Rifts Steampunk?

[IronWarrior]

Would Steampunk be a viable culture for a Rifts community? How would you go about creating one? I have some ideas but any input would be welcome.

[say652]

Yes.
New West.
Techno Wizardry.
I also like borgs in the setting.

[IronWarrior]

Yes.
New West.
Techno Wizardry.
I also like borgs in the setting.

well that's not quite the setting I'm imagining. I'm thinking more steam powered golems and robots, tesla guns and vampire hunting werewolf slaying leather clad victorian type warriors. At least in my mind thats steampunk. oh and lets not forget the dapper threads. dames and dudes.

[eliakon]

Yes you could do it.
You would have to pretty much invent it from the ground up though. Probably have to make a new dimension to keep outside technology from contaminating the locals (I would recommend a neutral energy matrix so that only the local steam-punk stuff works)

Then start handwaving. First figure out what you want stuff to do, then work back from that to figure out a general technology guide that you can then work back forwards for anything else.
I.e. if you want your telsa pistols, and Mesmer rifles, and hypno guns and stuff to run off of special batteries. figure out how big and heavy you want them to be. Now that is the size of the local 'e-clip' an 'e-canister' will scale up proportionately....

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Yes.
New West.
Techno Wizardry.
I also like borgs in the setting.

well that's not quite the setting I'm imagining. I'm thinking more steam powered golems and robots, tesla guns and vampire hunting werewolf slaying leather clad victorian type warriors. At least in my mind thats steampunk. oh and lets not forget the dapper threads. dames and dudes.

Uh, just so we're clear.. Victorian England and the Wild West were the same time period, and the modes of dress were almost exactly the same. Western wear differed mostly in outer coats - England was damp, the Wild West was dry. That's about it though.

Wild Wild West (the Will Smith/Kevin Kline movie) was textbook steampunk.

[Jorick]

I always pictured TW tech as steampunk. Lazlo might be a good place to really drive home the aesthetic. And/or Arzno/Colorado Baronies. But especially Lazlo, in contrast to Chi-Town's Cyberpunk.

[say652]

The techno wizard Bionics fit the steam punk image also.

The Colorado Baronies are an excellent example.

[taalismn]

Non-canon, but City of Charter(Rifter #61, John Meyers) is described as a Techno-Wizardry community with a steampunk aesthetic.
The TW Dwarves of Phaseworld are also steampunk-look-inclined, what with their starships having BOLTED construction.
If you're going for pure steampunk and mot magic, than, yes, you could have d-bee communities using Rifted steampunk or communities trying to rebuild techno-civilization without transistor electronics, lithium batteries, or other such innovations...be sure to balance the steampunk by making it cumbersome, leaky, rusty, and prone to pollution(coal smoke and ash mainly).

[Morik]

When the revamp/reboot RIFTS England, I hope they include a Victorian/steam-punk settlement.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Girl Genius as a RPG....

[Library Ogre]

My first thought is techno-wizardry, as well... especially a TW who learned the "Cloud of Steam" spell and realized it could have a lot of applications to powering devices.

As it stands, I don't think there is a place where you could really stick your steampunk city without involving alternate dimensions. I don't know much about Rifts: China, but I do think such a setting could make an interesting one for Hong Kong, letting you bring in some of the Orientalism that Steampunk, especially Victorian steampunk, tends to include.

[eliakon]

The biggest issue with adding it to the current setting is answering the question of "why is everyone using this horribly less efficient and bulky technology"
Why have a tesla pistol with a giant back pack primary battery.....when I can have a nice e-clip powered weapon that does the same (or more)damage for a fraction the weight and size?
Why have a slow, noisy, steam powered ornithopter....when I can have a super sonic nuclear hover craft?

