4 ms·

Fez soundtrack contains hidden data

78 points by 11031a 14y ago

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
- 11031a 14y ago
  that's just a fraction of the secrets, but ok
drcube 14y ago
"The QR code returns a string of dates: 1955 1958 1960 1961 1967 1969 1971 1977 2003 2005 Which might mean something, or it might just be the birth dates of the development team, I’m really not sure yet." 57 year olds working alongside 7 year olds. Nice to know they don't discriminate based on age.
- Khao 14y ago
  I would guess that the >2000 ones are propably birth dates of some of the developer's children Edit : someone asked this question on stackexchange : http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/63374/what-does-this-qr-code-hidden-in-the-soundtrack-mean http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/63374/what-does-th...
  - Impossible 14y ago
    As far as I know the only developer on the core team with a kid is Adam Saltsman, and his kid was born in 2011. I think all of the team members are young enough that they would have been teen parents (12-16) if they had kids born in 2003 or 2005 :).
wmf 14y ago
The game itself also has some crazy puzzles: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/04/why-it-took-almost-a-week-for-the-world-to-completely-finish-fez.ars http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/04/why-it-took-almos...
mgunes 14y ago
It's become somewhat of a tradition among electronic musicians to embed graphics into spectrograms, the most widely known example being Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" (1999). A few examples, including that one: http://www.bastwood.com/?page_id=10 http://www.bastwood.com/?page_id=10 There must be precursors of the practice before the advent of computer music, or even digital/electronic music production altogether, but I can't recall any; I'd love to be pointed to them.
- daeken 14y ago
  It's not quite on the level of embedding images in a spectrogram, but buried deep in Amarok by Mike Oldfield is morse code for "FUCK OFF RB", a reference to Richard Branson, owner of his label, Virgin Records.
- groby_b 14y ago
  Oh, absolutely. Earliest one I'm aware of is Bach's "Art of the fugue", where he embedded his name as a third voice. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BACH_motif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BACH_motif
- EmmanuelOga 14y ago
  It is pretty easy to accomplish too. Here is a perl program an explanation on how to encode images on sounds. http://www.ohmpie.com/imageencode/ http://www.ohmpie.com/imageencode/
- joshu 14y ago
  for some bizarre reason, i was interviewed about this. in 2002. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/05/52426 http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/05/52426
alanfalcon 14y ago
The musician, @disasterpeace, is a bit of a mad genius. Just play his game if you require proof: http://colorcave.com/ http://colorcave.com/
blantonl 14y ago
First off, how did the person who found this come about this? They must have been tipped off. Second, this could be (is?) a great way to covertly transmit information. Wow! Finally, where are the patents on this? :)
- aw3c2 14y ago
  Some audio players have a spectrogram visualisation, iirc Winamp has one included by default.
monk_the_dog 14y ago
I saw "Indie Game The Movie" last night (http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/ http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/). They followed the ups and downs of developing fez and super meat boy (and some braid). If you're racing to develop something before you run out of money, take a break and go see this movie. You'll love it.
andyouthink 14y ago
This one on the left looks like the center includes three channels of something- whether it is audio or not, I can't tell, but these should be isolated to look at in more detail: http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Adobe-Soundbooth-CS5-Disasterpeace-FEZ-02-Puzzle.png http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Adobe-Soundbo... The bit to the right looks a little like a set of DNA sequences, but I bet it isn't.

78 points by 11031a 14y ago

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

11031a 14y ago
that's just a fraction of the secrets, but ok

drcube 14y ago

"The QR code returns a string of dates: 1955 1958 1960 1961 1967 1969 1971 1977 2003 2005 Which might mean something, or it might just be the birth dates of the development team, I’m really not sure yet." 57 year olds working alongside 7 year olds. Nice to know they don't discriminate based on age.

Khao 14y ago
I would guess that the >2000 ones are propably birth dates of some of the developer's children Edit : someone asked this question on stackexchange : http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/63374/what-does-this-qr-code-hidden-in-the-soundtrack-mean http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/63374/what-does-th...
- Impossible 14y ago
  As far as I know the only developer on the core team with a kid is Adam Saltsman, and his kid was born in 2011. I think all of the team members are young enough that they would have been teen parents (12-16) if they had kids born in 2003 or 2005 :).

wmf 14y ago

The game itself also has some crazy puzzles: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/04/why-it-took-almost-a-week-for-the-world-to-completely-finish-fez.ars http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2012/04/why-it-took-almos...

mgunes 14y ago

It's become somewhat of a tradition among electronic musicians to embed graphics into spectrograms, the most widely known example being Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker" (1999). A few examples, including that one: http://www.bastwood.com/?page_id=10 http://www.bastwood.com/?page_id=10 There must be precursors of the practice before the advent of computer music, or even digital/electronic music production altogether, but I can't recall any; I'd love to be pointed to them.

daeken 14y ago
It's not quite on the level of embedding images in a spectrogram, but buried deep in Amarok by Mike Oldfield is morse code for "FUCK OFF RB", a reference to Richard Branson, owner of his label, Virgin Records.
groby_b 14y ago
Oh, absolutely. Earliest one I'm aware of is Bach's "Art of the fugue", where he embedded his name as a third voice. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BACH_motif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BACH_motif
EmmanuelOga 14y ago
It is pretty easy to accomplish too. Here is a perl program an explanation on how to encode images on sounds. http://www.ohmpie.com/imageencode/ http://www.ohmpie.com/imageencode/
joshu 14y ago
for some bizarre reason, i was interviewed about this. in 2002. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/05/52426 http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/05/52426

alanfalcon 14y ago

The musician, @disasterpeace, is a bit of a mad genius. Just play his game if you require proof: http://colorcave.com/ http://colorcave.com/

blantonl 14y ago

First off, how did the person who found this come about this? They must have been tipped off. Second, this could be (is?) a great way to covertly transmit information. Wow! Finally, where are the patents on this? :)

aw3c2 14y ago
Some audio players have a spectrogram visualisation, iirc Winamp has one included by default.

monk_the_dog 14y ago

I saw "Indie Game The Movie" last night (http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/ http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/). They followed the ups and downs of developing fez and super meat boy (and some braid). If you're racing to develop something before you run out of money, take a break and go see this movie. You'll love it.

andyouthink 14y ago

This one on the left looks like the center includes three channels of something- whether it is audio or not, I can't tell, but these should be isolated to look at in more detail: http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Adobe-Soundbooth-CS5-Disasterpeace-FEZ-02-Puzzle.png http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Adobe-Soundbo... The bit to the right looks a little like a set of DNA sequences, but I bet it isn't.