Dust Raven Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? I can't believe no one's mentioned Max Headroom... What are they teaching you kids in school these days? I can't believe some (other than myself) even remembers the Coca-Cola spokesicon turned TV show. 20 seconds into the future my ***... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? Neurotic cyberlimbs are fun. As are nanites, a-la Red Dwarf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? Robots in general have great potential - look at Paranoia XP, Red Dwarf or even Roborally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inu Posted June 1, 2006 Report Share Posted June 1, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? Robots in general have great potential - look at Paranoia XP' date=' Red Dwarf or even Roborally [/quote'] Dude! Roborally! I gotta get a game of that going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted June 1, 2006 Report Share Posted June 1, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? I've even made a 3D version of the Colliseum for that game However, back on topic - the bios for the robots are very funny. Giving robots personalities is a great way to introduce them as a comedy element. Look at Marvin the paranoid android. Or the doors and vending machine in the Heart of Gold that had GPP (Genuine People Personalities) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted June 2, 2006 Report Share Posted June 2, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? Personally if I were going to do a cyberpunk comedy I would add the comedy with a light hand. Nothing is as unfunny as a forced joke, IMO. Dark comedy is the most natural fit for cyberpunk, and really is there in many examples of it. In fact, due to my own nature this sort of humor tends to creep into my gritty action adventure games without me even trying. Some sources I might use as inspiration for tech / dys dark humor are: Dr Strangelove: duh; a real no brainer. Its all about the idea of mankind having the technology to wipe each other out while being an incredibly unstable creature leading to an hysterical death spiral. Brazil: Orwellian bueraucracy at its best / worst / funniest. If you cant watch this and find some bits to extract from it you might as well just give up. Fight Club: its dark, its gritty, its violent, its anti establishment. And its very very funny. Both Lock Stock and Snatch could be cyberpunk'd American Psycho: most Mr. Johnsons end up being generic soulless *******s. Why not dial it up a bit and make one a closet psycho? The Fallout videogames were technically post apocalyptic, but definitely a close cousin and borrowable from, and they had some good chuckle worthy bits. Lord of War is all about a gun runner and has some great dark humor. Its funny in a laugh or go crazy kind of way, and has some great one liners. Very cyberpunkable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StGrimblefig Posted June 2, 2006 Report Share Posted June 2, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? I get the strangest inspirations. Reading Shrike's sig, I remembered where I first saw that quote from John Gall -- listed as the Fifteenth Law of Systemantics in "Murphy's Law Book TWo" (ISBN 0-8431-0674-3). I wonder if one could take a few of the applicable entries from the Murphy's Law books and build a series of running gags from them? Like: Greer's Third Law - A computer program does what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do. Could be used whenever a character interfaces with a computer, especially if the interface is voice input. The computer takes everything literally, and misunderstands (in the most humorous way) whenever possible. -or- Naeser's Law - You can make it foolproof, but you can't make it damnfoolproof. Especially useful for generally incompetent DNPCs or recurring NPCs. Or perhaps for the target of an "extraction" that is absolutely brilliant in a specific area of knowledge, but utterly inept at everything else. -or- Flugg's Law - When you need to knock on wood is when you realize that the world's composed of aluminum and vinyl. Have a character or NPC occasionally use the phrase and stop to look for some wood. There are probably others, but I am at work (yes, I have the Murphy's Law books at work). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShinDangaioh Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? CyberComedy: Is it possible? Yes. R. Talisorian Games did a massively hilarious sorucebook called Rache Bartmoss' Guide to the Net Rache Bartmoss is a nut. However, all of the stuff they did with him was just plausible enough that a person could do this. It's like a guy I once heard of that chopped trees down with duct tape and a paper bag filled with hand grenades or another person who punched out a vending machine with a cop standing right behind him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? Doesn't anyone remember the prototypical cyberpunk TV series, Max Headroom, which was in many respects a comedy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? Doesn't anyone remember the prototypical cyberpunk TV series' date=' [i']Max Headroom[/i], which was in many respects a comedy? I vaguely remember M-m-m-m-max, but I was too young to really recall it clearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: CyberComedy: Is it possible? I vaguely remember M-m-m-m-max' date=' but I was too young to really recall it clearly.[/quote'] The premise was that a copy of the mind of an investigative journalist had been accidentally uploaded into a mainframe, but that the copy was somewhat, well, flawed. So while the flesh-and-blood Edison Carter was up to his neck in the corruption of a decaying society, his virtual counterpart Max Headroom was roaming cyberspace, popping up every now and then to make some comment or say something bizarre. Edison had some contact with Max (and could ask for favors, etc.) but could not control him, and only by looking through the eyes of monitor cameras and appearing on TV screens could Max interact with the real world. Despite being the title character, Max wasn't really all that important to the story. There were actually several different cable and broadcast programs featuring the Max Headroom character, incluidng a talk show on pay cable and different versions of the main series for the US and UK markets. In all cases, Max was played by actor Matt Frewer (who also played Edison Carter), who went through rather extensive makeup and prosthetics to get Max's distinctive "virtualized" look. This was when CGI was, for most purposes, a mianly theoretical concept that had only been used in one relatively unsucessful movie (the cult favorite TRON). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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