I think it’s something at least. More of a definitive result than that whole Vic thing.
Yeah. The thing is, it doesn’t give us any clear connection to the ARG, unless they’re smuggling frozen pizzas or something.
“Victor would like this extension”
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet but there’s a doctor Victor who is asked to report to the ‘Supercooled Laser Lab’ in sector C
https://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Victor
but I can’t find it.
Guns, a good part of me thinks you’re crazy, but right or wrong it’s the furthest we’ve gotten with this thing yet…
If it is at all on the right track, it sounds like a Borealis reference… which personally I think is the most ARG-worthy piece of HL lore that there is.
I don’t 100% understand how this code works, but any chance there is a different version of this codebook with slightly different wordings?
I think it has to do with some hidden plotline Storm came up with to add depth to the BMS experience. Remember that line from Paul Bottomley’s (Gruntfuttock’s) Steam profile about being shot in the head by HECU “as far as they know . . . ?”
And I’m pretty sure the codebooks were pretty standardized to allow maximum compatibility, but there might be some slight variances.
Well IRL-Bottomley also claimed to know nothing about the ARG. So that could have just been a joke of his own.
true but he didn’t update his steam Profile until after we found it. it’s possible that storm filled him in about it and gave him information.
…You may be getting into paranoia territory here, guns. I feel like for now we should focus on the codes, not on other, only dimly related things.
I feel like the hidden QE symbols and pizza boxes (maybe even the The Pizza Is A Lie messages) are too significant to disregard… I’m too much of a dunce to manage this, but is it possible their coordinates may be significant?
Significant in an encryption scheme as a key? Maybe. But as a direct part of a code? I doubt it because they’d have to shift things around the map for them to be exact numbers.
Not sure if any of these will help but I was taking screen shots of anything I found involving Dr Horn, the QE Building or Pizza. I think the bloody footprints are probobly dr horn, getting revenge on Secturity guard Anthony for stealing his pizzas. https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198015250584/screenshots/?shortcutid=375
Yeah, I guess I’ll just leave it alone and see if anyone else comes up with anything better. The only thing that bugs me a bit is, if this is the solution to Code D, now what? Where do we go from here? How do codes A-C tie in with Code D? Or were Codes A, B, C simply a mechanism to get to some ultimate resolution (hence the possible ABC Telegraphic Code)? Either way, I get the feeling that it doesn’t end here. So . . . now what?
I’m afraid that I have no idea. I feel like we need someone new who has cryptography experience, to get a new perspective on things.
So this is all probably completely random, but a Google search of “bottomley” and “bonnano bros.” (the ones mentioned in the code) led to a website for 1927 copyrights. These two were right next to each other:
[b]acidity & inversion. 43851.
Bon ami co. Davey (G. W.) Chick
Bonanno bros. Indus, progress. 34261.
Bonb right & co., inc. Public utility[/b]
Weird that that showed up. So I did a search of the date in the code, July 30th, and appended the 1927. Guess who was born that day:
1927 –
Victor Wong, American actor (d. 2001)
I know this is all probably random coincidence, with the “Bon ami” and “bonnano bros.” and “Victor” references, but it was interesting how it turned out.
Also, there’s a Bonanno family that was part of the first mafia families in New York City in this same time period. Perhaps this is supposed to refer to something they were doing?
…Yeah, you’re gonna find coincidences like that everywhere if you look hard enough. I’m afraid that it’s pretty likely, gunsrequiem, that that doesn’t mean anything.
Haha yeah, probably not. I just found it interesting.
Apologies for long post.
Here are a few thoughts I’m going to put out there in case it triggers anything in the minds of other people reading this, in the absence of any fresh discoveries lately.
So we know a couple of things for sure. We know code A, as that was actually announced as code A. We know code C as that was clearly written down as code C in the text message. Both were 4 digit numbers but that doesn’t mean the other codes will be. The overlaid paintings providing another 4 digit code was awesome and worthy of a code but we don’t know if it really is as the resulting image didn’t contain a code letter (ABC or D). Assuming this is B or D is reasonable but can’t help thinking that the discovery of a code would identify itself clearly with it’s own code letter. I think it’s reasonable that the person planting the code would do that so we know which codes are which when we have them all and need to apply them (assuming that’s what we do when they are all discovered). If the codes are revealed as you play through the game (and the paintings are not a code) then we found code C before code B.
The Pizza is a LIE !
