Difference between revisions of "ARG"
m (→Day 3) |
(Cleanup; Consistent formatting; Added images; fact and date-checking) |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
+ | [[File:Unknownweapon.png|right|200px]] | ||
+ | {{Quotation|'''The Scout''' attempting to solve puzzles|'Kay, this does not look good here, um...|sound=Scout_negativevocalization05.wav}} | ||
An '''{{W|Alternate Reality Game}}''' ('''ARG''') is an interactive event that has some portion in the real world and may be influenced by its participants. | An '''{{W|Alternate Reality Game}}''' ('''ARG''') is an interactive event that has some portion in the real world and may be influenced by its participants. | ||
== Pyromania{{anchor|1}} == | == Pyromania{{anchor|1}} == | ||
− | |||
=== Day 1 === | === Day 1 === | ||
− | + | On June 19, 2012, TF2 was updated with no official patch notes. However, in the {{Patch name|6|19|2012}} itself, the following craft items were added to the drop system: [[Goldfish]], [[Pocket Lint]], [[Cheese Wheel]], [[Banana Peel]], [[Barn Door Plank]], [[Secret Diary]], and [[Damaged Capacitor]]. They dropped alongside every item drop except for [[crates]]. | |
=== Day 2 === | === Day 2 === | ||
Line 43: | Line 44: | ||
=== Day 3 === | === Day 3 === | ||
− | |||
− | |||
An [[item schema]] [http://git.optf2.com/schema-tracking/commit/?h=teamfortress2&id=338046be3b50d69b0eeb403112d10bf67814e5d6 update] added new records to the Eliminating The Impossible set attribute, consisting of 8 {{W|MD5}} hash strings: | An [[item schema]] [http://git.optf2.com/schema-tracking/commit/?h=teamfortress2&id=338046be3b50d69b0eeb403112d10bf67814e5d6 update] added new records to the Eliminating The Impossible set attribute, consisting of 8 {{W|MD5}} hash strings: | ||
Line 78: | Line 77: | ||
The {{Patch name|6|21|2012}} added the ability to craft two or more [[Banana Peel]]s together. This resulted in an error message; its header detailing a "Banana Error # (1-8)". The body of the message is in Spanish followed by Finnish roughly translated as "Banana Overflow Error; Detailed Report:". A numbered code follows comprised of a string of {{W|hexadecimal}} sequences. The sequences vary from player to player even among messages with the same Banana Error number. The dismiss button is replaced with its equivalent in Welsh. Crafting the items does not result in the loss of them, and any further attempts to craft them will result in the same error message. | The {{Patch name|6|21|2012}} added the ability to craft two or more [[Banana Peel]]s together. This resulted in an error message; its header detailing a "Banana Error # (1-8)". The body of the message is in Spanish followed by Finnish roughly translated as "Banana Overflow Error; Detailed Report:". A numbered code follows comprised of a string of {{W|hexadecimal}} sequences. The sequences vary from player to player even among messages with the same Banana Error number. The dismiss button is replaced with its equivalent in Welsh. Crafting the items does not result in the loss of them, and any further attempts to craft them will result in the same error message. | ||
+ | <gallery> | ||
+ | File:Banana Peel Craft Error Message.png|An example of an error message received when crafting two Banana Peels together | ||
+ | </gallery> | ||
− | + | Several communities, such as [http://xkeeper.net/private/portal/tf2.php this one], began collecting the unique error codes and sites and piecing the data together. It was discovered that the 8 error codes correspond to 8 different {{W|PNG}} images, with the hexadecimal codes corresponding to data chunks of the resulting image. The MD5 hash strings served to act as {{W|checksums}} for verifying the images are assembled correctly. The resulting images produce {{W|QR codes}} that linked to images on the [[TF2 Official Website]]; there are only seven such images as the codes produced by PNG images 7 and 8 are the same and link to the same page. The images contain sections of a transcript, divided vertically. The completed transcript contains an excerpt of a U.S. Senate hearing featuring [[Saxton Hale]] over the death of [[Poopy Joe]] and Saxton Hale's involvement with it as well as the disappearance of the entire United States supply of [[Australium]]. | |
