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Whatever Happened to Steampunk?
- SolaceQuantum 7y agoSteampunk hasn't really died, but more evolved- see branching movements like new weird, silkpunk, slipstream, cli-fi, hyperreallism etc.
- uncletaco 7y agoIs silkpunk even a thing outside of Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty (which is amazing btw)?
- SolaceQuantum 7y agoIf you trace back to those inspired by Ken Liu, and whom Ken Liu is inspired by, you'll find the elements of silkpunk (if not silkpunk outright) abounding without editorial labeling, imo.
- uncletaco 7y agoWho has Ken Liu inspired? I love the Dandelion Dynasty novels. I’m hoping to read more.
- pmoriarty 7y agoI've never heard of that, but the steampunk aesthetic is present in Dishonored, for example, and many other computer games. Steampunk is alive and well, and (arguably) more alive than ever. There are steampunk conventions, steampunk meetups, steampunk games, steampunk magicians even. This didn't used to be the case. It started as an obscure literary subgenre that few people had heard of. Asking on HN about steampunk 10 years ago would have probably drawn mostly blank looks. Now many people actually know what it is, and even participate.
- zabzonk 7y agoLincoln (UK) runs an annual steampunk festival - see https://www.asylumsteampunk.co.uk/ https://www.asylumsteampunk.co.uk/
- sp332 7y agoOf the top 20 most popular HN submissions with "steampunk" in the title, including this one, 6 were 9 or more years ago. https://hn.algolia.com/?q=steampunk https://hn.algolia.com/?q=steampunk
- krapp 7y agoI've seen the aesthetic of modern D&D and some Magic the Gathering settings referred to as dungeonpunk.
- pram 7y agoSuccess did it in. The Zybourne Clock was the ultimate implementation and perfection of the genre. Steampunk disappeared shortly after because there was nothing more left to achieve.
- 12elephant 7y agoWhat is the Zybourne Clock? A quick google shows that it is a defunct game?
- aidenn0 7y agoPossibly https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3080232/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3080232/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_...
- Lammy 7y agoIt was an idea for a community-designed video game on the Something Awful forums. This is a much better summary: https://shii.bibanon.org/shii.org/knows/Zybourne_Clock.html https://shii.bibanon.org/shii.org/knows/Zybourne_Clock.html References to Zybourne Clock made it into some pretty high-profile places thanks to former goons becoming adults and working their way into various industries: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Johnny https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Johnny
- NikkiA 7y agoI think "Community designed ChronoTrigger rip-off" would be more apt
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- fesoliveira 7y agoFrom the entry on Know Your Meme[1]: > The entire game was planned to be be completed in less than a year, however only one person on the team had previous game development experience as a professional developer. He was banned from the project for criticizing it. This made me laugh more than it should have. [1] https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/zybourne-clock https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/zybourne-clock
- 0xDEEPFAC 7y agoThe author suggests the correlation between searches for "steampunk" happening around Sept and Oct are due to iPhone sales which is interesting. Here is an alternative theory though - what if its more related to Halloween?
- mayank 7y agoOr Burning Man...
- noodle 7y agoOr the fact that a lot of larger steampunk-related conventions are in the fall.
- Finnucane 7y agoIn the 1990s steampunk was just what we called whatever it was that Tim Powers, James Blaylock, and KW Jeter were writing, and now it is costume goggles you can get at the Party City at the local mall.
- paggle 7y agoCan you try to give me a sense of what "steampunk" means in a literary sense? When I think of "steampunk" I think of brass machinery, tubes and pipes, oversized hardware, needle pressure gauges, etc... and I struggle to see how that kind of aesthetic would be captured in a literary genre. I would love to know.
- smacktoward 7y agoFor an HN reader, I'd just suggest picking up a copy of the 1990 William Gibson/Bruce Sterling collaboration The Difference Engine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine). It's hit or miss from a literary perspective, but it'll get you aimed in the general direction you're asking about.
- jimbob45 7y agoIf one takes Steampunk to be technological advancements beyond (but inspired by) the era coupled with an intense devotion to the style of the era, then Stranger Things could be considered the spiritual successor to Steampunk.
- dragonwriter 7y agoBut Steampunk is just the Age of Steam version; the prototypical version is Cyberpunk. Which is actually inspired by roughly the same era as ST, but focussing on different elements of the era (and usual set farther forward from the inspiring era.)
