{8-4-4-4-12} bits in hexadecimal is the standard form for registry entries made by programs. I don’t think we’ll find anything by messing around with that string.
I’ve found some old C/C++ implementations of Lucifer scattered around on the net.
I remember trying multiple passwords with that tool was very cumbersome and inconvenient. It would be better to write our own implementation of it. I have the VB source code for the KRYPTA tool lying around somewhere, which I found on the planet-source-code.com site. I tried to look up the link for it, but it looks like it’s gone now.
We didn’t overlook it. We ruled it out. Although the text is not very legible, we can clearly see that it’s not addressed to Dr. Horn. The original texture can be found in bms\bms_textures_dir.vpk -> materials\models\props_office\file_paper02.vtf.
I’d like to know, too. Also, I wish there was more clarity as to who was close back in May, 2013. Was it those folks from Cambridge? Surely, they must have given up and moved on by now.
Those posts were posted on 18 October 2015. The person who posted them probably meant to sign their posts with 18/10/15, but somehow got the month wrong.
Basically, it’s a GUID enclosed in curly braces (Microsoft calls this format “registry format”.) Generally speaking, a GUID is a unique identifier that can be used by software for a variety of purposes.
Ohhh right, thought it might have been something. Ah well.
I was wondering if there were more of those, so I looked into it a bit more and found the entire bootup sequence text in the file bms_misc_dir.vpk -> resource\bootup_english.txt. I saw that you got one hex digit wrong. The correct sequence is: “{99A016E1-0840-43AE-8434-A18CEDFA833B}”. Googling this shows that this particular GUID apparently is the product code GUID of an application called LogMeIn Hamachi. Maybe the programmer had this software installed on his computer, and when he coded the HEV bootup sequence, he just randomly picked a GUID from under the “…\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall” registry key. So, probably nothing to do with the ARG.
It might have been something. A GUID is a 128-bit value, so, in theory, this could have been a 128-bit AES key for all we knew. We now know that it (probably) isn’t.
About this Easter egg in AM–I just went through both maps in normal and noclip mode, going as far from the actual map as I can in all directions, turning everything over, and I’ve yet to find anything new.
There’s the “Office Space” Easter egg in the conversation between the scientists which was already found.
There’s the funny things the security guard(s) says when you throw enough things at him.
There’s the “I’M UPSIDE DOWN PLEASE TURN ME OVER” message on the underside of at least one of the boxes.
These are all things we know about already.
The only thing I found that was “weird” was a small box under the device that lets you insert the sample that displayed a white screen with “snow” on it. During the resonance cascade sequence, it changes to a bright-white screen, but nothing more. I’m assuming it’s for some kind of visual effect somewhere due to the change during the cascade sequence. Here’s a screenshot of that:
[attach=4276,none,533][/attach]
Other than those things, I found jack squat. Either it’s so obscure that no one has figured it out, it’s extremely tiny, or it’s in some part of the map inaccessible through conventional means.
Or I just plain missed it. 
Well, it’s definitely not this, because I did the same you did. There IS nothing else in the two AM maps.
If I were a betting man (which, for the record, I am not), I would bet that whatever this obscure little Easter Egg is, it has nothing to do with the ARG.
However, perhaps it would be helpful if each of the whiteboards found in the level were enumerated? For example, I know that the “Philosopher’s Stone” board is in the level, in a room that you’d have to noclip thru (or come back and jump thru the broken glass in UC). There are plenty of others.
(Also, can we verify that NONE of these whiteboards change before and after the resonance cascade?)
I don’t think they would have changed since we found all the textures, but it’s possible something was added to them later. This would be in the game files, obviously, but perhaps wouldn’t make sense out of context.
One thing I noticed on the whiteboards in AM was a mention of “phased optronic lenses,” which is perhaps a phrase related to the Tau/LOL Cannon that we haven’t checked into yet.
[attach=4277,none,552][/attach]
Just got back from a Tommy Emmanuel concert and wow was he awesome.
For those who don’t know, Tommy Emmanuel is one of the greatest living guitar players on the entire planet.
Anyway, I was visiting with him onstage prior to his performance and he had some very interesting information concerning the ARG so, I thought it best to post it.
Don’t tell anyone…
Forgive me if im wrong but wasn’t EP-0021 the Specimen used for the Test, or was it the OTHER one that replaced EP-0021.
EDIT - Wait no it was GG-3883 that was used, and replaced EP-0021.
Also have we seen this letter before regarding the swap?
Something puzzles me about all this. According to the terminal.blackmesa.source page, Dr. Horn wants to figure out what’s going on with the pizzas and the strange mysteries throughout the Black Mesa complex. Why? Shouldn’t he already know about them? Shouldn’t he understand them? Is the DR HORN hint maybe not saying that this is a message from Dr Horn but rather that we should look into him more? What is really going on here?
Please tell me you made a recording of the concert so that we can analyze the music and the performance for any clues. 
Yes, I think it has been brought up before. There is a larger version available here:
https://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/File 
ecay_memorandum.jpg
One explanation could be that there are two Dr. Horn’s. One of them is the real Dr. Horn and the other is an imposter, some kind of double or clone, who is the one responsible for the lie. Initially, the real Dr. Horn has no idea that the double exists, but he will soon realize that there are strange things going on. But the problem with this theory is that it is hard to believe that there would be two Dr. Horn’s roaming around in the facility without the two of them bumping into each other.
Another possible explanation could be that some entity is taking control over Dr. Horn’s mind, but only for short periods at a time. When the entity is in control, Dr. Horn’s consciousness is put to sleep, so he will only experience these periods as blackouts or perhaps as uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep and having bad dreams. In any case, he will soon realize that something strange is going on and try to make sense of it.
If an entity is in control (or partially in control) of Dr. Horn, then this would mean that it is the entity who is the driving force behind the HALOS project. The question is, for what purpose? If HALOS is some kind if AI, then this idea might explain the leap in technology that seems to have happened, because even if the BMRF was at the very cutting edge of science and technology, at the time of the cascade, the technology was simply not available to build a true self-aware AI. If this entity has come from another dimension, it is very likely that it would have the necessary knowledge to create an AI.
On second thought, I just realized that I completely forgot about the advances in AI technology made by Aperture Science, which kind of invalidates the idea that the technology wasn’t available at the time. It is very likely that the Black Mesa Research Facility would have had an AI research program in order to keep up with its rival Aperture Science.
However, a much more simpler explanation for the terminal message could be that it was not written by Dr. Horn, but instead by an unknown party, who is seeking our help in solving this mystery, and also seems to be the one helping us along. If we step out of the in-universe reality of the ARG, this persona seems to take on the role of the ARG’s narrator.
This is probably 100% coincidence, but remember the “ThEpIzZaIsaLiE” capitalization from the IRC clue?
Well, one anagram you can make out of the lowercase letters is “SHA A ZIP.”
Again, probably just a coincidence, but that intentional casing is one of the 100 things about this ARG that bother me, so I figured I’d try something with it.
Just a quick follow-up to the theory in my previous post that Dr. Horn is being controlled by an alien entity.
The problem with this theory is that it doesn’t really work with the 1001085139140914/grilledpizza message. We’ve always assumed that this message was written by Dr. Horn, or possibly a deranged version of Dr. Horn. I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like something an alien entity would write. Unless the conscious mind of the alien entity has somehow blended with Dr. Horn’s mind. But the problematic bit is the clear separation of the two personalities–the fact that when Dr. Horn is himself, he has no recollection of what he has been doing when under the influence of the alien entity.
A few days ago i went on another Wikipedia adventure and i eventually came to this page.
This did make me think about one of Stormseekers posts on this thread.
Vigesimal is base 20 but these days we use base 10 and of coarse computers count in base 2. Another thing to point out is that the Mayans used a version of this as mentioned on the Wikipedia page. As most of us should know, the first Mayan long track calendar ended on December 21st 2012 and many people believed that was the end of the world, but that didn’t happen. Vigesimal looks a lot like hex so this makes me wonder if the 752 hex code is really not hex after all. I don’t think has mentioned this here and this idea lines up a bit with our “21 goes into 1” hint if you think about it for a moment as well as a few other things.
Think about this for a few moments.
This doesn’t seem problematic at all. In fact, if I have understood you correctly, then multiple personality disorders and the likes work in exactly this fashion. Distinct personalities are asymmetrically aware of the others’ actions and properties, which can even go so far as to render a person temporarily blind without realizing that they shouldn’t be or to have one personality commit a crime without all other personalities being aware of it. What I mean is, that the “deranged” personality could absolutely have access to all information available to the normal Dr. Horn, whilst the reverse does not hold true. See the fascinating medical cases of Billy Milligan and B.T. for great examples on this.
