I had not realized that Pi could be Pizza. So this could be related. There was some base85 encoded messages on conxat’s twitter, they decoded to:
“Excerpt from memorandum to C. Green: The senior staff has decided that GG-3883 will replace EP-0021 in the simulation.”
“code: Czgv dzlyqxvr yc rwibpnmj., pass: FINAL, key: MESABCDFGHIJKLNOPQRTUVWXYZ,congratulationshere is your prize: @NathanBuren, that will be all for now”
That’s probably Keyed Vigenere encryption, but I can’t get it to decode. There’s more base64 encoded messages, some are links to dropbox wav files. The twitter account from the base85 encoded message:
Reading on the guys twitter he says:
“Oh, people said they found me from an encoded message?”
and:
“There’s another Black Mesa ARG?”
So either this is a new Black Mesa ARG, which would be the third, since there was one three or four years ago that we had already bumped into, or this is part of this ARG. The guy is following the conxat account though, and he just recently followed this guy.
Maybe this is a case of six degrees of Kevin Bacon and it’s just that they’re related in the sense that they have something to do with black mesa so they followed each other, and nothing else. I’m still not completely convinced it is related to this ARG, no direct mention of Halos or Horn.
EDIT: The keyed vigenere decodes to “Your training is complete”, the decoder that I used was faulty, tried with another one and it worked.
It’s another ARG run by an unknown individual. People in the GameDetectives community have been working on solving that ARG. It’s currently on hold for some reason. See their subreddit, wiki (and new wiki) and maybe join their discord chat for more information.
First, that would be a “relation” between pizza and the DNA helix, not the solution, storm already confirmed that the 752 code could be decrypted, so the solution must be the decryption of the code. Second, why do you want anyone to ban you? If it’s not the solution it’s not the solution, just move on and try again later, there’s no obligation to be right and there is not a penalty for being wrong, if everyone who did not solve the code were to be banned, everyone would be banned by now.
Thanks for the info. At this rate there’s going to be more Black Mesa ARGs than people trying to solve this one
Maybe it’s just a matter of waiting for Xen, it certainly seems that we’re completely stuck and with nothing else to try.
standard models of double helix has 2 strings, one going up, one going down, one is the 5 prime end, the other the 3 prime end. Take a look at the 752. The first numbers on each side are 5 and 3
NET framework 4.0 was already installed, and I installed the .exe, so not running it from a zip. I’ll try repairing NET framework, I had not thought of that. Thanks.
If repairing the .NET framework doesn’t help, then I would see if there could be some a 3rd party software on your system that is causing the BSODs. Any software that uses kernel-mode drivers and kernel-mode hooks can have bugs that can cause BSODs. Examples of such software are antivirus, firewalls or VPN software. It is possible that this software is interacting with the .NET framework in such a way (due to a bug or bugs) that is causing a BSOD.
I would also recommend testing your memory with memtest86+ and run some stability tests (Prime95) to rule out any hardware issues.
EDIT2:
I want to talk a bit about the hex code.
There have been many theories about the hex code. Some of the theories deal with the hex code as individual digits or letters, while other theories treat the hex code as a representation of a byte stream, where each byte is represented by two hex digits. The latter is the most common way to interpret a long string of hex in modern computing terms. I believe that there is good evidence that support the idea that we are dealing with a string of bytes, each of which is represented by a two-digit hex number, i.e.:
So what is the evidence then? Well, if we look at how the hex code was delivered, we see that the hex code was embedded inside an OTR enclosure:
[OTR//4.0]
b32b003a35badd66577c24c14fc919064346d131a7c54bb82ffe03e022615777247923dc21f62cd4182e91c3b267b545abcaedaf0261510d4eea1e87cd33c7c77131309cc4280eb4243d1154f044f9cf6296d9bff7397e4390987fe63203da0de40278b3...
