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Assassin's Creed II - The |OT|
- Thread starter Costanza
- Start date
I found a few of the letter translations (C=A, A=H, etc), but not enough to do full transcriptions. Figured I'd just go back through the glyph puzzles and get those later. Thanks for the binary translator link. Not sure why that didn't occur to me to look for since that's what I did for the Morse code segments. I think that's all there is (binary, Morse, and letter transliterations). Anything I'm missing?JambiBum said:
A personal take on these control complaints: I agree that the controls could stand to be a lot more 'predictable' -- most times they work as is but when they fail, they do so spectacularly. I think it's mostly because of the 'intelligence' in the way the AC character traverses terrain: so much of it is left to the machine to figure out -- I want to climb that ledge, then swing on the pole, jump over the chimneys and run along that beam, finally jumping to the other roof -- the software understands this for the most part but sometimes it doesn't and that's when you get spectacular failures like taking a leap of faith onto dirt instead of hay, or getting stuck between two surfaces during a chase scene...
Having said that, I played U2 right after AC2 and I thought Uncharted controlled very stiffly in comparison. I loved U1 controls, haven't played AC1, but AC2 > U2 in controls and animation. IMO, Ubisoft has done a better job at both compared to ND.
Having said that, I played U2 right after AC2 and I thought Uncharted controlled very stiffly in comparison. I loved U1 controls, haven't played AC1, but AC2 > U2 in controls and animation. IMO, Ubisoft has done a better job at both compared to ND.
faceless007
Member
conman said:
I decoded most of them so far (up to 17), though I might have missed the first few. I just typed up the message then Googled for an appropriate translator (binary, hex, Morse, ASCII). There is one message I didn't get because the cipher is given in pieces over various other clues, and I didn't realize what it was until later.
I'll post the ones I decoded here. Unfortunately I didn't record which clues they came from but it's usually obvious, and the messages don't really contain any useful information.
Antikythera Mechanism' much older than 150 B.C.E.
Ancient city, Rajasthan, India, irradiated by PoE
Sumerian. Me 23. [Wikipedia says that glyph means "to be."]
17 July, 1918 [Date Nicholas II was executed]
30 May, 1431 [Date Joan of Arc was executed]
THEY USED IT TO MAKE TESLA GO INSANE THE ORGANIZATION TOOK HIS RESEARCH ALIEN PROPERTY CUSTODIAN OFFICE
Ancient city, Rajasthan, India, irradiated by PoE
Sumerian. Me 23. [Wikipedia says that glyph means "to be."]
17 July, 1918 [Date Nicholas II was executed]
30 May, 1431 [Date Joan of Arc was executed]
THEY USED IT TO MAKE TESLA GO INSANE THE ORGANIZATION TOOK HIS RESEARCH ALIEN PROPERTY CUSTODIAN OFFICE
Out of context, most of those seem meaningless, but if you read them in the context of the rest of the story and how the
Templars control every fucking thing
faceless007
Member
Is it possible to go back and re-do a glyph puzzle after you've solved it?
faceless007
Member
Oh sweet, I can go back and find the messages I missed before. Thanks.
AgentOtaku
Member
Basically I reinstalled my Steam copy of AC1 for PC ...and wow, the controls are SOOO MUCH BETTER! Don't get me wrong, I more often than not prefer analog input to digital, but in AC's case, your not having to deal with all of that waisted analog range, holding down for High profile (you can toggle it on PC!), and imprecise camera movement.
So my solution?
I'm going to replay AC1 (never finished it) and actually buy AC2 through Steam next spring. Problem solved!
So my solution?
I'm going to replay AC1 (never finished it) and actually buy AC2 through Steam next spring. Problem solved!
