[ARG] The Pizza Code Mystery

Black Mesa Archive The Cafeteria
#3341

@Jacky I think the The Next Generation is the series you need to be looking at. SE1EP21 is - The Arsenal of Freedom, where a Computer AI ended up killing everything it see’s and keep on getting more difficult to be beaten.
Also the 21 into 1 thing, when i originally said both 1 and 21 where part of the Fibonacci Sequence, a article i spotted today talks about using it as a way to tell time on a clock.

https://gizmodo.com/a-fibonacci-clock-is-hands-down-the-nerdiest-timepiece-1703035715?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

this also links in with the FBI Kryptos Statue, and the last hint it gave about a Clock in Germany, which is similar to the Fibbonacci Clock.

#3342

I don’t think Data intended to use the letter “L” here. I think he intended to say that he’s locking the password in.

#3343

Nice work so far. I gave the team my money because they deserve it, so I’ll be replaying soon myself.

Storm’s profile site is now just that: A Profile

I think it’s safe to say we can exclude it from further investigation, although the password-protected page is still there. BMRF.us seems to be the most likely candidate for future web-based elements of the ARG.

Just my $.02

#3344

If we assume that qecode is legit, then metadata is new, since I still have the mod and metadata comment is empty.
My guess is that “HALOS has gone open source” is referring to Black Mesa release. Also, if that file has changed, then we should probably start looking for more changes, both in files and in game.
That being said, could anyone (who has purchased Black Mesa) verify qecode for metadata?

#3345

Just checked by opening the .ogg in Notepad++, The comments are there

#3346

… I’d like to know more about this.

And I think it’s time we try that code from Brothers for the HALOS file if nobody’s done so yet. Anyone?

#3347

Found this, by the way.

I don’t think it’s in any way shape or form related to the ARG (it was registered in 2004), but it is interesting that it’s called the same thing as the one in the ARG, and is generally the same type of interface we could potentially expect (especially if it’s meant to be simple).

A quote from the end of the page caught my eye:

“Did you note that there is no virtual memory, no scheduling, no filesystem, no networking, no human interface, … in there? That’s because Halos is a micro-kernel. Usually, with a micro-kernel we mean a kernel that doesn’t do much of anything other than inter-process communication. Halos doesn’t assume that there is such a thing as a process (though it provides a convenience API for those that want to use it, to make sure schedulers will be compatible with eachother at least on that point). It doesn’t assume that there is such a thing as a file system, or a human interface, or a human being for that matter. Halos provides the basic architecture to take control of the machine. To do anything more than that, you need drivers - which it will be happy to manage for you. Hence, some would say Halos is not a micro-kernel: it’s a nano-kernel. I’m fine with that - as long as you get the meaning, all is well.”

In essence, it appears that HALOS is not made with human interfacing in mind, but if we fed it some drivers we could do pretty much whatever we wanted with it. If this is what Storm had in mind (something similar, at least), it’s possible that HALOS isn’t even our true target. Instead, we would want to access HALOS to get at the user space it would be linked to. Or, as mentioned in that quote, “Halos provides the basic architecture to take control of the machine.” In other words, accessing the HALOS micro-kernel is how we would get into the actual AI.

If this is the case, then what we are looking for is an actual website or other web-based entity that we can directly access. Rather than decrypting the hex code, there are many other things that can be done with it–which would refer back to Storm’s direct comment, “What makes you think this has anything to do with encryption?” It may simply be a piece of a greater puzzle, rather than a masked solution.

Just some thoughts.

#3348

https://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The_Arsenal_of_Freedom_(episode)

Best episode synopsis there is as its By Tekkies them self.

Fun fact though Minos - is the planet the computer/AI machine that kept on upgrading itself so it could not be beaten, and happend to whip out the population on the planet. the name is taken from Greek Mythology a legendary ruler of Crete who ordered Daedalus to build a labyrinth to housethe Minotaur, and was also made on of the three Judges in the Underworld after his death.