− | Several communities, such as [http://xkeeper.net/private/portal/tf2.php this one], began collecting the unique error codes and sites and piecing the data together. It was discovered that the 8 error codes correspond to 8 different {{W|PNG}} images, with the hexadecimal codes corresponding to data chunks of the resulting image. The MD5 hash strings served to act as {{W|checksums}} for verifying the images are assembled correctly. The resulting images produce {{W|QR codes}} that linked to images on the [[TF2 Official Website]]; there are only seven such images as the codes produced by PNG images 7 and 8 are the same and link to the same page. The images contain sections of a transcript, divided vertically. | + | <gallery> |
+ | File:Saxton_Hale_Hearing_Transcript.jpg|The final stitched image from the images linked to by the QR codes | ||
+ | </gallery> | ||
==== QR codes ==== | ==== QR codes ==== | ||
Line 124: | Line 128: | ||
=== Day 4 === | === Day 4 === | ||
− | On 22 June 2012, 15:00 PDT, a mysterious [[TF2 Official Website#Blog|blog post]]<ref>[http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=8256 June 22, 2012 - Mmm Mmmph!]</ref> was written by the [[Pyro]]. This corresponds to the text on the [[Damaged Capacitor]] which reads '6.22V1500', giving a time and date of 6/22/12 15:00 PDT (the time zone in which Valve | + | On 22 June 2012, 15:00 PDT, a mysterious [[TF2 Official Website#Blog|blog post]]<ref>[http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=8256 June 22, 2012 - Mmm Mmmph!]</ref> was written by the [[Pyro]]. This corresponds to the text on the [[Damaged Capacitor]] which reads '6.22V1500', giving a time and date of 6/22/12 15:00 PDT (the time zone in which Valve resides). The post reads: |
"Mmmmph mmmmph, mmmmm mmmmmp mmmmmph. Mmmmmph mpm! | "Mmmmph mmmmph, mmmmm mmmmmp mmmmmph. Mmmmmph mpm! | ||
Mmmmmph mph mm! Hm mmmmmph, hmmmmph mm mmmmmph mmmmmph!" | Mmmmmph mph mm! Hm mmmmmph, hmmmmph mm mmmmmph mmmmmph!" | ||
− | Replacing the long words with dashes and the short words with dots | + | Replacing the long words with dashes and the short words with dots reveals a message in {{W|Morse code}}. |
+ | <tt>–– ––– –• –•• •– –•––</tt> | ||
+ | M O N D A Y | ||
+ | The following Monday, the Pyromania Update was announced. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ''Note: The {{Patch name|6|27|2012}} incinerated the [[Mysterious Treasures]] into piles of Ash with the exception of the renamed [[Barely-Melted Capacitor]] and the [[Fireproof Secret Diary]] which retained their appearance. The {{Patch name|7|11|2012}} removed the Ash, again skipping over the Diary and the Capacitor. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
== Mann vs. Machine{{anchor|2|Second ARG}} == | == Mann vs. Machine{{anchor|2|Second ARG}} == | ||
+ | |||
=== Day 1=== | === Day 1=== | ||
− | [[ | + | [[Image:1st Blood Spot.png|500px|thumb|right|The TF2 website as it appeared with the blood spot]] |
On August 10, 2012, a bloodstain appeared on the site logo on the [[TF2 Official Website#blog|TF2 blog]], which led to a [http://www.teamfortress.com/gray hidden page] containing the birth certificate of the previously unknown third Mann brother, [[Gray Mann]]. It is stated that he absconded with the unknown entity 'EAGLE'. | On August 10, 2012, a bloodstain appeared on the site logo on the [[TF2 Official Website#blog|TF2 blog]], which led to a [http://www.teamfortress.com/gray hidden page] containing the birth certificate of the previously unknown third Mann brother, [[Gray Mann]]. It is stated that he absconded with the unknown entity 'EAGLE'. | ||
+ | |||
+ | <gallery> | ||
+ | File:Blog Birth Certificate.jpg|Birth certificate accessed from the link | ||
+ | </gallery> | ||
The {{Patch name|8|10|2012}} added [[Carrier tank]]s to [[2Fort]], [[Badwater Basin]], [[Doublecross]], and [[Granary (Control Point)|Granary]]. They can be seen in the distance standing motionless. | The {{Patch name|8|10|2012}} added [[Carrier tank]]s to [[2Fort]], [[Badwater Basin]], [[Doublecross]], and [[Granary (Control Point)|Granary]]. They can be seen in the distance standing motionless. | ||
=== Day 2 === | === Day 2 === | ||
