History Main / AlternateTechline

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen Rise of the Cybermen]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel The Age of Steel]]" features an alternate universe Earth where Zeppelins are common, Britain's technology is more advanced than than at home, and science has developed medallions with the power to make the wearer cross universes. It's also a universe where the Cybermen, consisting of human brains placed in robotic bodies, were created on Earth rather than on Mondas like in the main universe.

** Season 2 travels to an alternate universe Earth where Zeppelins are common, Britain's technology is more advanced than than at home, and science has developed medallions with the power to make the wearer cross universes. It's also a universe where the Cybermen, consisting of human brains placed in robotic bodies, were created on Earth rather than on Mondas like in the main universe.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E13TheWeddingOfRiverSong The Wedding of River Song]], due to all time happening at once, tech is a mixed bag; Zepplin-cars replace highways, while the Holy Roman Emperor, Winston Churchill, travels by horse-drawn chariot and long-distance travel is by high-speed rail.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' uses this frequently, having things such as advanced medicine, but no steam powered ships or computers. Instead of phones or televisions living creatures called Telesnails are used to broadcast signals. There are also cola-powered cyborgs and seashells called dials which can store and expel just about anything.

* The world of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' seems to be at a roughly 1910s or 1920s technology level in terms of weapons and consumer products, but [[ArtificialLimbs automail]] is well beyond anything that exists in 20th-century (or even 21st-century) Earth. Many technological advances were probably either accelerated or averted due to the existence of alchemy, though oddly there's no sign of planes or other flying machines, and alchemy is never used for that purpose either.

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' has much of its tech levels thanks to Doctor Manhatten's ability to synthesise the requisite materials. Notably, electric vehicles are far more practical in TheEighties in the ''Watchmen'' verse than in real life, since the Doc can create the batteries at will.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this by and large, as despite the series' fusion of MilitaryScienceFiction with SurvivalHorror and BioPunk, the setting's general tech level is otherwise consistent with our own, to the point [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake the]] [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake remakes]] of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis 3]]'' made it a point to accurately capture the look and feel of [[Main/TheNineties the late 1990s]]. However, outside of that, development into biotech and biological weapons of mass destruction is so thoroughly researched that by said late 1990s, there exists a plague that creates typical John Romero-esque zombies from the infected - and the variants of what kind of bioweapons there are [[SerialEscalation has only gotten crazier and crazier from there]]. This leads a major point of concern of the world to be around "bioterrorism," which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin terrorism done with the horrific bioweapons found as a result of their proliferation in the 1990s]]. This is somewhat [[HandWave hand-waved]] given the [[ObviouslyEvil absurdly-corrupt]] [[MegaCorp Umbrella Corporation]] was ultimately the one who started all this madness, and even almost thirty years after the collapse of Umbrella and everyone associated with the project being terminated, their aftereffects are ''STILL'' felt to this day.

* In TheEighties of ''Podcast/WithinTheWires,'' Sony Walkman cassette players exist alongside unobtrusive, standard-issue abdominal "black box" {{cybernetic|seatyoursoul}} implants that monitor and manage vitals [[spoiler:and store memories]]. Should someone need more direct surveillance, however, this implant will be replaced with a boxy proto-TrackingChip so large and unwieldy it distends the abdomen.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' has this as a major point of development. Despite the timeline extending to, at the absolute latest, the year 2018, technology by that point is so far beyond what this timeline is capable of as to have everything including genetically-engineered [[SuperSoldier Super Soldiers]], cyborg ninjas, robotic prosthetics invented as early as the 1980s, cloning, nanomachines and the titular Metal Gear MiniMecha, to say nothing of its numerous variants and any ''other'' bipedal tanks the series has to offer.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' in spades: They have nuclear propulsion, [[PoweredArmor Power Armor]], [[TinCanRobot robots]] and [[EnergyWeapon lasers]], but their computers are at the level of computers in the early 80s and they didn't invent the transistor until 2067[[note]]the transistor was invented in 1947 in real life[[/note]], ten years before the Great War.

