Countdown: Difference between revisions

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(Added spoiler warning, added gallery of keys)
 
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[[Image:Countdown.png]]
[[Image:Countdown.png]]


Typed out (so that Google can index), the text is:
<pre>VANISHING
<pre>VANISHING
POINT
POINT
Line 13: Line 14:


[time]</pre>
[time]</pre>
The timer is counting down to 6:30PM on Jan 8th 2007 PST <ref>http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=290725#290725</ref> and the text box accepts a number of [[Keys]].
<references/>


==Keys==
==Keys==
The keys have now been moved to [[Keys|their own page]].  Please be aware that the page may contain spoilers.  If you enter an incorrect key, the following message is returned to you: ''Incorrect key.  If you're stumped, try searching online for the tag "vanishingpoint" to see if other players have figured it out.''
The following keys have been found on webpages or handed to bloggers (and one additional one was intuitively found by knowing how the other keys work and examining the block of ciphertext):
<gallery>
Image:Post-191442-1166894224.jpg
Image:Iwant_grid.png
Image:Escapegravity.jpg
Image:Cipher_key_2.jpg
</gallery>
==Decompiling==
Decompiling Flash is always a controversial topic.  In some cases, it will provide answers without doing the work to get those answers--thereby cheating players out of a solving experience.  When a Flash file is written "correctly," it is just a GUI interface to a server-side component and does not reveal any secrets.  Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to determine what kind of Flash file it is until it has been decompiled.  In the case of this Flash file, quite a lot of it is obfuscated, making most of the decompilation useless without a lot of extra work.  Some of the modules indicate client-server communication, pointing to a "well written" Flash (i.e. one that decompiling doesn't reveal any secrets.)  (Because of the work involved in further decompilation and the modules pointing to client/server communication, I am not going to take the decompilation any further. -Brian)
First of all, it looks like something is going to happen at The Bellagio.  I'm assuming this will be revealed at the end of the countdown:
[[Image:Bellagio.png]]
Reprinted as text for proper Google indexing:
<blockquote>REMEMBER...<br />
Big things come in big packages:<br />
January 8th, 6:30PM, Bellagio Fountains.</blockquote>
Second, the countdown looks like it is hitting a URL at 42 Entertainment for synchronization:
<blockquote><nowiki>_constantPool "_global" "CountDownTimer" "homeurlparam" "homeUrl" "/now.asmx?WSDL" "webServicen" "mx" "services" "WebService" "http://stagessl.42entertainment.com:20000/preawareness/now.asmx?WSDL" "thisCountDownTimer" "Date" "getFullYear" "MovieClip" "prototype" "CountDown" "objServicen" "ml" "sc" "mn" "hr" "dy" "mo" "yr" "ServerTime" "onResult" "returnSerial" "eventMillisecs" "timeToWaitMillisecs" "getTime" "localEventMillisecs" "correctionMillisecs" "onFault" "onEnterFrame" "remaining" " " "msecs" "launch" "gotoAndStop" "secs" "Math" "floor" "mins" "hours" "days" "toString" "length" "0" ":" "" "ASSetPropFlags"</nowiki></blockquote>
This connection to 42 Entertainment appears to have been confirmed by Jordan Weisman during [http://www.corprew.org/2006/12/07/alternate-reality-games-jordan-weisman-dorkbot-seattle-200612/ his session on ARGs at Dorkbot in Seattle]

Latest revision as of 18:18, 28 December 2006

Page

At the time of writing, http://vanishingpointgame.com/ is mainly a countdown timer and text entry box:

Countdown.png

Typed out (so that Google can index), the text is:

VANISHING
POINT

IF YOU HAVE A KEY, ENTER IT BELOW:
[text box and submit button]

Come back when the countdown timer reaches the vanishing point.

[time]

The timer is counting down to 6:30PM on Jan 8th 2007 PST <ref>http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=290725#290725</ref> and the text box accepts a number of Keys.

<references/>

Keys

The keys have now been moved to their own page. Please be aware that the page may contain spoilers. If you enter an incorrect key, the following message is returned to you: Incorrect key. If you're stumped, try searching online for the tag "vanishingpoint" to see if other players have figured it out.

The following keys have been found on webpages or handed to bloggers (and one additional one was intuitively found by knowing how the other keys work and examining the block of ciphertext):

Decompiling

Decompiling Flash is always a controversial topic. In some cases, it will provide answers without doing the work to get those answers--thereby cheating players out of a solving experience. When a Flash file is written "correctly," it is just a GUI interface to a server-side component and does not reveal any secrets. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to determine what kind of Flash file it is until it has been decompiled. In the case of this Flash file, quite a lot of it is obfuscated, making most of the decompilation useless without a lot of extra work. Some of the modules indicate client-server communication, pointing to a "well written" Flash (i.e. one that decompiling doesn't reveal any secrets.) (Because of the work involved in further decompilation and the modules pointing to client/server communication, I am not going to take the decompilation any further. -Brian)

First of all, it looks like something is going to happen at The Bellagio. I'm assuming this will be revealed at the end of the countdown:

Bellagio.png

Reprinted as text for proper Google indexing:

REMEMBER...

Big things come in big packages:

January 8th, 6:30PM, Bellagio Fountains.

Second, the countdown looks like it is hitting a URL at 42 Entertainment for synchronization:

_constantPool "_global" "CountDownTimer" "homeurlparam" "homeUrl" "/now.asmx?WSDL" "webServicen" "mx" "services" "WebService" "http://stagessl.42entertainment.com:20000/preawareness/now.asmx?WSDL" "thisCountDownTimer" "Date" "getFullYear" "MovieClip" "prototype" "CountDown" "objServicen" "ml" "sc" "mn" "hr" "dy" "mo" "yr" "ServerTime" "onResult" "returnSerial" "eventMillisecs" "timeToWaitMillisecs" "getTime" "localEventMillisecs" "correctionMillisecs" "onFault" "onEnterFrame" "remaining" " " "msecs" "launch" "gotoAndStop" "secs" "Math" "floor" "mins" "hours" "days" "toString" "length" "0" ":" "" "ASSetPropFlags"

This connection to 42 Entertainment appears to have been confirmed by Jordan Weisman during his session on ARGs at Dorkbot in Seattle