Jump to content

anonymous

Moderators
  • Posts

    2,950
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    302

Posts posted by anonymous

  1. On 3/8/2023 at 8:48 AM, Lack of finding names said:

    This Die Rise is very early, but I assume there would've been more buildings to say the least. But was it intended to be in a different place or in China as suggested when it was mapped out ahead?

    Interesting you mention this. I recall that somewhere in the past, someone made the rumour that Die Rise was originally intended to take place in Russia. I've never been able to retrieve this statement, neither on CoDZ Forum nor on its Discord server. Rumour could be untrue of course, but I'm certain someone once mentioned it.

     

    In the Die Rise quotes, there is an unused Stuhlinger quote referring to Russia:

     

    "Ah, Russia" - gripe_russia_d_0

     

    Just that. But it is interesting since it is unused, may support the rumour. When looking at the inspirational photo at the bottom right of the Die Rise early version, do you have any idea what/where this is? Reminds me a bit of the Moscow metro, although that wouldnt make sense in a skyscraper map. 

     

    There is also Russian writing on some bio tanks found in Die Rise, although the writing is reused from Ascension and can also be found in Tranzit, so I suppose it doesn't necessarily confirm that Die Rise was originally in a Russian city.

     

    And lastly, if the rumour would be true, what made the developers to change it to China?

    • Brains 1
  2. 3 hours ago, Rapt said:

    The "sacrificial ritual" heard under the city pre-Shadows makes more sense if they are actually killed.

    There are some Shadowman quotes and radios that could explain the yellow eyes fairly simply. 
    The Shadows "pocket" encompassed the entire world, and the moon, some Shadowman quotes imply this.
    And they give an explaination why in the radios.

    This Shadowman quote references the whole world.


    And after we complete the rituals, this "pocket" expands to the entire dimension


    The reason the "pocket" in this case is so large is because the Apothicons have already seeded potentially the entire world (and the moon) with Apothicon life.
    (No to mention the ritual was supposedly carried out by a coven of professionals, instead of just some lone, amature "third rate occultist")
    They did this with a meteor shower which significantly expanded the range of their influence.
    Something which is a major differentiator between Shadows and Mob.
    So the Moon has already been assimilated into this pocket dimension. Hence the yellow eyes.


    The fact that the Apothicons already have limitied physical access to dimension 63 in order to seed biological matter as opposed to just inorganic 115 is likely due to dimensional instability caused by events in the Alcatraz pocket. Which was created in Dimension 63 many years previously.
     

    Good thoughts! Thinking about it, do we see a Moon in Shadows and/or Alcatraz? 

     

    And if the Moon is also part of the Shadows "pocket", I wonder what happened with Sam. 

     

    The meteor shower is incredibly interresant and I always forget about it. How could it bring the mold with it? I'm thinking about an idea and will post it later, currently at work

  3. Great theory and yes, the dates Nov 6th (GK) and Nov 5th (DE) are too close to each other to be coincidental and unintended. I think the devs really meant it this way. It would simultaneously confirm the well-substantiated hypothesis that fractures are not merely based on the original timeline with some random changes here and there, but rather that the fractures are dependant on and influenced by each other. Agonia would in this sense be a fracture of Proditione, which is a fracture of Deceptio, hence the destruction of the MPD on the 5th of November in Deceptio also being an event in the other fractures (although only visible in GK since ZnS takes place prior).

     

    I only don't understand the yellow eyes in Shadows of Evil, since I consider that map as taking place in a pocket as well. Any thoughts on that?

     

    What's also interesting to note is the absence of yellow eyes at the Crazy Place zombies in Origins, rather being bright purple-ish. If red indicates default Apothicon/Ancient Evil/Elder Gods influence, would purple-ish be Keeperese/Agarthan influence? Question is, then, why do they fight us in Origins

    • Brains 1
  4. Short note about the balls. First of all, the statues that hold them are so-called Foo Lions, a traditional aspect of Asian mythology. It is often depicted with a pearl in its jaws, and this ball is said to represent the "sacred breath", whatever that means (I suppose life force?)

     

    "The lion is one of the divine beasts of Chinese mythology, with the ability to drive off evil spirits. According to Chinese lore, stone lions are able to cleanse shar chi, or “poison arrows,” the negative force emanating from sharp corners, sickness, imposed authority, busy crowds and jarring structures such as lamp posts, obelisks and traffic lights. This ability to drive away negative spirits and energy explains the original placement of these statues at the entrance to Buddhist temples (...). A pair of lions is often seen guarding hotels, restaurants, banks and factories (...)."

     

    Cleaning negative energy eh? 

     

    Richtofen when talking about the spheres:

    We must neutralize any errant energy fields in order to prevent Maxis from enacting his plan. 

    The balls! It's all about the balls! You must purge their energy before Maxis interferes! 

