Secrets Inside the Box

[Wuzzy]

Inside The Box is one of my favourite servers. It also has a couple of nice secrets. In this thread I like to collect them. ALL OF THEM! :D

WARNING: For obvious reasons, this thread will contain a ton of spoilers. Do not read ahead if you do not want to get spoiled. You have been warned!

+ Soft spoilers: This only tells you what secrets there are

Soft spoiler 1: On the Main Islands (spawning area, when you join the server), there are a few small secrets and hidden areas.

Soft spoiler 2: Most Tutorial levels have hidden areas with a secret story behind them.

Soft spoiler 3: Box number 8 has an easter egg in the form of a sign.

+ Hard spoilers: All the secrets I know of so far

MAIN ISLANDS
The spawning area (which I call “Main Islands”) hold a couple of interesting secrets, and maybe not all of them have been discovered yet. I will discuss this below:

Meeting Room
At coordinates (-50, -14, 45) and (-50, -14, 25) on the Main Islands, there are doors to a locked and very dark room with a sign “Meeting room”.
These doors are shut, and there seems to be no way to enter.
Through the door you can see something like tables. From one side you can see two switches.



If you take a screenshot and jack up the brightness, you can reveal a message on a “whiteboard”:

Transcription:

Todays topics:
- erase the board after
meetings
- make difficult boxes
- clean up creative
inventory

Forest Pedestal
The Main Islands have an area with a large forest on it. If you explore it, you will quickly notice there is a strange pedestal in the middle.

It it possible to reach this pedestal by a hidden path through the leaves. Go to (-65, -23.5, 115) to find the entrance. Once inside, you can walk to the pedestal and you will see a sign. The sign has no text. Interacting with either the pedestal or sign by hand has no effect.
You can leave the forest by going to (-63, -24.5, 99) and following another path through the leaves.

I find this place quite puzzling, it raises so many questions:

• What is the purpose of the pedestal?
• Is there a hidden Nexus block? If yes, where can it be found? And what happens if you place it on the pedestal?
• Are there other hidden pedestals in the Main Islands?

There are two possibilities:

• Three is no Nexus block, and the secret ends here (or is not implemented yet).
• There IS a Nexus block, but it's really well hidden. In that case, I am almost certain something truly crazy will happen if you put it on the pedestal. Maybe a pathway into a dungeon will open. Maybe you learn the secret which opens the Meeting Room. Maybe you will teleport you to secret box. I have no clue!

What we know for sure is that the Nexus block (if it exists) does not come from the tutorials:

Does any of the other boxes' "extra" content have anything to do with the secret pedestal in the forest biome?

You can't take any nexus blocks out of boxes, so, that would not be possible.

The Cracked Box
There is an area in the Main Islands at roughly (-13, -2, -40) that seems impossible to reach, which I call “The Cracked Box”, due to it shaped like a box with a large crack at the bottom.

You can have a glimpse into this area through holes and cracks, but nobody seems to have found a way inside yet.
It seems to be kinda connected to the broken boxes which you reach after you completed the tutorial, but even from there I failed to find a way inside. :-(

Maybe this means nothing, and it really is impossible to reach and it's just decoration. Or it might hide a real secret, who knows? If you found a way inside, please post about it, thank you very much! :D

The Nexus
In the middle, there is a large Nexus block with the text “The Nexus” written above.
The point of this remains a mystery.

There seems to be no way to interact with this block in any way. This might or might not hide a secret. Probably not. Maybe it's just decoration. But sofar seems to remain a bit secretive about this. Hmmmm …

Feel free to post your wildest speculations! :D

TUTORIAL SECRETS
Most tutorial levels have well-hidden areas with tell a bit of a secret story behind them.
There is quite a lot to find here, but I am too lazy to write it all down here, maybe someone else will.
For now, let's just say, if you explore the levels a bit, you have a chance in finding them.

In the Inside The Box thread a few people have written some useful hints, but it's pretty chaotic. Would be cool if someone could write a guide.

Posts with hints (need to be structured):
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18406&start=300#p320893
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18406&start=300#p320903
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18406&start=300#p320904
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18406&start=300#p320941
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18406&start=300#p320980
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18406&start=325#p323440

EASTER-EGGS IN BOXES
At least one non-Tutorial box has a little easter-egg with a hidden sign: Box number 8. If you have managed to reach the hut near the exit, inspect all 4 outside walls. There is a funny sign on one of them.

