Standard Galactic Alphabet
The Standard Galactic Alphabet, often abbreviated to SGA, is a fictional script from the Commander Keen computer games. In these games, the script is an example of a central alien language used all over the galaxy.
The player first encounters the alphabet in the first game, "Marooned on Mars," in which Keen receives a telepathic message. Unfortunately he cannot read the SGA.
History[edit]
The SGA is a substitution cipher invented by Tom Hall for his Commander Keen game series. Originally, for the first Keen game, he drew a two-dimensional computer graphic in front of the board with the message “Exit” at the end of each level. This graphic was intended to give the sign a more alien look. This extended to other messages, such as "hi" and "this is neat" (near a gun).
The first signs of the script were made by modifying the letters of the Latin alphabet. Later Hall also invented characters for the other letters, in order to be able to post messages anywhere in the games. Although the text is written in a different script, the words are in English. The SGA is not an artificial script.
Decryption[edit]
Players of the "Keen" series tried to decipher the script by comparing the different boards. Where Keen 1 used fifteen letters (A, B, C, D, E, H, I, K, L, N, O, S, T, X, and Y), later games had more.
Keen 3 offered fans the greatest opportunity. This game included a lot of boards in both the SGA letters and plain letters. Also, in a secret level in this game, a full translation of the SGA could be found, similar to the Rosetta Stone.
Keen 6 contained a similar translation, also in a secret level. It is important for the player to be able to decipher the entire alphabet in order to translate the note that Keen finds at the end of Keen 5.
Other uses[edit]
Joe Siegler later used the SGA to write "Dopefish lives" on a wall in the game "Rise of the Triad" '. Actually, Tom Hall, who helped design this game, didn't want to post, but he still allowed a message in SGA.
SGA has also rarely been used. It did serve as the basis for other fictional scripts in, among others, Ion Storm's Anachronox , Quake 4 and Minecraft.
Trivia[edit]
- The symbol for N is similar to the Japanese e Katakana sign for "Ri" (リ).
- SGA was used once to hide a swear word at the beginning of Keen 2 's "Paris" level. This word is not really visible, as it consists of yellow platforms in a red field. [1]
External links[edit]
- Omniglot, a guide to writing systems A table of all the characters in the SGA
- 20 Questions For Joe Seigler (sic) Joe Siegler mentions SGA use in Rise of the Triad (archived)
References[edit]
- ↑ Standard Galactic Alphabet 3D Realms (archived)
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