#arg-blackmesa-ama

nauthardt - 05/28/2016
Hey
Lucario - 05/28/2016
Hello!
Downy - 05/28/2016
Probably not the best time for an ama
Way past midnight in Europe
Most people here are from the EU I think
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Hi.
PembrokeWelshCorgi - 05/28/2016
nothing says it can't continue after tonight's designated time
Downy - 05/28/2016
That's true.
nauthardt - 05/28/2016
I got really confused before I realised you've been an MVP for ages Downy, haven't seen you around
Lucario - 05/28/2016
so I'll start with a really general question
What's going on with the ARG?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Well, ARG's on hold for now, I suppose. Rebels are planning things, but I'm a bit tired of it for now...
I'll come back to it at some point.
MFox - 05/28/2016
wait is this an ama for the person who created the arg?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Yep, that'd be me.
Me4502 - 05/28/2016
What sort of questions are you answering?
MFox - 05/28/2016
Wow, very cool! This has been the coolest arg I've ever participated in, thank you!
Me4502 - 05/28/2016
I'd be interested in what inspired you to do this specific arg
Do you just love the Half-Life series, and felt a need to do an ARG - so it just made sense to combine?
(No pun intended)
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Well, my inspiration came from how Valve handles ARG's, and partially things like TribeTwelve, Marble Hornets, and other Slenderman things. And I just really like Half-Life.
Me4502 - 05/28/2016
Yeah, that makes sense.
Lucario - 05/28/2016
Was this your first time setting up an ARG?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Well, I had another one that I've pretty much removed, and before that I did a horrible Slender series, that's gone as well. I decided to do this for fun, and used an old bot account for the research facility.
Lucario - 05/28/2016
Honestly, I had a lot of fun with this ARG for what it was
especially the night that I had a 2+ hour long conversation entirely in Ascii85
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Ah, yeah, that was a lot of fun. The reason I stopped was because I didn't like the Android method of copying and pasting any translated text.
There were a few ideas that I had that I never went with, like making Conxact run by the Borealis, sending out an SOS...
Lucario - 05/28/2016
were there any reasons behind the name conxact? Or was it just meant to be contact with an X in it like from the earlier tweets
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
It was just contact, like contact with the human race, and because the word was taken I just added an X, because I thought it looked a bit like a t and because of the letter's association with aliens.
I have plans for another ARG, and that was partially why I made Nate. So he could be there, at least sort of established before he becomes the central character of that one.
carnifex - 05/28/2016
Is there still a way you can magically make half life 3 release?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Yes, it's called the Closure. Best mod 10/4 IG88
carnifex - 05/28/2016
what were the sstv images for?
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
Aww
So the ARG is on hold for now?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Well, I thought it would make sense in the universe, Nasa still sending SSTV's and stuff... And Valve did it.
@biscuitboy1211 Yep.
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
I was enjoying it... D:
Do you know how long it's going to be on hold?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Not right now.
I might go on as Adrian or something and just chat every once in a while.
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
Ok... D:
Now you made this ARG yourself? Or did you have help?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Completely on my own, aside from all of the stuff Valve did, as well as the mods I've referenced.
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
Wow 😮 👏
This was the first ARG I actually was around to see start, and help with!
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Honestly, it was just some Twitter accounts and other programs. And timing.
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
So I really am enjoying it right now
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
That's great to hear!
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
I love valve and anything that had to do with Portal, So I loved talking to rattman and watching the Aperture twitter
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Yeah, I've always liked the Portal series. I honestly think it's a better series than Half-Life on a technical level.
Lucario - 05/28/2016
that's another question, actually - did Rattman actually have much to do with the overall advancement of the ARG?
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
I agree
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Well, not really. But later I'm planning on a large section with Aperture as the focus. And it's not just the Portal story, but I'll do that as well.
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
WOO!!! SO EXCITED!
😄
Getting off now D:
Bye!
Really nice meeting you!
TheCreativeGod - 05/28/2016
Tangananica or Tanganana?
✔ ✔
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
What?
Sleepy Flower Girl - 05/28/2016
wait, this is an ama, for who?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
For the PM of the Black Mesa ARG, and that would be me.
TheCreativeGod - 05/28/2016
or maybe not 😮
Sleepy Flower Girl - 05/28/2016
oh I didn't take part in that arg
TheCreativeGod - 05/28/2016
jk
Sleepy Flower Girl - 05/28/2016
I'm working on the hand with a what looks like an eye
@SometimesIDreamOfCheese I used to be orange like you.
anyway @SometimesIDreamOfCheese did you ever have to try to push the arg forward becuase of no progress?(edited)
Nevy - 05/28/2016
@SometimesIDreamOfCheese Well, it sucks that the ARG is on hold.
This was the first ARG I really participated in.
Just a question, how good were my questions? 👌
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
@Sleepy Flower Girl Once or twice...
