Thanks for watching! I forgot to put this comment here and a friend CALLED ME OUT, so here you can find the FULL community writeup doc: docs.google.com/document/d/1yuVnnJDmKKGrlTIGVn1Zykp9Tpn4rthGFei1gztRAN4/edit?tab=t.0
It’s awesome to see how your content and videos have improved over the years, from the old barely edited terraria videos to these new ones with a ton of polish and work put into them. Good job on that man, looking forward to your next video
I just absolutely love these secret dissection videos. Noita obviously, but I really enjoyed the Animal Well series too. I'll easily watch any game you analyze in this style.
One thing of note in Miasma Tower is what creature and style everyone is represented through is telling. Greg and those he knew personally have custom avatars, likely their own personal dev-sonas as it were while the workers that Greg isn't personally familiar with are represented by ant and upper management are represented by grasshoppers, again circling back to the philosophy and the Aesop fable. But furthermore, Ian Spinzer is represented by a terrifying monster of a bug, as though he was a boss enemy, while the big boss, Nemuru, is a giant photo-realistic (or as close as NES-like graphics will allow) grasshopper that look more like set dressing than an NPC. I think that's reflective on Greg's views on them. That Spinzer was the monster who killed his friend (murder or via abusive work practices) and covered up her death while Nemuru was so detached from this that he's basically inhuman. That a death on his watch is just something to be brushed aside while he focuses on lofty philopsophy of a future that's still yet to come.
On the demo screen, Onion Delivery looks as if it's being fed the wrong inputs. The car veers into the corner of a building while ignoring everything else. It just struck me as odd when all the other demos look like they're being played with clear intent. And it just so happens to be Chiffon Bola's game.
yooo her final game, valbrace has this too! there's a spot at the end of the "attract screen" where the "player" starts attempting to equip the dagger multiple times before doing a bunch of other erratic menuing. I was wondering if it was meant to be interpreted as inputs for another secret.
Interesting thing to note, though I'm not sure if it's significant: those garbage bags are arranged in the same two frames as a glider in Conway's game of life.
I just spent a significant amount of time trying to understand this only to finally decide that I am not smart enough to understand this. However, two things occur to me: the similarity to Nemura in that Conway is dead (of COVID no less, what a shame) and that his game lives on seems very clear. Also, the "glider" layout of the garbage bags is inverted, implying perhaps that this is, inversely, a symbol of a game of death.
Arrange the pattern like the grasshopper legs and find the first letter of each game? EDIT: just tried it while removing the one that had the photos from my try, assuming bags in top-left position does not work. Trying it assuming top-right position also fails. Sad.
slight issue with the idea that he knocked the grasshopper over as he was running back to his office is the narration says that greg remembers "the day the statue fell and the frantic footsteps in the stairwell that follow" which implies the statue was broken as they were running _to_ the stairs rather than _from_ them. don't know if that really changes things much but it's one of those things that'll keep me up at night thinking about it lol
She probably knocked it over while running away to escape, but he caught up while she was trying to unlock her bike. Maybe there was also an altercation in the stairwell partway down, where she tore a button off his shirt.
@@ToyKeeper That would explain the sequence of events there. My only gripe with that is that I feel like, if Bola were escaping from Spinzer there, Greg would have heard more of the struggle rather than just frantic footsteps. Like yelling or something. But also, maybe she was too focused on running to think about screaming for help. Idk. Also, do we know why she was confronting Spinzer? Would she have had a reason to keep quiet and not make a scene?
Havent seen the full video yet, but funny how fitting the dialog is and his appearence of a grasshopper with a fiddle. Remember a kids book about a grasshopper with a fiddle who wanted to play and ants told him to get ready for winter. He doesn't listen and suffers once winter comes.
@@sheanstanks it’s one of Aesop’s Fables and another thing that is interesting about it is that historically people have read the moral of the fable in different ways. Initially it appears that the fable is about laziness (playing) vs industry and being prepared; but later interpretations consider the grasshoppers role as a stand in for artists and how art and culture are mistreated over self interested profit making (of the ants). I could see how, for Greg Milk, the joy of creating and playing games has been destroyed by what happened with his experiences at UFO Soft.
Mooncat might have a lot more significance hidden within it as well. It has the same capsules from behind the steel door in its tutorial level, and it's by far the most alien in its design and might be the most up-front about its allegories for birth and rebirth, showing the mooncat as an embryo as you transition from space down to the first level. The eggs also have very specific verbiage, such as the green egg containing miasma, the yellow egg nodding to barbuta, and the red egg containing a praying mantis named Marlia 'the sage.' It could just as easily be an overthinking trap, though.
There's a whole "cycle of life" theme present throughout the UFO 50 games. Many of the games feature eggs and things that hatch from them. From the eggs, we get references to bugs and insects. Parasites infest the eggs. At the end, the owls come and take the bugs. This theme isn't used uniformly, but it's the most common one and it has some links to the lore around the UFOSoft developers. The games also frequently reference an apocalypse of some kind, which is a common gaming trope but takes on additional meaning against the company lore.
As someone who only picked up UFO 50 because it looked neat it's consistently impressed me. Seeing all this laid out has only increased my opinion of an already incredible experience. Tons of props to everyone who has helped piece all this stuff together, it's a hell of an accomplishment.
This is AWESOME! Thankyou for making this video, I had 0 idea any of this existed and I spent some of the video gripping my chair as I realized the depth of this mystery within a game within a game within a game collection. My only theory is that in 2039, UFOSoft "releases" something that adds to the collection (As in, the collection on steam), I can't imagine waiting 15 years to get that new info but it's tantalizing nonetheless.
