At first is was any game to do with sci-fi. Sci-fi is my favorite to read and watch, and thus also play games, enhancing the likes of Space Quest, Bioshock and Mass Effect, but also smaller games with mysterious sci-fi settings.
My favorite was Elite Dangerous, allowing you to explore a realistic model of our galaxy which I did while writing my own quasi sci-fi story while drifting through space along the outer edge of the Milky Way Galaxy.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/exploration-quest-for-the-loneliest-planet.132053/
That urge to explore and learn more about the world then transferred to FS2020. From sci-fi to real world exploration, which made me become more interested in history and geopolitics. FS2020 was the perfect vehicle to use as a mind palace to learn about all the countries in the world and as a result the effects of colonialism and imperialism in the last couple centuries. Following evidence of slave trade along Africa, WW2 monuments along the Pacific, nuclear testing sites, and I even found my Mother's birth home in Indonesia from a picture.
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/exploring-the-world-in-the-beechcraft-bonanza/266981
Wandering around the planet during Covid lockdowns.
Both also tied into my interests in Math. Mapping out the deceleration aspects of the spacecraft in Elite Dangerous led me to figure out a formula to calculate, giving height and gravity of the planet below, up to what speed to let the spaceship freefall before turning on the engines to stop right at the surface. Turning it into Moonlander.
And in FS2020 I mapped the performance of the (virtual) Bonanza aircraft to find the optimum speed, flight level, fuel mixture and propeller angle settings to maximize the distance to fly, to figure out how to reach Easter Island in a Bonanza on 1 tank of fuel. Also used the ground effect from flying low above the sea to further extend the distance when icing reduced performance on a long leg to the Northernmost airport in Canada, Alert (CYLT) All by doing sped up test flights and plotting the results, graphing them out to find the relations.
It all began with Civilization though, which sparked my interest in world history and political systems, which later led to building socialist Utopias in Tropico. Of course only sustained by outside wealth in the form of exports and Tourism.
Other 'hobbies' are puzzles, any kind, which always intersected with adventure games. Combined with math it becomes an addiction, Riven being one of the highlights figuring out its numerical system as well as Fez's number and alphabet system.
Riven's base 25 number system
Now I'm into Puzzling Places, combining 3D puzzling with real world historic sites as subjects, 360 hours already spend on it and many DLC bought. And I'm playing Firmement, a spiritual successor to Riven and Myst in VR.
The advantage and disadvantage of VR is you can't take notes easily. I'm more focused on the actual games now instead of 'mapping' out their systems lol.
Hmm maybe my hobbies reflect my gaming?
My active hobbies are quite separate from gaming, road cycling / mountain bike games I have no interest in. I do play racing games a lot but have no interest in car culture or racing irl.
