When I think Cyberpunk I think Ghost in The Shell, and when I think Ghost in The Shell I think of getting my brain hacked and I don't like that idea. I think I'll stick with Steampunk Lincoln on this one.
Poll: Steampunk or Cyberpunk?
- Thread starter Zinaxos
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Cyberpunk needs a major update to still be relevant--a lot of its conceits are pretty dated now. Whereas with Steampunk that's the whole point. But although I like the fashion and retro tech, I miss the older literary steampunk that condemned imperialism. The new steampunk movement seems to fetishize it instead.
I'm moving more towards dieselpunk. Art deco is my favourite aesthetic style, I love noir settings, and imperialism gets called out for the evil it is.
I'm moving more towards dieselpunk. Art deco is my favourite aesthetic style, I love noir settings, and imperialism gets called out for the evil it is.
Let's see... I'm a bit of a pessimist, so let's tally the downsides of each setting.
Pollution:
Steampunk: Unless we're doing a steampunk setting where magic and technology coexist, the air quality is going to be pretty bad from burning all that coal.
Cyberpunk: Probably less air pollution, since we've likely transitioned to nuclear power by this time, but the pollutants that do exist are probably going to mutate you into a horrific abomination if they don't kill you outright.
Point - Steampunk
Medical Technology:
Steampunk: Getting an internal organ or a limb replaced by a steam-powered one sounds cool on paper, but I think having my apartment fill up with carbon monoxide when I'm trying to type on my manual typewriter is going to suck balls.
Cyberpunk: Cybernetics, genetic engineering, compact power sources. What's not to like.
Point - Cyberpunk
Bad Stuff
Steampunk - Giant rats, maybe? Heavily armed gangsters? I have no idea.
Cyberpunk - Aforementioned abominable aberrations. Not to mention nerve gas, genetically engineered super-viruses, unstoppable armored killing machines, and RADIOACTIVE giant rats. Good lord.
Point - Steampunk.
Food:
Steampunk - Pretty much standard stuff, assuming you can afford it. Given the dystopian setting for most steampunk fiction, that seems unlikely.
Cyberpunk - "Eat Recycled Food! It's good for the environment, and okay for you!"
Point - Steampunk.
So it looks like the winner is Steampunk for me.
Pollution:
Steampunk: Unless we're doing a steampunk setting where magic and technology coexist, the air quality is going to be pretty bad from burning all that coal.
Cyberpunk: Probably less air pollution, since we've likely transitioned to nuclear power by this time, but the pollutants that do exist are probably going to mutate you into a horrific abomination if they don't kill you outright.
Point - Steampunk
Medical Technology:
Steampunk: Getting an internal organ or a limb replaced by a steam-powered one sounds cool on paper, but I think having my apartment fill up with carbon monoxide when I'm trying to type on my manual typewriter is going to suck balls.
Cyberpunk: Cybernetics, genetic engineering, compact power sources. What's not to like.
Point - Cyberpunk
Bad Stuff
Steampunk - Giant rats, maybe? Heavily armed gangsters? I have no idea.
Cyberpunk - Aforementioned abominable aberrations. Not to mention nerve gas, genetically engineered super-viruses, unstoppable armored killing machines, and RADIOACTIVE giant rats. Good lord.
Point - Steampunk.
Food:
Steampunk - Pretty much standard stuff, assuming you can afford it. Given the dystopian setting for most steampunk fiction, that seems unlikely.
Cyberpunk - "Eat Recycled Food! It's good for the environment, and okay for you!"
Point - Steampunk.
So it looks like the winner is Steampunk for me.
while the appeal of parading through town on my steam-powered robo-lion on my way to the pneumatic interstate transport tubes, tipping my tophat to all passerby and adjusting my monocle as i read about mecha-lincoln's latest victory against the Confederate hunter-killer bots with detachable twirly-moustache shuriken explosives...where was going with this?
uh...yeah. with all that considered, i have to go with cyberpunk; all that steam powered tech looks and sounds cool, but its wildly impractical. with cyberpunk, i get to fight crazy AIs with brain magic and lasers, far more practical technologies.
uh...yeah. with all that considered, i have to go with cyberpunk; all that steam powered tech looks and sounds cool, but its wildly impractical. with cyberpunk, i get to fight crazy AIs with brain magic and lasers, far more practical technologies.
genetic engineering is a staple of the steampunk genre, just look at Bioshock and the Leviathan series. I'd still prefer steampunk, but Genetic Modification does make steampunk dangerous (at least until you enlist with the British SAS and spend the rest of your life in a small garrison built on top of a flying whale [leviathan reference)RebellionXXI said: