Secret in Rosendorf Cemetery (???)

[Tackerot]

I love this game, hence why I am reaching out to fellow members of the community to see if we can "Sherlock Holmes" this mystery.

I believe there is a secret (more than easter egg) in the section where you have the heart shaped music box in Rosendorf Cemetery (currently, when saved it's "Act 6 - Rosendorf Cemetery").

There's the following text on some of the crosses, which feel like clues to me:
- "Perhaps if you read all the texts on the crosses, you'll get a special item! Perhaps."
- "The story if this game is inspired by real events and real places."
- "You're always in a hurry. Watch the sky. See?"
- "Brasov, Str. Apullum, Nr 3. That was the place where it all started."
- "Aici zace robul lui dumnezeu monahul poiana George Remus. A murit pericit." (Translated Romanian ->English (in Google translator: "Here lies humble servant of God, Poiana George Remus. He died happy".) - I do not know if this is a clue, and could be lore based on the game, but seems suspect.

I have spent quite a bit of time the past few days trying to determine this mystery and get that "special item! Perhaps", but I have been unable to figure it out. I've gone online and have done reading, not a walkthrough to, simply, find the answer, but a means to derive how to figure out this mystery. I've even translated the crosses with Romanian text on them in hopes to derive "the secret".

Here's what I've been able to figure out:
- This "Rosendorf Cemetery" is actually a cemetery named "Merry Cemetery" in Romania. It is a real place which has amazing history and when I looked at real pics, I was taken aback because I thought the pictures I was seeing were game screenshots, but were actually real pictures of the cemetery.
- "Brasov, Str. Apullum Nr.3" appears to be a building for children named "FasTrackKids", which is a private school.

Community members...the gauntlet of mystery has been thrown. Anyone else want to chime and and figure this out together???

[Stuck In Attic]

I can tell you that "a murit fericit" means "died happy". The Merry Cemetery is called that because it has hilarious rhyming epitaphs, sort of like the ones you'd read in some adventure games, but it's really hard to do them justice when translating.

[Tackerot]

Thanks gibbous.the.game. I updated my main thread with "Died happy".
I figured the Google translator tool had to have errors or inaccurate translations. Some of the translations did not make much sense.

Im surprised more people are not jumping on this mysterious secret in a game; it's what many gamers crave!

[Interactive Stone]

"Aici zace robul lui Dumnezeu, monahul poiana George Remus. A murit pericit." - is the signiature of our artist who created the visuals. It means "Here lies humble servant of God, Poiana George Remus. He died happy". However, Hackeroth, you are the first so far to get so close to the "secret".

[Tackerot]

Thanks Interactive Stone! I'll update my first thread with the correct translation.
I am still trying to figure this "secret" out.

[Tackerot]

Now that there is controller support, I am going through with the intent of unlocking this secret (I only hope an achievement is related to it, otherwise, how will I know I "figured it out"?)

[nightcatpurrs]

I hope you got the achievement! I thought I'd unlocked it after a sequence of events but nothing so far, maybe the crosses and the grieving family are linked?

[odconstant]

There are other names on the crosses. The closest I think this is an easteregg is that the cemetery pays homage to friends, supporters and people involved in the making of the game.
I've read all the crosses and looked at the sky. I got no special item.

[Fizzel]

I tried reading and Itook screen shots of all the tomb stones. Maybe it has something to do with the lambs in the cemetary? There are also tomb stones that state "You are always in such a hurry, you never try looking at the sky" I tried looking up at all of those tomb stones and nothing happened. There is also one that says "Come to me at 4 and I will be happy at 3". There are hints to the story. There is one Tomb stone in front of the church that on the back has David's line about how adults never listen. There are also ones that hint at the story. Ones with a father apologizing about his son's death and ones with son's telling their father they need to leave. There are also a bunch in Latin (or maybe a Romainian) I can't read. There is also one that talks about "Taking the time to look at a flower" MayBe watching David's flower in the later level for awhile? I'm just spitballing possible ideas at the moment.

