UNKNOWN ARTIFACT: Signal Fomat Decrypted?
- Thread starter jspoto
- Start date
I think if we look at this signal the way we would and actual alien signal in real life we will go too deep. That being said, the Devs will likely have made it in an attempt to appeal to serious Astro buffs like themselves.
A simple code will be solved too quickly but too technical and we may not ever solve it (I.e. If special machines or programs are required to find the hidden message).
I think it's likely going to be viewing the code from another direction that cracks it, like arranging in an additional dimension, reading vertically, or something. The Contact cube page markers are like the most famous example of it and I think they would want to create a puzzle of similar complexity.
A simple code will be solved too quickly but too technical and we may not ever solve it (I.e. If special machines or programs are required to find the hidden message).
I think it's likely going to be viewing the code from another direction that cracks it, like arranging in an additional dimension, reading vertically, or something. The Contact cube page markers are like the most famous example of it and I think they would want to create a puzzle of similar complexity.
Last edited:
I hope (assuming there is nothing in this sound sequence, as seems likely from twitter) it shows them a desire to have stuff like this in the game, and I hope in the future they do put such stuff in the game. And I hope we're clever enough to mount such an effort again, and don't just say "well, the Artefacts were nothing, so this is probably nothing, too".
I haven't read this whole thread....but has there been any confirmation that there is actually a message to be decoded here? Other than being told 'listen to it'? Because could just mean 'hey guys we slowed down some fart recordings and they turned into this really spooky alien sorta sound'....
Also, if we really received a signal like this, it's well within the realm of possiblity we might not be able to crack it without more information. So many variables could make a message unreadable, like aliens who exist across other dimensions, an alien language with no relative frame of reference for us, animal noises that don't mean anything etc...
Maybe something else will turn up, rosetta stone style.
I keep coming back to the question of "why" this message exists and who it's intended for. If it's intended for us, it would likely use something universal like the messages we've sent into space..
Dude, it's just so cool. I don't know what the deal is. I wish I had the focus to compile the tones and look for patterns, but I just don't.. I can't wait to see what the community comes up with!
- - - Updated - - -
wait, it's probably an alien trumpet course for beginners..
Maybe something else will turn up, rosetta stone style.
I keep coming back to the question of "why" this message exists and who it's intended for. If it's intended for us, it would likely use something universal like the messages we've sent into space..
Dude, it's just so cool. I don't know what the deal is. I wish I had the focus to compile the tones and look for patterns, but I just don't.. I can't wait to see what the community comes up with!
- - - Updated - - -
wait, it's probably an alien trumpet course for beginners..
There is definitely information in the message as it has structure. What that information is though is the question - will we find the answer to life the universe and everything, or will we learn more about the generative algorithm fdev have chosen to use? Either way it will be interesting!
one of the next things I'm going to look for is signatures that could indicate Perlin noise in the distribution - I think Perlin noise would be a good candidate for generating sequences that appeared to have grammatical structure, but don't...
however i I would be surprised if we are being intentionally misled by the use of a signal with complex structural sequences that is not carrying some information of interest.
We know there is signal rather than noise, because we know that we are not listening to a sound file - the signal is coming to us from the game code, and it is full of structure and rules/grammar (it's not random), which we are making progress in figuring out.
It remains possible that the signal is designed to deceive and contains no meaning (ie it could be the output of an algorithm designed to generate a signal structure with all the hallmarks of code but without meaning) however this seems the less-likely probability to me, and as you can see, it would be a huge opportunity lost.
The two most likely possibilities IMO are:
1. The signal can be decoded with what we have (I see no reason to doubt this), or
2. We need something else from FDev before the signal can be decoded (this would not surprise me - they have a lot on their plate).
Last edited:
I haven't read this thread or any of the others in their entirety, but here is just a spontaneous thought about the nature of these artifacts. Please bear with me if someone else has already suggested it:
What if they are escape capsules, stranded after they escaped the destruction of their ship(s)? What if somewhere out there a space battle has taken place between, say, the Thargoids and some other, equally powerful alien culture, and we are holding in our possession the only survivors of that conflict?
Or the artifacts might be the beings themselves. Who says they need arms and legs and heads and so on?
What if they are escape capsules, stranded after they escaped the destruction of their ship(s)? What if somewhere out there a space battle has taken place between, say, the Thargoids and some other, equally powerful alien culture, and we are holding in our possession the only survivors of that conflict?
Or the artifacts might be the beings themselves. Who says they need arms and legs and heads and so on?
Last edited:
I haven't read this thread or any of the others in their entirety, but here is just a spontaneous thought about the nature of these artifacts. Please bear with me if someone else has already suggested it:
What if they are escape capsules, stranded after they escaped the destruction of their ship(s)? What if somewhere out there a space battle has taken place between, say, the Thargoids and some other, equally powerful alien culture, and we are holding in our possession the only survivors of that conflict?
Or the artifacts might be the beings themselves. Who says they need arms and legs and heads and so on?
Hmm, mostly armless I guess.
I'll get my coat.
There's still a possibility that the answer to this mystery doesn't lie in the specific recording, but all possibilities still need to be exhausted.
However, if that does turn out to be the case, I wouldn't put it past the devs to read this and similar threads, and then get ideas for the next mystery from it by actually incorporating a hidden message in the next one that would give even Alan Turing a challenge.
Another idea (I don't know if anyone brought this up yet). The signal gets shorter (faster) over time.
