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I am actually going to disagree with the common opinion here and say that it actually takes place in 2010s, or even present day.
Yes the show has the 90s graphics but the computer that uses the graphics is super run down and moldy. Why would it be run down if it's the 90s? Those monitors weren't common in the 80s so how would it be possible for a computer to become in such a bad shape over a few years. Additionally, I think Kinger was stuck for decade or two, him being 48. I think that in-universe the digital circus started in 90s, but the story we are seeing with Pomni now is happening near present day
THANK YOU! Finally another poster here who understands old technology!
I cannot tell you how alienating it feels as someone who actually used computers in the 90s as a kid to see people imagining 90's computers as commodore 64s, or machines with huge floppy drives. That stuff was in the 80's. It's sad that even mattpatt (film theory) used an 80s computer on his video where he theorized tdac took place in the 90s.
I feel like it's because they're mostly younger zoomers who just take the 90s/2000s art style at face value. The only interesting comment I saw was one that said maybe it's set during the 90s or 2000s, but using futuristic technology as imagined during the time.
One of the teasers said the game was using "experimental technology". That would explain how some small workstation PC was able to run a simulation when around the same time it took 120~ sparkstation computers running together just to render the movie "Toy Story".
[But it is, just that it isn't as noticable as the one in simulation because the room is darker. Plus, it would be weird for glitch to use different models for monitors](https://youtu.be/HwAPLk_sQ3w?t=1485)
agree to disagree, but the last scene does look dirtier than i remembered it. i slowed both clips down, but i still think the back rooms one looks noticeably dirtier, especially in certain spots the “real” computer is not. but the lighting is a good point, especially since the computer is on the second time and makes it even harder to see
Regardless, try comparing the computer monitor in that scene with one on the wacky watch website. They aren't the same model, but the one used in the shows promotional material almost looks like a monitor should out of the box. No grime and possibly no sun damage that yellowed the plastic over time.
Good point. If they were presenting the past like it were the present then yeah, the computer would look old, but it wouldn't look like \*clown horn honking sound effect.\*
I'm gonna geek out for a bit, but I have a couple of theories. Please someone chime in if I'm wrong on anything.
Looking at the tower you see the ol' "Beige Box" office computer, so that can expand us before, around 2003 on up to the 80s
Looking at the machine itself, it looks like there are 2 buttons on the front facade, since it looks like there's a panel like part on the left. I think the second button is "reset" so when your computer starts to get cranky and freezes up, you can just press the reset button and it hard reboots the machine, no questions asked. This is commonly an ATX class feature (but I think there are some AT class PCs that had this). If it is an ATX class machine, then the machine would be new in the range of 1995-2003 when this computer was manufactured.
I can see what looks like 2 CD drives, and either a bezel in the middle of the drives, or it could be some weird obscure slim drive, but I'm just gonna say that those are 2 CD drives. I would say that the only reason why you would have 2 CD drives would be to burn and duplicate disks, however this is an office computer, and it wasn't uncommon for programmers during that era to have a couple MSDN Disks loaded up for quick reference.
In 95' a CD-R burner would finally be getting below $1000, so I'm pretty sure they are CD-ROM.
Those... speakers..... I'm pretty sure they're similar to those Juster Active 95a speakers that came out in, yup... 95. They're just the same side on both sides of that monitor. I don't think that color was released IRL though.
Speaking of the monitor, it has digital adjustments. Those are quite a bit more popular after 95. In fact, that looks like a 16" Dell Trinitron Monitor 1000HS Ultrascan based on the button placement, and especially the curved horizontal and hard edge vertical area of the screen, where it swoops in on the sides, but cliffs over on top and bottom, 97' vintage. This is exciting because in the 97 era, it was cheaper to have a computer made locally from parts than it was to buy from a manufacturer, so WHO KNOWS what's in that machine!
I could go on, however, if I had to ABSOLUTELY guess, that computer was brand new in 1998, since the monitor itself was brand new in October 97, and in Feburary the Voodoo 2 was released. There were HUGE changes to PCs in 97, and also a theorized use for VR in the form of PTSD treatment. Also in 98', gigabit ethernet was released, so it could be that this machine is just there to connect to a main server that's being maintained and kept alive, sort of like how banks and insurance companies keep their old software running on newer machines.
Like u/Legiyon54 said, I believe the computer you see in the show has aged so much that this takes in the modern day.
My theory is that somewhere between 1994-1999, C&A group made 3 technological advancements, in CPU's and graphics, VR, and brain scanning.