− | [[ | + | [[Image:Second Blood Spot.png|500px|thumb|right|The appearance of the second blood spot]] |
− | + | On August 11, 2012, a second bloodstain appeared on the site logo, this time leading to a [http://www.teamfortress.com/mannwill hidden page] containing the now fully revealed last will of [[Zepheniah Mann]]. The missing lines disclose that he was being blackmailed by his son Gray and, in response, Zepheniah left [[Elizabeth]] his hidden cache of 'miracle' gravel. | |
− | In the {{Patch name|8|11|2012}} the [[Barely-Melted Capacitor]] was updated to be equippable and several class-specific hashes were added to the [[Item schema]]. | + | <gallery> |
+ | File:ZepheniahMannLastWill.jpg|The unobscured Last Will and Testament of Zepheniah Mann | ||
+ | File:The_Last_Will_and_Testament_of_Zepheniah_Mann_aka_Issue_97.jpg|The previously obscured will introduced during the 2009 [[Haunted Hallowe'en Special]] | ||
+ | </gallery> | ||
+ | In the {{Patch name|8|11|2012}}, the [[Barely-Melted Capacitor]] was updated to be equippable and several class-specific hashes were added to the [[Item schema]]. | ||
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="2" | {| class="wikitable" cellpadding="2" | ||
Line 177: | Line 198: | ||
|} | |} | ||
− | When [[High Five!|high-fiving]] a player who has equipped the Barely-Melted Capacitor, text will be printed to the chat box. Each player can see three unique messages, depending on the class of the other person. The text takes the form of this sample output: | + | When [[High Five!|high-fiving]] a player who has equipped the Barely-Melted Capacitor, text will be printed to the chat box. Each player can see three unique messages, depending on the class of the other person. |
+ | |||
+ | The text takes the form of this sample output (Text in italics varies from person to person): | ||
− | + | ''Medic'' says: Did you hear the story from ''1252'' where ''Destruction PDA, Buzz Killer, Something Special for Someone Special, Ubersaw,'' | |
+ | ''Cowardly Mound, Crate, Buzz Killer, Frying Pan, and the Administrator'' walked into a bar? | ||
− | The class listed in the text represents a sequence of data that corresponds with one of the MD5 checksums, and the items and characters listed in the text represent a subsequence of that sequence. The number corresponds to the position of the subsequence. | + | The class listed in the text represents a sequence of data that corresponds with one of the MD5 checksums, and the items and characters listed in the text represent a subsequence of that sequence. The number corresponds to the position of the subsequence. [http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3294/whatthefp.jpg An in-game example.] |
After several communities collected the outputs from high-fiving with a capacitor, the item names were mapped to {{W|Hexadecimal|hex codes}}. It was found that each class's outputs formed various file formats; The Scout, Pyro, Heavy, and Medic corresponded to a {{W|Portable Network Graphics|png}} file, the Soldier to a {{W|BMP file format|bmp}} file, the Demoman to a {{W|Zip (file format)|zip}} file, the Engineer to a text file containing {{W|C++}} code, the Sniper to a {{W|MIDI}} file, and the Spy to a link that led to a zip file containing a {{W|KeePass}} key file. The image files were {{W|QR code}}s, the zip file contained {{W|ASCII art}}, the MIDI contained {{W|morse code}}, and the C++ code outputted text. It was found that these words corresponded to hex using the {{W|PGP word list}}. | After several communities collected the outputs from high-fiving with a capacitor, the item names were mapped to {{W|Hexadecimal|hex codes}}. It was found that each class's outputs formed various file formats; The Scout, Pyro, Heavy, and Medic corresponded to a {{W|Portable Network Graphics|png}} file, the Soldier to a {{W|BMP file format|bmp}} file, the Demoman to a {{W|Zip (file format)|zip}} file, the Engineer to a text file containing {{W|C++}} code, the Sniper to a {{W|MIDI}} file, and the Spy to a link that led to a zip file containing a {{W|KeePass}} key file. The image files were {{W|QR code}}s, the zip file contained {{W|ASCII art}}, the MIDI contained {{W|morse code}}, and the C++ code outputted text. It was found that these words corresponded to hex using the {{W|PGP word list}}. | ||
