Komag on 19/4/2024 at 20:44
Thanks!
Discendo Vox on 29/4/2024 at 19:04
Hi all, I care too much about lore and secrets, so rather than clog video comments Klatremus encouraged me to post in this thread with my findings so far. The Black Parade has at least one encoded script, a "language" used by both
necromancers and the ancient texts they cite in ingame readables. Reading this text provides some additional angles on the plot (among other things). This is intensely spoiler-laden territory that gets into the details of the entire plot, so I'm just going to start off with a translation key I've created for the text (apologies for the poor quality, working from screenshots of readables here).
Inline Image:
https://i.imgur.com/WAqGbJw.pngThankfully it's just a simple substitution; I've handled worse! I'll follow up with applications of the cipher to some key texts, (including the objective from mission 8!). Please let me know if this should be its own thread, maybe one for people who've played all the way through.
marbleman on 30/4/2024 at 16:43
Feel free to post all of it here.
Discendo Vox on 1/5/2024 at 07:37
There are two things to track down using the translated text in Black Parade. First, let's start with some notes from
Azaran in mission 5. This text is apparently from
Abubtiyar's tablets, and from Azaran's notes on the title page, we can take that Abubtiyar was explicitly warning against trying to control sentinents, and that Azaran is not confident in his translation. We, however, can be. Language in all caps is translated from what the game calls "Ur-magec script", and in normal case is Azaran's attempted translation. How accurate was he? Well...
Quote:
SENTIENT ENTRY DOOR
The Realm of Souls is like a door? visualise to enter the sentient's mind
KEYS CUNNING WEAKEN MIND
"One should have either the keys to open it or the cunning to weaken the barrier and let it move aside for him" (?)
POSTMIND ENTRY COMMAND
establish control after entry (not before?)
BALANCE INHIBIT NOVEL RITUAL OF TAMING
Wise is the one who studies the sentient to balance inhibitors (?) and keep the sentient weak with what is unknown to it until the Ritual of Taming is complete".
MASTERY SUCCOR OMNIPOWER
OMNI ALL OMNI
NECROS DEATH MORTUS ALL
if done correctly, I become a conduit for its power...At a minimum,
Azaran is guessing about some parts of this text, and his reading of the last part is especially strained. Given that we know the necromancers never seemed to really control the statue, it appears at least possible that all of these texts are actually describing what the statue can do to its victims!
The second thing these encoded texts are relevant to: elements. Black Parade has a big elements thing going; you've probably noticed if you've played through; it's visible even from the intro video. The campaign lays out three frameworks of four elements which map onto each other in ways that are oddly obscured. The first set are the traditional Hand elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire. Their symbols appear on the
mandala around the statue.
The second set of elements is stated in
Mission 5, in a book of notes that do not appear to be written by Azaran:
Quote:
While the Order of the Hammer speaks of Pneuma and of Sarx, and the Pagans like to talk about primitive mythology with an often puerile credulity, the truth is this; every mortal being, sentient and intelligent is made of four sacred elements:
Firstly there is the BO-YADRELL; the Chest, the Shell, the Body, the Cadaver.
Then the YORLH; the Cogito, the Feelings, the Conscience, the realisation of Existence, life's Azoth. It is a difficult subject for non-initiates but it is also the True Name.
Afterwards, there is the KUBITHLA - the opposite of the YORLH. The Shadows. The natural result stating that everything possessing a physical existence also has a shadow, the proof of Mortality. This is a delicate subject to explain.
Finally, there is the KA; that which cannot be explained for it has too many meanings. In truth, one could call it Destiny.The third set of elements has only three parts; the
colors and shapes associated with Abubtiyar's three gemstones, used to attempt to...something, the statue. We'll return to these later.
The fourth set is the set of four
Galenic humors:
phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile. These are the substances
harvested by the necromancers and on prominent display in mission 10. I'll get into the translation of
mission 10 and Abubtiyar's tablets in the next post, as well.
For right now, the fundamental the question is how to interpret each set of elements so that it corresponds to the other sets.
This seems to have been what Azaran, and Abubtiyar, both attempted and possibly failed to do.
BennySwims on 3/5/2024 at 22:51
Hello all!
Coming super late to the party I know, but super psyched to play on my... MAC !
I'm running FMSel (I think!) all other TG FM's seem to run fine... I can't understand why BP is crashing when I hit play...
Many thanks dear taffers x
Thirith on 5/5/2024 at 16:59
Greatly enjoying the game, but I've encountered the following weird thing a couple of times: if I'm in the dark and a guard walks *into me*, they often don't react. They just stop, look around and then, after a while, walk away again. Is that a Black Parade bug or a Thief Gold one?
nicked on 5/5/2024 at 22:44
It's not a bug, it's a feature. They've bumped into something so they turn to get a better look. If you're in a perfect shadow, they won't be able to see you, otherwise they'll be alerted.
tone_lord on 6/5/2024 at 02:54
The Black Parade is a complete, professional quality game on par with The Dark Project and The Metal Age. It deserves a place in the pantheon as an equal companion to those classics.
I will really, really, really miss this one now that I have finished playing it.
Will I play it again? I just might. The content and depth is there.
I bow deeply to those involved in its creation and give heartfelt thanks for their vision and dedication.
Thirith on 6/5/2024 at 07:27
Quote Posted by nicked
It's not a bug, it's a feature. They've bumped into something so they turn to get a better look. If you're in a perfect shadow, they won't be able to see you, otherwise they'll be alerted.
Ah, thanks. Has this always been the case with
Thief (and
Thief 2)? It's been a while since I played the games.
Snake on 6/5/2024 at 09:05
Quote Posted by Thirith
Ah, thanks. Has this always been the case with
Thief (and
Thief 2)? It's been a while since I played the games.
Guards did not alert to you in the original games by bumping into you. This feature was added to The Black Parade and some other fan missions too.