And the Theme for SLB 19 is . . . Steampunk????

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Just now, Silent Mistwalker said:

https://www.google.com/search?q=mayan+steampunk&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLjL--wtj2AhWVJTQIHQYBB4gQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=937&dpr=1

oops

That's totally and legitimately cool! But ya gotta be into Steampunk to begin with to be interested in that kind of re-imagining of Mayan culture.

I'm sure that a google search will find Steampunkish renderings of pretty much anything. And again, that's an indication that it is a fertile ground for creativity and re-imaginings. I hope that gets reflected at SLB!

But it doesn't really undercut my main point.

[Fluffy Sharkfin]

11 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I'm totally into whimsy. That's its appeal for me, insofar as I have one.

In the instance of Miyazaki, his obvious delight in whimsical and gadgety flying machines is infectious.

Whimsy is definitely a key element, there's a quote in a blog I read earlier that pretty much sums up steampunk

Quote

Caitlin Kittredge, who is the American author of dark fantasy and urban fantasy noir, says that "It is sort of Victorian-industrial, but with more whimsy and fewer orphans".

The blog post has some interesting 3D art which illustrates just how diverse peoples idea of steampunk seems to be (my favourite is the steampunk R2-D2)

Steampunk Art in 3D Modeling

For me I think the attraction is more due to the mechanics and gadgetry involved, which is why I tend to appreciate what I think of as  'steampunk that works' rather than the 'slap some gears on it' approach to steampunk. 

I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore steampunk fan, but I do have a penchant for collecting reference material and coffee table books full of art, etc so I do own a couple of books that I picked up a while back, 1000 Steampunk Creations and Steampunk Bible.

While the fashion aspect isn't of much interest to me some of the gadgetry and vehicles are really well done and I sometimes browse through the pages thinking how much fun it would be to create something similar in SL.

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

That's totally and legitimately cool! But ya gotta be into Steampunk to begin with to be interested in that kind of re-imagining of Mayan culture.

I'm sure that a google search will find Steampunkish renderings of pretty much anything. And again, that's an indication that it is a fertile ground for creativity and re-imaginings. I hope that gets reflected at SLB!

But it doesn't really undercut my main point.

You were supposed to laugh.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 minute ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

You were supposed to laugh.

Done!

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Fluffy Sharkfin said:

Whimsy is definitely a key element, there's a quote in a blog I read earlier that pretty much sums up steampunk

The blog post has some interesting 3D art which illustrates just how diverse peoples idea of steampunk seems to be (my favourite is the steampunk R2-D2)

Steampunk Art in 3D Modeling

For me I think the attraction is more due to the mechanics and gadgetry involved, which is why I tend to appreciate what I think of as  'steampunk that works' rather than the 'slap some gears on it' approach to steampunk. 

I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore steampunk fan, but I do have a penchant for collecting reference material and coffee table books full of art, etc so I do own a couple of books that I picked up a while back, 1000 Steampunk Creations and Steampunk Bible.

OMG the cockroach and the rhinoceros! Those are so great -- verging on Surrealist art!

1 hour ago, Fluffy Sharkfin said:

While the fashion aspect isn't of much interest to me some of the gadgetry and vehicles are really well done and I sometimes browse through the pages thinking how much fun it would be to create something similar in SL.

There must surely be people who've done this? Created "working" (i.e., scripted and animated) Steampunk gadgets in SL?

How are your mesh creation and scripting talents? I think you should do it!

[Fluffy Sharkfin]

16 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

OMG the cockroach and the rhinoceros! Those are so great -- verging on Surrealist art!

There must surely be people who've done this? Created "working" (i.e., scripted and animated) Steampunk gadgets in SL?

How are your mesh creation and scripting talents? I think you should do it!

I'm definitely considering it.  Ages ago when Cloud Party was still a thing I created a working animated steam engine, so doing something similar with animesh in SL isn't out of the question.  So far the only theme related thing I've made is the "steampunk cake"...

(it's steampunk cos it's gear shaped!)  

[Madelaine McMasters]

2 hours ago, Fluffy Sharkfin said:

3 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I'm totally into whimsy. That's its appeal for me, insofar as I have one.

