Neotropolis 2024: Building a Cyberpunk Alter Ego

Welcome to Neotropolis.

I'm still plugging away at the projects currently in my queue. But recently, I impulsively volunteered to join the Neotropolis art department, which has put the event back in the forefront of my mind. I realized that the planning for my Neotropolis 2024 costuming all took place before I started this blog, so why not retroactively document my process? There were some really cool pieces in that build, after all.

The first step in my process was deciding what sort of role I wanted to play. I don't know if everyone who attends Neo adopts a distinct alter ego. It is not, fundamentally, a roleplaying event. But most people I've gotten to know who attend seem to take on a persona. Now that I've got first hand experience with the event, I'd say it's a good idea to put a little thought into.

Parsing my knowledge of cyberpunk lore, I decided by persona would be that of a data courier in the vein of Johnny Mnemonic. The kind of person you hire to transport data that is too hot to risk sending over the net no matter the encryption. But unlike Johnny, my character would be rougher around the edges. Hardboiled and streetwise like V from Cyberpunk 2077.

So, character background and style in mind, I went about deciding what props and costuming elements I was going to need to do this right. CD Projekt Red's iconic character, V, would also be an influence on my persona's visual inspiration (along with a few hints of Judy Alvarez). But even more so was the aesthetic of the character of Sonnie in the episode "Sonnie's Edge" from Love Death + Robots. I absolutely loved and coveted the jacket she wears in that episode. A patch-covered, cropped bomber jacket with a hood. Creating my own take on that would be my first order of business.

The Jacket

One thing to know about me is that I am like the Terminator when I am pursuing a very particular item online. I absolutely will not stop until I have found exactly what I need. Practically anything you can imagine is available somewhere out there, its just a matter of finding the right corner of the internet. This jacket was an example of that. I can't even guess how much time I put into searching but eventually did find the perfect olive drab cropped bomber jacket with a hood.

Once that was in hand, I planned some modifications and additions I wanted done. For this part I cheated a little by commissioning my seamstress friend to do the sewing work. She shortened the sleaves to three-quarter length, added stretch cuffs, and added pleather appliques according to a design I had patterned out. I also added a bunch of patches from various fictional sci-fi organizations like Tyrell Corporation (Bladerunner), Aperture Science Labs (Portal), and the Banzai Institute (Buckaroo Banzai), along with a few that were just generically dystopian. There's also a little Easter egg in one patch. The serial number appearing on my DataOpps patch is actually the ISBN for William Gibson's Johnny Mnemonic novella.

The Wearable Device

Perceptive viewers will notice that there was a small electronic device attached to the jacket in the photos up there. You couldn't live in the cyberpunk future without showing some tech. I knew I wanted some kind of wearable device that would look like it was doing something important. With some searching, I found the 3D model for just the type of device I wanted. The digital ID badge by Neotropolis alum, Z0r4n. However, I had a few other features in mind for mine version, so I modified Z0r4n's original design to accommodate a coin cell battery holder, switch, and power cables to drive my light-up eyewear, which we'll see later.

Z0r4n's design cleverly used an LED name tag to create the impression of a digital display. The nametags are able to support a simple animation with up to eight frames. That's very limited, but I was able to create a simple Wi-Fi signal indicator. At first, I had the words, "Data Link" at the center, with broadcast waves emanating outward. Then I learned that the official Neotropolis Wi-Fi network was named NeoNav, and quickly made adjustments for an in-world theme.

The Sidearm

The dystopian future is a violent world. It's a sad state of affair, but a wise cyberpunk operator has gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean. So I decided I would need to have a sidearm. I was able to find a very cool knockoff of the Dart Zone MK2 that had a working in-grip magazine for Nerf style darts. The barrel of the toy was made to accept an extender accessory, which took advantage of that to create a compatible shroud to give it the style of the pistols from Cyberpunk 2077. Particularly the Militech Lexington from the game. The back end of the slider on this particular blaster also had a small blank space that looked like it was meant for a digital display, so I created a little faux-display using LED lighting behind layers of frosted acrylic and colored plastic. An internal switch would activate the display when the trigger was slightly pulled. The result was pretty effective. And just for fun I personalized the piece with the distinctive "Til' Death" tag of my favorite girl-gang from Night City, The Mox.