You know these guys are true artists when they sell the game for $25 and put so much effort into a story most will never see. There are probably less than a thousand people in the world who will actually go through all those steps instead of just play the games and watch this youtube vid. If you're reading this, you've made it to the good timeline.
14:07 Some don't realize this, but from playing multiplayer on Hyper Contender with a friend, I found that starting a match with Reck and Sephy will also satisfy this condition in the terminal.
I work with hydrogen peroxide frequently. It's worth spelling out the fact that it is the only thing in most cases that will remove [red fluid] when heavy bleeding has occurred. The stain is one of two things in my opinion: Either Ian is unaware that you need baking soda to pull the remaining particles from the stain once the job is done, or (more likely) he damaged the building with the peroxide and harsh scrubbing. Some other stuff I noticed: If "Mama Bee" is the woman on the phone, she would have gotten a lot more leverage if she said her daughter worked there. I don't know about you, but I would design a whole game to make my mother the protagonist. I think Mama/Cyber Bee is the (secret?) lesbian girlfriend, unable to do much other than hire an ineffective private detective. I think the bikes wheels were removed so it would fit into the vent, rather than being knocked off in an accident. If it was an accident, why is the bike lock cut? I had that kind of bike lock. That's not what it looks like when open. 29:59 Lastly, do you think that there is significance in the Mini is the beginning and end of the riddle line, is a WOMAN who searches and digs into things, grabs a SOLDIER ANT (Ian), makes him (feel?) small, and only then is able to CONFRONT the grasshopper and learn the truth? Maybe the path she took cost her her life...
Y’all tried the benedikt code yet? I remember I just randomly tried Greg milk as a code without finding any of this yet when watching the credits for the submarine game. Once it worked I started trying a bunch of the names, and benedikt worked as a code. I didn’t figure anything out with it because I suck at Mortol 2 though. I was surprised to hear no mention of the benedikt code in your video though, so I wanted to comment in case it was new info
There's a lot of codes that are just mechanical tweaks to games to make them harder or easier, hidden in various credits scrolls. BENE-DIKT is probably, in-universe, a result of Benedikt saying mortal 2 "isn't hard enough".
Found a secret, the betas from miasma tower, as well as miasma tower itself, can be found using the list command (mias is 51, colo is 1983), so if someone went and scrubbed all 1000 visible entrys, we could use that to check for hidden games.
Thanks for the quick mention at 23:45 ahah Dude phenomenal video, love the transitions you made, everything felt so smooth and fun to watch, even if I knew most of it already, i still learned a few things , which is cool. Didn't even know you before that video my dude, subbing to you, great video! Hyped to watch more content from you!
The references to a particular book's philosophy and Greg's intent on preserving the history of UFO Soft, good and bad in the theory at the end, reminds me of Hamlet's last words. Specifically the version used by Dinobot during Beast Wars episode "Code of Hero" "Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly. The ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly, for the rest is silence..."
This is simply my humble opinion but I think a big part of Miasma Tower is the character of Greg Milk working through his feelings and he doesn't seem to know everything. The main emotion Miasma Tower provides is uncertainty. I believe this extends most obviously to the company's practices, but also to Chiffon. I doubt there was literally a secret vent shaft in the basement that he knows, factually, had a broken bike in it, for example. The design of the building is unrealistic and thus I don't feel like we can assume it's a literal representation of what the UFO Soft offices looked like. I feel like what happened was that there was some altercation on Feb 29 1988 between Chiffon and Spinzer, probably violent but non-lethal, that ended in Chiffon running from the building and not coming back - effectively disappearing. No matter how bad the company culture, a literal murder of a beloved coworker doesn't seem like something the entire staff would collectively agree to bury. I also think that the games, with Greg's involvement or otherwise, would have more eulogizing or guilt if it was something that took place at the office. There's only one direct mention of her disappearance / presumed death in any of the games. If she disappeared after an incident, that makes a lot more sense as something you wouldn't want to think about. You can dismiss it by thinking "maybe she's fine out there, somewhere". I think the game is Greg Milk documenting all the stuff that bothered him, the little things he noticed while working there, that he never could find a conclusive answer to. Why did Spinzer have that ladder in his office? After Chiffon ran from the building, she left her bike - where did it go? That vent in the basement was opened at some point - why? What did the company do with all the stuff in Chiffon's office? Why isn't the company telling them anything? That's the miasma. He labels Miasma Tower as "an experience", not an account. He doesn't know anything for sure, and that's why he made the game.
I'm always really bad at figuring out these hidden secret, ARG kind of stuff. I started the treasure hunt, but got stuck because I thought the "column of three that need never flee" related to Divers and your team of three not fleeing an encounter. Also, I just played enough UFO 50 that I was starting to get bored with it, so I figured I'd finally spoil the big secret for myself. But really interesting video. I'd love to see what else is in store, if there is much.
Hm. Those capsules are present in Mooncat, in the prologue of the game. I think it's possible to clear the gap you're supposed to fall down in the start, by doing an "air jump" (dash off ledge, then jump quickly to jump in the air) to get up to the upper platform, then an "extended air jump" (dash off ledge, jump in midair with coyote time, dash again at the very top of your jump), but I haven't been able to pull it off unfortunately. It's so close I think I must be a frame or two late. Edit: nevermind, just tried again. There is no collision on the other side of the pit. You simply fall as normal.
There are things which are GOOD, but not necessary. And there are the good things which are necessary. Your channel is one of these good and NECESSARY, important, essential things. I simply don't have the time or the means to follow all those secrets you cover, even though I'm really interested. You not only cover the secrets really deep within and didactically, but also do that with multiple games. Thanks for covering all of it. Keep going.