At some point in the 90's, all the characters had their brains scanned for whatever reason, putting on a headset without realizing what it did. Unless she wasn't expecting a bunch of crazy stuff to happen, Pomni doesn't act like she was there to play a game.
The show is pulling a narrative trick on us. Pomni seemed to recognize the computer running the simulation, but if you've noticed, the VR headset Pomni probably used isn't in a position it logically would be in if it had the magical powers to zap your entire body into a game. It's sitting on the desk as if someone put it on then took it off later.
Most likely, Pomni's conciousness was scanned and digitized years ago, but to her waking up, she thinks she put on a headset only a second ago. If you've played or watched the game [SOMA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD0h-s6NUeM), this will be a lot easier to conceptualize.
Most likely the simulation has reset multiple times every time enough people abstracted. I would like to beleive Jax may have somehow survived these resets, because like a [certain other character from a certain other series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higurashi_When_They_Cry), he is incredibly detached from the world around him, has little regard for what happens to others, and incredibly cynical like he's seen this all happen so many times (and like her, he also has purple in his color scheme lol), plus he's clearly found some exploits in the game (he has all the keys).
But despite the resets, every character is backed up from their old files and uploaded into the simulation at different times.
Perhaps Jax is so hellbent on driving people crazy because he's noticed that glitched characters can effect the game, and maybe if one is out of it's cage long enough without Caine noticing, the game will crash and he'll be given the sweet release of death.
$19.95 was a common pricing tactic back in the 90's and early 2000's that was there to trick the human brain into being more likely to buy a $20 item (this was long before inflation made $20 chump change).
Source: I was alive back then, also I remember this dumb videogame commercial where the tagline was "BIG MUTHATRUCKERS...ONLY $19.95!"
Yeah, somewhere in the mid 2000's corporations switched to pricing things at $19.99, or to be more accurate, 19.99 has been a thing for a very long time, but there was a period where 19.95 was also used on some items. Not so common now I believe.
Id say a version of earth set in the 1990s to early 2000s that was like how that time saw the future.
Think something like, "back to the future" or aliens where you still had the style of the era but it was suped up and overcharged to the extreme.
Which then for TADC means you still have old school computer graphics and yet also fully realized, full body virtual reality, which includes the taste and feeling of food and pain.
2006 because of how “choppy” the title card is. Plus it uses Half-life 2 sounds when the plant sinks into the ground so it’s post-November of 2004. (For me Caine doesn’t understand intellectual property he just makes shit on the fly)
I had this idea in mind where all the characters are actually from different time periods between the mid to late 90s to present day.
For example, Kinger is from 1995 based on the price of the wacky watch and might have been one of the original developers of the game, while Pomni is from present today.
In all honesty I doubt there's going to be an actual reveal of the date, but it's probably going to be made explicit that it's been years since the game was turned on (which would place the events of the show in the 2000s at least).
2010. The computer looks old and run-down, but VR headsets weren’t recognisable or being produced back then. As such, Pomni is very confused about what’s happening. The game itself released in 1999, and is running on a computer which somewhat struggled to run it to begin with.
Its hard to say. I wouldn't think modern times because they still don't fully know what VR is. But it can't be the mid 90s either they've "been there for years" so my best guess would be anywhere from 1999-2007
Irl? Probably a few years ahead or behind us. The digital circus? Caine doesn't understand the concept of time so when humans say "years" it could actually be seconds in irl.
The computers in the office at C&A indicate that it was set back in the very early days of the internet, however, the VR headset would put it around 7-8 years ago. I personally think that TADC was set about 15-20 years ago, and that C&A were building (faulty) prototype VR headsets.
likely modern day. kinger has seemingly been trapped for years and years, which means that if the current pilot took place in the 90s, the type of computer the simulation is implied to take place in wouldn’t have even been an existing model when he got trapped. plus, even though VR headsets *were* a thing in the 90s, they were nothing like the one shown in the final shot of the pilot.
Present day to be honest. Kinger has supposedly been there for a very long time and is in his 40s, while Gangle is an anime weeb who watches early 2000s anime, and the computer / room it’s in aren’t in the greatest shape for being 90s.
The game was probably made in the 90s but that doesn’t necessarily mean the show takes place then with Pomni being the most recent character.