     

    Maxis:

    The energy within the spheres is in flux.

    The energy of their broken souls has been released! Their energy fields remain in flux.

     

    I think the balls are carriers of energy, able to change them to the positive or negative aide of spectrum

     

    • Brains 1
  5. Great topic! There are more, less obvious references to Egyptian mythology in Zombies. One of them is a sign which is believed to be the Eye of Horus in Samantha's room.

    afbeelding.png

    Can you see it above the shelf? Horus was a god whose right eye was the sun and left eye was the moon, which reminds me of something else:

    afbeelding.png

    Horus is the god of heaven. The Sekhem (life force) doesn't reside with the Khet/physical body, but in heaven among the stars and gods. "It (Sekhem) is defined in a Book of the Dead as the "power" and as a place within which Horus and Osiris dwell in the underworld". In my opinion, this would fit quite well with the House, where we see Horus' symbol. The House can be considered as some kind of 'heaven' where the Sekhem of the children reside, even though their physical mature bodies (Khet) live in real universes.

     

    Another, more questionable appearance of Egyptian mythology is thought to be found in Shangri-La's track Pareidolia:

     

    "My nine eyes are fading by the blight"

     

    Nine Eyes is another way to refer to the Nine Realms, or nine facets of the soul. Another connection with your theory?

     

    Anyway, I am quite sure that the developers at one point stumbled upon the Egyptian conception of soul. The distinguishment between the appearance of a multitude of soul-types to us (House children form, Gersh-form, MotD afterlife-form, life force a la Origins chests, MPD cannister and Apothicon egg form, Avogadro form, etc) makes it clear that indeed there are different kind of souls in this story

    • Brains 1
  6. 11 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

    Had a bit of an epiphany just now in relation to the denizens of the forest, and I think they could be related to Nacht being at the location. I think this relates to Nacht being the center of the multiverse and the closest place on earth to the Aether, a theory I discussed here: 

     

     

    In this theory I also said that the Frozen Forest, at least as seen in Tag der Toten, is just outside of Nacht in Morasko. Perhaps the experiment that spawned these Denizen of The Forest also incidentally teleported the bunker from Morasko to Hanford. Maybe they were originally inhabitants of Morasko, or maybe they were residents of Hanford mutated into what they are now by creating a connection to Morasko. The green lights used for teleportation around Hanford could be a byproduct of this transition as well.

    Ooh I like this idea, kinda eerie as well! Also reminds me of the similarity of the Denizen's portals with the 'Aether tunnel' in Die Maschine and the portals the Agarthan zombies in Origins jump out of. I could see Broken Arrow attempting to artificially create such portal, thereby teleporting and mutilating the things found around the Axis Mundi: Nacht and the Denizens.

     

    Perhaps the Denizens could be a creation of Group 935 at the time Nacht was their outpost, transported and stored in the containers seen in the Kino stage. Ever since Nacht was abandoned, they roamed the forest around.

    • Brains 1
  7. 17 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

    Great catch with the dark woods being a parallel of the frozen forest! He could be referencing Primis between Gorod Krovi and Revelations being in the Frozen Forest, as seen in the memories trailers, with that light over the hill being their salvation, Agartha.

    Do we know that the memory trailers take place between Gorod Krovi and Revelations, the moment everyone had lost their soul? At some point we saw that Monty also discovered the location, and I really wonder if/when this happens in the Cycle

  8. Bringing up a real mystery here that I totally forgot about, nice job!  I'm really fund on your explanations, and it is so strange that Monty simply cites these passages rather than a specific quote directed to someone (Primis). This begs the question, to whom is Monty citing this? If for himself or the characters, it could very well be for the reasons stated by you. But what if it is directed to us, the ones who play the game?

     

    I could see how these passages are meant as an inspirational tool for us to understand certain aspects in the story: What is the nature of souls, what is the Frozen Forest? Espessially that second passage reminds me of something concrete:

     

    A man standing in a dark forest, filled with memories. Then, the rays of sunlight start to rise brightly... Could this be related with what we see in the game-over screen of Black Ops III: the dark Frozen Forest but with an odd blue-ish light rising (Apothicon Sun?). Something is happening here, but we never knew what. There's also the 'Primis memory trailers', taking place in the dark forest but before the lights start to rise ("The mere breath of memory stirs the old fear in the blood").  

     

    Perhaps the synonym of a dark forest in Shakespeare's work is the same as the Frozen Forest in our forest. Like how we had a lot of Biblical metaphores in our story as well (Number of the Beast, Tower of Bable, etc).

    • Brains 1
  9. I have to apologize for any unclarity: I often write quickly and messy when I get enthousiast 😛 ForestFire asked me some questions regarding this thread that I'd like to share here as well.

     

    Q: How can The Giant happen together with Tag if The Giant is integral to the Cycle?

