Community Creations

Community Creations: October 2021

community-creations-logo

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the October recap for Community Creations! October’s theme was Ghosts & Ghouls, so be sure to check out all the featured artists (not in any order)!

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Ghost of a Rose by Midnightoilstudios

The violin from Ghost Story Island is definitely a memorable scene from Poptropica and fits our theme for obvious reasons. The soft approach to coloring in this work gives it an appropriately haunting appearance too. I can almost feel that fog! I love seeing these recognizable ghostly characters portrayed in this style. Find her DeviantArt here.

Daphne Dreadnaught by Criaha

A cool redraw of an older drawing, this design definitely fits the spooky season. Daphne Dreadnaught is such a fun character to see fan art for too. I love the subtle glow to the net and the different colored ghostly hands. And I know drawing hands is quite the feat! Find her Twitter here.

Ghost Story by Miss Eligon

Oooh, another Spook Central Mini Quest inspired submission! Again, that glow effect and the different colors of the ghosts give this scene great spooky atmosphere. I love how everything projects from the center of the design, creating a good sense of movement for the viewer’s eye. Wonderfully wicked work! Find her Twitter here.

Ghoul Costume by Comical Rock (Shiny Noodle)

Costumes are obviously a great approach for celebrating Halloween, and I love this dark design. What can I say, maybe I’m just a sucker for goth fits? Plus, the mask would come in handy today. Perhaps the outfit is not directly spectral, but it most certainly fits a ghoulish theme. Perhaps is may even be a good submission for Poptropica’s monthly costume contest! Though it’s too late for October’s Halloween winners, there’s always next month to participate. Find the artist commonly in the comments.

Grieving by Lucky Joker

Wouldn’t you know it, Ghost Story is not the only ghoulish island Poptropica has to offer! Made for Poptober Day 31 (ghost) last year, this work still holds up today. Vampire’s Curse certainly falls under the spooky island category, and the hazy image of Annabelle here plays into its haunting theme. I love the lighting and emotion that this submission has to offer. Find his Instagram here.


Honorable Mentions

No specific honorable mentions this month, but that’s okay! Too busy trick-or-treating I assume! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the winners of the PHB’s annual Halloween Costume Contest for even more grim work from the community.


November: How Do I Participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fics, Pop clubhouses, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is November’s theme? November’s theme is…

🍬 Sweet & Sour! 🍭

Maybe I’m still coming off my sugar high from all that Halloween candy, or maybe I’m just looking forward to Thanksgiving already. But either way, food is on my mind. But candied treats are not the only things that sweet and sour could refer to! Maybe you’ll spin the theme to feature a sweet hero and sour villain, or something similar, instead.

Go totally sweet or go totally sour, the choice is yours. Maybe you’ll candify your favorite Poptropicans, or make a candy inspired outfit in-game? Maybe bake a tasty treat based on Poptropica IRL, or write a story about a sweet and sour Poptropica feast! You could even take some inspo from the recent Candy Crazed event.

  • Submit: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created, email it to the PHB team on our Contact page, OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArtTwitter, or Discord.
  • Results: Next month, I will feature 5 submissions that stood out to me the most as well as some honorable mentions.
  • Limitations: Just make sure you relate to both the theme and Poptropica (and nothing NSFW or otherwise inappropriate).
  • Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

~SD

Island Flash-backs, Uncategorized

Island Flash-back: Ghost Story 🎻

Time for spooky season, Poptropicans! 🎃 While there are several contenders for creepy Poptropica Islands (including Vampire’s Curse and Virus Hunter), I decided on one that, in my opinion, is the absolute peak of Pop’s storytelling. Many people know I love a good bittersweet tale, and this island is exactly that…

Ghost Story!!

Repent: Or they’ll lock you up and throw away the key.

While naturally family-friendly, Ghost Story takes on some deep topics compared to past islands, notably death, betrayal, and the difficulty to forgive and find peace, both from the actions of others and yourself.

I actually did cover this island before in the PHB’s Ramble Review series, and you can read it here!

Spooky Scenes: Could this be a scene for a new Poptropica Island?

Ghost Story also has some quite impressive art and background design, and also included the 3D sailing map seen in Skullduggery! This is used to go from island to island in this… island. In each area you learn about the different characters, and eventually how they are all connected, from the lighthouse to the prison.

