Oddworld: Soulstorm
| Oddworld Soulstorm ARG | |
|---|---|
| Oddworld Soulstorm - An ARG centered around lore from the Oddworld universe linked to the currently unreleased game Oddworld Soulstorm | |
| Type | [[List_of_Investigations#Official|Official]] |
| Creator | Oddworld Inhabitants, Inc |
| Discovered | 12-22-2016 |
Main Page > List of Investigations > Oddworld: Soulstorm
Contents
Spirit of 1029
Early in 2016, Twitter account @edmudokon began posting cryptic messages that seemed to be related to the Oddworld universe. The account appears to be run by an average Mudokon named Ed who claims to have information he wants to share, but he seems to be in constant danger and can only access us via a faint connection. Beginning around March 2016, @edmudokon engaged users with an elaborate series of puzzles and challenges, releasing information both on twitter and via the official Oddworld website, http://www.oddworld.com/soulstorm/. These puzzles eventually led to the revelation of a website, http://1029.io, as well as a message: "now you know. you can help. join us. together we can rise."
Later that day, the twitter account @SPIRITOF1029 revealed themselves as a "Clandestine organization dedicated to doing good on behalf of the Mudokons and revealing information about a new horror being perpetrated against their species." They also tweeted their first message, parroting the http://1029.io URL and adding their own message: "There is a storm coming. Join us."
Up until December the feeds went dark, posting only reiterations of the URL with messages like "Rise up" and "We are the storm. Join us". Then, in January of 2017, activity on the accounts surged once again and the first hints of a second phase of the ARG began to appear.
Smells like Mudokon Spirit
The flurry of new activity in January mainly consisted of @edmudokon and @spiritof1029 talking back and fourth about about whether or not Ed would be able to help the organization's cause. At this point, the Spirit of 1029 makes their message very clear, stating "Oddworld has been blind to the plight of the noble Mudokons for too long. We will rise. Join us! http://1029.io". More notable activty includes the organization's quip "We recommend knowledge of many different codes and ciphers - you never know who is listening. #learnyournameinmorsecodeday", hinting that the coming information would be enciphered in some way.
Oddworld Inhabitants (Oddworld developers, @OddworldInc on Twitter) was contacted by the organization at this time, being told by Spirit of 1029 "We will help @edmudokon but we can't send anything unencrypted. You'll have to break our code. We'll be in touch." Very shortly thereafter, on January 19th, Spirit of 1029 tweets: "We have received a transmission. We will pass it on as soon as we can verify. We need your help." and the Oddworld Webpage is updated to make available two files for download.
The First Transmission
First Photo
The Spirit of 1029's first transmission came in two parts, a photo and an audio file. The first part consisted of a photograph, pictured on the right as it looked upon transmission. It appears to show a tattered document with many portions of text redacted, burnt at the edges and bearing the Spirit of 1029's logo with the slogan "We Will Rise". The text on the document, where it is legible and not redacted, reads:
Date: Period: XXXXXXXXXXX Specification Details: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -Observe XXXXXXX and XXXXXXXX changes in test subjects -Assess long term XXXXXXXX on XXXXXXX -Determine product safety Authorization: XXXXXXXXXXX Tests requested: -XXXXXXXX Pronostics - ?Access whenever? product XXXXXXX -Acidity Levels - ????? XXXXXXXXX -Product safety Expected results: XXXXXXXXXX make XXXXXXXXX interesting Test results: -XXXXXXX highly XXXXXX -XXXXXXX this XXXXXX ?? XXXXXX ?nice? XXXXXXXX -Highly XXXXXXX -Subjects: XXXXXX - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Conclusion: Product (ready) for consumption -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ??? : XXXXXXXX there is XXXXXX here but it will XXXX ???? XXXXX --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to the text in the photo, there are several areas featuring symbols and runes. Along the top of the document, Anglo-Saxon runes spell out "ED". Along the bottom, BabelStone Club Penguin pigpen cipher, which is a font, spells out "YOU ARE THE KEY YOU KNOW IT IF YOU WERE LISTENING". Running along the right side of the image, arrows pointing in a number of different vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions can be seen, however their purpose remains unknown.
