We are now well into springtime (at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere), and I hope the weather has been more pleasant for you than the pre-summer heat that’s happening in my local desert!
I apologize for the delay in this post, and I hope there is still enough time to pay homage to an island that many of you know is very important to me…
Astro-Knights!!
There is no shortage of things I or a giant portion of this fandom could say about this island. It’s easily one of Poptropica’s most remembered, and many consider it to be the pinnacle of the game’s storytelling abilities. Compared to islands that came before it like Shark Tooth or 24 Carrot, the world of Poptropica suddenly felt expanded and full of undiscovered potential.
Concept sketches for the knights
While less remembered, a short book was also made based off this island, among a series of four others. It can still be bought, but hasn’t been mentioned by the team for a while, nor have any other islands ever been added to the series.
The villain, Mordred/Binary Bard, is also quite iconic, to the point of being featured in the spin-off island Super Villain. He also has a fair share of fans, art, and a cameo in a dating sim.
An old version of the Binary Bard, where he was intended to be a simple background character.
There is no shortage of love for this island. That being said, it is hardly mentioned by the current Pop team anymore. While the development of Fairy Tale Island is probably the most pressing thing now, it would be nice to have it remembered by the future island pantheon.
Very nice, as a matter of fact. I don’t think many fans (including myself) would have any more interest in Pop if they completely discarded the stories that got us into it in the first place.
Concepts for the Princess of Arturus
Before I conclude this post, I would also like to highlight some fanart made for the previous Island Flash-back, Wild West. Here is some fanart of El Mustachio Grande made by Dangerous Dragon!
Now here comes your part, Poptropicans! Astro Knights and other classic islands were rendered unplayable for most people in the Flash-Haxe transition, but the months of work that the artists and writers put into it should not go to waste! Make fanart, fanfiction, videos, and guest posts. Let the Creators know what you appreciate about their past work to encourage them to preserve it!
Welcome back to “Pop Places IRL,” Poptropicans! Today, we’re visiting ye olde times and heading to Astro-Knights Island. Enjoying the series? Be sure to check out other Pop Places IRL posts.
Astro-Knights Island takes place in Medieval Europe, but obviously includes a sci-fi twist. Though its exact location is never specified, we’ll assume the kingdom of Arturus has British roots, given its repeated connections to Arthurian legend.
Before we launch our rocket and start soaring through the stars, we get to explore the kingdom a bit to kick off the mysterious story of this island. The Castle is definitely the largest structure in town, and an iconic element of Medieval Europe to say the least.
photo: Dover Castle (historyextra)
Besides the castle, however, we get to see a medieval aesthetic all throughout Arturus, particularly when looking at Main Street. Er… save for those sci-fi elements we talked about earlier. I don’t think we would be able to find a glowing rocket statue in the Middle Ages…
photo: Small Towns in England (planetware)
The Ye Olde Rumour Mille is another major location in town. The name might be a bit of a joke, but the actual structure is pretty similar to its IRL counterpart!
photo: Stembridge Tower Mill (picturesofengland)
General town aside, let’s step back inside the castle. That’s why we’re here, aren’t we? Cool castles!!! Though many castles in Europe have been refurbished in one way or another, it’s nonetheless interesting to still see them standing at all. You can even tour some!
photo: Medieval Castles in the UK (jebiga)
Continuing inside the castle, I think the most important room to talk about is the Throne Room. Gotta have a center piece for the whole castle! The room we have pictured is from France, but you get the idea. Quite ornate!
photo: Throne Room (wikipedia)
On the opposite side of things, however, we have the Dungeon. These sorts of cells, including “oubliettes,” are often associated with with the Medieval era (though its correlation with torture more accurately pairs with the Renaissance period). Too bad there weren’t any mysterious robots IRL to keep prisoners company!
photo: The Castle Dungeon and the Oubliette (exploringcastles)
The last room in the castle is the Library. Art history buffs will certainly be familiar with some illuminated manuscripts from this era, though we don’t have much time to stop and study anything in Poptropica. Gotta love that Old English, right? Unfortunately the library in Poptropica is, er, in a bit disarray…
photo: The Golden Haggadah (khanacademy)
photo: Royal Manuscript (thebritishlibrary)
photo: Medieval Manuscripts (mymodernmet)
While in the castle library, we could also glance at some references Poptropica makes to Arthurian legend (as I mentioned earlier). Though the legend primary features King Arthur, we learn from the Astro-Knights novel that the King of Arturus is actually named Richard. As in Richard the Lionheart!
photo: King Arthur (ancienthistoryencyclopedia)
photo: Richard the Lionheart (historyonthisday)
Similarly, the knights have ties to legend: Pelasus (named similarly to Pelleas, a knight of the round table), Gawain (another knight of the round table with the same name), and Cador (Duke of Cornwall, related to Arthur). Cador may not be a knight of the round table like his comrades, but the ties are there nonetheless! So… have a photo of Sir Lancelot in his place.
