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Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Unspecified
Unspecified
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(This is in lieu of my usual sous entendu-filled write up of the Friday night Ross-on-Wye Boardgamers session. My middle son fell and broke his arm yesterday afternoon at school - this meant he and my wife spent 5 hours in A&E while I looked after the others - normal lewd 'service' - snigger - will be resumed next week)
When putting the final touches to my card-game Fzzzt!, two and a half years ago now (blimey!), and after having drawn and re-drawn the robots / painstakingly come up with a detailed 'factory background' shot for Charlie Paull to colour in, I had the idea of putting a little extra thematic puzzle in to the game.
This isn't anything new for us at SSG: I spent absolutely AGES coming up with an intricate conundrum for Coppertwaddle which required formatting text on certain cards in a certain way, and the whole our website devoted to Bloody Legacy is about finding out where the legacy of the title has been hidden!
The Fzzzt! puzzle is not quite so elaborate - more of a Geek trivia quiz than a brain-burning enigma. I gave each robot a Hexadecimal code number and a name - you simply have to spot the source/reference for that name.
Here is the full list:
•01 Dewey
•02 Huey
•03 Louis
•04 ED-209
•05 Johnny
•06 Robbie
•07 Ash
•08 Alandroid
•09 CP-30
•0A House Robot
•0B Maximillian
•0C H.A.L.
•0D Fembot
•0E Box
•0F B.O.B.
•10 Gort
•11 Maria
•12 Cutie (QT1)
•13 Eliza
•14 Priss
•15 Herbie (HRB-34)
•16 Roy
•17 Hammerstein
•18 Collossus
•19 Proteus
•1A Gunslinger
•1B D.A.R.Y.L.
•1C Wintermute
•1D A.M.
•1E Tik-Tok
•1F Bishop
•2A Marvin
•20 Deep Thought
•21 V.I.N.C.E.N.T.
•22 Twiki (TB-TB-TB)
•23 Archie
It's been long enough 'out there', so if you fancy a go for the first PLEASE AVOID MOUSE-OVER THE BIG BLUE BOX BELOW, wherein the answers are contained!
For the others who have suffered enough...
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal):
01 Dewey, 02 Huey and 03 Louis are the gardening robots from the wonderful eco-friendly, sci-fi poem “Silent Running” starring a grouchy Bruce Dern (who turned up, recently, as "kooky old guy" in 'The Hole').
04 ED-209 is the Battletech-inspired, dome-nosed machine gun-totting mecha-maniac from “Robocop” - generously giving you “15 seconds to comply” and then shooting the be-cheeses out of you anyway!
05 Johnny – Johnny FIVE is alive and the hero of “Short Circuit”’s saccharine-infused tale of self-awareness and that bloke out of Spinal Tap
06 Robbie – “Forbidden Planet” provided us with this enormous pepper-mill of a mechanoid – prone to guest starring in cheesy TV sci-fi nonsense such as “Lost In Space” and synthesizing whisky
07 Ash – Ian Holm and a mouth full of yogurt; decapitated and then interrogated by a miffed (understandably) Sigourney Weaver in “Alien”
08 Alandroid – not a literary or movie robot, but a reference to Alan Paull who is credited under this name in the Fzzzt! rule book
09 CP-30 – Definitely NOT the camp, golden sex-toy from Mr Lucas’ franchise, but a play on Charlie Paull’s name – also credited under this name in the Fzzzt! rule book
0A House Robot – Desperate for ‘The Orb’ and played by Woody Allen in the brilliant “Sleeper” – watch this movie for the best ‘banana skin’ joke in the world!
0B Maximillian – rotary blades and general nastiness from this Disney-created robo-bad guy: see “The Black Hole”
0C H.A.L. – ‘nuff said about the most chillingly-voiced sentient machine in a movie ever made
0D Fembot – Made to tackle Austin Powers (International Man of Mystery) - is that a machine gun in your bra or is it very cold in here?
0E Box – Lunatic custodian of what is, effectively, a futuristic branch of Iceland – freezes escapees from Logans world and nearly does for Michael York and Jenny Agutter* in “Logans Run” (the movie)
0F B.O.B. – another “Black Hole” automaton - a bit naff compared to Maximillian's slice 'n dice antics!
10 Gort – Klaatu Barada Nikto etc – giant silver destroyer from “The Day The Earth Stood Still”
11 Maria – Beautiful and terrible: “Metropolis”
12 Cutie (QT1) – one of several Fzzzt! robots inspired by Asimov’s “I, Robot” short stories. See? I read as well as watch movies!
13 Eliza – part of the ultimate Turing Test to develop an AI system that would be indistinguishable in its responses ‘on-line’ to that of a human being – lots of fun when you’re 13 and typing swear words into the interface
14 Priss – Daryl Hannah: skin-suit? Legs wrapped around your head? Excuse me for a moment…
15 Herbie (HRB-34) – another Asimovian automaton
16 Roy – a bleached Rutger Hauer in “Blade Runner”– poet, lost child, crusher of people’s heads and eyes…
17 Hammerstein – demolition robot and ABC Warrior – 2000AD fans form an orderly queue, please
18 Collossus – built by the Americans in DF Jones’ classic novel to manage their nuclear defences more efficiently and instantly hooks up with a Russian counterpart: the world is then held to ransom. Filmed as the bleak “The Forbin Experiment”
19 Proteus – “Demon Seed”s insane, desperate to procreate super-computer. Imprisons and impregnates Julie Christie; decapitates a bloke using a giant Rubik’s Snake.
1A Gunslinger – Yul Brynner + Michael Crichton = “Westworld”
1B D.A.R.Y.L. – 80’s yarn that presages the mostly-abyssmal A.I
1C Wintermute – William Gibson’s awesome debut “Neuromancer” gives us this Artificial Intelligence….
1D A.M. – Vindictive son-of-an-IBM that spans the earth in a complex system of tunnels and chambers and tortures five remaining humans in Harlan Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream”
1E Tik-Tok – from L Frank Baum’s “Oz” series
1F Bishop – after the cold-hearted Ash, the Alien franchise gives us the loveable and noble Lance Henriksen as Bishop in the romper-stomper sequel “Aliens”
2A Marvin – The Paranoid Android from Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy - and the 2A joke is a corker!
20 Deep Thought – Chess computer and also another HHGTTG reference
21 V.I.N.C.E.N.T. – also from Disney’s “The Black Hole” - shoulda bloody stayed there...
22 Twiki (TB-TB-TB) – mainly from Buck Rogers (the TV movies and series) but the ‘tweaky-tweaky-tweaky’ catchphrase has been bastardized to pun of my own initials!
23 Archie – robot Archie, hero of Lion comic annuals. A bit rubbish, but better than Dusty Bin (ooh! a VERY British reference there!)
However, that's not EVERYTHING! In last years' 5-6 player expansion, I added a few more robots - can you spot/deduce the references for these? Clue: one of them is about my youngest son...
•24 Agat-9
•25 Talos
•26 Guardian
•27 R.U.R
•28 Hadalay
•29 Boilerplate
•2B RT-B5 Arty
•2C AP-RU
•2D Joanna Eberhart
•2E Wonderbot
*I'd certainly like 'to do for' Jenny Agutter
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