SGP: Report - Glyphs Unlock a Door!

[gothi]

It might mean that a lot of the shifts that we thought were intentional are merely accidents.

Based on both our experiences and various other chatter around here I'd agree with that statement.

[Sane888]

I still believe these Glpyhs unlocking the door is more than Glitch, though your presentation was really impressive. And I mean this from bottom of my heart, and there is no sarcasm in my words.    But today I was investigating more that empty room which is opened by Glyph (or glitch) and found out that there is three (3) paths, or should those things be called lines? But whatever those things are, two of those things leads to middle of the area. And the line which is left is leading straight to door. And on the other side of wall, where this door is in, is nothing less than stonehenge room. Hope this picture will clear out my bad description. http://www.bungie.net/Online/Halo3UserContentDetails.aspx?h3fileid=96689837&lc=1035 And I also found out that this logo of this building is pointing to Stonehenge room.

http://www.bungie.net/Online/Halo3UserContentDetails.aspx?h3fileid=96689274

I also got a picture for you guys about the Glyphs I was mentioning in my earlier post. It is this one http://www.bungie.net/Online/Halo3UserContentDetails.aspx?h3fileid=96688165


P.S. If someone needs these pics feel free to use them, if you don't claim them to be your own.

[VsH Tepec Fett]

Hum, i believe now that's definitly a glitch :
look at this secret room, and look in the symetrical district of the Sector 8 (where the secret room is) : sector 3.
Go to Sector 3, and there, you can go into the equivalent room of the secret one, which is not secret. Within, you'll find every answer to these "lines directions" : that's just a random observations, because of trees that are not in the secret room, etc.

Sorry to say that ; but we still could notice that symetrical observations, we could find something !

Tepec

[ColdGlider]

Gothi's skepticism followed by experimentation followed by making a report is good work.   We may not like the thought that we have found a loading error and not an intentional easter egg, but as scientifically-minded SGP members we have to go with facts and the highest probabilities based on concrete evidence.

If this gets you bummed out, you can at least take comfort in two things:

• We still have acquired access to areas that were locked and made a significant discovery in the game
• We have only begun our exploration- there are many more avenues to follow

In order to be certain of which is more probable (loading glitch or easter egg) I feel we should handle the glyph issue and the door issue separately.  We're going to need a little background and nomenclature, then I'll propose some test plans.

ZaggRukk pointed out in another Ghost Chasers thread that some glyphs can be seen without the VISR and some cannot.  From a technical standpoint, it looks like we're dealing with two forms of texture maps (TMs): one is a "base" TM which that object in the game will always have.  The other is an "overlay" TM which can be added to an object later.

Our current hypothesis is that the Overlay TMs are the ones that disappear.

Test Plan 01- Test the disappearance of each Glyph TM
The purpose of this plan is to ascertain two data values for each each of the glyph TMs: whether you can see it without VISR mode and in which districts is disappears in, if any.

Test Plan 02- Test the disappearance of each Secret Door
The purpose of this plan is collect images of the secret doors in both of their states (open and closed) so that we can analyze whether or not it is a simple object that is missing or if the door object has been replaced with a new one.  My plan lists only two doors (I am referring to the dark gray recessed security doors.  My video shows the one in D08.  The same door exists in D03.)

Test Plan 03- The Great Halo 3 Overlay TM Hunt
The purpose of this plan is to find overlay TMs in Halo 3's campaign mode which also disappear.  If any are found (especially if they are otherwise unassuming images) then we can probably conclude that what we're seeing in ODST is behavior inherent in campaign mode of the Halo 3 engine.

For each of these test plans I have constructed a corresponding Excel spreadsheet to aid in the process and to facilitate data collection and sharing.  I will create have created a new sticky thread for each with the associated spreadsheet attached.  If you have the time and inclination to fill out even one row of data for any of these, it would be a great help!  Keep in mind that the same data reported from multiple users is a very good thing.  Please do not skip areas of the plan just because someone else has already checked it out.

...and since this is extremely work-like in nature, remember to have fun!  If you take part in this and start to feel the same sense of drudgery that you feel while sitting at your day job or doing homework, it's time to play Firefight!

[VsH Tepec Fett]

This new way to work on glyphs possible impact in the game is very logical, and non-less brilliant ! I think you're on a good question : Bungie made some different glyphs, in order to various details, various streets, no problem with that. But why some of these glyphs could be seen without VISR, whereas every gamer play everytime with it at night ?

Tepec

[Sane888]

Ok, I guess I need to start believe it is only a glitch, 'cause it is starting to look the only possible answer, why that door is opening. I hope I'm not confusing you guys and spelling my sentences wrongly. 'Cause I'm not native speaker, there might be loads of bad grammar in my posts. And biggest fear I got is that there is misunderstandings between us, when I'm writing wrongly. But don't worry I won't be bummed because there is no intentional Easter Egg about that door. I just continue my researches and maybe I try one of those glitches, in order to get out of the map.

