Making Terminator Steam Punk

[SuedodeuS]

Originally Posted by LemmingLord

Now what do we do about a steam punk judgement day?

In Thief 2, the main villain was obsessed with his steam-powered automata (and mechanical things in general) and engineered an agent the visually resembled rust. On contact with biological material, it would turn that into more "rust," which would spread further. Basically, a less-mobile steampunk grey goo (or red goo, or whatever the term is when it only affects biological entities). Using something similar might work for the Judgement Day of steampunk Terminator.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by dcarson

There is a unfinished bit of fanfic on usenet written by two pro authors called Pride and Extreme Predjuce or Terminators of Endearment. A Jane Austen / Terminator crossover where the robots decide since killing the direct target isn't working kill a earlier ancestor.

Inspired by "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and the upcoming movie "Pride and Predator", my contributions to the crossover genre would be "Sense and Senseless Violence", or with a more Shakespearean bent, "Romeo vs Juliet vs Predator", "Texas Chainsaw Macbeth", or "Twelfth Night on Elm St".

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by RyanW

If the clockwork is just the portable power system, it is workable. The mobile automata have to periodically go into one of the steam powered factories for a wind-up.....

I was going under the assumption that tech never made it as far as steam.

Nymdok

[SuedodeuS]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

I was going under the assumption that tech never made it as far as steam.

Nymdok

That certainly makes it more difficult, but the clockwork automata could still make use of options other than steam to wind themselves back up without having a reliance on humans. Draft animals can manage, and they could also make use of waterwheels or even wind power. You could also have them doing odd things, like triggering avalanches (the falling rocks/snow being used to charge up a huge clockwork "recharge station"). Gunpowder could also be used, with bullet traps (or more direct methods) being utilized for winding.

In short, if the automata were smart enough to win, they'll probably be able to come up with some way of sticking around without violating the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Of course, a setting where there were previously a huge number of automata, but that they are slowly dwindling down due to being unable to recharge, could be interesting.