Story and Simulations for Serious Games

9

Simulation Stories and Free Play

In the previous chapter we showed how the Leaders team constructed a branching simulation storyline from anecdotal information that was gathered through interviews with experienced soldiers. The information was condensed and reorganized into teaching points and turned into a complete learning experience.

Because of the rigors of the branching structure the participants in such simulations could feel that they are locked into the flow of events in the story, and for that reason have no sense of their own freedom of decision making or their ability to affect the outcome of the simulation. Without this sense of freedom, the simulation becomes less believable, less interesting, less compelling, and generally less ...