In here goes some off the wall stuff that probably won't make it into my steampunk scenario. It's all steampunk related of sorts.

Here's my contribution: Steam Punk Star Wars

http://ericpoulton.blogspot.com/search/label/steampunk%20star%20wars

There will be a Space Race victory in this scenario but will it look like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y39gHihP74

Love Steam Trek!

Everyone that doesn't already needs to know about Vernian Process (http://www.gothpunk.com/formaldihyde/vernianprocess.html) - hours and hours of free Steampunk soundtrack.

And speaking of Steam Trek - definitely read Ishmael (http://www.amazon.com/Ishmael-Star-Trek-No-23/dp/0671743554/ref=sr_1_3/002-5396061-3296045?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192499921&sr=1-3), a roman à clef in which an amnesiac Spock is end up in an 1860s where he encounters characters from TV westerns that were more or less contemporary to Star Trek. Whoa! Talk about your Wold Newton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wold_Newton_family)! Then there's How Much For Just The Planet? (http://www.amazon.com/Much-Just-Planet-Star-Trek/dp/0671629980/ref=ed_oe_p/002-5396061-3296045) in which Kirk must negotiate vs. the Klingons with the people of a planet obsessed with Gilbert & Sullivan. The Klingon explanation of Victorian formal dinner attire is one of the greatest Star Trek moments ever, IMHO. Several SF authors receive homage as named characters in this "Tribbles" kind of story.

Maybe this better fits under the Contaptions & Inventions thread, but I've got other images I'm working with for the underlying technologies, and I just thought these were kind of cool to look at.

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/7754/steampunkinventionswk7.jpg

Upper left: an internal-combustion-engine powered home vacuum cleaner by Bissell (the company is still in business, although this model is no longer available)
Upper right: a closed-cycle steam-turbine powered phonograph (apparently there were quite a few manufacturers, and a very active community of collectors today).
Lower left: a steam powered lawn mower ("If you want to borrow the flivver, first get down to that coal chute and get busy mowing!")
Lower right: a modern steam enthusiast powers up his computer (yes it really works).

Speaking of that last, I really need a new desktop. Love that dvd drive in the model on the right. A laptop like the one on the left would be even more convenient. Anyone who wants to see my tech icon production accelerate is welcome to get me one of these custom-built babies (Mac preferred).

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/1467/differentenginesyb7.jpg

The internal combustion vacuum cleaner is fantastic. I love the fact that you have to bring that enormous, filthy, fume-belching monstrosity into your parlour - complete with two men to operate it - just so that the other man can remove dust from the backs of your chairs.

The computers are great fun too. I'd love something like that. Don't forget that Leibniz constructed one of the first mechanical arithmetic engines, with an eye to organising the whole of knowledge mathematically!

I really ought to make some kind of seventeenth-century equivalent of a steampunk mod. Clockworkpunk? The idea needs work.

I really ought to make some kind of seventeenth-century equivalent of a steampunk mod. Clockworkpunk? The idea needs work.I've got some vague ideas about a "Secret History of the World" mod. First Era - Mu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_%28lost_continent%29) and Agartha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agartha) as civs & technology ala Celestial Matters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_Matters), etc. Second Era - "New Atlantis", Rosicrucians, Camillo's Memory Theater (http://kelty.rice.edu/375/lectures/camillo0212.html) as a proto-Web, techs ala Giordano Bruno & Athanasius Kircher, up through the Enlightenment & Illuminati... Third Era - Steampunk Fourth Era - Retrofuture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro-futurism) with SubGenius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._%22Bob%22_Dobbs), Schwa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa_%28art%29) & Discordian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illuminatus%21_Trilogy) elements thrown in for good measure.

That sounds extremely interesting. You ought to get in touch with Rambuchan, if you're not already, as it sounds a lot like his planned but never completed medieval fantasy mod (set in the world portrayed in medieval maps, complete with all those strange monsters in central Asia...). Indeed I might have some good ideas myself if you want to get in touch about it at any point.

Vernian Process is a great find - fantastic custom music potential there!

We're straying pretty far OT; but, as to the ideas related to what Rambuchan was working, a little way down the list of mods I'm pretending I'm going to do one day is a Silk Road one (from Western China to the Levant) with a bit of John Mandeville & Baudolino thrown in.

Maybe this better fits under the Contaptions & Inventions thread, but I've got other images I'm working with for the underlying technologies, and I just thought these were kind of cool to look at.

Those are great. The lawnmower and cleaner are such a hoot and the computer is cool.


Don't forget that Leibniz constructed one of the first mechanical arithmetic engines, with an eye to organising the whole of knowledge mathematically!
I really ought to make some kind of seventeenth-century equivalent of a steampunk mod. Clockworkpunk? The idea needs work.
What about the Antikythera or the plain old abacus? Clockwork punk I think has it's own genre so you could find plenty of ideas. One of things I thought about was moving the timeline of my scenario back a bit to cover a lot of Leonardo Da Vinci inspired work and clockwork stuff. However, I decided to narrow the scope to make it more manageable and coherent. I do think your idea and Blue Monkey's Secret History mod have bags of potential and would be extremely interesting. I agree with Plot on the Vernian Process. I never even knew it was out there - certainly lots of great stuff in it that I can use.

Clockwork punk already exists? Damn - there was I thinking I'd invented a whole new genre. And I'd already thought of a better name too (Baroque & Roll). Although I suppose they did it on Dr Who already (the Madame de Pompadour episode) so there you go...

I do think it's best to restrict this mod to the purely Victorian-style stuff; it keeps the atmosphere much better.

Vernian Process: in my opinion The forgotten age is the best of the downloadable albums. I think it has a more professional sound than the others.

Clockwork punk already exists? Damn - there was I thinking I'd invented a whole new genre. And I'd already thought of a better name too (Baroque & Roll). Although I suppose they did it on Dr Who already (the Madame de Pompadour episode) so there you go...


Baroque and Roll is hilarious but it's already taken you know. Aparently it's neo-classical metal music.


Vernian Process: in my opinion The forgotten age is the best of the downloadable albums. I think it has a more professional sound than the others.
I'd agree with that although some of the covers are quite amusing and hit quite a sentimental note with a kid from the 80s.

I found this http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/26325/tophat.gif. Feel free to use with impunity.

While trolling for images I found one for a Wonder. I haven't reserved the last two colors in the palette yet. This one is meant ironically and humorously, in the spirit of Flashman or the movie "The Man Who Would Be King". Please don't look if you're bothered by the Victorian attitude of "White Man's Burden".

Bringing Pizza To The Wogs
Increases Commerce, Causes Corruption

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/3026/pizzawogs2xj1.gif

In here goes some off the wall stuff that probably won't make it into my steampunk scenario. It's all steampunk related of sorts.

Here's my contribution: Steam Punk Star Wars

http://ericpoulton.blogspot.com/search/label/steampunk%20star%20wars
]

HOLY SPIT!!! YOU'RE THAT GUY?!!?!? I don't know if you're aware of this, but your art has been featured on the Brass Goggles Stempunk Blog (http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/brassgoggles/) and other related sites (like the Aether Emporium).

Blue Monkey: I know (well as well as you can know someone through the internet anyways) Jake von Slatt and Doc Nagy (the creators of the two computational devices you have pictured)... BTW, that telegraph sounder to the right of Jake's keyboard actually works, and is hooked up to his computer using a program that converts ASCII to morse code and it'll clack it out for him. Doc also has a steampunk laptop and scanner that he made (his laptop actually uses a clock windup key to turn on!!).

As for Vernian Process, I've recieved permission to use two of his Final Fantasy covers (Aeris's theme and The Highwind Takes to the Skies) for the FF mod, so He probably would be cool with us using his songs for this scenario... I'll PM him over at the stempunk forums and see if he's cool with that.

Oh, nice smiley, King Arthur... I'll have to let Tinkergirl (Brass Goggles Site Admin) know about it and see if she'll add it to the SPF smilie list....

HOLY SPIT!!! YOU'RE THAT GUY?!!?!? I don't know if you're aware of this, but your art has been featured on the Brass Goggles Stempunk Blog (http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/brassgoggles/) and other related sites (like the Aether Emporium).


err.. no, I wish it was but it's not. I meant this is my contribution in way of providing the link. I will reword it so it's not misleading.

I put this post here because you don't yet have a specific thread for other parts of the mod:
Rufus T. Firefly made a set of interface backgrounds using Victorian images (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=96053). His library (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=125012) also has some other things that might be of use.

Ah yes that will be a nice touch thanks.

I think I have some of it already since it was used in an expanded Napoleonic scenario.

Great news guys!!! I just logged into the Steampunk Forums, and found a new PM in my folder.