- spbyrne 7y agoI really don't think Steampunk is tied to the iPhone in any way. "steampunk was a cultural response to the ultimate technological zeitgeist, the iPhone" is a pretty bold claim.
- wbratches 7y agoi think it's tied to skeuomorphism, i.e. giving advanced technology a more tactile sense. the author's neglect of this concept makes these concepts harder to parse, since it what tied the previous and current design eras.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- toxican 7y agoIt's like someone picked two topics out of a hat (iPhone, Steampunk) and was tasked with writing an article about them. iPhones (and smartphones in general) were definitely a cultural phenomenon, but there's literally nothing tangible connecting them to Steampunk aside from the author's shallow, fluffed up wordsmithing.
- Animats 7y agoHuh? I was active in steampunk events from 2010 to 2018 [1][2], and never heard anyone even mention an "iPhone". [1] https://vimeo.com/124065314 https://vimeo.com/124065314 [2] http://www.aetherltd.com http://www.aetherltd.com
- wbratches 7y agoAuthor doesn't mention it, but the demise of skeuomorphism and slow death of late 00's hipsterism (in the sense of fetishizing historical aesthetics in a modern context) goes hand-in-hand with the disappearance of steampunk.
- egypturnash 7y agoMan I fucking miss skeuomorphism these days. I'm so damn tired of everything being text floating on bright white backgrounds. I live in a white apartment that I can't paint, at least put some texture and color in my virtual spaces where it's just about free.
- gowld 7y agoWhat are the consequences of painting?
- theandrewbailey 7y agoI never liked the in-your-face skeuomorphism that Apple did. I would like modern UIs with subtle 3D cues, like Windows 95 had. I don't think that's a huge ask.
- kls 7y agoTo me Steampunk was an artistic movement and as such it is not dead. Sure there where some pretty cool things that actually worked well that came out of it, but it always seemed like that was the secondary purpose to the art. I believe some people got so wound up in it that they basically became steampunk LARP'ers, but for the most part it was an art period and one that really for some reason catches my fancy. Maybe it's art for tinkerers or something like that, but as a child I really liked the wounder of 1000 Leagues and novels like that, and some steampunk pieces evoke that youthful wonderlust in me. It's an art form that encompasses a lot of skills that I personally enjoy doing as a hobby. e.g Welding, Metal Crafting, Pneumatic, Hydraulics, Mechanics. Funny enough even though there was a time that I pursued artistic endeavors and was a pretty avid sketch artist and fairly good CG 3D artist. I have never endeavored to design a steampunk piece. Just too busy for art now days. The question is, who will arise as the Picasso or Dali of the Stempunk period? I would love to know their name and pick up a few pieces now.
- sp332 7y agoIf it's not dead, what's some recent steampunk art you've seen?
- l_t 7y agoSeems a bit narrowminded to assume it's dead because you haven't personally seen any art in a while. Steampunk is alive, but more niche. See https://www.brassscrew.org/ https://www.brassscrew.org/ for instance.
- sp332 7y agoTo claim that it's not dead, one should have some evidence that it's alive.
- kls 7y agoIf we are playing a game of semantics, it could not be dead it was never alive to be alive one has to meet the definition of living and a artistic period certainly would not fit said criteria. That being said, I would assume dead was a reference to out of fashion and sure it is out of fashion, but there are still people that enjoy it as an art. 70's Disco is out of fashion but there are still people making 70's disco music. So it is indeed not dead, it is just not popular.
- busterarm 7y agoPersonally, I could never stand the Steampunk aesthetic -- probably because of the people adorning it -- and I'm glad the world has moved on.
- ozborn 7y agoThe article asserts, but provides no real evidence that steampunk has "died". I wanted to refute the author's claim by looking at google n-grams, but the viewer cuts off in 2008 with the steampunk n-gram still going strong... Instead I present anecdotal evidence that steampunk is not dead: 1. The presence of an steampunk section in my local Spirit of Halloween store. 2. The release of Carnival Row this year by Amazon, which I believe fits the bill close enough. 3. A continuing new release of steampunk novels (https://www.goodreads.com/genres/steampunk https://www.goodreads.com/genres/steampunk) Flimsy evidence, but perhaps enough to refute the death of steampunk, which is a strong claim.
- greggman2 7y agoNot sure it counts but there are a few anime and video games that some people call steampunk. Sakura Taisen/Sakura Wars, the latest version for PS4 was just announced at Tokyo Game Show a few weeks ago.
