Some people complain that interleaving the episodes of two different islands dilutes the fun, but think about it: so far, the episodes of individual islands like Survival and Atlantis have had totally different themes and settings. I, for one, am loving this new episodal format and I hope even the haters can learn to embrace it. Poptropi-con, Norse Lands, and Legendary Swords all promise to embody Poptropica's spirit no matter what packaging they come in. Because Poptropica is Poptropica, and nobody can get enough. Also, what do you think of Poptrickia's design update? The search bar is next to the nav buttons, and the journal is the new homepage. I think it's more cleaner and helps you find the important stuff fast! | |
Many of you, especially long-time Poptropicans, are disturbed by the new episodal island format being tested in Survival and Mission Atlantis, and soon to come to PoptropiCon and Arabian Nights. I was horrified at first as well, but it's here to stay, and I'll tell you why that's not such a bad thing. An island takes skill (minigames, etc.) and it has a story. These are the things that make an island. The thing is, you can memorize a story after the first play through, and then the island holds little for you. Historically, this has been okay, because Poptropica was very story-oriented and an island was like watching a movie: you don't replay it for months, maybe a year. Then came the Island Restart feature, and the popularity of Poptropica grew, and it needed to be more challenging in order to appeal. But how to do that without sacrificing the story that makes Poptropica? Split it up, of course. Make each goal more and more tangible, and you the player will gladly put up with the toughest of puzzles. They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step -- an exaggeration, but it helps if you can see the steps (a.k.a. have episodes)! Thereby increasing the skill-to-story ratio and replayability without sacrifice. And let's face it, a slow burn increases suspense and delays gratification, as well as removes pressure (if you're trying to make the Players' Map top lists). All makes things more fun in the long run. According to this Twitter thread, Poptropica will be releasing 6-12 more new episodes this year! We already knew about the last episodes of Survival and Mission Atlantis, not counting Poptropi-con. That leaves 3-9 more episodes this year of completely new island(s)... which leaves some room for another new island, after Poptropi-con, "unexpected tech problems" willing. Arabian Nights, perhaps? We can only wait and watch. And play.
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Yesterday I told you about the signs pointing to Legendary Sword's upgrade, and the day before about PoptropiCon. Today I've got even better news: the Poptropica Land Prototype is also going to be upgraded to the big screen, but with a Norse mythology-style twist. It's no longer in beta, so it's called simply "Lands". The Creators posted this image today, with the subtitle "To create, you must first destroy." That sounds an awful lot like the constant building and breaking down you did in Labs. The other tip-off is the old wizard guy holding a glowing hammer (more on that later). Why is that a tip-off, you may be asking? Because there's a suspicious new file on Poptropica's servers now, called "lands". Here's the only thing I found inside (link to it on Poptropica): Notice the resemblance to the Mjolnir from Poptropi-con? And the symbol on it is the triple horn of Odin. Poptropica's obsessed with Norse mythology these days! It looks like you're going to use this hammer (called Svadilfari) to transform the land in Poptropica as a god, like Populous. Interestingly, that's not the name of a hammer, but of a stallion who helped a builder construct a wall around the gods. Kind of appropriate, as this lets a huge number of players design islands for Poptropica -- crowdsourcing, anyone? Sadly, Lands is not free (either that, or it is free but Members-only). I can't wait until we get the upgrade, since the Creators have confirmed it -- until then, you can still play the old Land Prototype! Call me old-fashioned, but I was replaying Legendary Swords the other day, and as usual, I was let down by the cliffhanger (almost literally) ending. It's been saying "More adventures await you" for the past three years! Long-time Poptropicans may remember the highly publicized release of Legendary Swords on 11/11/11. If you played it then, you'd see the screen on the left, but today's victory screen has no promise of the Arena sequel. The wording is different, too. Now it sounds like E. Vile is gone for good. But that leaves a few mysteries... This reminds me of Monster Carnival. Remember the trash can in Mocktropica? It had a Monster Carnival file that was crossed out... but it released soon after anyway, with sound and the big screen. A bigger screen and better framerate will definitely do the high-action Legendary Swords some justice! Well, there's something similar happening for Legendary Swords (see right). Whether or not the Arena will be back is dubious, but there are some Sneak Peeks still unaccounted for. Such as these, which I thought were part of Survival episode 1, but feature crystal and caves:
