So.... it might be happening. New Valve ARG

[Squishy3]

If you don't want to read my long post, there's a more concise post here.

Korean writing was discovered in Surgeon Simulator 2013 on the bottom of the medic figure you unlock after completing the TF2 operation that was added. (The Uberheart operation from Meet the Medic.)

The Surgeon Simulator twitter has acknowledged it and with the "accidental" update that turned everything Korean in Half-Life 2, it can't be a coincidence. (This was also added into the game before the HL2 update happened.)

Common consensus seems to be the orbs represent our solar system, and that it's a game of hangman of sorts. The korean writing means "Time is." Picking out the textures used on the paper reveals what looks like a set of landmasses.

It looks similar to this section of land just north of North Korea, with the section outlined in red.

Further zoomed in shot of the texture in the background of the card and center-set instead of being off-center:

Why is this important? It's where City 17 is. The location outlined was known as Shkotovo-17... which translates from Russian to City-17. It's not an exact match with the picture I posted but it seems way too similar to be a coincidence. :p Even if everything else is wrong, the Surgeon Simulator 2013 thing is real, at least what's on the bottom of the Medic figure.


Also, the Steam Support twitter posted this after the HL2 update that temporarily changed everything into Korean came out: "WARNING: The most recent HL2 update has some issues. We're working to fix this, you can pause the update for now. 예측하지 못한 결과에 대비하라..." The Korean posted translates to "Prepare for unexpected results..."

Will try to keep this thread updated as best I can.

[rumbot]

[CorpseFactor]

Gaben... Gaben plz.

[cbre88x]

Woooow, after everyone was calling bullshit. There is no way this is coincidence now. #hypetrain

[Squishy3]

Woooow, after everyone was calling bullshit. There is no way this is coincidence now. #hypetrain

It might not be HL3, but it damn sure is something.

[CorpseFactor]

Guys I think I'm on to something here, The planet with a question mark is Saturn, not Earth. Pluto is no longer a planet so the largest circle isn't a planet, but the sun.
The arrow for the hangman points between Mercury and Venus, the mean of an Astronomical Unit (AU) Which are two letters at the beginning of a hangman. An Auspex is a Roman Official who dictates Omens Essentially, and Saturn represents periodical renewal and liberation. Korean says "Time is" apparently according to the forum post. Time is Auspex though? Am I not thinking straight?
HALF-LIFE 3 GUYS.
Still working it out a bit in my head though, comments?

[Squishy3]

Guys I think I'm on to something here, The planet with a question mark is Saturn, not Earth. Pluto is no longer a planet so the largest circle isn't a planet, but the sun.
The arrow for the hangman points between Mercury and Venus, the mean of an Astronomical Unit (AU) Which are two letters at the beginning of a hangman. An Auspex is a Roman Official who dictates Omens Essentially, and Saturn represents periodical renewal and liberation. Korean says "Time is" apparently according to the forum post. Time is Auspex though? Am I not thinking straight?
HALF-LIFE 3 GUYS.
Still working it out a bit in my head though, comments?

I mean I never mentioned anything about the planet with the arrow next to it being Earth.

[cbre88x]

Guys I think I'm on to something here, The planet with a question mark is Saturn, not Earth. Pluto is no longer a planet so the largest circle isn't a planet, but the sun.
The arrow for the hangman points between Mercury and Venus, the mean of an Astronomical Unit (AU) Which are two letters at the beginning of a hangman. An Auspex is a Roman Official who dictates Omens Essentially, and Saturn represents periodical renewal and liberation. Korean says "Time is" apparently according to the forum post. Time is Auspex though? Am I not thinking straight?
HALF-LIFE 3 GUYS.
Still working it out a bit in my head though, comments?

Been reading threads. That map on the table pointing to City 17 says too much.. It seems to point strongly to an announcement. Maybe we'll finally see the rumored Source 2? Then again who knows if they'll call it that. Titanfall on PC will be running on Source...

[rumbot]

If the dots are the solar system, and you start with the sun on the left. The size matches roughly, and the saturn rings line up at the base of the arrow.

then the hangman spaces are between Mercury and Venus.

Mercury is the Roman version of the Greek Hermes.

Venus is the Roman version of Greek Aphrodite.

The A in Half-life is the Greek Lamda.

So, putting HA in the first two slots gets us 25% of the way to spelling HALF-LIFE. But, there's only 6 slots, not 8. And not enough, seemingly, to fit in EP3.



Given this only points to the first 2 letters of a 6-letter code, I suspect more clues are out there.

[rumbot]

also, the only proper answer to the cypher really should be

"valve time"

but there's not enough room, sadly.

[Squishy3]

have one better, rumbot.

[StolenToast]

This is all I could think of
http://youtu.be/BgdV1IVkk8E?t=1m1s

[A. Crow]

You know what's actually being released?



THE KRAKEN

[Didzo]

It's more hats.

[commish]

I hate to rain on the parade but

https://twitter.com/SurgeonSim2013/statu...2459522048

Whoa! It seems that you've got a little ahead of yourselves! Here's a clue: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY VALVE GAMES! Carry on now...

[Versus]

Titanfall on PC will be running on Source...

lol what

[Squishy3]

[quote author=cbre88x link=topic=7023.msg268754#msg268754 date=1372384679]Titanfall on PC will be running on Source...

lol what
[/quote]I mean, he's right, but it's running on source on Xbox One and PC. Anyway, god dammit. Thanks Bossa Games. >

[FlyingMongoose]

They have made many improvements to lighting, and rendering.

The source engine, while old, is not a non-viable platform and can still be made to look pretty and work quite well. Thought I doubt the ARG will be related to Titanfall, as the publisher is EA.

[Elder]

I hate to rain on the parade but

https://twitter.com/SurgeonSim2013/statu...2459522048

Whoa! It seems that you've got a little ahead of yourselves! Here's a clue: THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY VALVE GAMES! Carry on now...

thanks for that commish, it was funny to read that twitter feed

[Didzo]