It is possible there are more easter eggs in other boxes. Boxes by sofar might have even more easter eggs, as box 8 and all tutorial boxes are made by sofar. But this is just speculation. I am not yet aware of easter eggs in boxes by other players. Or I have forgotten about them. xD

If you found any secret, please post them. :) If you think you have a clue to something, but did not yet quite solve the mystery, that's also nice. Wild speculations are also fun.

Maybe one day the collected  secrets  will be posted on the  Minetest  Wiki to make it all more readable. Maybe.

[Lone_Wolf]

Big thanks to my slow internet. I caught a glimpse of this before a mapblock loaded

activated nexus block, a few torches. and a tunnel that goes down and then stops. Possibly unfinished?

And about the meeting room: It says 'Erase the board after meetings'. It's not erased. So wouldn't that mean the meeting was still going on?
Something might be invisible...

[v-rob]

Actually, in the meeting room, there are three switches. If you look at your screenshot with the brightness, there is a switch next to the whiteboard. So that makes three switches: Two turned off, and one turned on.

As for the broken box with no entrance, the entrance does exist. Go to the tutorial and look straight up right next to the teleporter. It's not a very helpful entrance, but it is one nonetheless.

Another, rather useless, secret is that you can go to the buildings with the ratings above them in the Play section and go to the one with the flat eyes and mouth. From there, you can jump to the top of the tutorial area, although there's nothing on top of it.

Of course, something might happen if you toggle the correct switches in the library under the Build section, but I doubt it.

[Wuzzy]

That is quite an amazing fine, Lone_Wolf. But I also guess it's just an unfinished section, especially since there is already a Nexus block placed.

As for the broken box with no entrance, the entrance does exist. Go to the tutorial and look straight up right next to the teleporter. It's not a very helpful entrance, but it is one nonetheless.

That path does not lead you to the huge broken box, however. You can replay the tutorial to get teleported to the place you went to after getting introduced to the Main Islands. You might remember … The downside is, you have to replay the ENTIRE tutorial. But you will not teleport to the large broken box, but something else. Look around carefully. From up there, you can see the broken box, too, but I have found no way to reach it.

[v-rob]

As for the broken box with no entrance, the entrance does exist. Go to the tutorial and look straight up right next to the teleporter. It's not a very helpful entrance, but it is one nonetheless.

That path does not lead you to the huge broken box, however. You can replay the tutorial to get teleported to the place you went to after getting introduced to the Main Islands. You might remember … The downside is, you have to replay the ENTIRE tutorial. But you will not teleport to the large broken box, but something else. Look around carefully. From up there, you can see the broken box, too, but I have found no way to reach it.

Well, what I mean is the place in the nexus where you go to replay the tutorial, not after the tutorial. The entrance is straight up and impossible to get up, but it is the only path there that I can see.

[Wuzzy]

Oh, now I understand! That's interesting. I never noticed that drop hole.

Speculation: Maybe you get teleported to The Broken Box after completing the tutorial in a special way, or finding a secret exit, or something. There are quite a few secrets in the tutorial, after all, and maybe not all of them have been discovered yet.

Hmmmmm …

[Christian_Soldier]

I think that the "entrance" to the broken box is actually an exit.

[Christian_Soldier]

And about the meeting room: It says 'Erase the board after meetings'. It's not erased. So wouldn't that mean the meeting was still going on?
Something might be invisible...

Maybe the people that used to be there (in the story of Inside The Box) had to leave before they could finish...maybe because of an emergency...

[sofar]

This thread is awesome. It may just be enough motivation for me to add more content again - I've been really really busy with work, but we're headed into the darker winter months and I will have some more time to sit down soon, I hope.

[Christian_Soldier]

This thread is awesome. It may just be enough motivation for me to add more content again - I've been really really busy with work, but we're headed into the darker winter months and I will have some more time to sit down soon, I hope.

Awesome. :)

[Christian_Soldier]

Hey, do you guys know how to get into all of the Tutorial secrets yet?

[v-rob]

And about the meeting room: It says 'Erase the board after meetings'. It's not erased. So wouldn't that mean the meeting was still going on?
Something might be invisible...

Maybe the people that used to be there (in the story of Inside The Box) had to leave before they could finish...maybe because of an emergency...

Well, if you look at some of the later tutorials and the broken boxes in the nexus, that actually seems rather probable. There are quite a few things to support that claim.