Finally got around to playing this today and its quite good. I still have no idea what i am doing, and am only up to beating
but its good. Seems like there is a lot to do. Its a bit tricky getting used to the controls. I keep pressing x to jump, but i dont have to, all i have to do is click up to climb walls etc and jumping to my death. Still so far so good. I must say though the graphics are somewhat crap. After playing UC2, the characters faces and all look last gen.
claudios boyfriend up
itsinmyveins
Gets to pilot the crappy patrol labors
So I went into this game with fairly low expectations and holy shit, there's a lot of stuff to do. I'm really liking it so far -- all the database entries, equipment and etc.
Silicon Knight
Member
Can I continue playing the game when I've finished the story? I want to do most of the side missions after the main game.
Silicon Knight
Member
Great, thanks!
Besides that, how the hell am I supposed to find all the feathers? Why the hell aren't they located on the map like the treasures and such? The OCD-child is crying inside me.
Besides that, how the hell am I supposed to find all the feathers? Why the hell aren't they located on the map like the treasures and such? The OCD-child is crying inside me.
They took the place of the flags from ACI, and have to be sought out. At least there are only 100 feathers vs. the 400 or so flags!
Hit up some online maps that have them all plotted out for you.
I ran through the cities grabbing feathers and treasures together.
Hit up some online maps that have them all plotted out for you.
I ran through the cities grabbing feathers and treasures together.
They're not that difficult to find. Most of them I found incidentally while playing. The few stragglers I found while cleaning up the treasure chests with Eagle Vision on.Silicon Knight said:Great, thanks!
Besides that, how the hell am I supposed to find all the feathers? Why the hell aren't they located on the map like the treasures and such? The OCD-child is crying inside me.
Great stuff! I got some of these and at least one you haven't. I'll post those once I get the chance. Definitely useful in figuring out what's happening in the game's larger "meta-plot."faceless007 said:
Pretty obvious. Just trying to establish a very old, technologically advanced civilization. This is that ancient astronomical device with the mechanical wheel, often referred to as an ancient "calculator." Reminds me of the sextant that Da Vinci always has strapped to his belt that looks a lot like the compass symbol of the Assassins (which is also in my avatar picture of a William Blake drawing BTW, and of course in Masonic iconography).
Location of one of the oldest urban civilizations, along with ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. In line with the above "calculator," the ancient Indus civilization is credited with having an especially advanced system of weights and measures. They also significantly didn't have big tombs like the other early urban centers (where the "gods" would have been housed according to Minerva). The civilization died out eventually, which is presumably what the "irradiated" bit refers to.
Sumerian is from one of the other ancient urban centers (Babylonia in Mesopotamia). According to Wikipedia, the "mes" are physical objects that were embodiments of decrees from the gods (similar to the tablets containing the commandments in the story of Moses). There are 64 of them in total, and the 23rd one listed says "weapons," but it has a question mark after it in the entry, so it might not be certain. In any event, this seems to go hand-in-hand with the multiple references in the game to large-scale weaponry like the atom bomb (the columns of fire).
Seems to be an echo of the earlier uprisings referred to by Minerva and subject 16. The sequence of events also closely resembles the way that Ezio's family was executed. Also, interestingly, Nicholas was sainted.
Also executed and heroized. She looks a lot like the drawing in the codex of the woman in armor and a bit like the (Templar?) woman that Altair sleeps with and has a child with. Also, her symbol was the "Cross of Lorraine" that looks identical to the PoE staff. The symbol has since been used by all sorts of organizations, including the French resistance during WWII.
Sounds like the end of the first Indiana Jones movie. Also, of course sounds like subject 16. Both were driven insane by Templar experimentation. Does this mean that the technology of the animus is derived from the same technology as the PoE's? I'd say a definitive "yes." This fits in with my theory that the Ones Who Came Before actually came after. This makes the PoE's something like the technology in the Terminator movies. They were never invented since they were originally created by copying a future version. Similar to humanity in the AC universe. The Ones created humanity in their image, but the Ones are also the culmination of human civilization in the future; therefore, humanity was never created since it had always simply created itself.
