Have you tired decoding them with the “password” we got in the IRC clues, the Benalohpallier one?
I don’t think that’s necessarily true. The quote doesn’t include the word “them,” assuming that the transcript is spot on.
"There has been clues that would lead them to solving the latest bit, but they’ve not found it yet."
Yes, it could imply that he is referencing a specific clue, but I’m under the impression that it leans more towards not having found the solution. The change in plural to singular indicates this as well. Then again, it was said in a conversation, and we don’t always pay attention to those sorts of things when we are speaking–therefore, you could be right. Either way, there are likely clues we’ve yet to find–it’s just a matter of whether or not those clues are found in the game or somewhere down an online path we’ve yet to find.
I’m really hoping he helps us, soon. We just continue to pump out theory after theory, and all this serves to do is inundate newcomers with too much information / information overload.
I second this statement, as I was one of those confused newcomers.
Based on what Storm has said, this is what we know about this puzzle:
- It’s a really hard puzzle.
- It’s an encrypted message that can be decrypted.
[spoiler]The actual quote is:
[/spoiler]
- There’s an answer, but it can’t be brute forced.
- The difficulty had to be increased due to attention from people at Cambridge computer labs.
- Posing as 0418_08151814, Storm told Guns that he’s betting that the cipher is either AES or Rijndael, 256-bit (doesn’t say if it’s block or key size, but AES is 128-bit block size only, but can use 256-bit keys, while there’s a 256-bit block size variant of Rijndael). He didn’t have an estimate on what mode might have been used.
But then we have this user who came on here to complain that this had “turned into this ridiculous nerdfest destined at the very few people who understand anything about encryption.”
And this was Storm’s epic reply:
How do you know solving this has anything to do with encryption? :freeman:
If he is suggesting that anyone should be able to solve the puzzle without understanding anything about encryption, then we are clearly missing something.
Has anyone tried encrypting the HALOS file in a way
where each of those 8 letter pieces would be made
into a single letter?
Just asking if this had been done with the HALOS file and/or would it be
worth doing it if not already?
If we can’t agree on how to interpret what Storm says outright, then maybe we should ask him directly for clarification on this issue: Are there one or more clues out there that we haven’t found yet that will lead us to solving the HALOS code puzzle?
I feel that the dilemma I’ve tried to express in some of my previous posts is preventing us from doing any more serious decryption efforts. If what we really need to do is find another clue, then time consuming efforts to decrypt the code, like coding programs to test more cipher methods and passwords/keys, would be a terrible waste of time. But I guess that is the nature of the beast. ||
It’s a result of having been stuck for so long. What we really need is the next piece of the puzzle. That said, I think theorizing is fine, as long as we keep the theories to a minimum on the wiki. But it’s clear that the wiki is still very confusing for newcomers.
When you say 8 letter pieces, are you referring to 8 hex digits? Note that the grouping of the hex digits into groups of 8 digits on the wiki page was done by the original author of the page (probably for easier reading and to allow for line breaks). The original code didn’t have this grouping. It was just a long continuous string of lowercase hex digits.
I agree with you on many fronts, Flavrans, particularly the decryption efforts. I have easily spent around 75-100 hours building and implementing decryption chains with nothing to show for it. We need to find that one clue or set of clues that clarifies exactly what it is we need to do. Without that, we’re firing in the dark at a moving fly.
has anyone noticed that all the clocks at the beginning of black mesa, all have the same time on them, no matter when you look at them? 9:01 I believe,
Flavrans
I’m not sure what type of encrypting should/could be used, because i don’t know, but
here’s a dumbass example of what i think should be done:
B32B003A 35BADD66 577C24C1 4FC91906 4346D131 A7C54BB8 2FFE03E0 -> E X A M P L E
I don’t know why but in questionable ethics near the guard and code B and the monitor that catches fire i always get a frame rate drop.
I have never really understood why it does this in that area even on my main computer that i get up to 300 fps on.
I feel that we have missed something in that area as well as in the rest of the game.
I would also like to point out that both thestormseeker.com and onboarderror.com are completely unreachable now.
“THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER…”
Ive noticed that also it drops from around 100 odd for me to around 70.
Also is there a way to reanimate the ragdolls of the dead scientists? Crazy theory maybe you could talk to one of them?
I don’t think that is possible, however you can view the audio files using GCFscape to open the .VPK that have them so perhaps there is some unheard dialog there.
sooooo, ill start playing through blackmesa again and portal 2 again.
Could this be why HALOS hasn’t been decrypted for so long?
Read the paper below - these researchers found a problem in the Benaloh cryptosystem back in 2010.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1008.2991.pdf
For a block size r that is not prime (e.g. if r = 21) , the ciphertext may not decrypt to the original plaintext if the values n and y in the public key were chosen according to Benaloh’s original criteria. The authors of the paper above proposed new alternative to rectify this issue.
Perhaps the HALOS file was encrypted using improperly chosen n and y and/or before this problem with the Benaloh cipher was known?
I think HALOS was in place after that was published, though not a 100% sure.
I THINK I GOT IT BOYS! I’m about halfway done with it, but I’m pretty sure I figured out the unsolved code, will have it up tonight, (if I’m right)
Do you know how to take screenshots?
yeah, but I can tell you the pattern. ive been having to finger punch it for the last couple hours. the clues were right there in front of us. when you follow this a pattern emerges. I’m still not done with it, but maybe you can finish faster than I, I’m having to do it on notepad.
anyway, take the whole string starting with B32B, the end is the start, so in the middle of a graph sheet, you start with
b is the very center, essentially the end, and working backwards IN A CLOCKWISE rotation, time reveals all, a pattern forms, I got maybe another hour or so and ill be done, but you can see the pattern.
it wont let me post the whole thing for some reason, it is saying there are censored words.
I’m trying to upload the image and this is the error I’m getting “An unknown error occurred during upload.”