{"id":31,"date":"2025-10-17T18:14:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/?p=31"},"modified":"2026-01-10T21:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T21:09:24","slug":"week-1-initial-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/2025\/10\/17\/week-1-initial-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Phase 1 &#8211; Initial Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For our first 2 weeks, we were tasked with researching 4 topics that we were interested in so that we could present them on Monday during week 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, before we began individual research we got into groups and were given prompts that could help us with the ideation phase of finding out what to research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-30.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-423\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-30.png 900w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-30-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-30-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-30-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Stars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-31.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-31.png 600w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-31-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-31-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gambling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"612\" height=\"612\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-32.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-425\" style=\"width:272px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-32.png 612w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-32-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-32-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Alchemy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"568\" height=\"531\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-35.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-35.png 568w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-35-300x280.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Religious Psychosis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>After this task I decided to further research the following 4 topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Stars<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gambling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alchemy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Religious Psychosis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I felt that these topics were relatively vague, having enough to thoroughly research for my presentation. Without being too specific that I would be unable to conduct even deeper research once I had chosen one final topic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1.Stars and Stuff<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>With a game in mind, I wanted to research and aspect of stars that I could turn into a game mechanic quite easily. So I stumbled upon astronavigation as a topic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"528\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-20-1024x528.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-157\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-20-1024x528.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-20-300x155.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-20-768x396.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-20.png 1193w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, with my interest in physics, having taken A-Level physics in sixth form, I also wanted to look deeper into the physics behind a stars formation and life cycle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"539\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-21-1024x539.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-21-1024x539.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-21-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-21-768x404.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-21.png 1188w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2.Gambling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Gambling itself is already extremely &#8220;game-ified&#8221;, therefore I wanted to look into an aspect of gambling that existing video games haven&#8217;t really touched on so far, its history:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-22-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-22-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-22-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-22-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-22.png 1184w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another aspect of gambling which is key to its success as a business module (at the expense of its victims) is the psychology behind why gambling is so addictive and lucrative:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"552\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-24-1024x552.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-24-1024x552.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-24-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-24-768x414.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-24.png 1195w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3.Alchemy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Another interesting topic with a deep history is alchemy. A historic psuedo-science that, I believe, has many game ideas that stem from it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"619\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-25-1024x619.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-25-1024x619.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-25-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-25-768x464.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-25.png 1069w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"571\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-26-1024x571.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-26-1024x571.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-26-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-26-768x428.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-26.png 1089w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4.Religious Psychosis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"981\" height=\"597\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-27.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-27.png 981w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-27-300x183.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-27-768x467.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 981px) 100vw, 981px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>An interesting case study, and probably the most infamous form of religious psychosis in history is Joan of Arc:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"492\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-28-1024x492.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-28-1024x492.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-28-300x144.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-28-768x369.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2025\/10\/image-28.png 1108w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>References:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.base-mag.com\/a-practical-guide-to-navigating-by-the-stars\/\">&#8220;A practical guide to navigating by the stars&#8221;<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hunt, C. (2023).\u00a0<em>A Practical Guide to Navigating By The Stars &#8211; BASE Magazine<\/em>. [online] BASE Magazine. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.base-mag.com\/a-practical-guide-to-navigating-by-the-stars\/\">https:\/\/www.base-mag.com\/a-practical-guide-to-navigating-by-the-stars\/<\/a> [Accessed 10 Jan. 2026].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u200c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gambler%27s_fallacy\">&#8220;Monte Carlo Fallacy&#8221;<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wikipedia Contributors (2019).\u00a0<em>Gambler\u2019s fallacy<\/em>. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gambler%27s_fallacy\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gambler%27s_fallacy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u200c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wikipedia Contributors (2019).\u00a0<em>Alchemy<\/em>. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alchemy\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alchemy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/psychiatryonline.org\/doi\/10.1176\/appi.ajp.2017.17080948#:~:text=Recent%20reanalysis%20of%20Joan's%20testimony%20concluded%20that,church%20bells%2C%20which%20aligns%20with%20reflex%20epilepsy.\">&#8220;Joan of Arc hearing voices&#8221;<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Schildkrout, B. (2017). Joan of Arc\u2013Hearing Voices.&nbsp;<em>American Journal of Psychiatry<\/em>, 174(12), pp.1153\u20131154. doi:https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1176\/appi.ajp.2017.17080948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u200c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For our first 2 weeks, we were tasked with researching 4 topics that we were interested in so that we could present them on Monday during week 3. However, before we began individual research we got into groups and were given prompts that could help us with the ideation phase of finding out what to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,17,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phase-1","category-research","category-semester-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/et4g23-yr3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}