RedKnightSirPelasusASG
BlueKnightSirGawainASG
GreenNightSirCadorASG
photo: Pelleas (wikipedia)
photo: Gawain (wikipedia)
photo: Lancelot (everworldwiki)
Another good comparison to legend: Merlin! Other than sharing the name with a wizard, our “feathered” friend also shares his name with a type of falcon.
photo: Merlin Bird (wikipedia)
photo: Merlin (wikipedia)
Last but not least… Binary Bard! Or Mordred, to be clear. There are various depictions of him in legend, but as Modredus, he is Arthur’s traitorous nephew.
photo: Mordred (wikipedia)
Alright, I know we strayed away from “places” for a bit there, leaning more towards “people,” so let’s get back on track! Other than Medieval Europe, the other dominant setting of Astro-Knights is, of course, space! The real moon may not have an AstroZone like the Pewter Moon in Poptropica, but maybe we’ll get to that point someday.
photo: Lunar Surface (interestingengineering)
If you recall, the three main planets we visit on our space adventure include the Ice Planet, Fire Planet, and Jungle Planet. Wellllll, those planets may not be in our solar system, but we can still compare them to what we have IRL! Based on their distance from the sun and atmosphere characteristics, Uranus is our coldest planet while Venus is our hottest. Does that make Earth our Jungle Planet then?
photo: Uranus (wikipedia)
photo: Venus (wikipedia)
photo: Earth (npr)
Phew, now that was a long trip! I guess space is a pretty far off flight, huh? But anyway, it’s no wonder that Astro-Knights won “OG Island We’ll Miss Most” in the 2020 Poppies. It’s quite the adventure!
Aside from the sci-fi elements, how well do you think this island holds up to IRL Medieval Europe? How much do you know about Arthurian legend? And what other islands would you like to see in this series? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in a comment below!
Until next time, Poptropicans, I’m blasting off for now!
Hey guys just wanted to keep you up to date with everything.
First off due to the huge amounts of people wanting to play Astro-Knights island Poptropica is experiencing a high amounts of traffic. The creators are working on the problem and say it will be back online in less then 24 hours. While this is disappointing we’re happy because it gives us time to write the guide. 😛
Secondly the winners to the PHB 1 million Monster Competition will be announced later this week and their special monster outfits will be sent to them. Although i myself must say this quickly, unfortunately i accidental lost 7 of the monster outfits and will only be able to give out 13 of them. I am very sorry but i guess it makes the costumes more rare. There’s always a positive to a negative. 😛
If you haven’t seen yet we have released our first issue of Poptropican’s 911 post. It’s filled with loads of cool stuff so check it out. You can access it from the post below or from the top bar.
If you haven’t heard the hype, Astro Knights Island has been released! But, not to the general public, of course. You have to buy an Astro Knights Early Access Pass to get in. The island will be released to everyone on June 10th, so you don’t have to wait that long to play it! Personally, I have bought the pass, but will you?
Also, I know that most of you have experienced difficulty logging on Poptropica the past few days. Dr. Hare has properly addressed this problem:
Q: What’s going on with Poptropica right now? A: With the launch of Astro-Knights island we’ve experienced an overwhelming surge in traffic. We are working on a solution to handle the increase in traffic to the site.
Q: When will Poptropica be back up? A: We’re expecting to have the site ready within the next 24 hours.
Q: Is my account information lost? A: No. The increase in traffic has caused temporary glitches that have made registered accounts unavailable. This is part of the fix we are working on. When we are back up and running, you will have full access to your account.
In fact, they fixed it right in a jiffy! It should be readily working now, and you are able to log in without the stupid machine constantly telling you that your name is forever nonexistent or to check on it later only to find it still repeating the same message like a broken record. 🙂
Oh, yeah; you might see something on the Poptropica website like:
ALERT: We’re currently making upgrades to the site. If you have trouble logging in or playing, please try again later. Thank you for your patience.
Just ignore it. Ignore it and walk away. Don’t let peer pressure get the best of you, kids.