To my surprise it was from Vernian Process (I was just about to PM him), and here's what he said:

Hey man, I just noticed the thread over in the civilization forum, you can let those guys knopw they are welcome to use any of my tracks, as long as they credit them properly. And if anyone uses any of my covers make sure they credit it to the original composer/copyright holder as well.

Oh and can you let that guy Plotinus know that the new album will have an even better production quality than The Forgotten Age.

Cool thanks man!

So, there you have it, straight from the man himself! :D

That's great. Nice to have a bit of inter-forum interaction going on there. The forgotten age has become my current music-to-have-on-while-working of choice so I shall be watching eagerly for the next one!

Yeah, Like I said, I'm already using his renditions of The Highwind Takes Flight and Aeris's Theme for the FF mod, plus a few other songs from his symphonic collection are in my playlist....

That's splendid HT, please pass on my thanks and assure him that he will be fully credited. Great to know we have such esteemed lurkers too.

Another one of Datamancer's steampunk computers - a laptop (http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1339) - made it to Technovelgy.com. Be sure to check out the 1600-1899 section of their timeline (http://technovelgy.com/ct/ctnlistPubDate.asp?BPDate1=1600&BPDate2=1899) of when inventions were first mentioned in fiction.

Oh yeah, best for last, there's a guy who's using twin Tesla coils as stereo speakers. Not to power the audio, the coils are the speakers (http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1338). I guess we'll have to add Surround Sound as a tech. And add Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" to the soundtrack.

Now that I think about it, probably only Tesla coils could drown out the noise of a clacking kinotrope. Apropos of which, here's a link to the Difference Dictionary (http://www.sff.net/people/gunn/dd/).


Edit: And here's a goof about the entertainment offered on the Titanic (http://www.snopes.com/lost/poseidon.htm). Maybe in a SteamPunk world they too would have used a clacking kinotrope.

My God, what's their carbon footprint?

My God, what's their carbon footprint?You mean the audiophile Tesla coils? I would think ozone would be a bigger issue than CO2. Of course they could grab power from the aether as Tesla originally intended.

Just thought I'd mention the Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana (http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Fantastic-Victoriana-Jess-Nevins/dp/1932265155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197253045&sr=1-1), even though I'm sure a lot of you have already heard of it. I borrowed it from a local library. It's a guide to the fantastic literature written roughly during the period, written by the same fellow who wrote those guides to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. If nothing else it could be a source for plenty of GL names. Look up "Electric Bob"'s entry for example. Maybe he'd be a good choice for a Science Advisor head.

Tesla Coil Tannenbaum (http://tesladownunder.com/Xmas.htm#XmasFinal). Be sure to cruise the web site for other fun stuff, like the mobile forcefield for vehicle protection (http://tesladownunder.com/Tesladownunder's%20Car%20Theft%20Pevention%201000. jpg) (potential unit fortify animation?), & the foil hat lightning rod (http://tesladownunder.com/TeslaPoolTinHat.jpg).

SteamPunk Santa (http://cyborgnecromancer.deviantart.com/art/Steampunk-Santa-72796605) (unit concept art?).

Not so funny as SteamPunk Santa but here is a nice link I stumbled across for The Steampunk Magazine: http://www.steampunkmagazine.com/inside/

The magazine is avaiable as a free to download PDF and certainly makes interesting reading.

Steampunk made it onto NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18710895) (National Public Radio).

Check out the Nautilus Home Theatre (http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1450).

did you know that the Victorians invented & built (at least prototyped) all that "virtual meeting" "web-cam conversation" type stuff?

Check out the Comic Electric Telegraph (http://www.victorianlondon.org/communications/comictelegraph.htm).

May I present for your delectation the latest of Professor Symian Azule's Patented Solecistic Wonders -

"The Solved Mystery, or A Requisite Plenitude of Gentlemen for the Proper Infixing of an Electric Torch"

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9884/lightbulbzv1.png

I'm truly chagrined by my multi-postings. On the gripping hand, I refuse to slow my pace until I find one worthy of a comment. Even a Bronx Cheer.

Came across an interesting contemporary image of Countess Ada Lovelace working out the maths for Babbage's Difference Engine. I'm not sure if it's an engraving or a woodcut:

http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/4226/rgncmpujlf8.gif

That woodcut of Ada Lovelace is cool...

Here (http://www.jibjab.com/view/125637) is proof that sometimes old-school technology totally PWNZ new-fangled crap. :D

Steam engine noise driving birds away and thus spoiling your Sunday drive through the countryside? Try out the Charvolant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pocock_%28inventor%29), designed by another brilliant British inventor.

That's a fantastic idea. I want one.

A good idea to help stop global warming perhaps

This site is ripping good! Modern products such as Wii, cell phones, etc. advertised in vintage style, many Victorian (http://www.worth1000.com/contest.asp?contest_id=18731&display=photoshop).

Gadzooks! discovered this blog about a whole Second Life SteamPunk (http://voyagesofdrfabre.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html) community.

This site is ripping good! Modern products such as Wii, cell phones, etc. advertised in vintage style, many Victorian (http://www.worth1000.com/contest.asp?contest_id=18731&display=photoshop).

That's been doing the rounds at my girlfriend's office since you posted it here. What great stuff. Although the car/bike ones don't look remotely odd to me, since all cars/bikes are indistinguishable to my eyes.

If some of you are wondering what one of the key influences on me becoming a steampunk are, here's a few videos I took last weekend at the Cumberland Valley Antique Engine & Machinery Association's Spring 2008 Steam & Gas show:

Three Hit-n-Miss engines (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMRTVNgKExQ)

1/4 Scale model of a Reid 6 Hp 2-Cycle oil field engine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amvg-VzlXB0)

15 HP Reid 2-cycle engine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzKNsZ9d_hk)

Several Large, antique industrial Gas engines (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_IdbWo60f0)

1908 Peerless steam Traction Engine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5nBbceOqMY)

Saw it on the funny pics thread, thought you guys might like it :)

http://www.specsappeal.net/steampunk.jpg

Some documentation, maybe? :p

http://www.amazon.com/Steampunk-Ann-VanderMeer/dp/1892391759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212185655&sr=1-1

Annotated "map" of 221B Baker Street (http://www.stutler.cc/other/misc/images/bakerstreet_notes.gif).

Taking my daily perusal of wikipedia's front page reveals the following -

"The Anglo-Zanzibar War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War) was fought between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar on 27 August 1896. With a duration of around 40 minutes, it holds the record of being the shortest war in recorded history"

"Mark Twain and General Custer visited P. T. Barnum in Iranistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranistan)"

Think of the potential steampunkery!

Just found this on youtube. Be patient with the start, it is steampunk related... sort of... :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ylO7GoMMw

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE SAY SOMETHING? (http://www.steampunkconvention.com/)

From the Ghoulish Gallery - a purveyor of "changing portraits", whose web site is temporarily down for reconstruction.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9110/halloweengallery103008llt4.jpg

Potential LH? Diplomatic Advisor? Oct. 31st Easter Egg?

Just Another Roadside Attraction: The Union Army vs. Gwangi @ Professor Cline’s Dinosaur Kingdom (http://io9.com/5084491/the-alternate-history-theme-park-where-dinosaurs-fought-in-the-civil-war)

I don't know if anyone else has read it, but S.M. Peters' Whitechapel Gods might prove to be a font of inspiration. You've got two mechanical deities, Mama Engine and Grandfather Clock, who have walled off the titular section of Victorian London for purposes unknown; you've got a disease called "the clanks" that progressively turns blood to oil and muscles to gears; you've got biomechanical monstrosities such as clickrats and Ticker Hounds haunting the dark places. There are unkillable men, the gold cloaks and black cloaks, who have sold out to the gods, and had their hearts replaced with coal-fired furnaces. And there are the Boiler Men, clockwork brutes armed with mechanical rifles and gouts of scalding steam. The story kind of leaves something to be desired (it is essentially a steampunk retelling of The Matrix), but for atmosphere it's pretty intense (and, just maybe, full of mod ideas).

Thanks, Axolotl. I'd seen the title; with your advice it's made it onto my ever lengthening "to read" list.

A few more examples of veeeery nice steam punk modern gear:

http://weburbanist.com/2008/11/19/steampunk-hijacks-hi-tech-design-art-fashion/

I was looking at a French site including a biography of Vidocq. There was a link to Vidocq: The Steampunk Adventure (http://209.85.171.104/translate_c?hl=fr&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http://www.pixatomic.fr/accueil%3Fcategorie%3D20&usg=ALkJrhi4SwlFGcDZGrqq3BNF2antsW9q7A) - an interactive, with downloadable episode in English. Looks tasty!