[/]
We have seen this OTR enclosure twice before:
[OTR//2.0]Q0FZRUlMVEhEWkVIVEhBTlpJRVRLSU5OQUFTVFNPU
0lCSVNPRElIVEhBTlpJRURaRUhUS0lOV09MTEFDSEVFRElCRUhUSEFOWklFQ0FZRUlMVEhEWkVIRElCRUhUSEFOWklFTkFBU1RTT1NJTk9EQUl
IVEhBTlpJRU1BRU5BQVNUU09TSUdBSFRLSU5ORUFTSEpTTlRIQU5aSUUKRElCRUhZQVpaSUxJTlNIVVNIRFpFSEtMSVpaSUVORVNIQ0hFRUNBWUVJTFRIS0xJWlpJRVlBWlpJR0FIU0hVU0hCRURJQk
VIWUFaWklTSFVTSEJJU09ESUhOT0RBSUg=[/]
In IRC clue 5:
[OTR//3.0]
QkFRS1ggSk9BSkcgWEFIRUQgSUZHSVogRlpEUEIgVVNYTEcgR1hIRkEgVUFVV00gSEJRQU0gV0FYVlkgTFFRUlkgV1JVV1YgRVRRT0sgQkFDQkUgSldITVMgSFZPTlogSUFIUEEgU09XQ00gTEdBVFggVUVYT1EgRFJ
RRUogQlZMQk8gREpJSEUgQ1pUSE0gWktISUUgTk9NTFMgQVhWVlcKRVRXSVMgRVRJR00gUlhFVkYgUVlBVUIgVkZDRUIgUFdCVUsgRU1OT0wgVw==[/]
The OTR enclosure seems to follow this pattern: [tt][OTR//n.0] [/][/tt], where n is 2, 3 or 4 and can be referred to as the OTR level. In IRC clue 4 and 5 the was base64 encoded, while in HALOS.txt it is hex encoded (or looks like it is hex encoded).
We can boil this down to a general rule or pattern: [tt][OTR//n.0] < base64 | hex > [/][/tt], where n = (1,) 2, 3, 4 (, …)
This suggests to us that the choice of using base64 or hex inside the OTR enclosure is completely optional, meaning Storm might as well have used base64 in HALOS.txt instead of hex. In this type of context, where we can choose between encoding the data as base64 or hex, the data is usually binary in nature, meaning a string of bytes (as data is represented inside a computer). The most common way to represent binary data as hex is to let each byte be represented by a two-digit hex number and string all the hex numbers together into a long hex string.
This idea is supported by what 0418_08151814 a.k.a. Code_ a.k.a. Storm said in the PM to @Gunsrequiem:
This suggests that we are dealing with a message in the form of binary data (string of bytes) that has been encoded as hex so that it can be transmitted as text over a text-based communication channel.
So we might have to decode the Hex into ASCII, then decrypt the ASCII using another method? Sounds plausible, but most encrypting/decrypting tools already let you input the base string as ASCII or HEX. Either way, the ASCII characters would be reinterpreted into their byte equivalents… which is more readily represented by the HEX code.
Unless I completely misunderstood what your point is in your last post, Flav.
In my post, I was trying make an argument that would rule out all the theories that involve manipulating the hex directly, and reinforce the approach to the hex code that, in my opinion, is the one that makes the most sense.
My point is simply that
b32b003a35badd66577c24c14fc919064346d131a7c54bb82ffe03e022615777247923dc21f62cd4182e91c3b267b545abcaedaf0261510d4eea1e87cd33c7c77131309cc4280eb4243d1154f044f9cf6296d9bff7397e4390987fe63203da0de40278b3...
is equivalent to
So, what we are trying to decrypt or decode, is the binary data represented by the hex or base64 shown above, not the hex itself. The hex is just a textual representation of the code that allows for it to be put in a text file or printed on a terminal screen.
