2013-12-06 They love me down there

[crimzontearz]

I wonder if Gary could hold down a job as a video game artist in another country. Maybe if he had a scanner.....I dunno.

given that I know at least one person who does I would say yes. Also, most VG artists create their artworks directly on screen now

[zaprzapb]

Tristan's face in the fourth panel.

And I get the feeling that Tristan will now try to sabotage Sandra's career just like how Tatiana and Senna tried to only to fail miserably. And here's hoping this is Gary's first paid art gig.

As for Dark Matter Games only having a studio in Paris they could also have a studio in Montreal because there are several video game studios in Montreal irl. Ubisoft and EA come to mind.

[Fluffy]

Now, this is just me, not the view of Dave or Giz or T, but I'm thinking it's around 7pm or around that. Maybe close to 8pm...

I can believe that. I'd assume more 8 than 7, personally.

And somebody tell Sandra to point Gary towards some food, now. Even if he hit the moules frites and waffles in Brussels (which I hope he did), he'll be running on remnants of blood sugar by now.

If you think it's bad for Gary, imagine how the majority of the Ma3 cast are doing (when was the last time we saw anyone eat?) Just because you don't see it happening doesn't mean it hasn't happened at some point. Such things can only be assumed to happen off screen at some point.

Actually, Sandra seems quite capable of generating a few problems for herself without much help from antagonists - though they never hurt. She tends to push her luck just a little bit too far - bragging to Senna about how well her career is going when Tatiana is around, and now bragging to Gary about how Dark Matter love her for, um, trashing their latest creation and doubling their workload. Wanting to be loved isn't the same as being loved, Sandra dear...

And most times she screws up, she's punished for it in some manner. What's really going to bite her in the ass is when it's discovered that Gary is not her consultant, thus never approved by Domenico (that could potentially ruin her career).

And a correction - Tristan hates Sandra, not Dark Matter Games. If the company hated Sandra, the arrangements for Sandra's modeling would never have been set up, the changes to the game would never have been made, and Tristan's idea would have launched as he envisioned it.

So what Sandra says is mostly true (she essentially saved the company millions and probably countless jobs with her outburst), only Tristan hates her, because he has to re-envision the game to something the target audience will approve of.

[Spidrift]

If you think it's bad for Gary, imagine how the majority of the Ma3 cast are doing (when was the last time we saw anyone eat?)

Well, Senna, Sandra, and Gary hit Pierre's bakery for croissants about ten or twelve hours ago, their time. Before that, actually eating... may have been the band rehearsal where DiDi turned up with a load of takeaways. (Eating in that universe is usually associated with DiDi being non-sexually nice to people.)

Just because you don't see it happening doesn't mean it hasn't happened at some point. Such things can only be assumed to happen off screen at some point.

But I'm not convinced that they're even leaving time for it here. So much rushing from A to B, so little pausing to breathe.

What's really going to bite her in the ass is when it's discovered that Gary is not her consultant, thus never approved by Domenico (that could potentially ruin her career).

Fortunately, Domenico is such a loon that he's quite capable of forgetting that he didn't have anything to do with this, or assuming that as his trusty staff apparently arranged it, it much be a good idea and not worth his effort to check the details. Now that Tatiana has resolved to stop being mean to Sandra, I suspect that if this comes up at all, it'll pass with Domenico being flaky and Sandra collapsing in relief as he charges on to something else.

And a correction - Tristan hates Sandra, not Dark Matter Games.

Specifically, the faceless boss probably likes her for getting the game lots of free publicity and showing that the audience might not have liked the old version; Tristan hates her, for reasons we all know; the rest of the staff, we just don't know about yet - they may love her for taking Tristan down a peg, or feel annoyed because she's caused a whole load of new work to drop in their laps (just when they thought that the project was off their hands!), or a bit of both, mingled with amusement or other emotions. We may even see a bit of company politics in the next few strips. But in Sandra's shoes, I wouldn't assume that I was going to be popular in that office. That's tempting fate.

[crimzontearz]

Uh.....no, the Con was the big announcement of the game (or the first game play demo if it) it was FAR from off their hands and probably still in alpha or pre alpha build

[LarsenSan]

Just a question: what console is that controller from?

[FlashD81]

Quick guess but it looks like an Xbox controller.

Tristan is doing what I have done when I would get pissed of in a Tomb Raider game. I don't think the job is going to work our for Gary. Then again stranger things have happened.

[Fluffy]

Just because you don't see it happening doesn't mean it hasn't happened at some point. Such things can only be assumed to happen off screen at some point.

But I'm not convinced that they're even leaving time for it here. So much rushing from A to B, so little pausing to breathe.

They could have grabbed a snack on the train, or nibbled on something while gaming or could have something to the side while browsing Gary's portfolio.

The fact of the matter is, seeing the characters eat is just as important to the storyline as seeing them shower or using the toilet. It's only important if it serves a purpose to the story itself.

Domenico is such a loon that he's quite capable of forgetting that he didn't have anything to do with this, or assuming that as his trusty staff apparently arranged it, it much be a good idea and not worth his effort to check the details. Now that Tatiana has resolved to stop being mean to Sandra, I suspect that if this comes up at all, it'll pass with Domenico being flaky and Sandra collapsing in relief as he charges on to something else.

I don't think you give the guy enough credit. Yeah, he initially forgot who Sandra was when she arrived in Paris, but when Tatianna reminded him of what her purpose was for being there, things clicked into place because he remembered seeing her (it was simply a case of being unable to place a name with a face). It may not be the same in Gary's case - and you can't assume it will be based on one incident.

