First Random Last |

You are currently browsing the archive for Analog and D-Pad



24

Tipping Point, p13

May 13, 2024 by Tim

Last year I brought a card game to Kickstarter, and with the help of over 2600 backers we made it a reality! Fulfillment on that project is finished, and now the game is available for purchase, both on Amazon and on axolotlgame.com!

Read More ▼

Read Less ▲


Subscribe
Notify of
guest

42 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jedi
Jedi
5 months ago

Well, guess Ethan didnt know what Scott came for … 🙂

Blue Griffin
Blue Griffin
5 months ago
Reply to  Jedi

No, that’s a reasonable response to getting dragged out of your car by a robotic duplicate that has a grudge against you. They brought it for defense and used it for that purpose.

GeorgeV
GeorgeV
5 months ago
Reply to  Blue Griffin

It was even communicated beforehand, Ethan told him to bring it.

thallone
thallone
5 months ago
Reply to  Blue Griffin

reasonable or not, all ZK seeis is Scott wieldinbg a weapon that can kill a robot. He knows nothing of the intervening gaming events and will see Scott armed to Kill. Pretty sure Scott is going to run out of chances with ZK.

Guess Scott can finally find out what Carlie thinks of his self-loathing and anger.

Victor
Victor
4 months ago
Reply to  Blue Griffin

Does Scott use they as his pronoun?

Gonfrask
Gonfrask
5 months ago

And now to explain that the taser was not for them, but for Ethan

havok
havok
5 months ago
Reply to  Gonfrask

Don’t see why he would need to explain/justify the tazer at all. It is a non-lethal weapon that’s perfectly acceptable to carry around.

James Kite
James Kite
5 months ago
Reply to  havok

I’m so glad I don’t live in the US

Pepper Spray, Tasers, guns….. flamethrowers

It’s all the ingredients as promised by apocalyptic movies.

😁

jack
jack
4 months ago
Reply to  James Kite

well, criminals are still a thing, and they dont care what the laws say you can have.

jack
jack
4 months ago
Reply to  jack

aw, did i hurt some poor lib feelings?

Daniel
Daniel
5 months ago

Well, It is obvious that Scott had not planned to fight before been dragged from his car, and I really doubt that this taser can do something to Zeke, for having shielding.
But it was quite a gun in the first act, and I didn’t see it until it was too late. Well done, Tim. Now let the thing escalate until Ethan is finally dead

Daniel
Daniel
5 months ago

Scott, when Ethan start blaming him for plotting to hunt Zeke, after he himself dragged Scott into the search and told him to get the taser with them: “Hang on, this whole operation was your idea!”

Darkhorse
Darkhorse
5 months ago

You come to help, but you’re not stupid. You’re going to help an advanced AI ninja murder bot that has a good reason to try to twist your head off. Having a way to fend off is not a bad thing.

Ethan told to bring the cattle prod, but they might have more up their sleeves just in case.

GUNnibal
GUNnibal
5 months ago

I bet the reason why the bot couldn’t dodge in time is exactly the same as the one Eugene had trouble with originally – network latency:
https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-04-23/
But this time it’s ZK who can’t control the bots fast enough for proper combat.

GeorgeV
GeorgeV
5 months ago
Reply to  GUNnibal

Probably, but that’s really just the drones (still) being poorly designed. It’s not really up to Zeke that the drones use an inefficient remote control system (probably through some central computer) rather than individual built-in computers (like their own improved model).

https://cad-comic.com/comic/analog-and-d-pad-01-20/

The bots are already capable of fairly complex actions like combat, so I doubt they need constant micro-management. This bot probably has a dodge protocol too, it’s just not great at it due to latency. It’s less Zeke being unable to control the bot fast enough, and more the bot simply being too slow at dodging.

Ben
Ben
5 months ago

*sigh*

Scott, your odds of talking your way out of this may have been small, but the fact that the droid let you go probably meant they weren’t zero.

Your odds of FIGHTING your way out? Those actually are zero.

You chose poorly.

scottsmom
scottsmom
5 months ago
Reply to  Ben

I get the feeling that Tim simply hates Scott. He got a bad deal in CAD 1.0 as well.

Tim
Tim
5 months ago
Reply to  scottsmom

Scott was kind of one-dimensional in 1.0, less a character and more a plot device. This iteration is a real character with motivations, backstory and relationships. If Tim simply hated Scott, he’d either make a proper hate-sink and then kill him off, or write a better character to replace him. You don’t keep characters you dislike, and let’s face it – Tim has had plenty of chances to kill this Scott off.

pyrodice
pyrodice
4 months ago
Reply to  Tim

Wait, are you a DIFFERENT Tim, or is this a weird third-person thing we’re doing?

