SoulStorm ARG

[Varrok]

I think calling it "New Respones" may be misleading. I'd call them just Alt. Responses.

[Manco]

I think calling it "New Respones" may be misleading. I'd call them just Alt. Responses.

The new responses replace the previous ones, so “new� makes more sense than “alternate�. “Alternate� implies the original responses are still there.

[Varrok]

They're not? Oh.

[Moot]

I edited the Wiki, to properly read the message as:
☀i̠̞̹̺ c̴͙̙̰̬͙a͍̭n̘͚̜͖̻͔ ̺̮h҉̦̖̜͙e̶͓a̟̜̖̕r̶͓ ̩̹ͅy͜o̹̰̟͔u̢͉̼,̦͕͉͉͎̕ ̞̞j̗̼̮̠̥̥͍us̗t̩̺.̻̗ ͕̞̳̹̭̀ͅi̛t̰̯̙̣͖̟̙'̪̪̞̦̳̩s̕ ̩̬̗͖̻̖̀f̴̙͉͎̯̺a̫iṇ͚̞͢t̵͚̬͇̰͍̼ͅ,̬͕̹̖̩̮͜ͅ ̺͔͎͉̺̱b̸̝̰̬u̻͍̲̕t̪̼̮̣̫ ̮͕͎͍͡i̮̱͙ ͎̲̤̯c̷̺͓a̜̪̺ṉ̻̲̦̲̼̻͘ ̧̳̗̮̘̦͔h͏̪͎̬͔͎͍̗ȩ̤̞͖̬̘͕Ã*̺̭̭̼ŗ͈̳̠̤̳̗ ͏y̲͈̭̘̰͔͞o̢̗̳̘u͔̫͚͉.̩̼̠

Hopefully I'm not gutted for editing it, or fucking up someones formatting (I know I get tiffy when people did that to me). Just letting you guys know.

Also, it has been saying "you got our message" and stuff like that, maybe the other MC combinations are correct, we just have to use them in a certain way.. similarly they could be nothing, and ED was the only real working message. Thoughts?

[Manco]

I edited the Wiki, to properly read the message as:
☀i̠̞̹̺ c̴͙̙̰̬͙a͍̭n̘͚̜͖̻͔ ̺̮h҉̦̖̜͙e̶͓a̟̜̖̕r̶͓ ̩̹ͅy͜o̹̰̟͔u̢͉̼,̦͕͉͉͎̕ ̞̞j̗̼̮̠̥̥͍us̗t̩̺.̻̗ ͕̞̳̹̭̀ͅi̛t̰̯̙̣͖̟̙'̪̪̞̦̳̩s̕ ̩̬̗͖̻̖̀f̴̙͉͎̯̺a̫iṇ͚̞͢t̵͚̬͇̰͍̼ͅ,̬͕̹̖̩̮͜ͅ ̺͔͎͉̺̱b̸̝̰̬u̻͍̲̕t̪̼̮̣̫ ̮͕͎͍͡i̮̱͙ ͎̲̤̯c̷̺͓a̜̪̺ṉ̻̲̦̲̼̻͘ ̧̳̗̮̘̦͔h͏̪͎̬͔͎͍̗ȩ̤̞͖̬̘͕Ã*̺̭̭̼ŗ͈̳̠̤̳̗ ͏y̲͈̭̘̰͔͞o̢̗̳̘u͔̫͚͉.̩̼̠

Hopefully I'm not gutted for editing it, or fucking up someones formatting (I know I get tiffy when people did that to me). Just letting you guys know.

That’s cool, I was meaning to do that myself. I also edited it further to provide the “clean” translation, and specified the browser encoding needed to view it.

Also, it has been saying "you got our message" and stuff like that, maybe the other MC combinations are correct, we just have to use them in a certain way.. similarly they could be nothing, and ED was the only real working message. Thoughts?

My working theory is we need to feed something back to the message box to let it know we’ve got its message, but I don’t know what. I’ve tried:

• message received
• i got your message
• i can hear you

But none of them work. It doesn’t seem to respond to remaining morse code translations either, although this could mean we haven’t got those right.

--

Havoc: How can I get permission to upload media to the Wiki? I want to add all the images and stuff that we’ve discovered (in case they get removed later).

--

edit: I was lurking on the Oddworld Reddit page and noticed Crashpunk has clued them in, and there are people responding with theories and solutions to clues. We should be keeping an eye in there now in case they solve any puzzles we’re stuck on.

And if anyone from the subreddit is reading this thread: Hello! Why not sign up to the forums and help us?

[Moot]

My working theory is we need to feed something back to the message box to let it know we’ve got its message, but I don’t know what. I’ve tried:

I'd agree, that's what I was speculating too. I also tried the "We can hear you" but nothing.. I also tried several combinations of the MC letters we got. There must be more to those borked MC letters we got.. ED can't be the only useful one!