Remember Poptrickia's exclusive sneak peek for Survival Island EP4? I showed you scenes, items, and the storyline of the unreleased episode from Poptropica's files. Now, I'm doing it again for Poptropi-con Island! And yes, it's really called that. If you guys like it, I'll continue this series, only available on Poptrickia! UPDATE: Poptropi-Con has been officially confirmed by the Creators! Click here for the island info page. The first episode is called "Line Forms Here." We were right on! Keep reading to see what it's going to be like. The Creators haven't yet announced this island, but I think we can pretty much call it confirmed. It's going to be released in episodes, and the first episode will likely come after Survival episode 4 (so that means July 31st). It'll be followed by Mission Atlantis episode 3, then Arabian Nights episode 1. So without further ado, check out the scenes for the first episode (there are only four main scenes, and three ad scenes): There are only exterior shots so far, so it seems that we spend the whole episode just trying to get in. Here are the items that you can collect in this episode: Sadly, you do not get to fly the jetpack. Throughout the rest of the episode, you go around asking people for tickets to Poptropi-con while they ask you for favors, such as finding them a jetpack or the Mjolnir, etc. There's going to be a lot of changing costumes in this island! It's such an important part that you're offered to save your look to the Costume Closet if you're a Member before you start. And the Fremulon, by the way, are a (fictional) alien race whose language and customs you have to learn. Aside from that, Poptropi-con sounds like it has a fun, happy, light atmosphere with minigames and Costumizing gold. A refreshing change from the seriousness of Survival and Mission Atlantis. Just comment if you'd like more info on the storyline! The Members-only promo items have been revealed as well. Looking at this image, there may be a Pizza Puff costume Members get to wear. Interesting, I guess. Even more interesting: Members will get to print a copy of their own Poptropican on the background of a Poptropi-con themed poster. Confused? Check out the image to the right. I was also able to get a version of my non-Member Poptropican, too, but it was a bit cut off; click here for proof. This is despite the fact that the item card that gets you this poster is Members-only. So all that and more is coming to Poptropica next week. What do you think about Poptropi-con Island? Survival Island episode 4, Cabin Fever has arrived for Members! In it, your rescuer Myron Van Buren offers a hot meal and a comfy bed, but you're not his guest — you're a prisoner. Can you escape the wilderness lodge before his next hunt begins?! UPDATE: The full written walkthrough is now complete, click here to read! Also done is the video walkthrough, click to watch! Non-members, all is not lost -- you can play the first 3 episodes with Poptrickia's full written/pictures/video guide, or check out some exclusive sneak peeks to be ready for when it does arrive. Remember the Dr. Hare's Lair project on Lego CUUSOO that the Creators were hyping up for a while? Though it got the required 10,000 supporters, it was sadly turned down in favor of a Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary set. Recently, TheFastComet on Lego Ideas has been on a roll, and has designed a Legendary Swords-themed set, complete with the boss robot at the end. He's even got an official shout-out from the Poptropica Creators, and may be working on a replica of the red rocket. Continuing in the spirit of awesome villains, he also has a Binary Bard's Citadel set collecting supporters; one word: YES. I've supported both projects and I hope you will too! Here's a link to more Poptropica Lego projects. With a sample this large, at least one has to become a reality, don't you think? That's all for today. I've confirmed the existence of the rumored Poptropi-con Island... but that's for my next post. Until then, I'll just be hearing "Tally-ho" in a British accent repeating in my head over and over... you'd have to play the episode to understand.
To celebrate Germany's championship win in the FIFA World Cup, the Creators have released a new free costume to all Poptropicans. (Members, don't forget to get the other 8 costumes). It's only available for a week, so get it fast! Can you believe it -- a new Store item available to all Poptropicans? The last time this happened was the Shrink Ray Gun back in 2011. That was purchasable with Credits. Since then, all new Store items have been free -- but only for Members. And Members could borrow non-free items for an unlimited time anyway. Credits lost their meaning, too, especially when the Creators stopped selling credits for money like they do for Membership, stopped selling Early Access passes for 500 credits, and made each island worth 50 credits instead of 100. Could they be making a comeback?
