Midgard Player

Item

Image
Description	Every few years, Midgard tries to break into entertainment. This was apparently supposed to be its most recent attempt. It's a media player, but one without any buttons or other control surfaces. Apparently, it hooks into your comm and "composes" music by taking data samples from your stores. And, of course, the processor is locked down so it won't do anything else. It's also supposed to do something with synching up to your heartbeat. Unfortunately, along with buttons, it's also missing a manual.
Type	Gadget (Music) (Usable)
Use	See below

Sources

Zack's House of Coins, originally released on June 29, 2010 (2 unearthly coins)

+ Zack's description (click to show)

What are you trading?

Hey, I just got in a new shipment of Midgard prototypes. They apparently tried to break into the entertainment market again.

I guess they’ll never learn that no matter how slick their tech is, Zaibatsu will eat them alive. Anyway, I… happened across a bunch of the media players they were going to release.

They take computer data and turn it into music, no joke. The quality varies, I’ll say that, but even the stuff that ticks me off really ticks me off, so that’s something, right? It’s not the same assembly line pop stuff.

Kind of sad I’d side with the machine being more creative than people, but there you have it.

Oh, and I’ve got a whole slew of other stuff. Just point at whatever strikes your fancy.

That new media player

Heh, it’s like clockwork. Every couple years, Midgard tries to break into the entertainment market, dethrone Zaibatsu.

But every time they fail and unload the sweet prototypes on middle management. As luck would have it, a bunch of their middle managers work across the street from my old place. And some of the prototype… fell off a truck.

Yeah, I wouldn't believe that either, sorry. Anyway, this time they made a music player that writes its own music. It’s actually pretty cool in that geeky, "I want to listen to computer code" sort of way.

Oh, and it’s supposed to monitor your heartbeat and seed data based on that, but the heart… meter thing isn’t very sensitive. That’s the official reason they canned the project, actually, but getting assigned to Midgard Entertainment is like a death sentence anyway.

I mean the figurative kind, not the kind that Midgard Security deals in.

Overview

Winning fights with the Midgard Player will sometimes give you one of five recordings. You can use these recordings to gain XP (and other hidden effects?). Jump to details about Gaining and Using Recordings

You can also feed the Midgard Player programs or stored data (including the above recordings) to gain lot of beneficial music effects for 10 (or more) turns. Jump to Details about Gaining Effects from the Player

The Midgard Player can also be ungraded with electronics crafting to allow it to work as a computer, with its own set of Novos functions.

The unlocked Midgard Player, monitored Midgard Player and gold Midgard Player function the same as the base form except where indicated.

+ Click for a Summary of Upgraded Forms and Effects

The basic Midgard player can be crafted into these advanced forms:

Form	Effects	Notes
unlocked Midgard player	2 Processor 4 Memory -5 Code Finesse
monitored Midgard player	+1 Morale 2 Processor 4 Memory -5 Code Finesse	makes recordings drop more often?
gold Midgard Player	+1 Morale 4 Processor 4 Memory -5 Code Finesse	50% bonus to the duration of effects gained by feeding it code

All upgraded forms of the Midgard player get this die in Novos hacking:

Summary of Effects

Music	Effect
Uneven Seed	+4 Perception
Hurried Seed	+4 Reflexes
Ponderous Seed	+4 Strength
Metered Seed	+4 Will
Blitz Seed	+2 Power when your target doesn't have a Technique Moderately (+2) Chance of PvP Encounters
Suspicious Harmony/Seed	+2/+4 Etheric Power
Suspenseful Harmony/Seed	+2/+4 Evasion Power
Shrieking Harmony/Seed	+2/+4 Fire Power
Static Harmony/Seed	+2/+4 Melee Power
Sniper Harmony/Seed	+2/+4 Ranged Power
Stalking Harmony/Seed	+2/+4 Stealth Power
Twisted Harmony	+4 Etheric Power +4 Eclipse Duration
Whispered Harmony	+4 Fire Power +4 Eclipse Duration
Ocean Harmony	+4 Evasion Power +2 Melee Defense +2 Ranged Defense
Hidden Harmony	+4 Stealth Power +2 Melee Defense +2 Ranged Defense
Unpretentious Harmony	+4 Melee Power +4 Etheric Defense
Focused Harmony	+4 Ranged Power +4 Etheric Defense

