Korax Posted March 2, 2010 So there was a patch to Portal today, and the notes simply state: Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations. There are a bunch of in-game radios that now pick up mysterious transmissions when held at the right spot of a room, and an associated achievement for finding all 26 spots. There are a number of different news posts about it, like this one on Shack. There are about 17 minutes of Morse code among the new sound files, and hidden images have been found in some of them. Of course, this has led to all sort of speculation, including the possible announcement of Portal 2 or even Episode 3. I don't really have the patience (or much know-how) to try to solve things like this, but I like seeing where things go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Korax Posted March 2, 2010 I played a little bit, and there has been one radio per test chamber so far. Some are fairly easy to pick up, some are in plain sight, but in weird places that require some portalling to get, and some are hidden well enough that it might take a few minutes of searching to even hear it playing. There are a few threads in forums detailing all the locations, but so far it's been relatively easy to find. Further digging around in the updated files has revealed a BBS address/dial-in number. People are trying to figure out the login and password. And how the hell they'll connect to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted March 2, 2010 Holy mother of mercy. This is it, people. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Korax Posted March 2, 2010 Found them all. Some of the later ones are bastardly. Quick summary of what I've gleaned from the Steam forums: Update adds radios and achievement Radios play either Morse code or garbled noise when brought to certain spots The Morse code has a bunch of different messages in it The radio garble is actually SSTV-encoded images which then provide an MD5-hashed phone number Calling the number proves it to be a BBS system The Morse code messages are used to guess the login BBS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scratch Posted March 2, 2010 This truly awesome and weird at the same time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kolzig Posted March 2, 2010 This is something really unique as a viral campaign for an upcoming release which this is really starting to look like. Also the hardcore crazy gaming community never stops to amaze me. It's been less than a day since this update went live and groups of people have already figured out so much about all kinds of "secret" stuff Valve has put out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thyroid Posted March 2, 2010 This. Was. Awesome. I went to bed a little disappointed last night (was half-expecting that Telltale announced Sam and Max 03 and ignored this week's "Telltale Tuesdays"), but Valve made-up for that and with style. Let's just hope they ignore "Valve Time", eh? I think this is the latest development. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted March 2, 2010 Also the hardcore crazy gaming community never stops to amaze me. It's been less than a day since this update went live and groups of people have already figured out so much about all kinds of "secret" stuff Valve has put out. And I'm so glad that they are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thl Posted March 2, 2010 wow. It's always great to be reminded that even though they seem silent, Valve has actually still been working on the single player games. Couldn't be more excited and hey! This just gave me an excuse to play Portal again! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thyroid Posted March 2, 2010 Re-check The Shack. Some really delicious info coming up. Plus the Steam forums seem to have unearthed a small voice clip of Dr. Kleiner (the thin, bald physicist from Half-Life) saying "That's amazing!" Even I've heard it. Make sure to lower the volume on your audio speakers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Korax Posted March 2, 2010 More images from the BBS: http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/3631/bigimagev2.jpg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted March 2, 2010 The earliest GDC this year is in San Fransisco starting March 9th. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thorn Posted March 2, 2010 The Half Life wiki has a complete set of all the images that came from the radio messages. http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Aperture_Science_Radio Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nevsky Posted March 2, 2010 All this makes me wish I had a gaming PC. Nice work on Valve's part. I wonder if they expected the community to get this far so quickly? Most ARG makers seem surprised by how the hivemind makes easy meat of this stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted March 3, 2010 Oh God, there's more! There's more! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squid Division Posted March 3, 2010 I hope this is how valve actually reveals whatever they're pulling with this stuff. It'd be so much better to let people discover it out through the arg and then officially announce it afterwards instead of doing all this arg then just announcing it like it was any other game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted March 4, 2010 I want mooooore. Even more! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GameDreamer Posted March 4, 2010 Okay, I've played Portal more times than I can count, but on my most recent playthrough (last night) I just discovered that you can flush the toilet in the very first room. The toilet says: "Your feces is appreciated." I haven't laughed this hard in a while. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Xeneth Posted March 4, 2010 This whole Portal Arg thing is RIVETING... I would love to get more involved, but lack a steam forum account and the one I just made has yet to be authorized to post... I think the next step may be reversing (or "mirroring") the phone number of the BBS to get more data, but I lack the modem and phone line to actually try that... Here's why I think that's the next step: Apparently the current GLaDOS 3.11 BBS is now spouting something about an alternate source The images that were CCTV decoded from the initial radio files that weren't clues to the BBS sort of seem to be telling a puzzle story of sorts... and the one that is a scratched out phone number shows up later in the sequence flipped horizontally This may not actually be related to the puzzle, but someone put up a version of the steam website where all the images are flipped/mirrored at steampowered.ca... Someone tacked the name Gabe to the end of the url and it leads to this video! The internet is ablaze! This is awesome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted March 4, 2010 Someone tacked the name Gabe to the end of the url and it leads to this video! Holy santasm, that's disturbing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nappi Posted March 4, 2010 The secret was far more sinister than any of us could have imagined. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jaraknarn Posted March 4, 2010 This may not actually be related to the puzzle, but someone put up a version of the steam website where all the images are flipped/mirrored at steampowered.ca... Someone tacked the name Gabe to the end of the url and it leads to this video! The internet is ablaze! This is awesome. oh good lord im never goin to be able to get that innocence back! the bass just wouldn't stop pumpin. . . .and the thrusting. . . . uh. . . it was awful, why would u do those things gabe? WHY???!!? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thyroid Posted March 4, 2010 The toilet says: "Your feces is appreciated." "Your business is appreciated". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites