Night Sky
From the generic topic of Pagan Gods, the source for interest on them was actually connected to the night sky. With prior knowledge that many ancient gods were linked to the stary night sky of past times, I'm focusing on researching the night sky as a continuing theme rather than pagan gods alone. It felt like if I were to continue with pagan gods, I would get lost in the stories and mythologies in them rather than what I truly find interesting. Although the stories might leave space for a possible plot in a game, it feels like this is the only place to go despite the differences between civilisations. Whereas the night sky as a whole theme leaves for more speculation and areas to research into, which could hold some great game experiences.
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Night Sky categories:
Constellations - 'Astronomy'. Believed that the first use of them was religious reasons, connecting the star patterns to gods and stories. These constellations lead to becoming the foundations for the other categories. I find the stories given to the stars and names to these constellations interesting. The human brain is A class at recognising patterns so the natural habit to find patterns in the stars and give them names, stories, a purpose.
Agriculture - They provided ancient civilisations with a calendar. Telling farmers when seasons are starting or ending is highly valuable knowledge for sowing and harvesting. I like the idea of the night skies rotating gradually throughout the year, not only telling a story but informing people of seasons to come, on a very primitive level, stars would have acted as a weather forecaster.
Navigation - Subjectively use more in the past where technology, to the extent of GPS or satellite-related gadgets didn't exist, the stars and constellations would have been used to great effects. However, although intriguing how this system of navigation would have been conducted, no real inspiration springs to mind.
https://www.naturalnavigator.com/find-your-way-using/stars/
We are stardust - On searching for topics related to the human connection to stars, many articles appear referring to Carl Sagan's message that we are spiritually connected to the cosmos. http://www.johnagowan.org/human.html
Technology - Without bragging, the modern-day astrology has been the father to some of our most prized possessions and we barely know it. Because of the human's interest in the night sky and stars, we have technology such as wireless internet and drugs/explosive sensors used in airports. https://www.iau.org/public/themes/astronomy_in_everyday_life/#everyday
Light Pollution - The effects of light pollution and consequences bother me and mostly the planet. We might not see the damaging effects of a slightly brighter night sky because, well, its just light right? But the national geographic point out some really worrying and telling problems that brighter nights affect our natural world.
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Books - A brief history of Time, Steven Hawkins
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Contact paadmin@soton.ac.uk for the possibility of attending lectures or interview to help research around the subject of astronomy.