Hey Poptropicans, we’ve got something special lined up for you!
We’ve been in touch with Poptropica’s current CEO, Abhi Arya, who is also the chief of Coolmath Games and Sandbox & Co., Poptropica’s parent company. We asked Mr. Arya if he’d be interested in doing a Q&A with readers of the Poptropica Help Blog, and he said yes!
Do you wonder about what goes on behind the scenes of making Poptropica, what the future holds for the game, and more? Send in your questions in the comments of this post, and we’ll gather some of your questions for the Poptropica CEO and team to answer.
We’ll be taking questions from now until next Tuesday, October 20, so fire away in the comments! And we’ll keep you posted on their answers here on the PHB, so stay tuned… 😄
Heyyo Poptropicans, it’s Ultimate iPad Expert with some really awesome news!
I’ve been talking with Jess Brallier, aka Zeus, who heads the Poptropica Twitter. I brought up the question of maybe doing a Q and A with him and he said yes!
I felt it best that it not only be us authors to ask questions, but also the community! Do you have a question that you want to ask a Poptropica creator? Put them in the comments of this post. The other PHB authors and I will pick the best ones and send them to Jess for him to answer. 😀
Nate Greenwall isn’t the only one posting his Poptropica illustrations – I recently stumbled upon the site of Chris Goodwin, an illustrator/designer working for Poptropica, whose online portfolio can be found here. This post comes in three parts. As always, click to enlarge the pics!
Perhaps the most interesting section is character design: designs for E. Vile’s robots from Legendary Swords (as well as some props seen in P-Con: Ep. 2), a huge collection of characters (including several unreleased ones – some possibly for Ep. 3 of PoptropiCon!), unused flying ace designs (the corner suggests they were for the Virus Hunter minigame, Nano-Combat Training), ideas for Max McGullicutty’s look in Survival: Ep. 5, and finally, rough drafts of robots for Game Show Island.
Lastly, there’s a section devoted to scene illustrations – most of these are already in the game, though the one of the cabin is not (but it seems to belong to the unnamed geological park island).
The rest are: the tutorial island in the Poptropica app, Ephraim University (both exterior and interior) from Mocktropica, Soundstage #1 on Back Lot, the Hemlock Herald newspaper room on Ghost Story, a hallway door and post office common room on Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and the bonus quest on Twisted Thicket. Seeing them each as one big scene makes it all the more awesome. ❤
Poptropica sure is beautiful, and Chris has made some really creative contributions to the game we know and love. Enjoy the Chris Goodwin collection, and stay popping, Poptropicans! 😀
Thank you Grumpy Wolf for all the updates and news below.
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Roooaarrrrrrrr.
What was that? “That, little knight, was the sound of the great metallic creature, the Dragon of Dangers,” a mysterious voice echoed in the misty red background of what appeared to be the dragon’s lair. The red knight jumped in surprise, and found himself face-to-face with a large, scary-looking green-and-brown dragon made of metal. Its glowing red eyes seemed to glare at him. “Yikes!” The knight gulped, and, in great fear, fainted to the ground.
Will you have the courage to face strong opponents on Astro-Knights Island? Here’s a piece of advice: Don’t be like the little red knight, but instead use your logic to bypass even the scariest monsters.
Does that knight look familiar to you? Yep, it was shown in PHB Sneak Peek #3: The New Knights of Poptropica. And that’s a good example of why PHB Sneak Peeks are real! 😀
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Hazmat Hermit
Looks like there’s another new kid on the Poptropica Creators’ Blog: Hazmat Hermit, who first appeared on March 26, 2009 to show us the sneak peek shown above. He is an NPC (non-player character) at the County Prison of Main Street, Super Power Island. If you want to visit him, he’s the one standing on top of the meteor and wearing the Hazmat suit. This is what the name “Hazmat Hermit” means:
Hazmat: an abbreviation for ‘hazardous material’ Hermit: a person who has withdrawn to a solitary place; any person living in seclusion
Taken from Dictionary.com
An isolated being wearing dangerous clothing?! Maybe we should keep away from him, then…
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New PHB Poll Grumpy Wolf has helpfully reminded us that our poll about Big Nate Island is starting to ‘collect dust’. Therefore the PHB has decided that it’s time for… a new poll! Check it out: look for the widget on the right side titled “Blog Poll” and submit your vote! The question reads, “Advertisements in Poptropica: what’s your favorite section?”
These were the results of the previous poll, “What do you think of Big Nate Island?”
Option | Number of Votes | Percentage It’s pretty easy. I finished really quickly! | 1,809 | 48.6682808717%
I’d say it was just right. Cool! | 938 | 25.2354048964%
Arrgh! So hard and challenging! | 447 | 12.0258272801%
I haven’t done it yet. / Not finished. | 438 | 11.7836965295%
Big Nate Island? What’s that? | 85 | 2.28679042238%
This just in: A new Poptropica cheat and another Creator’s real identity has been discovered! Read on for more information.
The New Cheat: Hold a Cup!
Is your Poptropican in need of a cool handheld item? Then this cheat is for you! Fearless Paw has found a way to hold a cup of black liquid, and generously informed us via E-mail to [email protected]. If you’d like to know how, head over to our Cheat Codes page, or check out this quick guide:
Yum, black juice!
Travel on the Blimp to 24 Carrot Island.
Enter the Carrot King Diner.
Go to the “Change Your Hair Color” Section of the Diner. Click on it, which will open up a screen with various colors in containers.
Fill the cup with white.
As your Poptropican drinks it, press down on Ctrl+Shift+S.
Your mouse should become a swirl. Close down the tab.
Re-enter your account. Your Poptropican should be holding a cup with black liquid in it!
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Creator’s Indentity Revealed: Jess M. Brallier
One of PHB’s readers, Oumer26, was so helpful as to do some Poptropica research and has been sending [email protected], the blog’s E-mail address, updates on his findings so far. Recently, he has made a huge breakthrough: he discovered someone named Jess M. Brallier, who is one of Poptropica’s Creators! Thanks, Oumer!
By the way, if you have some of Jeff Kinney’s (creator of Poptropica) bestselling books, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, you may have noticed that Jess Brallier is mentioned in the Acknowledgments at the back. Here are 2 examples:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid “… Jess Brallier, who understands the power and potential of online publishing, and helped Greg Heffley reach the masses for the first time. Thanks especially for your friendship and mentorship. …”
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
“… Thanks to Jess Brallier for bringing Greg Heffley to the world on Funbrain.com. …”
Because we know Jeff Kinney is also a Poptropica Creator, his book is on Funbrain.com, Poptropica (the game he created) is also on Funbrain.com, and now we know that Jess B. helped put Diary of a Wimpy Kid on Funbrain, it’s quite likely that Jess M. Brallier is a real Poptropica Creator too!
Note: Unfortunately, we could not find a way to contact Jess. If you do know, however, feel free to let us know!
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