Revision as of 06:48, 7 July 2018

First phase: Establishing communication with Ed

Step 1: Soulstorm is announced

Oddworld Inhabitants announced their new game Oddworld: Soulstorm during GDC 2016. Along with the announcement the oddworld.com/soulstorm page is launched. Upon closer inspection of the Soulstorm page the community stumbles on some weird HTML comments, a hidden picture (reveal1.jpg) and a encrypted code in a video. At this point there was no doubts anymore, the ARG had officially started!

Date: 14 March 2016

Clues:

HTML messages on oddworld.com/soulstorm page
http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/images/reveal1.jpg
http://www.oddworld.com/soulstorm/twitching.mp4

Messages:

Pictures:
- CAN YOU S- HARD TO K- IF BREAKING- THROUGH HA- ON NEED A D-
HTML Code:
- Far too many video game characters were harmed extremely badly in the making of this experience. In a sane world this would never have happened. We're sorry.
- <<< TRYING TO BRE===== -lostqmwaittypo- >>>
- <<< CAN ANYBO============================================ NEED TO TREYR ====== so thirsty need brew fol==== -->
- <<< listen. >>>
- are you l/os/t ?
- message INTERCEPTED -->
- there's got to be a wa_
Video:
- Listen for me

Step 2: Dialog Box

Finding the message in the video seemed to have triggered and update on the oddworld.com/soulstorm page. The main update on the page was the apprition of a dialog box in which users could input messages and get answers, sometimes encoded, sometimes in plain text.

Date: 23 March 2016

Clues:

Weird dialog box to communicate with an unknown entity

Messages:

Query	Answer	New Responses	Alternative Responses
hello	* HELLO? *	* HELLO *	* HELLO! YES, FINALLY!* / * HELLO! BUT NOT HERE*
hi	* HI? *	-	-
follow me	* I WISH I COULD BUT I CAN’T GET OUT *	* I WISH, I REALLY WISH *	-
who are you	* IT’S BEEN SO LONG, I CAN’T REMEMBER *	-	-
abe	* PLEASE FIND ME *	* ABE? *	* ABE? YES - ABE. *
molluck	NOT MY BOSS	...	-
alf	JUST ONE MORE DROP OF DELICIOUS BREW	JUST ONE MORE DROP	...
slig	GET DOWN!	-	-
elum	JUMP, ELUM, JUMP!	-	-
rupturefarms	THE SPIRIT OF 1029 LIVES ON.	...	-
soulstorm	* DRINK MORE BREW *	...	-
necrum	I CAN’T SEE YOU ANYMORE.	[OUT OF SIGHT]	-
mudokon	OH, BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?	-	* OF COURSE, RIGHT? *
brew	DRINK MORE, WORK HARDER	* SO GOOD. SO TASTY. *	-
feeco	CHOO CHOO!	[OUT OF SIGHT]	-
barracks	SNEAK!	[OUT OF SIGHT]	-
bonewerkz	WAIT, THERE ARE BONES IN THIS?	[OUT OF SIGHT]	-
brewery	JUST ONE MORE DROP	[OUT OF SIGHT]	-
brewmaster	TWICE ZE FLAVOR, RIGHT?	-	-
scars	COOL INK, BRO.	-	-
new n tasty	MMMM, TASTY BREW…	...	-
mudomo	FANGS, LEGS, WEBS - THEY'VE GOT IT ALL	-	-
mudanchee	BEWARE THE GUARDIANS	-	-
oddworld	WHO ARE THESE GUYS?	...	-
portal	WHERE?!	...	-
chant	YOYO-YOYO-YOYO-YOYO	...	-
1997	SAVE ME TOO!	-	-
1998	DON'T LEAVE ME TRAPPED AGAIN	...	-
2001	WOAH, ANOTHER DIMENSION	...	-
2005	THINGS ARE GETTING STRANGER...	...	-
squeek	WHO IS SQUEEK?	-	...
quintology	LET'S PLAY ANOTHER GAME SOON	LET'S PLAY A GAME	-
scrab cakes	NOW WITH EVEN MORE BITE.	-	-
paramite pies	TURNING UP THIN	-	-
meech munchies	THIS CAN'T STILL BE MADE WITH MEECHES...	-	-
mudokon pops	HEY, GET AWAY FROM ME WITH THAT MEAT GRINDER.	-	-
1029	* TRY AGAIN *	[TRY AGAIN]	-
fangus	OH WHAT A BRUTAL BALLAD WE COULD SING TOGETHER	-	-
goodbye	GOODBYE	* YES, NO DOUBT, BUT FOR HOW LONG? *	-
what is soulstorm	* SOULSTORM? *	-	-
can you hear me	* YES, FAINTLY *	* YES, FAINTLY - COME CLOSER *	-
healing	WE NEED MORE FUNDING FOR MODOKAID	-	-
get me outta here	NO, REALLY, GET ME OUTTA HERE	-	-
big-face	NICE MASK, BOZO!	-	-
how are you	* HOW DO YOU THINK? *	* HOW DO YOU THINK? - CAN'T YOU SEE? *	-
open sesame	WRONG MYTHOLOGY, SCHMUCK	-	-
shrykull	WHO IS YOUR CURRENT ENERGY PROVIDER?	-	-
tears	SO MANY TEARS, SO MANY MEMORIES	-	-
intercepted	FIND MY MESSAGE, HEAR MY VOICE	-	-
dripik	THAT'S GENERAL DRIPIK TO YOU	-	-
glukkon	PLEASE, NO MORE	-	-
fart	HEHEHE	-	-
ed	* FIND ME, HEAR ME, SAVE ME *	-	-
exoddus	WHERE ARE WE GOING? WHO WILL TAKE US THERE?	-	-
oddworld inhabitants	WORKING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF ODD	-	-
moolah	NOW THERE'S AN ADDICTION	-	-
director phleg	USERNAME UNKNOWN, PLEASE TRY AGAIN	-	-
vice president aslik	SECURITY CLEARANCE REVOKED, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR	-	-
hand	* YES! HIM! *	-	-
chest	* SO CLOSE. SO CLOSE. *	-	-
face	* CAN YOU SEE IT YET? WE'RE TRYING TO SHOW YOU. *	-	-
are you alive	BARELY, CAN YOU SAVE ME?
addicted	YOU TOO?	-	-

