20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts?

Ley Line walkers, Juicers, Coalition Troops, Samas, Tolkeen, & The Federation Of Magic. Come together here to discuss all things Rifts®.

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

User avatar
Axelmania
Knight
Posts: 5523
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:13 pm

20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts?

Unread post by Axelmania »

this post from 2006:
    it can make itself look like an 12 year old japanese schoolgirl in a sailor-suit uniform if it wants (which my hatchling did, picking an image out of one of the other character's heads when they objected to me mimicking the naked ogre tattooed man)
had me wondering, just how much of how humans dressed or the TV shows we watched has likely survived via Pre-Rifts artifacts? I imagine a lot of that is censored by the CS although they probably do approve some of it for public release if it sends the right message.

Japan in particular, since they have a city from the Golden Age which skipped the apocalypse, might be the leading candidate for preserving pre-Rifts culture? Not just for their own nation but maybe for the world in general?

I suppose the Ticonderoga is another candidate since they've kept that golden age giant ship going and probably have their multimedia history books intact.
User avatar
Jefffar
Supreme Being
Posts: 8579
Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2000 1:01 am
Comment: Being a moderator doesn't mean I speak for Palladium Books. It just makes me the lifeguard at their pool.
Location: Unreality
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Jefffar »

ARCHIE, NGR, Japan, New Navy and Tritonia all have intact continuous histories to the Golden Age.
Official Hero of the Megaverse

Dead Boy wrote:All hail Jefffar... King of the Mods

Co-Holder with Ice Dragon of the "Lando Calrissian" award for Smooth. - Novastar

Palladium Forums of the Megaverse Rules

If you need to contact Palladium Books for any reason, click here.
User avatar
Dustin Fireblade
Knight
Posts: 3951
Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2003 8:59 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Dustin Fireblade »

Axelmania wrote:this post from 2006:
    it can make itself look like an 12 year old japanese schoolgirl in a sailor-suit uniform if it wants (which my hatchling did, picking an image out of one of the other character's heads when they objected to me mimicking the naked ogre tattooed man)
had me wondering, just how much of how humans dressed or the TV shows we watched has likely survived via Pre-Rifts artifacts? I imagine a lot of that is censored by the CS although they probably do approve some of it for public release if it sends the right message.

Japan in particular, since they have a city from the Golden Age which skipped the apocalypse, might be the leading candidate for preserving pre-Rifts culture? Not just for their own nation but maybe for the world in general?

I suppose the Ticonderoga is another candidate since they've kept that golden age giant ship going and probably have their multimedia history books intact.



I think it's in the write ups for the traveling circus, the option to select a movie theater. If I recall it lists several 20th century films.

The Canada world book has a couple of movie theaters in it, and it also lists a few 20th century films.
User avatar
Axelmania
Knight
Posts: 5523
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:13 pm

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Axelmania »

If mexican circuses and canadian boonies have such wide selections it makes me wonder if Rifts Japan might have archives of every single film or TV series, live or animated, ever to be released in Japan. If we think about how easy it is to share data now, and how much compression/sharing would have improved by the Golden Age...

Pg 70 of WB8 under Republic of Japan mentions Hiroshima/Kure/Ichto were preserved, and that 20% of the population are now Cyborgs. I'm not sure what TYPE but I can't help but think that the Cyber-Humanoid on page 74 of Rifts Bionics would be pretty popular...

Now if we combine that with the strong likelihood that all the anime has probably survived (unless of course the Republic is CS-like and keeps the public from it, haven't read up much on them) the "some even design their faces to resemble famous people (past and present)" does not exactly specify it had to be REAL people... couldn't that include fictional ones too?

So maybe Empire of Japan is full of Cyber-Humanoids who look like Vegeta or Strongarm Alchemist or Faye Valentine? Guessing the Motoko Kusanagi look would also be pretty popular considering the connection to cyborgs in popular culture.
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by taalismn »

Jefffar wrote:ARCHIE, NGR, Japan, New Navy and Tritonia all have intact continuous histories to the Golden Age.



