Shangri-la on Mars...but how? A possible answer!

[FatedTitan]

So, wait.

 

The Shang we see in the comic book, does that whole being sucked into that vortex thing occur before or after the O4 gets there? Not to mention why. :3

 

 

 

If that's correct, that means the temples must be below sea-level. 

Great eye ! :3 

 

 

Before.  The comic book pages are telling us what happened to this place and why it got to how it is.  You can especially see this with Moon's.

[Electric Jesus]

I don't see why a biodome is so far fetched. If humans could build one on the moon and achieve the same results, you would think that the aliens responsible for the MPD could make a large transparent one. Plus that kind of biodome is usually self-sustaining. The plant life creates a cycle of O2 and CO2. Didn't you ever do that science experiment in elementary school where you put the plant in a 2-liter bottle and seal it? The plant stays alive on its own. The sciences involved are not complicated. The only difficulty in achieving it would be in constructing the dome itself, which as I said was done before.

I'm not sure what to think about that water. And what's going on at the top left of the left page? You can see a black line coming out from the edge of the cliff disappearing on the edge of the page. That could be a "seam" in the biodome, like the hexagonal shapes that make up the moon biodome. One thing to note: there is a lot of water on the map. An active waterfall and slide, and hydroelectric wheels. That water we see on the page might be the beginning of the construction of an artificial waterfall. I'm not sure what the source of the water is or where it goes. It might work along the lines of a fountain, where the same water is re-pumped over and over.

I don't necessarily believe that it is on mars, but I'd like to try and argue in that theory's favor. It would just be so cool if it was true.

[The Clay Bird]

What's so impossible about it having something to do with Mars?

Let's not forget a guy teleported to the Moon with no equipment whatsoever, walked around and lit a torch like it was nothing. 

 

I'm not saying Shang's location is on mars, but there's definitely a correlation between Shangri-la and the planet Mars.

The devs have hinted to it plenty, and it's in the gamefiles. It's no coincidence, and it has to mean something. Although what exactly, is debatable. Some say it means Shang is on mars, others say Jimmy's just trolling.

 

Who knows. It could be a much smaller easter egg for all we know.

The whole theme of Shangri-La is pareidolia. Seeing faces and objects in clouds and old photos et cetera.

And there have been many people saying you can see egyptian statues, faces, footsteps, structures and most notably - pyramids on the surface of both mars and the moon.

 

So maybe that's what the whole mars thing is all about. It's definitely where they got their inspiration from to put the pyramid on Moon's surface in the loading screen.

 

 

 

Sometimes I also wonder. You can master time travel and invisible biodomes but you still look like primitive natives? Not to mention you still need water to start the Power. Which is odd considering the Perks are only there for gameplay purposes so why would they have a water generator if they have nothing to power?

The inhabitans certainly didn't master time travel. As soon as Group 935 showed up, they were forced to dig out 115.

The power switch is to power up all the various mining equipment, generators and mine cart you see around the map.

 

 

It's not that it is entirely impossible, it's that there is no real proof that it is, and absolutely no logical or story related reason why it would be.

 

@Black Hand Smith  that was a great point about the placebo effect.  Someone came up with this crazy theory of mars, and everyone took the sugar pill and really believes they are getting medicine.

 

again, if Shang was legit on mars, why would there have been absolutely no mention in subsequent maps indicating that!?  I bet jimmy z and the fellas had a looooonnng laugh after this whole thing happened

[The Clay Bird]

I don't see why a biodome is so far fetched. If humans could build one on the moon and achieve the same results, you would think that the aliens responsible for the MPD could make a large transparent one. Plus that kind of biodome is usually self-sustaining. The plant life creates a cycle of O2 and CO2. Didn't you ever do that science experiment in elementary school where you put the plant in a 2-liter bottle and seal it? The plant stays alive on its own. The sciences involved are not complicated. The only difficulty in achieving it would be in constructing the dome itself, which as I said was done before.

I'm not sure what to think about that water. And what's going on at the top left of the left page? You can see a black line coming out from the edge of the cliff disappearing on the edge of the page. That could be a "seam" in the biodome, like the hexagonal shapes that make up the moon biodome. One thing to note: there is a lot of water on the map. An active waterfall and slide, and hydroelectric wheels. That water we see on the page might be the beginning of the construction of an artificial waterfall. I'm not sure what the source of the water is or where it goes. It might work along the lines of a fountain, where the same water is re-pumped over and over.

I don't necessarily believe that it is on mars, but I'd like to try and argue in that theory's favor. It would just be so cool if it was true.

