#corru.askserver

[corruworks]

what are your pronouns?

i spilled water on them and put them in a plastic bag with rice cause that's what Google said would help but i don't think it worked. i can't get them to work anymore

[corruworks]

favourite html element? including deprecated elements

if we're talking base elements, I'm a freak for the "newer" semantic elements like <main> <aside> <section> and stuff. i like how simple you can make the CSS for something small without getting into classes too much.

but really, custom elements are my favorite and it's not even close. FRAME is driven by custom elements, where the UI are all custom elements, like <critta-map>, <critta-menu>, <critta-node>, and they each contain all of their data in themselves!! being able to tie things to happen the second they appear on the page, automatically, being able to listen to attribute changes really easily and do stuff based on them, so on. it's SO nice.

every new mechanical thing I introduce to Corru is gonna end up using them in some way, probably. there's even a new custom critta-element coming in the next update, which will replace the store system! I shan't show it all yet, but... look at this little wheel go...

what the hell is this thing... what is that...!!!

[corruworks]

hi! is there a reason that corru.observer uses gifs for (almost) every image, including static images that don't need to be animated? is it for visual consistency with animated images?

I don't have a deep technical reason for doing it, really... but .gif is a pretty good file format when you only have a few colors to worry about! I also haven't found a compelling reason to really do anything else yet, since generally the files are all super small as a result of the color limitations. so, everything just kinda uses the same process, even if it's a still image!

[corruworks]

So like, how torturous was this November?

not at all! it was totally dedicated to getting the first third of the embassy rework done, and I had a great time setting up all the mechanical changes and additons. it was kinda awesome...

really, the days of the november torture vortex are long past! only one of the trees got sick

[corruworks]

hello corruworks! gotta say first up your game is AWESOME. so cool. love love love the premise and the style and the execution and the openness and the vibe and the everything. really amazing i could gush about it for winks

got a question if you're ok with answering it: how do you make the music sound... corru-ey? like cool and semi-distorted as it is, and like in terms of synths and samples. reason i'm asking is: i'm thinking of making a corrumod (that i am not going to promise i'll ever finish. but iokodobaba, right?)

also another smaller thing that i'll probably work out in time, how does the stage-decorating work on the css end? how would one implement their own props with special custom graphics and rotations and all. i intended to go off ziyamod for this one but it kinda uses an outdated model and i figured i'd be best-off copying up-to-date ingame code... but i can't find the related code! lol!

anyway once again huugely love your game and looking forward to experiencing more of it

hello newmoon!! thank you for the kind words, and good questions! adding a break because I'm gonna ramble a lot here

for my approach to music, I've covered synths and general vibes here in enough detail that should be able to push you in the right direction. generally I trend towards using pre-2010 sources of sounds and synths, though it's not a hard rule. they just have a different timbre from a lot of modern sources!

technical specifics of sources and VSTs aside, there are a few specific effects that exist on every single track that I don't think I've gone into too much detail on before:

slight and slow pitch warble shared by all instruments (i use Echomelt, but you can use any sort of slow pitch LFO for this on the master level or on an instrument grouping)

the 'low quality' of pitch-slowed and digitally compressed samples. heard most often in drums, but also done in-game on occasion! pitch-slowing anything can give it the feeling that a lot of those older samples I use have.

the presence of static and constantly warping, unpredictable tape delay. I call this 'neural static'! I use the Max for Live "Space Echo" effect for this, with a bit reduction placed over it. all instruments are fed into it, and then it's sidechained to a grouping of all instruments, so it mostly only creeps in when there's relative silence. you often hear it strongest at the looping point of each song!

these all play a huuge part in unifying the varied sounds of corru observer (especially when there are guest artists, like there have been in the past few releases!), and might be useful for you!

as for CSS, definitely check out some of the new stage definitions throughout the game. there's this 'dyp' (dynamic prop) system that's been around since EP3 that makes it suuuuper easy to add in most new props without ever touching CSS. the aquarium page is a GREAT reference for this! but here's a direct example, also:

the width and height refer to tile lengths, so three tiles wide, 1.25 tall. it's pretty straightforward aside from that! go to view-source:https://corru.observer/local/city/aquarium and search "env.stages[" and check it out!

i think that's everything...... I still do use CSS for certain props, but ever since EP3 I've largely tried to keep everything within the dyp declarations.