- gameswithgo 7y agoI'm planning to do a steampunky pc build soon! steampunk lives!
- mattnewton 7y agoAs a San Francisco denizen, I can assure you reports of Steam Punk's death are greatly exaggerated. In my circles at least, some people are annoyed at how much steam punk has infiltrated their other costume niches, like the Edwardian Ball. As other people have said, the link to the iPhone announcement seems super tenuous given the prevelance of steam punk costumes on Halloween. But also, it's possible that the term needs less definition, and that ideas from the steampunk aesthetic have already permeated other art. For example, there is a lot of steam punk looking machinery and decorations at this new minigolf place in SF, but it's not being advertised as such: https://www.urbanputt.com/ https://www.urbanputt.com/
- mogadsheu 7y agoAgreed. Steampunk didn’t die, it’s just evolved into the Burning Man aesthetic.
- personjerry 7y ago> new minigolf place Urban Putt has been around for at least 6 years
- mattnewton 7y agoFair to not call it new, they apparently opened in 2014. But that is still two years after the article dates the steam punk period as ending, and it is still very popular.
- GaryNumanVevo 7y agoUrban Putt is a great time :D They do a lot in a small space.
- thrower123 7y agoYou can't swing a dead cat through the Steam game listings without hitting something Steampunk inspired. They aren't brand new, but Frostpunk, Forgotten Anne, and They Are Billions are all since the article claims Steampunk peaked, and they have done quite well. It's possible that the aesthetic has just become so ubiquitous that it doesn't bear noticing anymore in that context.
- mattkevan 7y agoIt became too cliche. As soon as it became associated with glueing a few cogs to a top hat it had to die.
- tinus_hn 7y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA Just Glue Some Gears On It (And Call It Steampunk)
- ape4 7y agoStill alive in Coldwater, Ontario. https://www.steampunkfestivalcoldwater.com/ https://www.steampunkfestivalcoldwater.com/
- daveslash 7y agoOff topic from the Article, but I like contrast between Steampunk and Dieselpunk. I find Steampunk optimistic about technology and Dieselpunk pessimistic. A motif in steampunk is that technology is here to enlighten and save us -- it's something to be welcomed with open arms. Diselpunk treats technology as something of we aught to be cautious. In that way, I think the 2000's, into the early 2010's were optomistic. In general, I'd assert that we are collectively much more cautious about technology today than we were then. "I like the word "dieselpunk" if you are doing something like 'Weird World War II'. I think that makes perfect sense. But to me, World War I is the dividing point where modernity goes from being optimistic to being pessimistic. Because when you put the words "machine" and "gun" together, they both change. At that point, war is no longer about a sense of adventure and chivalry and a way of testing your nation's level of manhood; it's become industrial, and horrible. So playing around with that border between optimistic steampunk and a much more pessimistic dieselpunk, which is more about Nazis, was kind of interesting to me because early in the war we were definitely kind of on the steampunk side of that." ~ Scott Westerfeld, via Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieselpunk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieselpunk
- JohnClark1337 7y agoIs this article what happens when an apple fanboy does drugs?
- letitburn 7y agoImagine writing this shit for hours thinking how clever you are, and the one thing you didn't consider us Halloween.
- bregma 7y agoSteampunk not dead. It's just that we discovered retrofuturism instead and graduated from the Victorian age that never was into the space age that never will be.
- taneq 7y agoI like the way you say "discovered" as if raygun gothic was always there just waiting for someone to stumble onto it. :)
- coldtea 7y ago>How the iPhone popularized steampunk… and how the iPhone killed it off The iPhone had very little to do with either popularizing or killing steampunk... Its moment come and went (as far as a little more mass appeal goes) before the iPhone...
- Porthos9K 7y agoI hate upvoting articles posted on Medium, but this one deserves it.
- blendo 7y agoSteampunk helps me come to grips with the industrial revolution, 150 years on. In an age of gigahertz radio waves and nanosecond computer speeds, I like thinking about 1 Hertz, 1 Volt, 1 Ohm, and 1 Farad (!) alt-histories. As the story said, > It’s about using design to make the working of technology scrutable through an object’s aesthetic.
- toxican 7y agoWhat's more likely? The iPhone has some hidden, subtle responsibility for the death of Steampunk -or- something niche like Steampunk found mainstream success, over saturated the pop culture market, then fizzled away back to something niche again?