Battlefield 1

Battlefield 1
Active since 06-21-2016

The Marconi ARG - an ARG that began with headphones and Morse Code.
Type	[[List_of_Investigations#Official\|Official]]
Creator	EA Dice
Discovered	06-21-2016

Main Page > List of Investigations > Battlefield 1

This wiki page documents the Marconi Easter Egg that is hidden in Battlefield 1. The Google doc used to populate this wiki page can be found here. Currently, the primary solving hub for this ARG is the Battlefield Easter Egg community, who have a wiki here and a YouTube channel as well. A full video explanation of the Easter egg can be found here.

Headphones and Morse

1 pair of headphones is hidden on each map. The headphones are indestructible and can be located on every server, as long as they have not already been picked up. It appears that there are 5 spawn locations per map, although some of them remain undiscovered. The headphones can be picked up by any player by walking over them. Upon approaching a hidden MCOM station after having retrieved a pair of headphones, the player will hear some Morse code being tapped out. A player can carry only one pair of headphones at a time, and only the player wearing the headphones will be able to hear the Morse code when near enough to a hidden MCOM.

Headphone Locations

Here is is a series of images, made by RenegadeX5, which display headphone and MCOM locations on each map. In order to hear the Morse code, you need to pick up the headphones from one of the 5 locations on each map (you might need to check all 5 before finding them!) and bring them to the MCOM station.

(Note: you can click each image to get a larger version.)

Amiens
Argonne Forest
Ballroom Blitz
Empire's Edge
Fao Fortress
Monte Grappa
Sinai Desert
St-Quentin-Scar
Suez Canal

When the headphones and MCOM stations were first discovered, the Morse code was meaningless gibberish. However, the contents of the Morse code changed in future patches.

November 15, 2016

On November 15th, Battlefield 1 received an update which changed the Morse code heard on all maps' hidden MCOM stations to the following:

.--. .-. . ...- .. --- ..- ... | -- . ... ... .- --. . | -.-. --- .-. .-. ..- .--. - . -..
.- .-- .- .. - | ..-. ..- .-. - .... . .-. | .. -. ... - .-. ..- -.-. - .. --- -. ...

PREVIOUS MESSAGE CORRUPTED
AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS

Additionally, the patch changed the following things:

Ballroom Blitz has had an MCOM station and headphones added to it, whereas pre-patch it was the only map with neither
The spawn locations of many headphones on most maps has changed
The above Morse message plays on loop until the MCOM station eventually explodes, although this appears to be buggy and thus the station will not always behave in this way
Once the MCOM station explodes, headphones stop spawning on the map
Dying after having retrieved a headphone will no longer cause a new headphone to spawn at the initial spawn location of the one the dead player was carrying
Only one pair of headphones will spawn upon the initiation of a round on each map

February 14, 2017

On February 14, the Morse code changed again, to the following message:

GO STRAIGHT TO <location_name>.  OLD METHODS COMPROMISED.  MUST ACQUIRE NEW KEY.  WILL MISS DROPOFF IF DELAY OR INCORRECT LOCATION.

Each user hears a different location name; locations are randomly assigned to players. Additionally, APREMONT must be swapped with VARENNES due to an error on the developer's part. There are 27 locations total: 3 locations on each of the 9 maps. In order to advance through the Easter egg, you need to know which location you are assigned; here is a tutorial (courtesy of Dunem) to help you read your Morse code. This is the list of locations, along with their respective maps, in alphabetical order:

ABBEY MAP APREMONT: Ballroom Blitz (Swap APREMONT with VARENNES, which is near Ballroom Blitz)
APREMONT RITZ BED: Ballroom Blitz
AMIENS NEUF FURNITURE: Amiens
BUCKET MARSHLANDS FAW: FAO Fortress (Al-Faw is translated to "Fao" from Arabic)
CANAL KANTARA VASES: Suez Canal
CASTELLO ISLE ADRIATIC: Empire Edge (Empire Edge is on the Adriatic Coast)
CHURCH RUINS AMIENS: Amiens
COASTAL FORTRESS ADRIATIC: Empire Edge
CRATE JABAL JIFAR: Sinai Desert (El-Jifar is close to Sinai Desert)
CRATE SEREN VENETIAN: Monte Grappa (Monte Grappa is in Venice)
CRATE TRENCH CANAL: Suez Canal
FERRO FIRE VENETIAN: Monte Grappa
HILL BARN ADRIATIC: Empire Edge
HILL TOWER CANAL: Suez Canal
HOTEL CHECK PERONNE: St. Quentin Scar (Peronne is close to SQ Scar)
LONGUEVILLE STATUE AMIENS: Amiens
LUGGAGE BASEMENT VARENNES: Argonne Forest (Swap VARENNES with APREMONT, which is near Argonne Forest)
OUTPOST BARREL FAW: FAO Fortress
PANEL WATER VARENNES: Argonne Forest
PILLAR OUTSKIRTS JIFAR: Sinai Desert
PILLOW MAZAR JIFAR: Sinai Desert
RUIN VENTURE PERONNE: St. Quentin Scar
STATUES GARDEN APREMONT: Ballroom Blitz
STOVE TURRET VENETIAN: Monte Grappa
TRAVECY ATTIC PERONNE: St. Quentin Scar
TREE FORTRESS FAW: FAO Fortress
TREE TRAIN VARENNES: Argonne Forest

The message will repeat until you move away from the MCOM station, at which point the MCOM will explode. Each of the locations mentioned above has a symbol near it.