* In ''Fanfic/IfWishesWerePonies'', The technology levels and magical understandings of [[Literature/HarryPotter The Wizarding World]] and [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]] are contrasted in the story to be about as different as The Dark Ages are from The Industrial Revolution respectively. [[TheMasquerade The Statute of Secrecy]] has caused innovation in Wizarding magic to stagnate due to the Magical governments' lack of interaction with their Muggle counterparts, with wizards often continuing to use unconventional magical solutions as long as they work without trying to improve them as an "[[NoOSHACompliance If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It]]" mentality. Meanwhile, Equestria's understanding of magic and worldwide acceptance of its principles has led to ponies [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic viewing Magic as another kind of science]] that is to be both studied, researched and improved upon. This is best seen with both societies' approaches to instantly transporting people across large distances: Wizarding Apparition has a strict age limit for even attempting to learn the technique due to it frequently causing TeleportationSickness and [[TeleFrag Splinching]] being a consequence of not giving it one's full attention, while the Equestrian teleportation spell is well-researched and has safeguards in place to prevent serious harm befalling the user, allowing even untrained magic users to use it given proper instructions and tools: where Twilight Sparkle designs a version of the spell that can be used with Wands that she then successfully teaches to a young Hermione Granger just months before she would attend Hogwarts.

* The film ''Film/WildWildWest'' could be considered an alternate techline and has steam punk technologies such as the [[spoiler:steam powered spider mech]] and non steam punk technologies like [[spoiler:the metal collars and saw gun]].

* In ''Series/MrsDavis'' , which takes place in 2023, everything is technologically the same except that the omniscient AI Mrs. Davis has been introduced at some point in the preceding decade. As a result, war, famine, and unemployment have all been eradicated, while social media such as Facebook and Twitter have become obsolete.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this by and large, as despite the series' fusion of MilitaryScienceFiction with SurvivalHorror and BioPunk, the setting's general tech level is otherwise consistent with our own, to the point [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake the]] [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake remakes]] of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3 3]]'' made it a point to accurately capture the look and feel of [[Main/TheNineties the late 1990s]]. However, outside of that, development into biotech and biological weapons of mass destruction is so thoroughly researched that by said late 1990s, there exists a plague that creates typical John Romero-esque zombies from the infected - and the variants of what kind of bioweapons there are [[SerialEscalation has only gotten crazier and crazier from there]]. This leads a major point of concern of the world to be around "bioterrorism," which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin terrorism done with the horrific bioweapons found as a result of their proliferation in the 1990s]]. This is somewhat [[HandWave hand-waved]] given the [[ObviouslyEvil absurdly-corrupt]] [[MegaCorp Umbrella Corporation]] was ultimately the one who started all this madness, and even almost thirty years after the collapse of Umbrella and everyone associated with the project being terminated, their aftereffects are ''STILL'' felt to this day.

* In ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'', airships armed with rayguns are standard equipment for most countries' militaries, but infrared - homing missiles? Software that allows you to write computer programs yourself? That's lost technology from before the apocalypse!

** The ''First Contact'' DLC contains a "primitive" civilization known as Habinte Unified Worlds. They're called primitive because they don't use any space technology. Yet... they've colonized all the inhabitable worlds in their star system anyway, and display the ability to teleport entire planets across vast distances. They're also much more advanced in terraforming tech, as all of their planets are Gaia Worlds and their buildings are built to not interfere with nature as much as possible. [[spoiler:And if you do decide to try to use your space superiority to conquer them, you'll find they are not nearly as helpless as you might think...]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' has a possible event where a portal to AnotherDimension can be discovered on one of your colonies. If you decide to probe the portal, you can discover an alternate version of your empire, in a galaxy where the [[HyperspaceLanes Hyperdrive Engine]] wasn't discovered, and instead, the go to way of FasterThanLightTravel is the [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Jump Drive]].