It makes you wonder how much Tao actually believed. Tao very much feels like a cult leader trying to make himself, in between handing out philosphy books and the "Sessions". On one hand him being in trying to making game studio into a doomsday cult solely for his own profit is more likely, him actually believe that play is forever is strangely compelling.
It occurs to me that Bola is a four letter word. Very easy for it to be half of a code. Say... Bola-2039, maybe? Might even try Mama-Bola. After all, if the woman in the car is, in fact, Bola's mother, Mama Bee is then clearly a play on Mama B. - Mama Bola. But, I didn't even know this game existed until I saw this video, so maybe these have already been attempted.
Thank you for showing me all these secrets I never could have found on my own! The same for Animal Well, I found all but one egg, and only 2 bunnies by myself
spoilers for the video ending really do watch the whole thing before reading or better yet only watch the first hint and play the game to find the rest for your self. looking back i wish i did it would have been super rewarding since its not a hard Easter egg hunt and is actually really solvable by normal people. | \ / This game is a huge love letter to the gaming industry the passion and consideration put in to the 50 games in this collection are amazing. as someone that just took part in a retro game art jam the techniques and styles of these games are incredible authentic. these devs know the gaming industry witch is why the ending to the secret hits so hard. I fully believe her death was cause by over work leading to a car accident that was then covered up. both over work and the death of employs covered up is so real to the entertainment industry its scary. I think most recently activation blizzard had both with an employ suicide cause by harassments and i would recommend reading the book "play nice" for all the story's of over work and bad management. I really just want to commend the devs on such an good game and such incredible and impactful writing. all the pieces fall in to place so nice and the grasshopper motif was super interesting and now knowing the book it was based on its simply incredible.
I was actually going to say that you might have to use arbitrary code execution or an overflow (or mix) to change the data that says to open the capsules or not, that final matrix can very well be exactly what is needed. I actually saw a video where someone recoded I believe tetris by playing the game in just such a way. Could be helpful.
47:20 have people tried inserting the previous puzzles that involved going to games in specific spots across the 5x10 grid, except instead of the main UFO 50 library, doing it on the micro games? (assumedly via laying the microgames out in the same grid format)
I'd just like to point out that the code 0229-1988 is not just a date, it's the file number and year for Godsblood when you enter INFO-GODB in the terminal. Also, don't know if it's a coincidence but the storage unit where the in-universe restoration team finds the LX console is also numbered 229.
My personal favorites of UFO 50 are Bushido Ball, Devilition, the dinosaur strategy game (can't remember name rn), and Party House. Three of these (not Devilition) being quite fun in Coop.
Up until I watched this video, I thought UFO 50 might be my favorite piece of media of the year. Now I think it's my favorite thing of the millennium so far. They could have just released 50 fun retro games (almost every one being worth $25 by itself) but instead they included this meta mystery that kind of gets at why we play video games in the first place. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Is there a precedent for this kind of video game? I'm pretty ignorant on this topic.
I like that this channel does so many secrets in games videos. I started following because of Noita, and I bought Animal Well after seeing the video on that.
While I couldn't quite get into UFO 50 myself when I tried it, this is still quite fascinating. I kinda wanna see a second video about the weird connective lore some of the minigames had that I noticed in the little playtime I did
In the end text for miasma tower that reads "an eXPeRienCe By GReGoRy MiLK", the letters an eeiene y eoyi are lowercase, and XPRC B GRGR MLK are uppercase. Could this be at all significant?
I didnt notice this mentioned anywhere but 1958-1988 could be another possible code from the gravestone in grimstone. This might also be nothing, but has anyone tried changing the computer date to before 2/29/1988? There's a lot referenced to people grieving about Bola's death, but there could be a state of Miasma Tower for that date or before it. The time capsules, ghost, crying lady, etc might not exist during that.
changing the date is actually one of the most frequent suggestions but it has yet to turn anything up regardless of backwards for forwards, it mostly just breaks your computer for a bit
34:10 You don't actually have to use the list command for internal names for the games. If you look at the terminal after booting up the games, the top line with have the internal name for the game in the first part of the [XXXX.UFO] (all internal names are 4 characters so you can run them with the EXEC command or with the game number for the non secret ones). Also as a bonus, the game list actually starts at 0000 with the game selection as the first game listed which has "MAIN" as the internal name.
The trash bags are not in a 5x5 grid like you say they are. They are in a 6x5 grid...Identical to the one in the top-right of campanella 3, aka the game with 50 games in it.
you don't need to get lucky RNG for "when the wolf faces the angel", just start a 2-player match and select both characters yourself lol. player 2's controls default to the numpad so you don't even need a second controller or anything, just use the numpad briefly.
The photos on the wall are in a 3x10 grid. How many games did Chifon Bola do? Was it the first 30? Also important to note that some of the photos are missing so some extrapolation might be made
33:05 So if we're looking for another 8 digit code for a 5x10 grid, I wonder if Chiffon Bola's desk has a clue. There are 10 cells from the side of her cubical to her desk, but only 6 marked cells (orange tacks) on the wall. Even with the chair, it's only 7. But, if we assume Bola is in the empty spot to the right of the chair as the 8th one, located at the bottom right corner, you get another fairly neat and potential 8 digit code over a 5x10 grid, (edit) which also ends with the last two being in the exact same spot. Again, no idea if that helps, but it's something I noticed, along with: 31:37 Where you have an unusual 4x6 grid. But, looking at the weirdly placed garbage bags with the photos, they fit perfectly into a 4x6 grid as well. So maybe match that combination and check the terminal? Though I'm guessing that might have been checked as well. Still, I'm amazed that they made such a packed game and still somehow packed even MORE into it.
