We did that in the Portal 2 radio ARG as well. I kinda doubt that they really expected us to record and decode the SSTV from in-game.
Was wondering where it had gone. I donāt mind it, but that decoded image is mine (even though the original find is not).
EDIT: While Iām at it, I thought the unsolved message could be a Playfair cipher, since it has 5 groups of 5 numbers per line, though it has the same number instead of letter problem.
EDIT2: UnhingedMouse0, I disagree with your transcription of that message. Notice the difference:
31529 63776 21295 33399 44534
97341 68095 91847 99899 47843
91327 76794 07031 80431 91909
02118 97319 80497 17819 91998
59314 91931 41651 49161 97998
43089 11933 13937 48491 89198
98878 29905 90941 84992 89313
27810 43844 11818 39111 19562
74899 49301 99848 05075 50994
47717 11522 89919 13139 93187
87339 89438 64933 23042 09364
38899 25012 93143 93496 10193
68393 99855 90591 22893 84499
88299 23898 73571 38537 15395
81199 28050 39045 51198 32189
91192 71948 45160 15835 13817
89530 19314 97313 00149 44841
39991 95319 03338 19887 71111
82261 19390 95231 31788 08497
97784 11139 39519 34949 93559
35177 10951 18199 31599 70923
15122 98343 94109 31461
Thereās an artificial line gap, which could be significant. Also, the other gaps are caused by the limited space in each paper, so I donāt think they are relevant.
This is more of a proper easter-egg than part of the ARG. Not important unless its location is of significance.
The top says āBLACK MESA FILE SYSTEMā, the bottom says āMORE NUMBERSā, and it the middle it looks like JENNOBEINGā¦ thought that obviously makes no sense.
I feel like stormseeker is the mastermind behind a lot of this, heās been keeping a very close eye on us and he was the one who originally inadvertently tipped me off to the Reddit post.
Honestly I feel like the most likely scenario is that none of the breaks matterā¦ but I do see your point. I questioned the legitimacy of your break placement because you had also typoed the first number and misread what clearly said āDrā, lol. I hadnāt noticed that other minute break originally.
Are the pizzas like Perfect Darkās Cheese? one on every map?
If I may offer my own opinionā¦
From what I can tell, the binary is separated into 3 parts -
the first line, which separates itself from the second by ending early;
the second, third, and fourth lines, for which the hyphens after the second and third lines indicate continuity;
and the sixth line, which is identical to the first.
The first part reads ā0110110001101111011011000ā which, if this internet binary-to-ASCII converter is not wrong, means ālolā. This also applies to the last binary code, of course.
The second part, which transcribed in whole is ā01001010010001010100111001001110001100000101111101000010010010011001110010001110000110100001010ā, which translates to āJENN0_BINGā.
I suspect that the previous message is what is written in plain text under the second part.
I cannot read the second plaintext message, and the third reads āMORE NUMBERSā.
Now, I did a little poking around in the game files yesterday, trying to find some clue as to the as-yet unsolved code, and apparently this ājenn0ā has their own uniquely named desk model with matching textures.
The texture appears to indicate the following is on the desk:
- A diagram of the large laser in QE
- A note from Dr.Horn to Dr.Foreman saying āHere are todayās tasks Please have them in order and on my desk by noon!ā
- Several colors of generic sticky note
- A red āTASKS INā box and a blue āTASKS OUTā box
I have yet to locate this desk ingame, though I havenāt really tried. I suspect it might be in the QE main laser chamber.
Honestly, I have no idea what relevance this has to any ARG. It might just be a developer putting his or her signature on their work.
They sure seem to be everywhere keefyā¦ Two more pizza spots:
#1 - The pizza is a lie. Itās behind the machine on the wall. You canāt see it without noclipping.
#2 - Hidden pizza, behind some locked doors under the staircase.
I was somehow very dyslexic yesterday when it came to letters, though I did get all the numbers right. I think I have been overestimating the complexity of this ARG so far, so I agree that break could mean nothing (still, how did it get there? This could, at the very least, tip us about the way that sequence was created - in two parts? Maybe something was removed from in-between?).