I see nothing.... How do I Download? Thanx in advance.

I was looking at a French site including a biography of Vidocq. There was a link to Vidocq: The Steampunk Adventure (http://209.85.171.104/translate_c?hl=fr&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http://www.pixatomic.fr/accueil%3Fcategorie%3D20&usg=ALkJrhi4SwlFGcDZGrqq3BNF2antsW9q7A) - an interactive, with downloadable episode in English. Looks tasty!

I see nothing.... How do I Download? Thanx in advance.Somehow the google tranlsation is messing up the links. Try this page instead (http://www.pixatomic.fr/accueil). You'll be emailed the episodes you request, which I understand are interactive pdf.

Ev'ry self-respecting steampunk world must include a Scots engineer:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/92/steamscottymk9.jpg


The site also has such stock characters as the doctor firmly grounded in the quotidian, the swarthy & mysterious foreign scientist, and of course the dashing young captain.

I'm not sure we'd want to use it as an improvement, let alone a small wonder, but I had never heard of a magic brothel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manor_House,_21_Soho_Square#The_White_House_brothe l), until it showed up on Wikipedia's front page. More proof that truth is weirder than steampunk.

re:Vidocq- it has encryption??? don't know how to decryp! thanx in advance again!

re:Vidocq- it has encryption??? don't know how to decryp! thanx in advance again!Not sure what you mean. Are you talking about the site I linked to? About getting the episodes in English?

I downloaded the files and my adobe cant read it.

I downloaded the files and my adobe cant read it.I have to go back & see what I did. If I haven't posted here with an answer by Sunday night send me a pm.

Well, it's not exactly fun, but I don't know where else to put it. Perhaps the rl Carrington Event (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_event) could provide a suitable part of a steampunk back story - something like what was done with the Wold Newton event (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wold_Newton_family). Be sure to follow the further links to the Space.com & SciAm articles for more usable details.

Of course it's in today's Wikipedia "did you know", - but, as usual, it's true...

"... that in 1825, the Court of Exchequer declared all contracts by hobbits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit_(unit)) illegal and void in England?"

And world financial markets have been unstable ever since. Let that be a lesson.

Whats a steampunk?

I'll take a crack at that: the term "punk" was coined to describe a dark, anarchistic style that developed in the 1970's around a music style by the same name. As an art form, it included such stylistic elements as exposed wires and pipes, and makeshift environments. In the 80's, the term "Cyber-punk" was coined to describe that style as applied to sci-fi and techno ("The Matrix" for instance). An awful lot of anime is in cyberpunk style. Sometime in the late 90's someone imagined what it would look like if cyberpunk had developed in the Victorian era of the 1800's and "steam-punk" was born. The movies "Steamboy" (an anime feature) and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" and even "Wild Wild West" pushed the genre in different directions, but it has sorta settled into a techno-victorian groove which we hope to use to full advantage here. In particular, we've taken the idea used in LOEG of using the sci-fi and speculative fiction of the 1800's as a way to introduce impossible ("punked") technology to the victorians, including lasers, computers, and giant steam-driven mechanical spiders. It's alot of fun, once you get into it, and the mod will hopefully be a real romp when we get it done...right now, we're about halfway there....

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/7623/lyragift.jpg

*snip awessome/scary/mystery picture*

Ok... I've got to know what this is!
:eek:

Ok... I've got to know what this is!
:eek:steampunkwallpapers.com

I stumbled across Fenian Fire: The British Government Plot to Assassinate Queen Victoria (http://www.amazon.com/Fenian-Fire-Government-Assassinate-Victoria/dp/0007104820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242341265&sr=1-1http://www.amazon.com/Fenian-Fire-Government-Assassinate-Victoria/dp/0007104820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242341265&sr=1-1). Anyone read it?

Doctor Grymm's Eye-Pod Victrola (http://gadgets.softpedia.com/newsImage/The-Great-Steampunk-quot-Eye-Pod-Victrola-quot-iPod-Mod-Is-Ever-Watchful-3.png)

Rather than let "this is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife, ..." become a mantra, I decided to visit The Gatehouse (http://www.ottens.co.uk/gatehouse/). Where I saw a blog post about a movie in production called War of the Worlds: Goliath.

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4860/wotwgg.jpg

Fan page at Heavy Metal (http://www.heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com/movieswaroftheworlds.html)
Concept Art Page (http://www.metaltv.com/wotw/gallery.html)

Not sure whether this is of use to anyone outside the UK but BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime is a reading of The First Men in the Moon by HG Wells. On all this week and available on iPlayer the day after.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lnmxy

Thanks, KingArthur. Librivox (http://librivox.org/) is another good source for many public domain downloadable books. I'm currently listening to Edison's Conquest of Mars.

Librivox - The quality of the narrators can be a bit hit and miss as can the quality of the recordings. Apart from that it's a great concept.

You're right about the narrators. OTOH, it's a source for stories - like ECoMC or Strange Manuscript Found In A Copper Cylinder - that are too rare or too expensive to get other ways, but useful for designing our scenarios. For example, the space craft described in ECoM are worth a unit. Picture a brass railway passenger car with what look like small wings but are really part of the control system for manipulating telluric energies that Tesla described, in order to selectively counteract gravitic effects. Most of the weapons & other technology described are attributed to Edison but really based on Tesla's work.

Seen this yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds0-2irdP4c

That looks a lot of fun.

Thanks for the link. Yes, a lot of fun! Enough so that i wanted to see if there were images with good views of potential units or improvements. Their website (http://www.peculiarpictures.co.uk/page2.htm) has some stills with better resolution. And the trailer seems to stream better at the website of one of the techs involved (http://www.alanmarques.com/1884_Trailer.html) than at youtube.

While waiting for a response from Wyrmshadow I took a screenshot of my current desktop. It's a reproduction of Athanasius Kircher's Magnetic Oracle at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. 200 years too early for steampunk, but then he was ahead of his time.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1341/athanasiusdesktop.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/8213/magnetcar1.jpg

Some things are self-explanatory. Should it be in the requested units list? With a small Volta Cannon on the handlebars - charged in transit by the engine, of course.

That made me laugh Blue, thanks.

Here's something new on one of my favourite sites (io9):

http://io9.com/5334606/portraits-from-the-steampunk-planet-of-the-apes/gallery/

Love that new avatar, KA. Maybe a unit concept for the Lamarckian tech? Too bad the uniform isn't, say, cerulean. :mischief:

Believe it or not I've yet to own a cell phone. But I could see myself with one of these (http://www.unplggd.com/unplggd/cell-phones/steampunk-cell-phone-takes-tech-backwards-064953). Could carry blank cards for people to jot their number on & punch later. Voice-over in coffee shop "Should I hand her the one with cupid, the gear, or the rook?"

Is that the forerunner of B.O. Plenty's "Magnetic Air Car"?

Is that the forerunner of B.O. Plenty's "Magnetic Air Car"?I'd have to see it. Got a link?

No link. Try Dick Tracy, I will. oops! invention was Diet Smith's! for a color image : HTTP://www.hillcity-comics/models_dick_tracy_space_coupe.htm (DON'T WORK)anyhow still can buy at megahobby.com for $11....see clubhouse model museum!

http://www.hillcity-comics.com/models/5097.jpg

I remember that! Mmmmm, Moon Maid.


Now if only Cyrano had been a steampunk...

If I remember, Tracy also had personal flyers sometime around 1970. Diet Smith's cop-toys were the best part of Dick Tracy back then...

If I remember, Tracy also had personal flyers sometime around 1970. Diet Smith's cop-toys were the best part of Dick Tracy back then...There were circular platforms - kind of like the bucket on a "cherry picker". given things like the steampunk versions of marvel superheros I wonder what a sp tracy universe would be like. Certainly the lunar civilization in a rift canyon would an interesting contrast to the selenites.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! (http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347/ref=pd_sim_b_5)
Can a steampunk "Zombie Island" scenario be far behind? I know it would be fun to put together a team to create an sp urban terrain set.

Well, it's no Baphomet - it doesn't yet speak - but a clockwork laughing head (http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2499) does exist.

I've been lurking this subforum for a while, excited to see what comes of it, and I hope that progress is still going well, but I found something that, if you haven't seen it yet, I'm sure you'd enjoy!
vORsKyopHyM
hope there are plenty of airships to play with now :D

hope there are plenty of airships to play with now :D

As many as we could find. And thanks for teaching me how to embed a youtube clip!

As many as we could find. And thanks for teaching me how to embed a youtube clip!

Awesome and no problem!

