So far, the game is pretty decent. The store is phenomenal, minus one thing: The membership items. There's no way to get a membership in this game like there was in OG Pop, and I'm not expecting a fan project like this to include microtransactions (I hope). Still, the items we do have access to in the store are pretty fun. My next criticism would have to be the game's physics. The game's physics feel a lot closer to the AS3 version of the game, and while it's not awful, it lacks the flow and smoothness of the AS2 version. In my opinion, there should be an option to switch between the two. Something else I found strange about the game was the ad scenes. Between certain parts of Islands, there are small empty spaces that are intended to hold advertisements. I understand why they are there, since I am a media preservationist at heart, but I wish there was an option to turn them off just like in the Flashpoint curation. Another thing, the description says your team has managed to save more than 100 advertisements, but how do you even access them? I doubt I'd be greatly interested, but it's media preservation, which I am all for. My next nitpick would have to be the music selection. On some Islands, like Early Poptropica and Super Power, it's great (though on Super Power, the music is a bit fuzzy-sounding). On other islands, such as S.O.S, I don't know. I've not played that much, and I mostly just hopped from Island to Island to see what the music is like, but I recognize the theme of S.O.S from the trailer, and I'm not sure if I like it that much. I know you are planning to add more music to some Islands, but I just wanted to state my opinion. I think it's pretty cool that you added stuff like Dr. Hare's travels, the store, and the Avatar Studio. I wasn't even playing Pop back then and that stuff makes me nostalgic. I'd say you're doing a good job, even though this project isn't completely finished yet, I appreciate what you're trying to do. But it wasn't clearly explained to me how to import a save file from Flashpoint as it says you can do in the description. Can you explain how to do that? Nonetheless, I think this project is solid, high effort all around. Sorry this comment is so long, but I'm a huge Poptropica nerd. I think it's safe to say I've got some weird interests.
I totally get it!! Thank you for your feedback. :D Let me respond point-by-point:
- No microtransactions! Just need to fix that bug. You will be able to get all items including membership items.
- It's hard, because if we do that then we'll have to downgrade to 30 FPS for AS2. The reason it feels more like AS3 is because it's running at 60 FPS - the control scheme had to be completely retrofitted to work at the higher frame rate. I will look into adding a toggle down to 31 FPS though, it's on the list. :)
- I can add that to the list! I like the ad scenes, I feel like they add a sense of scale to the islands, but I can understand why you might want them removed.
- I'm still working on the custom Adfinity menu, but you can access all ads by pressing Shift + T then looking in the Global folder!
- There is a music editor that I'm planning on making available, so you can set music how you'd like! Also, obviously we'd rather have custom music by Jeff, which may happen one day!
To import from Flashpoint, first export your file from Flashpoint (only present in AS2 flashpoint but should carry over AS3 data as well). Then, under advanced settings in the Legacy profile menu, import that file (you may need to add .json to the end of the exported file that Flashpoint gives you). It should load right in!
Happy to hear that, but what do you mean by “music editor”? I don’t think that was part of the original Poptropica. Also, it was interesting to hear that your opinion on the advertisement scenes. I guess they do make the Islands feel bigger, but for gameplay purposes, they just feel like wasted space in my opinion. I’d rather not have them, as when there are advertisements, it feels a bit harder to take the game and story seriously.