What is Dieselpunk? Part 1/2 | The Steampunk Beginners Guide

[@SoullessAIMusic]

Its simple and not as confusing as people think it is. Its just, World War 2 Science Fiction/Fantasy. Thats it. People get caught up in the whole U.S vs Germany thing but there are plenty of portrayals of other nations and factions that were in world war 2, once again I will harken back to Mutant Chronicles, as well as Iron harvest, and I'll throw in Full Metal Alchemist for good measure. All may not incorporate diesel but a dirty secret is, war is more important than diesel in dieselpunk. The war has happened and we are feeling the side-effects there of, war is going on and the bombing is on the horizon, or we are on the edge of our seat's because it can go off at any minute. This is the looming shadow of the genre. Steampunk doesn't need a war, dieselpunk does, probably because it is inspired by a era defined by war.

[@laughingmask3118]

Road Warrior

[@raenfox]

Yea, Wolfenstein also has elements of it.

[@airbrushdungeon]

Rocketeer has that feel. As does League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

[@RadioRetrofuture]

Pretty much.

[@rippera45]

I always looked at it as Steampunk representing innovation and hand-crafted aesthetics, while Dieselpunk represents industrialization and mass-produced aesthetics. In Steampunk, everything is pretty new and fancy-looking, often too advanced for the time it's set in (Bioshock is an excellent example, as is the Prey Remake). Whereas Dieselpunk is where the dirty, grimy, well-used tech is, and innovation is minimal because effort is focused on making more of the same thing (Gundam 8th MS Team, Star Wars). In a Steampunk universe, a pistol will always have a distinctly "retro sci-fi" look that often looks like polished metals. Take that same pistol, and put it in a Dieselpunk setting, and you'll see the polish fade, oil and rust on the finish, and the "retro" look replaced by a utilitarian standard-issue look. Everybody in Steampunk has money to spend on, or knowledge to create, flashy new gear; people in Dieselpunk are often average joes making minimum wage, so they all buy the same used gear.

[@lowresgamr]

This makes some sense, since when I looked into some research into the aesthetic, as I've started doing this for a project I'm working on, one of the things that was mentioned was that Dieselpunk is basically just steampunk with darker metals. So it's possible that dieselpunk can be represented as aged steampunk. Maybe through blued iron instead of clean brushed iron, aged brass rather than clean shiny brass. The metals could also be darkened through the burning of fuels over time. In a way, you could probably represent the two next to each other.

[@RadioRetrofuture]

This is the reason why I separate the community for the aesthetic and the genre. These are very different discussions. As for Steampunks having more money. I can tell you from experience, that ain't true. These attract very different kinds of people. Dieselpunks are far more avid consumers of media. When 'steampunks' come by, they never buy my books. Either they want costume ideas, or they like fantasy. Don't even like the Steampunk genre, in my experience.

[@kaine.walker]

Good video. More informed about Steam Punk now than I ever was.

[@jamisonhutchinson8612]

Love the video! Very informative. Please make more! The more modern day defender or definer of the Diesel Punk genre would be a video game called Frost Punk, I think. (I’ve never actually played it so I could be totally wrong, but I’ve seen lots of people making the case that it’s Diesel Punk for video games. Or, so they say.) I would argue that Disney’s Tale Spin which was a cartoon, and a damn good one, was a GOOD Disney version of Diesel Punk. That’s just my take on it, but it feels like it could be a good foundation for what diesel punk could really look like and could be. It’s certainly not Steampunk. Love the history and thoughts though. Perhaps someone will come along and make Diesel Punk an actual genre one day. I would argue that to do that, they need a proper understanding of the military as a institution, of soldiers, and of industrial societies, whether they’re in a war or not, or in a war zone, or not. Try the Troy Rising books by John Ringo. That one gave a real good story about industrial base, industrial visionaries, military logistics and the people on all levels of that sort of thing, from front lines to top lines, to media, to bottom lines. Great story, and is relevant to your topics of world building, industry, logistics, and good story built with or around it. All that said, loved your video, love your work, want more!!!!!

[@RadioRetrofuture]

Don't forget to to check out our alt history videos.

[@kingjustin1993]

Gears of War