Quite a refreshing change, isn't it? After seeing the new look's much more obvious POP-iness, like chunky islands springing out of the sea, the old one looks like a paper cutout! We'll never forget Poptropica's first banner, but let's face it, a change was due, and a change was done. It's made its way into other places too, as well as the iPad app, and it looks like the future logo. What do you think, which Poptropica logo do you prefer?
Now, a similar glitch is back, but on the modern islands! With any card that has a special action that only works on the ground, you can fly again (albeit more awkwardly). The Back Lot clapboard will work, or the Virus Hunter sneezing powder, or non-Members can try the fish from the Hammerhead Shark costume. Modern Island instructions: Equip the special-action item, then jump in the desired flying direction and repeatedly hit the spacebar. You'll slide in that direction horizontally across the scene. Keep the mouse button pressed while momentarily releasing the spacebar and you can gain altitude/change direction. It's very awkward, but it's the only thing we've got. And it works on hundreds of items! Challenge: Post a link to a picture of your Poptropican in the exact place as these pictured in the comments! Harder than you'd think, even with the glitch. Trick: You can talk to the conspiracy theorist on Virus Hunter without getting the Resistance Band with this.
Cool news today! According to my super secret spy sources (cough), the following Poptropica Islands are going to be upgraded to the bigger screen and sound sometime in the future (roughly ordered with the most likely one first):
Truthfully, these are just islands that are planned to be upgraded, but the first 8 have been partially uploaded to Poptropica! They're not playable yet but at least the scenes, sound and music are all there. Items and other important parts seem to be missing though, except for the the first 4, which look nearly done. So it's really only a matter of time. We'll be eagerly waiting on the Creators until then! Oh, and remember those extra-wide ad spaces on the edges of some islands' Main Streets that I made a big fuss about? They are extra-wide because the new islands have a wider screen and now Poptropica is only going to design ads for the bigger screen, so for older islands to be able to show the same ads there will have to be even larger ad spaces on them. But notice, the only island you can see them on are some of the islands in the list above. Which means that those islands are the closest to being upgraded! Makes sense? The upgraded classics, and even the modern islands, haven't had their own upgraded common rooms. Even though the island has a big screen and sound, the common rooms still use the old Poptropica. But that might be about to change. Looking at the files for the islands above, the common rooms have already been upgraded! Check out the difference in these two images: The second screenshot has already been uploaded to Poptropica. Soon, maybe all of Spy Island will follow! The theme music for Spy Island was also uncovered a while back; here's the link: http://static.poptropica.com/game/sound/music/Spy_Main_Theme.mp3 Don't click on it, paste it directly into your browser's URL bar; for some reason it won't work otherwise. Speaking of which, have any of you checked out the new Tribes of Poptropica page? It's got details on all of the 8 Poptropica tribes, plus high-res zoomed-out screenshots of all the tribal common rooms, and much more. There's more coming soon, but you can check it out now. Click here for the full Mission Atlantis episodes 1-2 Guide! Click here for the exclusive sneak peek of Survival ep. 4! First of all, happy Independence Day! Today is the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed, and history was made, 238 years ago, when the U.S.A. became its own country. John Adams wrote that the Fourth of July "ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other." And today we'll be doing just that (well, probably without the guns).
You also get to hold a soccer ball, and throw it up into the air with a tap of the spacebar! Which team will you be supporting this year on Poptropica?
The Rhinoceros Costume is in the Store now for Members (and the glitch that let non-Members costumize it has been fixed now, sorry!) Anyway, what I'm concerned about is what a rhinoceros is doing in Survival Island. We know that our "rescuer" from Survival Island 3 is Myron van Buren, the man who caused the plane crash in the wilderness and who we were warned about. Now he's holding us prisoner, presumably in this cabin. He's an avid hunter, as this image of his foyer shows. (Noticeably, he hasn't shot a rhinoceros yet. Are the Creators trying to get us killed?!) Survival Island episode 4 has not been released yet (that will probably happen on July 10th or 17th), but most of it has been uploaded to Poptropica's servers already. Here's sneak peek at the upcoming episode. It took longer than I'd expected to decode all the files for the episode, but this was worth it! Warning, spoilers ahead! Click "Read More" to the right to continue. |
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