ANYWAY, they have made updates to the map to suit the newly debuted Astro Knights Island as well as Reality TV Island. It does note that it is coming Summer 2009! Very cool!
It sure is getting quite crowded on the map. It would be cool to have a huge Poptropica Planet, and you could rotate it to see all of the islands. 😀 That reminds me… how are you able to travel to all of these islands all over the planet in just a simple blimp?
Next on the agenda, we are now able to sign up to be E-mailed when Reality TV Island releases! Yay! Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten the E-mail for Astro Knights, but predictably, we will get it on Wed., the day it releases for everybody.
^ ^ ^ Hippie Man is so awesome that he can say long phrases while he is smiling!
Also, on the Poptropica website you can now see that the little Astro Knight and Reality TV Island buttons have been updated based on the recent news:
The last piece of news is that there is a new poll on the PCB! It asks, “Do you plan on getting the Astro-Knights Early Access pass?“
I already have it! [14%]
I will be getting it soon! [39%]
I haven’t decided yet. [12%]
No, I think I’ll wait. [33%]
I obviously voted that I already had it, but what did you vote? =O
I think that’s about it! I will try to get a guide up maybe this weekend for people who have bought the pass. We have also hit the 1,100,000 hit mark! Woot! =] What a great way to celebrate my B-Day which is in 2 days! ^-^ Merry Astro-Knight Island playing to all!
UPDATE: Whoops! I accidentally forgot something. Vlad the Viking has posted a new video on YouTube! It’s sort of a trailer/gameplay video of Astro Knights Island. Enjoy!
Large outbreaks of a new flu, only recently discovered have been spreading everywhere overPoptropica. The new flu known as Mechanical Fever, Two Face Plague, Robot Monster and The Terminator Germ was only just recently discovered on a newly found island by the name of Astro-Knights Island. Certain cases of the flu were found on multiple Poptropicans on the island and was spreading fast.
It is suspected that a certain type of mechanical owl found on Astro-Knights is the cause for this plague. These robots have been known to fly near areas containing traces of hay, so it is recommended that you stay away from such places until the coast is clear.
Yesterday all access routes to and from the island were closed off to try and isolate the outbreak. Although i must mention that no such access has been given to Poptropicans as of yet to be able to get to the Island. The island was to be opened in early fall as a holiday destination for any Poptropicans wishing to take a break. But this holidays destinations opening seems will be delayed due to this rare flu.
Not long after highly qualified scientists from Super-Power island (these scientists were recently studying the mysterious powers given to escaped convicts when a radio-active asteroid hit the cell) were sent in to study the cases and find a cure. Authorities on the case were sure that they had kept the problem isolated and main islanders of Poptropica did not have to worry about catching the flu. This is what the chief constable of Super Power island had to say about the matter;
“Do not panic. While this rare case of the flu could potentially be deadly, and there is no cure as of yet. We have hard working scientist on the case for that. The Poptropicans with the flu have been isolated on the island and we a sure the threat will not reach your waters. Thank-you.”
Unfortunately latter that day an urgent call from a scientist on Astro-Knights island informed the head of Police that an seriously infected Poptropican (the poptropican even had his eye turned to metal) had escaped from isolation and was making his way over to The main island via a blimp.
We would like to confirm that the mysterious Poptropican is called Binary Bard. He managed to get off the island by putting the guards to sleep by doing a dance. Not long after the report came in that he had fled the island bystanders on the Main Poptropican island state they saw a half robotic poptropican, with strange yellow and purple clothing float down in a parachute and land on the outskirts of Early Poptropica island.
We recently found out that the first suspect to come into to contact with Binary Bard and catch the flu was White Foot. In under 24 hours after his landing, large cases of mechanic skin rashes have been appearing all over the island. All we have to say is stay indoors. Do NOT go into multiplayer rooms. You can only obtain the flu by touching someone in the Multiplayer Rooms. Look out for people with strange metal like parts on there face.
There have been no cases of the flu spreading onto different islands yet. But it wont be long till it does.
I hope this doesn’t get as serious as the swine flu (H1N1)!
This report could not of been done without the help of Cool Wing. She was the first to tell me that there was a new flu going round. She is such a brave kid, she even had the flu when she informed me. Poor kid.
For any of you fearing that AK Island will not come out because of this you are more then likely wrong. Somebody, most likely White Foot, copied the face when Binary Bard came to visit Cap’n Salty’s multiplayer room on Big Nate Island, Poptropica. I’m sure the creators do not mind that everybody has it. Its pretty cool.
Go out into multiplayer rooms and see if you can find it!
Have fun.