Those are actually incredibly useful in helping to piece together this total mindfuck of a story. Good job!
faceless007
Member
In the Assassin's Tombs where you have to chase a guard while he tries to block your path and force you to take alternate routes, does anyone have any tips on how to catch up to them and kill them? They run at the same speed as Ezio so I'm finding it a real bitch to do that. I know you don't have to but I want to. I'm specifically talking about Santa Maria della Visitazione.
XxBigP123xX
Member
Found 2 things that really piss me off about the game.
1. The PS3 save is copying prohibited, which means if your PS3 breaks you're fucked.
2. Really wish you could replay story missions, you could in AC1, why not 2?
1. The PS3 save is copying prohibited, which means if your PS3 breaks you're fucked.
2. Really wish you could replay story missions, you could in AC1, why not 2?
Just finished it. The story was pretty cool and definitely less repetitive than AC1. The last half of the game though I just wanted it to end. Alot of stuff just felt like a chore...particularly this mopping up of feathers I've still got to do.
I had high expectations for the performance side of this game. They've had plenty of time to iron out the kinks in their engine. IMO, UBI made absolutely no improvements over AC1 in this regard. The tearing is AWFUL on the PS3, and it destroys any sense of immersion that might be there. Numerous little graphical hitches like flashing colors, random lines permeating the map and the frame drops in high action events made me feel like the game was rushed....once again. The texture pop-ins are frequent and far too noticeable, and watching the shadows 'click' across the screen during daylight is just downright laughable for a game at this point in the generation.
Like I said, the story is cool and I really want to see what happens next but I'll wait till part 3 hits bargain price before I purchase. Part 1 and 2 just don't perform the way a free runner like this should and I spent $120 to learn that the hard way.
I had high expectations for the performance side of this game. They've had plenty of time to iron out the kinks in their engine. IMO, UBI made absolutely no improvements over AC1 in this regard. The tearing is AWFUL on the PS3, and it destroys any sense of immersion that might be there. Numerous little graphical hitches like flashing colors, random lines permeating the map and the frame drops in high action events made me feel like the game was rushed....once again. The texture pop-ins are frequent and far too noticeable, and watching the shadows 'click' across the screen during daylight is just downright laughable for a game at this point in the generation.
Like I said, the story is cool and I really want to see what happens next but I'll wait till part 3 hits bargain price before I purchase. Part 1 and 2 just don't perform the way a free runner like this should and I spent $120 to learn that the hard way.
N
NinjaFridge
Unconfirmed Member
faceless007 said:
I don't think you can, you just chase them until you get to the destination and play it out from there.
faceless007
Member
OK, this is incredibly annoying. I inadvertently got into a fight with a bunch of brutes (anyone have any tips on how to fight these guys besides smoke bombs?) and one of them knocked my Milanese Sword away. In the course of fighting I must have picked up a Maul, a far weaker weapon, and when the fight was over I couldn't swap it back for the Sword. The Maul had replaced the sword in my inventory, even after I quit out and reloaded. Unless I'm missing something, why the fuck couldn't I pick up my sword again permanently?
Edit: I went back to the villa and re-equipped it. Still annoying.
Edit: I went back to the villa and re-equipped it. Still annoying.
Meus Renaissance
Member
Interestingly, for those that didn't know, the ending plot revelation is heavily inspired by the
It was a shock and one of the biggest WTF moments I've ever had but I'm not so sure I like the route they are taking here with the whole
. I much prefer the historical and political vibe of the game.
Sumerian creation theory (essentially we were created by humanoid extraterrestrials).
2012 theme
NinjaFridge said:
Yes, you can assassinate them. I did for both of them before they reached the guards.
What you have to do is keep up with them, and then near the end there'll be a part where you can take a path going upwards above them. From there, you can air assassinate them.
Mikey Jr. said:
Go back to your armour room.
I waited till end-game before buying all my trash weapons and armour and I did it from my Villa to save coin and walking distance.