     

    A: The Giant (alongside DE and ZNS) also happens in the Broken Cycle, before they travel to Alcatraz. But I think the paradox is that it already happened before, as we see Icarus and have the Possibility 1 timeline (Dempsey radios, awaken the testsubjects, fallout House and, according to this theory, Tag). The Beacon is what binds them, the lighthouse communicates through Aether so independent of time and universe. If that makes sense, I also need to wrap my mind around it but I think that's why its called a paradox: it is contradicting yet it consolidates each other (the Cycle and Broken Cycle).

     

     

    Q: Why would the Origins outro cutscene occur outside the Cycle, doesn't it take place right after Gorod Krovi when the souls of Ultimis arrive?

     

    A: I should say that this is my own guess, with not too strong arguments. But first of all, we see the cutscene right after Origins and even before the alteration of the Multiverse in the Giant intro (so P2 hasnt overwritten P1 yet). Of course this cutscene could take place any time but it would be logical if it actually takes place after Origins, right? Otherwise the timing just doesn't make sense. Secondly, Sam and Eddie are already in the House when it is mentioned that "Maxis has a plan". If this plan would be post-Monty's intervention plan (following the knock on the door), the children wouldn't be there yet, only after the plan has been executed. I think the siren rings every time the past is altered, and the basement is somehow protected against overwritings of the past and Grandfather Paradoxes (just a blind guess though). Thinking about it, in the Origins cutscene we see the same Eclipse outside as in the Giant. Is it coincidence that these events coincide? Perhaps this scene in the House is simultaneously to the moment the time is frozen at the Giant?

     

     

     

  10. I'm enthousiast to say that I have found a theory to explain the big paradox that bridges the Giant and Tag der Toten, and simultaneously the Cycle and the Broken Cycle. Both outcomes of the Multiverse requires the other one to exist, but how can this paradox be explained? Big thanks to @Forest Fire with his interesting discussions and thoughts on this subject, which sparked the idea of this thread. Also, you need a bunch of Cristopher Nolan brains for this one, so good luck.

     

    A Paradoxal Prologue

    A discovery made by no one else than our @clueless himself was a paradox that emerges in the Giant, a paradox that is proof that the Cycle has been broken before. To understand this we have to look at Mob of the Dead, the map that is essential to breaking Monty's Cycle. As you may know had Primis to travel through Alcatraz between Zetsubou no Shima and Gorod Krovi, however at some point in the Cycle a trap was set up. Essentially, the souls of the mobsters were used to create a pocket dimension (Mob of the dead), eternally trapping Primis, disabling them to proceed in Monty's Cycle (Blood of the Dead). During the climax of Mob of the Dead, the souls of the prisoners are transported to the Golden Gate Bridge. But this time, the plane doesn't crash because Weasel meant to bring them here. So what happens to the plane? Well, if the Cycle Continues, the purgatory Hell dimension does a "soft reset" that returns everything back to its former spot, and the only ones with memories are the Warden and Weasel. Icarus never makes it far enough to reach the storms

    image.png

    Eventually though, the Weasel does win, stopping the Alcatraz Cycle and causing Monty's Cycle to break as well via Blood of the Dead's ending, Alpha Omega and Tag der Toten. So Icarus, flying through the sky, eventually flies through the storms overhead. In Zetsubou no Shima we get a glimpse of what such storms can do; temporal displacement. Point of the story: Only in a Broken Cycle can Icarus leave Alcatraz. And, ladies and gentlemen, what do we encounter on the roof of the Der Riese Waffenfabrik during the Giant? Icarus, the indication and proof that the Cycle has been broken before. This is the Giant's Paradoxal Prologue to our story…

     

    Dempsey: "Hey other me, if you're hearing this, then it means something's gone FUBAR. We're going to Plan B. Stick to that kraut bastard like glue. We need to find out what the hell he has been doing, what he's going to do. We may be able to get a fix on your location if you can trigger one of the paradox visualizations. Good luck, we're all counting on you. Oh, wait, what ever you do, don't get too close to the radioactive beacon. Makes your hair fall out."


     

    The Nexus Point

    I've devoted an entire thread to this which I can recommend to read, but I will summarize it here. The main point is that the events in the intro cutscene of The Giant is a so-called 'nexus point', an event where various timelines converge. And there are two possible outcomes, hear me out.

     

    Primis Nikolai, Dempsey and Takeo arrive at der Riese and persuade Ultimis Richtofen to join them and awaken the test subjects. What's more, they tell him to not open the MTD because that would unleash a great evil. Here's the split: either Richtofen activated the teleporter, or he doesn't. In case he doesn't, they will awake the test subjects and some radioactive event will occur, leading to the 'Fallout House' radios: Maxis is talking about a battle won, a nuclear wasteland, the children disappearing and himself suffering from a radioactive disease.