Stringing Along: Play the music if the spirit moves you.

Ghost Story is also one of the first islands (pre-SUI, i.e. pre-Sound Updated Island) to include sound! Many Poptropicans remember the shock of hearing the voice of a character, Fiona — something that wasn’t done again until Survival Island and PoptropiCon. Along with that, there’s also the short but very sweet violin song you get to play.

Ghost Story also has some soundtracks made and released by Jeff Heim! They appear to be for whenever it would be updated to SUI or ported to Haxe, although this has yet to happen.

So let’s continue Fiona’s legacy! Ghost Story and other classic islands were rendered unplayable in the Flash-Haxe transition, but it should not go to waste. Let the Poptropica Creators know what you appreciate about the island to encourage them to preserve it!

Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles

Ghost Story Island, Lunar Colony Island, Store

Creepy costumes and chords from out of this world 🎻

Greetings, Poptropicans! Today, we’ll be looking at the latest store update and listening to some new island soundtracks. Let’s get started!

Another store rotation brings a unique gallery of items, including six new Halloween-themed outfits: Chillin’ Chills, Bit Dark, October Shade, Lemon Shark, Bubblegum Unicorn, and Fuzzy Monster. The store currently boasts 47 items, 21 of which are members-only.

Update: this store lineup received seven more items after the writing of this post, bringing the total to from 40 items to 47 items. They are the Dance-a-corn Costume, Fairytale Costume, Headless Costume, Inflatable Rex Costume, Cozy Cocoa, Witch’s Brew, and Autumn Scarves.

The items available for purchase are the following:

  • Costumes: Stylin’ Outfit*, Cool Outfit*, Chillin’ Chills, Bit Dark, October Shade, Lemon Shark, Bubblegum Unicorn*, Fuzzy Monster, Dance-a-corn Costume, Fairytale Costume, Headless Costume, Inflatable Rex Costume, Cozy Cocoa, Bride of Frankenstein*, and Frankenstein*
  • Followers: Elephant, Noodle Guy*, Dolphin*, Deer, Charlie the Chocomonkey*, and Atlantis Drone
  • Powers: Binary Rain*, Fireworks*, Cinnamon Fire Flavor Pop Gum, Meteor Shower*, Bobblehead*, Torch, and Electrify
  • Pranks: Sticky Notes, Witch’s Brew, Sneezing Powder, 8-Bit Birthday Pixel Pig Power, Inside Out Power*, and Love Potion* (this item is absent in the Flash version)
  • Miscellaneous: Party Popper*, Flamingo Floatie*, Watermelon Purse*, Drone Flying Follower*, Popsicles*, Hover Scooter*, School Backpack, Notebooks, Marshmallow Roaster, Hiking Boots, Silly Streams, Balloons*, and Autumn Scarves

Items marked with a * are members only.


In other news, Poptropica composer Jeff Heim uploaded three new Pop soundtracks to Soundcloud! (Thanks to MaryannTheConqueror for the news) The titles of these songs hint at two classic island remasters in the works: Lunar Colony Island and Ghost Story Island.

Our first song is “Lunar Colony”, an obvious nod to Lunar Colony Island. The wondrous orchestra fits the theme of exploring an unknown territory, such as the moon.

Next, we have two songs for Ghost Story Island. The first of these two is “Ghost Story Main Theme”. This eerie tune is the perfect piece for walking down the foggy streets of Hemlock Harbor and learning about the town’s tragic past.

The second Ghost Story Island song— and the final of the three new songs—is called “Fiona’s Theme”. The first half sets up a spooky atmosphere, and the second half plays the melody of Fiona’s Song (the song you play on the violin in Ghost Story Island). A wonderful track full of ambience and nostalgia!

It’s a pleasant surprise that these songs were released so suddenly. Perhaps work on remastering the classic islands began earlier than we expected. It gives us some assurance that these fan-favorite islands are not forgotten and will stick around after the end of Adobe Flash.

We at the PHB hope that you join us for more spooky fun this month. We have artistic events like Poptober and Community Creations, as well as our annual PHB Halloween costume contest!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Ghost Story Island, Great Pumpkin Island, Store, Vampire's Curse Island

The 31st is finally here!