It might work if it was a specific variety of TW and the developers of the enhancement had to have all the TW that used its process look steampunk, but that may not be what your looking for and will be really high fantasy manapunk effects quickly

[taalismn]

The biggest issue with adding it to the current setting is answering the question of "why is everyone using this horribly less efficient and bulky technology"
Why have a tesla pistol with a giant back pack primary battery.....when I can have a nice e-clip powered weapon that does the same (or more)damage for a fraction the weight and size?
Why have a slow, noisy, steam powered ornithopter....when I can have a super sonic nuclear hover craft?

It might work if it was a specific variety of TW and the developers of the enhancement had to have all the TW that used its process look steampunk, but that may not be what your looking for and will be really high fantasy manapunk effects quickly

Pockets of localized altered physical laws that prevent the use of certain technologies(or this could possibly be the result of an alien device affecting the local region).
The local power(mage, demon-lord, astral lord, alien, warlord, cult) has a hammerlock on what the locals can use and has mandated that they're not allowed to use the modern wiz-bangs you describe(this can be because he/they are deathly afraid of modern technologies for whatever reason, or that the local overlord is saving the modern stuff to lord it over the locals who are struggling with the bulky, cumbersome, steampunk gear).

[Nox Equites]

Steampunk doesn't require magic. Steampunk is the dystopian side of the 19th century. The haves are living in great houses with the latest gadgets and the have nots are living in overcrowded tenements. You have business magnates rubbing shoulders with old money and nobility. The expert craftsman are rioting because factories are taking away their livelihoods. The middle class want the vote, but are opposed to universal suffrage.

[taalismn]

Steampunk doesn't require magic. Steampunk is the dystopian side of the 19th century. The haves are living in great houses with the latest gadgets and the have nots are living in overcrowded tenements. You have business magnates rubbing shoulders with old money and nobility. The expert craftsman are rioting because factories are taking away their livelihoods. The middle class want the vote, but are opposed to universal suffrage.

Coal smoke and ash settling across the cities, factories dominated by gears that chew up unlucky workers , kids crawling around inside massive machines, oiling them to keep the gears of industry working endlessly, giant brute force cannons and armor-plated dreadnoughts dominating the battlefield. Brass and iron and steel and maybe, if you're lucky, bakelite. Colonialism to keep the home country furnaces and foundries fed with raw materials.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Steampunk doesn't require magic. Steampunk is the dystopian side of the 19th century. The haves are living in great houses with the latest gadgets and the have nots are living in overcrowded tenements. You have business magnates rubbing shoulders with old money and nobility. The expert craftsman are rioting because factories are taking away their livelihoods. The middle class want the vote, but are opposed to universal suffrage.

Coal smoke and ash settling across the cities, factories dominated by gears that chew up unlucky workers , kids crawling around inside massive machines, oiling them to keep the gears of industry working endlessly, giant brute force cannons and armor-plated dreadnoughts dominating the battlefield. Brass and iron and steel and maybe, if you're lucky, bakelite. Colonialism to keep the home country furnaces and foundries fed with raw materials.

Youre actually describing (as is the poster above you) the thematically very distinct Dieselpunk.

[eliakon]

If your setting it in Rifts its going to need a LOT of magic. Since the only way your going to get your 'steampunk gadgets' to work is with TW (or completely altering the (rather lax admittedly) rules of physics)

This is why I suggested doing it in another dimension. Then you can make the physics work for you instead of against you, and not have to worry about getting rid of all the non-thematic elements.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

If your setting it in Rifts its going to need a LOT of magic. Since the only way your going to get your 'steampunk gadgets' to work is with TW (or completely altering the (rather lax admittedly) rules of physics)

This is why I suggested doing it in another dimension. Then you can make the physics work for you instead of against you, and not have to worry about getting rid of all the non-thematic elements.

Could be a compelling Dimension Book.

[gaby]

I think a Dimension book will be a better setting.
Do something like in 1870s 100 meteors the size of house hit the around the Earth,they are made of a Mineral that enchanced electricity to high levels just by using steam tech.