    Possibility 2 is that Ultimis Richtofen does activate the MTD: Primis Richtofen steps out and Monty's Cycle will happen. He is send by House Maxis, who is following Monty's plan to fix the world ever since the "knock on the door". Ever since, the past is changed and Maxis perceives that the children return and his radioactive disease is reversed. As the original outcome of the universe was changed, his old experiences first became vague memories, and then vanished completely. But this is not restricted to Maxis: Also Primis Nikolai, Dempsey and Takeo who initially firmly wanted to keep Ultimis Richtofen alive and awaken the test subjects, now fall into confusion and follow Primis Richtofen who obeys Maxis' mantra: "the test subjects must never be awoken". Completely reversed to their initial plan.

     

    Maxis: "Reality itself is shifting. I find myself reflecting on memories I am not longer sure are my own. Beyond the window, I saw a wasteland stretching far as the eye could see. I saw scourge visited upon the Earth. I saw the children withered before my eyes. That was before... before he came. Samantha has been returned to me once more, as have you Edward... as have you."

     

    Of course, Possibility 2 is what we directly see in Black Ops 3. But Possibility 1, the outcome that got overwritten by Possibility 2, is what happened prior. It is the outcome that eventually led to a "battle won" but with a very pyrrhic victory: A world destroyed by radioactivity.

    image.png     image.png

     

    The Beacon

    Remember the Dempsey radio I quoted earlier? These personal messages to Primis Nikolai, Dempsey and Takeo are recorded before Possibility 2 overwrote Possibility 1, so outside Monty's Cycle. Dempsey states that they may be able to get a fix on other Dempsey's location if he and his pals can trigger a paradox visualization, coming back on that later. If you thought things were complicated, brace yourself for the next part.

     

    Now in Tag der Toten, you can hear Richtofen saying the following: "I remember something Samantha told me a long time ago. She told me her "dad had a plan"." This plan of Maxis, obviously referred to by Sam's quote in the Origins outro cutscene which took place in the House before Possibility 2 overwrote Possibility 1 (as the Cycle didn't happen yet), may include whatever led to "winning the battle and destroying the world". This old plan of Maxis was before Monty instructed Maxis the events of Black Ops III.

     

    Anyway, immediately after Richtofen saying this in Tag, Nikolai exclaims "Look, the Lighthouse is lit!". This sounds very much like Maxis saying: "Look, the Beacon is lit" after completing the Giant's 'Paradoxal Prologue' easter egg. In Blood of the Dead it is made clear that a lighthouse is a way to communicate across the Aether. So are our actions in the Giant essential for what happens in Tag der Toten, and vice versa? Is this why Dempsey mentions that he needs to get a fix on the location of his other self via a beacon that is radioactive? Talking about radioactivity, is the beacon the reason of the radioactive world that was a consequence of Maxis' plan?

     

    The description of Tag's Easter Egg is to "Resolve the Paradox". It could function, in a certain way, as a means to complete the paradox, the very paradox we were introduced at in the Giant. Tag der Toten is the final piece of puzzle for the odd radioactive timeline that was caused by Possibility 1 even before the Black Ops III Cycle started. Perhaps the fire and lava appearing in Tag during this quest as a consequence of '115 evolving' may be caused by the nuclear fallout of Maxis' plan.

    Tag Der Toten Theatre Mode Screenshots : r/CODZombies

    So before the Giant happened, Tag der Toten was already going on. Or no, what is better to say, Tag der Toten already happened: Time is irrelevant in the Multiverse. The crashed Icarus at the Giant is proof that plane has left the Alcatraz Cycle and that the Monty Cycle was broken before. But if you think we are finished, there is something else left.

     

    The End

    There is one thing you may be wondering: If Tag already happened, how could there still be a Multiverse with Element 115 at all? Consider this: We activated the Beacon while playing the Giant, which already takes place in Possibility 2. So to break the Cycle, the Cycle must already have occured. And I think the location that Dempsey wants us to trigger is that of the Frozen Forest. Remember this sequence:

     

    "I am the last of us, but I will be joining you soon my friends. -cough, cough- death is near. I hope what we have done doesn't come back to bite this universe in the ass. Thank god we will all be gone, because if Monty ever found this place, we would be in a world of shit. Maybe now, with us all gone, the children will truly be safe. -D "

     

    This sounds very much like the ending of Tag der Toten. Nikolai, Dempsey, Takeo and Richtofen die in the Frozen Forest so the children will be safe in a new world, without Element 115 and Aether. This may be what happened at the end of Possibility 1: Maxis mentions that the world is destroyed (the 'old' Aether Multiverse is presumably absorbed in the radioactive Dark Aether) and the children are gone (they left to the new world, Maxis explicitly says they are gone and not neccesarily dead). The Element 115 that is 'evolving' at the end of Tag is already the process of it vanishing from existence, and the world is annihilated in a radioactive fire. 

