Creators, PHB Specials, Poptropica Portfolio

Poptropica Portfolio: Jordan Leary

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans!

Last week’s Poptropica Portfolio feature was pretty popular, so here’s another! (Here on the PHB, we’ve previously featured the works of Abraham Tena, Chris Goodwin, and Nate Greenwall.) The lucky Creator to be featured this time is Jordan Leary, also thought to be Dr. Hare.

On his Behance page, Jordan says this of his work with Poptropica: “I’ve been leading the development of Poptropica, one of the most popular online kids’ games in the world, since 2007. I developed the original game engine, the animation system, and hundreds of games, scenes, and effects. Play the game at www.poptropica.com.” The original game engine, we assume, refers to the classic non-SUI (sound updated islands) on Poptropica. This game demo reel also shows a lot of his Poptropica work:

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Many of the Poptropica designs Jordan displays on his website are interactive, which we unfortunately cannot embed here on the PHB. Instead, we recommend that you visit his portfolio site directly so you can play around with his designs. We’ll also post pictures below to let you know what to look out for.

When you first land on the site, you’ll be on the Games tab, where you can find a few Poptropica-related bits on the side (including a screenshot of the PHB’s Star Link video!). However, it’s the next tab, UI, that shows the good Pop stuff. You get to make a bunch of Realms “bubbles”, view prototypes of the inventory cards and age picker, play a game of Mancala, the matching game with Mahjong tiles, Fiona’s violin, and more! Check it out on the UI tab on Jordan’s portfolio site!

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As foundational as he’s been to the game’s development since the beginning, it appears he’s no longer part of the team – his LinkedIn page shows that he left Poptropica in October 2015. Goodbye, Dr. Hare!

Thanks for all your work in making Poptropica what it is, Jordan – and we promise we’re not 12-year-old stalkers anymore. Maybe a little older now. 😉

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this look into a leading Poptropica developer’s popping portfolio! Stay popping, Poptropicans. 😀

Uncategorized

Announcing the winners of the PHB Valentine’s Special raffle!

Blake

Valentine's-Special

What’s popping, Poptropicans? Blake here, and true to my word, the raffle to get a supporting role in our 2016 Valentine’s Day Special is now closed. I received WAY more entries than I thought I would. Anyway, it’s time to announce our winners!

And, since there were lots of responses (and since even numbers are WAY better than odd numbers), I added a sixth spot in the special! That’s correct! SIX people are now going to be able to brag to their friends that they were featured on the PHB to their friends, instead of the five I specified. Without further ado, let’s begin! And the lucky random winners are….

Popular Wolf

WimpyKidFan

Ylimegirl

Skinny Ice

Brave Sky

Strange Monster

Congratulations to our six winners! Go brag to your friends, you’re going to Hollywood appearing in a PHB special! Look out for your big breaks on February 14th! Yes, this special will all be one part, due to the sheer amount of audacity this contest had.

Once again, congratulations to our winners! Well, that’s all for now, Poptropicans! Stay popping.

~Blake

Red Dragon Island, Sneak Peeks

Year of the Monkeying-Around with Dragons and Villains!

Slanted Fish

Kung hei fat choi, Poptropicans! 🎉

It’s the Year of the Monkey for those of you celebrating the Lunar New Year, and there’s a new update on the Creators’ Blog honoring the occasion. 🙈🐒

Also, we get a sneak peek of a monkey that’s supposed to be part of an upcoming island. (Past sneak peeks indicate this island could be related to the Poptropica comics or the upcoming tutorial update!)

monkey

Captain Crawfish also added in his post: “Plus, if you know where there’s a misplaced Chinese dragon on another Poptropica Island, we don’t want to hear about it anymore.”

Sounds like this pirate is salty. XD

chinese dragon

As someone who’s Chinese, I found the comment hilarious.

In case you’re not laughing yet, there’s a distinctly Chinese dragon dance happening on a Japanese island (Red Dragon, which takes place in ancient Japan) on Poptropica and it sounds like they’ve been getting quite a bit of flack for mixing it up. 😛

(Plus, thanks to Thinknoodles videos for being a source for grabbing quick snapshots!)

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Chinese New Year isn’t the only thing happening – Valentine’s Day is coming up, and rather than taking it as a time to feel sad at a lack of significant other, here at the PHB we’d like to deliver you some villainous Poptropica Valentine’s cards! These were created by Poptropicans from our deviantArt community, We-Love-Poptropica.

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Octavian’s is made by JennLikesPie, Black Widow’s is by Slippery Raptor, and salty old Captain Crawfish’s is by Spotted Dragon. Feel the love! ❤

Also, if you’d like to have your name in the upcoming PHB Valentine’s Special, be sure to check out Blake’s post on the subject and leave a comment with your favorite PHB ship (no later than Wednesday, and try not to go overboard 😉 ). Stay popping, Poptropicans!

🎉 恭禧發財!! 🎉

🎈 (紅包拿來~)🎈

PMFM (Poptropican Meme Face Mondays)

Poptropican Meme Face Mondays: Round 12

Ultimate iPad Expert

Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert here.

Ticket4DankMemes

If dank is a crime, I am definitely guilty as charged. Welcome to round twelve of PMFM (Poptropican Meme Face Mondays)!

PMFM-Round12

The lucky meme-faced Poptropicans this week are Anonymous Heeeeeeeeeheeeeeeeeeee, ethan, and (our very own PHB leader) Slanted Fish! And here are the memes:

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

Also, there’s a little extra meme-ery this week! DeviantArt user, JennLikesPie, was kind enough to create an awesome drawing of me. And so, I felt it only correct to make her a meme face:

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 twelve 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.

• Ultimate iPad Expert •

PHB Sneak Peeks, PHB Specials, Poptropica Portfolio

Poptropica Portfolio: Abraham Evensen Tena

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! 😀

It’s been a while since we’ve featured a Poptropica artist’s portfolio here on the PHB – if you haven’t already, check out the works of Chris Goodwin and Nate Greenwall.

This next one has been around for a while, but we’re finally getting around to posting about it: the portfolio of Poptropica illustrator Abraham Evensen Tena! (The character of Gamer Guy, or Abe on Zomberry Island, is most likely modeled after him.) You can check out the works we’re highlighting in this post and more on his portfolio website.

Perhaps the most interesting pictures from Abe’s portfolio are these glimpses of the forgotten underground island that we’ve seen sneak peeks of in past Daily Pops. It’s a land lined with pink crystals, flowing streams, and even dinosaur bones! I for one would love to play this island someday.

The concept art…
…and the final production piece!

The rest of the Poptropica-related art on his site are mostly desktop wallpapers for islands we’ve already seen, some illustrations he made for the Poptropica Lunar Colony chapter book, and other miscellaneous concept art. Here’s a look at some more pieces (click to enlarge the artwork):

If you check out his website, you’ll find even more Poptropica pieces. You can also see some of his personal non-Poptropica work on other parts of the site, but be warned that some of his (non-Poptropica) illustrations contain nudity, so only proceed if you are comfortable with that.

Abe Tena’s resume states that he worked as a game designer (most likely for Poptropica) from October 2010 to July 2015, which means he no longer works there. Right now, though, he’s an assistant professor specializing in human figure drawing at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, the city where Poptropica HQ is located. How cool would it be to have a Poptropica Creator be your art teacher?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this look into a Poptropica artist’s portfolio! Thanks to Abe for all the fantastic ideas and artwork he’s contributed to the game we know and love. 🙂