Adventure Game Studio

THEME:

For this tune contest, I'd like you to make a track with a short hidden message in it. Go for any genre you want, and there are no restrictions on the length (but try to make it longer than 20 seconds or so). The only rule is that somewhere in there you hide a backward message, which can be anything from your own recorded voice to a sample you found on the internet. You can even go for something like Morse code - as long as your chosen format lets you convey some sort of message.

When you're posting the track, post it without the "unreversed" version, so that people can find and decode the message for themselves.

If you're looking for some inspiration, check out the first minute of Electric Light Orchestra's Fire on High (http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Fire+On+High/4BtVNr?src=5) Fire on High (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di07LEHKLCo). (Feel free to make your entry subtler or less deep than that, of course. :))

The contest will close on 25th May, unless somebody asks for an extention.
Have fun... and don't listen to those songs in a dark room with headphones on at the full volume. :tongue:

This is going to be awesome

Oh this sounds like fun
nuf ekil sdnuos siht ho

Yeah? Working on an entry? :cool:

This is very silly.
Enjoy. (http://www.mediafire.com/listen/z5z4aq6aw6elk28/Flexa.mp3)

Haha, it's great! :-D :-D

I was going to make a track named Reverse Biaz (if you know that guy), but then, somehow something "deeper" happened and couldn't be undone.
So here's (https://soundcloud.com/juan-dahmen-1/there-is) a sort of calm, relaxed, poetic, deep, haunting, death metal piece with a reversed voice message.

Peace and keep on working :)

I think this is the first time I'm entering one of these music compos. Have fun decoding this very meaningful and true hidden message! :-D

clicky loady (http://selmiak.bplaced.net/stuff/hidden.ogg)

Two more entries, cool. ;-D

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I'm having a bit of trouble deciphering your messages, though.. :embarrassed:

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10 days to go!

actually you don't have to fiddle around with the audio at all or reverse it or so. It is all there in plain view, but it depends on your view at things...
yes, that was a hint, but hopefully not a a giveaway.

Oh... this is almost like AGS Cryptic. :P
Okay, I'll give it another go when I get home.

I've been working on something but it's not quite where I want it to be; I'd like an extension if that is okay with everyone. :-[

You got it. :)

How about 28th May (until midnight GMT)?

Quote from: selmiak on Wed 13/05/2015 01:13:10
I think this is the first time I'm entering one of these music compos. Have fun decoding this very meaningful and true hidden message! :-D
clicky loady (http://selmiak.bplaced.net/stuff/hidden.ogg)

To get closer to the hidden message, just open it in some audioeditor, for example audacity, and change the view from wave view to spectographic view ;)
in audactiy you do this by clicking on the name of the file in the track view...

Thanks Cuiki! Just a bit more of tinkering and I'm done. :-D
This must be the most contrived song I've ever made. ;D

Quote from: selmiak on Mon 25/05/2015 19:41:46
To get closer to the hidden message, just open it in some audioeditor, for example audacity, and change the view from wave view to spectographic view ;)

Oh... yeah, you rock! :=

That's okay Wyz, looking forward to seeing your creation!

Ok, I could tinker with this more but I'm just going to call it finished. ;)
Without further ado:

Clouded words (2m45) (https://app.box.com/s/8v6f9lgvyqnzm70h7mqgxu9ar5sq1zqe)

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I went a bit overboard with this: there are messages hidden in the song using six different methods. Gotta collect 'em all!
No, not really; most of them are just red herrings. :P

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Wow, this is fun. :D

I got this far:

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- the recurring "keep looking" when you slow down the speed.
- a reverse message at 2:28 saying "No, this is not the secret message."

There's obviously something at 2:20 (another reverse message, possibly) that I can't make out at all...

And the bit at 0:42 sounds like it could be a morse or binary code, but it's not easy to hear over the sound of the cymbals and other things. :undecided:

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Random people of AGS, let's join our forces and decipher this together!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered. :)

I had no idea picking the winner would be so hard. So let's do something similar to the previous competition - tell me your opinions, who should win and why, and I'll take it all into account when choosing the winning entry.

Quote from: Cuiki on Wed 27/05/2015 20:25:49
Wow, this is fun. :D

I got this far: (...)

Thanks! :D Yes you've found a couple of them, well done! :D
A couple of hints:

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You've found the first reversed message, the second one says: "That would've been way too obvious" ;)

The "keep looking" is correct, for the third:

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You have slowed down, how about speeding up things. :D

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I have to agree that the Morse code is not very easy to make out: that was one of those things a kept tinkering with but couldn't get it right.

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Well the result will be a bit disappointing; since it is not the real secret message :D

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For the final two encodings:

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The melody that starts after the Morse code and is repeated actually is a secret message. :D

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One hint for that: Sol re sol

But actually: it still is not the real message :D

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The final and real message can be found the same way as selmiak's one.
For parts of it you need to zoom in on certain patterns.

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I've also listened to the others and tried decoding them. I had a lot of fun doing so. :D

Flexa has a nineteens vibe which I like, really nice song.

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When you reverse it you get it immediately and also why it is called 'FlexA', pretty clever! :D I couldn't really make out the reversed words but it sounded as "I thought I put a grenade in my pants!" to me. :D

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Selmiak's entry was also pretty clever; the music part is unfortunately a bit short. :D

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I'm wondering how you did the modulation part. I didn't check out the other songs before I made mine so I was surprised to see this similar idea. :D

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'There is' is a nice piece of ambient which is well listened to; I like it.

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I could not make out what the reversed message says unfortunately. :(

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Well I had fun working on this and checking out the other entries; very nice theme. :D

A little blabbering chit chat. Don't take me too serious.

boojiboy's piece has a nice 80's vibe to it. Wondering what software he uses for that.

selmiak's piece has that cool feature I once read about but never tried. I even downloaded Audacity for the only purpose of deciphering that piece :)

And Wyz's piece seems the most complete in terms of techniques used and number of messages, which can be a little overwhelming, but keeps the quest interesting.
The cymbal sounds used in this piece hurt my heart a bit.

In conclusion, I would choose Wyz's piece :P
It may seem like I didn't dig it, but I'd say it has the best music+hidden messages combo.

Have a nice day 8-)

Thanks for the feedback, both of you. :)

Okay, it's time to wrap this up. I agree with Juan that Wyz's entry is the most complete, and it best conveys what the idea of this theme probably was - hidden messages hunt. ;)

So, congratulations to Wyz for a well-deserved victory!!

And an honorable mention to boojiboy's Flexa, just for being a really cool song.

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I couldn't really make out the reversed words but it sounded as "I thought I put a grenade in my pants!" to me. :D

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* banana (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=orH6ZSY0W1o#t=83)

This has been so much fun (even if Juan's entry was the only one that sounded remotely scary :tongue:). Thanks again!

(I might hijack this thread later on to try to decipher the rest of Wyz's song)

Yaaay! ;-D

Well this was a lot of fun; good show everyone!

Quote from: Cuiki on Mon 01/06/2015 13:34:41
* banana (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=orH6ZSY0W1o#t=83)

Of course! I should have known :D


Anyways, I'll post the new contest shortly!

Cool, glad you had fun!
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I gave the song another look, and.. I think I need a bit of help:

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The message in Morse code, after speeding it up, sounds something like "--- - .--- - .--- - .---" or "OTJTJTJ..."!? I have a feeling that's not it. :P

The melody you mention... I assume the names of the notes could perhaps spell out a word (like CAGE or something). Which melody is that, again? The one at 1:33? Do you also have to change the pitch to get there?

I did manage to find this, however:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/missy_L/praise_ags.png)
AGS almighty! 8-)

Bonus content:

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These hidden messages are everywhere! The truth has been revealed:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/missy_L/spaceinvaders.png)

(sorry, I hope that wasn't in bad taste)

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You're nearly there!

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Yes you have found the real secret message with the spectroview, huzzah! :D There is however one more easter egg to find using the spectroview. Hint: it is in more than one place and you need to zoom in on it.

The Morse code is insanely hard to make out so here is a render of it: https://soundcloud.com/ftplus/morse

You can also find a secret message by listening to the song sped up twenty times if you didn't catch that one already. :)

And finally the last one is very laborious so I didn't expect anyone to find it but there is actually a musical language called Solresol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solresol) which is what the melody is at 1'33 repeated twice. But that is all bonus since you have found the real message! :D

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A few more:

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QuoteThere is however one more easter egg to find using the spectroview. Hint: it is in more than one place and you need to zoom in on it.

Nope, can't find that one...

The Morse code:
"Very clever, I have to tnive you that but this isn't it either." :P

QuoteYou can also find a secret message by listening to the song sped up twenty times

Whole 20 times!? Okay, I take back what I said, listening to this slowly getting faster each time was pretty scary!
"Nice try, but this is not the secret message."

As far as the musical language goes, it was quite difficult trying to figure out how the syllables are put together, but this is what I got:
"you my sir have done your duty but this not be the ... unfaithfulness(?)"
Or something like that...

Cool, very elaborate!

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Yes you have found all of them now except one; impressive! :D

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Yes the morse code is correct: there was a typo on my end which I found out about too late. :-[

You have decoded the Solresol message almost correctly: the problem is that the language is based on French and some things got lost in translation. :D Duties should be homework (which both translate to 'devoirs' in French). The last part should be 'it unfortunately' which was probably poorly translated by me. But I'm really impressed you got that far. :D

The final clue: look at the spectrograph at 2'40" exactly and zoom in till you see something; you'll know it when you see it. :D

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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/missy_L/spectrogram.png)
A big blue cup?

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I guess this is it then. :P

Yes, that's it. :D