Precursor alphabet
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Added by 09adouThe Precursor alphabet is a script created by Naughty Dog that substitutes English letters for precursor symbols used in the Jak and Daxter series. In the games you can read various messages in Precursor if you have a legend. For example, the majority of the Precursor items in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy have the letters 'Life'. Not all Precursor text actually contains sensible words though, there is plenty of filler text without any apparent meaning.
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Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
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Buildings, walls and landscapeEdit
- Majority of Precursor buildings, platforms, launch pads and etcetera: Life
- Some Precursor objects (eg. Roof of Citadel): Power
- Sides of half-buried columns on Geyser Rock and Forbidden Jungle: Quest
- Lost Precursor City:
- Majority of walls, ends of the colored pipes, interior of the Chamber: Fuel (often backwards)
- Some walls, rim of large whirlpool and platform that lowers to the city: Life
- Some entryways (strip of text on the floor), platform after the Dark Eco chamber: Tank
- Step just below the Power Cell chamber in the platform room, some floor edges: Tubes
ObjectsEdit
- Precursor Orbs:
- Top row: Naughty Dog
- Bottom row: Madman
- Eco vents: Power (outer rim), Strength (inner rim)
- Note: G and H are alternate letter forms.
- Cap on blocked Eco vents: Pow(er) (repeated fragment)
- Dark Eco Bomb (opening cut scene): Beware
- Fisherman's bandanna: Fish
- See-saw platforms in Boggy Swamp: Power
- Lost Precursor City:
- Platforms sliding back and forth beneath power coils: Power
- Platform that sets off the Dark Eco chamber: Danger
- Rim beneath the Dark Eco chamber platform: Power
- Snowy Mountain:
- Dark Eco containers frozen in ice: Power (top), SOBW (bottom)
- Precursor Blockers, buttons that activate platforms leading to Lurker gate switch: You are getting really dizzy (in a circle)
Game cover and alternate letter formsEdit
On the cover of TPL, there are rows of Precursor text. The remarkable thing about these sentences is that there are different letter forms for E, I, G and M. There is no reason for there to be these different forms, as they do not reoccur in any other branch of the series.
- Precursor Orb behind Jak on the cover: One desti-. (This could be either one destiny or one destination.)
Map textEdit
Finally, in what is probably the largest piece of Precursor text of all the Jak and Daxter games, there is a great deal of code around the outside of the map that comes with The Precursor Legacy. This reads:
In ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep, the silent giants wait to be awakened. Deep will their slumber be, silent their once echoing voices, until the world has no memory of their beginnings. In the gloom they will watch, and they will wait. Those who go to them for answers will return only with new questions. But these will come when silence ends. The one who carries the light will awaken the voices. With him one whose fate was twisted toward darkness long ago, in the time before time when the light bursts from the earth the answers to the questions will begin. But only begin, for still the world will not be ready to learn the truth of its past, or the secrets of its future.
The map text is full of different references to the storyline, and may help to explain the ending. The silent giants are the Precursors themselves, possibly referring to the robots. The following lines relate how the stories of the Precursors have become almost myth, and the statement that searching only results in "new questions" relates well to Samos, who tells us how his entire family line has searched for answers and found nothing.
Jak is the one who carries the light, explained at first by the Oracle in Sandover Village, and it is presumed that Daxter is the mentioned companion, explaining how it was his destiny to fall into the Dark Eco, presumably for the sake of turning into a Precursor. The "time before time" could be read as a reference to the way in which Samos and Jak were sent back in time, and this past in when the "light bursts forth from the earth" from the Rift Gate atop Gol and Maia's Citadel.
Indeed it seems the answers to Samos' initial questions about the Precursors do begin from here on out, however the writing correctly explains how the process will be slow. Its final mention of time gives a good hint of what is to come in Jak II.
It is of course hard to know precisely what Naughty Dog had thought up in terms of the story line at this point. However, knowing this translation suggests that they had already decided upon the Rift Gate's ability to transport the characters through time, or at least upon the story element of time travel. It also can explain the meaning of the great light for those who have only played the first game; a welcome help as many find the 100 Cell ending infuriating.