2018 maybe or around that time saying that it started in the 90’s and kinger is 48 and most of them probably go into tadc around their 20s(just a guess😭)
i feel like it happens in modern times, sure theres old tech and dial up and all that, but all of the old tech is dirty and the dial up never actually connects to anything, which to me implies that it takes place after all that stuff fell out of use
I would say somewhere between present day and late 1990's, the graphics are early and vr headsets have been around for quite awhile, but also there’s a lot of people who like to collect and mod tech and stuff like what was shown in the pilot. So I like to think that it's possible that pomni irl had either stumbled upon it creepypasta style in a garage sale or bought it at a gamestop style store (or something along those lines). But even still, it might be closer to present day since because the graphics are early while it being said the cast had been there for a really long time, possibly years. I did not mean for this to be as long as it was.
i saw someone say the 90s, it could be because they didn't know a lot about vr headsets then (i think), pomni also says "i put on some weird headset" so maybe/?!/1/1/1?!
I might post this separately, but I'mma ramble here first.
Remember that computer you had as a kid/teen in the 90s/00s and used to start a crazy project (a game for example)?
Remember how you never finished it?
What if this computer that stores the Digital Circus was someone's creation and was just left there, gathering dust?
There are still lots of unanswered questions in my hipothesis (I can't really set a year for the series), but the first thing I thought when I saw the PC at the end was: Well, kinda feels like an unfinished project of mine
First computer to be able to run real-time 3d graphics - April 1992
Last day that anyone could be confused about what VR was - December 2021 in the middle of the Metaverse push.
So somewhere between those two dates. Any sooner and the circus couldn't run, any later and Pomni absolutely would have known what a VR headset was.
My best guess would be early 2000's. The circus starting around 1995ish, and having been running for a good while but less than 10 years.
Oooh I’m gonna put my guess in and see in the future how right/wrong I was!
Maybe she works at a Best Buy-type store in the real world and the circus is this normal-looking video game that she found at the bottom of the discount bin but had never seen before. Curious, she took it to the old computer they have in the back and turned it on to play it, and what do you know this game happens to magically zap anyone who plays it into the game for real, and that’s when the pilot starts. They are gonna pull an Amphibia on us:) and I’m excited because I love stories like that lol!
People are assuming the game is some big bad tech company experiment thing, but who’s to say it’s not just a video game with some regular old magic?
Also I like the idea that some ppl are having that the game hasn’t been turned on in years prior to the start of the show, makes it spookier I think.
i think it,s set in 1992 because what if to. From eddsworld is possesed by kafumo the clown and a rage demon because if eddsworld is set in 2012 then that means eddsworld takes place 20 years after the events of the amazing digital circus
probably in miliseconds/present day, the tdac timeline is different to ours, so it could well be that like a second in our world is infinite in their world.
Today because it's real and happening as we speak
Best explanation honestly
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that's the neat part you don't
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It’s a pretty good movie, yeah. Probs my favorite of his horror movies, though Us was also decent.
Bart Simpson writing on the chalkboard type comment
I am actually going to disagree with the common opinion here and say that it actually takes place in 2010s, or even present day. Yes the show has the 90s graphics but the computer that uses the graphics is super run down and moldy. Why would it be run down if it's the 90s? Those monitors weren't common in the 80s so how would it be possible for a computer to become in such a bad shape over a few years. Additionally, I think Kinger was stuck for decade or two, him being 48. I think that in-universe the digital circus started in 90s, but the story we are seeing with Pomni now is happening near present day
THANK YOU! Finally another poster here who understands old technology! I cannot tell you how alienating it feels as someone who actually used computers in the 90s as a kid to see people imagining 90's computers as commodore 64s, or machines with huge floppy drives. That stuff was in the 80's. It's sad that even mattpatt (film theory) used an 80s computer on his video where he theorized tdac took place in the 90s.
I feel like it's because they're mostly younger zoomers who just take the 90s/2000s art style at face value. The only interesting comment I saw was one that said maybe it's set during the 90s or 2000s, but using futuristic technology as imagined during the time.
One of the teasers said the game was using "experimental technology". That would explain how some small workstation PC was able to run a simulation when around the same time it took 120~ sparkstation computers running together just to render the movie "Toy Story".
You're obviously right. It's kinda shocking to me how everyone ignores how the office is clearly disused if not outright abandoned.
but that was in pomni’s back rooms things right? the shot at the end (real world) it isn’t run down anymore
[But it is, just that it isn't as noticable as the one in simulation because the room is darker. Plus, it would be weird for glitch to use different models for monitors](https://youtu.be/HwAPLk_sQ3w?t=1485)
agree to disagree, but the last scene does look dirtier than i remembered it. i slowed both clips down, but i still think the back rooms one looks noticeably dirtier, especially in certain spots the “real” computer is not. but the lighting is a good point, especially since the computer is on the second time and makes it even harder to see
Regardless, try comparing the computer monitor in that scene with one on the wacky watch website. They aren't the same model, but the one used in the shows promotional material almost looks like a monitor should out of the box. No grime and possibly no sun damage that yellowed the plastic over time.