Only problem is, I'm missing one blunt weapon from my rack and none of the blacksmiths seem to sell it. Any tips?
This sort of idea is actually present in almost all creation stories, which is part of the point that this game's story is making. It's doing comparative mythology (in the vein of James Frazer or Joseph Campbell) and turning it into historical conspiracy. Closer to PK Dick than to Dan Brown IMO. Either it works for you, or it doesn't. I'm a big fan of paranoid fiction, conspiracy fiction, and gnostic-influenced science fiction (Gene Wolfe, etc), so it's right up my alley.Meus Renaissance said:
The problem is that there are a lot of untalented hacks who try to do this type of plot (the writers of Lost, for example), but only a few can do it well. So it gives the genre a bad name. The writers/designers of AC2 aren't always great at it, but they're pretty damn good. I think AC1 did a much better job of selling the fiction, but AC2 does a good job of building on the core story ideas of the first.
conman said:
... and would continue to do so ad infinitum.
Edit:
But if you think about it, it becomes pretty obvious that there's an inherent logical flaw in this thesis.
Humanity first has to come into existence before it would be able to "create itself".
Right. That's the idea.Darktails said:
It's what Terminator 2 did.
So far, it's not clear if this is where the AC crew are taking the series. At the very least, we know that
the "gods" exist outside of time, or at least outside of Desmond's time. Either they entered the world in a way similar to how Desmond enters the worlds of the animus (using some sort of technology to visit a time before humanity and create them), or they're performing some sort of time travel.
Yeah, the way the game tries to predict what you want to do works 80% of the time, but in those 20% when it doesn't, it really can get annoying, and is exasperated by being able to go in only 8 directions. I wish games like this would have the option of more manual control, like having to hold a button if you want to hide in a haystack, or climb a wall or dive off a ledge. It's something I also wish Uncharted 2 had, but to a lesser degree.
A lot of people probably had trouble with the game during focus testing, which is why it's so much less challenging than AC1, what with the generous time limits and the way missions are divided into bite-sized chunks with checkpoints and guides to make sure you rarely fail. The only challenging parts were the races and some of the tombs.
It's a shame really, because I love every other aspect of the game, from the beautiful and atmospheric graphics to the amazing music and entertaining story, and there's a huge amount of content in the game.
A lot of people probably had trouble with the game during focus testing, which is why it's so much less challenging than AC1, what with the generous time limits and the way missions are divided into bite-sized chunks with checkpoints and guides to make sure you rarely fail. The only challenging parts were the races and some of the tombs.
It's a shame really, because I love every other aspect of the game, from the beautiful and atmospheric graphics to the amazing music and entertaining story, and there's a huge amount of content in the game.
The only place the movement mechanics fall apart is during chases. So long as you're traveling in a straight line or scaling slowly up a building, everything works great.
Also, I don't think combat is supposed to be "difficult" in the sense that it kills you. It's an inconvenience that interferes with the flow of the experience. I don't know about you all, but it's enough motivation to keep my notoriety down knowing that guards will keep attacking me. I'm not annoyed because I might die. I'm just annoyed because it keeps me from doing what I want to do.
IMO that's a pretty major innovation in game design. Rather than using death aversion as a motivation, they're using conflict aversion. Great idea.
Also, I don't think combat is supposed to be "difficult" in the sense that it kills you. It's an inconvenience that interferes with the flow of the experience. I don't know about you all, but it's enough motivation to keep my notoriety down knowing that guards will keep attacking me. I'm not annoyed because I might die. I'm just annoyed because it keeps me from doing what I want to do.
IMO that's a pretty major innovation in game design. Rather than using death aversion as a motivation, they're using conflict aversion. Great idea.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
I really loved the controls of Assassin's Creed 2. I had problems in the first couple of hours, but as soon as I learned to not constantly hold down the 'high profile button' and the 'legs' button while running around and to be much more deliberate with my movement I stopped having weird episodes where Ezio would leap somewhere I didn't want him to. I did notice a few occasions when climbing a building where I would have to position the camera in a certain way for Ezio to continue climbing upwards, though.
