charm to them – although I prefer Poptropica overall. 😉”

I wanted to take time to thank Yujo_Jacy personally for all the help. You’re absolutely awesome, thanks for helping me with this post to those who were curious about ODI and couldn’t access it. He really helped out a big deal with this post, and when he comments, I’d appreciate you all thanking him with me!

Until next time, Poptropicanos and Our Discoveryanos!

-Cobalt

PMFM (Poptropican Meme Face Mondays)

Poptropican Meme Face Mondays: Round 21

Ultimate iPad Expert

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here.

OhBoyLookAtTheTime

My watch says half past dank, I’ll have to get that fixed. BUT YAY! IT’S TIIIIIIIIIIIIME! Welcome to round twenty-one of PMFM (Poptropican Meme Face Mondays)!

PMFM-Round21

The lucky meme-faced Poptropicans this week are Slippery Raptor, Mighty Melon, and Super Comet! And here are the memes:

Feel free to click on the images to view them in their full glory. 😛

 

And now for some extra memery this week! 😛 I’ve been doing art trades for meme faces on my DeviantArt, and this week I have one with my good friend, Mighty Gamer (who shares a dA account with Popular Wolf).

PMFM21-mightygamer126

 

Want your own meme face?

Well, it’s simple. Comment on the most recent PMFM post (just choose the one of the list here). Be sure to follow the criteria below:

  • Very crucial: Wear the outfit you want to have in the meme face on Poptropica and keep it on for at least a week.
  • As mentioned, find the most recent PMFM post (it will be at the top of this list)
  • Include your Poptropican username in a comment.
  • Include the meme face you would like on your Poptropican in your comment (a link to an image of the meme is very preferred).
  • Post your comment and wait! (PMFM is operated on a first come-first serve basis, so your meme face will come after all of the ones before are released).
  • Just a note: You do not need to re-comment on newer posts if you haven’t gotten yours yet. Once I reply to your comment mentioning “You being added to the list,” then I have seen your comment and added it to my literal list, so yours will be made after each one before is made.

This completes round twenty-one of meme faces. Tune in next Monday for the next Poptropican Meme Face Mondays!

What do you think about this week’s meme faces? Comment below.

Meme King out. 👑

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

PopTROPEica

Pop-TROPE-ica: Venting about Vents

Spencer

Hey folks, Cobalt here!

Listen, we all love venting, we all do it, it’s the only thing that keeps us from going Binary Bard crazy. Though, today I’m talking about another kind of venting… one that’s a common Poptropica trope. I’m talking about adventuring inside vents.

2016-04-03

It seems to me that not only does Poptropica love trash digging, but also loves making us navigate our way through vents quite a bit.

Let’s count the islands: 24 Carrot (the vent system in the factory), SOS (when you swim through vents because the ship is flooded), Night Watch (at the end, when you’re chasing the burglar), Monster Carnival (inside Honest Gabe’s, where you find the newspapers), and Escape from Pelican Rock (when you’re manipulating the air vents above the kitchen). Five islands!

Plus, an original concept for Shrink Ray contained a vent traveling scene as well, though it was later scrapped (though we still go through a trash maze).

bunnies

Spy Island and Super Power Island had some kind of vent scenes, but they weren’t exactly crawl spaces like these. (ex. The dogs’ hallway maze in Spy and Rat man’s sewer in Super Power)

So, whether it’s escaping prison, breaking into an apothecary, traveling secretly through an abandoned factory or capturing a burglar on your night shift at the mall, it really doesn’t matter. The Poptropica Creators obviously love to “vent”. 😉

Do you Pop-trope-icanos enjoy these vent scenes? Do you find them repetitive or annoying? Fun and enjoyable? Talk about it! Converse!

No, not the sneaker brand. Like, chat! 😀

Until next time, folks!

–Cobalt

My Place in Poptropica

My Place in Poptropica: Ylimegirl

Slanted Fish

This is the My Place in Poptropica story of Ylimegirl, a Poptropica player who helps out with the Poptropica Wiki and Orb Legend. See the bottom of this post for details on sending in your own MPIP!

ylimegirl

You may or may not know me. I’m known as empressotime or Cuddly Eel on Poptropica and Ylimegirl or Ylime pretty much anywhere else. I’m an avid wiki editor, a cartoon watcher, and Poptropica player who is also working on a game inspired by said site. But before all that, I was just a young girl who enjoyed using the computer. (Cue flashback…)

Before 2011 | Internet Exploring

As a kid, when I wasn’t playing with my younger brother, I was on the computer. And I loved playing online. Some sites I remember were Barbie, Polly Pocket, Bob the Builder, PBS, and a lot more kid sites. I’m sure most of you know that in order to join an online world, you need your parent’s permission. Yeah, I didn’t do that. I had an email address from my parents, and I used that as my parent’s address. So I signed up for all of these worlds without their permission! Not that scandalous – because is it really that bad to have a secret account on the Barbie website, of all places? Probably not.

As as a sidenote, I discovered Wikia at some point around here, but didn’t edit much since you couldn’t join Wikia until you were 13, and for once I was actually paying attention to the age limit.

Late 2011-Early 2012 | Another Online World

It was fifth grade, I was eleven, and… to be honest, I don’t quite remember how I discovered Poptropica. All I know is I discovered it around the same time I tried out Club Penguin, and my best friend also played it. At any rate, I was in love. I beat the majority of the islands on one account, and then when I wanted to replay one… I simply made another account. And another. And another. And… yeah.