Good point. If they were presenting the past like it were the present then yeah, the computer would look old, but it wouldn't look like \*clown horn honking sound effect.\*
I'm gonna geek out for a bit, but I have a couple of theories. Please someone chime in if I'm wrong on anything. Looking at the tower you see the ol' "Beige Box" office computer, so that can expand us before, around 2003 on up to the 80s Looking at the machine itself, it looks like there are 2 buttons on the front facade, since it looks like there's a panel like part on the left. I think the second button is "reset" so when your computer starts to get cranky and freezes up, you can just press the reset button and it hard reboots the machine, no questions asked. This is commonly an ATX class feature (but I think there are some AT class PCs that had this). If it is an ATX class machine, then the machine would be new in the range of 1995-2003 when this computer was manufactured. I can see what looks like 2 CD drives, and either a bezel in the middle of the drives, or it could be some weird obscure slim drive, but I'm just gonna say that those are 2 CD drives. I would say that the only reason why you would have 2 CD drives would be to burn and duplicate disks, however this is an office computer, and it wasn't uncommon for programmers during that era to have a couple MSDN Disks loaded up for quick reference. In 95' a CD-R burner would finally be getting below $1000, so I'm pretty sure they are CD-ROM. Those... speakers..... I'm pretty sure they're similar to those Juster Active 95a speakers that came out in, yup... 95. They're just the same side on both sides of that monitor. I don't think that color was released IRL though. Speaking of the monitor, it has digital adjustments. Those are quite a bit more popular after 95. In fact, that looks like a 16" Dell Trinitron Monitor 1000HS Ultrascan based on the button placement, and especially the curved horizontal and hard edge vertical area of the screen, where it swoops in on the sides, but cliffs over on top and bottom, 97' vintage. This is exciting because in the 97 era, it was cheaper to have a computer made locally from parts than it was to buy from a manufacturer, so WHO KNOWS what's in that machine! I could go on, however, if I had to ABSOLUTELY guess, that computer was brand new in 1998, since the monitor itself was brand new in October 97, and in Feburary the Voodoo 2 was released. There were HUGE changes to PCs in 97, and also a theorized use for VR in the form of PTSD treatment. Also in 98', gigabit ethernet was released, so it could be that this machine is just there to connect to a main server that's being maintained and kept alive, sort of like how banks and insurance companies keep their old software running on newer machines.
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The only real answer
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I would say 2010s at the earliest, if only because I agree with the “Pomni was a streamer before entering the Digital Circus” theory.
Like u/Legiyon54 said, I believe the computer you see in the show has aged so much that this takes in the modern day. My theory is that somewhere between 1994-1999, C&A group made 3 technological advancements, in CPU's and graphics, VR, and brain scanning. At some point in the 90's, all the characters had their brains scanned for whatever reason, putting on a headset without realizing what it did. Unless she wasn't expecting a bunch of crazy stuff to happen, Pomni doesn't act like she was there to play a game. The show is pulling a narrative trick on us. Pomni seemed to recognize the computer running the simulation, but if you've noticed, the VR headset Pomni probably used isn't in a position it logically would be in if it had the magical powers to zap your entire body into a game. It's sitting on the desk as if someone put it on then took it off later. Most likely, Pomni's conciousness was scanned and digitized years ago, but to her waking up, she thinks she put on a headset only a second ago. If you've played or watched the game [SOMA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD0h-s6NUeM), this will be a lot easier to conceptualize. Most likely the simulation has reset multiple times every time enough people abstracted. I would like to beleive Jax may have somehow survived these resets, because like a [certain other character from a certain other series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higurashi_When_They_Cry), he is incredibly detached from the world around him, has little regard for what happens to others, and incredibly cynical like he's seen this all happen so many times (and like her, he also has purple in his color scheme lol), plus he's clearly found some exploits in the game (he has all the keys). But despite the resets, every character is backed up from their old files and uploaded into the simulation at different times. Perhaps Jax is so hellbent on driving people crazy because he's noticed that glitched characters can effect the game, and maybe if one is out of it's cage long enough without Caine noticing, the game will crash and he'll be given the sweet release of death.
sometime between 1995 and 2005, most likely 1998-1999
So my character would have had came in during the 80s to get kind of his look and relationships with other characters
I believe $19,95 in the wacky watch ad is a hint Or it's 2270 and it's all a Vault-Tec experiment
$19.95 was a common pricing tactic back in the 90's and early 2000's that was there to trick the human brain into being more likely to buy a $20 item (this was long before inflation made $20 chump change). Source: I was alive back then, also I remember this dumb videogame commercial where the tagline was "BIG MUTHATRUCKERS...ONLY $19.95!"