[IronWarrior]

Yes.
New West.
Techno Wizardry.
I also like borgs in the setting.

well that's not quite the setting I'm imagining. I'm thinking more steam powered golems and robots, tesla guns and vampire hunting werewolf slaying leather clad victorian type warriors. At least in my mind thats steampunk. oh and lets not forget the dapper threads. dames and dudes.

Uh, just so we're clear.. Victorian England and the Wild West were the same time period, and the modes of dress were almost exactly the same. Western wear differed mostly in outer coats - England was damp, the Wild West was dry. That's about it though.

Wild Wild West (the Will Smith/Kevin Kline movie) was textbook steampunk.

same time period ..yes....same genre ...no. look up steam detective and you will have a general sense of where i want to go with this

[IronWarrior]

I think a Dimension book will be a better setting.
Do something like in 1870s 100 meteors the size of house hit the around the Earth,they are made of a Mineral that enchanced electricity to high levels just by using steam tech.

well i am actually considering sending some material for the Rifter or whatever Palladium whats to do with it. i think a Steampunk setting in an isolated and remote area would be an interesting and compelling story line provided of course there were some way to keep any outside influences from contaminating the culture. i need to do more research first however.

[IronWarrior]

My first thought is techno-wizardry, as well... especially a TW who learned the "Cloud of Steam" spell and realized it could have a lot of applications to powering devices.

As it stands, I don't think there is a place where you could really stick your steampunk city without involving alternate dimensions. I don't know much about Rifts: China, but I do think such a setting could make an interesting one for Hong Kong, letting you bring in some of the Orientalism that Steampunk, especially Victorian steampunk, tends to include.

Actually the Rocky Mountains are fairly remote and have many hidden valleys. A nice place to start i think.

[IronWarrior]

If your setting it in Rifts its going to need a LOT of magic. Since the only way your going to get your 'steampunk gadgets' to work is with TW (or completely altering the (rather lax admittedly) rules of physics)

This is why I suggested doing it in another dimension. Then you can make the physics work for you instead of against you, and not have to worry about getting rid of all the non-thematic elements.

well Steampunk would be somewhat underpowered verses the current hightech weaponry and gadjets.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

same time period ..yes....same genre ...no. look up steam detective and you will have a general sense of where i want to go with this

Bleh, hate to drop a textbook appeal to authority here, but it's about the only way i can make my point. I help put on 3 different Steampunk conventions around the country, and worked on or with a half a dozen others in the past 6-10 years, regularly work with Abney Park (and other musical acts that are steampunk - mostly from the EU), Kato (Steamgirl), John Strangeway (Steampunk Bobafett), am on fairly good terms with the Foglios (Girl Genius), Evelyn Kreite, G.D Falksen, and others that are the backbone of the Steampunk community here and in the EU.

I have a fairly good idea of what is, and is not Steampunk.

Wild Wild West is core steampunk:

Set in Victorian times (or during a victorian resurgence) - check
Mode of dress is Victorian or neo-victorian - check
High Technology is retro-futuristic (giant steam powered robot spider) and has an industrial or Victorian design aesthetic - check
Design aesthetic of architecture is Victorian - check
Jules-verne esque super science - check.

Guess what, it's Steampunk.

Now, watching a ~10 minute blurb of "Steam Detectives" - reminds me of what happens every time the Japanese get their hands on a western concept. To make an analogy, its about as Steampunk as buying a bowler hat, a cheap pair of welding goggles (and spray painting them brass), and sticking a gear on it and calling it a "Steampunk Cosplay".

YMMV, i guess, but when you say "steampunk", most people are seeing Wild Wild West (the movie), League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the Adventures of Brisco County Jr, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or something similar (like a lot of the stuff presented in Warehouse 13 and Sanctuary)... not a rather lackluster looking anime.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

If your setting it in Rifts its going to need a LOT of magic. Since the only way your going to get your 'steampunk gadgets' to work is with TW (or completely altering the (rather lax admittedly) rules of physics)

This is why I suggested doing it in another dimension. Then you can make the physics work for you instead of against you, and not have to worry about getting rid of all the non-thematic elements.

well Steampunk would be somewhat underpowered verses the current hightech weaponry and gadjets.