Step 3: Ed?

The dialog box revealed a weird picture after the user inputed 75 messages in a row. This picture allowed us to find multpiple clues hidden behind [magic eye stereogram], morse code and weird text formatting]]. The clues ultimately all to pointed to the same message: Ed.

Date: 24 March 2016

Clues:

Messages:

Pictures
- findme
- hear me
- rescue me

Not long after we find out a misterious page called Ed with one single message.

Date: 25 March 2016

Clues:

http://www.oddworld.com/soulstorm/ed/

Messages:

i can hear you, just. it's faint, but i can hear you.

Step 4: Finding Ed

The Ed page changed multiple times in the days following its discovery. The final message had a block of 140 '/' characters and had a lot of '#' in it. It was telling us to look for a Twitter account, note that at the time Twitter had a maximum of 140 characters per message. This ultimately led us to the @edmudokon twitter account which was full of criptic tweets.

Date: 4 April 2016

Clues:

http://twitter.com/edmudokon

Messages:

Hello
Did somebo-------
Is anybody listening
Where am I?
Can you hear me
One Zero Two Nine
I can hear you, faintly.
Yes! Yes! You are getting closer
If I could just… I can’t… Find me.
Where are you? Can you hear me?
We’ve stopped the progress… I need to show you the truth about this place.
You can hear me! Just, please, listen.

The tweets also contained partial codes that once put together and inserted in the Dialog box ultimately unlocked the next major phase of the ARG.

Date: 4 April 2016

Messages:

*** IT WORKED! IT WORKED! OK, NOW I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION - LISTEN, THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU SOMETHING. SOMETHING IS WRONG. VERY WRONG. YOU NEED TO LISTEN. YOU NEED TO HELP ME. I NEED TO HELP YOU... ***