1859 - Wireless Telegraphy Via Auroral Current (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/telegraphs-ran-on-electric-air-in-crazy-magnetic-storm-150-years-ago/)

wikipedia was very informative this morning. A notorious 19th c. dive bar in NYC called "Hole in the Wall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hole-in-the-Wall_%28saloon%29)" employed female criminals as bouncers.

Gallus Mag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallus_Mag) was 6 ft. tall.
"It was her custom, after she’d felled an obstreperous customer with her club, to clutch his ear between her teeth and so drag him to the door, amid the frenzied cheers of the onlookers. If her victim protested she bit his ear off, and having cast the fellow into the street she carefully deposited the detached member in a jar of alcohol behind the bar…. She was one of the most feared denizens on the waterfront and the police of the period shudderingly described her as the most savage female they’d ever encountered."

A composite character based on her, Sadie the Goat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_the_Goat) (also worked the Hudson as a river pirate), & Hell-Cat Maggie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellcat_Maggie) ("her teeth reportedly filed into points and wore long claw-like brass fingernails") was portrayed in Gangs of New York (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangs_of_New_York). Some of the rough customers they dealt with also had great names like Slobbery Jim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobbery_Jim) & Patsy the Barber.

Got to be a unit or GL in there somewhere.

Has anyone seen Tin Man (http://www.syfy.com/tinman/)? It looks like it may have a hint of steampunk spice.

Does anyone here plays World of Warcraft?

The instance/raid zone called Ulduar has strong hints of Steampunk. Here are some images:

Ulduar (http://www.pbase.com/hammerbolt/ulduar)

Ok guys, here it is: the steampunkiest machine currently in existence:

Meet The Jardinator (that is its actual name). The beauty is, it's self-propelled. Read more >here (http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Trencher.htm)<.

http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/Trencher2.jpg

http://musegames.com/games/gunsoficarus/
:D

Here's the strangest steampunk-related (sort of) web site so far:

Got a daughter, wife, girlfriend, hostage?

She can dress a paper doll of Ada Lovelace >here (http://www.stardoll.com/en/dolls/1013/Lady_Lovelace.html)<

When she gets done, she can go on to dress Madame Curie, Cleopatra, Brittany Spears or Lily Cole, among others.

Needless to say, I found this by accident.

A week ago I was randomly clicking links on IMDB when I found this.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/

A week ago I was randomly clicking links on IMDB when I found this.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/

Yes. It is a source of pride that we were already planning to include Barsoom before that project was announced. Unfortunately, it puts a bit of a time limit on us (though I'm confident it will be done by 2012!) in that we have a short window of time before images from the movie leak out and Disneyize everyone's idea of what these things should all look like. I prefer Frazetta's images, myself.

I know that you've retired, Wyrm, but if you know of any other interested unit makers, we could use a full unit line of Green Martians and Rykors...

For a recent update about the Barsoom part of this mod, check out the posts I made today in the Map (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8814104&postcount=123), Civilizations (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8814227&postcount=97) and Units (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8814488&postcount=264) threads in this sub-forum. If Barsoom ever comes together, I could see making a spin off mod of it, easily. Hell, the hardest work would be largely done.....

Could it be any worse than this - http://io9.com/5412228/traci-lords-is-a-princess-of-mars-god-help-us-all?autoplay=true

The budget appears to only support 2-armed tharks! - At least Disney/Pixar have the potential to make nice CGI tharks - I just worry that they'll turn it into too much of a kid/family movie.

O-M-G. And I like Traci Lords, although I prefer her..ahem.. earlier work... That outfit is just awful. We could use it as an example of how NOT to dress Dejah Thoris! Who is properly a brunette, not a blonde. But so is Traci....really....

http://www.twelvesouth.com/static/assets/products/productheaderimage/image/pageHeroImages_bookbook2_.jpg

It's not a case mod. Just a slipcover. Still, very handy for continuing work on the scenario whilst on the Express. Each case is individually "distressed" to ensure uniqueness, according to this article (http://www.iphonesavior.com/2010/01/this-vintage-book-is-your-new-macbook-pro-case.html). There is a link to the manufacturers site, which I won't post.:mischief: Another site with less words, more pictures. Now that the idea's out there... I'd spend the money to find a custom book binder/repairer & have them make one that's truly unique.

Steam Infrastructure-Powered Music (http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2764)

Ear Shattering :)
For a second it reminded of the scene in close encounters of the third kind where they try to communicate with the aliens by sound. Perhaps there is space for such a device in the Lost Worlds scenario ;)

Ear Shattering :)
For a second it reminded of the scene in close encounters of the third kind where they try to communicate with the aliens by sound. Perhaps there is space for such a device in the Lost Worlds scenario ;)A small wonder "Steam Cathedral"?

Some odd steampunk sculptures:

Steampunk (http://izismile.com/2010/02/08/awesome_sculptures_a_la_steampunk_250_pics.html)

BBC Radio/iPlayer:
Bleak Expectations (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00cwgs6)
Around The World In 80 Days (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d4xlc)
Terry Pratchett's "Nation" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qm4cp)

Apologies for not posting these earlier.


EDIT: Thrilling Stories of the Railway (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fy3d2)

Can you get iPlayer radio outside the UK? I thought it was for within the UK only - perhaps that's just the video.

Can you get iPlayer radio outside the UK? I thought it was for within the UK only - perhaps that's just the video.Video is completely restricted. Some audio is restricted. I've only been listening to the delayed available shows. I haven't tried listening live.

K-1889 (http://thesteamblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/k-1889.jpg) in case out steampunk Who needs a companion.

A steampunk plot generator (http://wondermark.com/554/) from Wondermark.

Blast-a-Buffoon (http://www.blastabuffoon.com/) with your choice of weaponry.

Ladies gloves with a map of London printed on them (http://www.fieldmuseum.org/maps/popUps/PG5.html), for use during the Great Exhibition. A pun regarding their usefulness is well within my grasp.

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/maps/photos/PG5.jpg

If that's not sufficiently detailed then try Victorian London Google Earth (http://www.victorianlondon.org/googleearth.htm).

Steam punk park:
Steam punk sculptures in park (http://izismile.com/2010/05/07/park_full_of_awesome_steampunk_sculptures_23_pics. html)

If you click on bonus pics there is a steampunk storm trooper helmet.

South Park Characters Steampunkified (http://murderousautomaton.deviantart.com/art/South-Park-200-Tribute-161671239)

The Great Steampunk Debate (http://www.greatsteampunkdebate.com/forum/)

South Park Characters Steampunkified (http://murderousautomaton.deviantart.com/art/South-Park-200-Tribute-161671239)

The Great Steampunk Debate (http://www.greatsteampunkdebate.com/forum/)

EDIT: Teddy Roosevelt - Cryptozoologist (http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/tr-czist/)

Not-so-fun: Moosezilla has alerted us that Frank Frazetta died May 10. Anyone who doesn't know Frazetta's art owes it to themselves to take a long look at his paintings, particularly his splendid depictions of the Edgar Rice Burroughs books from which most of the Lost Worlds scenario is drawn. Whenever someone says in a thread 'what should this or that look like?', I oughta just say "like Frazetta". I'm also compelled to admit that Frazetta's "Little Annie Fannie" cartoons in Playboy helped me through a long and difficult adolescence. Rest in peace and comfort, Frank.

Balthasar

http://mixolydian.cc/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/frank_frazetta_thuviamaidof.jpg

BBC Radio 4 has an episode of 2000 Years of Radio (a "what if?" pastiche series) called Steaming, Radio Victoriana (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jnj7) available for 3 more days on BBC iPlayer.

That's just wonderful. Reminds me of Firesign Theater.

If there is a need, I can turn this into a Wonder or an unit.. although, I'd need some ideas in this case. ;-)

http://www.runtimedna.com/images/P/ScopeMain.jpg

Looks like the infamous death ray.

Or a giant telescope allowing you to see your invisible opponents around your city ?

I've just found out about these two recent books :

Crossovers is a massive timeline of crossover stories in which characters, situations, or universes are linked together in order to build the Crossover Universe. Lovingly compiled by crossover and Wold Newton expert Win Scott Eckert, Crossovers lists upwards of 2000 crossover stories, with innumerable additional timeline entries which outline the secret history of the land of fiction. With introductions by Kim Newman (Volume 1) and Jess Nevins (Volume 2), each volume is illustrated with over 200 book and magazine covers, and contains appendices covering myriad television crossovers, alternate universes, and Newman's Anno Dracula series.

http://www.blackcoatpress.com/crossovers01-01.jpghttp://www.blackcoatpress.com/crossovers02-01.jpg

First book goes from prehistoric times to 1939, the second takes it over and prolongs the timeline to the future. It is solicited as an expanded version of Win Scott Eckert's Newton Universe website (http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Chron.htm).