LameSuperpower
LameSuperpower
5 months ago
Reply to  Tim

My impression of the third panel was that the robot let him go once Ethan said Scott came to help, so… apparently I got the wrong impression.

koobah
koobah
5 months ago
Reply to  LameSuperpower

Your correct that in the third panel it let him go, however in the fourth its leaning over him with its hand headed for his head or throat. Scott literally couldn’t have hurt it if it had just stood up straight by his feet. He couldn’t have reached it if it wasn’t coming at him.

The Riddler
The Riddler
5 months ago
Reply to  Tim

Yeah – the drone was reaching down for Scott at the time the prod came into play. It is definitely not an aggressive attack from Scott. It’s a defensive response to an attack (or at least what can very reasonably be perceived as an attack).

I don’t know though … was the drone ‘angry’? 🙂 Seems more like the drones would just be brainless chunks that follow orders rather than having any motivation or emotion of their own.

Eldest Gruff
Eldest Gruff
4 months ago
Reply to  The Riddler

The drones don’t have intelligence of their own. They’re just Zeke’s tools – not even part of them. There’s a chance, however small, that Zeke will see this *not* as attempted murder, but more like an attempt to disarm them.

Luc
Luc
4 months ago
Reply to  Tim

Yeah the comments have all been astonishing to me lol. “Way to go Scott, you really screwed this up.” Like really? It’s amazing haha.

I think you illustrated these panels really well. I think most viewers know Scott had a killer robot on top of him, about to, you know, kill him.

Brian
Brian
5 months ago

Huh, Chekov’s Cattleprod. Neat.

pyrodice
pyrodice
4 months ago
Reply to  Brian

the playwright was “Chekhov”… The helmsman on the Enterprise was Chekov. 🙂

Number51x
Number51x
5 months ago

In any other universe, the explanation for why Scott had a cattle prod in his possession would not be at all believable. In this one however…

foducool
foducool
5 months ago

came to help with his stun baton

Epsilon
Epsilon
5 months ago

As much as I want to be mad at Scott here, that was a reasonable response.
The man thought his friend was in danger and tried to help, got pulled out of his car by a murder robot, and he is paralyzed from the waist down so running is not an option. The cattle prod for self-defense was the right call here.
I doubt Zeke will see it that way though.

Peter
Peter
5 months ago

There is no reason to be angry with Scott. He was always right. Even if you can talk Zeke down for a while, it will always be a loaded gun. The slightest incident can cause the situation to blow up. There can be no long-term coexistence between a superior killer robot with no human value system that feels threatened by all humans and fragile human beings who wouldn’t stand a chance in a fair fight. Only the one who strikes first can survive. It’s an ethical dilemma. There is no right decision. Tim has done a great job. You can live… Read more »

Josh
Josh
5 months ago

Brings new meaning to, “Scott, that’s not helping.”

… but he made the right call, given the situation.

Mor
Mor
5 months ago

Ok, this could be interpreted as self-defence – the bot was clearly reaching out for Scott.

On the other hand, that card game you made look really neat. 🙂

ChibiAcer
ChibiAcer
5 months ago

Scott can’t possibly make it worse again, right…? 🫤

Phoebe
Phoebe
5 months ago

You know, I’m really not sure if this is setting up Zeke or Scott for being a villain… and being a long-time reader and knowing the original story doesn’t really help either.

At any rate, good story!

David
Member
David
5 months ago

Shout out for Axe-a-lot-l. The kids love playing it. It’s one of those rare 20 minute card games where all the rules are actually in the rulebook – you won’t end up Googling the FAQ every game. It’s light-hearted and good fun.

Kaiya
Kaiya
5 months ago

Ah, he did wait until the robot reached down to him again. He wasn’t going on the offensive. I wonder if ZK will notice that.

Enclave
Enclave
5 months ago

I don’t think people need to be too concerned. Zeke isn’t dumb, they’re going to know what Scott did was reasonable even if Zeke is going to be annoyed by it.

Zeke is angry and in a bad place mentally but they’re still Zeke.

Pyre
Pyre
4 months ago
Reply to  Enclave

Zeke, in the last few comics, has been talking about how they are “choosing the bear”.

Plus, in 1.0, they did decide to exterminate humanity in one timeline.

AND the comic is called Tipping Point. That’s usually not a good sign.

Ultimately “They’re still Zeke” is not a very reassuring argument.

Anon E Moose
Anon E Moose
5 months ago

I didn’t realize until I read this on my computer that the bot Scott was stabbing *wasn’t* Zeke. Silly phone screen being small.
That kinda changes the context in my brainspace a lot.

omg omg
omg omg
4 months ago

Scott, you are my hero. In this universe I’m like you, I don’t trust Zeke. The logic and reasoning they use lacks common sense.