 

 

again, why?   i could argue that origins is really set on Pluto, becuase "BIODOMEZZZ" but again there is absolutely no reason to think that.  someone mentioned that the mountains color doesnt change during the "eclipse"  , ever think maybe the devs just didnt want to take the time to create an entire new backdrop for an easter egg step that a bunch of people never even activated?  Case in point, remember how when you go back to no man's land after the rockets hit earth on Moon, and you can see the exploded earth in the sky because they just re-used the sky art from the moon?  that doesnt mean no man's land teleported to mars or the moon or something, it is just glitch that showed a lazy shortcut to save time and money im sure.  We need to all stop drinking the mars kool aid

[Slade]

@the_clay_bird Here's the difference.

The devs have hinted to some 'big secret' in Shangri-La, something relating to the shang mountains (which are named vista_mars in the files). And indirectly to the planet Mars itself.

Let's get a list going to fill everyone in:

 

Shangri-La mountains?

— jimmy zielinski (@ZielinskiJimmy) June 28, 2012

 

@assyriannuni @CNN @KSherwoodOPS sounds like paradise!

— jimmy zielinski (@ZielinskiJimmy) March 13, 2013

 

+ The Soviet Lunar Landers around the map.

 

^ this is what spawned the Shang is on Mars theory. 

_______________

 

 

Jimmy has stated numerous times that he doesn't reveal secrets on twitter. Personally, I think every time he's being cryptic, it's not a troll, but some very obscure hint to an even more obscure secret the devs put into Zombies at some point that have yet to be discovered by the community.

[Electric Jesus]

@the_clay_bird that's the nature of the beast i'm afraid. Nothing is proven. The entire zombies storyline is like a blank jigsaw puzzle with 1000 perfectly rectangular pieces. Obviously we have some corner pieces (a confirmed date here, a confirmed location there) but it's up to the community to arrange them how they see fit. And meanwhile Jimmy Z will occasionally point to another blank piece and say "hmm, where do you think that one goes?" as if implying that it has an actual correct location.

[The Clay Bird]

@the_clay_bird that's the nature of the beast i'm afraid. Nothing is proven. The entire zombies storyline is like a blank jigsaw puzzle with 1000 perfectly rectangular pieces. Obviously we have some corner pieces (a confirmed date here, a confirmed location there) but it's up to the community to arrange them how they see fit. And meanwhile Jimmy Z will occasionally point to another blank piece and say "hmm, where do you think that one goes?" as if implying that it has an actual correct location.

 

 

 

well said @Electric Jesus  ,

 

either way, until there is any direct proof that shangri-la is on mars, and that it holds any sort of significance to the story as a whole, ill just continue thinking it is in the Himalayas as it is purported to be.  Remember the shrink ray gun's name did have latitude and longitude coordinates that matched up to the himalayas as well...

[InfestLithium]

 

either way, until there is any direct proof that shangri-la is on mars, and that it holds any sort of significance to the story as a whole, ill just continue thinking it is in the Himalayas as it is purported to be.  Remember the shrink ray gun's name did have latitude and longitude coordinates that matched up to the himalayas as well...

 

 

Suppose that the area was displaced after Group 935's involvement in Shangri-la - would that hold a different perspective on it? Direct proof of a map being in an unmarked location is as easy as throwing a pebble into the ocean and telling someone to find it. It was only stated that the map was originally from the Himalayas merely because of the name Shangri-la and what we have found about it.

 

As much as I'd like to not believe that Mars could host the map in any biological/geographical sense, there's too many eyes and details that support it. Whether we like to admit it or not, the mere fact that a file with the inclusion of "mars" has made this more potential fact than speculation. 

[Black Hand Smith]

 

 

either way, until there is any direct proof that shangri-la is on mars, and that it holds any sort of significance to the story as a whole, ill just continue thinking it is in the Himalayas as it is purported to be.  Remember the shrink ray gun's name did have latitude and longitude coordinates that matched up to the himalayas as well...

 

 

Suppose that the area was displaced after Group 935's involvement in Shangri-la - would that hold a different perspective on it? Direct proof of a map being in an unmarked location is as easy as throwing a pebble into the ocean and telling someone to find it. It was only stated that the map was originally from the Himalayas merely because of the name Shangri-la and what we have found about it.

 

As much as I'd like to not believe that Mars could host the map in any biological/geographical sense, there's too many eyes and details that support it. Whether we like to admit it or not, the mere fact that a file with the inclusion of "mars" has made this more potential fact than speculation. 

 

 

 

You say that Just because the word mars is in the files means that it is possible. However... The Map Moon has coding in it that reads Paris. Does this mean that Moon is in Paris? "Zombie_Paris".  The coding including the word Mars is not enough evidence to start speculating that shangri-la is on Mars. The only thing it does do is open a floor for debating on whether or not Shangri-la could have once been proposed as a Mars map yet changed before release. Just like Paris became Moon.

 

I believe this is more possible because if you look at the layout for Moon you will be able to tell what used to be what in Paris.

 

What if the reason we have so many tunnels in Shangri-la is because the Original Map was going to suggest that there was something going on underneath the surface of mars? What if the mountains were originally going to be part of Mars but they cut that out and left the mountains the way they were?