* The world of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' seems to be at a roughly 1910s or 1920s technology level in terms of weapons and consumer products, but [[ArtificialLimbs automail]] is well beyond anything that exists in 20th-century (or even 21th-century) Earth. Many technological advances were probably either accelerated or averted due to the existence of alchemy, though oddly there's no sign of planes or other flying machines, and alchemy is never used for that purpose either.

May include ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld. If done in an incoherent way, it becomes SchizoTech. Sometimes indirectly caused by {{Zeerust}}, as a SciFi book set in the future becomes a film set in what looks more like an alternate present.

* The world of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' seems to be at a roughly 1910s or 1920s technology level in terms of weapons and consumer products, but [[ArtificialLimbs automail]] is well beyond anything that exists in 20th-century Earth. Many technological advances were probably either accelerated or averted due to the existence of alchemy, though oddly there's no sign of planes or other flying machines, and alchemy is never used for that purpose either.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', despite the world being in a time period culturally analogue to the late 20th century, technology is very different. Computers are chunky, lack a monitor screen, use crystalline cubes to save data and display their data through printing and function through radio waves (hence they are called radiocomputers in-universe); television doesn't seem to exist and radio is the main form of mass media technology; movies exist in some capacity since a video rental store is mentioned, but apparently they rent reel tapes instead of VHS or other later formats; video games also don't seem to exist and arcades feature exclusively {{Pinball}}, although there's also radiocomputer games; motorcarriages (the analogue of modern cars) look like more advanced versions of real-life motorized carriages, such as [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Daimler_Motorized_Carriage_IMG_0848.jpg 1886 Daimler Motorcoach]], and lorries (the analogue of trucks) are quite different in design from that of their real-life counterparts, specially those created for travelling through [[spoiler: The Pale]], since they have a set of several small wheels to attach itselves to the inside of cargo planes.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', despite the world being in a time period culturally analogue to the late 20th century, technology is very different. Computers are chunky, lack a monitor screen and display its data through printing and function through radio waves (hence they were called radiocomputers in-universe); television doesn't seems to exist and radio is the main form of mass media technology; movies exists in some capacity since a video rental store is mentioned, but apparently they rent reel tapes instead of VHS or other later formats; video games also doesn't seem to exist and arcades features exclusivelly {{Pinball}}, although there's also radiocomputer games; motorcarriages (the analogue of modern cars) looks like more advanced versions of real-life motorized carriages, such as [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Daimler_Motorized_Carriage_IMG_0848.jpg 1886 Daimler Motorcoach]], and lorries (the analogue of trucks) are quite different in design that their real-life counterpart, specially those created for travelling through [[spoiler: The Pale]], since they have a set of several small wheels to attach itselves to the inside of cargo planes.