Specifically, the faceless boss probably likes her for getting the game lots of free publicity and showing that the audience might not have liked the old version; Tristan hates her, for reasons we all know; the rest of the staff, we just don't know about yet - they may love her for taking Tristan down a peg, or feel annoyed because she's caused a whole load of new work to drop in their laps (just when they thought that the project was off their hands!), or a bit of both, mingled with amusement or other emotions.

As someone already mentioned, the announcement at the convention could have simply been about promoting the game - not that it was near completed or completed entirely. And though it means more work for the game developers, it also means more money for them in the long run (because the head honcho can't expect the crew to make the changes free of charge).

It's aggravating, sure - but in the end, the head honcho decided to make the changes, not Sandra. So though there's a possibility that Sandra may be looked down upon for inciting the changes, the head honcho will get most of the hatred directed at him for being the one who decided the changes needed to be made.

[tenchi13]

Wow, my hunch is actually coming true?

[Spidrift]

I don't think you give the guy enough credit. Yeah, he initially forgot who Sandra was when she arrived in Paris, but when Tatianna reminded him of what her purpose was for being there, things clicked into place because he remembered seeing her (it was simply a case of being unable to place a name with a face). It may not be the same in Gary's case - and you can't assume it will be based on one incident.

The fact remains, the guy is a whimsical flake. I also get the impression that he wouldn't like admitting that he's wrong, or that he might have forgotten something - so if Tatiana or Sandra happens to say "the consultant you approved is here", he may just go "Who? What? Yes, excellent!" and carry on with what he was doing. And if Gary appears to have accomplished something useful, I imagine that Domenico would be happy to take some kind of credit.

I'm not actually predicting anything either way here. If the writers want an extended sequence with Sandra dumped in deep trouble, Domenico could certainly call her lie. But if they don't, they've got him established as just flaky enough that he doesn't have to. And if Gary is off-site before Domenico gets back, mysteriously without submitting a bill for consultancy services, the point will be moot anyway. There'll be some very odd expenses on Sandra's credit card, but unless Tatiana wants to make trouble, those can just zip through without comment.

As someone already mentioned, the announcement at the convention could have simply been about promoting the game - not that it was near completed or completed entirely.

I'm not well up on the ways of the videogame industry, so I'll take people's word for this. If that was an alpha-stage announcement, and the staff are just glad of more guaranteed employment, then sure, there's less of a problem. In my experience, once people have finished stage 1 of a project in any line of work, they're looking forward to stage 2, and a jump back to rewrite stage 1 causes groaning and eye-rolling - but cases vary.

It's aggravating, sure - but in the end, the head honcho decided to make the changes, not Sandra. So though there's a possibility that Sandra may be looked down upon for inciting the changes, the head honcho will get most of the hatred directed at him for being the one who decided the changes needed to be made.

Realistically, a lot will depend on the internal culture of the company. If everyone likes moving forward rather than back, if Tristan has managed to get buy-in to his vision, and if nobody thinks Sandra is especially cute, her name will be mud. If they just like the guaranteed work for the next few months or years, if Tristan is a jerkass boss, and if some of them have a thing about redheads, she'll be fine. I'd happily believe either in the comic. But Sandra does have a bit of a record of counting her chickens before they're hatched - and this could quite easily be another case in point. That was rather the joke today, after all.

[verityheld]

poor tristan

Poor Tristan?!!?!?!? Tristan is the contemptible quack who tried to DESTROY Chamelia with his 'vision!" Face it Tristan, your 'interpretation' was god-awful horrible! The people have spoken, Tristan, and YOU are off the island! Accept it and move on! Besides, you still have your 'vision," just rename it and market it as it is! You louse! Words of advice, Tristan, for you and everybody else, including me- "Just because it's your idea doesn't mean it's a good one."

To- Spidrift.

Re- line that goes

Specifically, the faceless boss probably likes her for getting the game lots of free publicity and showing that the audience might not have liked the old version

Don't you mean the new version? Sure, an update can be nice, but not when you throw out everything that made the 'old' version appealing.

Double post merged. The DAMNed

[themacnut]

If Tristan has any say in the process (and he probably does), Gary ain't getting that art job.

[Spidrift]

(I'm really impressed by the amount of geek rage being directed at a fictional character for trying to make changes to a fiction-within-fiction character in a game that doesn't really exist, by the way. Oh, and now I'm even told that the new Tomb Raider has actually sold rather well. Hey ho.)

Don't you mean the new version?

I mean the "old" version - i.e. Tristan's vision - of the new game. The one that was being announced before Sandra stuck her oar in.

If Tristan has any say in the process (and he probably does), Gary ain't getting that art job.

But I doubt it'll be that simple. That'd be boring. My current sporting bet is that Gary gets a shot at a job somehow, but Tristan interferes, and the compromise between him and some third party involves Gary proving himself by producing some Carmen concept art at speed, working from a lightly-dressed life model - to wit, Sandra. And then we get strip #762.

[Cortez]

To tell the truth, his original idea was bound to be despised and hated by the gamer community.

But he's an artist. !

You must be joking. He's not an artist, he's a sexist hack that got what he deserved. Actually, what he derserves is a kick in the nuts and to be fired.

He's certainly not an artist, he's a producer and a bad one at that.

If Tristan has any say in the process (and he probably does), Gary ain't getting that art job.

Going by what happened last time, he doesn't have any say. And when they find out Sandra suggested him, they might give him a job regardless of what Tristan wants. His bosses do love her after all.

[Don Alexander]

Luckily, there's a rubber tree plantation down there.

And Spidrift turned out to be very wrong concerning #762...