Presentation
With Phase 1 coming to a close, it's a good idea to do a bit of reflection before moving on to Phase 2.
Alchemy
I was initially quite excited to look into alchemy as I thought I'd get a lot more than I did out of it. I unfortunately didn't get a lot of enjoyment out of it as I ended up finding a lot of the research quite mundane. In hindsight, I definitely should've looked specifically into witchcraft or magic on the whole, as I thought I'd get more of that out of alchemy. I don't regret choosing it though, as I took a subject I was initially interested in and did a deep dive into it to learn more, which will ultimately inform my future decisions regardless of where I go.
Despite not enjoying the research on the whole, I did find the spiritual and magical natures of the elements in alchemy to be very interesting, and I'll definitely have that concept in the back of my mind as I move forward.
Weather and Natural Phenomena
I really enjoyed looking into this topic as there was a hell of a lot of visually brilliant content to look into. I absolutely loved looking into bioluminescence and different animals related to it, and I really enjoyed the visual connotations it has with concepts like magic and fantasy, as bioluminescence is something that evokes feelings of the otherworldly, but it is very real.
My research definitely tapered as I got onto the topic of weather gods and traditions, as I found that there isn't that much interesting stuff to dig into around it. I thought the Aztec weather gods, Raijin, Fujin and Oya in particular were very interesting, but this was more due to their visuals as opposed to their stories per se. I thought Oya was a really interesting god overall though, and I loved the variety in her depictions throughout history.
I also really enjoyed looking into optical and atmospheric phenomena for similar reasons as I loved bioluminescence. They connote the magical and extra-terrestrial despite being very real sights you can see virtually anywhere on Earth. I definitely feel fulfilled after exploring the awe-inspiring, as I found out about a variety of natural events that would absolutely evoke awe in me if I saw them in person, just like I felt towards the phenomena in No Man's Sky.
Even though I'm not pursuing this topic further, I know full well that it will appear in various ways throughout my future research, and will ABSOLUTELY inform my artistic decisions when it comes to making a game, because there is so much inspiring content visually within it.
Norse Mythology
Just like alchemy, I found myself feeling a bit disappointed after researching Norse Mythos. I felt as though a lot of the deities and stories were a bit of a chore to research as I didn't feel particularly inspired by them.
That being said however, I found HUGE amounts of inspiration in runes and the Norns. The Norns are very unique and interesting beings, and hold so much mystery in regards to their origins and powers that is very appropriately left unanswered. I found it very inspiring to know that the Norns even write the fate of gods. The runes were absolutely the most inspiring part of my research however, as the one little titbit about them potentially existing as a consequence of the universe really stuck with me - it really ties into a theory I thought up in regards to Pokemon a long while back that I mentioned in the inspiration page.
Overall, Norse mythos wasn't too fun to look into, but the little snippets I did find were incredibly inspiring, so I'm really happy I persisted to get as much done as I did, because I definitely wouldn't have found inspiration otherwise.
Simulation Theory
By far the most thought provoking and intensive research I conducted, I found simulation theory to be inspirational in a plethora of ways. Questioning the true nature of reality is something that interests me greatly, the mysteries behind such a topic are incredibly fascinating to me. The idea that the universe could be coded for (the runes fit into this brilliantly) and that said code and furthermore our reality could be manipulated is also very inspiring to me.
Simulation theory is a gateway into a variety of topics that interest me greatly:
Body Modification (superpowers, magic, psychology)
Physics (rewriting laws, gravity, antimatter)
Existentialism (reality not being what it seems)
With that in mind, I have no doubts about moving forward with it, as it is definitely the topic with the most interesting branches and potential for a game.
Overall Phase 1 Thoughts
I felt that Phase 1 was a good starting point to get ideas flowing. I don't necessarily like the idea of not thinking about games as its impossible not to, but I will concede it is liberating to just research. I've always found it hard not to have an idea in mind and research towards it, so researching for the sake of building ideas is a breath of fresh air that I really appreciate.
I feel that my research was pretty strong overall, but I do think I went a bit overboard. I ended up with over 15,000 words of research into my topics, which may have been a bit much. But at the same time, I don't think I would've found the inspiration I did if I didn't go as far as I did, so it's worth it. I've outlined a good number of branches to go off into as a result of it, so I'm happy with where I'm at and I'm looking forward to developing further.
One thing I found out about myself was that I take a lot of inspiration from sight and sound - I find myself demotivated and bored if I'm researching something without much visual content, which is somewhat unfortunate because I'm sure I've missed out on some interesting topics of research simply because it didn't come with pictures. However, its good to know that I can draw so much inspiration from a simple picture or sound, because I can run to the hills and back with ideas as a result of it, so I think I need to focus my research around cultivating inspiration through sight and sound. For my future research, I'm going to place more emphasis on simply observing and listening to things, as I get so much more out of it than reading. Of course, that doesn't mean I will stop reading, I will just focus more on audio and visuals.