Give the laser its own voice, and let a body sound like its size

The laser was playing boom() — the BOMB — so the showiest weapon in the game
sounded like the least showy one. zap() is its own: a highpassed crack, two
detuned saws diving through a resonant lowpass, weight underneath so it lands on
a phone speaker, and a triangle that rings after the plane has gone. The dive is
the whole reading; a rising sweep is a charge-up and this thing never charges.

And the NORMAL hit — ball meeting a body without killing it — was borrowing
pock(), the racket thock. That is a bright, dry, stationary-band click: exactly
right for gut on felt and exactly wrong for felt on a torso, which is why hitting
a zombie sounded like hitting a wall. thud() falls instead of sitting still,
which is where the wetness comes from, with one quiet bright tick just behind the
slap: something gave. The machine keeps its pock — it is furniture and it rings.

Both thud() and splat() now take a size, zombieH/1.8, so 1 is a shambler, 1.5 a
brute and 2.04 a chapter-4 boss. Everything pitches down and lengthens with it.
Measured through a patched AudioParam rather than assumed: the body thump under a
hit runs 150 Hz on a shambler, 100 on a brute, 59 on the boss.

splat() got the same treatment while I was in there — a resonant band collapsing
down the spectrum instead of a plain lowpass, plus a second brighter burst a beat
later. One clean hit is a thud; a thud followed by spatter is a body.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

HANDOFF.md

@@ -1180,6 +1180,13 @@ this on any new pose with a raised prop.
   index, never a search — which is why the laser looked fine while the other four did not.
   Note also that spending re-indexes the rack (`spendSlot` splices), so a slot number goes stale the
   moment any tin empties. Look weapons up by ID, not by a slot you cached a frame ago.
+- **Every sound in audio.js swallows its own errors** (`try { ... } catch (e) {}`), so a clean
+  console proves NOTHING about whether one played. To verify a sound really built its graph, count
+  nodes — patch `AudioContext.prototype.createBufferSource` / `createOscillator` /
+  `createBiquadFilter` and diff around the event. To verify a PARAMETER reached the synthesis, patch
+  `AudioParam.prototype.setValueAtTime` and look for the frequencies you expect (that is how the
+  size scaling on `thud`/`splat` was checked: 150 Hz body thump on a shambler, 100 on a brute,
+  59 on a chapter-4 boss).
 - **A test that walks the game forward will quietly kill the player.** Three separate diagnostic runs
   above returned nonsense (`stillCarried: true`, no laser fired at all) purely because `G.mode` had
   become `'eaten'` several steps earlier and every gameplay entry point bails on that. When a probe

audio.js

@@ -185,19 +185,72 @@ export function pock(vol = 0.8, freq = 900) { // racket contact / bounce thock
   } catch (e) {}
 }
 
