SoulStorm ARG -

Scrabaniac · #61 03-18-2016, 03:46 PM

Or is he talking about fanfiction?

Manco · #62 03-18-2016, 03:50 PM

:

It's obviously partly a reference to the blind mine workers only relying on sound to listen for, Sherlock Holmes reporting in but im surprised noone else mentioned it yet

That’s a good point, I hadn’t thought of that at all.

:

Little in the way of context there, it could be interpreted two ways. 'Listen for me' as in, 'try to hear me', or 'listen on behalf of me'?

It’s probably “listen for me” – the other hidden messages so far have been themed around someone trying to break through and communicate with us, so it’s more likely that this would follow along with that theme.

Michael · #63 03-18-2016, 04:21 PM

:

It’s probably “listen for me” – the other hidden messages so far have been themed around someone trying to break through and communicate with us, so it’s more likely that this would follow along with that theme.

That's true, I was moreso suggesting the other possibility to cover all bases, but you're right there is a running theme

You know, the way you worded that 'someone trying to break through and communicate with us', sounds almost like a seance haha, perhaps the mudokon spirits are involved with this?

**JayDee** · #64 03-18-2016, 06:46 PM

I was just checking the twitching.mp4 frame by frame when I saw Manco's post. Great find! I'll definitely have to try and be faster with this for future clues.

***Xavier*** · #65 03-18-2016, 11:21 PM

:

You know, the way you worded that 'someone trying to break through and communicate with us', sounds almost like a seance haha, perhaps the mudokon spirits are involved with this?

Well Abe had to rescue Mudokon spirits from Spirit Locks in Abe's Exoddus: http://oddworld.wikia.com/wiki/Ghost_Trap

Also the whole game starts because he's getting a vision of three Mudokon ghosts.

So spirits are definitely a running theme in Abe's Exoddus and could be in SoulStorm too.

EVP_Glukkon · #66 03-19-2016, 01:51 AM

The website makes me feel like Morpheus is trying to reveal Abe to us instead of any spirits.

Manco · #67 03-19-2016, 02:39 AM

:

Well Abe had to rescue Mudokon spirits from Spirit Locks in Abe's Exoddus: http://oddworld.wikia.com/wiki/Ghost_Trap

Also the whole game starts because he's getting a vision of three Mudokon ghosts.

So spirits are definitely a running theme in Abe's Oddysee and could be in SoulStorm too.

That’s a really interesting point, perhaps our communicator is a Mudokon spirit then?

I checked the site again to see if there were any more clues, and I noticed that the “Introducing SoulStorm” paragraph at the top of the page now has some text bolded (reproduced below):

:

Witness Abe's horrifying conflict with a terrifying new machination.
A fresh narrative - a complete story retake inspired by our original tale.
A big visual and cinematic leap aiming to break new ground for Oddworld.
Intelligent new mechanics, twisted new devices enabling highly explosive deviousness.
A dark parable that tells an epic tale of a volatile society pushed to its limits.

“ed” is bolded twice, on the words “inspired” and “pushed”.

Not seeing any other changes right now, no new code either. This might have been added at the same time as the “listen to me” message and we just didn’t notice it.

EDIT: OK, weird, it’s gone now. Maybe my browser just screwed up, ignore this.

Varrok · #68 03-19-2016, 03:01 AM

Manco's making an ARG game of his own.

What are you trying to tell us, Manco? Let us know your secret

Alf Shall Rise · #69 03-19-2016, 08:21 AM

Man, I'm gone for a day and I feel like I'm way behind on this ARG business now. Having some sort of masterpost (that someone else makes) with all the information about it would be pretty useful.

Havoc · #70 03-19-2016, 01:11 PM

If only there was a wiki page on the subject.

Scrabaniac · #71 03-19-2016, 01:27 PM

Not a bad wiki page.. But for some reason I don't like the way it has been written in some parts

**JayDee** · #72 03-19-2016, 01:44 PM

:

Not a bad wiki page.. But for some reason I don't like the way it has been written in some parts

If you feel like it needs rewriting then that option is available to you.

Moot · #73 03-19-2016, 02:08 PM

I'm definitely keeping an eye on this. Good job guys.

