Different engines - Steampunk modding

Posted at: Wednesday 2nd April 2008 by Amanda Jeffrey

For some modders, breaking free of the 21st century's fascination with brushed aluminium and factory-issue beige means travelling back in time to be inspired by Victorian science fiction. Amanda Jeffrey takes a look at the old kid on the block, Steampunk, complete with brass mice, typewriter keyboards and cog-filled laptops.

Steampunk is:

- Tales of Victorian rebels and adventurers in a world with advanced technology.

- A lifestyle in which you refuse to be held to ransom by ugly, sealed plastic boxes of technology.

- An excuse to dress like an eccentric from the 1800s.

- A love of visual technology, moving parts, pistons, boilers and valves.

- Cogs on everything, goggles on everyone and brass as far as the eye can see.

- A return to certain Victorian technologies as the solution to problems in an increasingly desperate world.

Steampunk encompasses all of these to a greater or lesser degree. There's so much disagreement that the best thing to do is to treat Steampunk as you would your own PC - customise it to suit yourself and make it your own.

Yonder lies the modding scene

Steampunk's distinctive aesthetics, strong DIY ethic and central concern with the development and design of technology make it ideally suited to inspired modding. To someone attracted to Steampunk, the average beige box is an abomination - a soulless, faceless, lifeless chunk of bland plastic that has no style or meaning. Nothing about the beige box indicates what it does, or how the hand of a human brought it into being. Steampunk seeks to change this - even if only on a superficial level - by adding gears and hinges to CD drawers, big analogue gauges that denote CPU activity and warm flickering vacuum tubes that indicate hard drive activity.

On a practical level, it also helps that Steampunk is a fairly forgiving style. You're not committed to robot-like perfection and an eternity of dusting and polishing as you are with chromed cases and plexiglass boxes. Steampunk will forgive a slightly wonky corner joint or an off-centre power button, and positively revels in a used appearance and second-hand, salvaged materials.

Some people have spoken of Steampunk mods being heirloom-worthy, as they often aim to project an impression not just of age, but also permanence - again running contrary to the disposable nature of modern technology. The keyboards, cases and monitors we have today are all too often given an almost throwaway look, and while upgrading your PC every couple of years is a given for people who like to keep up with the current software requirements (Crysis, we're looking at you), cases can last a while longer if they're made to be upgraded easily; components such as keyboards are unlikely to go through any huge changes any time soon. Why not own something that's worth keeping and doesn't look as if it was made with the same mindset as paper party plates?

By God, I want my own mod

A good way to think of Steampunk-themed design elements is to think 'varnished, tarnished and tanned'. It isn't a perfect motto, but it covers a good degree of the stylistic elements involved in Steampunk. Think of varnished dark woods, tarnished metals, and real or vinyl mock leather, and you'll be off to a good start. You can use wood that you've sourced and stained, wood veneer, or even excellent old woods and panels in second-hand shops, salvage yards or car boot sales.