Hagan might be interested in reviewing the juicier parts of history for inspiration(though ARCHIE would be more interested in what might up and pose a problem to him from that time, so he'd be less interested in, say, dissecting the cinematography of Casablanca or playing Trivial Pursuit, Golden Age Edition), the NGR's likely seen some post-Rifts mutation of 'traditional' culture, the New Navy's, well....military, with what there is of pre-Rifts culture what is preserved through military facilities and priorities over several generations. Tritonia, like Japan, likely has entire cultural museums and libraries preserved from that age, but the merfolk were trying to build their own unique culture(while still being compatible with regular mundane humanity, so as not to alienate them, even as others reacted negatively to their icthyoid disfigurement).
Japan's modern cities, however, had entire market quarters, warehouses, social neighborhoods, and whatnot, jumped ahead. You want businesses that can claim to have been running back in the Golden Age? The Republic of Japan's the likeliest place to look!
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Wise_Owl
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 310
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2000 1:01 am

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Wise_Owl »

*Puts on his Archivist nerd hat*

Given that you are looking at something several centuries into the future(and of course excepting the time-travel issues in Japan) the issue will mostly be a combination of 'what format is something in' and 'who deemed it important to preserve'. Information degradation is something that impacts almost every media to one degree or another. There is a reason that one of the major acts of Medieval monks was to re-copy books. Confucian schools in China served a similar function; books fall apart over time. Modern technology is actually more subject to such degradation. This is an issue archivist deal with all the time and leads to the big digital question(i.e. do we digitize this. If we do what format, how long will that format endure, what sort of information degradation will we experience.)

So you're likely in a position similar to what we are with Ancient Egypt; certain things will have been preserved because people with the power to do so did so. Some things will be preserved by pure luck. There will be huge gaps. I expect there is probably a slew of 20th-century media that survives or is propagated, imitated, etc. It might be very bizarre by our standards what got preserved though. I mean it's possible that something considered kind of low-key and week could be a central 'text' of the post-rifts world. Its story reproduced in other media in this world. i.e. You get to the period and no-one knows what Star Wars or the DC or Marvel Superheroes are, but everyone can quote from Bad Boys II, which has multiple play renditions, and academic debating it's inter-textual meaning and so forth.

Books are more likely to survive than movies are. I think records can potentially have a pretty long life, so ironically music pre-CD era may be more well preserved than post. And anything, after everything goes digital, is going to be hodge-podge at best.
The Way that can be told,
is not the true unchanging way

The way that can be named,
is not the true unnamable way
User avatar
taalismn
Priest
Posts: 47908
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 8:19 pm
Location: Somewhere between Heaven, Hell, and New England

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by taalismn »

And lots of patent papers and tech-specs for obsolete technologies and design proposals would be lost as well. One good fire at the U.S. Patent Office once obliterated stacks of design sheets and inventors' models that, while they might never have come to fruition or proven practical, would be invaluable from a historical point of view over time. Even proven military technologies, such as the famous Wallis 'Bouncing' or 'Dambuster' bomb ended up buried in file cabinets, then apparently lost(and presumed destroyed) when old declassified files were arbitrarily discarded during office archive purges....
-------------
"Trouble rather the Tiger in his Lair,
Than the Sage among his Books,
For all the Empires and Kingdoms,
The Armies and Works that you hold Dear,
Are to him but the Playthings of the Moment,
To be turned over with the Flick of a Finger,
And the Turning of a Page"

--------Rudyard Kipling
------------
User avatar
Killer Cyborg
Priest
Posts: 27954
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2001 2:01 am
Comment: "Your Eloquence with a sledge hammer is a beautiful thing..." -Zer0 Kay
Location: In the ocean, punching oncoming waves
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

VK 83
Riverview Movie Theater 1 & 2
A popular movie theater that specializes in the showing of pre-rifts films (and occasionally, new, usually bad, contemporary films). The pre-rift films are the most popular and are rerun regularly.

