Questions About the Land...

[Torque]

Has anyone ever wondered what kind of travel packages were available centuries before the events in Grim Fandango and what kind of travel packages there will be in the future? What did souls that led exceptionally good lives get when trains weren't invented yet? Will airplanes ever be built in the Land of the Dead? I mean there are airships...

Has the Number Nine always existed? If so, how come living people eventually ended up making similar machines? (note: I say similar because the trains in the real world obviously aren't as fast, don't turn into demons, don't have a mind of their own, basically aren't self-aware or "living") Coincidence? Did they have any contact with the dead?

(I know the "best" answer is probably simply that "it's all a game", but still let's debate this as I'm not normally satisfied with "that's just the way it is" type of answers. )

[Thrik]

I'm not sure exactly how technology would become integrated into the whole 'journey through the afterlife' thing, but I think your observation about them reflecting technology in the Land of the Living is sound.

As you say, the appearance of airships would imply the technology in the Land of the Dead reflects what's currently available in the Land of the Living in the era the game's set.

Perhaps the demons are the key. We only see those actually dealing with the technology and building it, so perhaps they are spiritually intertwined with the Land of the Living and whatever's invented there is passed through them to build in the Land of the Dead (tee :~). Thus, the Mayan Mechanics could very well replace the Number 9 with something better (they presumably built it since they built the vehicle for it) once the technology exists in the Land of the Living.

The only question then would be: what about people who actually knew how to build these things in the real world, and could very well carry on inventing better things in the Land of the Dead? Is this knowledge stripped from them, forcing them to live with whatever the demons produce?

[stewlil]

One Word: Monorail

[Torque]

Originally Posted by Thrik

The only question then would be: what about people who actually knew how to build these things in the real world, and could very well carry on inventing better things in the Land of the Dead? Is this knowledge stripped from them, forcing them to live with whatever the demons produce?

Maybe most people are too busy trying to find a way to leave the Land of the Dead...

[Du Man]

probably true, though maybe the technology and archetecture depends on the age and location the people came from, though it all still retains a Mayan/Aztec influence. My guess is the lords of the afterlife try to keep the world familiar so the dead won't be totally confused about what they should do when they first arrive, but they keep the technology restricted enough so that people serve their time in it appropriately.

This reminds me that Lola actually had a polariod camera which I thought was rather modern, but it turns out it actually fits right in with their age, around the early 50s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_camera

[stewlil]

Well forklifts seem rather like recent to me, along with the computers at the DOD with laser scanning technology..

[B.A.T.]

wow, nice touch......maybe the demons are more advanced then everyone alive, glottis seems so, Its probably not related to events in the land of the living, but then again it looks that way. I guess the demons can skip ahead if they want to.

[Shuz]

I liked Du Man's explanation.

[Colossal]

I think the game has Mayan and Aztec influence because
its still a mystery how they really lived and the land of the dead has its own mysteries
for example from where they get fuel for the cars, bread , cigarettes ... and what happens after
one of the reasons that they don't mention how was before is to make you think.

[lipton]

Originally Posted by stewlil

One Word: Monorail

ROFL hell yeah! thats the future!