I tried the ones with her cubicle. Entering those list values in the normal chronological way doesn't work, nor does doing the random arrangement. I tried entering them forwards and backwards too. Probably not that. And I'm not sure how I would enter the 4x6 grid.
Hey spoilers fyi- for campenella 3 it doesn't matter if you hold the b button on the startup sequence - best way i found to activate the games within the game is to hold down the primary and secondary button of p2 till they pop up in the little screen, you can even start this process mid game and it works. Edit- also important thing to note for those worried about having to have 2 players active to unlock this, it doesn't matter if the main ship of the game dies you can play and save progress to the minigames in the game over screen which is very cool, not having to worry about play two games at once lol
I haven't watched much of this game yet because I plan on playing it myself once I can. I've only seen about 8 of the games and I don't know why, but something about this entire thing has always seemed a bit off to me. I always thought it's one of these games that gets creepier and more unsettling the more you complete it. Like, it tries to look all cute and innocent but there's something mysterious hidden inside. I really have no idea why the game has instantly given me that vibe. I'm curious to see if thrre's any truth to that
Okay, prolly a bit of a dumb question, but like The time capsule was sealed, to be opened in 2039 Y'all already put a date into the terminal before, did you try entering February 29th, 2039 in there too?
That would be impossible since 2039 wouldnt be a leap year (which is every year divisible by 4) and therefore it wouldnt have that extra 29th day in February
I doubt the death was accidental or from overwork. The signs of a struggle down the stairs, the ghost wearing a helmet, the peroxide, the stains, the photo's hidden in the trash bag all the way i the back of all the trashbags ,the CRUMPLED BIKE, the bike rack next to ian's car. Now milk might be over dramatizing the accident to make it look like a murder but then I doubt the ghost would confront him over not confronting ian together. I also doubt he would put in only hearing frantic footsteps(which led to the "scene"). If it was overwork then I doubt ian would be the only one monsterfied in game.
I'm pretty sure the mountain symbol is meant to be the hind leg of a grasshopper, what with the grasshopper themes present in the games and games behind the games
Given he other transhumanist themes in the game, is it possible that that ‘preservation’ refers to cryonics and the five pods in the base,ent are actually cryonics pods?
BOLA-2039 ? has that been tried yet? If that's the dead person and that's the number on a capsule and we think the capsule holds a body maybe that will do something
Imagine if ufo soft and this game being rereleased was real. People would be digging through it and see the implied real murder. Theres be new articles and people on the internet hunting down each and every former ufo soft game dev. Including harassing a guy about a murder he possibly did. Thatd be wild
@@endertrot9998 I hate that I can never go back and stumble onto that for the first time, again. That is still in my top 5 internet memories of all time. There's a sequel/continuation to it that I just found out about earlier this year.
Thanks for watching! I forgot to put this comment here and a friend CALLED ME OUT, so here you can find the FULL community writeup doc: docs.google.com/document/d/1yuVnnJDmKKGrlTIGVn1Zykp9Tpn4rthGFei1gztRAN4/edit?tab=t.0
It’s awesome to see how your content and videos have improved over the years, from the old barely edited terraria videos to these new ones with a ton of polish and work put into them. Good job on that man, looking forward to your next video
I just absolutely love these secret dissection videos. Noita obviously, but I really enjoyed the Animal Well series too. I'll easily watch any game you analyze in this style.
One thing of note in Miasma Tower is what creature and style everyone is represented through is telling. Greg and those he knew personally have custom avatars, likely their own personal dev-sonas as it were while the workers that Greg isn't personally familiar with are represented by ant and upper management are represented by grasshoppers, again circling back to the philosophy and the Aesop fable.
But furthermore, Ian Spinzer is represented by a terrifying monster of a bug, as though he was a boss enemy, while the big boss, Nemuru, is a giant photo-realistic (or as close as NES-like graphics will allow) grasshopper that look more like set dressing than an NPC. I think that's reflective on Greg's views on them. That Spinzer was the monster who killed his friend (murder or via abusive work practices) and covered up her death while Nemuru was so detached from this that he's basically inhuman. That a death on his watch is just something to be brushed aside while he focuses on lofty philopsophy of a future that's still yet to come.
@@guybrush20X6 his little frown face avatar is kinda cockeyed, and the pink dog thing at the terminal screen is also cockeyed
@@johnsimon8457 and he built a little house for the pink dog to feel safe in
On the demo screen, Onion Delivery looks as if it's being fed the wrong inputs. The car veers into the corner of a building while ignoring everything else. It just struck me as odd when all the other demos look like they're being played with clear intent.
And it just so happens to be Chiffon Bola's game.
That’s really interesting, I see that as a strong implication that she died in a crash
@@WhiteKnuckleRide512 id certainly explain why her bike is broken
And the splatter on the wall by the bike rack
yooo her final game, valbrace has this too! there's a spot at the end of the "attract screen" where the "player" starts attempting to equip the dagger multiple times before doing a bunch of other erratic menuing.
I was wondering if it was meant to be interpreted as inputs for another secret.
Yeah, a mangled bike and stain on the wall makes me think car vs. cyclist, especially right next to the bike rack
Interesting thing to note, though I'm not sure if it's significant: those garbage bags are arranged in the same two frames as a glider in Conway's game of life.