Line 285: | Line 309: | ||
|} | |} | ||
− | The password to the Spy's keypass database was the previous class's numeric byte values strung together in order, 053B140A6EC56DEC. The file contained an image of a QR code, which when {{W|XOR}}-ed with the other QR code images led to [http://tf2.com/crsk9.jpg this link]. | + | The password to the Spy's keypass database was the previous class's numeric byte values strung together in order, 053B140A6EC56DEC. The file contained an image of a QR code, which when {{W|XOR}}-ed with the other QR code images led to [http://tf2.com/crsk9.jpg this link]. |
+ | |||
+ | The link contained an image describing a recipe of 8 items, which, when crafted together, [http://i.imgur.com/VzoRV.jpg caused a system-wide alert in-game], notifying players that a new comic, [[Blood Brothers]], was available. | ||
In the aforementioned recipe list image, the letters T, O, B, O and R are visibly stained by blood; this forms the word "[[Tobor|TOBOR]]" | In the aforementioned recipe list image, the letters T, O, B, O and R are visibly stained by blood; this forms the word "[[Tobor|TOBOR]]" | ||
+ | |||
+ | <gallery> | ||
+ | File:Crsk9.jpg|The recipe from ARG 2 Day 2. The letters covered by blood spell [[tobor|"TOBOR"]], "ROBOT" spelled backwards. | ||
+ | File:Blood Brothers Main Menu Alert.png|The system-wide alert from ARG 2 Day 2, in-game. It appeared along with [[Media:BloodBrothersAlarm.wav|this sound]]. | ||
+ | File:Blood Brothers Main Menu Alert 2.png|The same text, but from the main menu. | ||
+ | </gallery> | ||
=== Day 3 === | === Day 3 === | ||
Line 293: | Line 325: | ||
On August 12, a [[TF2 Official Blog|blog post]] entitled [http://teamfortress.com/post.php?id=8621 Blood Brothers] went live, announcing that the ARG had been completed. The post said that Valve expected [[Blood Brothers|the comic with the same name]] to be discovered in a couple of weeks, and not twelve hours, as it turned out. A [http://www.teamfortress.com/bloodbrothers/ link] to the comic was also included in the post. | On August 12, a [[TF2 Official Blog|blog post]] entitled [http://teamfortress.com/post.php?id=8621 Blood Brothers] went live, announcing that the ARG had been completed. The post said that Valve expected [[Blood Brothers|the comic with the same name]] to be discovered in a couple of weeks, and not twelve hours, as it turned out. A [http://www.teamfortress.com/bloodbrothers/ link] to the comic was also included in the post. | ||
− | The | + | === Day 4 === |
− | + | The [[Mann vs. Machine update]] was officially announced. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
== References == | == References == |
Revision as of 01:24, 6 October 2012
“ | 'Kay, this does not look good here, um...
Click to listen
— The Scout attempting to solve puzzles
|
” |
An Template:W (ARG) is an interactive event that has some portion in the real world and may be influenced by its participants.
Contents
Pyromania
Day 1
On June 19, 2012, TF2 was updated with no official patch notes. However, in the June 19, 2012 Patch itself, the following craft items were added to the drop system: Goldfish, Pocket Lint, Cheese Wheel, Banana Peel, Barn Door Plank, Secret Diary, and Damaged Capacitor. They dropped alongside every item drop except for crates.
Day 2
The following day, the June 20, 2012 Patch was released. With this update, any player who equipped the Eliminating The Impossible set would now see new descriptions for the previously added items. The new descriptions would have several random characters replaced by periods, resulting in slightly different strings for each player.
Item | New description |
---|---|
Goldfish |
'Think of the' |
Pocket Lint |
'...the... which...' |
Cheese Wheel |
'may go on... the hidden wickedness...' |
Banana Peel |
'...may go on...' |
Barn Door Plank |
'...year in, year out...' |
Secret Diary |
'the deeds of hellish cruelty and none the wiser' |
Damaged Capacitor |
' in such places, and ...' |
Stitching these phrases together produces the following quote:
“ | Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser.
— “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”, a Sherlock Holmes story
|
” |
Day 3
An item schema update added new records to the Eliminating The Impossible set attribute, consisting of 8 Template:W hash strings:
Record | Value |
---|---|
md5_388_1 | 9e86c9d1ba461d7c3b84ea4bac11b921 |
md5_388_2 | f2629207217ce651f1a76ce33346d4c8 |
md5_388_3 | 5d1a66650820b260b043443137c23dc5 |
md5_388_4 | 0361ca75733f3c21f4ba4ae216e92155 |
md5_388_5 | a0370078eaafd706e75e6a2a45b5678f |
md5_388_6 | 0a009353adac7c721d8b4a188a9f8517 |
md5_388_7 | 6f1d22a53f398fd4404b7fc9d7b1f356 |
md5_388_8 | eae894257e8b1502807a3a94fd2fcc1c |
The June 21, 2012 Patch added the ability to craft two or more Banana Peels together. This resulted in an error message; its header detailing a "Banana Error # (1-8)". The body of the message is in Spanish followed by Finnish roughly translated as "Banana Overflow Error; Detailed Report:". A numbered code follows comprised of a string of Template:W sequences. The sequences vary from player to player even among messages with the same Banana Error number. The dismiss button is replaced with its equivalent in Welsh. Crafting the items does not result in the loss of them, and any further attempts to craft them will result in the same error message.
Several communities, such as this one, began collecting the unique error codes and sites and piecing the data together. It was discovered that the 8 error codes correspond to 8 different Template:W images, with the hexadecimal codes corresponding to data chunks of the resulting image. The MD5 hash strings served to act as Template:W for verifying the images are assembled correctly. The resulting images produce Template:W that linked to images on the TF2 Official Website; there are only seven such images as the codes produced by PNG images 7 and 8 are the same and link to the same page. The images contain sections of a transcript, divided vertically. The completed transcript contains an excerpt of a U.S. Senate hearing featuring Saxton Hale over the death of Poopy Joe and Saxton Hale's involvement with it as well as the disappearance of the entire United States supply of Australium.
QR codes
Error code | QR code image | Output |
---|---|---|
1 | Link | |
2 | Link | |
3 | Link | |
4 | Link | |
5 | Link | |
6 | Link | |
7 | Link | |
8 | Link |
Day 4
On 22 June 2012, 15:00 PDT, a mysterious blog post[1] was written by the Pyro. This corresponds to the text on the Damaged Capacitor which reads '6.22V1500', giving a time and date of 6/22/12 15:00 PDT (the time zone in which Valve resides). The post reads:
"Mmmmph mmmmph, mmmmm mmmmmp mmmmmph. Mmmmmph mpm! Mmmmmph mph mm! Hm mmmmmph, hmmmmph mm mmmmmph mmmmmph!"
Replacing the long words with dashes and the short words with dots reveals a message in Template:W.
–– ––– –• –•• •– –•–– M O N D A Y
The following Monday, the Pyromania Update was announced.
Note: The June 27, 2012 Patch incinerated the Mysterious Treasures into piles of Ash with the exception of the renamed Barely-Melted Capacitor and the Fireproof Secret Diary which retained their appearance. The July 11, 2012 Patch removed the Ash, again skipping over the Diary and the Capacitor.
Mann vs. Machine
Day 1
On August 10, 2012, a bloodstain appeared on the site logo on the TF2 blog, which led to a hidden page containing the birth certificate of the previously unknown third Mann brother, Gray Mann. It is stated that he absconded with the unknown entity 'EAGLE'.
The August 10, 2012 Patch added Carrier tanks to 2Fort, Badwater Basin, Doublecross, and Granary. They can be seen in the distance standing motionless.
Day 2
On August 11, 2012, a second bloodstain appeared on the site logo, this time leading to a hidden page containing the now fully revealed last will of Zepheniah Mann. The missing lines disclose that he was being blackmailed by his son Gray and, in response, Zepheniah left Elizabeth his hidden cache of 'miracle' gravel.