Can't say if they're 20th century films, but there's a chance there would be some in the mix.
Annual Best Poster of the Year Awards (2012)

"That rifle on the wall of the laborer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -George Orwell

Check out my Author Page on Amazon!
User avatar
glitterboy2098
Rifts® Trivia Master
Posts: 13319
Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:37 pm
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

one thing to keep in mind is that, while the setting is the future and there ought to be films, music, and such from after the 1990's200's,2010's, etc.. we literally don;t know what those might be. and while we've had a few specific examples given (the Julian Amici books and movies for example), those often don't help GM's anymore than lack of mentions would.. they still have to basically invent the details whole cloth.

it is easier for Gm's to be vague on the details of the 'future' popculture, and namedrop well known and popular popculture stuff from real life, since that gives the Gm's and Players common ground and makes the setting feel more familiar to them.

and many of the name drops tend to be films that would stick around..it is easy to see the classic Star Wars trilogy still being enjoyed in the 2090's for example. or the first and Second Terminator films. etc. stuff that was older but still popular at the time of the worldbook's writing ought to still be around in enough quantities in the 2090's, making it more likely some copies survived to be enjoyed in the PA100's.
Author of Rifts: Deep Frontier (Rifter 70)
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
Image
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.

-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
User avatar
Shamrock 'Slinger
Wanderer
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2016 11:29 pm

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Shamrock 'Slinger »

Yeah, they do exist.

Town of Perez (LOL Meta) in the Canada WB. Pg 41

Movie Theater: Terminator I, II & HI, Lethal Weapon One, The Magnificent Seven, Six String Samurai, Yojimbo, Lassie Come Home, Waterboy, Arsenic & Lace.

There's also the myths in the New West that include Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and the ilk.

I'd say they live in pockets and not a mainstream thing like today.
User avatar
Killer Cyborg
Priest
Posts: 27954
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2001 2:01 am
Comment: "Your Eloquence with a sledge hammer is a beautiful thing..." -Zer0 Kay
Location: In the ocean, punching oncoming waves
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

I remember some book somewhere talking about how Rifts Earth theaters like comedies and romance, but horror films are too much like real life.
Annual Best Poster of the Year Awards (2012)

"That rifle on the wall of the laborer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -George Orwell

Check out my Author Page on Amazon!
User avatar
Axelmania
Knight
Posts: 5523
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:13 pm

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Axelmania »

Wise_Owl wrote:Books are more likely to survive than movies are
..
anything, after everything goes digital, is going to be hodge-podge at best.

It is the digital culture I am mostly thinking of here. With all the illegal filesharing going on with TV series and movies, it is difficult to imagine completely losing anything which began in the 90s or later in a city which skipped the Coming and is still basically in Golden Age levels.

Unless there was some mass loss of privacy rights in Japan, continued advances in file compression (what are we at now, 8TB portable drives the size of a small book?) are going to mean there will be hundreds of shows in the personal possession of thousands of people a century from now, in that country alone.
User avatar
glitterboy2098
Rifts® Trivia Master
Posts: 13319
Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:37 pm
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

the issue with digital is storage media. CDs and DVDs degrade. magnetic tapes and discs are fragile and self-corrupt. Solid state flash drives degrade.
some last only years, some might last decades. few can boast even a century of lifespan before becoming unreadable. none of the proposed technologies for data storage actually improve this situation much either.

so unless there is some totally miraculous tech discovery, the odds of finding anything usable after 250+ years in rifts is pretty unlikely, no matter how widespread the stuff is.

ironically, the stuff that would last the longest? is the oldest tech. microfilm. physical motion picture film reels. etc. physical images on plastic.

i actually discussed this in another thread awhile back: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=153941&p=2971420#p2971420
Author of Rifts: Deep Frontier (Rifter 70)
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
Image
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.