Symbols

The first symbols discovered at each location are difficult to find; they are small double arrows pointing to the left and right, and only appear when the player comes within 0.4 meters. A player will typically need to crouch or go prone in order to be able to see their symbol. Additionally, players can only see the symbol at the location they've been "assigned" to. When examining a symbol up close, a distinct sound is played (video). Pictured below are the symbol locations that have been discovered thus far.

NOTE: If you're having trouble finding your location with the images below, Jambajeww has made a video guide for all 27 locations, with timestamps for each location in the description of the video.

ABBEY MAP APREMONT
Near wall of ballroom in Ballroom Blitz
AMIENS NEUF FURNITURE
In alley near train tracks on Amiens
APREMONT RITZ BED /
VARENNES SERVANT BED
On windowsill on Ballroom Blitz
BUCKET MARSHLANDS FAW
Rock near bucket on FAO Fortress
CANAL KANTARA VASES
Near vases on B point of Suez Canal
CASTELLO ISLE ADRIATIC
On small island by E on Empire's Edge (on this rock)
CHURCH RUINS AMIENS
Keep left from German spawn on Amiens (go prone)
COASTAL FORTRESS ADRIATIC
On the second floor at railing beside ladder on Empire's Edge
CRATE JABAL JIFAR
On rock behind crate on Sinai Desert
CRATE SEREN VENETIAN
On wall by crates on Monte Grappa
CRATE TRENCH CANAL
On wall by crates in trench on Suez Canal
FERRO FIRE VENETIAN
On inside corner of tank on Monte Grappa
HILL BARN ADRIATIC
Barn on a hill by F flag on Empire's Edge
HILL TOWER CANAL
On a rock by ropes at Suez Canal
HOTEL CHECK PERONNE
By stairs in hotel on SQ Scar
LONGUEVILLE STATUE AMIENS
Under bushes near statue in Amiens
LUGGAGE BASEMENT APREMONT
On pillar in E basement on Argonne
OUTPOST BARREL FAW
On rocks near floating barrel on FAO Fortress
PANEL WATER APREMONT
Conquest Flag B on Argonne, coming up the stairs from A inside the bunker
PILLAR OUTSKIRTS JIFAR
Pillar on Sinai Desert (video)
PILLOW MAZAR JIFAR
Between C and D, next to the blown up tanks on Sinai
RUIN VENTURE PERONNE
In corner of ruined wall on SQ Scar
STATUES GARDEN VARENNES
Wall of garden on Ballroom Blitz
STOVE TURRET VENETIAN
On wall near stove in first bunker from German spawn on Monte Grappa
TRAVECY ATTIC PERONNE
On the roof of B on SQ Scar
TREE FORTRESS FAW
Above the F flag on FAO Fortress
TREE TRAIN VARENNES
In building by train tracks on Argonne - video

Second Message

A triangle symbol discovered at the VARENNES SERVANT BED location

After a player discovers their symbol, returning to an MCOM station with headphones yields another message in Morse code. Additionally, the MCOM's lights glow yellow instead of their usual white when broadcasting this message. The message starts with one of the above location names, but reversed:

<reversed_location_name> REMEMBER FIRST RULE. IF COMPROMISED. L PILL.

An L. PILL is short for lethal pill, a pill intended to be taken by soldiers to commit suicide rather than be tortured. Visiting the specified reversed location, the second location, yields a triangle symbol in place of the normal double-arrow symbol. The second symbol appears in the exact same spot that the first symbol may appear for other players.

Third Message

The third symbol that can be discovered (credit to Noizex)

After a player discovers the triangle symbol at their second location, returning to an MCOM station with headphones yields another message. This time, the MCOM lights glow purple. Here's the text of the message:

<atbash_cipher> SECOND RULE. SIGHTING. REPORT AND WAIT. INVESTIGATING ALONE COULD LEAD TO DEATH

Solving the Atbash cipher in the message yields another location from the list above. Visiting the third location leads to an arrow symbol pointing right.

Fourth Message

The fourth symbol (credit to Noizex)

Returning to an MCOM station after discovering the third symbol yields yet another message. This time, the MCOM lights glow green (previously, they glowed white, yellow, and purple for the first, second, and third messages respectively). Here's the text of the message:

<rot_cipher> THIRD RULE. IF TAKEN BY THE OTHERS DISCOVER MEANS TO COMMUNICATE TO HOUSE

Solving the ROT cipher with a key of 7 (N = 19) yields another location from the list of locations, leading to a fourth symbol, which is shown on the right.