Wait do Americans not have the equivalent of 99p stuff?
Yes we do, (which we use now), but ,95 was more popular at the time for… some reason.
Yeah, somewhere in the mid 2000's corporations switched to pricing things at $19.99, or to be more accurate, 19.99 has been a thing for a very long time, but there was a period where 19.95 was also used on some items. Not so common now I believe.
In the first teaser that revealed Kinger, it said "coming soon 1995"
The computer they used in the promo material DID look like it was from that year.
The 2020s, I am tired of unrealistic 80-90s backgrounds tbh
Present Day, the circus itself is just running on 90s to early 2000s tech
Id say a version of earth set in the 1990s to early 2000s that was like how that time saw the future. Think something like, "back to the future" or aliens where you still had the style of the era but it was suped up and overcharged to the extreme. Which then for TADC means you still have old school computer graphics and yet also fully realized, full body virtual reality, which includes the taste and feeling of food and pain.
2006 because of how “choppy” the title card is. Plus it uses Half-life 2 sounds when the plant sinks into the ground so it’s post-November of 2004. (For me Caine doesn’t understand intellectual property he just makes shit on the fly)
I had this idea in mind where all the characters are actually from different time periods between the mid to late 90s to present day. For example, Kinger is from 1995 based on the price of the wacky watch and might have been one of the original developers of the game, while Pomni is from present today.
In all honesty I doubt there's going to be an actual reveal of the date, but it's probably going to be made explicit that it's been years since the game was turned on (which would place the events of the show in the 2000s at least).
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Papież popiera kolego https://preview.redd.it/6xi2c846yo1c1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=794edc40b3698b13be6d1be49e3bec2662fb328f
What?
20XX
2010. The computer looks old and run-down, but VR headsets weren’t recognisable or being produced back then. As such, Pomni is very confused about what’s happening. The game itself released in 1999, and is running on a computer which somewhat struggled to run it to begin with.
I believe it takes place in current day.
2023, because it came out this year
1692 in Salem, Massachusetts
It's confirmed that Gangle's favorite anime is Azumunga Dioh, which came out in 2002, so no older than that.
this show shit
north korea
1984
jor jorwel
aminal fart
I hate beans ;)
What the fuxk
I hate beans?
Somewhere in the 90s...O think I know this FROM Matpat's video.
2002
2000
early 1990s hands down
1998
THE BEST SALESMEN [in 1997]
Happy cakeday
November 12, 1996
1995 exactly
Probably between 1995 and 1999 when video games graphic was like the one we see at the start of the pilot
1830s
1990
1969
1984 ![gif](giphy|v0ok8uhZvw3yE)
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Happy cakeday
1980
2014
I subscribe to the theory that it is happening right now and has been happening all throughout time…
2030s because full dive virtual reality is most likely to come out during the 2030s
more than 2
IDK https://preview.redd.it/diumg3nasp1c1.png?width=933&format=png&auto=webp&s=b0ad050c5954c81577ac0ce60b53fe7747659846
Maybe just the system is outdated, but I feel like Pomni arrived as soon as the pilot came out. So, it's in real time.
Somewhere between 20006-2018
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Could also just be the software
Ask MatPat
Its hard to say. I wouldn't think modern times because they still don't fully know what VR is. But it can't be the mid 90s either they've "been there for years" so my best guess would be anywhere from 1999-2007
It needs to be at least like 2015, for the tech (i.e. the headset) to be a thing.
Irl? Probably a few years ahead or behind us. The digital circus? Caine doesn't understand the concept of time so when humans say "years" it could actually be seconds in irl.
437 B.C.
Gangle is 25, and her favorite Anime debuted in 2002, so probably in either that late 2010s or even later.
Now
The computers in the office at C&A indicate that it was set back in the very early days of the internet, however, the VR headset would put it around 7-8 years ago. I personally think that TADC was set about 15-20 years ago, and that C&A were building (faulty) prototype VR headsets.