     

    Now the sentence "awaken the test subjects" even makes sense: It regards Victis in their cryogenic slumber cells in Alcatraz. Because Primis travelled to the Frozen Forest, Victis is woken up and Tag can actually happen!

    image.png

    So could the outcome of Possibility 1 not only be Tag der Toten, but also the dissolution of the Aether Multiverse in general? And then, Monty knocked on the door of the destroyed House, eventually triggering Black Ops III to happen which backwards affected everything so the Aether Multiverse was contineously re-established anyway again?

     

    If you came this far, cheers on that. Hope to see you in the comments!

     

     

    image.png

    • Brains 3
    • Like 1
  11. "I know the Shadowman is probably talking to you. Don't trust him! He's evil. I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire. I bet he's saying all sorts of terrible things, spreading all kinds of rumours about me. By the way, I spell rumours with a U. After the O, before the R. That's a nice little easter egg. In fact, it's everything." – Dr. Monty

     

    An U after the O and before the R. It has been generally speculated that this refers to the universe existing between Origins and Revelations. We know that Origins was the start of Primis’ quest, and Revelations the finale. But if this would concern Primis’ journey, it would not limit itself to a universe but to the entire multiverse, given the fact that they jump around from dimension to dimension and from fracture to fracture. No, the fact that it has been hypothesized that U stands for universe reminds me of one piece of text specifically. Written on the Shadows of Evil scrap paper, we can read the following: “A universe has been born. The others must be undone”. Next to it, we see a drawing of an endless multitude of worlds, with one world being highlighted by colour and size. What is this new universe that has been born? And why does it only exist between Origins and Revelations. How was it “born” in the first place?

     

    image.png

     

    We know that the scrap paper is written by Primis Richtofen while he was being influenced by House Maxis and Monty, so it would be likely to suppose that if there would be one universe that has to be preserved by Primis Richtofen, it’d be Monty’s perfect world. But if it would be this perfect world, wouldn’t it have to exist already before Origins? Because during that map we have Samantha that telepathically attempts to reach us from the House. And since Monty’s perfect would continues to exist after Revelations, why would the U be before the R?

    I’d like to remind you of a theory created by @Rapt several years ago already (phew man, we’re getting old). In a nutshell: The Frozen Forest was created by Primis and Ultimis sacrificing themselves at the end of Tag der Toten. I’d like to build upon that theory by arguing an alternative possibility. Maybe the Frozen Forest realm took shape by the creation of the Elemental Shard. But I do believe that what we see at the end of Tag der Toten is the creation of a pocket-universe: that of the House. Yeah, that’s where things start to get a bit complicated.

    Following the examples of the Alcatraz pocket dimension and the supposedly Morg City pocket dimension (or pocket universe, as I prefer to call them), we can deduce two observations that are very likely to take as facts:

     

    1.       The creation of a pocket-universe requires a sacrifice of four souls

    2.       A pocket-universe is ethereally isolated from the regular world, yet physically based on it.

     

    Point 1 is corroborated by the fact that the Alcatraz pocket is being held together by the souls of the four electrocuted mobsters, while in case of the Morg City pocket this is likely related to the poisoning of the four Shadows characters. Point 2 can be argued by the fact that both the Alcatraz and Morg City are very alike to their original version, only slightly altered, but the external seems to struggle to manipulate it (think about how Maxis couldn’t contact Richtofen in Alcatraz).

     

    The sacrifice of the souls of Nikolai, Richtofen, Takeo and Dempsey in the Frozen Forest can be alike the death of the four mobsters or the Shadows crew – the latter even being more similar since their cause of death too is drinking poison. Having murdered themselves, they too are sinners and can be sacrificed to complete a ritual that created a pocket-universe. The House would function as a perfect pocket-universe, since it seems to be isolated from the regular world yet physically based on it. What’s more, in the Zombies Chronicles trailer we see Samantha playing with a snowball with inside the House: the perfect metaphor for a pocket-universe.

     

    But both locations being a pocket-universe makes sense. As we often see in case of pocket dimensions, the souls of the characters sacrificed will also appear in the pocket itself. The souls of our four heroes can be found in both the House and the Frozen Forest. The only reason why I think that the universe referred to in the scrap paper is the House is because it is written by Primis Richtofen while he was influenced by Monty.