Anyway, I finally finished up all of the glyphs and I must say I really enjoyed the payoff video. I pretty much knew who the two "characters" in the video were right from the beginning, but I really enjoyed the game's take on their story. All I have left to do is to collect the remaining 30 or so feathers. Fortunately they are all located in Venice, but I can't same I am really in a rush to go finish them off. I'm still pissed that I can't go back and get the "kick an enemy while on the flying machine" achievement. Oh well, I'm sure I will definitely play through the game again soon. Hopefully the PC version comes out sooner than later.
Anyway, I finally finished up all of the glyphs and I must say I really enjoyed the payoff video. I pretty much knew who the two "characters" in the video were right from the beginning, but I really enjoyed the game's take on their story. All I have left to do is to collect the remaining 30 or so feathers. Fortunately they are all located in Venice, but I can't same I am really in a rush to go finish them off. I'm still pissed that I can't go back and get the "kick an enemy while on the flying machine" achievement. Oh well, I'm sure I will definitely play through the game again soon. Hopefully the PC version comes out sooner than later.
Was watching the Truth video some more, and got a few more details from it. No one's using the story/spoiler thread, so I figured it'd be better to just keep posting this all here instead.
That's it for now.
First off, there is obviously more than one "apple" since Eve has one and the God in the factory has another one in its hand that it's using to control the humans working in the factory. I saw this being debated in some story discussion, so I thought I'd make that clear.
Second, the binary code at the end identifies the place as Eden (duh). We also know this is from BCE, but the date is classified. Makes it sound like it's more recent than we might otherwise assume.
Third, it looks like Adam and Eve are wearing some sort of specialized suit. You can see the neckline on Eve when she turns around at the end. I wasn't sure how we were supposed to take her lack of nipples and both of their lack of ass crack. But it looks like, yes, they're wearing something that only makes them look nude.
Fourth, we know this is from one of subject 16's memories, but it's tough to say whose perspective he's seeing. They appear to be getting chased (Eve glances over her shoulder and she shouts a final "look out!" at the end), but it's tough to say if subject 16 is one of them or if he's the chaser.
Fifth, anyone recognize the mountain in the distance? I have a feeling it's supposed to be recognizable, but I have no idea what mountain it is. It does, however, look an awful lot like the mountains of the Indus Valley--which is the place referenced by one of the glyph codes.
Sixth, they seem to have some version of Eagle Vision. As they're climbing up the side of the building, you hear the familiar sound of Eagle Vision being switched on, then they look through the wall and see the "god" holding a PoE and controlling the other humans working in the factory (a scene that conflates the Adam/Eve story with the Exodus story, no?).
That's it for now.
N
NinjaFridge
Unconfirmed Member
conman said:
I'm fairly sure it (the mountain) is Kilimanjaro in Africa which would work well as Africa is known to be where Human life originates from.
I really like the whole idea that everything we know is basically a lie, and that everything we take to be true has be carefully created to give us the illusion that the world and humanity is much older than it actually is.
I really like the whole idea that everything we know is basically a lie, and that everything we take to be true has be carefully created to give us the illusion that the world and humanity is much older than it actually is.
Some great stuff on the assassins creed wiki about this stuff.
Miburou said:
Nope, i'm in the same group too. Can't believe something like that made it into the final game
Buba Big Guns
Banned
I dont really play too many games but I just finished this and its probably my favourite game of the year. I had NO idea wtf was going on in the story (never played the first game either) but its such a fun game. After I came to Venice I was like WTF theres ANOTHER city in this game? All the cities looked so good. Jumping controls got annoying though.
N
NinjaFridge
Unconfirmed Member
conman said:
Like what? It is a wiki so if its wrong you're supposed to change it.