#3349

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=439988723
this doesn’t work. but doesn’t it feel like it should? it’s the first thing I thought of when thinking of how I’d hide an easter-egg.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=439989227
there are even some that are emitting light to indicate they’re active and/or define a region to hold the eye in, but they still do nothing as far as i can tell. however it’s impossible to hold an eye and activate the scanner at the same time.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=439989849
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=439989795
there are lots of folders scattered around QE and i’ve examined all that i’ve seen, but most seem pretty irrelevant (ususally one side is the header of an invoice for a food supply company and the other is blank or totally illegible). except for this one. to start with it’s fairly unique (i’ve noticed it in just two places), and it seems to be ‘hidden’ wherever it occurs (under a corpse and across from the tau cannon room, to be covered in rubble from the scripted explosion).
https://imgur.com/hT877pf
very quick and rough transcription, but enough that it seems pretty irrelevant after all (a generic contract).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=439989272
any way to get at the textures for the rest of this stack? or, in general, how do you get at raw game resources? would make several transcription jobs a lot easier.

https://imgur.com/u7PNJ5s
this is the full body of the code on the scrolling screens, which I think is definitely worth investigating further. however it’s pretty illegible from in-game. we need to look at the raw texture, i think.

#3350

that code screen texture is materials/models/props_lab/console02a_screenr4.vtf obviously in the bms_textures vpk

https://prntscr.com/73cbvr

as you can see its pretty small, i took that picture in vtfedit with my monitor res at 1080p and didn’t zoom the image in or out. No idea how anyone’s going to be able to read it

#3351

I zoomed it in myself. It’s mostly unreadable to me because I’m not sure which language it is (my guess would be something older like BASIC, C++, ect) but I did notice at the bottom how it looks like an attempt to access some section of memory, and it failed. I don’t think it has anything to do with this ARG unfortunately.

#3352

This is definitely C++ code:

[code=‘c++’]io& operator << (io& s, u32 x)
{
u16 u,l;

u = (x & 0xFFFF0000) >> 16;
l = (x & 0x0000FFFF);

return s << u << l;
}

io& operator >> (io& s, u32& x)
{
u16 u, l;

s >> u;
s >> l;
x = ((u32)u << 16) | l;
return s;
}

io& operator << (io& s, PGM_P& x)
{
char buffer [128];
strncpy_P (buffer, x, 128);
cout << buffer;
return s;
}

void getEEPROM ()
{
u16 a;
u8 x;
u8 i;

cout << “Read EEPROM\r\n”;
cout << “-----------\r\n”;
cout << "Address: ";
cin >> a;
if (a > 512)
{
cout << “\r\nMemory range too large (0x200 Max), defaulted to 0x0000”;
a = 00;
}
…[/code]Apparently, it’s about reading an EEPROM memory on an Atmel AVR microcontroller.

#3353

It’s useless. The upper part of the code before the Memory section creates a stream through the use of an unsigned integer, typically used in stuff like writing to a file. The second half does access a memory address but it does absolutely fuck all with it.

It’s nothing.

Source: My father whose an expert in C++

#3354

There’s pizzas in the new deathmatch map dm_subtransit:

2560×1440

#3355

So I was playing through the part where you go through that freezer that saps your hp and I saw the computer that was tracking you had you in the middle of Africa. I put in lat 1 long 21 and thats the Democratic Republic of Congo. Would this be relevent? also, lat 21 long 1 puts you in Mali

#3356

If that’s a coincidence then that’s a strange one.

#3357

Dammit, now we need to check the MULTIPLAYER Maps for easter egg clues. :smiley:

#3358

Are you really complaining about the prospect of new clues?

#3359

In the secret room under the stairs in QE, has the color-bar test-pattern TV always been there (from the 2012 mod version)? or is it new to the Steam version?

#3360

See my :smiley: at the end of the sentence. Also there is no need to Double Quote me.

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.