EDIT: I have a feeling it is actually a case of a Vernam cipher, using the first block as the loop-key. Will try it now.
31529 63776 21295 33399 44534
97341 68095 91847 99899 47843
91327 76794 07031 80431 91909
02118 97319 80497 17819 91998
59314 91931 41651 49161 97998
43089 11933 13937 48491 89198
98878 29905 90941 84992 89313
27810 43844 11818 39111 19562
74899 49301 99848 05075 50994
47717 11522 89919 13139 93187
87339 89438 64933 23042 09364
38899 25012 93143 93496 10193
68393 99855 90591 22893 84499
88299 23898 73571 38537 15395
81199 28050 39045 51198 32189
91192 71948 45160 15835 13817
89530 19314 97313 00149 44841
39991 95319 03338 19887 71111
82261 19390 95231 31788 08497
97784 11139 39519 34949 93559
35177 10951 18199 31599 70923
15122 98343 94109 31461
Ok i got Good News Bible , any good thoughts about what every few numbers mean? Posting link to it https://download.sabda.org/mobile/pdf/GNB.pdf
No idea how this is relevant, other than the wireframe-ish images of the test chamber appear to be the same as those seen in Dr. Hornās secret shack, but supposedly thereās some significance to the name on the machine. Ideas?
Oh, and more pizza is a lie:
https://youtu.be/WTQ3AoJ4t0E
Ok, even if Iām doing this right I have no idea how to convert from numbers to text. I tried several checkboard tables, but none seem to work. Maybe the schemeās got something to do with the plain messages we already have (āto my stfe - dr bon amiā - awkward grammar - or the names from Dr. Bottomley and Dr. Horn) or we are still missing information.
Hereās the first two (partially) decoded lines of the message if my guess is correct:
-
By addition:
58339 06510 32003 62400 53096
14151 01839 02655 28900 56305 -
By subtraction:
96391 80178 90623 06822 75038
30579 85851 20071 40322 72729
Well, you were just talking about Stormseeker being the mastermind, and that machine says Stormtronā¦
Question - How much have we looked into Questionable Ethics? The fact that there are pizzas strewn about, sometimes with the QE lab logo next to them makes me wonder if thereās something more there.
You could slice the pizza with the surgical unit! 
Or shoot it with the laser! Or carry it all the way to Lambda core and take it to Xen like that secret hat!
any one here found the area with a the pizza is a lie and a code made out of dots, boxes, and triangles? (if not have a screen shot)
Iāve got another clue, maybe. Itās in Anomalous Materials (bm_c1a0a) in one of the inaccessible labs (noclip to get there).
In the upper left-hand corner of the whiteboard thereās a string of characters that look a bit like those from Message #1 (Code A) and thereās a red note saying āCall Dr. Horn - Biodome Ext 186759ā, which stands out somewhat since all phone extensions Iāve seen in BMRF are three digits.
Edit: no pizzas here though.
The security guard in the room behind the reception desk mentions a pizza.
found this donāt know if its part
Itās the same as the one that gave us Code A.
EDIT: Also, hereās an improved version of my SSTV decode. Can someone identify anything useful?
That coin sorta looks like a Susan B. Anthony dollar, but itās really hard to tellā¦
Also want to point out that the 3914 is double underlined, as was Hornās name on the long number message. Might be relevant, might not.
Oh, of course, and then thereās the fact that Stormās real name is Chris Hornā¦ youād think I would have figured that out before now. I had been meaning to look up if there was actually a Horn on the team. :facepalm:
According to his Steam Profile: āIām a level designer on Black Mesa, currently designing Questionable Ethics, Nihilanth, bits of Blast Pit, the Surface Tension cliff vista and Datacore.ā We have found a lot of the QE stuff as well as a bit on the cliffsideā¦ I suggest we dig into Blast Pit some more now.
Def seems like a promising leadā¦ thought itās such a short bit of ācodeā I donāt know what it could yield.