It might be a good paper bible. I think I'll give the first volume a try.

Crossovers, (or it's modern synonym, mash-ups), is what this mod is all about. When we added M. Arsine Lupin to the mod recently it was, in part, because that character was associated with Sherlock Holmes in a 1908 book written by Lupin's creator, Maurice LeBlanc, Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars%C3%A8ne_Lupin_contre_Herlock_Sholm%C3%A8s), although he had to change the name to "Herlock Sholmes" for copyright reasons. The change didn't fool anyone, and a world-class mash-up was born.

Today in Steampunk history -

1849 - In the first air raid in history, Austria launches a flight of pilotless balloons against the city of Venice. (http://thegreatgeekmanual.com/blog/this-day-in-geek-history-august-22-2010#more-156591849)
Also:
1851 – The first America's Cup is won by the yacht America.
1864 – Twelve nations sign the First Geneva Convention. The Red Cross is formed.
1901 – Cadillac Motor Company is founded.
1902 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first President of the United States to ride in an automobile.
1906 - The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey, manufactures its first Victrola record player.
1911 - The theft of the Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum in Paris, France the previous night is discovered.

http://barsoomtales.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/title1.jpg

Mars, Moon, or Earth? Where did he get those coconuts?

Hey, it's Vuldacon's Tardis! :dance:

A telephone box on Mars… interesting.
9*6=42!!

Unfortunately, the Tardis on Mars wasn't my artwork, and it isn't Vuldacon's box, that I know of - Vuldacon's is much better.

Here's an original, sort of:

Turanga Leela from Futurama, made by me with GIMP. From an Original Painting (http://www.recave.com/2010/07/artwork-by-katie-de-sousa/) by Katie De Sousa.

http://a.imageshack.us/img824/9186/leela.jpg

It still gives off an interesting idea.
So now Futurama is being included too?

It still gives off an interesting idea.
So now Futurama is being included too?

No, that would be another mod at another time. I was having fun with all of the concept art available for Dr. Zoidburg (http://justmegawatt.com/imgs/alternate/zoidberg.jpg) while looking for a Chthulu image. When I saw the De Sousa painting, I saw Leela in the hair and T-shirt and overbite and started playing with it, and that's the result.

Tardis on Mars? Have a look at The Waters of Mars (http://www.david-tennant.org/album/6bd1at/).

I miss Tennant...

http://a.imageshack.us/img52/605/whosonmars.jpg

Right topic, wrong thread - is this one of Plotinus' Victorian Gentlemen?
http://www.drwhoguide.com/paintings/mcgann.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/gallery/tvmovie/images/340/dw7.jpg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Science-Fiction-Anthology-books/dp/B002KMJHZ0/ref=pd_sim_ce_32

Sorry Chaps bit of an advert but for the grand sum of 72 pennies you can get the The Ultimate Science Fiction Anthology with heaps of ERB, JV and HGW reading. Get the Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes for free while you're at it. No Kindle required as you can download the Kindle For PC for free. I expect a similar offer is available at Amazon.com for our cousins across the pond

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Science-Fiction-Anthology-books/dp/B002KMJHZ0/ref=pd_sim_ce_32

Sorry Chaps bit of an advert but for the grand sum of 72 pennies you can get the The Ultimate Science Fiction Anthology with heaps of ERB, JV and HGW reading. ... I expect a similar offer is available at Amazon.com for our cousins across the pond It is (99¢).

Large Hadron Collider circa 1901 (http://thegreatgeekmanual.com/blog/motivational-poster-large-hadron-collider)

Nope-duralumin Zeppelin frame being constructed! Oh those Geeks!

Nope-duralumin Zeppelin frame being constructed! Oh those Geeks!good to see none of the humor was lost on you.

Learned to day that London had a telephone exchange in the 1880s. & that wireless voice communications were actually designed & demonstated during the the same era - Photophone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photophone).

CiV (C5) Industrial Era Great Scientist (screenie by ainwood):

http://www.civfanatics.com/ainwood/DX11_Beijing_GS.jpg

That is definitely Steampunk! A Civ 5 to Civ 3 conversion on the way... :mischief:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XdP6Lp2ceqY/TLEV_RLetNI/AAAAAAAAeAM/VKLfU3GF0hQ/s1600/Nautilus+Door.jpg (http://geekartgallery.blogspot.com/2010/10/crafts-nautilus-style-steampunk-door.html)

Nautilus!! This is motivating me, in spite of people sending me 12 MB batches of sample images.
Must be readin' up on yon Verne literature.

Yeah, but did you open the door?

Irising peepholes, yes I have.

Incidentally, for anyone who's able to watch BBC4, there is an adaptation of The first men in the Moon on Sunday with Mark Gatiss which looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

Incidentally, for anyone who's able to watch BBC4, there is an adaptation of The first men in the Moon on Sunday with Mark Gatiss which looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.Can I borrow your license & use your home computer as a proxy to stream it? :p

Actually, let us know how it is since it may eventually be available in DVD.

Wouldn't it be available on IPlayer?

Wouldn't it be available on IPlayer?In the US most current videos are restricted by the BBC. I almost always get a "not available outside of Britain" message. Streams of the radio stations are not restricted. I don't understand why there's a regulatory difference, but there is.

I get the same here in Buenos Aires. WMG, EMI, Sony, etc. are constantly blocking videos, music etc. because of 'copyright issues'.

Yes, iPlayer videos can only be watched in the UK, much as Hulu (the US equivalent) is available only there.

Yes, iPlayer videos can only be watched in the UK, much as Hulu (the US equivalent) is available only there.Hulu is funded by the government & administered by presidential appointees? I hope I don't have to start paying an annual fee for a website I never use. :p

The BBC First Men in the Moon is available in several places as a torrent download & there are trailers for it all over the place now.

I have BBC America, and if they can manage to sandwich it in between reruns of Top Gear, Gordon Ramsay and Graham Norton, I'm sure to catch it there.

The BBC First Men in the Moon is available in several places as a torrent download Legally and officially sanctioned by the BBC, right?

Argentinian standard practice is that it's legal until someone comes with a court order, manages to find my place, manages to find me in there at the time, and makes me read the order. :mischief:

For about the fourth time I've come across this 1888 image of the search for Jack the Ripper. It was published to accompany a serious news article from what i can tell. Take a good look at the citizen's committee:
thumbnail
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/JacktheRipper1888.jpg/210px-JacktheRipper1888.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JacktheRipper1888.jpg)

Came across a blog about a box that only unlocks at a specific geographic location & guides you toward that location in a general way. (click picture for link)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Eu7JJmYaaTk/THetBc4-VnI/AAAAAAAAAAs/vKXSRbVCzKw/s1600/smallBox1.jpg (http://electricgeocaching.blogspot.com/2010/08/gps-puzzle-box.html)

Reminded me immediately of the South-Pointing Chariot. (click picture...)

http://www.odts.de/southptr/books/hongkong.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pointing_Chariot)

There's at least a UU there. Put them together & maybe even a GW.

http://www.odts.de/southptr/art/williams_kit-2.jpghttp://www.odts.de/southptr/richard/haberman_fig1_s.jpg




Also: Steampunk Iron Man (http://cosgeek.blogspot.com/2010/10/steampunk-iron-man.html) won the Marvel Costume Contest at the New York Comic Con 2010.

:coffee:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_irVOqyx0TK4/TNDc-x9GQ-I/AAAAAAAAALM/opZTIqikHAA/s1600/steampunk-bible-cover-new.jpg

New & Upcoming Steampunk books:
Flaming Zeppelins (http://www.amazon.com/Flaming-Zeppelins-Adventures-Ned-Seal/dp/1616960027/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_10) - I've read one of these stories. Way over the top & a lot of fun.
Steampunk Bible (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810989581?ie=UTF8&tag=thegregeeman-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0810989581) If you're familiar with Jeff VanderMeer you know what to expect.
Steampunk'd (http://www.amazon.com/Steampunkd-Jean-Rabe/dp/0756406439/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2) anthology of original stories edited by Martin H. Greenberg
Steampunk Prime: A Vintage Steampunk Reader (http://www.amazon.com/Steampunk-Prime-Vintage-Reader/dp/1933065184/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_5) stories written between 1880 and 1914
Steampunk: Victorian Futurism (http://www.amazon.com/Steampunk-Victorian-Futurism-Korero-Books/dp/1907621032/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1) on the current artistic movement
Visualising Steampunk (http://www.amazon.com/Visualising-Steampunk-Dominique-Falla/dp/3838386493/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_44) about visual design (as in concept art for films)
Fuel For The Boiler: A Steampunk Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Fuel-Boiler-Steampunk-Elizabeth-Stockton/dp/1435741595/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_30) as my cousin used to say "what thee heck!?"