The previously obscured will introduced during the 2009 Haunted Hallowe'en Special
In the August 11, 2012 Patch, the Barely-Melted Capacitor was updated to be equippable and several class-specific hashes were added to the Item schema.
Record | Value |
---|---|
scout_md5_314 | 40119059ad74854a84f78a102fb6048d |
soldier_md5_516 | 5f99cc6e57a84e6c52f6df772196a7ef |
pyro_md5_323 | a8a7188d6911026801eb1a6279d7f0b9 |
demo_md5_372 | 1c2594a0d12aba24d304487742205f04 |
heavy_md5_308 | 2eb157506d8ca40c919541741b04d432 |
medic_md5_328 | 6c5d3d7ea48af4c8ceb8eb801c65de84 |
engineer_md5_500 | 928b4eba739114893aff40614aa74b17 |
sniper_md5_276 | 6aa6787bc62adcd3d646164c9b68f026 |
spy_md5_65 | 5696492788ca11dd2f1eaa9f5294e3d2 |
When high-fiving a player who has equipped the Barely-Melted Capacitor, text will be printed to the chat box. Each player can see three unique messages, depending on the class of the other person.
The text takes the form of this sample output (Text in italics varies from person to person):
Medic says: Did you hear the story from 1252 where Destruction PDA, Buzz Killer, Something Special for Someone Special, Ubersaw, Cowardly Mound, Crate, Buzz Killer, Frying Pan, and the Administrator walked into a bar?
The class listed in the text represents a sequence of data that corresponds with one of the MD5 checksums, and the items and characters listed in the text represent a subsequence of that sequence. The number corresponds to the position of the subsequence. An in-game example.
After several communities collected the outputs from high-fiving with a capacitor, the item names were mapped to Template:W. It was found that each class's outputs formed various file formats; The Scout, Pyro, Heavy, and Medic corresponded to a Template:W file, the Soldier to a Template:W file, the Demoman to a Template:W file, the Engineer to a text file containing Template:W code, the Sniper to a Template:W file, and the Spy to a link that led to a zip file containing a Template:W key file. The image files were Template:Ws, the zip file contained Template:W, the MIDI contained Template:W, and the C++ code outputted text. It was found that these words corresponded to hex using the Template:W.
Class Outputs
Class | Output |
---|---|
Scout | scout.png |
Soldier | soldier.bmp |
Pyro | pyro.png |
Demoman | Demoman.zip |
Heavy | heavy.png |
Engineer | C++ code |
Medic | medic.png |
Sniper | Sniper.mid |
Spy | Spy.kdbx |
PGP word list mapping
Class | Format | PGP Word | Even/Odd | Hex |
---|---|---|---|---|
Scout | PNG | Adult | Even | 05 |
Soldier | BMP | Councilman | Odd | 3B |
Pyro | PNG | Baboon | Even | 14 |
Demoman | ZIP | Apollo | Odd | 0A |
Heavy | PNG | Goldfish | Even | 05 |
Engineer | C++ Code | Resistor | Odd | C5 |
Medic | PNG | Goggles | Even | 6D |
Sniper | MIDI | Unicorn | Odd | EC |
Spy | Keypass Database | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The password to the Spy's keypass database was the previous class's numeric byte values strung together in order, 053B140A6EC56DEC. The file contained an image of a QR code, which when Template:W-ed with the other QR code images led to this link.
The link contained an image describing a recipe of 8 items, which, when crafted together, caused a system-wide alert in-game, notifying players that a new comic, Blood Brothers, was available.
In the aforementioned recipe list image, the letters T, O, B, O and R are visibly stained by blood; this forms the word "TOBOR"
The recipe from ARG 2 Day 2. The letters covered by blood spell "TOBOR", "ROBOT" spelled backwards.
The system-wide alert from ARG 2 Day 2, in-game. It appeared along with this sound.
Day 3
On August 12, a blog post entitled Blood Brothers went live, announcing that the ARG had been completed. The post said that Valve expected the comic with the same name to be discovered in a couple of weeks, and not twelve hours, as it turned out. A link to the comic was also included in the post.
Day 4
The Mann vs. Machine update was officially announced.
References
|
|