In the instance of Miyazaki, his obvious delight in whimsical and gadgety flying machines is infectious.

Whimsy is definitely a key element, there's a quote in a blog I read earlier that pretty much sums up steampunk

I built Rube Goldberg machines from childhood through college, entering contests and eventually judging them. My love of egregious complexity in pursuit of pointless goals makes Steampunk a favorite for me.

Godzilla and the mechanical monsters of Japanese fantasy have a very different feel and my appreciation for them comes more from my father's stories of the destruction he witnessed in Japan at the end of the war, and of the atomic bomb blast he witnessed at Enewetak atoll two years later. As I said in an earlier post, I don't think much about the etiology of these fantasy genres, but when I do, I can see that appropriating the imagery as fashion might leave something behind. Sometimes I want to go back and pick it up.

[Fluffy Sharkfin]

2 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

As I said in an earlier post, I don't think much about the etiology of these fantasy genres, but when I do, I can see that appropriating the imagery as fashion might leave something behind. Sometimes I want to go back and pick it up.

Sadly that's usually the case when a genre gets chopped into marketable sized chunks suitable for mainstream consumption.

Personally I'm all for the irreverent merging of genres for the sake of art and/or fun, which is probably why Dread Zeppelin is a fave band of mine 😆

I don't believe there's anything wrong with drawing inspiration from various cultures for the sake of creativity as long as it's done in a spirit of celebration and not exploitation.  Similarly I think it's fine to celebrate the accomplishments and successes in various periods of history as long as we also take the time to learn from it's mistakes, it's just that sometimes you need to lure people in with the carrot of whimsical romanticism before beating them with the stick of harsh reality.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Fluffy Sharkfin said:

Sadly that's usually the case when a genre gets chopped into marketable sized chunks suitable for mainstream consumption.

Personally I'm all for the irreverent merging of genres for the sake of art and/or fun, which is probably why Dread Zeppelin is a fave band of mine 😆

I don't believe there's anything wrong with drawing inspiration from various cultures for the sake of creativity as long as it's done in a spirit of celebration and not exploitation.  Similarly I think it's fine to celebrate the accomplishments and successes in various periods of history as long as we also take the time to learn from it's mistakes, it's just that sometimes you need to lure people in with the carrot of whimsical romanticism before beating them with the stick of harsh reality.

I had Dred Zep albums in the 90's 😻

[Rat Luv]

6 hours ago, Fluffy Sharkfin said:

I'm definitely considering it.  Ages ago when Cloud Party was still a thing I created a working animated steam engine, so doing something similar with animesh in SL isn't out of the question.  So far the only theme related thing I've made is the "steampunk cake"...

(it's steampunk cos it's gear shaped!)  

I don't know anything about steampunk, but please render a slice IRL 

[Love Zhaoying]

6 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

As I said in an earlier post, I don't think much about the etiology of these fantasy genres, but when I do, I can see that appropriating the imagery as fashion might leave something behind. Sometimes I want to go back and pick it up.

Maybe a mushroom cloud hat? Or hairdo? De debil would look good with that! And tres apropos! 

[Maryanne Solo]

When my RL company/little workshop is up and running perfectly, I want to theme the machinery & workspace as a visual mix of Steampunk / Medieval / Fantasy. Think Zork Nemesis Transmogrifier or similar. 😊
Just for fun & youtube vids ofc.

[Jaylinbridges]

My pet owl:

https://i.gyazo.com/b41bf4687265eec213fd989307f8f09d.mp4

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Jaylinbridges said:

My pet owl:

https://i.gyazo.com/b41bf4687265eec213fd989307f8f09d.mp4

Awesome! Is that an old pre-mesh build? It looks great!

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Ok, so YES, it's Expressionism rather than Steampunk. But it was the best I could manage on short notice, especially after a crashed Maddy's Steampunk biplane last night (and incidentally killing Maddy in the process. Yeah, sorry about that . . .).

[Jaylinbridges]

On 3/22/2022 at 7:22 AM, Scylla Rhiadra said:

On 3/22/2022 at 6:08 AM, Jaylinbridges said:

My pet owl:

https://i.gyazo.com/b41bf4687265eec213fd989307f8f09d.mp4

Awesome! Is that an old pre-mesh build? It looks great!