Catching up on Fun Stuff, last first:

This list dictates a trip to the bookstore, at last. Just to look, as I'm short of that kind of cash.

Re: the picture in post 161, first published October 1888, a month after the death of Annie Chapman, the fourth of the Whitechapel Murders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitechapel_murders). Quite a bit to write about it. First, the picture of the suspect is that of the man described by Emily Marsh (http://www.casebook.org/witnesses/emily-marsh.html?printer=true) and by one of the Sons of George Lusk as having asked for Lusk's address just prior to Lusk's receiving the "From Hell" letter, from JTR, i.e., a tall bearded man with a soft hat and long overcoat. Lusk was also one of the co-founders and Chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee depicted in the illustration!

There is, however, another eyewitness description: that of Elizabeth Long (http://www.casebook.org/forum/messages/4926/19384.html), who described a tall man wearing a deerstalker cap and long overcoat talking to Annie Chapman shortly before her murder. The cap is an unusual detail as deerstalkers were rarely worn in urban streets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deerstalker).

http://images.peekyou.com/3038/6871/anna_chapman_303868710.jpg
Annie Chapman

The plot thickens: even more startling is the fact that the first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet was published in 1887, a year before the Whitechapel murders, but the first illustration (by Sidney Paget) of Holmes in a deerstalker cap didn't appear until the publication of the story "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" in 1893. Watson tells us in A Study in Scarlet that Holmes moved to 221B Baker St in 1881.

So what was Holmes role in the Ripper Murders? Why are they never mentioned in the stories despite ample evidence that he was actively consulting at the time? Did he participate? Did he investigate? Was it the only case he couldn't solve? Or did he solve it, only to discover that the truth could never be revealed?

Postscript: The man described by Lusk's son reportedly spoke with an Irish accent; in a letter published in the Daily Telegraph Sept. 10, 1888 (two days after Chapman's murder) announcing the formation of the Vigilance Committee and addressed to the Home Secretary, the Committee asks that a reward be offered for the murderer which would "convince the poor and humble residents of our East-end that the government authorities are as much anxious to avenge the blood of these unfortunate women as they were the assassination of Lord Cavendish and Mr Burke."

Burke and Cavendish were victims of the 1882 Phoenix Park Murders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Park_Murders) in which the murderers slashed the throats and chests of their victims with surgical knives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Henry_Burke_%28Irish_Politician%29). The whole thing was tied to the issue of Irish home rule. Although both politicians generally supported home rule, the murders were pinned on a little-known Irish Republican group called the Irish National Invincibles.

The Phoenix Park Murders occurred just days after the signing of the Kilmainham Treaty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Treaty) made between the government of William Gladstone and Irish Nationalist Leader Charles Stewart Parnell. The Treaty was widely viewed as a repudiation of the Coercion Acts authored by William Forster, then Chief Secretary for Ireland. The Coercion Acts allowed the brutal repression of poor Irish tenant farmers, earning Forster the nickname "Buckshot". Forster had Parnell arrested in October 1881, but when Gladstone announced the Kilmainham Treaty May 2, 1882, Forster resigned; Lord Frederick Cavendish was named to replace him and was killed in Phoenix Park just four days later. The murders finally doomed the cause of Irish home rule; Gladstone's minister Lord Hartington was the older brother of Cavendish and turned against the cause, eventually splitting with Gladstone and forming the Liberal Unionist Party which joined with the Conservatives to defeat Gladstone in 1886. It set back the cause of Irish Home Rule 28 years and the ensuing Plan of Campaign led to further escalation of the land war including the Mitchelstown massacre in 1887.

Although Charles Parnell had denounced the Phoenix Park murders, in March, 1887 The Times began a series of articles accusing Home Rule League leaders of supporting murder and outrage in Ireland. In particular, they printed a letter from Parnell to a fenian leader that included "Though I regret the accident of Lord F Cavendish's death I cannot refuse to admit that Burke got no more than his deserts". Parnell denounced the letter as a "villainous and barefaced forgery". On that very same day the Perpetual Crimes Act, a reinstitution of the Coercion Acts, was debated and passed in the House of Commons.

After much argument the Government finally set up the Parnell Commission to investigate the letters sent to the Times. They were to begin their proceedings September 14, 1888, four days after the Vigilance Committee sent it's letter to the Daily Telegraph and exactly one week after the death of Annie Chapman.

It was only a few weeks later (Sept 27) that the Central News Agency received the "Dear Boss" letter (http://www.casebook.org/ripper_letters/) that referenced statements made by Lusk and from which the name "Jack the Ripper" comes. On Oct. 16, Lusk himself reported that he'd received a small box with a kidney inside and the "From Hell" letter. That was three days after the "Vigilance Committee" picture was published.

The following February, 1889, an Irish journalist, Richard Piggott, admitted to the Parnell Commission that he'd forged the Parnell letters. He then fled to Madrid and shot himself in the head.

Despite the fact that the only witness descriptions of the potential murderer describe a man speaking with an Irish accent, and despite the exaggerated "theater Irish" in the 'From Hell' letter, the public seized on statements that suggested that the murderer was Jewish, and violent anti-semitic riots ensued.

To the best of my knowledge, no connection between the Phoenix Park Murders, Lusk, and the Parnell forgeries has ever been made.....

So what was Holmes role in the Ripper Murders? Why are they never mentioned in the stories despite ample evidence that he was actively consulting at the time? Did he participate? Did he investigate? Was it the only case he couldn't solve? Or did he solve it, only to discover that the truth could never be revealed?At the very least there are the interpretations in Murder By Decree and Shadow Of Reichenbach Falls. I find a much richer (and more steampunkish) interpretation of the possible connections (extending to the vampyric) in Supping With Panthers (US title: Slave Of My Thirst). No canonical names are mentioned, but the protagonist is a doctor who had served with the military in the Northwest Frontier & returned with troublesome wounds both physical & psychological.

There were several contemporary stories of the involvement of a soldier in the crimes including several that fit Watson's description (http://www.casebook.org/victims/pinchin.html). As for my own theory, I've added it to my previous post in spoilers.

Michael Dibdin's The last Sherlock Holmes story is the best version of Holmes-and-Ripper that I know of. In some ways it makes more sense of Holmes himself, and especially of The adventure of the final problem (which in itself is really rather silly), than Conan Doyle does.

Michael Dibdin's The last Sherlock Holmes story is the best version of Holmes-and-Ripper that I know of. In some ways it makes more sense of Holmes himself, and especially of The adventure of the final problem (which in itself is really rather silly), than Conan Doyle does.
Glad you mentioned Dibdin. I stuck to only mentioning stories I've actually seen/read.


EDIT: The best explanation for Holmes' bee obsession in his retirement, imho, is to be found in "The Horror of the Many Faces" (http://www.johnjosephadams.com/sherlock-holmes/?page_id=59) (on-line text). It may also explain the Ripper connection, and why his solution was never announced.

Glad you mentioned Dibdin. I stuck to only mentioning stories I've actually seen/read.

Definitely look out for it. It's many years since I read it and I spent some considerable time leafing through it again after posting that comment. It's really quite brilliant, with a re-interpretation of Holmes that's so convincing you'd almost think Conan Doyle intended it himself.

Conan Doyle is actually referred to (though doesn't appear) as a character; it's narrated by Watson in the standard way, but we're told that the published Holmes stories are written by Conan Doyle in a semi-fictionalised way based on Watson's notes of the genuine cases. Holmes doesn't approve:

What is not known is Holmes's response to A.C.D.'s 'A Study in Scarlet'. I must admit that I felt at once that the title was not going to meet with my friend's approval. His own suggestion, duly passed on by me, had been 'Towards a Definitive Praxis of Applied Criminal Anthropology: Some Notes on the Stangerson-Drebber Murders of 1881'.

Also, Watson wondering whether or not to go home:

221B or not 221B? That was the question...

Just wittily written, and as I say, not just a brilliant pastiche of Conan Doyle but doing something very interesting with the character that drives you back to the original stories.

Some ideas for the oft mentioned crossover/mashup project

http://chetart.com/superlative.html

Oh yes. And then my favorite: The Incredible Hulking Man

http://www.toymania.com/customcorner/cc16/marvels/Hulk03.jpg

From the League of Marvels Collection (http://glorbes.blogspot.com/2009/02/league-of-marvels-and-joshua-izzo.html). The idea for our Steampunk Commando ('The Falcon') came from this set.

