Research for Master Project

Ideally both the work being done for Personal Inquiry and Technical Production will compliment and become elements in your final Master Project. The problem is I'm not sure exactly what I want to do for my Master Project. I have a lot of doubt and hesitation because I have very limited skills so a big learning project for me might be another classmate's weekend exercise. Talking with tutors, they recommended that I just pitch my dream castle, and they'll help me trim it down to something doable but pushing at the same time. In other words, I'll have to trust them, and jump over the side of Grand Canyon. Last time I trusted a mentor it wasn't a happy ending at all, but that was ancient history, I'm old enough to put that behind me.

That said, I always craved games, and felt sparked by the (sort of) wholesome beauty of environments like Fallout 3, Skyrim; and the unique attack animations in DA:O, so I thought I'd like to do game animations. But most importantly I wanted to go into games because I believe if you put the right information into games, they can be a much more powerful teaching tool. I remember learning English and Mediterranean geography from games (the latter probably landed me my first job, who knows). I'm also fascinated by the natural world and animal, and wondered if it was possible to combine the information behind a museum or a documentary into a game that is still interesting to play. Like a good movie that is based in history, it could spark interest and desire to learn in young people. It was said The Gladiator sparked a renewed interest in Roman history. And personally I became interested in a genre I was never interested enough to explore (sci-fi, space, shooter) from just 1 game (serie), Mass Effect. This idea feels like it's probably really unpopular, and nobody will want to play that kind of game without some good action woven into it.

If I'm supposed to do something I'm really interested in, how am I supposed to turn that crazy idea into a physical project? I'm stuck. I'm flipping through 3D magazines and random online journal in the library, hoping to come up with a direction in the next few days. Time is precious in this program. Actually, time is precious, period.