THIS IS SUCH A COOL OBSERVETION OH MY GOD
Definitely significant, Conway regretted not naming the glider, "the ant", so this pattern is for ants as the leg is for the grasshopper
I just spent a significant amount of time trying to understand this only to finally decide that I am not smart enough to understand this. However, two things occur to me: the similarity to Nemura in that Conway is dead (of COVID no less, what a shame) and that his game lives on seems very clear. Also, the "glider" layout of the garbage bags is inverted, implying perhaps that this is, inversely, a symbol of a game of death.
Arrange the pattern like the grasshopper legs and find the first letter of each game?
EDIT: just tried it while removing the one that had the photos from my try, assuming bags in top-left position does not work. Trying it assuming top-right position also fails. Sad.
slight issue with the idea that he knocked the grasshopper over as he was running back to his office is the narration says that greg remembers "the day the statue fell and the frantic footsteps in the stairwell that follow" which implies the statue was broken as they were running _to_ the stairs rather than _from_ them. don't know if that really changes things much but it's one of those things that'll keep me up at night thinking about it lol
She probably knocked it over while running away to escape, but he caught up while she was trying to unlock her bike. Maybe there was also an altercation in the stairwell partway down, where she tore a button off his shirt.
@@ToyKeeper That would explain the sequence of events there. My only gripe with that is that I feel like, if Bola were escaping from Spinzer there, Greg would have heard more of the struggle rather than just frantic footsteps. Like yelling or something.
But also, maybe she was too focused on running to think about screaming for help. Idk. Also, do we know why she was confronting Spinzer? Would she have had a reason to keep quiet and not make a scene?
@@micalishis Sexual Assault.
That definitely seems like a strong point in favor of it being an accident they discovered and not a murder
@micalishis i think the company is using smaller developers to launder money until they bleed them dry. she found out and they silenced her.
Havent seen the full video yet, but funny how fitting the dialog is and his appearence of a grasshopper with a fiddle. Remember a kids book about a grasshopper with a fiddle who wanted to play and ants told him to get ready for winter. He doesn't listen and suffers once winter comes.
@@socksthecat13 .... Crazy though, interested to know what story that is since the end of combatants is literally that
@@sheanstanks it’s one of Aesop’s Fables and another thing that is interesting about it is that historically people have read the moral of the fable in different ways. Initially it appears that the fable is about laziness (playing) vs industry and being prepared; but later interpretations consider the grasshoppers role as a stand in for artists and how art and culture are mistreated over self interested profit making (of the ants). I could see how, for Greg Milk, the joy of creating and playing games has been destroyed by what happened with his experiences at UFO Soft.
@@socksthecat13 but this game is about a grasshopper who hopes to win the cosmic war: once work is abolished, his games will rule.
This game just keeps getting better. I cant believe how great everything this game is
Mooncat might have a lot more significance hidden within it as well. It has the same capsules from behind the steel door in its tutorial level, and it's by far the most alien in its design and might be the most up-front about its allegories for birth and rebirth, showing the mooncat as an embryo as you transition from space down to the first level.
The eggs also have very specific verbiage, such as the green egg containing miasma, the yellow egg nodding to barbuta, and the red egg containing a praying mantis named Marlia 'the sage.' It could just as easily be an overthinking trap, though.
There's a whole "cycle of life" theme present throughout the UFO 50 games. Many of the games feature eggs and things that hatch from them. From the eggs, we get references to bugs and insects. Parasites infest the eggs. At the end, the owls come and take the bugs. This theme isn't used uniformly, but it's the most common one and it has some links to the lore around the UFOSoft developers. The games also frequently reference an apocalypse of some kind, which is a common gaming trope but takes on additional meaning against the company lore.
As someone who only picked up UFO 50 because it looked neat it's consistently impressed me. Seeing all this laid out has only increased my opinion of an already incredible experience. Tons of props to everyone who has helped piece all this stuff together, it's a hell of an accomplishment.
This is AWESOME! Thankyou for making this video, I had 0 idea any of this existed and I spent some of the video gripping my chair as I realized the depth of this mystery within a game within a game within a game collection. My only theory is that in 2039, UFOSoft "releases" something that adds to the collection (As in, the collection on steam), I can't imagine waiting 15 years to get that new info but it's tantalizing nonetheless.
"Nemuru" is another way of saying "death" in Japanese. Whether or not that is significant, I couldn't say. Fascinating video!
You know these guys are true artists when they sell the game for $25 and put so much effort into a story most will never see. There are probably less than a thousand people in the world who will actually go through all those steps instead of just play the games and watch this youtube vid. If you're reading this, you've made it to the good timeline.
14:07 Some don't realize this, but from playing multiplayer on Hyper Contender with a friend, I found that starting a match with Reck and Sephy will also satisfy this condition in the terminal.
I work with hydrogen peroxide frequently. It's worth spelling out the fact that it is the only thing in most cases that will remove [red fluid] when heavy bleeding has occurred.
The stain is one of two things in my opinion: Either Ian is unaware that you need baking soda to pull the remaining particles from the stain once the job is done, or (more likely) he damaged the building with the peroxide and harsh scrubbing.
Some other stuff I noticed:
If "Mama Bee" is the woman on the phone, she would have gotten a lot more leverage if she said her daughter worked there. I don't know about you, but I would design a whole game to make my mother the protagonist. I think Mama/Cyber Bee is the (secret?) lesbian girlfriend, unable to do much other than hire an ineffective private detective.
I think the bikes wheels were removed so it would fit into the vent, rather than being knocked off in an accident. If it was an accident, why is the bike lock cut? I had that kind of bike lock. That's not what it looks like when open. 29:59
Lastly, do you think that there is significance in the Mini is the beginning and end of the riddle line, is a WOMAN who searches and digs into things, grabs a SOLDIER ANT (Ian), makes him (feel?) small, and only then is able to CONFRONT the grasshopper and learn the truth? Maybe the path she took cost her her life...
