Author Topic: Such sweet torture, Valve...  (Read 5620 times)

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Offline Sushi

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Such sweet torture, Valve...
Portal update released:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3533/

Leading to a whole big pile of cryptic sounds and images... and images embedded in sounds... and maybe visa versa...

Leading to what?

Portal 2?
HL2: Episode 3?
Both?

The suspense is killing me, but I love it when companies do this sort of thing. :)

All the action trying to unravel this takes place here:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=82

 

Offline Fineus

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
I think you've summed up my guesses there. To be honest I really hope it's Ep 3 and not Portal 2. They seem to be putting Ep 3 off for some reason.. and while I trust Valve to generally make good decisions where releases are concerned (they've been awesome at additional content for TF2 for example) - they do seem to be rather quiet on it.

Who knows, it's a good way to stir up interest at any rate.

 

Offline Sushi

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
My personal guess is that EP3 and Portal 2 will be separate games, but released simultaneously and with intertwined stories.

 

Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
My personal guess is that EP3 and Portal 2 will be separate games, but released simultaneously and with intertwined stories.

A portal gun player and gravity gun player would make for an interesting co-op :D

Course I also thought Portal gun only capture the flag would be some seriously messed up fun.
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world”

 

Offline Fenrir

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
The new radio achievement is brilliant. I've got 22/26 so far and am having a blast. Definitely a good excuse to replay the game.

 

Offline MikeRoz

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Whenver I see that acronym, I think Anti-Replicator Gun from SG-1 and Atlantis.

Anyway, link.

Google Wave link if you're lucky enough to have it.

Basically, the gist of it is that Valve released a random Portal update with the description:

Quote
Updates to Portal have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

Portal
Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations

People quickly noticed there was a new achievement titled "Transmission Received" that is triggered when you bring the radio from the room where you wake up out with you to the first red button. A new light on the radio turns from red to green when you do this, and it starts playing Morse code instead of the Still Alive muzak.

The achievement indicates you've completed 1/26. There are now 25 other radios hidden throughout the next levels, and you have to find them, pick them up, and walk to wherever their light turns green. Some have more Morse code, others made some weird distorted sounds.

Naturally I immediately set out trying to get the achievement, figuring the prize would be had when you got that. I spent a few hours, got myself to 20/25, and gave up to see what everyone else had figured out. In the time it took me to find those radios, the people at Steam forums had found out this was a full fledged alternate reality game.

Enterprising forumgoers found each of the sounds the new radios broadcast in the game's resource files, labeled as dinosaur1.wav through dinosaur26.wav. Those that were in Morse code were translated.

Code: [Select]
1.
interior transmission active external data line active message digest active

5.
9e107d9d372bb6821bd91d3542a419d6

12.
system data dump active user backup active password backup active

17.
beep beeeep beep beep beeeep beeeep beeeep beep beeeep beep beep
(If you treat THIS as Morse code, it gets translated to "LOL")

5. turns out to be the MD5 hash of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" which people discovered by googling it.

The remaining sounds are actually pictures encoded as audio. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but if you want to see them, they're all here. Each image is contains at least one number or letter. This turned out to be another MD5 hash, which turned out to be the MD5 hash of a phone number near Seattle. The number is (425) 822-5251. (DO NOT CALL THIS unless you know what you are doing.) People who dialed into the phone were greeted with the sounds of a modem.

Turns out on the other end of this number is an old BBS line. You have to dial in with an old-fashioned dial-up modem, and then use a terminal program to communicate with the other computer. The username/password was given in morse code above: backup/backup.

Basically, the other computer dumps a bunch of ascii art into your terminal. As far as everyone knows so far this is as far as it goes.

People are speculating that this means that HL2:EP3 and Portal 2 will be combined somehow, or that some announcement is going to be made on the 11th regarding Portal 2 (because the version of GalDOS on the other end of the BBS line is 3.11 - I guess nobody's ever heard of Windows for Workgroups then).

Kudos, Valve.

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Offline The E

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Re: Valve's doing an ARG
This would be a more appropriate thread for this, seeing as this has very little to do with ST:R, the fsport, or FreeSpace.
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There must be changes, miss to feel strong
I really need lifе to touch me
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Offline Galemp

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Re: Valve's doing an ARG
But it does have to do with ARGs, which Phoenix is. I think it's fine here, as those who are interested in one would no doubt be interested in the other.
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Offline General Battuta

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Re: Valve's doing an ARG
Merge with this thread please.

 

Offline Fenrir

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Another update came out today.

The end of the game has changed. Spoiler:
http://www.xfire.com/video/2393cf/

 

Offline Mongoose

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Well now...

 

Offline Sushi

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Apparently there is a progress bar on the BBS that has been steadily marching forward. It's due to finish in about an hour and a half or so.

And THEN what happens? :)

 

Offline Sushi

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Portal 2 announced:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3559/

But wait... the mystery isn't over. Some of the letters in the announcement are underlined...


 

Offline Mongoose

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Nothing fishy about that.  No sir.

 

Offline achtung

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Portal 2 announced:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3559/

But wait... the mystery isn't over. Some of the letters in the announcement are underlined...



dratmann h0nee?
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Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Anagram it?
"Load sabot. Target Zaku, direct front!"

A Feddie Story

 

Offline General Battuta

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
No anagram necessary.

Dr. Atmann, password 'h0nee.' Probably a login?

 

Offline Lucika

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
No anagram necessary.

Dr. Atmann, password 'h0nee.' Probably a login?

aperturescience.com revived? oO

Wasn't the phone number asking for a GLaDOS login?
« Last Edit: March 05, 2010, 03:33:37 pm by Lucika »
HLP member 2008-2012 and Syrk:TUW project leader ~2010-2012

 

Offline Fenrir

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Yeah, the underlined stuff is the login for a new page on the BBS that unlocked around the same time Portal 2 was annouced.

 

Offline S-99

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Re: Such sweet torture, Valve...
Since i don't get to play it, i'm going to rain on this party. :yes:
Every pilot's goal is to rise up in the ranks and go beyond their purpose to a place of command on a very big ship. Like the colossus; to baseball bat everyone.

SMBFD

I won't use google for you.

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