     

    In the concerning Revelation wisp of Dr. Monty, he mentions the following: “That’s a nice little easter egg. In fact, it’s everything”. This highlights the importance of the one ‘U’ that exists between Origins and Revelations. The House is everything…This reminds me of the theory that the House is a spiritual realm much like Plato’s World of Ideas – In which the children play the story of both the Original Universe (Black Ops I) and the Cycle (Black Ops III), simultaneously being impacted by the events of their games. What they do in Samantha’s realm is converted into reality, much like how Monty’s drawing become physical weapons and utilities in the 3th dimension. Could be a reason why this one universe is so important. But why would the others have to be erased, if it are mere effects of the birth of this one universe? I’m writing this theory as I drink more beers, so I think it is time to stop now. Leave your thoughts if you have any ideas!

    • Brains 2
    • Like 1
  12. 1 hour ago, Desmond Racadio said:

    Here is an Idea 

    "Shallows of Hell"

    This map takes place on a Hawaiian island owned by Group 935, this map would introduce a new crew, Jason Makow, Hung Li, David Nedalli, and Sophia Grey. There is two newly original wonder weapons, JBZ.Rail_DG4, and the Aether's Blight, with three others The Aether's Staff, The Aether's Bow, and The Aether's Axe. The story is Jason Makow lost something valuable and contacted Hung Li and the other two for a heist.

    -Intro-

    A month later a party is thrown from the island, while everyone is distracted the four characters meet up and sneak on to a Group 935 Cargo Boat but a guard spots the four and fallows them meanwhile Jason. Find his item, The summoning key, but as soon as he acquires it the guard grabs and accidentally releases the Dark Aether and the summoning Key flies off, during all of this a chain reaction goes off causing the Valcano on the island to Erupt causing demons to come crawling out.

    -endings-

    There are two endings, "Let hell break loose" In shallows of Hell, Face your Demons. or 

    "Shadows of Hell" In Shallows of Hell, listen to his voice.

    By the end... The Summoning Key ends up in Morg City.

    The end 🙂

    I like the idea: the Summoning Key box in Shadows of Evil has a lot of location stamps on it (like Brazil, New York and Paris). Wonder though, how did it ended up in Hawaii?

     

    Suggestion: in the Zetsubou intro we see the Key almost dropping in the Pacific Ocean. How about an alternative reality where Takeo was just too late and it actually fell in the ocean, going all the way to Hawaii?

  13. Not sure where to post this, but I just discovered the Treyarch symbol is called a 'Triquetra'. Remember that we saw them at the Focussing Crystals in Shangri-La? They represent a trinity between something: In Buddhism often being life-death-rebirth (undead resurrection?) but sometimes also past-present-future (Shangri-La loop?). Perhaps it could also refer to Richtofen's plan to ascend his soul, requiring three items: The Focussing Stone, the Vril Rod and the Vril Sphere.

  14. Wunderbar, these two conversations add more to the tragedy of Richtofen in Book 1, but from the perspective of post-Book 2. It shines Richtofen's humanity through the insanity he has developed. In a way, these two conservations fit well together, even though occuring at much different moments (I assume directly after Richtofen enters the MPD and Richtofen & Nikolai in the Forest before/during Tag). The first one features the return of Richtofen's desire to set things right, the second one builds upon that. Brilliantly done, look forward to more of these

  15. These kind of chapters that do not represent something seen in-game are always interesting and surprising to read. I like it how dr. Okitsu remains a returning character, now instead of being some kind of wicked scientist we really know how evil this person is. Get some kind of Japanese Mengele feeling of this guy.

     

    Love the reference to temple complex being buit in the era of the Great War. I must say I am not fully sure why Ultimis went here. Perhaps it is because we aren't supposed to know yet (as far as I know, last chapter they were in Shi no Numa), or did I forgot things?

    • Brains 1
  16. On 10/29/2021 at 5:30 PM, RichKiller said:

    Although Die Rise itself had very little story, it introduced concepts which have been used since Origins to begin solidifying the Aether storyline. While examples vary, I want to bring in two of the unexplained examples:

     

     

    Now, since this post has inspired me to finally have a look into the Mahjong game, I thought I'll be sharing this:

     

    Mahjong has different types of tiles. There are those who are referred to as "Honor Tiles", which consist of the four winds, as well 3 dragons. So since the Easter Egg revolves around the dragons, this seems to be a good reason as for why picking this game to be used in the Easter Egg (beyond it being a a traditional Chinese game).

     

    Interesting you mention that, indeed there are four stones referring to the cardinal directions and three to dragons. I'm curious what the symbolism behind this is.

  17. 51 minutes ago, RadZakpak said:

    I also find it interesting that it must be done in a specific way, hitting the different directions of the tower in a certain order, which feels like it would relate to some pseudoscience about energy and the poles, but I'm no expert there.

    Now you said something interesting here, let' s dig a little deeper in it:

     

    Apparently, the order of the four different directions can be found by using the Mahjong tiles that are scattered around the map:

    東 - East

    南 - South

    西 - West

    北 - North

    This is not the first time the four cardinal directions are hinted in the story. On the Moon loading screen, one can see a picture of the Vril Interface in front of the MPD, with the following 'advertisement':

    Quote

     

    SENSATIONAL!