-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
User avatar
Axelmania
Knight
Posts: 5523
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:13 pm

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Axelmania »

I'm referring to Empire of Japan though, which didn't have the centuries-of-hiatus where mediums degrade, they got teleported forward in time. To avoid it over time with active tech there is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrent_p ... ermeasures where verifying file chunks guards against corruption.

This could possibly guard against content loss if the actual copyright owners had a limited number of master copies which were allowed to degrade without renewing.
User avatar
Killer Cyborg
Priest
Posts: 27954
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2001 2:01 am
Comment: "Your Eloquence with a sledge hammer is a beautiful thing..." -Zer0 Kay
Location: In the ocean, punching oncoming waves
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Axelmania wrote:I'm referring to Empire of Japan though, which didn't have the centuries-of-hiatus where mediums degrade, they got teleported forward in time. To avoid it over time with active tech there is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrent_p ... ermeasures where verifying file chunks guards against corruption.

This could possibly guard against content loss if the actual copyright owners had a limited number of master copies which were allowed to degrade without renewing.


I'd like to see a campaign where Japanese copyright-owners (individuals or businesses) tried to re-establish ownership of their intellectual properties across the globe.

"So... why did those ninjas just kill that projectionist, and run off with our town's only copy of Jurassic World....?"
Annual Best Poster of the Year Awards (2012)

"That rifle on the wall of the laborer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." -George Orwell

Check out my Author Page on Amazon!
Shark_Force
Palladin
Posts: 7128
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:11 pm

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Shark_Force »

Killer Cyborg wrote:
Axelmania wrote:I'm referring to Empire of Japan though, which didn't have the centuries-of-hiatus where mediums degrade, they got teleported forward in time. To avoid it over time with active tech there is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrent_p ... ermeasures where verifying file chunks guards against corruption.

This could possibly guard against content loss if the actual copyright owners had a limited number of master copies which were allowed to degrade without renewing.


I'd like to see a campaign where Japanese copyright-owners (individuals or businesses) tried to re-establish ownership of their intellectual properties across the globe.

"So... why did those ninjas just kill that projectionist, and run off with our town's only copy of Jurassic World....?"


or getting so tired of people asking about godzilla that they just want to destroy every copy.
User avatar
keir451
Champion
Posts: 3150
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:33 pm
Comment: We came, We saw, We kicked it's butt!!-P. Venkman
My real physics defeats your quasi physics!!!
Location: Denver,CO

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by keir451 »

Now imagine if some group of adventurers discovered the Library of Congress. Yes, it is technically under water, and thus not likely to have survived intact. But, imagine for a moment if it did survive!! :eek:
My real world Physics defeats your Quasi-Physics!!!
Bubblegum Crisis, best anime/sci-fi/ for totally hot babes in Power Armor.!!!!
Magic. Completely screws logic at every opportunity. (credit due to Ilendaver)
dreicunan
Hero
Posts: 1344
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:49 am

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by dreicunan »

keir451 wrote:Now imagine if some group of adventurers discovered the Library of Congress. Yes, it is technically under water, and thus not likely to have survived intact. But, imagine for a moment if it did survive!! :eek:

You are assuming that the Library wasn't moved. I wouldn't be surprised if at least a backup version wasn't created somewhere further inland. Also, the library may have been rifted to another world.
Axelmania wrote:You of course, being the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not.
Declared the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not by Axelmania on 5.11.19.
User avatar
glitterboy2098
Rifts® Trivia Master
Posts: 13319
Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:37 pm
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

actually since Washington DC was above water enough for the Republican's to inhabit its subway and tunnel system until PA100ish, it would be avilable.

that said, i suspect that the Library of Congress's collection was what the Republican's gifted the early CS in their nation builder ploy, the core of the great Chitown Library.
Author of Rifts: Deep Frontier (Rifter 70)
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
Image
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.