Y’all tried the benedikt code yet?
I remember I just randomly tried Greg milk as a code without finding any of this yet when watching the credits for the submarine game. Once it worked I started trying a bunch of the names, and benedikt worked as a code. I didn’t figure anything out with it because I suck at Mortol 2 though. I was surprised to hear no mention of the benedikt code in your video though, so I wanted to comment in case it was new info
There's a lot of codes that are just mechanical tweaks to games to make them harder or easier, hidden in various credits scrolls. BENE-DIKT is probably, in-universe, a result of Benedikt saying mortal 2 "isn't hard enough".
I see. Thanks. Yea I figured I didn’t have the missing piece of the puzzle, but just in case!
Found a secret, the betas from miasma tower, as well as miasma tower itself, can be found using the list command (mias is 51, colo is 1983), so if someone went and scrubbed all 1000 visible entrys, we could use that to check for hidden games.
Thanks for the quick mention at 23:45 ahah
Dude phenomenal video, love the transitions you made, everything felt so smooth and fun to watch, even if I knew most of it already, i still learned a few things , which is cool.
Didn't even know you before that video my dude, subbing to you, great video! Hyped to watch more content from you!
The references to a particular book's philosophy and Greg's intent on preserving the history of UFO Soft, good and bad in the theory at the end, reminds me of Hamlet's last words. Specifically the version used by Dinobot during Beast Wars episode "Code of Hero"
"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly. The ill deeds along with the good, and let me be judged accordingly, for the rest is silence..."
glad to see the doc here! never thought it'd be as helpful as it seems like it has :>
There's also the "spinzing" out of control secret in Vainger that might imply he's got a temper or something
tbh you can get that from just playing miasma tower lol
Dude goes through five shirts a day, he's a sweater if nothing else
This is simply my humble opinion but I think a big part of Miasma Tower is the character of Greg Milk working through his feelings and he doesn't seem to know everything. The main emotion Miasma Tower provides is uncertainty. I believe this extends most obviously to the company's practices, but also to Chiffon. I doubt there was literally a secret vent shaft in the basement that he knows, factually, had a broken bike in it, for example. The design of the building is unrealistic and thus I don't feel like we can assume it's a literal representation of what the UFO Soft offices looked like.
I feel like what happened was that there was some altercation on Feb 29 1988 between Chiffon and Spinzer, probably violent but non-lethal, that ended in Chiffon running from the building and not coming back - effectively disappearing. No matter how bad the company culture, a literal murder of a beloved coworker doesn't seem like something the entire staff would collectively agree to bury. I also think that the games, with Greg's involvement or otherwise, would have more eulogizing or guilt if it was something that took place at the office. There's only one direct mention of her disappearance / presumed death in any of the games. If she disappeared after an incident, that makes a lot more sense as something you wouldn't want to think about. You can dismiss it by thinking "maybe she's fine out there, somewhere".
I think the game is Greg Milk documenting all the stuff that bothered him, the little things he noticed while working there, that he never could find a conclusive answer to. Why did Spinzer have that ladder in his office? After Chiffon ran from the building, she left her bike - where did it go? That vent in the basement was opened at some point - why? What did the company do with all the stuff in Chiffon's office? Why isn't the company telling them anything? That's the miasma.
He labels Miasma Tower as "an experience", not an account. He doesn't know anything for sure, and that's why he made the game.
THE HEX MENTIONS LETS GOOOOOOO
I'm always really bad at figuring out these hidden secret, ARG kind of stuff. I started the treasure hunt, but got stuck because I thought the "column of three that need never flee" related to Divers and your team of three not fleeing an encounter. Also, I just played enough UFO 50 that I was starting to get bored with it, so I figured I'd finally spoil the big secret for myself. But really interesting video. I'd love to see what else is in store, if there is much.
Hm. Those capsules are present in Mooncat, in the prologue of the game. I think it's possible to clear the gap you're supposed to fall down in the start, by doing an "air jump" (dash off ledge, then jump quickly to jump in the air) to get up to the upper platform, then an "extended air jump" (dash off ledge, jump in midair with coyote time, dash again at the very top of your jump), but I haven't been able to pull it off unfortunately. It's so close I think I must be a frame or two late.
Edit: nevermind, just tried again. There is no collision on the other side of the pit. You simply fall as normal.
oh its like finding a needle in a haystack thats tied to a thread we have yet to find the end of
There are things which are GOOD, but not necessary. And there are the good things which are necessary.
Your channel is one of these good and NECESSARY, important, essential things.
I simply don't have the time or the means to follow all those secrets you cover, even though I'm really interested.
You not only cover the secrets really deep within and didactically, but also do that with multiple games.
Thanks for covering all of it. Keep going.
It makes you wonder how much Tao actually believed. Tao very much feels like a cult leader trying to make himself, in between handing out philosphy books and the "Sessions". On one hand him being in trying to making game studio into a doomsday cult solely for his own profit is more likely, him actually believe that play is forever is strangely compelling.
It occurs to me that Bola is a four letter word. Very easy for it to be half of a code. Say... Bola-2039, maybe? Might even try Mama-Bola. After all, if the woman in the car is, in fact, Bola's mother, Mama Bee is then clearly a play on Mama B. - Mama Bola. But, I didn't even know this game existed until I saw this video, so maybe these have already been attempted.
Well I guess you’ll just have to get ufo50 and become a lore hunter!
