# Steampunk world. What sort of material to study?



## Topper88 (Mar 30, 2013)

A bit of clarification, the story is more "fantasy magitech" in a not-Earth age of technology akin to the late middle age/Renaissance. But the magic-harnessed power is effectively suped-up steam power.

Aside from the obvious research like "steam engines", what else should be gone over? I just want to be sure I have my bases covered as I bite more and more into the plot.


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## moderan (Mar 30, 2013)

That really isn't "steampunk", strictly speaking. Steampunk refers directly to "Victorian-age with an attitude" pieces. So if you're basing your thing on the late Middle Age/Renaissance period, that's what you'd want to study. Leonardo did some things with steam power-that'd be a good starting-off point for your research. You could, for example, have the Da Vinci autogyro manufactured, and tool around in one of those.
If the world isn't Earth in that period, then anything you do is completely inauthentic, and it doesn't matter. You'd then just need to have internal consistency.


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## Morkonan (Mar 30, 2013)

Well, you need some leather, a bit of brass, a couple of old analog dials you can pick up at a local pawn shop and, maybe some big pipes... That's all you need! 

Well, not really. My opinion of the pseudo-genre "Steampunk" isn't very high. However, what you really need to take a look at is "dystopic" fiction.

Dystopia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Utopian and dystopian fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The mechanics of a steampunk universe are pretty simple: For some reason, higher forms of power generation other than that generated by things like "steam" are not possible. Why? I dunno... Originally, I think it was a visually artistic choice, not a literary one. If you're an artist, all you need is some leather, a bit of brass, a couple of... Well, you get the picture. I suppose all that "steampunk" art inspired people to write "steampunk", but left them with a huge hole in the setting that is hard to fill.

Anyway, as someone who doesn't appreciate "hardcore" steampunk stories, my recommendation would be to study how to create a dystopic setting, then apply your chosen setting's physical limitations to it. It's a lot like crafting a "believable" and self-consistent magic system. Unfortunately, hardcore steampunk (A setting where certain chemical reactions do not yield released energy.) is very contradictory. Still, to each their own and I'm glad that some people enjoy it, if if I don't. Just remember that, in my opinion, the common theme in steampunk is a dystopic society, not the limited set of physical laws.


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## Topper88 (Mar 30, 2013)

moderan said:


> That really isn't "steampunk", strictly speaking.  Steampunk refers directly to "Victorian-age with an attitude" pieces.  So if you're basing your thing on the late Middle Age/Renaissance  period, that's what you'd want to study. Leonardo did some things with  steam power-that'd be a good starting-off point for your research. You  could, for example, have the Da Vinci autogyro manufactured, and tool  around in one of those.
> If the world isn't Earth in that period, then anything you do is  completely inauthentic, and it doesn't matter. You'd then just need to  have internal consistency.


I have a book on Leonardo somewhere. I'll look up those devices, thanks



Morkonan said:


> Well, you need some leather, a bit of brass, a couple of old analog dials you can pick up at a local pawn shop and, maybe some big pipes... That's all you need!
> 
> Well, not really. My opinion of the pseudo-genre "Steampunk" isn't very high. However, what you really need to take a look at is "dystopic" fiction.
> 
> ...



Yeah, I put "steampunk" because it's the closest genre to my setting as I can think of. Effectively though, it's just Steampunk - Victorian era + magic. Not a small difference by any means, but I always found the element of exploration and wonder of technology to be far more important elements of Steampunk than the aesthetic or specific era.

Thanks for the links, reading them now!


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