-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
User avatar
keir451
Champion
Posts: 3150
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:33 pm
Comment: We came, We saw, We kicked it's butt!!-P. Venkman
My real physics defeats your quasi physics!!!
Location: Denver,CO

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by keir451 »

dreicunan wrote:
keir451 wrote:Now imagine if some group of adventurers discovered the Library of Congress. Yes, it is technically under water, and thus not likely to have survived intact. But, imagine for a moment if it did survive!! :eek:

You are assuming that the Library wasn't moved. I wouldn't be surprised if at least a backup version wasn't created somewhere further inland. Also, the library may have been rifted to another world.

According to some other veterans I've spoken with there is, IRL, a backup of the L.O.C. and it makes sense to me that such an important place would be backed up somewhere. I've used that idea in a few of my games.
My real world Physics defeats your Quasi-Physics!!!
Bubblegum Crisis, best anime/sci-fi/ for totally hot babes in Power Armor.!!!!
Magic. Completely screws logic at every opportunity. (credit due to Ilendaver)
User avatar
keir451
Champion
Posts: 3150
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 8:33 pm
Comment: We came, We saw, We kicked it's butt!!-P. Venkman
My real physics defeats your quasi physics!!!
Location: Denver,CO

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by keir451 »

glitterboy2098 wrote:actually since Washington DC was above water enough for the Republican's to inhabit its subway and tunnel system until PA100ish, it would be avilable.

that said, i suspect that the Library of Congress's collection was what the Republican's gifted the early CS in their nation builder ploy, the core of the great Chitown Library.

That's certainly one theory. I work on the idea that the Chi-town library was what the original NEMA personnel put together back during the days of the cataclysm. I could certainly see Lt. General Sawyer sending out teams to acquire any books from local town libraries as well as cleaning out the university libraries, city libraries and even the museums of whatever they could when they fled Chicago.
My real world Physics defeats your Quasi-Physics!!!
Bubblegum Crisis, best anime/sci-fi/ for totally hot babes in Power Armor.!!!!
Magic. Completely screws logic at every opportunity. (credit due to Ilendaver)
dreicunan
Hero
Posts: 1344
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:49 am

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by dreicunan »

I think it is worth noting that given the existence of mega-damage materials (including fabrics), it is not a stretch to imagine mega-damage storage disks, or even mega-damage paper for making books! Mega-damage fabrics at least would allow for the creation of amazingly retro mega-damage scrolls!
Axelmania wrote:You of course, being the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not.
Declared the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not by Axelmania on 5.11.19.
Sohisohi
Explorer
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:13 pm

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Sohisohi »

dreicunan wrote:I think it is worth noting that given the existence of mega-damage materials (including fabrics), it is not a stretch to imagine mega-damage storage disks, or even mega-damage paper for making books! Mega-damage fabrics at least would allow for the creation of amazingly retro mega-damage scrolls!

CDs formatted for Audio/Music exist, because both Australian Trader OCCs give them away for "free". Since the storage format is still in use, their is no reason not to think people have been saving music since the 20th century.

That and they literally make suitcase with 10 MDC, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had MDC CDs.
User avatar
Axelmania
Knight
Posts: 5523
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:13 pm

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Axelmania »

Killer Cyborg wrote:
Axelmania wrote:I'm referring to Empire of Japan though, which didn't have the centuries-of-hiatus where mediums degrade, they got teleported forward in time. To avoid it over time with active tech there is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrent_p ... ermeasures where verifying file chunks guards against corruption.

This could possibly guard against content loss if the actual copyright owners had a limited number of master copies which were allowed to degrade without renewing.


I'd like to see a campaign where Japanese copyright-owners (individuals or businesses) tried to re-establish ownership of their intellectual properties across the globe.

"So... why did those ninjas just kill that projectionist, and run off with our town's only copy of Jurassic World....?"


