Cyberpunk vs. Steampunk... which theme do you prefer?

[Slick_36]

There's definitely some good steampunk stuff out there, but most of it is so creatively bankrupt that it hurts. Ignoring the issue of ripoffs for a second, the single biggest pitfall with most steampunk is that the artists have zero knowledge of mechanics and industrial design. These creations obviously would never work from a pure engineering standpoint or else they would have been designed back in the 1800s, so the whole deal is creating the illusion of function. And if you don't know how actual stuff works then good luck making something fake look like it works. So instead of good design people just slap gears, pistons, and vents all over some retro-modern design and call it steampunk.

Oh gosh, seeing gears just floating on the outside of something makes me sick. And I know nothing about engineering.

 

[Ruprecht]

I like K W Jeter and Meiville, but most stuff I've read that would categorise as "steampunk" is more aimed at the "young adult" audience.
It also seems mostly about style, with a lot of focus on the strictly aesthetic.
Fashion, cosplay etc.

So I prefer Cyberpunk... for the speculative social and technological ideas. Even though it tends towards adolescent male nerd-fantasy.

 

[seatea]

I associate cyberpunk with dystopias, I like the look of steampunk more. Hmm...

The trouble is I've never really enjoyed a book that is full-on steampunk.

I'll go with cyberpunk and hope I have access to some Deus Ex-like augmentation technology.

 

[minute bull]

There's definitely some good steampunk stuff out there, but most of it is so creatively bankrupt that it hurts. Ignoring the issue of ripoffs for a second, the single biggest pitfall with most steampunk is that the artists have zero knowledge of mechanics and industrial design. These creations obviously would never work from a pure engineering standpoint or else they would have been designed back in the 1800s, so the whole deal is creating the illusion of function. And if you don't know how actual stuff works then good luck making something fake look like it works. So instead of good design people just slap gears, pistons, and vents all over some retro-modern design and call it steampunk.

Show me on this man where the bad doll touched you.

I like the backwards charm of the fyootcha as seen by the past. It's good satire. Overcomplicated nonsense would be how a Victorian understood anything other than parties and servants. There's irony rather than angst. Sure there's bad steampunk all over the place but that's anything. Steampunk tells a story goddamn you. Did you even listen to the Cyndi Lauper song I posted?


I'm breezy!

 

[Adamant]

If you were given two options... you had to live in a Cyberpunk setting or a Cyberpunk setting... you have to choose one or the other.

Cyberpunk:

This looks like it's right out of the Arkham games.




Probably Cyberpunk, though Steampunk is cool too.

 

[Flemmy Stardust]

Steam punk looks cooler, but cyber punk lends itself to better stories, especially with the noir roots.

 

[Medusas Weave]

cyber punk in every category. cyber punk could be reality. steam punk is like unicorns made out of gears.

 

[Satur9]

Cyberpunk for the same reason I like Sci-Fi over Fantasy. I like to think about what might be, instead of what never was.

 

[Reyesnuthugr]

I agree 100% with everyone who mentioned that Cyberpunk is almost infinitely better when written or in movies.



But this thread question is about choosing which is better to live in. That's why I choose Steampunk. I would rather read or see productions with a Cyberpunk background, no doubt. But have to live there? Ehhhh

 

[Ruprecht]

Cyberpunk for the same reason I like Sci-Fi over Fantasy. I like to think about what might be, instead of what never was.

That's pretty much it.

Although I still really enjoy historical science fiction with that steampunk feel, like Jules Verne or George Griffith's The Angel of the Revolution.

 

[Basil**]

Cyberpunk is where it's at in my book.

 

[Satur9]

That's pretty much it.

Although I still really enjoy historical science fiction with that steampunk feel, like Jules Verne or George Griffith's The Angel of the Revolution.

Yeah, I can see that. I love Cornwell historical fiction, though that is not steampunky. Haven't read much steampunk, to be honest, and voted without fully reading the OP.

I guess living in a steampunk environment would be better, IF I was a scrub in the cyberpunk world.

 

[Adamant]

I wanna know what a Cybersteampunk world would look like.

 

[Madmick]

It depends on the quality of the art. I'd say that I gravitate towards Cyberpunk, but the already named Bioshock Infinite was one of the most gorgeous art designs I've ever encountered in a video game (typically where I encounter this stuff). It trumps almost any Cyberpunk ever conceived.

Blade Runner and The Fifth Element were boss.

 

[Kneepocalypse]

Cyberpunk. Why? Well, because Steampunk is fucking gay!

 

[Chinballs]

Cyberpunk ofc.. is it even a contest?

 

[HwoarangStyle]

Cyberpunk for sure.

 

[Organic Damage]

I still want the Ridley Scott Neuromancer movie I was promised in 1990, however.

Wow, this was going to happen?

Just reading Neuromancer for the first time... It's amazing even 30 years on how fresh it still feels.

 

[Organic Damage]

Cyberpunk for the same reason I like Sci-Fi over Fantasy. I like to think about what might be, instead of what never was.

Hmmm, maybe this is why Cyberpunk always seems to be dystopian while Steampunk, if not utopian, has more of an optimistic feel to it.

 

[j123]

Cyberpunk because of Deus Ex

This