Hey, everyone. It’s RD here, and I’d like to start this post by thanking everyone that wished me well :D. I’m getting a lot better. Today’s post is obviously dated on the 31st, and therefore…

Halloween!

That’s right, the long tradition of the Celtic Holiday Sahmain spread down throughout European history until it reached modern day traditions. It’s a shortened version of “All Hallows Eve”; but I’m sure you’re all out of history class by now, so onto Poptropica’s Halloween scares!

The creators gave us a reminder post on how we could choose to celebrate a few Halloween thrills. You can catch three adventures that are put on Poptropica. There are many more costume cards you can also purchase for this. The creators said that they were “going as zombies this year.”

Edit (slantedfish): Check out the Creators’ avatars on their blog! A purple background and green skin – great zombie costumes, guys. I did catch Hades and Master Mime with just their normal ones instead, though. :c Even Thirsty Whale, who never posts anymore, managed to join in.

        

(And now for the Poptropica Halloween festivities…)

First up we’re all familiar with the first Halloween quest: Great Pumpkin Island. It’s, as you all know, based off of the beloved Peanuts comic strip where Linus awaits the arrival of the Great Pumpkin, but does so hopelessly every year. Poor Linus 😦

Inside this adventure, you’ll be taken through the world of Peanuts and as we also all know…Snoopy! So head on down to Great Pumpkin Island for a few classic old games with the Peanuts gang. Click here if you need a guide.

Who could forget Ghost Story Island? The thrills and chills of an old New England haunting surely will kindle the spooky thoughts that arises in the player’s daring mind. Will you be brave enough to uncover the mystery of this island and set the wandering apparitions free? Enter if you dare! Click here if you need a guide.

Ghost Story Island

Want to donate blood…to vampires? You got it, just make sure to bring some garlic along with you in case they try to take too much xD. Vampire’s Curse Island is based on the protagonist’s efforts to bravely save a villager captured by the elusive count! And remember to not get hexed by its curse. Click here if you need a guide.

Vampire's Curse Island

Finally, who could forget the very first Halloween adventure that we all embarked upon? Enter an old and abandoned house to find out what spooky atmospheres you must uncover to discover clues. The Haunted House is a destination for a description of such. Eventually everything leads up to an untimely discovery somewhere near the mansion. That is all, since I know everyone despises a spoiler alert.

Although it is technically not an island like the rest, Haunted House remains the first Halloween adventure back in time when Poptropica was still expanding and growing to the virtual realm it inhabits today! Click here if you need a guide.

Poptropica sure has grown over the years, and will continue to. All these islands are completely free, even the Haunted House as it became so some time ago. Members may choose to venture out on an extra quest for some of these islands if they want an extra challenge and extension to the ghostly plot. Have fun at these islands!

Lastly, the creators gave us a reminder we can all purchase a variety of Halloween costumes and abilities in the store. Maybe you want to have a ghost follower as they did come out with many years ago. Or maybe you just wish to see all your neighboring friends turn to bones. Perhaps you have a craving to play an island where you’re chased by the living dead through some abandoned street corner. They got it all :D.

And as the creators put in the final words for this spooky night “Try not to eat too much candy.” No really, try not to xD…unless you’re not afraid of heartburn or strange dreams in which you’re being chased by the Hershey’s Bar you just ate. Been there, done that. Lastly, don’t forget to…

have an amazing Halloween!

Just to get into the spirit, I thought you might all like to enjoy something that Charles Schultz, the author of Peanuts, sketched about the Great Pumpkin:

Ghost Story Island

Now out!

It’s EP here, and this is a quick yet sweet and short post/announcement. GHOST STORY ISLAND IS NOW OUT! Members can play the full version of this spooky island whilst non-members can play a partial version of it just to get a taste of what it’s like!

Here’s the trailer they once again posted:

And finally, new changes are coming through the air of Poptropica. It seems to happen a few times each year. The creators have perhaps refurnished graphic effects and overall look and feel of the game. A new post has an image detailing these “changes”:

Well, they’ve added a bit of detail as it appears to me. If you look carefully at the building blocks there are detailed textures on them. They also added shadows and clouds apparently.

How many new things can you spot?

So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and go hunt some ghosts!