I dont really see that that has to be the case.

A lightning blaster is basically an Ion blaster. Neo-victorian technology could produce a laser. Special alloys could be created/discovered via a different path of technological advancement that makes them MDC.

It would make a lot more sense in a Rifts setting if the technology were basically a derivative of Techno-wizardry that has discovered how to let "normal" people create it (but thereby, can only do specific things - because you have to follow the "science" and build it right).... but it could be stretched.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

Actually the Rocky Mountains are fairly remote and have many hidden valleys. A nice place to start i think.

True.... ish?

The setting says it is true, and that we somehow STILL dont know what is on the West Coast of America....

despite the CS and other tech powers possessing aircraft that can fly across the entire continent in less than 2 hours. The entire continent SHOULD be mapped in detail at this point.

But, i agree, as little sense as it makes, the New Rockies are, in canon, stated to be remote and unexplored.

[Jorick]

Actually the Rocky Mountains are fairly remote and have many hidden valleys. A nice place to start i think.

True.... ish?

The setting says it is true, and that we somehow STILL dont know what is on the West Coast of America....

despite the CS and other tech powers possessing aircraft that can fly across the entire continent in less than 2 hours. The entire continent SHOULD be mapped in detail at this point.

But, i agree, as little sense as it makes, the New Rockies are, in canon, stated to be remote and unexplored.

This is gonna be a digression probably (apologies), but...

I think it makes sense the CS doesn't really know what's going on on the west coast. Flyovers, if they occur on occasion, would not see much. Actual exploration probably doesn't occur too often either, given the effort required to hold back the Xiticix, Tolkeen, Pecos Bandits, and I dunno what. The resources needed are used elsewhere, and while the East is somewhat accessible (at least to Free Quebec and Lazlo), the vastness of the west and its mountains make the other coast much less so.

There is no satellite communication. That is a huge thing. Long distance patrols have a huge chance at failure, never communicating back a single thing before they die. Getting lost (or going way off course) would be incredibly easy, especially when flying and dealing with clouds and other weather. There are no reliable maps, and making new ones that allowed for accurate navigation would require a lot of effort. I think the dinosaur swamp's description of the exploration of the East by Lazlo is convincing, and I would expect something similar would have to occur in the West (and maybe it has, it just hasn't been written yet).

There really is no way for a purely technologically equipped force to survive for a good length of time in the wilderness past the domain of man (or self sufficient base/city). A player group like this would run out of ammo and armor quick, and have no way to resupply. Sending a Death's head transport might allow for mapping of coastlines and ley lines (assuming very helpful weather), but very little actual useful information would be collected without putting the troops on the ground in a very inhospitable environment. Accurate mapping would take time.

I'm happy with the idea that any flying convoy/transport/squad of SAMAS would be pestered beyond effectiveness by flying monsters, especially trying to cross the Rockies (you may have flown over those, and seen nothing but a line of rock above clouds...just asking to get picked off by something hungry/territorial, and seeing nothing).

It's a crazy world out there, and there is plenty of room to hide.

[Colonel_Tetsuya]

I want to state unequivocally at the start here that I actually agree with you about what the setting should be like. From reading Kevin's original ideas about Rifts, and the RMB and first few World Books (and SB1, in particular), it is quite clear to me that Kev intended Rifts to be like "post-post-apocalypse Palladium Fantasy w/guns and robots" - big stretches of distance between civilization, no easy way to navigate, trips that take days/weeks/months to go even medium distances, etc. I really get that that is what he wanted from the get-go.