Uses

This image is displayed above any use text whenever you use a Player:

Equipping

In addition to the standard message for equipping an item, you get an additional message if you equip the Player with (non-Player) music active and you have duration of one of the Player's effects left from last time you had the Player equipped:

Your music player gives a particularly shrill bit of feedback and overwrites what you were listening to.
(hidden: lose all duration of the non-Midgard Player music)

Or, if you have an Extreme Bass Player or Extreme Bass XIII Player (? - needs checking) equipped:

Your music player gives a particularly shrill bit of feedback and deactivates your competing bass player.

Acquiring Recordings

Winning fights with the Midgard Player equipped and no music playing (or a base seed?) will occasionally give a recording. This happens every (10-40?) turns with a base Player and (every XX-XX? presumably faster) turns with a Monitored Midgard Player:

You've won the battle!

Your media player beeps cheerfully, apparently indicating it's done with a recording.
You recorded: <recording>

The type of recording dropped seems to depend on the base attribute for the techniques you use. The associatee attribute also determines the type of XP the recording will give if used (see below).

Attribute	Recording
Perception	recorded consideration
Reflexes	recorded speed
Strength	recorded strain
Will	recorded pause

Using a Blitz Popper (or few?) with a Player equipped will occasionally give you:

You pop a handful of Blitz. It's thankfully flavorless, but you can feel the jittery energy moments later.

Your Media Player chirps pleasantly as though it's just finished a recording.

You recorded: recorded Blitz

Using Recordings

Recordings are stored data that you can use to gain XP and attune yourself to the Player. Recordings can be also fed to the player to gain effects (see Effects below).

Using a recording gives three paragraphs of results:

<paragraph 1: use message>
<paragraph 2: progress message>
<paragraph 3: XP gained>

Using four recordings in one day will attune you to the music of the Player. This effect resets at rollover. It's not clear what being attuned does.

First Paragraph

Recording	Use Message
recorded consideration	You pore over the recording(s), trying to understand what <it/they> might mean.
recorded speed	You try to understand the rapid rhythms underlying the recording.
recorded strain	You strain yourself mentally, trying to understand the nature of the data. But moreover, you strain yourself physically to see if you can match the strange strain and error terms in the recording.
recorded pause	You focus, trying to eke whatever small bits of data you can from the recording.
recorded Blitz	You look at the recording, trying to understand how the recorded heart didn't explode. It reminds you uncomfortably of your own mortality or lack thereof.

Second paragraph

The second paragraph changes depending on how many recordings you've used today:

1st time:

Hmmmmm…. yeah, that doesn't make any sense.

1st time while having a complimentary base seed active:

You tap along with the music, understanding the strange patterns of data just a little better.

1st time using a recorded Blitz:

<no second paragraph>

2nd time:

You're starting to get a hang of these recordings. Your heart taps a bit in time as you examine them.

3rd time:

You almost have the hang of these recordings. They're weird, but your body feels like it's starting to tune into them somehow.

4th+ time:

You think you really understand these recordings. You can almost feel your heart beating along with them.

Third Paragraph

The default XP gain for using a recording is 1 XP for the first use, 2 XP for the second use, and 3 XP for the third and subsequent uses. This resets at rollover. The type of XP gained is determined by the attribute associated with the recording you used.

Having a complimentary base seed playing when you use a recording will add +1 XP to the gain, althought the message will not change for the second recording onward. (This bonus does not occur for any of the advanced seeds/harmonies.)

With the recorded Blitz the XP received follows the pattern of 3 random XP for the first use, 4 random XP on the second use, and 5 random XP from the third use onward. Additionally recorded Blitzes also do not receive a bonus when synced with Blitz Seed.

Gaining Effects from the Player

When the Player is equipped, you have the option to use it, feeding it stored data or programs and gaining effects.

The very first time you use a Player in a given run you receive this text, followed by the normal Player text:

A friendly female voice fills your ears. "Hello, new user. Welcome to the future… with Midgard. Please wait a moment while we map your body for optimal music sampling and delivery… Thank you."

If not currently playing anything:

The player sits quiet, waiting for some input. Unlike any normal music player, it doesn't even have a "skip" button.

It will accept data from your comm, though.

<list of your data/programs> Seed Data

Or, if you have music that originated from the Player active:

A small green light traces across the 'M' logo at the front of the player, apparently indicating that it's playing music.

<list of your data/programs> Seed Data

Or, if some music that did not originate with the Player is currently active:

A small red light traces across the 'M' logo at the front of the player, making it look vaguely sinister and angry.

<list of your data/programs> Seed Data

Feeding data to a Player will give you turns of a music effect —results vary depending on what kind of music, if any, you already have active. In all cases, the data/programs you feed to a Player will be consumed. Feeding data to a gold Midgard Player will yield a 50% bonus to the duration of the effect gained.

Some of the effects you get are randomized per beta reset, but will remain consistent day-to-day for the duration of that run. Additionally, feeding it any program that uses Fractal Code will re-randomize the player (see below).

Mechanics

With no music playing, the Player will accept recordings (see above) and give 10 (15) turns of the corresponding "base seed", with this message:

You feed your <recording> into the player and it generates a piece based on the data.

With a base seed playing, adding code can upgrade your music to one of 6 harmonies. The names of the harmony effects all start with the letter "S" and are referred to as SH1 through SH6 in the charts below. The 6 "S" words are Sniper, Shrieking, Suspicious, Static, Suspenseful and Stalking. These results are randomized per player, but remain consistent over the course of a given reset.

Each harmony can be upgraded to a corresponding seed, called SS1 through SS6 in the charts below.

• For example: If the Sniper Harmony works out to be SH1 in the charts below, SH1 will always be Sniper Harmony, and SS1 will always be Sniper Seed (for this reset).

The Midgard Player came out before the Novos hacking revamp. It accepts both Oldos and Novos code. For purposes of the charts below, code types are designated as follows (this is not randomized):

Type	Novos Data	Oldos Data
A	networking functions	networking code
B	crash script	math subroutine
C	search script	file interface
D	command script	automation routine
E	Novos functionality updates Novos system updates	language interpreter
F	filtering script	security patches
-	Secured Transmission Functions	Orderly Code
-	Spectrum Transmission Functions	Midgard Internal Code

Adding code when you already have music playing can give various messages and have various results. The charts below use this shorthand:

Shorthand	Message	Result
"ex"	The player interprets your <data> into the existing piece.	Adds X duration to current music
"pro"	After you feed the player your <data/program>, it chitters in what sounds like protest for a minute before settling on a simple piece. Apparently that was a bit complex for it to process.	Lose all turns of music playing, and gain 10 (or 15) of one of the four base seeds (Hurried/Metered/Ponderous/Uneven)
"fb"	You feed your <data> into the player. It stops for a second and gives you shrieking feedback so bad you have to turn off the volume for a bit. When you come back it's working on a totally different piece.	Lose all turns of music playing, and gain 10 (or 15) of one of the four base seeds (Hurried/Metered/Ponderous/Uneven)
SS#/SH#	You feed your <data> into the player. It compensates for the new data, weaving it into the existing composition.	Convert all duration of your current effect into a new one and add X duration

Adding duration: When you add duration to an effect, you gain 10 turns (or 15 with a gold Midgard Player) per module of code you added. Simple code (e.g. crash script) contains only one module. More complex code generally contains the number of modules used to craft it. Data and programs that are not player-craftable are also comprised of modules. If any module in a piece of complex code would be woven into or extend the duration of an effect, feeding the player that code will react as if all of the modules in that code were of the appropriate type.

+ Click for Data Composition Chart

Unfortunately, this chart is only for Oldos modules and desperately needs to be updated.

