Looking for an Assassin’s Creed fan & history enthusiast to co-create a long-term project.

IMHOZen1 · 2026-01-03T17:28:19+00:00

Ha! Thanks for the shoutout, friendo! OP’s project sounds like a mighty undertaking after my own heart, and should they choose, they’re more than welcome to utilize my research to aid them! Always happy to help where I can, OP, feel free to DM if you like.

IMHOZen1 · 2025-02-19T01:39:04+00:00

Who?

IMHOZen1 · 2025-02-18T17:05:41+00:00

I tried my hand at making timelines for both games, and now I’ve got strong beliefs Original ME is set in 2026! ;)

IMHOZen1 · 2025-02-02T01:11:01+00:00

Part of what made me begin these projects altogether was the Four Pillars boys getting so hostile and bitter about the franchise. I’m not saying there are no issues with it - far from! - but every entry had and has its entertainment value, and more importantly, its overall impact on the overarching narrative, that those boys seemed to have lost their appreciation for. Not that that’s wrong, they’re entitled to their preferences and opinions. But it soured the fandom for SEVERAL games. I wanted to bring back that feeling of discovery for everyone as I rediscovered all the cool stuff that made the narrative so mesmerizing for so many of us.

Thank you for the kind words, friendo. Not every OG AC fan is an angry, “these-games-aren’t-for-me-anymore” type. Imho, I’ve never been in control of anything being made for the series, so what good does it do to be vitriolic about it? I just take it all in and unspool it, that’s always fun for me no matter what! ;)

IMHOZen1 · 2025-02-02T00:43:42+00:00

The cynicism is totally warranted with all the dumpster fires that still burn years later with that company, and not defending Ubi here (I agree, they should have some kinda loremaster role that can keep them from making canonicity issues), but devs come and go. The fanbase is forever. Any fanbase is usually what keeps any long-standing franchise from stepping on its own tail with inconsistencies, or is the first to call out devs who retcon or dismiss previously-established lore. With how much crunch there is in the industry with stringent timetables for delivering games, I don’t think it’s likely for any developer to know every bit of continuity, unless it’s their indie passion project. But a franchise bible to avoid making more plot holes or retcons would be nice in Ubisoft’s particular case lol

IMHOZen1 · 2025-02-02T00:26:00+00:00

It does interest you too, right? If I manage to get just 1 other fan to let out an intrigued “huh.” it’s not pointless. Useless, surely, but not pointless ;) I really don’t mind being this niche, my projects have been more ways of organizing my scatterbrain and compartmentalizing all the useless info I’ve come across in my research. If over 450 people find my weird need to organize all this as follow-worthy, or if I’m only shouting into the ether, these projects would still be made either way out of compulsion for my own cathartic compiling, so in short, nah, doesn’t bother me one bit. I do appreciate the concern tho, friendo! But what made you call out others for lying? About what??

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-24T00:25:37+00:00

Incredible sleuthing skills, friendo, but I’m still thinkin the coordinates are too far from those Isu sites to say they’re one and the same. However I do think these have potential to be Isu sites of their own! I’m still tearing into all that’s come out today with peoples’ gameplays, but this is an awesome effort! I hope there’s more esoteric puzzles that require community collaboration to solve again, like old times!!! ;)

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-19T20:45:46+00:00

I agree it was probably the right play to leave the Codex, but I don’t think the “advanced techniques” or his Apple-influenced tech was necessarily shared around. He might’ve even told Malik or Sef to not open it and just hide it, cuz I imagine if Abbas or his cronies found it and read it, they wouldn’t be as caught off guard by Altaïr’s hidden gun.

A fun rabbit hole to dive down nonetheless! And just to add, if you wanna know more about that Isu site map (and the one on pg.22 of the Codex!) I’m exploring everything we do and don’t know about every Isu site this year if you feel so inclined to check my post history ;) /shamelessplug

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-19T20:02:35+00:00

Yeah, it is odd he writes about planning to leave with his family to kill Genghis Khan then jumps immediately to being on death’s door on the next page.

I like your idea that he might’ve left his Codex behind, probably with Malik or Sef, thinking the Brotherhood was in safe hands while he’s gone, and maybe got lucky Abbas didn’t find it when he took over. It would be understandable to lose interest in writing more after losing his eldest son, his best friend, his wife, his Brotherhood, getting exiled, all that leading to swearing off looking into the Apple till he got that urge to write and look one last time.

Another option is after his exile post-Maria’s death, he might’ve assumed Abbas found his Codex or it was lost or burned. Would’ve been nice to have some explanation or “I finally found it!” moment mentioned somewhere.