Edit: Maybe it was obvious and I'm late, but they tweeted a picture on the 11th with braille on it, which gave a hint that something would be announced, as it said "Monday", which was the Soulstorm announcement. It certainly feels like they're being sneaky!

***Xavier*** · #74 03-19-2016, 02:24 PM

:

If only there was a wiki page on the subject.

I was thinking about doing an entry on the subject on the wiki, thanks Havok.

We might need to split the page to have a page dedicated only to the ARG but it's definitely a great start.

Havoc · #75 03-19-2016, 03:27 PM

If it gets too lengthy it can be moved to its own page, but that's not the case yet.

Nepsotic · #76 03-19-2016, 03:49 PM

Has anybody looked into the audio? I mean, I know FA put it into Audacity but that's Audacity (and FA) so no wonder she didn't find anything

Littleleeroy · #77 03-20-2016, 04:55 AM

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Has anybody looked into the audio? I mean, I know FA put it into Audacity but that's Audacity (and FA) so no wonder she didn't find anything

I imported the mp4's into Audacity as raw audio, then played them in foobar2000 so I could see if there is any hidden audio images - of which there are none - and then tried to magic eye the resulting image as I started to see squiggles when blurring my vision. Didn't work.
So I have nothing to contribute.

Nepsotic · #78 03-20-2016, 04:58 AM

I might try resampling it in Harmor and analyse it. Probably do some pitch shifting and reversing. It's a long shot but there might be something.

Manco · #79 03-22-2016, 05:45 AM

New HTML comments on the site (opening angle brackets removed):

Line 12:

:

!-- are you l/os/t                                                         ?

This code is followed by empty lines up until line 107, when the comment tag closes.

Line 570:

:

!-- message INTERCEPTED -->

This seems to have replaced the previous “so thirsty need brew” code.

mlg man · #80 03-22-2016, 11:03 AM

Damn, figured out the cipher thing and came here to post it, and you guys are WAY ahead of me.

Good job! I can't wait for more of this stuff

Vlam · #81 03-22-2016, 12:00 PM

:

Damn, figured out the cipher thing and came here to post it, and you guys are WAY ahead of me.

Damn, me too. Manco speedrunned it.

Nepsotic · #82 03-22-2016, 12:03 PM

Shade is way ahead of you guys.

Manco · #83 03-23-2016, 10:52 AM

A mysterious form has appeared on the site:

The form has the following HTML:

:

<form id="doesthiswork" name="doesthiswork" method="post">  
  <fieldset>  
    <input type="message" name="message" id="message" size="30" value="" required style="margin-top:5%;" />
    <input id="submit" type="submit" name="submit" value="Send" class="sendbutton" />  
    <div id="formresponse">...</div>
    <div id="formerror"></div>
  </fieldset>  
</form>

Along with new comment messages:

:

!-- there's got to be a wa_
    
    attempt number seventy five...

[edited out several empty lines]

still lsot ? .m
    
    -->

So far I haven’t gotten an interesting response from any inputs to the form. Everything I try just reloads the same page when it submits.

Varrok · #84 03-23-2016, 11:06 AM

I think they should hire a better webmaster

Manco · #85 03-23-2016, 11:18 AM

They did, look at the form now:

It’s responding to specific words and phrases, I’m screenshotting the responses I get as I go. Some are backwards, some are ciphered, and some are just plain English.

Havoc · #86 03-23-2016, 11:23 AM

The traditional gamespeak phrases seem to produce interesting responses.

Manco · #87 03-23-2016, 11:25 AM

Some of the responses change if you repeat them, and a couple of phrases keep repeating as well. I’ll compile all the responses I get shortly, still playing with it.

e: the responses may actually be the same one for each command, but disguised in a different way each time you repeat.

Paul · #88 03-23-2016, 11:31 AM

Most of the responses are just reversed:

*** TUO TEG T'NAC I TUB DLUOC I HSIW I ***

*** I WISH I COULD BUT I CAN'T GET OUT ***

Varrok · #89 03-23-2016, 11:34 AM

You heard the guy

Paul · #90 03-23-2016, 11:40 AM

DRINK MORE, WORK HARDER