Jak IIEdit
City signs, posters and bannersEdit
- Neon signs:
- Sign above Hip Hog Heaven Saloon: Hip Hog
- Sign above the bar inside the Hip Hog (pre-Naughty Ottsel): Hip Hog
- Sign above the bar after the Hip Hog becomes the Naughty Ottsel: Daxter
- Green sign inside the Hip Hog Saloon (left from the door): Morgan
- Large flashing sign with yellow text on pink and blue background: Praxis
- Neon bazaar signs:
- Above Brutter's fish shop: Fish
- Sign displaying five fish: Fresh Fish
- Sign with yellow text and blue border resembling a scroll: Rugs
- Vertical sign with yellow text and pink border: Tools
- Lit signs:
- Signs depicting Erol: Erol
- Untranslated: Very small letters along the bottom
- Signs depicting Baron Praxis : Obey
- Untranslated: Very small letters along the top
- Red signs depicting the Baron's coat of arms: Praxis
- Blue signs depicting a skyscraper (green text): Future
- Blue signs with light red text, or light red with yellow text: Hip Hog
- Signs depicting Krew in his wrestling mask: Hip Hog
- Signs depicting a Krimzon Guard: Peace
- Signs depicting a Metal Head (red "dripping paint" text): Enemy
- Signs depicting a bottle of liquor: Happy Pirate
- Signs depicting three women's tops: Fashion (blue text) NOW (white text)
- Signs depicting a tall young man and a stout older man: Doctors
- Signs depicting a small blue zoomer: The Good Life: GT (followed by two unknown symbols)
- Signs depicting a medium-sized yellow cruiser: Breaks Down: M (followed by one unknown symbol)
- Small signs with purple text on orange: Onin Knows
- Signs with black & white letters and red paw mark: Naughty Dog
- Orange and yellow signs with white text: KREW: Heavy Industry
- Directional signs: The majority of these signs are in the Port, however a few may also be found in Main Town.
- Green sign with yellow "turn" arrow in the center and white text on top & bottom: All Mail
- Green sign with a red circle struck with a line ("No") and white text: Unloading (i.e. "No Unloading")
- Green sign with yellow text followed by a white left-pointing arrow and white text: Loading: Use Left Load Area
- Green sign with yellow text followed by two groups of white letters and arrows: Unloading: A B (arrow pointing right), C D E (center-turning arrow)
- Green sign with 5 white arrows and white text: A (first arrow, pointing left) B (second arrow, pointing left) Ca (third arrow, pointing straight) Cb (fourth arrow, turning right) D (fifth arrow, pointing right)
- Signs depicting Erol: Erol
- Posters, banners and painted signs:
- Oracle's Hut wall scrolls: The noble / will be / assured of / a place / in history / this being / granted / a form of / life to / be forever / venerated / by their / ancestors / as one who / lived a / life of / good
- Underground HQ posters:
- Poster of Erol (behind Torn's desk): Erol, Take Out At First Opportunity, Extremely Dangerous, Enemy Number...
- Posters of Baron Praxis: Obey (crossed out)
- Bazaar signs and banners:
- Blue (or occasionally grey) vertical banners: Market
- Large banners strung between buildings: Big Sale
- Small sign in alcoves: Sale, Large - L, Medium - L, Small - L
- Small sign inside Brutter's fish shop: Fresh Fish, Good Soup, CHEAP, Good... (last word illegible, may be Gruel)
- Racing posters:
- Before the Class 3 race: Class 3
- After the Class 3 race: Class 2
- After the Class 2 race (depicting Erol): Class 1
- After the Class 1 race (depicting Jak and Daxter): Champions
- Stadium banners: Held by crowd spectators.
- Light blue sign with red text: Erol
- Red sign with blue and white-outlined black text: We Love Erol
- Green sign with yellow and red text: Go Erol
- White sign with blue and green text: Speed Kills
VehiclesEdit
Letters are written normally on the left side of vehicles, but reversed on the right.
- NYFE Racer:
- Large front fin: FB
- Small front fin: WE
- Chassis: RB
- Air Train:
- Sides: Sophia (large white text), KGT (small yellow text)
- Untranslated: Small white text beneath the front cab window
- Top: Tate (large blue text)
- Untranslated: Small yellow text
- Sides: Sophia (large white text), KGT (small yellow text)
- HellCat Cruisers: TSL
Buildings and wallsEdit
- Mountain Temple: The Temple repeats words and phrases from The Precursor Legacy.