If you're that interested, the games' 15% off for black Friday.
and the game is worth the money. there are some bangers in the 50
Y'know I was hoping you would make this, it seemed right up your proverbial alley.
Thank you for showing me all these secrets I never could have found on my own!
The same for Animal Well, I found all but one egg, and only 2 bunnies by myself
for the hyper contender code, i believe you can just go into 2 player mode and select reck and sephy, so you don't have to rely on RNG
That also makes a lot of sense, lmao
Wow this is way deeper than I expected
A spooky mystery and a homage to Action-52? Awesome!
50 shades of UFO
50 minutes of UFO. 😅
@@Imightexist7 Probing and The City
spoilers for the video ending really do watch the whole thing before reading or better yet only watch the first hint and play the game to find the rest for your self. looking back i wish i did it would have been super rewarding since its not a hard Easter egg hunt and is actually really solvable by normal people.
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This game is a huge love letter to the gaming industry the passion and consideration put in to the 50 games in this collection are amazing. as someone that just took part in a retro game art jam the techniques and styles of these games are incredible authentic.
these devs know the gaming industry witch is why the ending to the secret hits so hard. I fully believe her death was cause by over work leading to a car accident that was then covered up. both over work and the death of employs covered up is so real to the entertainment industry its scary. I think most recently activation blizzard had both with an employ suicide cause by harassments and i would recommend reading the book "play nice" for all the story's of over work and bad management.
I really just want to commend the devs on such an good game and such incredible and impactful writing. all the pieces fall in to place so nice and the grasshopper motif was super interesting and now knowing the book it was based on its simply incredible.
I was actually going to say that you might have to use arbitrary code execution or an overflow (or mix) to change the data that says to open the capsules or not, that final matrix can very well be exactly what is needed.
I actually saw a video where someone recoded I believe tetris by playing the game in just such a way. Could be helpful.
47:20 have people tried inserting the previous puzzles that involved going to games in specific spots across the 5x10 grid, except instead of the main UFO 50 library, doing it on the micro games? (assumedly via laying the microgames out in the same grid format)
I'd just like to point out that the code 0229-1988 is not just a date, it's the file number and year for Godsblood when you enter INFO-GODB in the terminal. Also, don't know if it's a coincidence but the storage unit where the in-universe restoration team finds the LX console is also numbered 229.
I'm glad you finally got this out the door, very nice production, and good job as always
My personal favorites of UFO 50 are Bushido Ball, Devilition, the dinosaur strategy game (can't remember name rn), and Party House. Three of these (not Devilition) being quite fun in Coop.
I feel like people who have played La-Mulana have a instant soft spot for Barbuta.
I knew there was going to be more to this game, and I was just watching old noita stuff so this vid got recommended. thanks.
26:21 This concept is also explored in the book _The Player of Games_ by Iain M Banks.
Up until I watched this video, I thought UFO 50 might be my favorite piece of media of the year. Now I think it's my favorite thing of the millennium so far.
They could have just released 50 fun retro games (almost every one being worth $25 by itself) but instead they included this meta mystery that kind of gets at why we play video games in the first place. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Is there a precedent for this kind of video game? I'm pretty ignorant on this topic.
I like that this channel does so many secrets in games videos. I started following because of Noita, and I bought Animal Well after seeing the video on that.
You need an ant because of Aesop's fable about the ant and the grasshopper
Nice, that's a cool connection that makes sense and I would've not think of myself, good job.
While I couldn't quite get into UFO 50 myself when I tried it, this is still quite fascinating. I kinda wanna see a second video about the weird connective lore some of the minigames had that I noticed in the little playtime I did
Really great video, love the detail
the discovery of the suits book is wild
I love your pause at the start.. Ooh I wonder what else has 50 in it xD
I made sure it was almost annoyingly long of a pause, haha
@@FuryForged It Worked!
@@FuryForged I was waiting for a "Swiper no swiping." lol
In the end text for miasma tower that reads "an eXPeRienCe By GReGoRy MiLK", the letters an eeiene y eoyi are lowercase, and XPRC B GRGR MLK are uppercase. Could this be at all significant?
Bro has become the _VIDEOGAME Riddler_
I'm loving these mystery fillled indies
I didnt notice this mentioned anywhere but 1958-1988 could be another possible code from the gravestone in grimstone.
This might also be nothing, but has anyone tried changing the computer date to before 2/29/1988? There's a lot referenced to people grieving about Bola's death, but there could be a state of Miasma Tower for that date or before it. The time capsules, ghost, crying lady, etc might not exist during that.
changing the date is actually one of the most frequent suggestions but it has yet to turn anything up regardless of backwards for forwards, it mostly just breaks your computer for a bit
just found a grave in grimstone that said bola
and the date
34:10 You don't actually have to use the list command for internal names for the games. If you look at the terminal after booting up the games, the top line with have the internal name for the game in the first part of the [XXXX.UFO] (all internal names are 4 characters so you can run them with the EXEC command or with the game number for the non secret ones). Also as a bonus, the game list actually starts at 0000 with the game selection as the first game listed which has "MAIN" as the internal name.
i use the games you play as a guide to games I want to play. you're like a trendsetter.
50 minutes of furyforged… it’s a good day today
The trash bags are not in a 5x5 grid like you say they are. They are in a 6x5 grid...Identical to the one in the top-right of campanella 3, aka the game with 50 games in it.
Whoops, yes, that’s what was meant.