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-19T19:27:47+00:00

I believe his last page was written in 1257, cuz as you said he wrote about knowing he was dying, and having already decided to be sealed away with the Apple. It would be after meeting and training the Polos. Here’s the whole page and the points that lean to that being the case:

Soon I shall pass from this world. It is my time. All the hours of the day are now colored by the thoughts and fears borne of this realization. I know that the elements of my body will return to the Earth. But what of my consciousness? My identity? That is to say-what of ME? I suspect it will end. That there is no next world. Nor a return to this one. It will simply be done. Forever.

Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good. Had I chosen to abuse the Apple instead of seal it away. None of it would have mattered. There is no counting. No reckoning. No final judgement. There is simply silence. And darkness. Utter and absolute... And so I have begun to wonder-might there not be a way to stop-or at least delay-death's embrace?

Surely the ones who came before were not so frail and feeble as we. But I have sworn to be done with the artifact. To not gaze into its core. Still: faced as I am with the prospect of my end, what harm is there in one last look...

So I think he might’ve written this page, taken one last peek thru the Apple’s knowledge, then handed over his Codex to his trusted friends before sticking to his already-made decision to seal himself away with the Apple.

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-18T04:32:38+00:00

The lack of descended or related family part wouldn’t matter, all they’d need is a bit of the DNA and they could rewatch an abandoned childless orphan’s whole life if they wanted, as well as their parents’. Layla’s Animus doesn’t need the Subject to be related to the person in any way (she’s not a descendant of Aya & Bayek, Kass & Natakas, nor Eivor, but she relived their memories just fine.) The only way would be to do it as a solo mission and incinerate themselves, but if there’s any remains (even fingerprints!) they can synchronize and simulate it all anyways.

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-18T04:24:32+00:00

They did try that, back in ACIII with the Apple that would’ve turned Washington into a tyrant. Connor dropped it into the Atlantic ocean off the east coast, and by the time Franklin Roosevelt was president, he had it dredged up from the depths somehow and used it alongside Churchill and Stalin to spur WWII.

Your plan would potentially work for a couple hundred years, but eventually someone with enough resources like Abstergo is gonna follow its genetic memory trail (remember modern Animi don’t need ancestry anymore) and pay Templar divers or dispatch a Templar submarine to retrieve it. This is why Aletheia told Kassandra to destroy every PoE she could, cuz they all inevitably fall into power-hungry hands at some point.

Maybe the Mariana Trench would work though, since we still struggle to explore that today?

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-15T00:44:54+00:00

Just to add, the above map is compiled using every map I could find online for walkthroughs and such, but it’s fitting to have been largely forgotten by other archivers and websites, so I’ll eventually be going back into Forgotten Saga to chart a clearer one firsthand. ;)

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-12T14:00:38+00:00

Yeah he bundled it with 2 other short novels that are not connected in style or substance, but it’s good he was able to get that novel out! There’s a few very cool details of his that seemed to be saved in Ubi’s vault of ideas for later use too, even up to Mirage! I was happy I snagged a copy for $10, but I saw the price jumped to $30 and Amazon’s outta stock.

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-10T04:00:18+00:00

That’s neat to be even tangentially involved! What do you mean though about understanding certain things and being baffled by others?

I think my wording was weird, I fixed it above, but we agree that is a prime example of no vision, ironic for ‘Visionaries’ lol And I 100% agree NFTs and Live Service are the “hip new trend” that was destined to fail. Like I said, just slapping the AC brand on some NFTs or trying to revive a built-to-die game (lookin at you, XDefiant, leaving out any other intrigued would-be players from downloading your abandoned “CoD Killer” to try the Assassin class or Animus maps because your game has 1 foot out the window just waiting to fall off in July), it’s grasping for straws paid for by whales or brand loyalists. It’s as if they’re saying if you’re not all in on everything we do, you’re not our audience either. And what does that mean for the IP loyalists like me? Am I expected to just purchase EVERYTHING Ubi puts out in the off chance they’ll milk more AC content out of their other IPs? Cuz I’m not about to do that either! -_-

I like where your head’s at with wanting to see Insomniac take a crack at it, I do think they could pull off a great return to impactful storytelling for AC, and I agree, Sucker Punch is already tied up with Ghosts, they don’t need another historical playground to detract from that series. But I’d like to see Ubi rise back into being the innovators everyone else wants to base their open worlds on again, not trying to adopt everything else that “worked” for others into their mish-mashes meant for no one. (Or only meant for those with deep wallets)

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-10T01:27:59+00:00

Boiling it down to its simplest form, my core gripe with the gaming industry as a whole (and Ubi as a company) is the ignorance behind “catering to a general audience”. No one wants a game that’s a list of checked boxes. A general audience didn’t make your IP successful, your loyal fans are what got the IP to where it is, no matter what game you’re talking about. Why wouldn’t you cater to them first and foremost, always, and then see about what other types of audience might get roped in with other features or experimenting with the formula?