A quote from a movie comes to my mind where someone was trying to understand an alien signal. This signal was also becoming faster over time. He finally concluded it could be a countdown. ('Indipendence Day'/'ID4' anyone?)
Maybe the signal gets faster in an exponential way so that eventually it reaches a pole. Maybe someone could calculate what date this could be.
The next question is what will happen then? Invasion? Maybe the Artefacts are bombs and will explode? Or another part of the puzzle appears?
Edit:
To determine the end of the countdown we would need additional data. Namely the exact time when the audio files have been copied. And we need more audio copies over some days to see if there's an exponential growth in speed.
A quote from a movie comes to my mind where someone was trying to understand an alien signal. This signal was also becoming faster over time. He finally concluded it could be a countdown. ('Indipendence Day'/'ID4' anyone?
)Maybe the signal gets faster in an exponential way so that eventually it reaches a pole. Maybe someone could calculate what date this could be.
The next question is what will happen then? Invasion? Maybe the Artefacts are bombs and will explode? Or another part of the puzzle appears?
Edit:
To determine the end of the countdown we would need additional data. Namely the exact time when the audio files have been copied. And we need more audio copies over some days to see if there's an exponential growth in speed.
Last edited:
I don't think there's anything we can decode from these signals. I really hope I'm wrong because this has been the best thing to hit ED for a while, and it has me captivated. As I mentioned on another thread:
I'd love there to be something embedded in the sound, I've been listening to it to try and glean something out of it, to no avail, and I've enjoyed most of the theories people have come up with. The amount of work people have put into this should be applauded, and it certainly deserves some payback. (Can you imagine the venting and rage on this forum if there's nothing embedded and FD don't make use of players efforts to decode the thing?! Scary thought! )
Even if FD haven't embedded anything into it, I can't see FD not utilising all this info and include something in the future. It would be nice to see something to make player's efforts seem worthwhile, and seeing that some story/event ideas in ED are player-based, this will certainly contribute to that.
In the meantime, keep it up people! I'm looking forward to reading the Newsletters and Galnet feeds over the next few months.
I'd love there to be something embedded in the sound, I've been listening to it to try and glean something out of it, to no avail, and I've enjoyed most of the theories people have come up with. The amount of work people have put into this should be applauded, and it certainly deserves some payback. (Can you imagine the venting and rage on this forum if there's nothing embedded and FD don't make use of players efforts to decode the thing?! Scary thought!
) Even if FD haven't embedded anything into it, I can't see FD not utilising all this info and include something in the future. It would be nice to see something to make player's efforts seem worthwhile, and seeing that some story/event ideas in ED are player-based, this will certainly contribute to that.
In the meantime, keep it up people! I'm looking forward to reading the Newsletters and Galnet feeds over the next few months.
Last edited:
Has anyone thought that it might not be the case that it needs decrypting? My guess is, they could be Thargoid probes sent pre-invasion. They might be sending a message somewhere in the galaxy which could be a 2-way signal/response type thing. It might be worth transporting it to different parts of the galaxy to see if the sound changes. A quicker signal/response might indicate that it is closer to whatever it is communicating with.
The devs may have made it difficult to transport because this is what you need to do with it. Multiple ships required to get it further after it eats through the cargo hold..
The devs may have made it difficult to transport because this is what you need to do with it. Multiple ships required to get it further after it eats through the cargo hold..
Last edited:
digitalscream
Banned
The clips we have were all recorded over a period of days. They only increase in speed and pitch until you pick them up again as they're degrading; next time you drop them, they follow exactly the same pitch/speed profile. Hence my personal conclusion (stated a number of times on here) that they're alive, and panicking as they're dying.
- - - Updated - - -
Ooooooooooooooo....that's something we hadn't considered. What if the sound we're hearing is both sides of a conversation?
Interesting idea, could be Tx/Rx, so what affect would this have on all that wonderful work that as been done on the parity bits/binary/code breaking?
Sorry i've been lurking, following these threads with avid interest.
digitalscream
Banned
Indeed. In fact, it might account for the alternating howls we hear between "binary" words.
I had been wondering if there could be interlaced messages. That is something I plan to look at by evaluating adjacency frequencies of alternate sequences.
Depends on the transmission protocol used.
The likely things to look for are potential handshake protocol to establish comms link.
The each set of "packets" would have start and end bits as already seen, but each opposing directional packet would possibly have the same.
As for simultaneous comms it could be an interlaced format (think two signals on over the top of the other)
then agian, are we hearing just one half....has anyone put two of these things together?
The likely things to look for are potential handshake protocol to establish comms link.
The each set of "packets" would have start and end bits as already seen, but each opposing directional packet would possibly have the same.
As for simultaneous comms it could be an interlaced format (think two signals on over the top of the other)
then agian, are we hearing just one half....has anyone put two of these things together?
Sure, but why would tharglets that haven't hatched yet, be emitting binary puzzles?
- - - Updated - - -
Sometimes I think we simply don't have enough binary data to extract a pattern.
- - - Updated - - -
Another idea (I don't know if anyone brought this up yet). The signal gets shorter (faster) over time.
A quote from a movie comes to my mind where someone was trying to understand an alien signal. This signal was also becoming faster over time. He finally concluded it could be a countdown. ('Indipendence Day'/'ID4' anyone?
Is the pitch increase persistent? I.e., are the UA's that are picked up today, emitting higher pitched sounds than the ones picked up one week ago?
- - - Updated - - -
If someone could fart binary code that never has 000 or 111 in it, I would be seriously impressed.