[Wuzzy]

I am starting to write down the first Tutorial secrets. But first, something about terminals:

+ Hints about Terminals

Terminals have some things going on that are not obvious to everyone.

You probably found a couple of locked terminals in the game. In the locked state, all commands will fail. These terminals tell you you have to type “unlock”, but it turns out you are never allowed to do that. But here's the trick: In most boxes, there is usually another way to unlock them. Anything that can trigger stuff (switches, buttons, placing a Nexus cube on a pedestal, ...) can unlock a terminal. If you managed to unlock a terminal, it will behave like a normal terminal and you can access all its files.
Note there is no guarantee that all locked terminals in a box are actually unlockable.

Terminals can also serve as triggers themselves. They trigger as soon you open them. Which means things might happen just for opening a terminal.

+ Secrets of Tutorials 1 and 2

Tutorial 1 of 8
There is a terminal in this room, but it starts locked. To unlock it, simply place the Nexus cube on the pedestal, then you can access its contents.

Tutorial 2 of 8
In one of the ways downwards there is a cul de sac with a locked terminal. It unlocks after you placed the Nexus cube.

Hint: To re-enter any tutorial, use the /enter command and the number in the list of boxes.

[v-rob]

Alright, everybody! I've noticed a few updates to Inside the Box! First off, the meeting room has changed. There are more lights behind bars inside, and the whiteboard now says "You forgot to erase the sign, again!"

Also, in the Create building on the very top floor behind one of the green create teleport panels, there is a pressure plate that doesn't seem to do anything. I listened when I pressed it but I didn't notice anything.

I haven't checked out the tutorials yet, but they also might have some updates.

It seems sofar kept his word when he said that he might start making some new content again ;-)

[Christian_Soldier]

Alright, everybody! I've noticed a few updates to Inside the Box! First off, the meeting room has changed. There are more lights behind bars inside, and the whiteboard now says "You forgot to erase the sign, again!"

Also, in the Create building on the very top floor behind one of the green create teleport panels, there is a pressure plate that doesn't seem to do anything. I listened when I pressed it but I didn't notice anything.

I haven't checked out the tutorials yet, but they also might have some updates.

It seems sofar kept his word when he said that he might start making some new content again ;-)

Awesome! I'll go back on Inside The Box again today, then.

[v-rob]

Actually, the pressure plate was removed, so it was likely a mistake.

[Nore]

I so loooove this topic :). Things are being added, don't worry, and there is much, much you haven't found yet. Of course, we won't tell you what -- keep searching!

[Wuzzy]

I know there's a secret in box 260. But I'm not exposing it … yet. But I give a hint: When you have already finished the box, it should be rather easy to figure out … with an axe!

[Kurtzmusch]

+ look what i found in the lobby

i'm pretty confident there's a multiplayer puzzle in the lobby, who wants to join me? here's the plan: 2 players stand on the plates and a third player go look for some change...

[Lone_Wolf]

Another secret? Guess you'll have to find out...

[JTE]

Cnl ab nggragvba
gb gur zna
[ druvae gur fhnii ]

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Or glass? I wonder which one it is. I haven't been in that room, I can't see the last two lines. I haven't managed to close all the doors behind me. :(

[Kurtzmusch]

+ image of encrypted message

[Christian_Soldier]

Another secret? Guess you'll have to find out...

Wasn't the whole point of this thread to share what we found and help each other to find out the secrets of the server? Can you just tell us where that place in the photo is and how to get to it?

[Lone_Wolf]

Another secret? Guess you'll have to find out...

Wasn't the whole point of this thread to share what we found and help each other to find out the secrets of the server? Can you just tell us where that place in the photo is and how to get to it?

Unlike you some people actually like to work for their secrets :P
I think it's obvious from that pic that there's a hole in the side of the stone below a platform near the spawn. Where else would you find stone?

[Christian_Soldier]

Another secret? Guess you'll have to find out...

Wasn't the whole point of this thread to share what we found and help each other to find out the secrets of the server? Can you just tell us where that place in the photo is and how to get to it?

Unlike you some people actually like to work for their secrets :P
I think it's obvious from that pic that there's a hole in the side of the stone below a platform near the spawn. Where else would you find stone?

Yeah, I know. But sometimes I get stuck on trying to find a secret that you guys hint about, and I just want to know what it is. Most of the secrets that I tried to find, like the one you posted, are extremely difficult for me to find.

Sorry if I sound rude, I just REALLY want to find those secrets, and it's really hard for me to find them.