-export function splat(vol = 0.7) { // wet burst — a zombie meets a first serve
+// Ball meets BODY, without killing it. This was borrowing pock() — the racket thock — which is a
+// bright, dry, stationary-band click: exactly right for gut on felt and exactly wrong for felt on a
+// torso, so every non-fatal hit sounded like the ball had struck a wall. `size` is zombieH / 1.8, so
+// a shambler is 1, a brute ~1.5 and a late chapter boss ~2.4: the thump under it drops from 150 Hz
+// to around 60, and the whole hit slows down with it.
+export function thud(vol = 0.6, size = 1) {
   try {
     const ac = audio(), t = ac.currentTime;
-    const src = ac.createBufferSource(); src.buffer = noiseBuf(ac, 0.22);
+    const k = Math.max(0.7, Math.min(2.4, size));
-    const lp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); lp.type = 'lowpass';
+    const dur = 0.15 * k;
-    lp.frequency.setValueAtTime(1400, t); lp.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(180, t + 0.2);
+    // the slap. The band FALLS, where pock's sits still — a collapsing resonance is the wet part,
+    // and it is the same trick splat() uses, just shorter and much less of it.
+    const src = ac.createBufferSource(); src.buffer = noiseBuf(ac, dur);
+    const bp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); bp.type = 'bandpass'; bp.Q.value = 3.4;
+    bp.frequency.setValueAtTime(780 / k, t);
+    bp.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(190 / k, t + dur);
     const g = ac.createGain();
-    g.gain.setValueAtTime(vol, t); g.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + 0.22);
+    g.gain.setValueAtTime(vol * 0.8, t); g.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + dur);
-    src.connect(lp).connect(g).connect(ac.destination); src.start();
+    src.connect(bp).connect(g).connect(ac.destination); src.start(t);
-    const o = ac.createOscillator(), og = ac.createGain(); // body thud
+    // the weight behind it — THIS is what actually carries the size difference
-    o.frequency.setValueAtTime(120, t); o.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(45, t + 0.15);
+    const o = ac.createOscillator(), og = ac.createGain();
-    og.gain.setValueAtTime(vol * 0.7, t); og.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + 0.16);
+    o.frequency.setValueAtTime(150 / k, t); o.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(52 / k, t + 0.11 * k);
-    o.connect(og).connect(ac.destination); o.start(t); o.stop(t + 0.18);
+    og.gain.setValueAtTime(vol, t); og.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + 0.13 * k);
+    o.connect(og).connect(ac.destination); o.start(t); o.stop(t + 0.15 * k);
+    // one short bright tick just behind the slap: something gave. Quiet on purpose — this is a hit,
+    // not a burst, and at splat()'s spatter level every rally would sound like a kill.
+    const d = 0.03 * k, sp = ac.createBufferSource(); sp.buffer = noiseBuf(ac, 0.07 * k);
+    const hp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); hp.type = 'highpass'; hp.frequency.value = 1100;
+    const spg = ac.createGain();
+    spg.gain.setValueAtTime(vol * 0.18, t + d);
+    spg.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + d + 0.07 * k);
+    sp.connect(hp).connect(spg).connect(ac.destination); sp.start(t + d);
+  } catch (e) {}
+}
+
+// Wet burst — a body meeting a first serve. `size` is roughly zombieH / 1.8, so 1 is a shambler,
+// ~1.5 a brute and ~2.4 a late chapter boss: everything below pitches DOWN and lasts LONGER with it.
+// A runner pops; a boss comes apart. Same sound, and that is the point — it should read as the same
+// event happening to a bigger body, not as a different event.
+export function splat(vol = 0.7, size = 1) {
+  try {
+    const ac = audio(), t = ac.currentTime;
+    const k = Math.max(0.7, Math.min(2.4, size)); // clamp: nothing gets so big it stops being a splat
+    const dur = 0.22 * k;
+    // The wetness lives HERE. The old filter was a plain lowpass with no resonance, which is a dry
+    // hiss with the top taken off; a RESONANT band collapsing down the spectrum is a squelch.
+    const src = ac.createBufferSource(); src.buffer = noiseBuf(ac, dur);
+    const bp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); bp.type = 'bandpass'; bp.Q.value = 3.2;
+    bp.frequency.setValueAtTime(1100 / k, t);
+    bp.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(130 / k, t + dur * 0.85);
+    const g = ac.createGain();
+    g.gain.setValueAtTime(vol, t); g.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + dur);
+    src.connect(bp).connect(g).connect(ac.destination); src.start(t);
+    const o = ac.createOscillator(), og = ac.createGain(); // body thud, heavier on a heavier body
+    o.frequency.setValueAtTime(120 / k, t); o.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(45 / k, t + 0.15 * k);
+    og.gain.setValueAtTime(vol * 0.7, t); og.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + 0.16 * k);
+    o.connect(og).connect(ac.destination); o.start(t); o.stop(t + 0.18 * k);
+    // ...and what came out of it lands a moment later. This second, brighter burst is most of what
+    // reads as "wet" — one clean hit is a thud, a thud followed by spatter is a body.
+    const d = 0.06 * k, sp = ac.createBufferSource(); sp.buffer = noiseBuf(ac, 0.18 * k);
+    const hp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); hp.type = 'highpass'; hp.frequency.value = 900;
+    const spg = ac.createGain();
+    spg.gain.setValueAtTime(0.001, t + d);
+    spg.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(vol * 0.3, t + d + 0.02);
+    spg.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + d + 0.18 * k);
+    sp.connect(hp).connect(spg).connect(ac.destination); sp.start(t + d);
   } catch (e) {}
 }
 
@@ -217,6 +270,43 @@ export function boom(vol = 0.9) { // bomb ball — sub-bass thump under a filter
   } catch (e) {}
 }
 
+// The laser on release. It was borrowing boom() — the BOMB — which is why the showiest weapon in
+// the game sounded like the least showy one. This is a plane of light cutting a crowd in half, so:
+// a crack, a dive, weight underneath it, and a ring after it has gone.
+export function zap(vol = 0.5) {
+  try {
+    const ac = audio(), t = ac.currentTime, dur = 0.42;
+    const src = ac.createBufferSource(); src.buffer = noiseBuf(ac, 0.09); // the crack: air leaving
+    const hp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); hp.type = 'highpass'; hp.frequency.value = 2200;
+    const ng = ac.createGain();
+    ng.gain.setValueAtTime(vol * 0.85, t); ng.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + 0.09);
+    src.connect(hp).connect(ng).connect(ac.destination); src.start(t);
+    // the body: two detuned saws DIVING through a resonant lowpass. The direction is the whole
+    // reading — a rising sweep is a charge-up, and this thing never charges, it discharges.
+    const lp = ac.createBiquadFilter(); lp.type = 'lowpass'; lp.Q.value = 12;
+    lp.frequency.setValueAtTime(5200, t); lp.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(220, t + dur * 0.8);
+    const bg = ac.createGain();
+    bg.gain.setValueAtTime(vol, t); bg.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + dur);
+    lp.connect(bg).connect(ac.destination);
+    for (const det of [1, 1.008]) { // the detune IS the width: one saw alone is a game-show buzzer
+      const o = ac.createOscillator(); o.type = 'sawtooth';
+      o.frequency.setValueAtTime(1300 * det, t);
+      o.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(120 * det, t + dur * 0.7);
+      o.connect(lp); o.start(t); o.stop(t + dur);
+    }
+    const s = ac.createOscillator(), sg = ac.createGain(); // weight, or it is only hiss on a phone
+    s.frequency.setValueAtTime(150, t); s.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(48, t + 0.3);
+    sg.gain.setValueAtTime(vol * 0.7, t); sg.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + 0.34);
+    s.connect(sg).connect(ac.destination); s.start(t); s.stop(t + 0.36);
+    const r = ac.createOscillator(), rg = ac.createGain(); // ...and it rings after it has gone
+    r.type = 'triangle'; r.frequency.setValueAtTime(3100, t);
+    r.frequency.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(1900, t + dur);
+    rg.gain.setValueAtTime(0.001, t); rg.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(vol * 0.2, t + 0.05);
+    rg.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, t + dur + 0.12);
+    r.connect(rg).connect(ac.destination); r.start(t); r.stop(t + dur + 0.14);
+  } catch (e) {}
+}
+
 export function shriek(vol = 0.35) { // a runner announces itself — harsh rising cry, the fairness contract
   try {
     const ac = audio(), t = ac.currentTime, dur = 0.7;

index.html

@@ -184,6 +184,6 @@
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="main.js?v=117"></script>
+<script type="module" src="main.js?v=118"></script>
 </body>
 </html>

zombies.js

@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 // your baseline — one crossing it is a point for THEM.
 // (zombies <-> gameplay is a runtime-only import cycle, same pattern as input.)
 