@Nevy Pretty good
Sleepy Flower Girl - 05/28/2016
what did you do last min, while people were still working on the arg?(edited)
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
@Sleepy Flower Girl Last minute? Pretty much nothing was set up in advance, aside from the dates and basic story
Sleepy Flower Girl - 05/28/2016
which moderator gives you the most headaches?(edited)
Nevy - 05/28/2016
Now that the arg is on hold, maybe now I'll ACTUALLY read the wiki.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
@Sleepy Flower Girl None of them
Anarchy Malqua - 05/28/2016
Which Overwatch girl is the best girl?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
If I'm being honest, I'd rather keep the questions to the ARG...
Oh, the new ARG I'm working on will involve aliens, but will be perhaps as different as you can get with it still taking place in the modern times.
I'm also willing to answer questions as to which character is which when it comes to the accounts, just for clarification.
Anarchy Malqua - 05/28/2016
Is this a Rick and Morty S2 Finale type Alien situation, or more like a They Live deal?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Not like They Live, but that would be interesting. I don't know what Rick and Morty's is like...
Quaxo - 05/28/2016
Are moles more common than ones realizes
Anarchy Malqua - 05/28/2016
R&M basically had earth assimilated, allowing aliens to live there. Basically Total Recall
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
So, invasion and takeover?
Anarchy Malqua - 05/28/2016
Nah. There's a federation existing alien civilizations, and they just added Earth to the list.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Ah... No, not like that.
I suppose the difference is moreso the point of view, and how the aliens are compared to the humans.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
It is based on something, but it's a bit older than Half-Life(edited)
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Hey
Gleydar - 05/28/2016
👋
biscuitboy1211 - 05/28/2016
Oh yay!
The AMA isn't over!
Nevy - 05/28/2016
Hey!
Dr_Durp - 05/28/2016
So, you said earlier that you reference some half life mods. What mods did you reference?
Cubity_First - 05/28/2016
@SometimesIDreamOfCheese
Tahu136 - 05/28/2016
Wait the arg is done?
Pardon my question.
whizzer0 - 05/28/2016
on hold
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
@Dr_Durp Yeah, Portal Stories was the main one
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/28/2016
Should I make an out of game Twitter?
polymetric - 05/28/2016
Hey, just finished reading this AMA so far!
Despite what I said earlier that this ARG wasn't that great, it's actually pretty good for just one person.
absolutely no offense intended or anything
I have two questions: 1. Any idea why one of the BMS devs referenced the @BlackMesaRF twitter?
2. I noticed in the SSTV signals they weren't copied straight from the SSTV software, but rather modified in a way that made them have odd volume modulation in the audio and have a weird watery effect in the image. did you do any processing to the audio to make it look/sound like that?
Oh and what SSTV software were you using? I recall the signals having slight differences from the ones MMSSTV generates at the beginning and end.
Q101 - 05/28/2016
Why did conxact link us to @NathanBuren?
May 29, 2016
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/29/2016
@polymetric 1. I didn't know they had. 2. I found a program that can distort them with a simple modification menu. I forget what it's called, but I'll check the name once I'm home.
@Q101 Free advertising.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/29/2016
Alright, the software's SSTV Signal Generator by DX Atlas
polymetric - 05/29/2016
cool, is the distortion thing built in?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/29/2016
Yep, it comes with two other programs I never use.
I didn't test any of the signals myself, I just uploaded them. And the one you guys couldn't figure out:
http://imgur.com/Ey6ZYkI
I used Gyazo to 'crop' a picture, put it through a BMP converter (With it's own small ammount of editing) and then put it through the SSTV converter.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/29/2016
Oh, are there any suggestions for what I can do differently or what I can do better next time?
Dr_Durp - 05/29/2016
No, I think you did a pretty good job with this arg. Others might have different opinions, but thats just mine.
whizzer0 - 05/29/2016
I'm not sure what more could be improved at least for this format/story.
polymetric - 05/29/2016
The only things I'd say to improve, I can't even figure out a way to do, but they're mostly technical/detail related.(edited)
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - 05/29/2016
Ah...
May 30, 2016
Pepe The Frog - 05/30/2016
right in my feels
Pieter888 - 05/30/2016
The writing was amazing. All characters seemed to have a very realistic personality and behaved as if it was all canon. You had many of us fooled I believe. The only thing I would have changed is the variety in puzzles and a logical explanation for them in the story. I guess that can be a personal preference and it comes with other obstacles, but I do like my puzzles 😃
Anyway great ARG
I love you for it
So when is HL3?
Nevy - 05/30/2016
Well I'll say this before the ama channel is locked
Thanks so much for making an awesome ARG.
biscuitboy1211 - 05/30/2016
Thanks so much for making a great ARG.
HyzerBlade - 05/30/2016
It was entertaining.