It’s always got an exclamation mark at the end. This makes the ‘upside-down’ numbers theory work but it’s a little weak. I do like the idea that the upside down small case letter ‘a’ could represent code D though, so that’s worth keeping in mind for later on. I think the message is meant as a warning as it’s scribbled in blood, sometimes with dead scientists and I think there’s some significance to the fact that LIE is capitalised, so the letters L, I & E could stand for 3 separate words. Also this message was repeated to us on a forum/IRC a while back and the letter I from the word Is was capitalised but isn’t in the game. Was this meant to help us? The message also appears all over the place which means all mappers would have to be in on the ARG whereas it only seems to be in a few maps at the moment.
Pizza boxes
Are they just easter eggs or part of the code? There are many (I think someone said 11) but I’m not convinced their actual location will provide a code. Maybe when mapped and overlaid they will spell out a code in a dot-to-dot kind of message but the scaling would have to be the same. I’ve noclipped directly above and below most of their locations but nothing. I’ve looked from each location for a clue but some of them are in dead-end locations with no visible cues around them. I was thinking that there are 11 digits (if you include spaces) and in a message like ‘code x 1234’ each location may represent a digit/space but nothing found. They only sometimes appear alongside the double-helix emblem. Maybe the map names of their locations will bear fruit. Definitely worth documenting the locations to see what comes of it. It would be dumb not to do this as these things are staring us in the face.
Thinking as a mapper
This has been mentioned before but worth repeating as a mind-set for solving game codes in general i.e. what would you do if you were placing code or clues. We’ve had a couple of brilliant ones already. Overlaying multiple images to create one good one (visual) and the use of sound so what else would you do. A couple of things I would do (and have searched around for but haven’t found [yet] are:
3D structure. As a one-time mapper I would try to set out structures that when ‘no-clipping’ around a map, from a certain outside location and angle the structures would come together to spell-out a code. Difficult I know. I was hopeful of one location where there were a lot of pipe-segments but nothing so far.
Outside the game - clues which need external investigation to solve, like the cyphers below or common actual events in history.
References to the original game like someone has already mentioned (Borialis)
Announcements in game - although difficult to think that far ahead when hiring voice actors to record them. I suppose you could listen for ‘unprofessional-sounding’ ones done separately i.e. not done by a voice-actor.
Water - when no-clipping you can’t see ‘underwater’ so it makes sense to hide a code it that environment.
Cyphers - yep definitely worth continuing with that and ‘guns’ has done a lot of good work on that and I’d be surprised if that huge set of numbers on that white board was not significant in some way. One notice board message even mentions the use of a cypher.
Red pen - the red inked notes seem to be the interesting stuff
Other stuff
Hatch - why is there a big ass hatch on the floor in the secret ‘under stairs’ room which doesn’t lead anywhere and why was the scientist made of lego
Anyway if any of these ramblings spark any interest, new theories, ideas -run with it. Just trying to bump this along a bit.
Nice points Pop
- Completely agree about the B/D issue, there was a raised point that perhaps the marks on the whiteboard correlate to the long code being Code D: https://bildr.no/view/1283715 - not 100% convinced myself, but it’s a possibility, as well as the fact that just the red image from the unassigned 4 digit code seems to spell out a B.
- For pizza is a lie, I think the capital letter ‘P’ when looked at upside down makes a reasonable ‘d’…but yeah, nothing concrete eitherway
- 3D structures would be incredibly, INCREDIBLY difficult to find unless they were designed to be viewed from one of the major axis and/or had a clue within the level suggesting where to look and/or were made of larger brushes rather than small model detail . Not ruling it out, but unlikely
- Voice announcements can all be listened through direct from the game folders, I’ve tried to listen to some but I didn’t start with a logical approach, so it needs doublechecking
- Water is a great idea however I and others have already checked the texture and model files so it’s unlikely to be hidden in the depths… it IS possible if they used multiple decals to spell something out but wouldn’t be sure
- Red pen, I’ll start collating all the ‘red pen comments’ on the wiki and see if there’s anything to learn from them all en-masse
Not sure if it’s of any help, I’ve added a list of map name / coordinates for all the references to sounds/textures/models I found in the .bsp maps.
I saved it here:
https://thepizzaisalie.wikia.com/wiki/Back_References
For example, I can get to the set of pizza boxes by
sv_cheats 1; map bm_c2a2c; noclip; setpos -2324 -4856 -6