-import { TUNE, UI, COURT, VOLLEY, CONTACT, BOSS_ART, WEAPONS, BARREL_WEAPONS, woundStage, EATEN_BURST, EATEN_SUMMARY, EATEN_FEED_R } from './config.js';
+import { TUNE, UI, COURT, VOLLEY, CONTACT, BOSS_ART, WEAPONS, BARREL_WEAPONS, woundStage, zombieH, EATEN_BURST, EATEN_SUMMARY, EATEN_FEED_R } from './config.js';
 import { G, P, ball, sendBoy, setupPoint } from './state.js';
-import { splat, moan, pock, voice, boom, swish, shriek, aww, sfx , whoosh } from './audio.js';
+import { splat, moan, pock, thud, zap, voice, boom, swish, shriek, aww, sfx , whoosh } from './audio.js';
 import { splatPoint, cheer, spentBall, resolveInterlude, showModal, endBossFight, aside, grantWeapon, weaponModal, endBurst } from './gameplay.js';
 
 export const zombies = []; // {x, z, v, walkT, variant: 'a'|'b'|'c'}
@@ -296,6 +296,9 @@ const hitR = zb => zb.variant === 'g' ? 0.75 : zb.variant === 'd' ? 0.64 : zb.va
   : zb.variant === 'B' ? 0.55 * (zb.scale || 1) * 1.4 // a chapter boss is a barn door, as it should be
   : zb.variant === 'm' ? 0.8                          // the machine is a wide low box
   : 0.55;
+// How big it sounds. 1 = a shambler, and every impact sound scales its pitch and length off this,
+// so a ball landing on a brute is audibly a bigger event than one landing on a runner.
+const bodySize = zb => zombieH(zb) / 1.8;
 
 // THE LASER. Not a projectile: the serve gesture you already know, and instead of a ball you get a
 // widening plane of light down the lane you aimed at, killing everything standing inside the wedge
@@ -307,7 +310,7 @@ export function fireBeam(dirX, dirZ) {
   // out of the PLAYER at chest height — same point the cone is measured from, so what you see and
   // what it kills are one geometry
   G.beam = { x: P.x, y: TUNE.beamY + TUNE.beamOriginLift, z: P.z, ux, uz, t: TUNE.beamT };
-  boom(0.55); G.shake = { t: 0.18, mag: 3 }; G.boomFlash = 0.08;
+  zap(0.55); G.shake = { t: 0.18, mag: 3 }; G.boomFlash = 0.08;
   for (let i = zombies.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
     const zb = zombies[i];
     if (!zb) continue;
@@ -376,7 +379,7 @@ function bossDeath(zb) {
   G.slowT = TUNE.bossSlowT;                        // real seconds; main.js scales dt while it runs
   G.bossBurst = { x: zb.x, z: zb.z, t: 0.75 };     // the shockwave ring render.js draws
   G.shake = { t: 0.5, mag: 7 }; G.boomFlash = 0.12;
-  boom(); splat(1); cheer(4, 1); voice('unbelievable', 0.5);
+  boom(); splat(1, bodySize(zb)); cheer(4, 1); voice('unbelievable', 0.5); // the biggest body in the game, at its lowest
   const h = 1.8 * (zb.scale || 1.5);
   for (let k = 0; k < 90; k++) parts.push({        // on top of killZombie's own burst: a full body's worth
     x: zb.x, y: h * (0.2 + Math.random() * 0.7), z: zb.z,
@@ -426,7 +429,7 @@ function killZombie(i, quiet) {
   }); }
   if (ash) { for (let k = 0; k < 5; k++) smokePuff(zb.x, 0.4 + Math.random() * 1.1, zb.z, 0.45); pock(0.35, 150); }
   else {
-    splat();
+    splat(1, bodySize(zb)); // the burst is pitched by the body too, so a boss comes apart LOW
     sfx('headshot-' + (Math.random() < 0.5 ? 1 : 2), 0.6); // random headshot crack layered on the gore burst
   }
   sendBoy(zb.x, zb.z, true);      // a boy comes out with the mop
@@ -458,7 +461,7 @@ function wound(zb, amount, fx = true) {
   zb.chip = (zb.chip || 0) + amount;
   let took = 0;
   while (zb.chip >= 1 && zb.hp > 0) { zb.chip -= 1; zb.hp--; took++; }
-  if (took && fx) { splat(0.5); woundBurst(zb); }
+  if (took && fx) { splat(0.5, bodySize(zb)); woundBurst(zb); }
   return zb.hp <= 0;
 }
 
