Hey Jammers! Just so you know, the 6 year party thing is on this coming Saturday on July 7th– it was not last Saturday. None of you guys missed it yet! :)
Out of boredom today, I decided to search around the internet for images from beta Animal Jam that I haven't seen yet. In the process, I fished up some new images to maybe make into transparent graphics later:
The first one is a pixel-y screenshot that I can't imagine ever being made to look neat, but the fantasy environment morphing into the real jungle through the Nat Geo logo looks sooooo good. That's going into my AJ Graphics folder. B)
The second image is from the now-deleted Nat Geo Kids version of Sky High that was on their website a few years ago. I wonder if there's a way to play it again...
Speaking of Sky High, I learned something interesting:
Sky High and Wind Rider used to be combined into one game.
In old Wind Rider, you'd not only have to dodge phantoms, but clouds and tree branches as well! There'd also be some sparkly stuff floating, I dunno why.
Because Coral Canyons came after beta, I'm assuming that Sky High followed.
Also, Sarepia Forest was misspelled on the old homepage lol
But here's the big thing I learned today...
You remember these banners? They were at the Beta Party in 2014– which caused some trading chaos, because they had the word "Beta" in their names but were not actually beta items.
...or were they?
In this screenshot from a beta user's den, the tiger, monkey, and koala banner are all seen hanging on a wall. I checked this with other screenshots of the beta den and can confirm that they are not "built in" items– they used to be sold in stores!
However, there is no information on these items prior to their Beta Party release. I started playing AJ a year or two after beta, so I was very aware of all the beta items that were being traded. These banners were never included.
All evidence points to the banners being completely deleted after beta testing.
I can even think of a reason why they were deleted: the transition from the beta den's horizontal walls to the small house den's slanted ones. You can't really fit a Beta Banner anywhere!
Despite being present in beta testing, these Beta Animal Banners are still not actual betas as they were last released in 2014.
But I wonder. How many other items were deleted in beta testing that might be rereleased again someday?
Think about it~
P.S. The Blue Rug and Sturdy Table are being sold in the back of Jamaa Furniture for some reason...?
Oh the good old beta days.... (that I never played in but wish I did)
ReplyDeleteThats interesting about the banners, the blue rug and sturdy table. Hmmmm.
good news: this game is still accessible on the internet archive, and playable if you can enable flash! https://web.archive.org/web/20130513124315/http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/actiongames/animal-jam-sky-high/ (thank you animal jam wiki for the link)
ReplyDeleteif you can't access the website, here's a video of someone playing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x7803ig9I4
i remember playing sky high on the nat geo website way before i even got an aj account, so this is really nostalgic for me!
Thanks so much for sharing!! I love looking at the old Nat Geo Kids website on the web archive. Something about the old site design just makes me smile, it's nostalgic for me too X)
DeleteI can't figure out how to enable flash right now, but that video is great to have!! The original sky high music was pretty relaxing
by the way, this game is now playable! i'm going to make an in depth video on how i did this later (how much later? who knows), but for now i posted a full gameplay on my channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TljLxbt42ZY
DeleteThat's so cool! I didn't know flashpoint was something that existed– that's great to have.
DeleteI wonder where the music in the first gameplay video you shared came from, cuz it seems from your gameplay that the music may have always been the same?