Stray may have only recently been released, but someone has already deciphered the game's mysterious language.
This language uses a substitution cipher to make the world in Stray more cryptic and mysterious. (A substitution cipher is a used to encrypt text by swapping each letter or symbol within said text with a different symbol, that can then be unscrambled with a key.)
And now, HalfGlassGaming's Josh Wirtanen has cracked Stray's cipher, and shared how we too can do the same (thanks, RockPaperShotgun). I have embedded some photos from the game within this article.Wirtanen kicked off his decoding project with the game's chapter titles, explaining that as these are already written in English as well as Stray's own language, it was "a decent place to start" the decoding extravaganza.
However, these didn't always match up verbatim, with Wirtanen revealing, "the chapter subtitled 'The Slums' is actually called 'Home: The Slums Part One'."
From there, he went on to take a closer look at the rest of the world's media, including the music sheets (which, if you are currently on the hunt for these yourself)
With all this information, Wirtanen was then able to create a key for Stray's language (which you can see in the image below) that will enable us all to have a crack at some code cracking.
About stray:
Charming puzzle-platformer Stray is turning heads for all the right reasons at the moment, putting players into the paws of a cute ginger cat exploring a beautifully realised cyber city mysteriously devoid of human life. The game's available on PlayStation 4, PS4 Pro, PS5 and PC, so how does each platform compare? Do the last-gen consoles hold up against the PS5 release, and what's the score with the PC version and its rumoured stutter issues?
The first thing you'll notice about Stray on PS5 is its install size - at 7GB, it's remarkable for being almost half the 13GB install on PS4, likely down to more efficient data compression on the new system. Despite its relatively slight profile on PS5's SSD, Stray packs a grand sense of scale and atmosphere with it, and each location is meticulously layered with ornamental detail. The world design is what really makes Stray special; a cat-meets-cyberpunk aesthetic that proves striking on any platform you might own. The colour palette at times calls to mind adventure greats like The Last Guardian or Ico, and is uplifted by Unreal Engine 4's effects suite: screen-space reflections on city streets, smoky volumetric lighting and object physics. Combined, it creates a world that feels ruinous, oppressed by the elements - and yet all at once still alive and tangible.
Let's cover the basics first: you get a native 1920x1080 and 30fps presentation on PS4 (and PS4 Pro, too for that matter), while PS5 is boosted to a native 3840x2160 and 60fps output. Remarkably this jump to 4K and 60fps means PS5's rendering eight times the pixels per second compared to its last-gen equivalent - a drastic upgrade. Dynamic resolution scaling is in effect on PS5 at rare points, however, reducing GPU load when needed, and the lowest resolution spotted is 3360x1890. Curiously, in testing for a similar DRS range on a base PS4 and PS4 Pro, it transpires each tends to stick more stubbornly at their 1080p targets, though DRS may be possible. Beyond resolution and frame-rate, changes between the PS4 and PS5 versions are otherwise subtle. The premium machine uses a higher-grade bokeh depth of field effect and potentially longer draw distances during fast transitions, but shadows, texture mapping and much of the world detail appear very close between all three PlayStation machines.
Looking at the PC version on Steam helps reveal some of the settings used on console. Running at 4K resolution with high settings for shadows, textures, effects and meshes on an RTX 3060 Ti, the PS5 falls extremely close in comparison. That said, PC's high setting for shadows gives it an definitive edge. Tree shadows are clearer on Stray's high preset, pushing higher resolution outlines across the floor during the game's opening tutorial area - whereas PS5 uses the medium setting. Otherwise? PS5 is tightly matched to PC's best output in most regards, including its high texture setting. Again there's a potential for improvements to mesh quality - to draw distances - but these are less clearly distinguished in action.
Hope you enjoyed reading my article
-Negan
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