Battlefield 4 has a few easter eggs hidden away for only the smartest and most persistent players to discover. Last year the megalodon shark was found hiding beneath the waves, but something far more absurd has been discovered. It’s a cryptic set of morse code transmissions that send players on a journey over numerous maps, leading to a prize of new camo that was originally for DICE employees only.
Looking for an FPS less cryptic? Try one of the best shooters on PC. They tend to be more about the blood and explosions than morse code.
The easter egg was cracked by Jackfrags, and you can see his journey in the YouTube video below. It all starts in the new Dragon Valley map, which was recently released for free. A flickering lantern is actually morse code, and is a message in Belarusian that translates: “Did you miss me? Good luck, JJJU”. Those initials reference Julian Manolov, the trickster who hid the game’s easter eggs.
Dragon Valley contains seven hidden switches that turn on lanterns in one of the map’s buildings. Activating a switch will turn some lanterns on and others off, so you need to figure out how to light all the lanterns. The solution is randomised, so no walkthrough guide can be found I’m afraid. Figure it out, and a hidden keypad will be revealed that provides a new morse code message: “When night falls over the old factory a secret lurks in the openness of the North Woods. Multiple the letters of the longest word and the one after it to form the code.”
The old factory is of course the one on Zavod, and nightfall refers to the Graveyard Shift version of that map. Play a game on that map and you’ll find a rock that makes a croaking sound. Run this through audio software to speed it up and the message “I’ve got little birdy legs” can be heard. The two longest words here are “little” and “birdy”, which when assigned numerical values to each letter and multiplied together results in 83980800000. Head back to Dragon Valley and type that into the keyboard, and you’ll be provided with another cryptic clue:
“To claim your prize now join a ranked conquest large game, stand at the west side of the shaft of the north-western water tower for two minutes, then use this individual code there: 131929664…”
The code is randomised, so you can’t just steal this one unfortunately. If you head to the water tower and hang around for a little while a button will appear. Hitting it reveals the keypad, and enter your unique code for an audio message declaring “promoted!” to happen.
When the game is done and dusted, you’ll find a DICE LA camo design in your soldier customisation menu. This camo was originally only available for developers to wear. It’s not exactly snazzy, but it’s a true boast that you’ve cracked the puzzle wide open. Not that such a feat is that amazing, now the details on how to do it are available on the internet.
Still, typing in that massive code without being shot to pieces is an achievement in itself. Good luck to any BF soldiers attempting it.
Thanks, Eurogamer.