Fifth Message

The fifth symbol (credit to Dexx)

After finding the fourth symbol, the MCOM's light colour turns transparent. This message begins with an location from the list of locations, reversed and encoded with the Railfence cipher, with 5 rails, and 0 offset. Note that the previous symbol, the fourth symbol, is in the shape of a fence, which could have been a hint. Here's the format of the message:

<rail_fence> FOURTH RULE. KILL ALL ON SAME TRAIL. REMOVE DOG TAGS AND REPORT TO HOUSE

The fifth symbol is a pattern of broken and unbroken dashes. No meaning has been derived from this symbol as of yet.

Note: the cipher on this stage can also be solved as an anagram.

Sixth Message

The sixth symbol, "Edward" (credit to Noizex)

After finding the fifth symbol, the MCOM's lights turn to an orange colour. Here's the content of the sixth message:

<double_cipher> MORSE MESSAGES BEING INTERCEPTED. BEGINNING FULL ENCRYPTION SOON

The "double_cipher" is comprised only of single dots and single dashes: E's and T's in Morse code. The cipher can be solved by converting the transmission into A's and B's, where A is a dot and B is a dash. Then decode the ciphertext (AABBABABBAA etc) using a Baconian cipher, then decode the output of the Baconian cipher with an Atbash cipher to obtain another location from the list.

Visiting the sixth location yields the sixth symbol: a series of horizontal and vertical lines with the name "EDWARD" prominently featured between them.

Seventh Message

The seventh symbol, "George" (credit to Noizex)

After finding the sixth symbol, the MCOM's lights turn to a pink colour. Here's an example seventh message, which is a Vigenere cipher:

PXCGRJIEWSVPIQPVRUIQJEJDPOEEJFEQXETOSWDEUDWHJEDLIVANVPMHOCRQFHYLFWLHZAJDPOEEJDPZWOJXWHED

This transmission is encoded via Vigenere Cipher with the key "Edward". It decodes to:

LUGGAGEBASEMENTVARENNESALLIESCANBECLOTHEDASENEMIESENEMIESCANBECLOTHEDASALLIESALWAOSUSEID
LUGGAGE BASEMENT VARENNES ALLIES CAN BE CLOTHED AS ENEMIES. ENEMIES CAN BE CLOTHED AS ALLIES. ALWAYS USE ID

In the example above, LUGGAGE BASEMENT VARENNES may be replaced with any of the locations from the complete list. Going to the specified location reveals the seventh symbol, which prominently displays the word "George" above a crude drawing.

Eighth Message

The eighth symbol (credit to Noizex)

After finding the seventh symbol, the MCOM's lights turn to a lime colour. Here's an example eighth message, which is an Autokey cipher:

ONADIFZWMPTJSHJGXROUUEKUWFHGJHNWUYMESYQYXXFAWAUGQNMESY

This message decodes to the following, by using an Autokey cipher with passphrase of "George" and alphabet key of ZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY:

HILLBARNADRIATICFINALBELIEVEEVERYTHINGREPORTEVERYTHING
HILL BARN ADRIATIC FINAL BELIEVE EVERYTHING REPORT EVERYTHING

In the example above, HILL BARN ADRIATIC may be replaced with any of the locations from the complete list. The eighth symbol, which is just the word "LONDON", will be at the specified location.

Ninth Message

After discovering the eighth "LONDON" symbol, the MCOM's lights turn cyan. In a deviation from the normal structure of the Morse code, this cipher is identical for everyone:

ZQBRIPPQOHBFIUPEYLAZAMARZIOZDSYJB

After a long search, it was finally discovered that reversing the above ciphertext and using the reverse as input for an autokey cipher with key "LONDON" and custom alphabet ZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY yields:

PUKOOLYNOCLABLLIMDNIWWODAHSSTNAIG

If you reverse this output, it reads:

GIANTSSHADOWWINDMILLBALCONYLOOKUP

GIANTS SHADOW WINDMILL BALCONY LOOK UP

A Beginning

The dogtags which become available after the player gets their courier pigeon, following the final Morse code step.

The final Morse code, once deciphered, directs the player to the balcony of a windmill on the map Giants Shadow, specifically the windmill nearest to the German spawn point. Standing on the balcony of the windmill and looking outward/slightly upwards (video) while waiting for exactly two minutes will trigger a courier pigeon to swoop past the player. The same dramatic sound effect heard throughout the EE will play, and it is a this point that a new dogtag, pictured right, becomes available to the player. The tag is named "A Beginning", and has the description "You've found something that does not belong to you". It should be noted that a player will only be able to trigger the pigeon if their MCOM is on the cyan lights stage (stage 9) - you cannot skip the Morse Code.

In addition to the dogtag, the player's MCOM light will change again to a red color, and another Morse code message plays, but at a lower pitch than before and accompanied by eerie background noise and apparent screaming (video). The message decodes to:

MASTERMAN

MASTER MAN

The code repeats indefinitely. The meaning of MASTER MAN has yet to be determined, and the whispering/screaming noises in the background have yet to be clearly transcribed.

MASTERMAN may refer to Charles Masterman, who was a prominent British politician working in the propaganda department during WWI. His initials, "CM", can be found on the dogtag.