User:Epsilon/Sandbox
| Valve ARG | |
|---|---|
| Creator | Valve |
| Discovered | 01-01-1970 |
| Completed | 01-01-1971 |
| Timeline | Valve |
Contents
It begins
In June 2016, someone posted to the Facepunch forums about a Discord user named Project 11 who had joined their server and linked to http://projecteleven.comuf.com, the center of this ARG (since it often goes down, an archive is available here).
The website showed the following words:
This project involves the leak of a game which you shall know its release date only when the time comes. It is divided into three steps, ran two times to ensure effectiveness. Only to the worthy, the date and the game name shall be revealed. In the meantime, you can keep track of the progress below.
Its favicon was the Steam logo.
Hidden in the source of the page was this:
<link rel="icon" href="icon.bmp" /> <!- A picture is worth a thousand words. --> <!- /watch?v=3tNMHYD9IJY -->
This link leads to the following video entitled "clue"
The video was uploaded on June 2nd, 2016 on the Project 11 YouTube channel.
Video: clue
The YouTube video "clue" is 11 seconds long and is mostly comprised of static, except this time 2 seconds a image showing what may be blue and green writing flashes up on the screen. At 4 seconds the image changes to the message:
IT HIDES IN THE LAST 2 BITS
Favicon Steganography
In the "clue" video a blurry tab of the Project 11 website as well as the HTML code. These linked towards the :: :: websites Icon (The Steam Logo). This was combined with the quote "IT HIDES IN THE LAST 2 BITS” to produce the solution to the puzzle.
Extracting the last two bits from each byte of the RGB values in the altered steam logo and combining every 4 into a series of bytes produced the hidden message:
Good things come to those who wait. http://bit.ly/1r4iQHE
The bit.ly link linked to an imgur which shows the following message:
The Projector
The linked image from above shows a projector. There appears to be no stenography in the image.
Video: It Beings
The YouTube video "It begins" is also 11 seconds long. The video itself is static before switching to a message after 6 seconds stating:
THE FUTURE IS GLORIOUS
An Image of a building and a crane shown was later found to have come from the "Water hazard" level in Half Life 2
Video: AAAA
The YouTube video "aaaa" is 12 seconds long and mostly static once again, before text appears saying:
NATIONAL ALERT LOS ALAMOS County, NM Primary Entry Point System Issued An Emergency Action Notification
APPEND THE BYTES
This was connected by discord users to Emergency Alarm Systems, Specific Area Message Encoding and Emergency Action Notifications.
An Image from the video was soon after found to be a color-inverted photo of a Black Mesa HECU Marine wearing night vision Goggles. The same type of marine can be seen in game here
Discord Hint
A hint was given out on the Discord by a user Project 11 stating:
I'd like to take this moment to give you an unique hint that I shall reveal in this very chat room only. The two iterations shown in my website are in fact represented by two people. I shall make my leave
Verification of whether these messages came from the ARG creator or a 3rd party troll is unknown, so most took this lightly.
Video: steps
Another "steps" was uploaded this time being 25 seconds long and containing less static, instead showing text saying:
THE NIGHT GIVES WISDOM I HAVE YET TO SOLVE IT AND SO DOES MY PARTNER YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR WAY INTO THE ICON THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY LESS TRUE PATIENCE WILL REWARD YOU GREATLY
Video: Wisdom
A new video was uploaded. It was once again 11 seconds long and this time showed the text:
You can see it too
At the end of the video a Frame with hidden text is shown. It appears to say:
E * R * P * O * E * T * N *
The answer to this was believed to be "DECRYPTOVERTONE"
At roughly 0:04 there is what seems to be an A, similar to the P in the later discovered video "time".
Video: plan
The video, "plan", was uploaded and contained DTMF tones transcribed below:
5 3 7 4 6 5 7 0 2 0 7 3 6 3 6 2 7 6 6 9 6 3 6 7 2 0 6 9 7 3 2 0 7 0 6 1 7 2 6 1 6 2 6 2 6 5 6 2 2 0 2 6 2 0 6 1 7 4 2 0 6 3 6 9 6 7 6 8 7 4 2 0 6 3 6 3 6 2 7 9 2 3
These numbers, when converted to letters, then grouped in groups of two and converted to hexadecimal, this was the result:
Step scbvicg is parabbeb & at cight ccby#
This was later deciphered to:
Step solving is parallel and at night only
Meanwhile, a fight broke out between two users claiming to be the [Puppet Master|puppet master] resulting in a temporary lock down of the chat. Neither user could provide proof.
Video: time
A new video "time" was uploaded. The video itself contained the text:
WE SHALL LAY LOW FOR A BIT WE NEED TIME TO SOLVE IT NEW VIDEO SOON P
Later, the Project 11 discord user joined the channel to say:
time 0:10
This time corresponds to the P in the video. The user left the server shortly after.
Announcement
The Project 11 discord user (now confirmed to be the PM by an HTML comment on the website) made an announcement of an upcoming Q&A session:
Greetings, friends. - I shall announce an event. - Within the next 2 days, I will come into this chatroom for exactly 2 minutes, feel free to talk to me and ask me questions within that time. - Stay safe my friends.
Q&A
Here are the questions asked and answers given:
What is the difference between the 1st row of steps, and 2nd?
There is practically no difference between 1st & 2nd iterations of steps, only the soul changes.
What are the steps, and where does one begin after another ends?
The steps are sequential, both in their own iterations in parallel, what the steps means is up to you to discover, clues are hidden in "wisdom", "plan" & "time" about it.
Who is Sancora?
We do know Sancora, he was one of the few aware of this project weeks ago, though he is not linked in this project in any way, we do believe that he was simply framed just because he was ahead.
What is being solved in parallel, and at night, exactly?
The steps towards the release date leak of this game.
Is it the leak a leak of assets,a leak of footage, or a leak of information?
It is a leak of information, of both the game name and the release date of said game.
Is there another group working on this? -y, Are we competing against them, or are they working alongside us? Where are they? Are we row 1, or row 2?
No, there's isn't any other group.
Are you with the company the game is being leaked from? -n, Is this game yours?
No, we are not from the company where the game release date is being leaked from, it is not our game.
What is the link between the items on the list you sent us?
That is up to you to discover, clues are hidden in "wisdom", "plan" & "time".
What do the overtones mean, if anything?
The overtones do not mean anything.
What game is it?
That is up to you to discover.
Is this game an indie game?
It is not an indie game.
After answering these questions, Project 11 left the server, as usual
Video: progress
The video, "progress", was posted on June 5th and contained the following:
OUR PROGRESS HAS SPED UP
The next line is hard to read, so it's not a perfect transcript
W * [A?] * C * [R/A?] * J * C * I * E
IT COULD TAKE WEEKS
A Direct Message
User and Wiki editor @Nauthas got a direct message from the confirmed Project 11 stating:
It is within those 210 definitions. http://www.abbreviations.com/serp.php?st=AP
A following message came half an hour later stating:
As soon as this is over, a global uprising will happen
After a discussion on possibilities another message was sent:
You misunderstand, I meant global uprising about AP.
When Discord user @HyzerBlade linked this video on quantum sound, one further reply was made by Project 11:
@HyzerBlade "Quantum"... yes
Later on, the website's `style.css` was updated with this comment:
/* The quantum world has many relations to AP. */