I've been watching some of my favorite Yuletide films. Other than the 5 million versions of Dickens' Christmas Carol, can anyone think of a steampunkish holiday film? Here's three clues (increasingly obvious) to the closest I could come up with:

Clue 1
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/9789/wna1.png

Clue 2
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/4600/wna2.png

Clue 3
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/9035/wna3.png

Haven't watched whatever it is, 30-odd degrees Celsius at midnight does not allow for clue-hunting, and, worst of all, you're not using giveaway filenames for the pics!!!

If you recognize any of the actors there's always ixquick. ;) If no one guesses I'll give the answer in a couple of days. Any suggestions for a Steampunk Christmas?

30 C at night! That sounds like So. California in the summer. After a few years of drought we're finally getting rain. Going on 2 weeks so far. Haven't had so many days in a row since I was a kid.

It doesn't really count as steampunk, but one of my fav X-mas flics is Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, a movie I saw as a kid, and which regularly hits the "Worst Movie of all Time" lists*. For extra enjoyment, find and watch the Mystery Science Theater episode that features that movie....

Edit: It seems that most of the original cast of MST is now involved in a new group called Cinematic Titanic (http://www.cinematictitanic.com/) that does live shows. They've recorded a new riff on SC v. Mars (http://www.youtube.com/user/CinematicTitanic#p/u/6/44BV-5BTry0), so my stocking over-floweth......

Seasons Greetings & Happy New Year.

I've just read 20 000 siècles sous les mers (Twenty Thousand Centuries Under the Sea), a recent (last october) French comics starring Captain Nemo and Prof. Aronnax in an undersea adventure where Innsmouth isn't just a small decaying village.

http://www.tribulles.com/img/products/20_000_siecles_sous_les_mers_001_lhonneur_dans_la_ tempete.jpg

It's a nice read. The story is quite classic but good We'll see how it ends in the second and final issue. There are small nods here and there to a good bunch of literature and movie works. Not as much as Moore's League, but enough to keep me smiling and exclaiming myself. Overall, if you like steampunkish crossover, you can get it without regrets.

By R. D. Nolane (story) and P. A. Dumas (illustrations).
Soleil Editions, 1800 Collection, 48 p.

BM > That's "We're no angels". A good flick, but I fail to see how it's steampunk, though.

BM > That's "We're no angels". A good flick, but I fail to see how it's steampunk, though.You're a gentleman & a scholar! I agree it's not steampunk - just the only holiday film I could think of that even came close. OTOH, we never see what kind of ships are used for the import/export business, or even if they are air- or sea- going vessels. A little of this, a little Great Train Robbery (Connery instead of Aldo Ray?), and a little 19th c. Topkapi... it'll be great when making new films with deceased actors becomes common. :mischief:

I've got a better match, even if most of the action takes place in modern times : Santa Claus : The Movie (1985 - Jeannot Szwarc). Although it involves probably more magic than classic steampunk technology, you cannot see the Vendequm workshop and not feel a certain Victorian charm. Maybe it's because I first saw this movie as a kid around the same time I watched Levin's Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and Endfield's Mysterious Island (1961).

Any suggestions for a Steampunk Christmas?
It doesn't really count as steampunk, ...
I've got a better match, even if most of the action takes place in modern times ....If only I had a TARDIS when I was watching films to get in the holiday mood...
wrappinghttp://images.wikia.com/tardis/images/b/bb/Sardicktown.jpg
presenthttp://images.wikia.com/tardis/images/f/ff/Waiting.jpg
tagOther than the 5 million versions of Dickens' Christmas Carol,...
Can't have everything...
:snowcool:

French house untouched for 100 years opened to public (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12214885). Wonder if there's a first edition Verne in the library? Or perhaps - since he gathered a lot of art - a previously unknown Robida lithograph.

Not exactly untouched, according to that article…

Well, this thread is about fun stuff and steampunk…
http://www.galactanet.com/comic/Strip645.gif

@ Takhisis: lol

@ everyone: I know I'm WAAAAY behind the times here, but check out The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, they're a steampunk alt-rock band. And I compose sci-fi themed ambient music, influenced by the books I read and my grounding in punk rock (seems contradictory? Look up Angels and Airwaves on wikipedia...) so if that's any use...

"If your enemy has an impregnible fortress, see that he stays there"

Welcome, Sir Sam Vimes. I've been thinking for some time about starting a thread to discuss music for the scenarios. Besides era specific music there is also the music played during diplomatic exchanges ...

Welcome, Sir Sam Vimes. I've been thinking for some time about starting a thread to discuss music for the scenarios. Besides era specific music there is also the music played during diplomatic exchanges ...

Yeah, and I reckon the Diplo music should be really different for each tribe. Not to mention build music for wonders...

Really? There are that many different music cues for this game? Just how many are there? Mind you, the SP mod is for Conquests.

No, you can't have customised diplomacy music for every civilisation. It works by culture groups, and even there some of the culture groups have to share music for some eras.

Really? There are that many different music cues for this game? Just how many are there? Mind you, the SP mod is for Conquests.

in conquests, you have a general soundtrack, which may or may not be era-specific, music for when the diplo window is open, music for when you build a wonder or whatever and I think when you get the 'we've just advanced an era' message, not to mention the music at the end when the results are being given...

...and then there's unit fx...

@ Plotinus: simples :) Just choose a different flavour for each tribe (altho that means only having 7 tribes...)

Yes, music is played on those different occasions, but you can't tailor what music is played in the ways that you suggest.

Yes, music is played on those different occasions, but you can't tailor what music is played in the ways that you suggest.


you can make it era-specific tho, can't you? Otherwise you'd hear that 80s rock version of the vanilla soundtrack in the stone age...

oh, and under the heading of 'fun stuff', check this... (http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/01/20/steampunk-palin-comic/)

you can make it era-specific tho, can't you? Otherwise you'd hear that 80s rock version of the vanilla soundtrack in the stone age...

oh, and under the heading of 'fun stuff', check this... (http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/01/20/steampunk-palin-comic/)

As I said, perhaps we can make a list of possible music cues, or find a list...

re Steampunk Palin article: reminds me of a quote, which I think comes from Michael Crichton: "A nuclear plant is the world's most expensive kind of water boiler" or somesuch. Too bad Einstein isn't around to design a energy efficient boiler that heats just as well as his refrigerator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_refrigerator) cools. Otherwise, that's just disturbing...

No, you can't have customised diplomacy music for every civilisation. It works by culture groups, and even there some of the culture groups have to share music for some eras.
Yes, music is played on those different occasions, but you can't tailor what music is played in the ways that you suggest.I trust what Plotinus says, given that he has set up custom music for his scenarios.
Tutorial 1 - includes list of music files
Tutorial 2 - detailed instruction for era-specific music & a couple of posts on the diplomacy

Really? There are that many different music cues for this game? Just how many are there? Mind you, the SP mod is for Conquests.
As I said, perhaps we can make a list of possible music cues, or find a list...How about a discussion thread - blue sky brainstorm at first then slowly tighten the focus. Styles as well as particular pieces for example. :vomit: if the scenario soundtrack ends up solely "goths with gears". 197 pieces in my current playlist - 135 without Vernian Process. There's everything from the grand-daddy of steampunk bands (1973 - 1991) to the very music the Victorians listened to. That's right the music they listened to at home - not recordings by 20th c. musicians.

I trust what Plotinus says, given that he has set up custom music for his scenarios.
Tutorial 1 - includes list of music files
Tutorial 2 - detailed instruction for era-specific music & a couple of posts on the diplomacy

How about a discussion thread...

I agree: started a Music Discussion Thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=412853). Say, how about checking those links for me...

Links corrected - the ones in your quote will still be wrong because quotes freeze the text at that point in time.

I trust what Plotinus says, given that he has set up custom music for his scenarios.
Tutorial 1 - includes list of music files
Tutorial 2 - detailed instruction for era-specific music & a couple of posts on the diplomacy


How about a discussion thread - blue sky brainstorm at first then slowly tighten the focus. Styles as well as particular pieces for example. :vomit: if the scenario soundtrack ends up solely "goths with gears". 197 pieces in my current playlist - 135 without Vernian Process. There's everything from the grand-daddy of steampunk bands (1973 - 1991) to the very music the Victorians listened to. That's right the music they listened to at home - not recordings by 20th c. musicians.

yeah, I've started messing around with stuff and i'm using a lot of music-hall and chamber music samples a a foundation... given my musical background, the risk in my case is not goths with gears so much as lees steam, more punk :lol:

Links corrected - the ones in your quote will still be wrong because quotes freeze the text at that point in time.

Thanks, Blue. Lots that we can do with that.

Hey, I just had to share this with you guys...