AR = automation routine
FI = file interface
MS = math subroutine
NC = networking code
SP = security patches
OC = orderly code
LI = language interpreter
MIC= Midgard internal code
FC = fractal code

Program	AR	FI	MS	NC	SP	Other	Total
ad spider							?
ad template							?
autoturret memory	1?		1?				2?
Blackthorn Alpha	2		1	2	3	OC	9
Blackthorn v5			1	1		OC	3
Blackthorn v6	1		1	1	1	OC	5
chaotic firewall				1	1	FC	3*
chaotic tester				1	2	FC	4*
code injector		1			2		3
crystal Blackthorn	1		1	2	3	2 OC	9
crystal tester				1	2	OC	4
daily tester	1			1	3		5
data scrubber	3	3	1		4		11
deep file scan	1	1			2		4
defensive jammer	1			3	3	LI	8
depth charge	1	2			4		7
eavesdropping tools				1	2	LI	4
Extreme Bass player	1?			1?			2?
file scan	1	1					2
fractal cheat	1		1			FC	3*
fractal loop	1					FC	2*
fractal tester	1			1	2	2 FC	6*
helidrone memory	1?		1?				2?
hound drone memory	1?		1?				2?
intrusive jammer		1		2	3	LI	7
intrusive search				3	2		5
mailing list	1?						2?
Midgard Blackthorn	1		1	1	1	MIC, OC	6
Midgard Protection Suite				1	1		2
Midgard protector				1	1	MIC	3?
Midgard shrieker				2	1	LI, MIC	5?
Midgard tester				1	2	MIC	4?
network interpreter				1		LI	2
network jammer				2	1	LI	4
network scan	2	1	1	1	2	LI	8
optimizing code	1		1				2
pep program							?
primitive translator							?
quick scan	2	1	1				4
REM timer							?
SDnano memory	1?						?
security trial				1?	1?		?
security updater	1				1		2
shining barrier				1	1	OC	3
software firewall				1	1		2
spider drone memory							2
target search				2			2
the Tar Pit				1	3		4
unsettling loop	1					2 FC	3*
updating firewall	1			1	2		4
vulnerability database					2		2
vulnerability tester				1	2		3
white noise producer							?

Seeding with no music playing

(not random)

Seed Data	Result
RCon	Uneven Seed
RSpd	Hurried Seed
RStr	Ponderous Seed
RPau	Metered Seed
RBtz	Blitz Seed
Anything else	pro

---

Seeding with base Seeds playing (Hurried/Metered/Ponderous/Uneven)

Current music	Seed Data
	(not random)							(random)
	A	B	C	D	E	F		RCon	RSpd	RStr	RPau
Uneven Seed	ex	pro	ex	pro	pro	ex		ex	SH1	SH2	SH3
Hurried Seed	ex	pro	pro	ex	ex	pro		SH1	ex	SH4	SH5
Ponderous Seed	pro	ex	pro	ex	pro	ex		SH2	SH4	ex	SH6
Metered Seed	pro	ex	ex	pro	ex	pro		SH3	SH5	SH6	ex
Blitz Seed	pro	pro	pro	pro	pro	pro		ex	ex	ex	ex

---

Seeding with S___ Harmonies playing

Current music	Seed Data
	(random)							(random)
	A	B	C	D	E	F		RCon	RSpd	RStr	RPau
SH1	SS1	pro	pro	pro	pro	pro		ex	ex	fb	fb
SH2	pro	SS2	pro	pro	pro	pro		ex	fb	ex	fb
SH3	pro	pro	SS3	pro	pro	pro		ex	fb	fb	ex
SH4	pro	pro	pro	SS4	pro	pro		fb	ex	ex	fb
SH5	pro	pro	pro	pro	SS5	pro		fb	ex	fb	ex
SH6	pro	pro	pro	pro	pro	SS6		fb	fb	ex	ex