[InfestLithium]

You've just stated yourself that it is entirely possible. A name does mean everything, given that there is a premise. By your example, two situations can happen: a found item that contains a particular name which doesn't follow with what's given to us was the original concept, or an item is given a different name with no substitution. Shangri-la's "mars" file fits the second premise. It's a contrapositive; in order to prove something to be true, you must prove that it is not true. And there's no way to disprove that those red mountains are NOT belonging to Mars, eh?

 

I'm not fully stating that it used to be a Mars map - or is one - just because the file name. Look at all the other posts prior to your statement. I only suggested that it could be located on Mars because there was a file name associated with it. Why else would you name a file that? If the map is not set on Mars, then that would mean it was originally supposed to be on it. And if that's still not the case, then why else name it such? Just because the devs said "oh hey some mountains from Mars would totally be cool as a backdrop for an exotic and thriving jungle"? Not the case, friendo.

[Electric Jesus]

I'm not really a fan of the contrapositive argument, because as long as something can't be disproven, it must be considered potentially possible. In general it's just a "keep an open mind" kind of thing, but we usually like proof around these parts. I wouldn't call anything proven about this theory. There is no proof. But there is evidence. There is a difference. It can't be proven or disproven without a doubt, but some evidence is there, so it's at this point it's just a matter of what we choose to believe.

This reminds me of the Portal 2 Companion Cube theory. Anyone heard of it?

So the theory is that the "weight" from the weighted companion cube comes from the bodies of dead test subjects. There is actually a lot of evidence to support this. for one thing, if a conpanion cube had a dead human in it, when it passes through an emancipation grid the cube would disappear and the body would plop out on the ground. But by a series of coincidences the cube never actually meets these grids. In the first game you incinerate it. In the second game GLaDOS greatly emphasizes that the grid is broken, so don't steal anything. anyway it reminds me of how that feels, because there is technically no way to prove it, but there is suspicious evidence.

[The Clay Bird]

either way, the fact that there is an atmosphere, the gravity is that of earth, there is one moon, and the sun looks as it would from earth rather than mars,  etc. etc. makes the mars theory only feasable if there is some sort of expansive biodome on mars, or that in the "zombies universe" mars is exactly like earth (which makes no sense) .  There are far too many holes.  It would make more sense to say that the mars mountains were teleported to shangri la on earth than the other way around.

[Black Hand Smith]

Read my ultimate maxis theory. I provide evidence that maxis is a cat. Yet does that mean maxis is actually a cat?

[Electric Jesus]

Well yes, Maxis IS a cat. Obviously.

@the_clay_bird I am conflicted, because some of the evidence is contradictory. Like, theoretically within the zombies universe a biodome with artificial gravity capable of supporting plant and human life is confirmed to exist, on the moon. But if that were on the mars containing shangri-la, why don't celestial bodies match what they would be on mars? By the way, who actually knows how celestial bodies would appear on mars? How small is the sun from mars / how many moons does mars have?

One thing I thought was that if it is in a biodome, maybe the biodome is like a screen, and what you see from the inside looking out is not what is actually outside. That would account for the sky, but then why wouldn't it hide the mountains. That can't be it. But what if the mars mountains were moved to earth? let's say 935 wanted to hide their base. How better to do it than with the natural landscape? mountains are useful for obscuring view, which is why bases are often in mountain sides or valleys. But they built their base in an area with no nearby mountains. But hey, we have a teleporter! let's literally steal a mountain! but wait, won't someone notice? psh let's just steal one from mars.

[The Clay Bird]

Well yes, Maxis IS a cat. Obviously.

@the_clay_bird I am conflicted, because some of the evidence is contradictory. Like, theoretically within the zombies universe a biodome with artificial gravity capable of supporting plant and human life is confirmed to exist, on the moon. But if that were on the mars containing shangri-la, why don't celestial bodies match what they would be on mars? By the way, who actually knows how celestial bodies would appear on mars? How small is the sun from mars / how many moons does mars have?

One thing I thought was that if it is in a biodome, maybe the biodome is like a screen, and what you see from the inside looking out is not what is actually outside. That would account for the sky, but then why wouldn't it hide the mountains. That can't be it. But what if the mars mountains were moved to earth? let's say 935 wanted to hide their base. How better to do it than with the natural landscape? mountains are useful for obscuring view, which is why bases are often in mountain sides or valleys. But they built their base in an area with no nearby mountains. But hey, we have a teleporter! let's literally steal a mountain! but wait, won't someone notice? psh let's just steal one from mars.

 

 

all those things you mentioned are why it is way too far fetched for me to ever really consider shangri-la on mars a valid idea.  wayyyyy too many holes, and it just doesnt make any sense within the confines of the story. its totally irrelevant.

[InfestLithium]

http://www.callofdutyzombies.com/forum/index.php/topic/147841-shangri-la-is-was-on-mars/

 

This is a good read concerning this topic.