A message from the Phonopath.

[Esrever]

i think ARGs are kinda creepy by their very nature!! it's like the realm of fiction entering the ~~real world~~ (whoa). maybe there should be an ARG that's all sunshine and rainbows??

also ARGs tend to remind me of this video:

[Ace Rimmer]

That is just...

wow.

Scary as hell.

[Esrever]

i've decided to start keeping up with this for fun!! apparently, somethings going down at about 9 am pst tomorrow (12 est i think??) according to the invitation messages

if you're free around that time i guess check the door at the site. if it's not that i guess someone will call the phone number on the phonopath site and we can crib notes offa them

[Ryan North]

Sweet!

[Esrever]

it turns out that if you check out phonopath's site now, there's an interesting logic puzzle game there

i don't want to spoil a lot but you might need to download an audio program like Audacity

[NoobOfLore]

This is a little bit spooky.
Also, that video you posted was scary as all hell, Esrever.

[JoeyJo0]

it turns out that if you check out phonopath's site now, there's an interesting logic puzzle game there

i don't want to spoil a lot but you might need to download an audio program like Audacity

Yeah, I'm doing this too.

I'm at 4-4, and stuck.

[waterbottles]

I'm really trying on this, but I have no idea how to use Audacity. This is pretty fun, though!

[MaskedClaus]

Personally, I'm following it a little without really trying to play. ARG are interresting, but I don't like the music based puzzles that much.

[JoeyJo0]

For those who want to follow, I think we're currently in the lead:

http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/v...3868&start=240

[hellaciousOrdinal]

well i guess we never got those bose headphones

[afterthought]

Sorry to disappoint, hellaciousOrdinal...I wish I had them to give away...

But no, this was merely a project to explore some possibilities, and hopefully have some fun along the way.

Thanks to all for playing. Maybe now I'll finally have the time to catch up on MSPA.

Cheers,

- kr

Twitter:
@regameyk
@phonopath

ALSO: Did you ever receive that letter Ryan? I sent it to your maybe-super-old PO Box address...

[Ryan North]

No unfortunately I don't have that PO Box anymore! That's too bad.

Only option left is to go to my grave wondering what mysteries were inside!

EDIT TO AD I thought this whole thing was really cool!

[Gumba Masta]

What was this thing exactly? And to what gopal?
*goal

[hellaciousOrdinal]

What was this thing exactly? And to what gopal?
*goal

shenanigans.

[afterthought]

What was this thing exactly? And to what gopal?
*goal

Sorry for the delayed reply!

After witnessing and vaguely participating in various ARGs, it became painfully apparent to me how much audio as a puzzle medium remained largely unexplored. There were audio elements in these ARGs, but they were usually very simple things...reversing files, morse code, metadata...anyway, the whole thing started with just a few ideas for puzzles, a few of which I sent only to peers in the audio industry. For whatever reason, this process really appealed to me and I kept dreaming up and researching more and more concepts to experiment with. Many of these were pretty outlandish and failed outright, but several made it into the final game and have likely never been done before (not so surprising, considering there hasn't been any practical reason for files like this to exist before now).

Eventually, I compiled so much subject matter to work with that a fully cohesive project seemed like a pretty solid idea. It gained a title, a story line, a hint system, achievements, music, etc....and at some point along the way, I was forced to move beyond strictly *functional* audio puzzles, and into the realm of audio clips that *sounded* cool too. My awesome brother helped me out with the site's design, many others helped out by providing their various talents, and the project ultimately evolved into what is now seen at Phonopath.com.

By the way! If the concept is interesting to you, but you lack the time and/or patience for this kind of gameplay, feel free to use the info below to browse the entire game freely (This won't give you any answers - you'll just be able to hear all the stages and most of the "cutscenes"):

show spoiler

hide spoiler

Front Door: midnight
Username: Demo
Email: (blank)
PIN: 1234

Enjoy, and thanks again for taking a look!

- @regameyk


Note: For those interested, I will probably be creating a video walkthrough with commentary in the coming weeks. I'll post it here and on twitter if so!

[Bandages]

All snarky horseshit aside, it's really inspiring to see someone take initiative and use creative energy to bring people together.

I would rather have one "afterthought" making interesting puzzles that have never been made before than a thousand internet-jerks rehashing the same memes over and over!

kudos, sir!