* While TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} generally uses TechnologyLevels, some of the settings touch on the fact that divergent tech levels (TL('x'+'y'), where x is the technology level shared with our development, and y is how much farther they've advanced along some alternate line -- TL(5+1) is usually SteamPunk, for example), while ''generally'' equivalent to the technology level indicated by the sum, tend to have at least somewhat different advantages and disadvantages.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', despite the world being in a time period culturally analogue to the late 20th century, technology is very different. Computers are chunky, lack a monitor screen and display its data through printing similar to computers before the invention of magnetic tape ([[spoiler:a magnetic-tape computer was in development in-universe, but its prototypes were destroyed during a communist revolution]]) and function through radio waves (hence they were called radiocomputers in-universe); television doesn't seems to exist and radio is the main form of mass media technology; movies exists in some capacity since a video rental store is mentioned, but apparently they rent reel tapes instead of VHS or other later formats; video games also doesn't seem to exist and arcades features exclusivelly {{Pinball}}, although there's also radiocomputer games; motorcarriages (the analogue of modern cars) looks like more advanced versions of real-life motorized carriages, such as [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Daimler_Motorized_Carriage_IMG_0848.jpg 1886 Daimler Motorcoach]], and lorries (the analogue of trucks) are quite different in design that their real-life counterpart, specially those created for travelling through [[spoiler: The Pale]], since they have a set of several small wheels to attach itselves to the inside of cargo planes.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', despite the world being in a time period culturally analogue to the late 20th century, technology is very different. Computers are chunky, lack a monitor screen and display its data through printing similar to computers before the invention of magnetic tape ([[spoiler:a magnetic-tape computer was being develop in universe, but its prototypes were destroyed during a communist revolution]]) and function through radio waves (hence they were called radiocomputers in-universe); television doesn't seems to exist and radio is the main form of mass media technology; movies exists in some capacity since a video rental store is mentioned, but apparently they rent reel tapes instead of VHS or other later formats; video games also doesn't seem to exist and arcades features exclusivelly {{Pinball}}; motorcarriages (the analogue of modern cars) looks like more advanced versions of real-life motorized carriages, such as [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Daimler_Motorized_Carriage_IMG_0848.jpg 1886 Daimler Motorcoach]], and lorries (the analogue of trucks) are quite different in design that their real-life counterpart, specially those created for travelling through [[spoiler: The Pale]], since they have a set of several small wheels to attach itselves to the inside of cargo planes.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', despite the world being in a time period culturally analogue to the late 20th century, technology is very different. Computers are chunky, lack a monitor screen and display its data through printing similar to computers before the invention of magnetic tape ([[spoiler:a magnetic-tape computer was being develop in universe, but its prototypes were destroyed during a communist revolution]]) and function through radio waves (hence they were called radiocomputers in-universe); television doesn't seems to exist and radio is the main form of mass media technology; ovies exists in some capacity since a video rental store is mentioned, but apparently they rent reel tapes instead of VHS or other later formats; video games also doesn't seem to exist and arcades features exclusivelly {{Pinball}}; motorcarriages (the analogue of modern cars) looks like more advanced versions of real-life motorized carriages, such as [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Daimler_Motorized_Carriage_IMG_0848.jpg 1886 Daimler Motorcoach]], and lorries (the analogue of trucks) are quite different in design that their real-life counterpart, specially those created for travelling through [[spoiler: The Pale]], since they have a set of several small wheels to attach itselves to the inside of cargo planes.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', despite the world being in a time period culturally analogue to the late 20th century, technology is very different. Computers are chunky, lack a monitor screen and display its data through printing similar to computers before the invention of magnetic tape ([[spoiler:a magnetic-tape computer was being develop in universe, but its prototypes were destroyed during a communist revolution]]) and function through radio waves (hence they were called radiocomputers in-universe); television doesn't seems to exist and radio is the main form of mass media technology; cinema exists in some capacity (since a video rental store is mentioned), but apparently they rent reel tapes instead of VHS or other later formats; video games also doesn't seem to exist and arcades features exclusivelly {{Pinball}}; motorcarriages (the analogue of modern cars) looks like more advanced versions of real-life motorized carriages, such as [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Daimler_Motorized_Carriage_IMG_0848.jpg 1886 Daimler Motorcoach]], and lorries (the analogue of trucks) are quite different in design that their real-life counterpart, specially those created for travelling through [[spoiler: The Pale]], since they have a set of several small wheels to attach itselves to the inside of cargo planes.

* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', despite the world being in a time period culturually analogue to the late 20th century, technology is very different. Computers are chunky, lack a monitor screen and display its data through printing similar to computers before the invention of magnetic tape ([[spoiler:a magnetic-tape computer was being develop in universe, but its prototypes were destroyed during a communist revolution]]) and function through radio waves (hence they were called radiocomputers in-universe); television doesn't seems to exist and radio is the main form of mass media technology; cinema exists in some capacity (since a video rental store is mentioned), but apparently they rent reel tapes instead of VHS or other later formats; video games also doesn't seem to exist and arcades features exclusivelly {{Pinball}}; motorcarriages (the analogue of modern cars) looks like more advanced versions of real-life motorized carriages, such as [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Daimler_Motorized_Carriage_IMG_0848.jpg 1886 Daimler Motorcoach]], and lorries (the analogue of trucks) are quite different in design that their real-life counterpart, specially those created for travelling through [[spoiler: The Pale]], since they have a set of several small wheels to attach itselves to the inside of cargo planes.