Unfortunately, what he forgot to include (and the setting needs a massive ret-con to include) is a Macguffin that creates a plausible reason for it to be this way..... because as the setting has actually unfolded, this original vision has been completely lost and there's nothing in-setting to make it plausible. More on that as we go through your post.

Like I said, personally i agree wholeheartedly that the game should go back to being how Kev first envisioned it, and not what it is now. However, we're sorta stuck with what we have, currently, and that doesn't jive with the original vision at all.

This is gonna be a digression probably (apologies), but...

I think it makes sense the CS doesn't really know what's going on on the west coast. Flyovers, if they occur on occasion, would not see much. Actual exploration probably doesn't occur too often either, given the effort required to hold back the Xiticix, Tolkeen, Pecos Bandits, and I dunno what.

And yet they had millions of troops to throw into a two-fronted war against Tolkeen and FQ at the same time. Flyovers would also clearly show any signs of civilization that isnt magically shrouded (always a possibility) - but even a small town of a few thousand people is visible plain as day just from the impact it makes on its surroundings.

The resources needed are used elsewhere,

The CS, as presented, has effectively limitless resources. They can afford to produce millions of Skelebots and simply throw them away. And them make millions more to replace them.

and while the East is somewhat accessible (at least to Free Quebec and Lazlo), the vastness of the west and its mountains make the other coast much less so.

There is no satellite communication. That is a huge thing. Long distance patrols have a huge chance at failure, never communicating back a single thing before they die.

Its true that patrols might not report back, and could easily be ambushed. But why send people? Send a few tens of thousands of flying skele-drones.

Getting lost (or going way off course) would be incredibly easy, especially when flying and dealing with clouds and other weather.

Intertial navigation is quite reliable and even over distances of thousands of miles rarely puts you off course more than a couple of hundred meters. (Thus, why we need a setting McGuffin that makes such things impossible).

There are no reliable maps, and making new ones that allowed for accurate navigation would require a lot of effort. I think the dinosaur swamp's description of the exploration of the East by Lazlo is convincing, and I would expect something similar would have to occur in the West (and maybe it has, it just hasn't been written yet).

There really is no way for a purely technologically equipped force to survive for a good length of time in the wilderness past the domain of man (or self sufficient base/city).

For the CS in particular, sure there is. Fly back home and resupply. Takes about 90 minutes. Or drop a Firestorm out there. Or a dozen DHTs to act as a mobile base.

A player group like this would run out of ammo and armor quick, and have no way to resupply.

Entirely depends on the makeup of the player group, but largely, sure.

Sending a Death's head transport might allow for mapping of coastlines and ley lines (assuming very helpful weather), but very little actual useful information would be collected without putting the troops on the ground in a very inhospitable environment. Accurate mapping would take time.

Again, just send Skelebots/Skeledrones. Or a few dozen wings of the Flying-Wing from Lone Star (which specifically has cameras for surface mapping and tracking objects on the ground).

I'm happy with the idea that any flying convoy/transport/squad of SAMAS would be pestered beyond effectiveness by flying monsters, especially trying to cross the Rockies (you may have flown over those, and seen nothing but a line of rock above clouds...just asking to get picked off by something hungry/territorial, and seeing nothing).

It's a crazy world out there, and there is plenty of room to hide.

[/quote][/quote]

This would all be a lot more plausible if there weren't in-setting daily commercial and passenger flights from MercTown to Arzno. Yeah, no joke. Its apparently safe enough that you can book passage from Merctown to Arzno daily. So, it cant be that hard or dangerous.

Again, i'm with you. The setting SHOULD be ret-conned to be more like Kev obviously envisioned it originally. Add a setting MacGuffin like "All the magic in the air makes long distance navigation impossible without navigational aids like ground station beacons to orient off of" and then make it so those ground stations are short-range (no more than 200 miles from the really huge installations like Chi-Town, less for border posts - 50 miles maybe) because the magic in the air disrupts the signals the further away you get.

That alone would make the setting work again, almost overnight.