I’ve taken some time to perform a thorough analysis on what the “I even gave you a hint somewhere” might specifically refer to. I think it’s safe to exclude things that were specifically put in place as part of the ARG, as those are direct hints/parts of the ARG. Instead, I looked at the timeline of events leading up to Storm stating that.
So, Storm posted this on April 6, 2014:
"CSM Cyberdyne Systems Model (Terminator)
I like that one best, it seems to suit the theme.
It’s not random bytes btw, but its definitely designed to look that way.
I wouldn’t give you an unsolvable puzzle, just a really hard one. I even gave you a hint somewhere." ~ (Apr. 6, 2014)
Using that as a basis, let’s work backwards from that time. Two months prior to that message, it was revealed that Code/0418 was Storm. At that point, on February 1st, 2014 I posted the PMs I received from 0418.
On February 3rd, 2014, 0418 logged in for the last time. The next day, this message appeared on the wiki:
"Aug 09
--------------
W### has been p########## well on the L#### O####### L######## Can####, other#### kn### as the T## Cann##. My t##### to the #####etic
induction coil have reduced the likelyhood of overcharge by 200%! I still cannot fathom why the fuse we introduced continues to fail
however, perhaps the leptons have a mi7s6d0976)(&^A)S()F ()A^SF) A()&^ ^)(AS&^ (^6097^)(76)(")")(")(!")(!")(!"*)(… … …"
I’ve already gone back and checked for forum posts and other entries online about BM regarding that date, and nothing popped up. It is odd, however, that we received a specific date.
Now, there’s something very important that I want to point out.
Take a look at these images of the Wiki message and the ASCII conversion of the Hex Code in the exact way they are formatted in their original form:
[attach=4278,none,584][/attach]
[attach=4279,none,1138][/attach]
Notice the formatting. Why the big spaces/gaps? That’s not standard formatting for any word processing program that I know of, nor is it standard for the Wiki. For whatever reason, it’s intentional.
But why?
If we continue to look at the PM Code sent me, two things seem to indicate that there is more to this puzzle than meets the eye:
“. . . when decoded via Hex, which I suspect is a secondary encode, as most encrypted data sent via communications is encoded in order to avoid corruption.”
“For the moment therefore, I will continue to try and analyze the non Hex code and work out the block size, algorithm basis, key length etc.”
I’ve made this point before, and I stand by it–the hex is not the actual code, it’s simply that the original message was converted into hex to prevent it from being corrupted during the subsequent encoding.
"The password will probably be hinted at, perhaps in a less than obvious way. We can assume this much as it is almost impossible to analyze a cipher text with only one message and nothing to confirm patterns. Once I’ve got a rough estimate of what mode/algorithm it uses, I can dedicate some run time to rainbow table attacks on the key. I have a feeling this is a holding puzzle, designed to allow time to construct further aspects of the ARG or work on whatever is behind their NDA.
Recently there was a problem with the computer systems at work, so I may not have access to all the analytical machinery I usually do, it may take a bit longer to get more information, if i find anything interesting I’ll let you know. I may have access to some more specialist equipment at a later date, so more progress will likely be made then. I think we can rule out SSH or OTP though."
Two things about this part of the message stand out. First of all, Storm states explicitly right there that multiple messages might help to confirm patterns. Perhaps the other messages we have received with similar formatting (the wiki message and the Tempus page message) are meant to help us in some way.
The second part also sends up a flag, for it’s almost as if he’s saying that specialist equipment would likely allow more progress. Could this indicate that certain equipment is required to solve it, or simply that advanced computing might help bruteforce it?
Yes, you are absolutely right. I was to some extent aware of multiple personality disorders and how they work, but didn’t take that fully into account when I wrote that final point, which sort of diverted from the main point I was trying to make. I was focusing on how and to what extent an alien entity would assert its control over Dr. Horn.
But if set aside the idea of an alien entity for a minute and go back to the original idea that one way to explain the contradictory nature of some of the clues, is that Dr. Horn is exhibiting two distinct personalities: One “sane” (or good) Dr. Horn, and one “deranged” (or evil) Dr. Horn, where the sane Dr. Horn is not aware of or have any memory of what the “deranged” personality is doing.