Edit: Remember how the form says FIND ME, HEAR ME, SAVE ME when you type ED into it? I just took a big shot in the dark, and tried saving the ED page into different formats, to see what would happen. Nothing..

Edit 2: Alright, I'm about to go full tinfoil right now.

The first and last unconfirmed MC's are . - *static* and *static* - . , and the last sounds reversed specially since it starts with static, and the first ends with it. What if the static is supposed to represent another tone which we need to figure out? What if it's -- . or ME? ME ED. His name's ED, confirmed!1!!111!

Please, my brain hurts.

[enchilado]

The message on http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/ed/ is apparently as simple as ignoring everything that isn't an English letter, space or punctuation. It seems to read:

"i can hear you, just. it's fait, but i ca h you."

Perhaps the missing letters are significant?

[Havoc]

Havoc: How can I get permission to upload media to the Wiki? I want to add all the images and stuff that we’ve discovered (in case they get removed later).

I'm not entirely sure how or why uploading media is restricted, it's certainly not something I can fix. It appears that uploading media becomes allowed after a certain number of edits made, or perhaps a number of days registered. Either way the ability should unlock itself... eventually. Sorry I can't help further.

[FennecFyre]

The message on http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/ed/ is apparently as simple as ignoring everything that isn't an English letter, space or punctuation. It seems to read:

"i can hear you, just. it's fait, but i ca h you."

Perhaps the missing letters are significant?

We figured that out earlier (although this thread really is turning into a clusterfuck so don't worry about it) and I've tried going through pages like oddworld.com/soulstorm/nnear/, /toonear/, /2near/, but so far nothing. I'm not sure if it's meant to represent a fading signal, or if there really is significance.

[enchilado]

I swear I read every page.

[Moot]

We figured that out earlier (although this thread really is turning into a clusterfuck so don't worry about it) and I've tried going through pages like oddworld.com/soulstorm/nnear/, /toonear/, /2near/, but so far nothing. I'm not sure if it's meant to represent a fading signal, or if there really is significance.

We edited the wiki to explain what the text actually says. Although I don't want to rule out your idea.

☀i̠̞̹̺ c̴͙̙̰̬͙a͍̭n̘͚̜͖̻͔ ̺̮h҉̦̖̜͙e̶͓a̟̜̖̕r̶͓ ̩̹ͅy͜o̹̰̟͔u̢͉̼,̦͕͉͉͎̕ ̞̞j̗̼̮̠̥̥͍us̗t̩̺.̻̗ ͕̞̳̹̭̀ͅi̛t̰̯̙̣͖̟̙'̪̪̞̦̳̩s̕ ̩̬̗͖̻̖̀f̴̙͉͎̯̺a̫iṇ͚̞͢t̵͚̬͇̰͍̼ͅ,̬͕̹̖̩̮͜ͅ ̺͔͎͉̺̱b̸̝̰̬u̻͍̲̕t̪̼̮̣̫ ̮͕͎͍͡i̮̱͙ ͎̲̤̯c̷̺͓a̜̪̺ṉ̻̲̦̲̼̻͘ ̧̳̗̮̘̦͔h͏̪͎̬͔͎͍̗ȩ̤̞͖̬̘͕Ã*̺̭̭̼ŗ͈̳̠̤̳̗ ͏y̲͈̭̘̰͔͞o̢̗̳̘u͔̫͚͉.̩̼̠

This is what it's supposed to say, but you can only see it with certain encoding.

[FennecFyre]

Ah, okay. Maybe it's a "weak" signal then, but whatever encoding it takes to get that full message is the equivalent of boosting it enough to hear it clearly?

I just wish we knew what to do with it.

[enchilado]

Hrm, I see.

I'm honestly getting the feeling more and more than there is no ARG here and it's just a bunch of easter eggs.

[Moot]

Ah, okay. Maybe it's a "weak" signal then, but whatever encoding it takes to get that full message is the equivalent of boosting it enough to hear it clearly?

I just wish we knew what to do with it.

That's actually a really clever way to describe it.. Something worth keeping in mind.

Edit: I can't get over how oddly it's worded..

I can hear you, just. It's faint, but I can hear you.

[FennecFyre]

Hrm, I see.

I'm honestly getting the feeling more and more than there is no ARG here and it's just a bunch of easter eggs.

Say it ain't so! If there's no actual to goal to reach with all this, I'll cry.

I feel like there has to be something, given how long and convoluted the trail has been so far.

[Dank_Meme]

I think the rest of the text in http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/ed/ (the special characters) might be more than just white noise. There are code-breaking methods that count the character appearance frequency, comparing them to the frequency in a specific language. Let's assume the coded message is in English, as everything so far.

i remember this being used in other ARG's and the amout of thimes that character was used got in a code.

but would that code then give us more to the url.
And in this "still lsot ? .m" its giving us a hint that it's and mp3 file, can there be more like this?