    Not dissimilar to the Aztec and Mayan calendars, the Mythos disc defines the celestial patterns for your practical and magical purposes. Cipactli, Ehecatl, Calli, Cuetzpalin, Coatl, etc. are represented in non-visible form. Abide by its magical powers and use

     

    The five Aztec deity names that are mentioned each stand for a cardinal direction: Cipactli (crocodile; east), Ehecatl (wind ; north), Cali (house; west), Cuetzpalin (lizard; south) and Coatl (snake; east). The ad mentions that the Vril Interface, or Mythos Disc, defines celestial patterns for someone's own "practical and magical purposes", which I assume are those of the MPD occupant's. These four directions also return in the mystic 'Vril Map' found in Call of the Dead. Tying this with the Global Polarization Device at Die Rise, it actually makes sense since it is generally believed that the Tower resonates the will of the MPD occupant through the Aether across Earth. In all four directions may not literally imply North, East, South and West, but coult hint at the four dimensions of space-time, manipulative for those that gain control over the Tower.

     

    The symbol on the Dragon sphere looks like a swastika to me, but not a Nazi (right-turned) but a Hindu (left-turned) one. In Hinduism, this spiritual symbol stands for a lot of things, but one of them is the four cardinal directions: North, South, East en West, symbolizing the flow of the universe.

     

    I' ll come back later to reply on the rest!

    • Brains 1
    • Like 1
  18. Guten tag everybody! It is widely acknowledged that the labor we process during Easter Egg quests are not merely joyous and challenging minigames, but also often make sense on a story scale. Usually, the Easter Egg quests are being written by the developers also involved in working out the story, hinting at a clear overlap in the two concepts. Considering quest and story are one and the same, this doesn' t mean their correlation is always clear. It is for that reason that I created this thread, inviting all of you to participate in this ''think tank" of converting the actual steps of Easter Eggs into logic that makes sense in the story. 

     

    Today I would like to discuss Die Rise, which, after looking into it, is a pain in the ass to convert it into story. Additionally to that, I never did the Easter Egg myself, and the sequence of steps sometimes differs a bit depending on the guides I found on internet, not making it easier either. But utilizing the quotes of Richtofen and Maxis, we may be able to make something of this.

     

    Connecting the elevators and the symbols

     

    Spoiler

    Image

    So in this step, four players have to stand on four similar Chinese symbols that can be found on the elevators. After this, they have to stand on the same symbols appearing on the ground somewhere in the map. I found a quote of Maxis which is likely referencing to this step:

     

    "The alignment has begun. You are on the right path. Please, continue. You must trigger the symbols in the correct order, an order that only trial and error will reveal."

     

    It seems that standing on the elevator symbols led to an "alignment" which must be continued by triggering the symbols on the ground in the correct order. To understand this I think it is essential to understand the meaning of the symbols. The term "alignment" reminds me very much of celestial bodies, but of course that is nothing more than mere guessing. @DragonGJY I was wondering if you could make up something of this symbol, or if it may return in certain Chinese philosophies or mythologies?

     

    The spheres

     

    Spoiler

    2907f46a5f441082df4df23d53d767b6.png

    d805df3ddebaac6f5739e33f71d019d0.thumb.p

     

    When obtaining a sniper rifle, Richtofen says the following: 

    "We must neutralize any errant energy fields in order to prevent Maxis from enacting his plan. Take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the sources do not fall under his control, [laughs] if you can find them!"

     

    This is obviously a reference to the balls that can be found in the big Dragon board. These are "sources of errant energy fields". Now I have never done the Easter Egg myself, but can someone describe how these spheres look like? Do they look technological, like the Vril Sphere on Moon or perhaps even the Summoning Key? The Germans require the players to shoot them, teleporting them into the smaller Dragon statues in the spawn room. I'm think there is a possibility these spheres are artifacts of some kind, perhaps linked in some way with Dragons or Naga' s, ancient warriors of the Vril-Ya. They also seem to be tied with Shangri-La, so perhaps this sphere artifact originates from that site?

    http://blackopsofficialfansite.yolasite.com/resources/Singola-1.png

    After transporting the spheres to the small dragon statues, Maxis says this:

    "It is working! The sphere has relocated! Now, one more must be found."

     

    Richtofen' s path

    image.png

    1. From now on, Maxis and Richtofen' s path split up: Richtofen wants to destroy the spheres because they could help Maxis in doing his stuff, very similar to how Maxis orders us to destroy the Amplifiers in Buried because they are essential for Richtofen. Just casually sabotaging each other, and it seems that whatever toxicant is in the Sliquifier, rapid liquidation works the best:

     

    "The balls! It's all about the balls! You must purge their energy before Maxis interferes! Perhaps a rapid liquidification will suffice, yeah? Then do it!"

