Research Edition

The Research Edition of PowerWash Simulator is a collaboration launched on the 18th of August 2022 between FuturLab and researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute to study the effects of playing video games on the mental health of players.

The Research Edition is a publicly available seperate branch from the main version of the game only available on Steam. It allows players to opt in or out of participating in the study.

## Differences

There are some differences in between the Research Edition and the main branch of the game. The most noticable one is the player being contacted via messages by an in-game character called "The Researchers", referring to the researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute. These messages announce when a question will be asked through a dialogue window that the player can either answer or skip.
Other differences include:

* Multiplayer is disabled.
* Non-English language support is disabled.
* A launch sequence that allows first-time players to opt-in to the study.
* An Opt Out button on the main menu to opt out of the study and remove progression and sensitive data if desired. (This does not reset the rewards progress.)
* A "Tell us how you feel" button in the Tablet menu, this is purely to help out with the study and does not contribute to progress for rewards.
* A Rewards button to track how much progress has been made to unlock the cosmetic participation awards.

## The study

The study is independent from FuturLab meaning that they provide the data gathered through the Research Edition but have no influence on the study itself.

### Data

Two types of data are collected while playing the game, all data is de-identified and can be removed if desired through the Opt Out button.

The first type is 'base' telemetry. This contains information on gameplay activity like when objects get cleaned, in-game shop purchases that are made and general progression. This data is both kept by FuturLab and provided to the researchers for analysis.
The second type of data is the data gathered through the questions that are asked by The Researchers through the in-game dialogues and the "Tell us how you feel" button. This data gets sent directly and securely to the researchers' database.

### The questions

Part of the data that gets gathered is obtained through a dialogue window that asks a question or gives a statement and gives the player the chance to either answer it or skip it. The way the player can respond is by adjusting a slider on a scale from "Not at all" to "As much as possible".

Some of the questions and statements are:

* How are you feeling right now?
* I was totally focused on playing PowerWash Siwulator just now.
* Just now, I felt completely immersed in Powerwash Simulator.
* I was enjoying playing Powerwash Simulator just now.
* Just now, I was doing the thing I really wanted to do in Powerwash Simulator.

### Results

The full results are anticipated to be released early 2024. Limited project updates will be posted on the page about the study on the website of the Oxford Internet Institute during the research phase.

## The Researchers

Client Icon

The Researchers are an in-game character that contacts the players through messages in the same way as clients or other in-game characters normally would. Every so often a couple messages get sent by The Researchers giving the player a friendly heads up that a new question pop-up will come soon after.

There are two different types of messages this character can send, see below.

### Sequential Messages

These are more conversational messages from the character. They can provide nods to the in-game lore & events and will only be sent to the player once during participation, in sequential order. These can only be sent once.

Other than the first two messages shown below, there will be a 10% chance of sending these instead of the second type.

Messages
**The Researchers*** Hello! We would like to thank you for participating in our study.
* We'll be contacting you from time to time to ask you a few questions about your experience.
* These will be delivered to your tablet and we'll give you a heads up before they come through to make sure they don't bother you while you're busy cleaning!

**The Researchers*** A question should be appearing on your tablet very shortly.

**The Researchers*** Do you get pretty warm here in that outfit on sunny days?
* Suppose you can always cool yourself off if you do!

**The Researchers*** We had no idea there were different nozzles and types of pressure washer you could use!
* Suppose it makes sense to have the right tool for the job!

**The Researchers*** Got another one for you.
* A research study question that is...
* Nothing to wash over here!

**The Researchers*** We've just caught wind about some fuss over a local missing cat?
* Wonder what that's all about...

**The Researchers*** Hello hello!
* Great job helping out the local residents so far, they seem to be very proud of their newly cleaned things!

**The Researchers*** We did wonder what attracted people to your profession...
* Suppose it's quite satisfying work?
* We heard they're even making videogames about it now!

**The Researchers*** Bumped into the Mayor earlier today, he's a real character isn't he?
* Seems like a lot of the locals aren't his biggest fan!

**The Researchers*** Muckingham residents seem to be really keen on your services!
* Glad to hear you're settling in!

**The Researchers*** We always felt nervous being around volcanoes...
* Wonder why they decided to build a town so close to one?!
* Anyway, you know the drill!

### Random Messages

These are re-usable ones which can be sent as often as needed. Once the above sequential messages have all been sent, only these will be.

Messages
**The Researchers*** Got another question for you.

**The Researchers*** Hello, hope you're well!

**The Researchers*** Hello again!

**The Researchers*** Us again! Hope you're doing well.

**The Researchers*** Hi!
* Hope you're having a great day!

**The Researchers*** Hope we're not disturbing you!

**The Researchers*** We've got another question ready to send over.

**The Researchers*** Thanks again for agreeing to help us out with this, we really appreciate it!

**The Researchers*** We're ready to send another question over, should be with you shortly.

## Rewards

There are 5 rewards to be unlocked through the Research Edition by answering the questions asked by The Researchers, they have not been officially revealed. The rewards are cosmetic items and can be claimed in the Research Edition and transferred to the main version of the game once the rewards have been released and unlocked. A reward gets unlocked every 12 questions which is announced by a small pop-up.

Research Reward #1
(Urban X U2 Modification)Research Reward #2
(Prime Vista 3000 Modification)Research Reward #3
(Prime Vista PRO Modification)Research Reward #4
(Gloves)Research Reward #5
(Outift)

1. ↑ The official FuturLab site with information about the study: https://futurlab.co.uk/oxfordstudy/
2. ↑ The official Oxford Internet Institute article: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/researchers-at-oxford-internet-institute-collaborate-with-game-developer-futurlab-to-study-mental-health-of-players/