The Eyewear

I wanted to have some kind of cool eyewear that looked like it could be some kind of augmented reality visor. I had seen these cheap acrylic visors that had a great look, but were so popular among cyberpunk costuming as to be a cliche.

I thought that maybe if I could add on some kind of greebles it would make it a little less commonplace. I have mixed feelings about the results. I was pleased with how well the shroud fit the visor, but it was kind of bulky. Plus, my attempt at powering the LEDs from the wearable device on the jacket was clumsy and ultimately impractical. I did end up wearing it briefly at the event and it made for a few good photos.

The Neck Fan

The neck fan was kind of a last minute addition. I had seen Z0r4n trick out a neck fan in a really rad cyberpunk style and immediately wanted to do something similar. After a thorough search, I found one online that had an unusual form factor with a lot of sci-fi potential. Once acquired, I went about doing the paint and finish on it. But at some point, the built-in rechargeable batteries completely died. I was really frustrated with this, but while trying to do repairs I discovered that the fans would run normally if plugged in to an external power supply via their USB charging ports. That let me turn a bug into a feature by incorporating the power cables into the design of the device, and running the USB cables down to a power supply worn in a molle bag at my belt. And just for fun, I installed some LEDs into the cooling vents that would shine up onto my neck when wearing the device. I ended up being pretty happy with this piece, even though the event itself proved far too cold for the fans to be remotely necessary.

The Cybernetic Arm

The centerpiece of my costuming was the cybernetic arm. This seems to have become an iconic piece in cyberpunk media. They seem ubiquitous in Cyberpunk 2077's world. But how to go about it was going to be a challenge.

The ideal solution would be a 3D printed piece custom made for my arm, but that was beyond my means. The best method available was a cosplay-style EVA foam sleave. I planned a three-piece design. First a stretch fabric sleave attached to a cuff that would go over my upper arm. then a bracer piece that would cover my forearm, and finally a glove with faux-metal plates on the back of the hand and fingers. The biggest challenge was figuring out how to make the forearm form-fitting while still allowing my hand to pass through at the tight wrist opening. My solution was to have top and bottom pieces connected with stretch fabric. So that once it was on, the pieces would be pulled taught by the fabric. This worked adequately, but was less effective after the material was stretched from repeated use.

Cyberpunk runs on the "rule of cool", so I had to build in a couple of special features for increased "gee wiz" factor. One being a set of LEDs to make it look more convincingly electronic, and another being a retractable data-jack cable like the ones used in Cyberpunk 2077. The LEDs were an easy task. A simple circuit with a toggle switch and coin cell batteries, hidden inside a small 3D-printed compartment. The data jack was more challenging. For this I used a compact retractable measuring tape that I was able to place within the arm compartment so that the retraction button could be pressed near my inner elbow. The data jack itself was housed at the wrist, with an actual USB thumb drive attached. It worked... a little. The the strength of the retraction was a little unreliable and wouldn't always fully retract. And it would often whipped around wildly in the process. But it did make an impression on the few people I demonstrated it for, and was good for at least one fun photo where I jacked-in to a communications terminal.

Overall, I was very satisfied with how the arm turned out, and it got a great response at Neotropolis. One person actually asked if it was a real prosthetic, which was crazy but, honestly, flattering. Sadly, after wearing it again at DragonCon 2024, the arm suffered too much wear and tear and is ready to be retired. I already have its replacement in the works for Neotroplis 2025, as introduced in my previous blog post.

The Rest

That covers all the major pieces of the outfit that defined my Neotropolis persona. There were a few other pieces, of course. Several on-theme t-shirts advertising a better life in the off-world colonies, promoting the Atari brand in Japanese, etc. Black skinny jeans and boots that were already part of my Goth wardrobe. And some Judy Alvarez style shoes that I found through another tireless internet search.

And so, to wrap up the post, here are a few shots of the whole ensemble, including some from the streets of Neotropolis.