     

    Interesting that he mentions that this causes the balls to be purged of energy, like there was already some kind of energy inside. And whatever is inside the Sliquifier, it draws this energy away.

     

    2. Taking care of Maxis' spheres, Richtofen requires you to place trample steams around the Tower, and shoot zombies at it. Note that this is very similar to Tranzit, where you must kill zombies under the Tower to power it up (either by releasing their 115 or their Life Fore).

     

    "The spire, it needs the energy of the undead. We must find a way to make our blood sacrifice"

     

    3. After this, you need the Galvaknuckles to punch the Tower.

     

    "Only with your combined energy can we fully control the tower. You need a conduit for the electrical energy contained within your living flesh. Any ideas? Oh, I know. How about those electric knuckle-thingies?"

     

    Richtofen mentions the Tower requires the energy of Victis. Something to do with their souls?


     

    Maxis' s path

    image.png

    1. As for Maxis, he desires you to grab the balls and them them to the Buddha room. Two players must stand in front of the golden statues and kill zombies to charge the artifacts, presumably similar to how we charge the Apothicon eggs in Shadows of Evil? In that case, it is Life Force of the undead that is sucked in the egg-like artifacts.

     

    "The energy within the spheres is in flux. Fear not, we will need them in due course. Now, find the enlightened one. A blood sacrifice alone is not enough. Reincarnation is key."

     

    2. You now need to stand in front of the Buddha statue ("the enlightened one"), and one of the players must, tragically, die. After this, someone with the Krauss Defibrillator must revive him. While reading some Easter Egg guides, it seems to be that Russman specifically is the one that must be reincarnated. Is that true? If that' s the case, it may have something to do with Russman' s elusive nature and the fact that his mind is fading away so often. Is his soul even his?

     

    3. Now, use the Trample Steams to blast the artifacts at the Spire. Maxis will say the following:

     

    "Ah, yes! Do you see? The energy of their broken souls has been released! Their energy fields remain in flux. Matter must be transformed before it can be contained. The Spire must be energized as fire and light. Create a field with which to bind it."

     

    Additional evidence that the spheres contain the life force released at prior Blood Sacrifice. It is strange to me, however, that this couldn' t be done directly like we do with Richtofen' s quest in Tranzit: directly killing the undead under the Tower. Why did it had to be done via the artifacts? Perhaps to "cleanse" their life force from the Dark Aethereal spectrum and convert it into "light" Aether?

     

    Something I am not so sure about is when the following quote comes in. Can someone help me?

     

    "Excellent! The energy fields are changing, transforming, flowing. Ah, you are on the right path. You must look for objects of steel. With the appropriate weapon, their energy fields can be manipulated"



     

    The difference

     

    All in all, the two quests are quite similar. Except that Richtofen can directly use the energy of the undead, while Maxis needs to kill them in the Buddha room and converse their energy via the spheres. What' s more, Richtofen can directly use Victis'  energy via the Galvaknuckles embedden in their living flesh, whereas morbid Maxis needs a full reincarnation of poor old Russman. Different types of the ethereal spectre perhaps?

     

    What' s also remarkable is the various mentions of "energy field", which, if I search that on internet, refer to the following things:

    image.png

     

    Ahh, lots to chew on there, isn' t it @Mattzs? But we can get into that discussion later, first I'm interested how y'all think about the story-wise relevance of Die Rise' s Main Quests.

    • Brains 1
    • Like 1
  19. Amazing work Rad, you got the real Ultimis vibes described here, the characters come to life. Really laughed at some points as well.

     

    Two small points I have

     

    "The frame of the device illuminated, and as if it were unable to contain the row energy within"

     

    I think this must be 'raw' instead of 'row', but I could be wrong. Another thing is in the Fightclub-like scene that Nikolai and Dempsey start kicking each other for fun, it initially isn't made clear that the other guy is Dempsey. Maybe this is intended, and I already guessed this concerned Dempsey since he would be the only one enjoying such things, but wanted to make sure anyway.

     

     

     

     

    • Brains 1
  20. On 10/8/2021 at 5:59 PM, RadZakpak said:

    I've gone through and made edits to Book 1 and updated every chapter so far in Book 1 and 2 on the site. I'm freezing work on Book 1 for a long time now, so now's the best time to read it if you've been putting it off! 

     

    https://www.callofdutyzombies.com/story/home/

    Would highly recommend anyone who hasn't read it yet to start reading this masterpiece. Its canon to everything we know about the story till the finest details.

     

    What kind of things did you update? Grammar and typos or also content or additions of sentences? Also, can I just say how I love the fact you made Richtofen hate leberwurst in the beginning of the book while he loves it in the end (CotD radio), showing his change in character. Details like that make this story so great

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Code of Conduct, We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. .