---

Seeding with S___ Seeds playing

Current music	Seed Data
	(random)							(random)
	A	B	C	D	E	F		RCon	RSpd	RStr	RPau
SS1	ex	pro	pro	pro	pro	pro		ex	ex	fb	fb
SS2	pro	ex	pro	pro	pro	pro		ex	fb	ex	fb
SS3	pro	pro	ex	pro	pro	pro		ex	fb	fb	ex
SS4	pro	pro	pro	ex	pro	pro		fb	ex	ex	fb
SS5	pro	pro	pro	pro	ex	pro		fb	ex	fb	ex
SS6	pro	pro	pro	pro	pro	ex		fb	fb	ex	ex

---

Advanced Seeding

(not random)

Current music	Seed Data
	Sec Trans Func/ Orderly Code	Spec Trans Func/ Midgard Internal Code	Protein Database
Static H/S	Unpretentious Harmony	ex	ex
Sniper H/S	Focused Harmony	ex	ex
Suspicious H/S	ex	Twisted Harmony	ex
Shrieking H/S	ex	Whispered Harmony	ex
Suspenseful H/S	ex	ex	Ocean Harmony
Stalking H/S	ex	ex	Hidden Harmony

You can extend the duration of these advanced harmonies by adding the same kind of code (A through F) that would extend the seed from which they were derived. Adding any other type of code will give the "chitters in protest" message and results. For example, Unpretentious Harmony derives from Static seed. If Static Seed is SS1 for you, adding A code will extend it and any other kind of code will chitter in protest.

---

Seeding Fractal Code

When feeding any program/data that uses Fractal Code, gives this message:

Eventually it stops, replaced by an calm female voice saying "Automated memory reconfiguration required. We apologize for any inconvenience or lost music. Thank you for heading into the future… with Midgard."

<And, if you have one of the upgraded forms:>
Your player smells faintly like burning circuitry.

Getting this message will re-randomize the distribution of the S___ Harmonies and Seeds.

Additionally, if you have the unlocked-, monitored- or gold Midgard Player, it will reset it to the original form. Kinak says this is due to product design.

Other Uses

Unlock a Midgard Player by replacing its locked processor with a normal Processor Chip

Midgard Player Processor Chip

=	Unlocked Midgard Player

This item cannot be salvaged.

This item cannot be added to a gang stash.

Remaining Mysteries

According to Podcast 51, this is one of the unearthly items with the most unfound content.

From Podcast 32:

Q: Is the trick to upgrading the advanced harmonies from the Midgard Player obvious or obtuse?
A: [Hahahaha] Pretty obtuse.

From Podcast 27:

Q: When using the various recordings it produces there is a bonus to the XP gained if the recording used matches the base seed you have playing. I'm curious if the "tapping along" message for the first recording is just some flavor text or is there something more in play beyond the XP bonus?
A: There's quite a bit going on with the recording's if I recall. *checks* Yeah, quite a number of interactions there, one of which might lead you to discover fabulous things that I totally forgotten about.

This almost certainly unlocks something we have yet to discover.

From Podcast 20:

Q: Do the high level s-seeds (suspicious seed, sniper seed, etc.) lead to anything? "Seed" implies it would, but I haven't been able to find anything.
A: Yes, they are not the top level. For reference, there are 35 music buffs in the game, most (~half?) of them related to the player. A lot are pretty cool!

From Podcast 41:

There are a lot of songs there. I think you have all parts you need, the rest is playing around with combinations.

From Podcast 54:

Item #1313 is related to the Midgard Player. It's a "big thing" that requires

some tricky stuff to get that. Some tricky stuff that I love and makes me happy.

Regarding the message that "You think you really understand these recordings. You can almost feel your heart beating along with them":

That whole set of messages are sort of tied together into a system. So that message itself doesn't mean a ton. I would go so far to say that it doesn't mean anything. But as part of like … as an indicator of where you are on the track it might be significant. The stuff that comes after it it is generally — and by after it I mean literally the following paragraphs — is generally more relevant. And that's sort of trying to help steer you a bit as far as what's going on and how to get those.

(Effects #226-229 are right in the middle of blocks of Midgard Player-related content)

The following pages are no longer maintained, but may contain valuable spading data, especially in the discussion posts:

• Midgard Player (Pre-Novos)
• Messages from the Midgard Player
• Midgard Player Recordings
• Using the Midgard Player