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ==Step 1: Soulstorm is announced==
-Oddworld Inhabitants announced their new game Oddworld: Soulstorm during GDC 2016. Along with the announcement the oddworld.com/soulstorm page is launched.
+'''Oddworld Inhabitants announced their new game Oddworld: Soulstorm during GDC 2016. Along with the announcement the oddworld.com/soulstorm page is launched.'''
-Upon closer inspection of the Soulstorm page the community stumbles on some weird HTML comments, a hidden picture (reveal1.jpg) and a encrypted code in a video.
+'''Upon closer inspection of the Soulstorm page the community stumbles on some weird HTML comments, a hidden picture (reveal1.jpg) and a encrypted code in a video.
-At this point there was no doubts anymore, the ARG had officially started!
+At this point there was no doubts anymore, the ARG had officially started!'''
 Date: 14 March 2016
-Clues:
+=== Clues: ===
 * HTML messages on oddworld.com/soulstorm page
 * http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/images/reveal1.jpg
 * http://www.oddworld.com/soulstorm/twitching.mp4
-Messages:
+=== Messages: ===
 * Pictures:
 **  CAN YOU S- HARD TO K- IF BREAKING- THROUGH HA- ON NEED A D-
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 * Video:
 ** Listen for me
 ==Step 2: Dialog Box==
-Finding the message in the video seemed to have triggered and update on the oddworld.com/soulstorm page.
+'''Finding the message in the video seemed to have triggered and update on the oddworld.com/soulstorm page.'''
-The main update on the page was the apprition of a dialog box in which users could input messages and get answers, sometimes encoded, sometimes in plain text.
+'''The main update on the page was the apprition of a dialog box in which users could input messages and get answers, sometimes encoded, sometimes in plain text.'''
 Date: 23 March 2016
-Clues:
+=== Clues: ===
 * Weird dialog box to communicate with an unknown entity
-Messages:
+=== Messages: ===
 {| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:100%"
 |-
@@ Line 366: / Line 367: @@
 ==Step 3: Ed?==
-The dialog box revealed a weird picture after the user inputed 75 messages in a row. This picture allowed us to find multpiple clues hidden behind [[http://magiceye.ecksdee.co.uk/  magic eye stereogram]], morse code and weird text formatting]]. The clues ultimately all to pointed to the same message: Ed.
+'''The dialog box revealed a weird picture after the user inputed 75 messages in a row. This picture allowed us to find multpiple clues hidden behind [[http://magiceye.ecksdee.co.uk/  magic eye stereogram]], morse code and weird text formatting]]. The clues ultimately all to pointed to the same message: Ed.'''
 Date: 24 March 2016
-Clues:
+=== Clues: ===
 * http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/attemptnumberseventyfive.jpg
 * http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/intercepted.txt
@@ Line 377: / Line 378: @@
 * http://oddworld.com/soulstorm/lsot.mp3
-Messages:
+=== Messages: ===
 * Pictures
 ** findme
@@ Line 384: / Line 385: @@
-Not long after we find out a misterious page called Ed with one single message.
+'''Not long after we find out a misterious page called Ed with one single message.'''
 Date: 25 March 2016
-Clues:
+=== Clues: ===
 * http://www.oddworld.com/soulstorm/ed/
-Messages:
+=== Messages: ===
 * i can hear you, just. it's faint, but i can hear you.
 ==Step 4: Finding Ed==
-The Ed page changed multiple times in the days following its discovery.
+'''The Ed page changed multiple times in the days following its discovery. '''
-The final message had a block of 140 '/' characters and had a lot of '#' in it. It was telling us to look for a Twitter account, note that at the time Twitter had a maximum of 140 characters per message.
+'''The final message had a block of 140 '/' characters and had a lot of '#' in it. It was telling us to look for a Twitter account, note that at the time Twitter had a maximum of 140 characters per message.
-This ultimately led us to the @edmudokon twitter account which was full of criptic tweets.
+This ultimately led us to the @edmudokon twitter account which was full of criptic tweets.'''
 Date: 4 April 2016
-Clues:
+=== Clues: ===
 * http://twitter.com/edmudokon
-Messages:
+=== Messages: ===
 * Hello
 * Did somebo-------
@@ Line 422: / Line 422: @@
-The tweets also contained partial codes that once put together and inserted in the Dialog box ultimately unlocked the next major phase of the ARG.
+'''The tweets also contained partial codes that once put together and inserted in the Dialog box ultimately unlocked the next major phase of the ARG.'''
 Date: 4 April 2016
-Messages:
+=== Messages: ===
 * <nowiki>*** IT WORKED! IT WORKED! OK, NOW I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION - LISTEN, THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU SOMETHING. SOMETHING IS WRONG. VERY WRONG. YOU NEED TO LISTEN. YOU NEED TO HELP ME. I NEED TO HELP YOU... ***</nowiki>