Now we can ask: Is this split personality caused by some kind of entity (alien or otherwise) taking control of Dr. Horn for periods at a time? Or, is Dr. Horn simply suffering from a multiple personality disorder?
If we consider the first scenario where Dr. Horn is being influenced or controlled by an (alien) entity for periods at a time, then to what extent is he being influenced or controlled? Does the entity have full control over Dr. Horn during the time periods when Dr. Horn is not him sane self? Or, is the entity only influencing Dr. Horn in a way that has resulted in the creation of a personality that is exhibiting traits from both the (alien) entity and Dr. Horn?
Well, the Nihilinth is technically capable of speaking telepathically (we know this because it speaks to Gordon in Xen) and the scientists frequently visited Xen prior to the resonance cascade event. So, technically it’s possible that Dr. Horn was on one of these missions–probable, actually, if you think about the fact that the entire facility was dedicated to visiting Xen–and was therefore directly exposed to the Nihilinth. Perhaps Horn was in some way scarred/propelled by this experience, or maybe the Nihilinth is still in contact with him or directly controlling him. Another consideration is that Horn was attempting to find a way to either respond to the Nihilinth or imitate its abilities, hence the HALOS project. Better yet, what if the Nihilinth was directing him in the project for some purpose to serve its own needs? All random, baseless possibilities, but possibilities nonetheless.
Actually isn’t the Nihilanth related to mind control? I thought it was cannon, or heavily implied, he mind controlled the Vortiguants into slavery. So this actually means that theory isn’t baseless at all.
EDIT: sorry, Gunsrequiem, I had looked right over your post before typing mine.
I’d like to add on though that the Nihilanth was in kahoots with the Combine right? Maybe an incentive of the Nihilanth is wanting an AI for the Combines motives? Aren’t Synths cyborgs or something(pardon my canon memory, it’s been so long since playing through all of the Half Life games for anything other than doing any silly speed run tricks), so maybe it’s relating to something like that.
Not to get off on a tangent, there’s too much it could be, which is probably the biggest critique of this whole ARG. I’m sure it’ll be a “Oh, duh.” moment, but I honestly doubt we have enough coherent information to do that right now, as evidenced by this wild speculation swinging everywhere across the realm of possibilities.
I agree with your critique, Pianownd, and I think most of it is by our own design. If you look at the facts, Storm has actually only introduced a few things. Unfortunately, we have so many people dedicated to the work that each of those people has X number of theories, thereby resulting in possibilities many times over what the actual hints of the ARG provide. This is our greatest barrier to progress. It’s like trying to put together a puzzle that has pieces from a hundred other puzzles strewn throughout the pieces you actually need for the puzzle. I don’t necessarily think we need more information, but it would be awesome to see Storm come up with some way to narrow our focus. At this stage of the game, we aren’t stagnant because the solution is too hard–we are stagnant because we simply don’t know which avenue to take to move forward.
As Storm has said, time will reveal all, I suppose.
I definitely think we need to check out the similarities in formatting between the wiki message and the ASCII-rendition of the Hex Code, though.
EDIT: Another thing to consider is that we haven’t found all there is to find in reference to the terminal. We have at least two direct references to the terminal on the BM site:
-
The reference to the original text found within the terminal site.
-
The IRC clue that led us to trying Konami code on his main site page which led to the terminal page.
Another thing–I know we have established that niobium would likely be a part of an AI experiment, but I also took a closer look at the isotopes list on the Tempus page. It seems as if the only daughter isotopes from those niobium isotopes are of the element molybdenum. Something caught my eye on the wiki page:
“The ability of molybdenum to withstand extreme temperatures without significantly expanding or softening makes it useful in applications that involve intense heat, including the manufacture of armor, aircraft parts, electrical contacts, industrial motors and filaments.[sup][6][/sup][sup][44][/sup]”
Here again we see reference to aircraft. It is also used for high-speed implementations, as well as a flame-resistant coating for other metals. Is it possible that Dr. Horn was trying to develop something to sell to the Air Force?
Another possibility is that he was developing some kind of AI-controlled, manned space probe, perhaps to explore the other worlds linked to Xen? He would be killing two birds with one stone if he managed to get enough niobium. Furthermore, the niobium alone can be used in a similar manner as the molybdenum.