Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

Hint - a character whose name may be Trent or Tiffany is important to the plot.

[ffutures]

Hint - Scratch and Sniff

[Old Murgh]

Hint - Scratch and Sniff

With such hints.. Feels certain that if I had known the work I would have gotten it by now.

[ffutures]

Hint - Mark Watney finds a copy of this work on a colleague's computer in the film of The Martian

[Old Murgh]

Hint - Mark Watney finds a copy of this work on a colleague's computer in the film of The Martian

Huh. I missed this when it came out although I should have been in the proper demographic. Internet gives me your desired answer: The Leather Goddesses of Phobos (1986) from Infocom.

[ffutures]

Yep, Leather Goddesses of Phobos it is. Fairly notorious in its day, though actually fairly tame in its sexual content, and was innovative in that the package included a scratch and sniff card, a two-sided map and a 3D comic, all used as clues in the game and making it difficult to play if you had an illegal download.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_G ... _of_Phobos



You receive a vaguely Freudian shaped pink rocket with the usual poisoned chalice in the control room - over to you!

[Old Murgh]

Yep, Leather Goddesses of Phobos it is. Fairly notorious in its day, though actually fairly tame in its sexual content, and was innovative in that the package included a scratch and sniff card, a two-sided map and a 3D comic, all used as clues in the game and making it difficult to play if you had an illegal download.

That certainly is an effort in innovation. Really curious about the sniffing experience.

Right. Visuals.


What is the common sci-fi thing here, and the context?

[spud42]

spent an hour googling these guys... i knew their names but the/any connection eludes me..

[Old Murgh]

spent an hour googling these guys... i knew their names but the/any connection eludes me..

Well it’s gratifying that it wasn’t too easy. I’ll provide hints in time if it eludes everyone.

[ffutures]

The guy in the second photo looks a bit like Alan Rickman but I suspect isn't. The maps in the third picture look like they're trying to track someone - the Arabic-looking guy in the sketches - and the first picture looks like we're talking zombies or something of the sort.

So my first guess would be World War Z, since that's the only really big-budget zombie thing I can think of.

[Old Murgh]

The guy in the second photo looks a bit like Alan Rickman but I suspect isn't. The maps in the third picture look like they're trying to track someone - the Arabic-looking guy in the sketches - and the first picture looks like we're talking zombies or something of the sort.

So my first guess would be World War Z, since that's the only really big-budget zombie thing I can think of.

Well, it is Rickman, Hans Gruber in Die Hard, remember? The actor in the third pic is indeed trying to hunt down Osama Bin Laden (in The Looming Tower). The first pic, well, the character with no fingerprints has constructed a clever set of crimes on the premise of the seven deadly sins..

So the clues have begun: the question pertains to these actors, and a common factor of a role they have played.

[ffutures]

OK, I think I have it - all three have voiced the role of computers or robots in films.

Kevin Spacey (the first picture) played the computer GERTY in Moon (2009)
Alan Rickman (the second picture) played Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Jeff Daniels (I think he's the third picture) was the voice of Zartog, some sort of alien overlord, in Space Chimps (2008) - I get the impression he might be a robot but I'm not sure.

[Old Murgh]

OK, I think I have it - all three have voiced the role of computers or robots in films.

Kevin Spacey (the first picture) played the computer GERTY in Moon (2009)
Alan Rickman (the second picture) played Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Jeff Daniels (I think he's the third picture) was the voice of Zartog, some sort of alien overlord, in Space Chimps (2008) - I get the impression he might be a robot but I'm not sure.

Oh. So very close, but not quite.

You have correctly identified the premise but.. It's not Jeff Daniels!

[ffutures]

OK, since I am absolutely terrible at recognizing faces it took me a while to pin this guy down as Peter Sarsgaard - who played the voice of the robot in a film called Robot & Frank (2012) - hopefully that's the right one.

[Old Murgh]

OK, since I am absolutely terrible at recognizing faces it took me a while to pin this guy down as Peter Sarsgaard - who played the voice of the robot in a film called Robot & Frank (2012) - hopefully that's the right one.

I think it's redeeming that Sarsgaard, while very capable, just has one of those faces.

Well done, from a wild guess to the complete exact answer in short time.
Donc, c'est à vous.