Insipred me to make this: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1YJtgXLs4KeRHlkM1dGeGdreWs/view?usp=sharing
Google Docs
17.mp3
May 31, 2016
biscuitboy1211 - Last Tuesday at 12:30 AM
yeah ^^ that was cool
Pieter888 - Last Tuesday at 9:42 AM
So... about aperture science... Am I still hired? o.O
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Tuesday at 2:43 PM
@Pieter888 Sorry, the testing program isn't open anymore. You're welcome to break in, but bring a twelve gauge if you're expecting to survive very long.
Pieter888 - Last Tuesday at 2:44 PM
I'm game
loads shotgun
But on a serious note: Thank you very much for this ARG
Fun ride, 10/10, will ARG again
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Tuesday at 2:45 PM
It was a lot of fun for me as well
Pieter888 - Last Tuesday at 2:46 PM
I've got a question about the twitter accounts
The aperture science and the black mesa one, they have been around for way longer
Have you been keeping up with those accounts this entire time? As a fan tribute?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Tuesday at 2:49 PM
Well, not really. The Aperture one is quite new, I made that one once I decided to bring back Black Mesa, which was the first twitter account I've had that wasn't a personal one. I made it three years ago, and set it up with a bot to tweet out Half_Life quotes. Eventually I went to check on it and saw that the developers were following it, so I went and reopened it, and decided to do all of this.
Pieter888 - Last Tuesday at 2:56 PM
Very interesting. I was at some point convinced that the black mesa twitter account from the BM:S developers. As it was only briefly used to provide the rabbit hole to @conxact before it went back to the "usual" tweets.
I was thinking "nice of them to let someone borrow their twitter for an ARG"
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Tuesday at 3:14 PM
Oh, I was thinking of doing something a bit different for a bit. Writing choose your own adventures or something.
Pieter888 - Last Tuesday at 3:20 PM
How about you apply for a writing job at valve? You clearly know what the people want to see.
SG75 - Last Tuesday at 3:33 PM
by the way, what was with the rattmann tumblr account that was kinda poorly written
and was linked by Aperture's Twitter
then deleted
June 1, 2016
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 2:35 AM
@SG75 That was me messing up one night without any sleep, making the account and then realizing how awful it was a few days later...
99¢ iced coffee - Last Wednesday at 2:37 AM
Hey cheese I got an idea, how about you leave half life alone and don't ever do anything like this again. You got a lot of people worked up and excited, and it turned out to be a horrible let down. I don't know what you were trying to accomplish, but you made myself and others excited for half life again, which is not a good thing
you needed to make it very clear you are not associated with valve in any way shape or form, a horrible, careless and dangerous misjudgement IMO
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 2:41 AM
@99¢ iced coffee No, you're right, I don't work at Valve. However, getting someone excited about Half-Life isn't really a bad thing. My apologies for not making a sequel to an amazing game all by myself, but you guys hated it last time someone did that. I don't think it's 'careless' to do an ARG.
99¢ iced coffee - Last Wednesday at 2:42 AM
It was careless to have no mention of it. People thought it was official. You don't need to defend yourself to someone like me, but just know that I speak for myself and others when I say you pissed off a lot of people, and disappointed many, many more.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 2:44 AM
@99¢ iced coffee I don't think it was careless. In fact, I /did/ say so. On the Black Mesa Twitter. And if you speak for others, then where are they?
99¢ iced coffee - Last Wednesday at 2:46 AM
Go to hell you piece of shit. boilerplate it next time
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 2:48 AM
@99¢ iced coffee See, extreme insults like that aren't really justified when all I've done is tell a story based around the Half-Life series and /not/ release a game. My apologies, but I personally prefer stories with a bit of immersion to them, therefore I'm not going to have on blast that the whole thing is bullshit when everyone knows that the story is from a video game anyway.
Ako - Last Wednesday at 2:54 AM
uhh
yea wtf
polymetric - Last Wednesday at 2:54 AM
coffee that's a pretty extreme reaction
this was pretty clearly not valve, no offense cheese
Anarchy Malqua - Last Wednesday at 2:55 AM
@99¢ iced coffee if you thought it was official, you're retarded. Also don't be an ass.
polymetric - Last Wednesday at 2:55 AM
even i thought it would lead to something but i'm not gonna tell someone to go to hell for it...
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 2:56 AM
It wasn't my intention to make it seem like Valve, just to tell a story that a few people enjoyed.
It's like getting pissed at someone for making a Star Wars fan project because it wasn't actually made by Disney or Lucasfilms.