24:37 "fun is infinite" (sonic CD)
Love these videos
oh hell yeah i was waiting for someone to cover this part of ufo 50
Unix time ends in 2038
you don't need to get lucky RNG for "when the wolf faces the angel", just start a 2-player match and select both characters yourself lol. player 2's controls default to the numpad so you don't even need a second controller or anything, just use the numpad briefly.
The photos on the wall are in a 3x10 grid. How many games did Chifon Bola do? Was it the first 30? Also important to note that some of the photos are missing so some extrapolation might be made
i was waiting for this to happen
33:05 So if we're looking for another 8 digit code for a 5x10 grid, I wonder if Chiffon Bola's desk has a clue. There are 10 cells from the side of her cubical to her desk, but only 6 marked cells (orange tacks) on the wall. Even with the chair, it's only 7. But, if we assume Bola is in the empty spot to the right of the chair as the 8th one, located at the bottom right corner, you get another fairly neat and potential 8 digit code over a 5x10 grid, (edit) which also ends with the last two being in the exact same spot. Again, no idea if that helps, but it's something I noticed, along with:
31:37 Where you have an unusual 4x6 grid. But, looking at the weirdly placed garbage bags with the photos, they fit perfectly into a 4x6 grid as well. So maybe match that combination and check the terminal? Though I'm guessing that might have been checked as well.
Still, I'm amazed that they made such a packed game and still somehow packed even MORE into it.
I tried the ones with her cubicle. Entering those list values in the normal chronological way doesn't work, nor does doing the random arrangement. I tried entering them forwards and backwards too. Probably not that.
And I'm not sure how I would enter the 4x6 grid.
Reminds me of Inscryption!
for real this is blowing my mind
Bro this is insane if 50 games werent enough there is even more
i want to let you know that you genuinely enrich my life
Hey spoilers fyi- for campenella 3 it doesn't matter if you hold the b button on the startup sequence - best way i found to activate the games within the game is to hold down the primary and secondary button of p2 till they pop up in the little screen, you can even start this process mid game and it works. Edit- also important thing to note for those worried about having to have 2 players active to unlock this, it doesn't matter if the main ship of the game dies you can play and save progress to the minigames in the game over screen which is very cool, not having to worry about play two games at once lol
I haven't watched much of this game yet because I plan on playing it myself once I can. I've only seen about 8 of the games and I don't know why, but something about this entire thing has always seemed a bit off to me.
I always thought it's one of these games that gets creepier and more unsettling the more you complete it. Like, it tries to look all cute and innocent but there's something mysterious hidden inside. I really have no idea why the game has instantly given me that vibe. I'm curious to see if thrre's any truth to that
Okay, prolly a bit of a dumb question, but like
The time capsule was sealed, to be opened in 2039
Y'all already put a date into the terminal before, did you try entering February 29th, 2039 in there too?
That would be impossible since 2039 wouldnt be a leap year (which is every year divisible by 4) and therefore it wouldnt have that extra 29th day in February
Or trying every possible date in 2039 as a code in the terminal
@@DustD.Reaper Oh shit you're right
I mean you can enter the date anyway, but yeah it kinda wouldn't exist on the calendar lol
@@BlueTJLP well when was ufosoft founded?
Has anyone tried 1959-1988 as a code? Don't have the game myself to check, but it is a four by four code that appears on the grave
I love your videos.
Thank you!
just got the game, plaied all the mini games to have an idea of what it is then I'm watching your super video ;)
ok I need MORE !!!
I doubt the death was accidental or from overwork. The signs of a struggle down the stairs, the ghost wearing a helmet, the peroxide, the stains, the photo's hidden in the trash bag all the way i the back of all the trashbags ,the CRUMPLED BIKE, the bike rack next to ian's car.
Now milk might be over dramatizing the accident to make it look like a murder but then I doubt the ghost would confront him over not confronting ian together. I also doubt he would put in only hearing frantic footsteps(which led to the "scene").
If it was overwork then I doubt ian would be the only one monsterfied in game.
Has the years of Chiffon's life been used as a code yet? 4 hyphen 4, after all.
Making me wanna play this and the hex again
What game did you say barbuta reminds you of? The subtitles seemed to not know. 6:00
La-Mulana
I'm pretty sure the mountain symbol is meant to be the hind leg of a grasshopper, what with the grasshopper themes present in the games and games behind the games
Given he other transhumanist themes in the game, is it possible that that ‘preservation’ refers to cryonics and the five pods in the base,ent are actually cryonics pods?
Could cyber bee be a terminal code?
It would be interesting if when you set your system time not to the future but to the past, to Feb 29 1988, you could see what went down that day.
"but that's just a theory a game theory" moment
2039 is 51 years after 1988.
"similar to the hex" instant w
commenting ofr analytics but I don't want to be spoiled !!
The game even has a metagame in it? Wow... I just want the collection on the Switch.
Any thoughts on the secret levels in Rock On Island! And Combatants?
I feel like UFO 50 got robbed for game of the year for just being too cool.
BOLA-2039 ? has that been tried yet? If that's the dead person and that's the number on a capsule and we think the capsule holds a body maybe that will do something
Dude I’m stuck on the regular games
Godsblood
That’s an item in one the games, no?
cool video
Imagine if ufo soft and this game being rereleased was real. People would be digging through it and see the implied real murder. Theres be new articles and people on the internet hunting down each and every former ufo soft game dev. Including harassing a guy about a murder he possibly did. Thatd be wild
Oh, so this is what video games are like in the world of 17776. And here I thought people only played football in the future.
@@endertrot9998 I hate that I can never go back and stumble onto that for the first time, again. That is still in my top 5 internet memories of all time. There's a sequel/continuation to it that I just found out about earlier this year.
What a specific nunber