a couple of questions, does anyone know why there are several games like hearts, spades, etc in the BMS platform folder, and how could one play them. Going over old stuff today, found the terminator quote… something caught my eye this time. The abbreviation at the start, CMS, cyberdine model blah blah,… there was a really strange place that I found CMS in game, there are a couple of screens that are scrolling table elements, with fractions then a % number, then all of a sudden, CUBE MAP SAMPLES, CMS scrolls by, what in the world is that doing there? And what could that possibly have to do with element percentages? something to do with metal reflections?
going over some more things today, found some other things that I think maybe deserve a look, being at a standstill an all.
looking at some of the shapes on the biodome map, white board c2afx, a downward view of qe2 and the schematic for the water pump system aq-b6 sys-con. I desided to try and figure out what the schematic really means, lots of stuff that hasn’t really been touched on. I noticed there was a part that says Vault auto lock a6-01. and chamber lock 80psig. towards the beginning of the game, in one of the guard stations there was an image inside showing a vault and some problems with it. saying obstruction or something. anyhow, after looking up some of this stuff which I just though was for information on the powerplant, it looks like there is more to it. looking up the chamber lock I found this, The Engineering and Optimization of the Hafnium Based Metal Oxide semiconductor structure. link here. https://books.google.com/books?id=mjWy1K0rOsgC&pg=PA182&lpg=PA182&dq=chamber+lock+80psig&source=bl&ots=uMoYGOh-aH&sig=gi3eT1vFDjRB40cY4i9681ptWC4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7pfK-8-TNAhVHMyYKHVPHCxEQ6AEIIDAA#v=onepage&q=chamber%20lock%2080psig&f=false
looking through the book, there is a lot of stuff that is damn near taken from this book and in game. I also found this, which may be just coincidence, or maybe not. a part that spelled out HALO with the caps letters, similar to the way ThEpizZaIsaLiE , apparently hafnium is used a lot with niobium and zirconium compounds. ill post more as I find it.
ive included a pic of the cubemap portion in the wrong place, and i also thought this was pretty neat, a rare earth mineral resource XENotime, just looking at the crystal i thought was interesting.
The vault from the diagram is a real part of hydroelectric power plants, it is where the transformers are located. The 80psig probably stands for 80 psi gauge, which is 80 pounds per square inch over the atmospheric pressure. As for the book spelling Halos, unless storm wrote the book, it must be a coincidence. Hydrogen Aluminum Oxygen Sulfur exists too, Aluminum sulfate dissociated in water.
Wasn’t it CSM? I mean what storm had written in steam. Anyway, it does seems weird that cubemap samples appears in there, so it’s either an inside joke or it is probably relevant, it’s also on QE, and that scrolling screen has always been quite… weird. At least several people took notice of it and looked into it, and it was one of first things I went to check in game when I discovered the ARG, so that must be what we were lacking. Great work realising it was there! Nobody had noticed till you did.
I think these game files are just leftover files that tag along when the devs compile/build the main game and SDK tools from source code. They have probably been present in the Source SDKs for ages and seem to be remnants of the original Steam client where you could play them from within the Steam client.
The games are in my bms/platform/addons folder. was just puzzled as to why they are there.
just a couple of thoughts… have we thought that maybe there could be a book cipher? was thinking about the pizza is a lie… could it be something like, the peace is a lie?
got me thinking, reminded me of G orwell’s 1984. “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”…and then, for shits and giggles, the number 1984…1+9=10 8+4=12=
1012… also, terminator, was 1984, just random thoughts… goes well with big brother/combine…
Back in the days of early Steam there was the ability to play chess, checkers, etc over the Steam UI with friends. It’s nothing, just a neat note as to how long this game has been worked on. Steam should bring it back IMO.
Something to be noted from the wikipedia page for a binary file:
Are we absolutely 100% certain the 752 hex code isn’t an image or an audio file? If I remember correctly, back when Storm gave the hint that someone was close, there was a post on visualizing the 752 hex code.
Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.