Last night I was mucking with the stand-alone Barsoom map, and made the great Volcano Mons Olympus:
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9789/monsolympusonbarsoom.jpg

Nine Tiles - that's gotta be a record of some sort, don't'cha think?
Sorry about the large image size, but I wanted to include some regular size stuff in the picture so that you can see the scale of it...

Hey, I just had to share this with you guys...
Last night I was mucking with the stand-alone Barsoom map, and made the great Volcano Mons Olympus:

I like, I really like :goodjob:
Is that some martian vegetation I see in the pic as well?

Very nice!

Olympus Mons is a lot less impressive than people usually think, because although it is extremely high, it is more like a big bulge in the planet than a mountain. The slope is so gentle you could cycle up it. If you were standing near it, you wouldn't really be able to see it, except that the horizon would be a bit higher in that direction.

Speaking of 'Fun Stuff' how about a "Lost Worlds" progress thread and/or an alpha or beta version?

Speaking of 'Fun Stuff' how about a "Lost Worlds" progress thread and/or an alpha or beta version?

Legitimate request. I'll post an update in the 'Welcome' thread so that this thread doesn't get too OT. The stand-alone Barsoom map is my laboratory for all things Barsoomian, like those trees, and for testing Tharks and such without having to wade through 500 units to unravel those inevitable damned vague error messages...

I like, I really like :goodjob:
Is that some martian vegetation I see in the pic as well?

Yeah, I finally wised up and took a scientific approach: if Barsoom is largely dry, the trees would be like those you find in dry areas. They would be water-retaining, for one thing, and sure enough, Burroughs says that the majority of Barsoomian trees have stout water-retaining trunks. Many also have rock-hard woods, like some african trees. So I found a bunch of trees that fit that description and recolored them to account for an iron-rich environment. I'll be adding them to the Lost Worlds terrain as well, as I really like them. I'll put up a better screenshot of them.

Very nice!
Olympus Mons is a lot less impressive than people usually think, because although it is extremely high, it is more like a big bulge in the planet than a mountain. The slope is so gentle you could cycle up it. If you were standing near it, you wouldn't really be able to see it, except that the horizon would be a bit higher in that direction.

Thanks, Plot. I was trying to get that slope-y effect, glad you noticed.

Hey, I just had to share this with you guys...

Last night I was mucking with the stand-alone Barsoom map, and made the great Volcano Mons Olympus:
... Picture was here ...

Nine Tiles - that's gotta be a record of some sort, don't'cha think?
Sorry about the large image size, but I wanted to include some regular size stuff in the picture so that you can see the scale of it...

Now that is impressive. You don't really get the size of how big it is until you glance over at the tiny little mountains. It looks in great harmony with the style of the rest of the terrain. I know how tough doing that with landmark terrain is. You should enter it into the PCX contest.

Plus it looks just as I remember it from last time I visited that mountain.

Very nice!

Olympus Mons is a lot less impressive than people usually think, because although it is extremely high, it is more like a big bulge in the planet than a mountain. The slope is so gentle you could cycle up it. If you were standing near it, you wouldn't really be able to see it, except that the horizon would be a bit higher in that direction.

Yeah, you're right (we need more people who know about science on this thread...) Its a bloody brilliant representation, most people go for making it look like its really tall and thin, which is useless. One thing to remember is that Mons is actually a pimple on a much larger structure, the Tharsis Bulge, which is so big it makes mars massively asymetrical...

For anyone working on the Barsoom map, I'd humbly recommend you check Mapping Mars by Oliver Morton (see: http://www.amazon.com/Mapping-Mars-Science-Imagination-Birth/dp/0312245513 and: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/nov/30/featuresreviews.guardianreview16) and also Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars). Morton's book is fascinating and the Trilogy is a brilliant piece of ecotopian sci-fi that's a damn good future history and also uses real, very accurate, topographic descriptions :)

Steampunk fans should check Robinsons's Years of Rice and Salt... its not strictly steampunk but its a brilliant alternative history of the Earth from Timur the Lame to the modern day told as a gripping novel.

Speaking of 'Fun Stuff' how about a "Lost Worlds" progress thread and/or an alpha or beta version?
Legitimate request. I'll post an update in the 'Welcome' thread so that this thread doesn't get too OT. The stand-alone Barsoom map is my laboratory for all things Barsoomian, like those trees, and for testing Tharks and such without having to wade through 500 units to unravel those inevitable damned vague error messages...We've also got a map making thread & a WIP thread. Moosezilla's got a point, though. It's probably time for the "Lost Worlds" scenario to have its own thread.


Yeah, I finally wised up and took a scientific approach: if Barsoom is largely dry, the trees would be like those you find in dry areas. They would be water-retaining, for one thing, and sure enough, Burroughs says that the majority of Barsoomian trees have stout water-retaining trunks. Many also have rock-hard woods, like some african trees.One the things tucked away in my "to do" queue: Amtorian forests (maybe also to use in the Hollow Earth's Pellucidar):
take some

Adansonia Grandidieri
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Adansonia_grandidieri03.jpg/800px-Adansonia_grandidieri03.jpg
some Pachypodiums in flower (yellow- & white-flowered species as well)
http://www.madagascar-embassy.org/embassy/Pachypodium_Isalo.jpg
and some Dracaena Cinnabari
http://www.nautilus.com.br/clientes/pontes/Fotos/picture/socot.jpg

and mix/adapt them to a suitably humid environment.

It's probably time for the "Lost Worlds" scenario to have its own thread.

I agree, a thread in the main cust & creation forum would get alot more attention and go the next step of helping it to finish and get released.

I'll take this up with KA, as he is still the founder and leader of the group. I have no objection to a separate Lost Worlds thread, but it's really his decision.

Looking at that 9-tile Volcano, I have to especially commend you on your patience! Just getting two tiles to line up right together can be a pain in the nether-region!

I'll take this up with KA, as he is still the founder and leader of the group. I have no objection to a separate Lost Worlds thread, but it's really his decision.Even if it's premature for a main forum thread, maybe we ought to have one in this subforum.

Do we really think a main c&c thread will help? I'm not convinced.

What I think we should be doing is getting something tangible out there. Don't we have enough assembled already to make a fantastically good release. That would be the best advert for our endevours and hopefully inspire folks to help make something great even better..

I had a main civ / creation forum going for a good year before release my mod. Granted, I didn't have any other forums, but it brought alot of assistance by alot of people with ideas, offers of models, how to improve recolors, city graphics, etc... The Project & mod development forum is a bit more hidden than if on the main forum. There it can be advertised what units are remaining, updates on city graphics; preview of terrain and ideas, and the whole bit. Somewhat of a general thread to gather excitement and attention (primarily for those who may not visit the site regularly).

A link to this forum can be given for those who wish to find additional information or offer help.

I had invaluable help from a member who knew the background of my mod incredibly well, who signed up just to offer his assistance. I suppose it depends on how long you feel there is until a beta or official mod is released. But even such a thing might give me a kick in the pants to try to get some of the units done a bit quicker.

Rob has a "demo" of AD II posted in a new thread. Can't even call it a beta because there are game play elements not decided on. Something like that would serve what you both are looking for.
tom2050's comment is also a reminder that people deserve to see their creative contributions in use.

Rob has a "demo" of AD II posted in a new thread. Can't even call it a beta because there are game play elements not decided on. Something like that would serve what you both are looking for.
tom2050's comment is also a reminder that people deserve to see their creative contributions in use.

I agree, generally. See my new post in the Welcome Thread.

I had a main civ / creation forum going for a good year before release my mod. Granted, I didn't have any other forums, but it brought alot of assistance by alot of people with ideas, offers of models, how to improve recolors, city graphics, etc... The Project & mod development forum is a bit more hidden than if on the main forum. There it can be advertised what units are remaining, updates on city graphics; preview of terrain and ideas, and the whole bit. Somewhat of a general thread to gather excitement and attention (primarily for those who may not visit the site regularly).

A link to this forum can be given for those who wish to find additional information or offer help.

I had invaluable help from a member who knew the background of my mod incredibly well, who signed up just to offer his assistance. I suppose it depends on how long you feel there is until a beta or official mod is released. But even such a thing might give me a kick in the pants to try to get some of the units done a bit quicker.

Yes, I'm only a quarter of the way through my scenario, but i have a c&c thread and its brought in a lot of offers of help:)

Hey, BM try as I might I can't find those Bunny images you posted... they where fun!

Hey, BM try as I might I can't find those Bunny images you posted... they where fun!Are you talking about the Dreaded Steam-Bun of Ouargistan?

As I recall (from an old beer ad) "Yes I am!" Please let me relive the DREAD!!!

All the threads in the steampunk subforum are temporarily closed while we reorganize. Expect a reopening of a new, organized improved version soon.