@@ -945,20 +948,23 @@ export function updateZombies(dt) {
         if ((zb.hpMax || 0) > 1) {
           const meat = zb.variant !== 'm';               // the machine rings and does not bleed
           const heavy = 'gmhk'.includes(zb.variant);     // a heavy body is not shoved back by a ball
+          const sz = bodySize(zb);
           if ((ball.pow || 0) >= TUNE.zSplatQ) {
             if (--zb.hp <= 0) { splatter(i); continue; }              // the killing blow
             if (meat) woundBurst(zb);                                 // a bloody wound, not a death
-            splat(0.5); pock(0.6, meat ? (heavy ? 220 : 280) : 700);  // meat thuds, machine rings
+            // meat THUDS (wet, and pitched by how big the body is), the machine still rings
+            if (meat) { thud(0.65, sz); splat(0.3, sz); } else pock(0.6, 700);
             if (!heavy) zb.z -= TUNE.zPushback * 0.5;
             ball.vx *= 0.3; ball.vz *= 0.3; ball.lastHit = 'X'; continue; // ball spent on the wound
           }
           if (!heavy) zb.z -= TUNE.zPushback;            // soft ball staggers the light ones, bounces off the rest
-          pock(0.6, 300); ball.vx *= 0.6; ball.vz *= 0.6; ball.lastHit = 'X'; continue;
+          if (meat) thud(0.4, sz); else pock(0.6, 500);  // a soft ball off a body is a duller version of the same hit
+          ball.vx *= 0.6; ball.vz *= 0.6; ball.lastHit = 'X'; continue;
         }
         // chair-down shield zombies (and anything hit from behind) obey the normal rules:
         if ((ball.pow || 0) >= TUNE.zSplatQ) { splatter(i); continue; }
         zb.z -= TUNE.zPushback; // weak sitters only stagger them
-        pock(0.6, 300);
+        thud(0.4, bodySize(zb));
         ball.vx *= 0.6; ball.vz *= 0.6; ball.lastHit = 'X'; // spent — one stagger per ball
       }
     }
@@ -1087,13 +1093,13 @@ export function updateZombies(dt) {
         // TRIPLE serve read as "he can't be hurt". They wound him like the main ball now.
         if (isBoss(zb)) {
           if (e.pow >= TUNE.zSplatQ) { if (wound(zb, TUNE.dmgSide)) killZombie(j, !!G.horde); }
-          else pock(0.5, 300);
+          else thud(0.4, bodySize(zb));
         }
         else if (zb.variant === 's' && e.vz < 0 && !(zb.shieldT > 0)) { zb.shieldT = TUNE.shieldDown; pock(0.9, 1800); } // chair blocks these too
         else if (e.pow >= TUNE.zSplatQ || zb.variant === 'f') {
-          if (zb.hp > 1) { zb.hp--; splat(0.4); } // wounds brutes AND shamblers
+          if (zb.hp > 1) { zb.hp--; thud(0.55, bodySize(zb)); splat(0.25, bodySize(zb)); } // wounds brutes AND shamblers
           else killZombie(j, !!G.horde);
-        } else { zb.z -= TUNE.zPushback; pock(0.5, 300); }
+        } else { zb.z -= TUNE.zPushback; thud(0.4, bodySize(zb)); }
         dead = true; break; // a side ball is spent on its first touch
       }
     }