Corando's "Don't Lose Hope" (2005 webcomic)

"Don't Lose Hope" is a short story told in the mimicry of a music video. It was originally an automated slideshow website modeled after the DSHW web storytelling format used by Dozerfleet Comics for various Sims storytelling projects such as The Battle for Gerosha and the original Ciem trilogy. It was inspired in part by Nickelback's song "Photograph."

History
"Don't Lose Hope" was created around the same time that Ciem 3: Curse of the Millipede was completed. Because this version of Ciem 3 was considerably shorter than the previous two entries in that series, it was packed with several extra short stories. These included Star Flops: Curse of the Medium Side and Lo-Mun's Cooking Adventure, all in a bundle. The Blue Face Film Strips: The Sims 2 Edition was likewise considered for this bundle. All of these bundled projects were later separated into standalones in 2006. Blue Face: TS2 became an entry in the Eccentriaverse, isolating it entirely from Gerosha continuity. It was later replaced with a Sims 4 machinima video remake of the original Blue Face Film Strips.

The story in Corando was intended as a gift to a woman that the Dozerfleet founder was interested in back in December of 2005. However, the two of them parted ways some time later, leading to interest in remaking the project to not be about her. By 2022, the project was authorized for a remake - with new background story characters, revised lyrics, revised verses, and theme revisions.

Corando band members

 * Jerry Emberton (guitarist, lead singer)
 * Jen Emberton (drummer)
 * Spike Monide (bass guitarist)

Background story protagonists

 * Dillian Stentz
 * Tina Nares

Story
Jerry, Jen, and Spike perform the song in their basement recording studio stage. They sometimes overlap content of themselves atop the background story, in order to remind viewers that they're performing a song over that story. Sometimes, the camera cuts to them in the studio, and takes a break from the story altogether.

Meanwhile, Dillian Stentz and Tina Nares are depicted in numerous scenes throughout the footage; that serve as metaphors for fear, doubt, and loneliness. These include a forest, an abandoned park, a prison cell, and similar settings. The song shows them meet, and their confinements begin to break down as they grow closer. They feel less "trapped" in their lives, the more time they spend together.

Message
The original incarnation's focus is on the tormented state of mind of lonely individuals, as well as the need for communication and an unwillingness to give up on the ideals of love and faith as being critical for surviving the dark parts of one's own mind.

When the couple are separated, and left to dwell on their own misery; their mental states of being grow gradually worse. When they finally reach out to one another, they are able to break free from the "prison," and escape from the "forest." In the beginning, Dillian was in a metaphorical cell; and Tina was lost in "the woods." As a caution to readers of the consequences of disregarding paths to hope, Jerry reverses Dillian and Tina's predicaments near the end, to show that the metaphors of being lost in the woods of life and being lost in the dungeon of one's own mind are virtually interchangeable ideas.

Production
The original's introductory background info page informs readers that the site was assembled with the aid of Photoshop Elements, Advanced Browser, Firefox, Notepad, and The Sims 2: University. It was assembled in December of 2005, before the Dozerfleet founder had been able to successfully purchase the Nightlife expansion for his copy of The Sims 2.

Slideshow effects were accomplished by having meta elements in the project's HTML pages which refreshed from one page to another every ten seconds. Photoshop was used to create some blur effects, yielding a dreamy, surreal effect consistent with what Jerry would see in his visions. The browsers and Notepad were used as primary tools for code assembly.

There were few good tools available for development of websites to the Dozerfleet founder until January of 2006. Come that year, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 with a Visual Basic .NET development suite was provided, along with a book on how to program in VB.NET. This came with a class being taken at Lansing Community College that same year. Since then, major web projects such as the Ciem trilogy were developed under the Dozerfleet label using versions of Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express - which Dozerfleet Labs later replaced in 2020 with a copy of Visual Studio 2019.

Trivia

 * Page 18 of the original slideshow lists the following Mod The Sims artists for their contributions in production. All game modders whose works are visible in the end products get credit for their work at the end of most Dozerfleet Sims comics.
 * A custom in-game camera by GunMod was used for acquiring key camera angles.
 * This was before the 2007 version of Ciem, in which CaptFalcon007's camera became a more popular choice.
 * The prison doors used were designed by Atavera.
 * Colored lights (which were not normally possible in The Sims 2 before Nightlife) are the result of custom light creation and scripting by JG Whiteus.
 * Sky effects were accomplished using Oberkorn's sky projector.
 * Tina Nares' nose ring was created by Siren.
 * All skintones and freckles featured were designed by popular Sims artist Helaene.


 * Jerry's voice is modeled after that of Chad Kroeger.