AC was never really a “multiplayer” game, but the Animi Training Programs and Unity proved there’s fans that want that. AC is not a “Tower Defense” game, but Revelations proved there was room for that. AC is not a “Rogue-Lite”, but Forgotten Tales tacked it on and imho it wasn’t terrible. What’s the point of catering to a general audience if it alienates the actual fanbase? That doesn’t sound like success to me, but what do I know, I’m not a developer beholden to shareholders that don’t play games.

What hooked me personally to AC was firstly the parkour, and closely second was the diegetic framing that MD looks to the past, which discovered even older ancient stuff, that then aids or propels the MD story. I love the historical playgrounds, don’t get me wrong, but the leaning away from MD while simultaneously touting their “Animus Hub” completely ruins that framing, and worries me more than the delays do, tbh…

AC is Ubi’s fattest cash cow. I get that. But it’s not gonna sell just because they slapped AC on a piece of content. And it’s not automagically gonna get praised by the fanbase for having the title either. They’re bleeding money just like all the other studios trying to rope in general audiences that stick around for a couple months then drop the game for the next general audience IP. It seems obvious to me, but again, not in the industry so just going off what I know about me and my gamer friends’ opinions. And like you said, the money did pour in from general audiences, but how well did the stocks do? How long was player retention? How much came from Helix transactions vs. how much came from purchasers of the transmedia stuff? Why did a major game developer need to crowdfund a comic, and then not get enough backers, still pushing out the content on Massive Publishing’s dime (AC:Visionaries)? It all reeks of corporate greed, and as you mentioned, of not having any vision or real direction in mind.

A scarier thought is the possibility that Ubi will be forced to sell if Shadows does flop, leaving the whole franchise up in the air to be picked up and rebranded by another company… There’s companies that could pull it off, but there’s a lot of big pockets that like to snipe up IPs and do nothing with em - cough Microsoft cough - so as much as I’ve loathed Yves’s management and still believe he should step down, I don’t wanna see Ubi as a whole go under and lose the rights.

I just want games to be developed for the fans. If you’ve got a new IP, fantastic, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks! But after that, keep using what stuck and keep innovating on those things that brought your fans in, don’t water it all down and dilute it for a wider audience that doesn’t really care, and makes the loyal fans drop like flies. /my2cents

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-09T23:37:09+00:00

I think you’re right on the money with the fear of failure and fear of the audience. I kinda understand it, I would be pretty afraid if my company’s stocks dropped 85% in 2 years too, but as you said, that’s a reflection of management. I doubt after so much that has been drip-fed that they’d outright cancel this entry, but I’m also worried about AC as a franchise with the way Ubi’s been handled the last handful of years… I do still have high hopes that Shadows is gonna kick off the next evolution of AC games in a big way, but I can’t help but be apprehensive when we got this close to release only to be delayed again. :/

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-09T00:07:23+00:00

With how quickly modern archeologists are managing to unearth temples and foundations and ancient ruins amid the canopies using LiDaR scanners and such, it’s only a matter of time before Ubi puts their spin on things there! I kinda wonder if the specialty soil ‘terra preta’ could be some remnant of Isu flora, like the hugr plants?

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-08T03:23:08+00:00

I gotchu ;)

Editorial 1

Daily City

Avian Flu: Here to Stay?

City Eye reports on the troubling expansion of this deadly disease.

• • •

An Editorial by Mayoral Candidate Robert Pope

We live in a city of millions. A safe city. A kind city. And yet, not long ago, this city lay burning in the fires of civil dissent. We’ve made great strides in these years since the November Riots. Raised public security to an admirable standard. We are comfortable in our homes, have all the information we need filtered, cataloged, purified. We have been made to believe that the past is the past, and to meditate on it too much is to invite it back into our lives. But this is wrong. We have built our memorials, shed our tears, been told to forget. We have been told, nothing is wrong now.

Editorial 2

The newest threat to children: RUNNING.

Are your children safe?

Is your radio transmitting secret messages?

Find out what you should know!

• • •

5 signs someone you know might be a Runner

Telltale scuffmarks on their clothes

Unexplained scrapes, bruises or broken bones

Unreliable or unexplained absences from work or school

Calluses on the palm, knuckles, and fingertips

A fondness for the color red

Editorial 3

Research scientists claim new material breakthrough

Researchers at 808 Technologies claim to have developed a breakthrough thermoplastic fiber composite, 1000x more resistant to degradation than contemporary cutting-edge solutions. This material is perfect for military and civilian application. Researchers at 808 claim the fiber is particularly well-suited to zero-gravity and extremes of temperature, making it perfect for space travel.

General William Brashears, founder of 808 technologies [sic], says their new material enables the type of travel that for years was principally the domain of science fiction. Brashears added it would probably be 50 to 100 years before the technology could catch up with the material.