[corruworks]

Where did you learn to code in html, css, and javascript because you seem really good?

thank you anonymous! quite da flattering question!!

prior to losing my job in Dec 2023, I worked as a web developer in a very strange company that made websites and webstores for a large number of clients! I was the only web developer they had for the first 2 or so years I was with them, and then I ended up leading a very small team for the 3 that came after that. we made so so so many sites and stores.

hundreds, probably nearly 1000 if not over, and I'm not even exaggerating! broadly we used in-house templates that I wrote (especially for the 'small-fry' clients), but they always had some personal touch that ranged from small code tweaks to full custom reworks. there's a very good chance you've seen my 'corporate' work if you've bought youtuber merch before 2024.

it was great for a while at first, but naturally, it became kind of a nightmare. it eventually became something I was clawing at the walls to escape right up until the moment it went out of business from mismanagement.

still, the sheer amount of unconventional stuff we did ended up arming me very well to make the very strange website that has brought you to this question!

[corruworks]

do u have a plan for how many episodes there will be or is it just "fuck it we ball" until yiu decide the story is over

I have a specific end-point and some fixed events that need to be portrayed, so it's a little bit of balling! still, I can't really picture corru.observer being more than 6-7 episodes total (with accompanying ADDs) before we reach all the things I want to show in this particular project. anything else more be entering spinoff/sequel territory... but whatever happens, this is a world I plan to do more with after

[corruworks]

how did you get the inspiration to start making this game? and has your initial concept changed much since you started going further into detail? (i love this game btw)

hello anonymous!! I've touched on critical inspiration points in a few cohost asks, which I can link to and expand on a little:

I've had this world in my head for a very long time (not this specific iteration of it, but the obesk in general), and I was really depressed for a very long time because I wasn't sure how I'd ever share it with people (relevant post). eventually I got really pissed off that I was passing my mid-20s without manifesting it in any way, and just said 'use whatever skills you have, now, stop waiting or you will be in even more pain'. so that's how I got inspired to start it!

I have major story points planned, but leave the in-betweens open. this leads to fun things like Jokzi Ozo, which was not at all planned verbatim aside from 'there are lucid thoughtforms who want xyz' (relevant post)

BUT!!!!!!!!!!

the initial concept question is interesting, because yes, it has changed very much!! the story hasn't, the in-betweens have been unexpectedly fun to figure out while still being generally in-line, but the actual structure and mechanical integration of the story has been vastly changed from my original plans.

initially, I was really going to lean into a more Terminal 00 or Yume Nikki-type inspired experience of just adding a lot of pages, sometimes not always having very much on them, but all linked together in a big maze of memories to imply a world. It was mostly going to be flats with some 3D stages mixed in for important things. something I would update frequently, adding in a page here and there like once a week or more.

but then I kept hesitating to actually do it that way. I'd say "ok, let's add a new flat page" and then pause and think, "but what would it actually say that isn't already done on xyz page?" then I'd think, "this would be kind of disappointing to add on its own, no?"

so, I figured out I wasn't really into that sort of piecemeal building of the world. I love those inspirations, but ultimately I wanted to have something that was released in a condensed way and was very respectful of the visitor's time. (not to say that either of them aren't, but they both must be approached from very different mindsets compared to playing C.O. like you aren't re-entering a room 100 times to get a rare event to happen, and you aren't carefully mapping out a huge number of directories to try and puzzle out the story)

so I totally shifted focus into less breadth, more depth, as you probably could sense with the fucked up rabbit hole that the Embassy became. I still really dig the idea of having a vast exploration aspect to it, and in fact I still plan on doing something like it, but it won't be a part of the 'main episode' experience.

I think that's da whole story. thank you for playing, also!!