This might by what Coalition Digital Reapers spend a lot of time doing... or Cybermancers in Nightbane.
User avatar
Wise_Owl
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 310
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2000 1:01 am

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by Wise_Owl »

Sohisohi wrote:
dreicunan wrote:I think it is worth noting that given the existence of mega-damage materials (including fabrics), it is not a stretch to imagine mega-damage storage disks, or even mega-damage paper for making books! Mega-damage fabrics at least would allow for the creation of amazingly retro mega-damage scrolls!

CDs formatted for Audio/Music exist, because both Australian Trader OCCs give them away for "free". Since the storage format is still in use, there is no reason not to think people have been saving music since the 20th century.

That and they literally make suitcase with 10 MDC, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had MDC CDs.


Well, partly that is us having to deal with anachronisms because of when the books were authored ;). But accepting them on face value, they could also mean that Optical Drive technology was a tech that re-established itself after the apocalypse. Optical Drives are basically almost phased out of society now, let alone in 70 years. Could be the irony that the tech spread through engineering of some 'retro' hobby kits or something to that effect. Regardless, it doesn't mean that Discs from now exist than. Indeed, given the way they work, it's highly unlikely any CD's would survive the 300 years between the Rifts and the 'present day'.

Mega-Damage Materials are... ambiguous. The rules have never really been clear and I'm leery of adopting them as evidence of particular things because that rapidly leads into Disc-world physics territory.

As I said before, there is almost certainly preserved media, but what it is will probably be odd and kind of all over the place. They may have Star Wars for example, but not E.T. They may not have any 80's Action Movies, but for some reason, John Hughes entire over has been preserved. Like if one looks at manuscripts; there are texts we know about that were very important in the Roman world because they are referenced all the time, but we've never found preserved copies.
The Way that can be told,
is not the true unchanging way

The way that can be named,
is not the true unnamable way
User avatar
glitterboy2098
Rifts® Trivia Master
Posts: 13319
Joined: Wed Aug 06, 2003 3:37 pm
Location: Missouri
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

well in the rest of the books there is a bunch of references to "1 and 3 inch discs" for audio and video. even today, most of the portable data storage for video and music is via optical discs.. they just use the blueray version of the tech instead of the older standard CD's. so the 1 and 3 inch discs common in the books being optical discs is not a big stretch. they'd just be using some unspecified variety of of the tech.
Author of Rifts: Deep Frontier (Rifter 70)
Author of Rifts:Scandinavia (current project)
Image
* All fantasy should have a solid base in reality.
* Good sense about trivialities is better than nonsense about things that matter.

-Max Beerbohm
Visit my Website
User avatar
eliakon
Palladin
Posts: 9093
Joined: Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:40 pm
Comment: Palladium Books Canon is set solely by Kevin Siembieda, either in person, or by his approval of published material.
Contact:

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by eliakon »

Wise_Owl wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
dreicunan wrote:I think it is worth noting that given the existence of mega-damage materials (including fabrics), it is not a stretch to imagine mega-damage storage disks, or even mega-damage paper for making books! Mega-damage fabrics at least would allow for the creation of amazingly retro mega-damage scrolls!

CDs formatted for Audio/Music exist, because both Australian Trader OCCs give them away for "free". Since the storage format is still in use, there is no reason not to think people have been saving music since the 20th century.

That and they literally make suitcase with 10 MDC, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had MDC CDs.


Well, partly that is us having to deal with anachronisms because of when the books were authored ;). But accepting them on face value, they could also mean that Optical Drive technology was a tech that re-established itself after the apocalypse. Optical Drives are basically almost phased out of society now, let alone in 70 years. Could be the irony that the tech spread through engineering of some 'retro' hobby kits or something to that effect. Regardless, it doesn't mean that Discs from now exist than. Indeed, given the way they work, it's highly unlikely any CD's would survive the 300 years between the Rifts and the 'present day'.