[gothi]

Hum, i believe now that's definitly a glitch :
look at this secret room, and look in the symetrical district of the Sector 8 (where the secret room is) : sector 3.
Go to Sector 3, and there, you can go into the equivalent room of the secret one, which is not secret. Within, you'll find every answer to these "lines directions" : that's just a random observations, because of trees that are not in the secret room, etc.

Sorry to say that ; but we still could notice that symetrical observations, we could find something !

Tepec

Sane888, this is why I referenced the matching room in Sector 3, everything you see in the Sector 8 room should be there in Sector 3 but will have other objects on/around it.

If I had more time I'd be looking at what glyphs are visible via mongoose headlight as I believe the glyphs appear when appropriate lighting conditions are met not just in VISR mode..
Nope, completely wrong.  The glyphs are faintly visible without using the VISR but the light from the mongoose washes them out.

[Sane888]

Hum, i believe now that's definitly a glitch :
look at this secret room, and look in the symetrical district of the Sector 8 (where the secret room is) : sector 3.
Go to Sector 3, and there, you can go into the equivalent room of the secret one, which is not secret. Within, you'll find every answer to these "lines directions" : that's just a random observations, because of trees that are not in the secret room, etc.

Sorry to say that ; but we still could notice that symetrical observations, we could find something !

Tepec

Sane888, this is why I referenced the matching room in Sector 3, everything you see in the Sector 8 room should be there in Sector 3 but will have other objects on/around it.

If I had more time I'd be looking at what glyphs are visible via mongoose headlight as I believe the glyphs appear when appropriate lighting conditions are met not just in VISR mode..

Yeah, I didn't have time to check out that place until now, and now I realize that your theory must be the right one. Sorry I didn't believe you earlier, I guess I'm just stiff-necked.    

[Hoho5000]

Ok, I guess I need to start believe it is only a glitch, 'cause it is starting to look the only possible answer, why that door is opening.

It could be a glitch. If you look up, you'll notice some antennae that aren't attached to the roof, as well as some translucent grey boxes hanging off the side of the building instead of the overhangs that are present in the District 3 version.

On the other hand, there is rubble and debris present on the ground, something which the dark areas lack completely. Plus, there's the fact you have to go to a certain area to get it to work (it's not just looking at the first glyphs on the wall; if you actually go back in the general area, it will still work). An area that is filled with glyphs. Also, going into the area removes two doors, not just one. Coincidence? Maybe. But maybe not.

I've done a bit of Halo and Halo 2 modding/editing, and that behavior isn't normal. In order to remove an object during the game, you'd have to make a script to remove that object specifically.

[ColdGlider]

Over in Intel, I have posted at length regarding Gothi's Criticism.  Since it relates directly to this thread, there you have it.

We're fortunate to have Gothi (and many others!) contributing to our research.  A theory's refutation is as important as its proof.

[MajorDeal]

I find it interesting that the large electronic sign above the outside of the security door in sector 8 is a UNSC advertisement that says:

Expansion.
Unity.
Opportunity.

There is also some fine print at the bottom of the ad, but I am unable to make it out. Using a sniper scope didn't help, so I went back to watch the film to see if I could get a better look at it, but to no avail. However, I also noticed that the smaller sign below that (in-between the door an the larger ad above) was red and said "access denied" in the film. However, I see only static in-game. Has anyone else noticed the smaller sign changing?

[Apollo Doom]

That poster is in other places around the city.  Though I still believe the placement you're referring to could be significant.

The bottom reads something like "Defeating the Covenant is just the beginning, opportunities for colonial volunteers abound."  The wording is very off, but the jist is the same.

[ZaggRukk]

I still don't think the Secret room is a glitch.  As stated earlier who-ever made the video did not have his VISR on.  You cannot see the glyphs very well without it because it is dark in that area.  Plus, when I got the door to open the first time, I wasn't looking at the glyphs either!  I was however, walking to the back of the alley where the beam rifles is.  So, the glyphs might not be the key, but maybe just walking through that area is the trigger.  Also, the 'mirror' room acrossed the map does NOT have a 2nd door that opens.  Please don't forget that there are TWO doors that are activated to enter the secret room.

[Kenji]

another way to test it is to load into that district from a different one. Instead of running to the elites and back... just get to the locked secret room, then leave the district and come back and tell us what you found. I have to go to sleep, or I would do it.

[JSM26]

I don't know If anyone has found this yet, but I was walking through sector 5 when I noticed that all the doors in the area near the place where the rookie first starts were opened. Curious, I wandered inside, and found that every door that had something behind it was open (open as in gone, like the secret door, not just openable). This leads me to believe even more strongly that the secret door is no more than a loading error. Doors to rooms that Bungie simply did not use. I have not yet found the trigger that led to these doors failing to load, but I had just traveled from sector 6 through sector 8.

The more I see these kinds of things (missing doors, missing Optican booths) the more skeptical I become.

Video in fileshare
If you look around the rest of the area, you can see a couple of other doors that have also failed to load.