- Decorative borders: Life (generally upside-down or backwards)
- Trigger buttons and platform beneath the Lens: You are getting really dizzy
- Haven City: Much Haven graffiti and/or building markings consist of symbols that resemble Precurian letters (or even English), but are not translatable. None of them are actual words, however translatable occurrences are as follows:
- Three large blue-gray letters underlined by short broken vertical bars (Port area): IZW
- Two lines of letters underlined with one bar: ABR, KLZ (sometimes backwards)
- Three lines of text underlined by two broken horizontal bars and one faint line: HWPIAS, ASLKHD, AS AQO
- Tomb of Mar walls/frames/borders: Tomb (sometimes in reverse)
- Weapons Factory platforms: Caution
Items and miscellaneous objectsEdit
- Clothing:
- Erol's right shoulder-guard: Commander
- Onin's blouse: Random Precursor letters
- Onin's hat (rim): Onin
- Generic items:
- Warp Gates: Life (unchanged from The Precursor Legacy)
- Eco Barrels: Barrel of Eco (often backwards, particularly in cut scenes)
- Boxes by Vin's hiding place at the Strip Mine:
- Two pale grey letters: XE
- Yellow label: This is a b
- Dark grey text: Smal Tex
- Baron's public announcement hologram: A B C D (backwards, repeated)
- Bottles on shelves in Bazaar: Oil, Soap and X
- Small green containers in Keira's garage: Oil
- Specific items:
- Rift Gate: Amy and Tate at the top, Titus and Brenner on the sides
- Time Map: Time Map
- Gear machine in Mountain Temple: Life
- Machinery in No Man's Canyon: Canci
- Tip of Shard tower in No Man's Canyon: Ranks
- Platform below Shard holder at tower base in No Man's Canyon: A B C D E F G ...
- Mar's Statue, armor: Defender
- Mar's Statue, sword's blade: Honor
- Base of the Oracle: Fuel (backwards)
- Letters on the Metal Head Mash game: WAC
- Power Station Computer Screens:
- Eye-level computer screens: Morgan is still missed even after a year has passed
- Large computer screen (various lines in random order):
- Morgan I miss you
- Morgan
- Thirteen years hard time
- There will never be another
- Good dog
- I will always love you
Jak 3Edit
- Damas's staff: We (inner orb) and Pride (outer part)
- Eco Mine elevators: Elevator (backwards)
- Bomb Train in the Eco Mine: Explosives (yellow text) and Danger
- Boxed explosives on Bomb Train: Explosives (yellow text) and Danger
- Blue tanks on Bomb Train: Be careful
- Red barrels on Bomb Train: Be careful and Explosives
- The poster of Erol from Underground HQ in Jak II is duplicated on the inside right-hand wall of the Naughty Ottsel (Erol. Take Out At First Opportunity. Extremely Dangerous. Enemy Number...)
- The Ottsel Leader Precursor headplate: Sight
- The Precursors themselves have Precursor letters on the trim of their robes.
- Air train: Sophia (sides) and Tate (top)
- New Haven City signs:
- Large signs (orange and black striped backgrounds): Haven City (red text) and A New Tomorrow (blue text)
- Medium signs (yellow text on black and blue design): The New Haven City
- Signs depicting a Freedom League soldier: F L
- Signs depicting Count Veger Veger
- Yellow sign with red background letter and black text: The background letter is B but the word in black (starting with "B") needs to be translated.
- Blue sign with FL insignia: We Protect
Jak X: Combat RacingEdit
- Sign in G.T. Blitz's show: Liv (live)
- Untranslated ticker reel at the bottom of Blitz's show.
- Movable Barrels within the Dirt Pit Arena: Stay in school
Jak and Daxter: the Lost FrontierEdit
- Sign by the forcefield guarding the entrance to the castaway's house: No Robots
- Sign in the Phantom Blade: Open Sky
- Stone slabs in barraks: random repeating letters.
- Pressure activated buttons: Teleport
- Big stone pots: Preurn
- Precursor orbs: Precursor (top), Madman (bottom)
- Eagle poster in Barracks: Die for a cause
- Dark soldier poster in Barracks: Warrior
- Pushable pillars: Push This
- Light Eco Pump (lower box when red): Reset Pump
- Auto save box: A. Save
- Sign in Barter's pub: Brawl
Jak and Daxter CollectionEdit
On the PS3 XMB, when you don't press X on the game to start it, a picture comes up. The picture has the following text:
- Top Row: bcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzab (The alphabet, starting with B)
- Middle Row: Mass Media
- Bottom Row: XMB Michael H?L? (Some letters are obscured by characters in the foreground.)
On the main menu of the game, when you scroll down to credits, the background is replaced with a temple. It has three rows of text:
- Top Row: Jak Collection
- Middle Row: Jak and Daxter
- Bottom Row: Mass Media
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