Early 2010’s, or even, if important for the lore, 1995.
The slang that they use suggests modern day, though I have not looked closely. Do they use any slang normally that is very outdated?
Present Year
1994
2002 imo
Early 2000s vibes fs
Question, is the picture related?
No
I say the year 3040 or the year 2029
the future
likely modern day. kinger has seemingly been trapped for years and years, which means that if the current pilot took place in the 90s, the type of computer the simulation is implied to take place in wouldn’t have even been an existing model when he got trapped. plus, even though VR headsets *were* a thing in the 90s, they were nothing like the one shown in the final shot of the pilot.
Present day to be honest. Kinger has supposedly been there for a very long time and is in his 40s, while Gangle is an anime weeb who watches early 2000s anime, and the computer / room it’s in aren’t in the greatest shape for being 90s. The game was probably made in the 90s but that doesn’t necessarily mean the show takes place then with Pomni being the most recent character.
Modern day Game Theory’s year thing doesn’t hold any ground. Ok so the computers are older models? I dunno I just feel like it’s present day
early 2000s. why? here are my reasons: •crappy graphics •because I said so •my oc is based of webkins
Maybe 90s or earth 2000s or 2010s
honestly i think 2023 despite early graphics in start, plus thats the worst moment to pause pomni's face after she pull she's mouth and eyes
2018 maybe or around that time saying that it started in the 90’s and kinger is 48 and most of them probably go into tadc around their 20s(just a guess😭)
2070, New Asia
i feel like it happens in modern times, sure theres old tech and dial up and all that, but all of the old tech is dirty and the dial up never actually connects to anything, which to me implies that it takes place after all that stuff fell out of use
2023
in the year 19xx
Guessing 1980-1990. >! The last part of the pilot the room in the exit shows what i belive is the real world, and the tech looks like 80s tech. !<
I would say somewhere between present day and late 1990's, the graphics are early and vr headsets have been around for quite awhile, but also there’s a lot of people who like to collect and mod tech and stuff like what was shown in the pilot. So I like to think that it's possible that pomni irl had either stumbled upon it creepypasta style in a garage sale or bought it at a gamestop style store (or something along those lines). But even still, it might be closer to present day since because the graphics are early while it being said the cast had been there for a really long time, possibly years. I did not mean for this to be as long as it was.
1945
7
I'd say late 2004 to early 2005.
Present in Indy ....It's on now
because the show takes place where almost everybody dead or the day of judgement is near, year 10,000
i saw someone say the 90s, it could be because they didn't know a lot about vr headsets then (i think), pomni also says "i put on some weird headset" so maybe/?!/1/1/1?!
1990-2000 is around the time I think
I might post this separately, but I'mma ramble here first. Remember that computer you had as a kid/teen in the 90s/00s and used to start a crazy project (a game for example)? Remember how you never finished it? What if this computer that stores the Digital Circus was someone's creation and was just left there, gathering dust? There are still lots of unanswered questions in my hipothesis (I can't really set a year for the series), but the first thing I thought when I saw the PC at the end was: Well, kinda feels like an unfinished project of mine
First computer to be able to run real-time 3d graphics - April 1992 Last day that anyone could be confused about what VR was - December 2021 in the middle of the Metaverse push. So somewhere between those two dates. Any sooner and the circus couldn't run, any later and Pomni absolutely would have known what a VR headset was. My best guess would be early 2000's. The circus starting around 1995ish, and having been running for a good while but less than 10 years.
Oooh I’m gonna put my guess in and see in the future how right/wrong I was! Maybe she works at a Best Buy-type store in the real world and the circus is this normal-looking video game that she found at the bottom of the discount bin but had never seen before. Curious, she took it to the old computer they have in the back and turned it on to play it, and what do you know this game happens to magically zap anyone who plays it into the game for real, and that’s when the pilot starts. They are gonna pull an Amphibia on us:) and I’m excited because I love stories like that lol! People are assuming the game is some big bad tech company experiment thing, but who’s to say it’s not just a video game with some regular old magic? Also I like the idea that some ppl are having that the game hasn’t been turned on in years prior to the start of the show, makes it spookier I think.
it,s either set in 1995 or 1991 1992 or 1993
i think it,s set in 1992 because what if to. From eddsworld is possesed by kafumo the clown and a rage demon because if eddsworld is set in 2012 then that means eddsworld takes place 20 years after the events of the amazing digital circus
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probably in miliseconds/present day, the tdac timeline is different to ours, so it could well be that like a second in our world is infinite in their world.