[Manco]

Hrm, I see.

I'm honestly getting the feeling more and more than there is no ARG here and it's just a bunch of easter eggs.

Nah, there’s way too much to this for it not to be an ARG. The message box alone is evidence enough, there’s no way someone would have taken the time to build it just as an easter egg.

i remember this being used in other ARG's and the amout of thimes that character was used got in a code.

but would that code then give us more to the url.
And in this "still lsot ? .m" its giving us a hint that it's and mp3 file, can there be more like this?

How exactly does this work? Has anyone tried it yet?

[Varrok]

I did it, like, once in school. We used a funny DOS application to decode a txt file, we used it to calculate all the frequencies, and then compared it to a table with English language letter frequency list. That was years ago, though, and I hardly remember it.

http://www.counton.org/explorer/code...y-analysis.php
http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_...equencies.html

The funny thing is these are non-standard characters and will require some busywork to analyze that

[Nepsotic]

My recommendation would be to have a subforum and run a separate thread within it for each puzzle/clue that appears. Then, keep the wiki page updated as a central repository for our progress.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest, but I figured it'd be a bit much. Either way, we need to do SOMETHING because this thread is a fucking mess.

Also, anybody feel free to download the morse code file from my soundcloud and host it somewhere else so that they can put it on the wiki. I don't really want it cluttering up my personal SC.

[Varrok]

I don't really want it cluttering up my personal SC.

Shouldn't have thought about it before you started uploading farts on your channel

[abe619]

Wow, I can't believe I've missed so much I feel so useless for not contributing more.

@Varrok: Do you mean like a basic replacement cipher? like see which character appears the most and where, for example if there is a character by itself it'd probably be an "I" or an "a", etc?

E: Nvm, I was still catching up and I tried using the quick reply on the wrong page. >.<

[Varrok]

Yes, something like that. E.g. all "a"s become "x"es, all "b"s become "c"s etc.

Though in this case, x and c would be Ã� or ™ or other silly characters.

That's just a guess, it might as well be that the special characters mean nothing. Let's hope they do mean something.

[abe619]

I like what Fennec said, maybe there's something that needs amplification in the lsot.mp3 file?

[Varrok]

Did quick search, no silent voices there. At least i found none.

At 1:28 and 1:40 there are some very high-frequency beeps. You guys might have missed that, because older people lose the ability to hear that high frequencies. Both sound to me like .-.., though the first one is sped up and more silent

[FennecFyre]

Did quick search, no silent voices there. At least i found none.

At 1:28 and 1:40 there are some very high-frequency beeps. You guys might have missed that, because older people lose the ability to hear that high frequencies. Both sound to me like .-.., though the first one is sped up and more silent

The Almighty Internet tells me that's an "L", but I've got no idea where that fits in the whole message.

[Babiroussa]

At 1:28 and 1:40 there are some very high-frequency beeps. You guys might have missed that, because older people lose the ability to hear that high frequencies. Both sound to me like .-.., though the first one is sped up and more silent

That would make sense, because he mentioned in different messages that he can hear us just faintly

Also something that might be a clue even tho it can just be me trying to hard to find new stuff,
but in that answer :

[WE'RE AWARE OF ISSUES ON THIS PAGE AND ARE WORKING TO REMEDY THE ------------]

it seems to me that the empty space at the end represent 12 letters word that we have to figure out, so if anyone has an idea it could be worth trying.

[Nepsotic]

Already found that one.

[Babiroussa]

Yes I know, I was just saying that it might be worth trying to guess that word, but it's probably nothing

[Manco]

So my current working theory is that we won’t get any more clues until the reveal of Abe’s face. I’m basing this off the message box replying to “face� with *** CAN YOU SEE IT YET? WE'RE TRYING TO SHOW YOU. ***.

Of course the other possibility is this means that solving the ARG might reveal Abe’s face more quickly? I dunno.

This does have a precedent, since several of the clues were added to the site at a later point in time.

If that’s not the case, we have two possibilities:

• There are more clues to be found in lsot.mp3 that will reveal more information. This seems very likely, as there are morse code snippets that have yet to be solved in a satisfactory way.
• The messages about login credentials when inputting Aslik or Phleg’s names into the message box might be hinting at some kind of login page that we can find.

[SqueeglePoof]

Did quick search, no silent voices there. At least i found none.

At 1:28 and 1:40 there are some very high-frequency beeps. You guys might have missed that, because older people lose the ability to hear that high frequencies. Both sound to me like .-.., though the first one is sped up and more silent

High frequency beeps? They are low frequency. Nobody can hear extremely low frequencies.

I'm quite certain that the sounds at 1:40 mean "ED" and not "L", which seems to further confirm we're heading in the right direction. I pitched that section up so I could hear it (sounds ugly, but it works). The first "beep" is clearly distinct from the other three.

Edit: I added this to the wiki.