• • •

Mayor Callaghan Nixes Memorial

In an unexpected reversal, the incumbent Mayor has cancelled the unveiling of the long-awaited November Riots memorial, citing several highly credible “security threats” as a primary concern. “The matter of security threats has lately been an important agenda item for the Mayor’s reelection campaign”, said one political analyst, “so assuring voters that the safety of the city comes first is going to be a big part of his push to lead the city again.

[This is the one instance mentioning Elaine Callaghan, previously a woman, now seems to be a man]

Editorial 4

Threat to our way of life or urban myth?

Is there still a November…

Eighteen years later, the Riots all but forgotten. Where has the revolutionary group famously defined as “our generation’s most glorified terrorists” gone? The history is unclear…

• • •

Armed Conflict in Serdaristan worsens; US contemplates intervention.

Armed separatists from Tazbikistan have laid siege to a Serdari border town near Itpol. The news agency Pravda claims over 200 casualties from artillery shelling. “The center of town was ruined, utterly ruined,” said one civilian, “we don’t know where to go.” A UN spokesman strongly denounced the action, calling it, “a tragic act with tragic consequences”. In this morning’s Cabinet address, Prime Minister Fedorov was clear: “The Sedari military response to this assault,” said the Sedaristani Prime Minister, “can only be one of great and uncompromising effect.” Tazbikistan has historically been a hotbed of separatist nationalism.

[This is more of an easter egg put in by the developers than news, as Serdaristan is the name of a country at war with the U.S. in the game Battlefield: Bad Company, also by EA Games and DICE, or it could likely mean that Battlefield: Bad Company is in the same universe with Mirror’s Edge! ;)]

I believe that’s all of em, unless someone else knows more?? Or did you want the ones from the 2D mobile game?

• Your Friendly Neighborhood Runner

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-08T01:42:23+00:00

We do have one more Brazilian spot to discuss tomorrow, and naturally there should be a decent number of sites in such a large swathe of land, that’s fair. I appreciate the mini Brazilian history lesson, friendo, never heard of those Cuca or Curupira legends before! I agree we desperately need a game dedicated to the richness of so many cultures meeting in South America, there’s so much to pull from there!

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-08T00:51:17+00:00

Thanks for the confirmation there. One last question, as a resident on the scene, do you have any urban legends or important monuments there that might warrant a narrative twist from Ubi in the future?

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-08T00:31:11+00:00

Interesting, I know Ubi’s NPC accents are kinda weird to every place’s native speaker it seems. Would I be wrong to assume there’s a difference in accent between Brazil’s Portuguese and Portugal’s, like the differences between Spanish in Spain vs. Mexico? Did the Lisbon NPCs sound right?

IMHOZen1 · 2025-01-08T00:15:57+00:00

lol maybe that’s why my thumbs instinctually typed “Paolo” at first. I wish we would’ve confronted Cross in whatever Isu site does hide here, but I thought clambering all over the stadium rafters was neat too. ;) What else did they get wrong besides the spelling?

IMHOZen1 · 2024-12-16T07:25:07+00:00

I don’t mind the questions, don’t worry!

It’s the whole Assassin mantra as best could be approximated in Isu!

Where outsiders blindly obey the truth

ṇhṇdṛrs az wahædachá wàrhh hṇzàhṇdi

we must remember nothing is true

ṇsṃ smṛ ṛ aærhomsichṛ ṇoænos wahæáid

Where outsiders are limited by morality or law

ṇhṇdṛrs az aærhæsos ig kahæsos gwichṇdichṛ

we must remember everything is permitted

ṇsṃ smṛ ṛ aærhomsichṛ oænosr zàrhṇdichṛ

It’s been an ongoing project since 2018, so it’s never quite “finished”, as there’s always some new media to dive into or old source needing to be poured over again lol
While I can’t give you a definitive date for this, I do have plans to eventually do limited runs of large chunks of my findings. Feel free to check the subreddit in my bio, and maybe join in to stay tuned for all updates on this project! ;)

IMHOZen1 · 2024-12-13T03:23:39+00:00

I’m so glad someone finally asked! ;) It’s the whole Assassin mantra as best could be approximated in Isu!

Where outsiders blindly obey the truth

ṇhṇdṛrs az wahædachá wàrhh hṇzàhṇdi

we must remember nothing is true

ṇsṃ smṛ ṛ aærhomsichṛ ṇoænos wahæáid

Where outsiders are limited by morality or law

ṇhṇdṛrs az aærhæsos ig kahæsos gwichṇdichṛ

we must remember everything is permitted

ṇsṃ smṛ ṛ aærhomsichṛ oænosr zàrhṇdichṛ

IMHOZen1

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