No, that is Mesh with Materials, created by Walton Wainwright of ContraptioN. Normal size it is 7 LI.  I resized it up a bit (I am Normal sized cat) to make it 34 LI.  It was part of the Journey Collection, which I won in his Gacha for 75 L$  just before LL killed the Gachas.  No longer available as a single item.

It's now part of the complete Journey Collection full pack only.

I have no connection to Contraption btw, just a fan of their creative arts.  Hardly the crap with a gears on  it that some here think steampunk is.

 

Edited March 23, 2022 by Jaylinbridges

[Scylla Rhiadra]

56 minutes ago, Jaylinbridges said:

No, that is Mesh with Materials, created by Walton Wainwright of ContraptioN. Normal size it is 7 LI.  I resized it up a bit (I am Normal sized cat) to make it 34 LI.  It was part of the Journey Collection, which I won in his Gacha for 75 L$  just before LL killed the Gachas.  No longer available as a single item.

I have no connection to Contraption btw, just a fan of their creative arts.  Hardly the crap with a gears on  it that some here think steampunk is.

 

No indeed. It is magnificent.

[Love Zhaoying]

On 3/22/2022 at 9:08 AM, Jaylinbridges said:

My pet owl:

https://i.gyazo.com/b41bf4687265eec213fd989307f8f09d.mp4

Nice hooter! Wasn't an owl like that in the movie, "Jason and the Argonauts"? 

[Love Zhaoying]

Are demo steampunk goggles..demogoggery?

[Prokofy Neva]

On 3/18/2022 at 3:40 AM, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I know what I'm about to say is going to annoy some people, but . . . seriously? Steampunk?

SLB is supposed to be a reflection of and showcase for ALL of Second Life. I have nothing at all against Steampunk -- in fact, I think it's one of the cooler RP types here -- but this is a niche theme. Themes like "Community" or "What Dreams May Come" or "Crystal" are broad enough that nearly anyone could likely find a way to contribute. This one excludes pretty much anyone who isn't into one particular flavour of role play. It's not representative of SL as a whole, and it's also going to seriously cut into attendance, I should think.

I was actually considering, for the first time in 10 years, submitting a proposal. There is literally no way I can do that now.

What we're going to end up with is not a showcase for all that SL has to offer, so much as a Disney attraction.

Not impressed, LL.

 

Not sure I will ever participate in the birthday again because they do not allow company logos, let alone anything for sale. I have done the birthday several times and really knocked myself, took two parcels even, and made quests and freebies and it's great and it's grand and all...but how should I put this. It does not have a lot of clickthroughs. I do a lot of volunteer projects that don't need profit but they need donations and these cannot be gathered at the birthday nor can you expect even a kind of clickthrough or long term "brand recognition". I guess because the brand that is supposed to get the clickthroughs on the birthday is Linden Lab. And that's fine. I'm all for them getting clickthroughs, truly I am. Among the exhibitors, there is a huge unwieldly random mess of FIC royalty, Bellisseria noveau riches, wannabees, accidental tourists etc and the Moles have gotten better and making this mass of their fans work in some coherent grid with more or less decent scenery and management. 

But I have to say I was kinda underwhelmed with this theme. And I'm struggling to remember what last year's theme was (I didn't participate). Before that they had the 1950s with Sock Hops and Diners (so I did the Forgotten Korean War) , and then kind of the 1950s again with Family Camping where I did Cape Odd. I mean it's what you make it but...

I am only at best a weekend Steampunker. I do want to point out that it is way more than a niche and it has a ton of people in it of every shape and size -- Dinkies are kind of default Steampunk, for example. Steampunk is not just Caledon or Babbage.

I belong to the Mieville community of merchants which has a steampunk theme and is named after...um...like an author who does Steampunk science fiction I think? Weekender here, as I mentioned.

So I just finished their annual Steam merchant thing with making things that look like they are brass and Victorian yet futuristic, in my own little way, which is -- ok, let me just say many take my free hunt prize or my $10 thing my sales do not cover my booth fee, so to speak lol. I did have a brass Mormon tray with a Post-um box on it and a mug. OK, the Steampunk part of that was...was...well see this year, their theme was Brass Menagerie, see. So there were like birds in brass cages.