Mega-Damage Materials are... ambiguous. The rules have never really been clear and I'm leery of adopting them as evidence of particular things because that rapidly leads into Disc-world physics territory.

As I said before, there is almost certainly preserved media, but what it is will probably be odd and kind of all over the place. They may have Star Wars for example, but not E.T. They may not have any 80's Action Movies, but for some reason, John Hughes entire over has been preserved. Like if one looks at manuscripts; there are texts we know about that were very important in the Roman world because they are referenced all the time, but we've never found preserved copies.

On the Mega-Damage front I would like to point out that simply being Mega-Damage doesn't make something immune to aging.
The example in the books of mega-damage has always been a tank or battleship. Things that are flatly immune to small arms and can only be harmed by the largest of explosions, crashes, and the like.
I will note that abandoned tanks and wrecked battle ships still rust and decay.

A Mega-Damage object from the Golden Age may not be any good any more. It could have deteriorated through natural aging. It could have decayed. It could have simply lost its data.
The rules are not a bludgeon with which to hammer a character into a game. They are a guide to how a group of friends can get together to weave a collective story that entertains everyone involved. We forget that at our peril.

Edmund Burke wrote:The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
dreicunan
Hero
Posts: 1344
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:49 am

Re: 20th century popular culture confirmed to exist in Rifts

Unread post by dreicunan »

eliakon wrote:
Wise_Owl wrote:
Sohisohi wrote:
dreicunan wrote:I think it is worth noting that given the existence of mega-damage materials (including fabrics), it is not a stretch to imagine mega-damage storage disks, or even mega-damage paper for making books! Mega-damage fabrics at least would allow for the creation of amazingly retro mega-damage scrolls!

CDs formatted for Audio/Music exist, because both Australian Trader OCCs give them away for "free". Since the storage format is still in use, there is no reason not to think people have been saving music since the 20th century.

That and they literally make suitcase with 10 MDC, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had MDC CDs.


Well, partly that is us having to deal with anachronisms because of when the books were authored ;). But accepting them on face value, they could also mean that Optical Drive technology was a tech that re-established itself after the apocalypse. Optical Drives are basically almost phased out of society now, let alone in 70 years. Could be the irony that the tech spread through engineering of some 'retro' hobby kits or something to that effect. Regardless, it doesn't mean that Discs from now exist than. Indeed, given the way they work, it's highly unlikely any CD's would survive the 300 years between the Rifts and the 'present day'.

Mega-Damage Materials are... ambiguous. The rules have never really been clear and I'm leery of adopting them as evidence of particular things because that rapidly leads into Disc-world physics territory.

As I said before, there is almost certainly preserved media, but what it is will probably be odd and kind of all over the place. They may have Star Wars for example, but not E.T. They may not have any 80's Action Movies, but for some reason, John Hughes entire over has been preserved. Like if one looks at manuscripts; there are texts we know about that were very important in the Roman world because they are referenced all the time, but we've never found preserved copies.

On the Mega-Damage front I would like to point out that simply being Mega-Damage doesn't make something immune to aging.
The example in the books of mega-damage has always been a tank or battleship. Things that are flatly immune to small arms and can only be harmed by the largest of explosions, crashes, and the like.
I will note that abandoned tanks and wrecked battle ships still rust and decay.

A Mega-Damage object from the Golden Age may not be any good any more. It could have deteriorated through natural aging. It could have decayed. It could have simply lost its data.
Being mega-damage may not make it immune to aging, but it does apparently make it resistant to aging. In Madhaven, on page 8, they make mention of Mega-Concrete, a mega-damage material, and that structures built with it "should last hundreds of year with minimal deterioration." But it's late and I don't have time to look up other references. If anyone knows of any references to mega-damage materials deteriorating, please cite them for us.
Axelmania wrote:You of course, being the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not.
Declared the ultimate authority on what is an error and what is not by Axelmania on 5.11.19.
Post Reply

Return to “Rifts®”