Anarchy Malqua - Last Wednesday at 2:57 AM
yeah
polymetric - Last Wednesday at 2:57 AM
just ignore coffee he's being a dick for no reason
i think he drank too many iced coffees
timescape - Last Wednesday at 3:11 AM
@SometimesIDreamOfCheese  I want to thank you for your efforts on this ARG. I've never played any Half Life or Portal games, and only happened to discover this chat, but really enjoyed getting to 'live' the story. If I ever get around to any real gaming, now I have Half Life and/or Portal on the top of my to do list. Thanks and keep up the good work!  Live your dreams and whatnot!
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 3:14 AM
@timescape Thank you!
If I'm being honest, I don't really know how to handle compliments... I always think it'll come off as sarcastic or something, but I really do appreciate it.
timescape - Last Wednesday at 3:22 AM
'Thank you' worked just fine 😃
One question I asked during the game didn't yet get answered, so here it is again:
What is your favourite colour?
Anarchy Malqua - Last Wednesday at 3:23 AM
"Orange Box" Orange obviously
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 3:26 AM
I'd have to say green. I'm also tempted to make a political comment.
timescape - Last Wednesday at 3:28 AM
what is this 'political' you speak of?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 3:30 AM
Color, because color is a huge political topic. Don't know why.
timescape - Last Wednesday at 3:32 AM
History is a strange wild beast to try and tame
I just hope to be humble enough to learn and grow, especially in my blind spots, hope they don't stay unseen forever.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 3:34 AM
Yeah, I just generally avoid places like Tumblr these days...
timescape - Last Wednesday at 3:35 AM
My tumblr puzzlings led me here.
(arg-human-souls)
http://pangenttechnologies.tumblr.com/
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 3:38 AM
Ah... Yeah, no issues with, well, a lot of Tumblr. Everyone knows of the dark side of it, though.
timescape - Last Wednesday at 3:39 AM
Sounds like something to avoid. Good plan. I won't go out seeking to learn what everyone knows
Speaking of your ARG, apologies if this was answered already I don't think I read the whole AMA, was there any choices the group made that led to different outcomes, or other things we could have had happen?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Wednesday at 3:47 AM
I made a few subtle changes based on what the community said, and a lot of what Shephard and Rattmann did was based on what the community thought.
timescape - Last Wednesday at 4:00 AM
Well good luck in the rest of this ARG and anything else you end up creating! Tally Ho!
SG75 - Last Wednesday at 5:06 AM
don't take what coffee said personally. his views don't reflect the general opinion of the gamedetectives.
Anarchy Malqua - Last Wednesday at 5:38 AM
or people with common sense, dignity, or humanity
polymetric - Last Wednesday at 5:51 AM
^^^^^
Q101 - Last Wednesday at 9:46 AM
"I speak for myself and many others" - the words of someone who doesn't actually represent anyone but wishes to seem important.
Dr_Durp - Last Wednesday at 4:40 PM
Well I speak for myself and some others when I say that I was just doing it because it was fun, not just for some reward or game at the end(edited)
SG75 - Last Wednesday at 5:00 PM
^
biscuitboy1211 - Last Wednesday at 11:32 PM
Those many others were imaginary friends xD
June 2, 2016
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Thursday at 1:54 AM
Should I make a twitter?
polymetric - Last Thursday at 1:56 AM
go for it
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Thursday at 2:04 AM
Alright. @CheeseOrCheese
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Thursday at 3:23 AM
Oh, I made a choose your own adventure sort of thing.
Pieter888 - Last Thursday at 12:11 PM
oeh
time to get all over that
It never opens. You die of thirst before the door opens.
damn
I'm bad at this
Is this about one of your half life 2 dreams?
I like the loops you made in the story
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Thursday at 12:33 PM
It's sort of a Twilight Zone-ish thing I just wanted to do.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Thursday at 7:31 PM
Gonna do another some time
polymetric - Last Thursday at 7:36 PM
this totally reminds me of Only If
it's a (mediocre) dreamlike game in unity
well the environments are pretty nice and the puzzles and story is cool
it's not mediocre but it could be a little better
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Thursday at 8:04 PM
Ah... I've never heard of it.
polymetric - Last Thursday at 9:33 PM
I saw it on steam a few months ago, never finished it.
It's free, check it out if you want
Dr_Durp - Last Thursday at 9:43 PM
tried to finish that
lagged too much
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Thursday at 10:51 PM
Alright.
June 3, 2016
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Friday at 1:38 AM
Hey
! DoNotSpamPls - Last Friday at 9:27 AM
@SometimesIDreamOfCheese got bent for dreaming of cheese(edited)
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Friday at 1:48 PM
Aw.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Friday at 2:07 PM
That's racist.
KingFail - Last Friday at 2:19 PM
If you eat cheese and get nightmares in your dreams.
Do you eat nightmares?
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Friday at 2:20 PM
@KingFail Nah, I nightmare cheese and have dreams about eating.
SometimesIDreamOfCheese - Last Friday at 8:03 PM
Hey
Svardskampe - Last Friday at 8:21 PM
locked