Otherwise, the setting barely makes sense. Open up RUE and look at the ranges on LRMs.

Chi-town could literally bombard any place on the continent with LRMs in the current settings. Places like Arzno and the Colorado Baronies (much less Kingsdale), which is WITHIN territory claimed by the CS States) should not even exist. If the CS is so rabidly anti-magic, places like Arzno, the Baronies, and Kingsdale should have been obliterated the moment they were discovered. They dont even h ave to put boots on the ground. The Baronies are only a few hundred miles away. Kingsdale as well. A single afternoon of LRM bombardment and both areas would be massive craters full of dead people. Arzno is only a little safer because of distance, but the CS knows it exists (how can it not? The CS have agents in Merctown by the tuckload, some of which have surely flown to Arzno to see what it's about) and could put a few companies of CS Rangers on the ground with laser designators. Arzno would be blown down into the Grand Canyon before they knew what hit them.

The TL:DR version of the rant is, i guess, that the setting as it currently exists simply makes no sense. Without a MacGuffin, there is no reason for the major tech powers of North America to not have detailed aerial maps of the whole continent. The CS (and FQ) could afford to just send drones in limitless numbers. Assign 4 drones each a 1-square mile area, chances are good at least one will come back. If one area consistently doesn't, send in some Skelebots with a few Rangers to supervise and figure out what is up.

[Jorick]

a whole bunch of good points

I apologize in advance that I suck at the quote feature, and I will be responding to points without taking the time to quote each one.

Timing is an issue. The CS sent millions of troops and skelebots they had just assembled at Tolkeen. We are dealing with approximately 10 years of humanity being in a position to make this stuff look relatively easy. The previous century was apparently devoted to consolidating power, and that was done poorly, given local tensions.

The CS as presented, has limitless resources maybe for the last 10 years. The same can possibly be said for the Calgary Demon kingdom, which is but one of the possible roadblocks to the West.

Skelebots are made ostensibly to fight things in the east and north. Indeed, but for the Demon invasion (yet another roadblock in terms of resource allocation), they could now be sent to the west. But they wont be.

The "post-post apocalyptic" nature of Rifts NA is a very recent occurrence. The wars are stupid, but they are the CS' resource focus. There is no reason to assume they have had time or reason to explore further than the domain of man when they believe that beyond that expanse lies terror and desolation. The consolidation of their current holdings was likely difficult enough. One can use Lone Star as an example. They probably should have searched out all the military bases they could (kind of like GAW did), but for now they're just perplexed as to where Bandito Arms or the Republicans got all their toys.

Just because they could have, doesn't mean they would have. Europe sailed the seas and traveled the roads. Expansionist Asian societies, no less advanced or capable (often more so), took the land mile by bloody mile.


Inertial navigation, I think, can get you there and back, assuming no issues that cause errors, which could be very common in the wacky world of Rifts, and every little error increases inaccuracy considerably, or requires stopping often. According to Wikipedia the inaccuracy is naturally about 650 meters per hour. One is not gonna map with that, I don't think, but I don't know much about mapping.


My comment about "a player group like this" was meant to imply one as purely technological as a CS squad might be. I think the likelihood of confrontation is high. I think a CS Special Forces squad, or something, would have to be ok using other things, or be very good at avoiding confrontation. I think it is easy to imagine that this is a very rare occurrence. One example is the rangers (or whatever it is) of Free Quebec. Perhaps Chi-town has a few that have made it quite far. Or perhaps, as I suggested above, they just don't care enough to push it.


The Merctown airstrip has never bothered me in this regard. I don't recall that there are daily commercial flights, but even so, they are brand new, and they go through areas that are quite developed (and recently so), with fortified and well known start/end points. I do not picture the flights as being so free of conflict or confrontation. Regardless, for example, there may be plenty of airstrips in Afghanistan that are "easy" to get to. But what lies beyond, around or between them takes a lot of work to discover, and that's with all kinds of control and observation capabilities (and perfect maps).