[76561198359404131]

This game mesmerized me and I must admit I cherished every second of it. (Vă mulțumesc extrem de mult, a fost genial!)
I started to be very intrigued by the ”secret”, so I spent some hours analysing the epitaphs. On a first glance they look like the thoughts of those dead kids, but one clue led me to the hypothesis that the epitaphs are based on the stories of some kids that might exist in real life.
I used Street View to take a better look at the address mentioned on one of the tombstones. There is indeed a private afterschool, but next to it you can find: “Centrul de asistență familială și comunitară” which is the equivalent of the social worker and child protection service. They take care of social investigations, adoptions, disabled persons, etc. I believe, but I am not sure (they can validate my hypothesis, or not) that the developers got in contact with some kids from this social center. Some epitaphs were bringing aspects such as: hunger, negligence, poverty, alcohol abuse, and other kind of abuses “that can’t be mentioned in a cemetery”. If the kids were exposed to those factors, this institution has the right to take them from the “toxic” environment and place them in an orphanage, which in my opinion might be worse.
Also the antithesis between the private school and the center is quite overwhelming.
In conclusion, the idea of the game might be inspired by one of the stories from that social center.
This is all I could figure out, I’d love to hear more ideas and clues that might break the secret!

[Tackerot]

@nightcatpurrs - I have not (yet?) unlocked any achievement for this (if one even exists, I cannot say).

@odconstant - You make a good point, but my hunch is that it is more than an "easter egg" (at least I am hoping so, for the game says, "you will get a special item". (I hope, at least)).

@Fizzel - You bring up words from eptiaths that I don't recall, even though I swear I looked/read/translated every single one. There's a lot of them, so it's possible I missed one, but I spent HOURS in that cemetery.
- "Come to me at 4 and I will be happy at 3" - I do not recall this one and I'll have to brainstorm.
- "Taking the time to look at a flower" - I do not recall that either

@Alienstein3 - This game mesmerizes me too. The private school you speak of, from what I could gather (also stated in my original post) is "FasTrackKids". I had hoped to find a clue in searching the address that was stated on one of the tombstones, but if there is one, I could not see it. Since this cemetery really exists (I looked it up and the tombstones, although maybe not identical, still exhibit a "story" behind the epitath written on them; some serious, some funny.)


I have not yet unlocked the secret. If there is a tangable secret which gives an item, like the game insinuates, I really wish a "hint" (read, "Hint", not, "Answer) could be given. At the very least, for the developers to release an update which provides hints/access to "the secret".

I've spent, literally, HOURS in that cemetery. At first, I thought that maybe a "trigger volume" was at the front of every tombstone. And if the user spent time at each one reading each epitath, something would happen, but it did not appear to be so.

I've dug and dug and cannot seem to find "the secret". Perhaps a break would help and when I return I will see it with fresh eyes.

Thanks everyone that is interested in this. It's been really intruiging!

[Fizzel]

I have screenshots. Is there a way to post them to the thread?

[Tackerot]

Originally posted by Fizzel:

I have screenshots. Is there a way to post them to the thread?

Test

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1491656792

If you see the above thumbnail/link to a test screenshot, I did it via this method (thanks user: Temper for the instructions):

Choose the screenshot you just took and upload it to steam (View ->Screenshots)

Select the screenshot that you just uploaded on your screenshot page (may need to refresh*) and copy link adress (highlight the address and choose copy link address).

In your post on the forum right click and choose paste.Steam will automatically make a thumbnail.

[eiphone67]

Any new insights ?

[eiphone67]

I guess this is the Screenshot fizzel wanted to share...

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1479347247

Edit: Translates with "Seal That Grove To Your Second Coming, Eternal Lady Remembrance"

Just a quick thought:
Maybe the number of graves lines up with the number of Embryos in Act 17 and those are connected?

[Tackerot]

Originally posted by eiphone67:

Any new insights ?

Thank you, eiphone67, for keeping this alive.

I have not had any new insights, but that is mainly because Life has gotten in the way.

Your input of the number of graves/embryos in act 17 require consideration.

Thank you for keeping this mystery alive. The devs don't seem to be, which makes me wonder if this is a red herring.