By the time the Restart Island feature was introduced, I had about seven different accounts. How I chose to only use my current one, empressotime? It was the only one I’d beat Mythology Island on… because the aforementioned best friend beat the River Styx portion I was terrible at getting past. When it came to Poptropica fanblogs, the one I used was Poptropica Secrets, and only that.

Throughout the rest of the school, Poptropica was gaining popularity because it was one of two, maybe three sites allowed by the school to be used in the computer lab. Due to this, going into said lab at lunchtime was often met with a multitude of blue screens. And since it was so popular, I was never able to claim a computer. Instead, I stood around, kind of like a creeper I guess? But I began to volunteer assistance to when people were stuck on islands, and people often started asking me to come over instead of me just popping over and giving unsolicited advice.

Unfortunately, sometime later Poptropica was, for some reason, removed from the list of OK sites, and I stopped doing that. Also, I think I might’ve looked at the Poptropica Wiki at one point. Maybe.

2012 | Continuation

I kept playing Poptropica, and at one point got a three-month membership that later expired, and I never bothered to renew. Around this point, my Poptropican looked crazy with the Gamer Girl goggles, the color-changing shirt, and green Betty Jetty hair.

But when SUIs were announced, they bugged the heck out of me, and I stopped playing since they were just so… glitchy and cumbersome, the audio was not engaging, not to mention that they barely fit on my laptop screen. It felt like many of the things that had attracted me to Poptropica had vanished in favor of being modern and cooler. And thus I was off the map (ha) of Poptropica for many years.

2013-2014 | Real Life

While I wasn’t playing Poptropica, I was still playing Club Penguin every once in a while. Sorry, I just really liked the Ice Fishing Game! I was also entering middle school and was dealing with emotional stuff of my own, so I was kept busy. I also got a Wikia account on the day of my 13th birthday, and started editing on various wikis often. I also ended up getting a Tumblr in February of 2013, a few months before my birthday, at the URL ylimegirl, then changed to agarnernon, and now it’s currently at sarcasrnspasrn.

Where am I going with this? Well, prior to joining Tumblr, I looked through the tags for information about the webshow Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse. I found out that apparently someone had discovered an advertisement for it on Poptropica, so I dusted off one of my accounts, EvilShapeShifter, and sent the account name and its password to the Dreamhouse blog thekyan. He used it to take the picture, and now that account is famous I guess. Also at some point during this, I released my extra accounts to the public with their passwords, so I have no idea what’s going on with them anymore.

2015 | Back and Better than Ever

One day while bored, I decided to check out the Poptropica Wiki, after trying to edit the Club Penguin Wiki earlier and abandoning it after getting annoyed at how daunting that task was. So it was natural that I just tried the next online interest of mine from four years ago: Poptropica. I found myself fixing redirects (generally my first order of business on any wiki I edit), combing through various pages to find grammar errors, and fixing up templates. I also naturally started playing Poptropica again, and that’s when I decided to make my current purple-themed avatar, for asexual as well as aesthetic reasons.

My hard work garnered the attention of Andrew Wiles, also known as HPuterpop – but I had no idea the importance of this dude since I hadn’t been in the Poptropica community for ages, and definitely not on the PHB. He ended up asking for my Skype, and we began talking about wiki-related stuff and then pretty much anything that came to mind. Turns out we have a lot in common when it comes to the shows we watch!

He eventually convinced Paul (Ultimate iPad Expert) to make me an admin on the wiki, and I worked a ton in CSS and overall theme design. When we ended up moving to Gamepedia, I helped implement Andrew’s art into the CSS. He also made my lovely avatar on Gravatar, and I came up with the name for the PoptropiComic. (Fun fact: Another name I tossed at him was “Island Poppin'”, you know, like “Island Hopping”, but with Poptropica? Yeah, it’s bad.)

My bigger achievements came later when I beat Early Poptropica on the re-release (when they added a World Champions Map)… at the impressive rank of #56. What I think is impressive is coming in fourth in the state of California! 😛 I also later came in third place for UiPE’s fanart contest (and now have a meme-faced Cuddly Eel to show for it) and came in *freaking 4th place* for the Champions Map race of Reality TV Island, which I did during lunch and was almost late to class for it (no regrets). Andrew can confirm, however, that I was quite stressed and sent a lot of garbled text at him over Skype. 😛

2016 | And beyond!

The PoptropiComic later became Orb Legend, and I talked to Andrew a lot about plotlines and future plans, as well as coded some of the basics required for the game. My avatar also later fit into the story, but you’re going to have to wait until she’s introduced for more information 😉

I’m excited for the islands that are coming ahead, continuing to work on the Poptropica Wiki, working on Orb Legend, and continuing to talk to the friends I’ve met over the last year thanks to Andrew.

Thanks everyone,

Emily

P.S. The “Ylime” in Ylimegirl is just “Emily” backwards! What a twist!

P.P.S. The other account names I’ve used are Ylimegirl, Ylimegirl2, Ylimegirl3, Ylimegcat (heard it in reference to the cat Garfield), Ylimegcat2, Ylimegal, EvilShapeShifter (inspired by the costumizer), and EmpressOTime (inspired by Time Tangled Island). I assume the other names are self-explanatory. 😛

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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). Look out for more community MPIPs in the future!

~the PHB.