First Audio Clip
The second part of the Spirit of 1029's first transmission consisted of an eerie-sounding 1:40 audio clip. Hidden in the audio clip was Morse code, which proved difficult to decode by ear due to the overpowering audio laid over the code. However, the code also appeared to be playing in reverse, which added an additional layer of difficulty. Eventually, the code was cracked by using a spectrogram of the audio which revealed the code visually as a guide to decoding it by ear.
With the image as a guide, the code yielded its secrets. Although rough in some spots, the decoded Morse read:
qmiqwmiqyidimrjqdjijilmxmnrjqdjajmpmnrprspkesmkjpdqjnyajnwsnrpgspcsppmqidimqymdbcqajnwsnrpgspcdhbzmnjajanadumjimrpq
Moments before the Morse had been decoded, however, the community had made another exciting discovery. Using portions of the Morse already decoded accurately by ear, it had been discovered that the decoded Morse was actually to be used as ciphertext in a shift cipher, and that the key to be used was "storm". This was what the pigpen text on the document was meant to indicate; earlier in the ARG, @spiritof1029 often tweeted the messages "There's a storm coming" and "We are the storm". The pigpen served as a hint to look back at previous communications in order to unlock the current hurdle. With the newly-complete Morse code now in their possession, the community was finally able to accurately decipher the ciphertext they had obtained from the reversed Morse code. It read:
tentwentyninedotiononqexerdotiofoeserdsdaspjaepositoryforwardslashassetninetyeightforwardslashimgzerofofrfiueonedst
ten twenty nine dot io nonqexer dot io foeserdsdaspjaepository forwardslash asset ninety eight forward slash img zero fofrfiueonedst
Although clearly not entirely accurate, through trial and error the community was able to locate a new URL branch of http://1029.io, http://1029.io/repository/asset98/imgzerofourfiveone/.
First Hidden URL
Works in Progress
Loopholes
Loose Ends
These numerical puzzles were found in the source code for the official Oddworld website as early as the date of the Spirit of 1029's first transmission. Their solutions have been found, but the intended use of the solutions remains unknown.
!--
72 99
\ /
27 45
\ /
18 39
\ /
21 36
\ /
?? 28
\ /
13 21
\ /
7
-->
SOLUTION: 12 7+2+9+9 = 27, 2+7+4+5 = 18, thus 2+1+3+6 = 12
&
!-- 16 _ 37 _ 58 _ 89 _ 145 _ 42 _ ?? _ 4 |_________________<_________________| -->
SOLUTION: 20 1^2 + 6^2 = 37, 3^2 + 7^2 = 58, thus 4^2 + 2^2 = 20
Chronology
Loopholes
- Official site updates to show progress on image
- Audio analyzed finally cracked, morse code in background when reversed yields ciphertext qmiqwmiqyidimrjqdjijilmxmnrjqdjajmpmnrprspkesmkjpdqjnyajnwsnrpgspcsppmqidimqymdbcqajnwsnrpgspcdhbzmnjajanadumjimrpq , in ceasar cipher with key storm yields tentwentyninedotiononqexerdotiofoeserdsdaspjaepositoryforwardslashassetninetyeightforwardslashimgzerofofrfiueonedst ten twenty nine dot io nonqexer dot io foeserdsdaspjaepository forwardslash asset ninety eight forward slash img zero fofrfiueonedst
- Official site second update
- http://1029.io/repository/asset98/imgzerofourfiveone/ found based on cleartext, contains 8 images:
and cycling messages (compile all possible variants)
- Official site third update "Photo 1 - Currently being assembled"
- Pieces assembled 
, tweeted with @OddworldInc tagged.
- Official site fourth update "Photo 1 - In the lab for reconstruction"
- This image tweeted 
(date)
- Rough descrambles on forums then this from OWI 
- Finally OWI tweets 
Jan26 Simultaneous @edmudokon tweet "Yes! Yes! you can see it! I have more... but it's so scary... i will find a way... i will do my part." and @spiritof1029 tweet "Now the truth is getting out. The fight back begins here. We will rise."
mattnotes (ignore me)
SECTIONS: (This is a placeholder)
Spirit of 1029 (Intro/Summary-to-date)
Chronology (Timeline-ish, more detail with archival links)
Works In Progress (Things suspect but not fully solved)
Loose Ends (Things found but overlooked/not applied yet)