The setting can be looked at either way, I suppose, but I don't think distance is the only determinant factor. Even today, with all the control we have, it's very hard to hit what we want to hit, or to really know what we're hitting. I think the danger of the environment outside of the domain of man is downplayed significantly by a lot of readers, because they see an example of one, or some, NPCs doing something, and believe that this therefore makes the possibility common, or a longstanding truth. If I recall correctly, many of the towns that far west are explicitly described as being boomtowns, recent pop-ups with poor futures. Only the Baronies and Arzno are possibly better.

As for the CS just blowing everything up, I think maybe they just want their domain, and, again, they're picking their battles, going for the big fish as they see it first. In my imagining, I would say that a squad of rangers trying to paint a target in the Magic Zone would be a suicide mission at best. The Baronies are small fish and not worth the blowback. Already, because of Tolkeen, the FoM is preparing for war, and likely a vicous one, as difficult for the CS to "win," if at all, as Vietnam or Afghanistan is for the US.

If necessary, you could imagine that folks are prepared for nuclear bombardment. Maybe not to the extent that Tolkeen was, but if you know missiles can come, you can make magic to take care of them.


It's been over 2 decades for us, the readers, but in Rifts there has been 1 decade of relative well ordered human supremacy on the continent, marred by at least 3 foolish major conflicts between humans, and now ended by a demon invasion. Merctown and Arzno now have the newest personification of the Death Apocalypse Demon between them (for instance). You can extend that decade if you want, and I still think it's not so likely that the CS has made any real effort to cross the mountains.

[taalismn]

[
Youre actually describing (as is the poster above you) the thematically very distinct Dieselpunk.

Dieselpunk is more petroleum-fueled; Steampunk is coal-fired. But yeah, 'dieselpunk' sounds a lot grubbier than 'steampunk' until you remember the 'black gangs' that serviced all those steam engines.
But with Dieselpunk you also get the beginnings of the age of Art Deco, flying wings, and streamlined cars, ships, and aeroplanes(equally Technowizard-worthy).

[IronWarrior]

same time period ..yes....same genre ...no. look up steam detective and you will have a general sense of where i want to go with this

Bleh, hate to drop a textbook appeal to authority here, but it's about the only way i can make my point. I help put on 3 different Steampunk conventions around the country, and worked on or with a half a dozen others in the past 6-10 years, regularly work with Abney Park (and other musical acts that are steampunk - mostly from the EU), Kato (Steamgirl), John Strangeway (Steampunk Bobafett), am on fairly good terms with the Foglios (Girl Genius), Evelyn Kreite, G.D Falksen, and others that are the backbone of the Steampunk community here and in the EU.

I have a fairly good idea of what is, and is not Steampunk.

Wild Wild West is core steampunk:

Set in Victorian times (or during a victorian resurgence) - check
Mode of dress is Victorian or neo-victorian - check
High Technology is retro-futuristic (giant steam powered robot spider) and has an industrial or Victorian design aesthetic - check
Design aesthetic of architecture is Victorian - check
Jules-verne esque super science - check.

Guess what, it's Steampunk.

Now, watching a ~10 minute blurb of "Steam Detectives" - reminds me of what happens every time the Japanese get their hands on a western concept. To make an analogy, its about as Steampunk as buying a bowler hat, a cheap pair of welding goggles (and spray painting them brass), and sticking a gear on it and calling it a "Steampunk Cosplay".

YMMV, i guess, but when you say "steampunk", most people are seeing Wild Wild West (the movie), League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the Adventures of Brisco County Jr, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or something similar (like a lot of the stuff presented in Warehouse 13 and Sanctuary)... not a rather lackluster looking anime.

i stand corrected. your last paragraph was exactly what I'm envisioning. Sanctuary + Wild Wild West (the movie) + Julie Verne (the TV show) add a dash of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and stir in some 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.