Did you realize it is HARD to think up some new Steampunk think because everyone has ALREADY done it. There are ALREADY ships and hats and rail cars and poison tea sets EVERYWHERE and not just Caledon -- again. And Mieville is very generous whereby the fee is only a voluntary $20/prim which every one does because they are so nice, but see then you can put a booth with only 5 prims if you like, or a cart.

So I made like 3 things for that, it ran on multiple sims, with a hunt across the grid, a game, etc. etc.

And then I also had a Steampunk Dinkie desk with props and interactions which I put into Home & Garden Expo which has just finished where tons of other people did Steampunk THERE TOO because that's popular. So I feel like I just had months and months of Steampunk, as did many other people way more important and talented than me.

Or hey, let's take a really super high class event, Engine Room, where the ne plus ultra have gathered this month as they do bimonthly to do steampunk and the theme seems to be like...Steampunk aquariums with brass fish in them...I think. At least I bought at least three things like that although I couldn't afford just yet this Mermaid Steampunk Tank which is really far out. See, it *is* possible to think up something new in the Steampunk space, I'm just not your person to do it.

So let me say by June, I might feel thoroughly steamed and punked, you know? Even as a weekender. Not to mention people like Wainright who spent weeks on end making those LOD things work at a distance on his stargazer set, you know those things? Yeesh. there is a LOT OF STEAMPUNK in SL already, and we just had at least 3 or more events of high profile in a row, on the Destination List, with this theme.

So I wonder. Does Linden Lab read the room?

I don't believe in reading the room myself, but I know you do. And this might be a case of not reading the room?

I guess the beauty of Steampunk is that you can hark on your glorious past even as you make some futuristic thing with lots of gear shafts and steam doing the job of say, making a computer or a fish tank. Maybe that is the perfect idiom for Linden Lab at this point in their history. So perhaps it is perfect for the 19th and not the 20 birthday yet. By 20, I want Flappers, I want Russia's Silver Age, I want shiny and glory. So it's an off year I guess.

 

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by Prokofy Neva

[Prokofy Neva]

On 3/18/2022 at 5:00 PM, Polenth Yue said:

If your exposure to steampunk has been a quick walk around Caledon and New Babbage, that's not really what it's about. Those areas are steampunk, but they don't represent the whole genre. It's not strictly Victorian. It can cover any place and time. It covers a range of different technology interpretations, not just literal steam engines. It can include roleplay, but also stories, music, fashion, art and so on.

You also don't have to follow the theme for exhibits. This wasn't true in the long past, but the more recent birthdays have made the themes optional.

There are Steampunk mushrooms, for example. 

[Prokofy Neva]

22 hours ago, Jaylinbridges said:

No, that is Mesh with Materials, created by Walton Wainwright of ContraptioN. Normal size it is 7 LI.  I resized it up a bit (I am Normal sized cat) to make it 34 LI.  It was part of the Journey Collection, which I won in his Gacha for 75 L$  just before LL killed the Gachas.  No longer available as a single item.

It's now part of the complete Journey Collection full pack only.

I have no connection to Contraption btw, just a fan of their creative arts.  Hardly the crap with a gears on  it that some here think steampunk is.

 

What's great about that owl, and I won him too, is he kind of cocks his head mechanically and kinda looks you in the eye sometimes.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 3/22/2022 at 10:25 AM, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Ok, so YES, it's Expressionism rather than Steampunk. But it was the best I could manage on short notice, especially after a crashed Maddy's Steampunk biplane last night (and incidentally killing Maddy in the process. Yeah, sorry about that . . .).

This is my favourite Steampunk painting which is definitely Steampunk although without quite the robotic and transhumanist gew-gaws of SL denizens. It's Albert Robida's futuristic "Going to the Opera in 2000" which was made c. 1882. So you can take it in a different direction that is less mechanical.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Prokofy Neva said:

There are Steampunk mushrooms, for example. 

Sounds pretty crowded. I hear there is not..mush room.

[Harper Held]

54 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Sounds pretty crowded. I hear there is not..mush room.