Simulation Settings
Overview
Define the experience. Do you want the experience to feel like a game or real-world?
Boost engagement by showing not telling. Simulate the feeling of real-world pressure by limiting the time. Show impact with credits. Reach deeper thinking by shuffling choices. The feeling of stress can significantly change someone's decisions. Limiting the scenario time creates pressure on the user to make decisions faster to complete the learning simulation.
Use the settings together to create a rich and engaging learning experience!
- Shuffle Choices
- Credits
- Timer
Did you know? You can override the general scenario settings to create a more dynamic experience.
Shuffle Choices Setting
Enabling shuffle choices randomizes the order of choices that are presented the user, so they are never presented in the same order.
- This setting applies to all Scene nodes.
Benefit to learning
Prompts learners to think about their choices and the question.
Ordinarily, users will click a choice, get a warning, go back and click the next choice down without reading or thinking, they are automatically cycling through the choices.
This reduces the mindless automatic click cycle, by randomly shuffling the choices that are presented the user each time the node is loaded which prompts learners to slow down their thinking and process the question being asked and think about the choices.
Credit and Point Settings
Simulate your own points system.
- Spark the feeling of competition and challenge with points.
- Incentivize good choices and focus on quality outcomes.
- Define the challenge in realistic terms.
- This setting is applied to all nodes, but can be overridden at the choice and node level.
How does the points engine work?
- Credits can be points, money, or anything else that follow the pattern [Prefix # Suffix].
- Bonuses add + credits when the user arrives at a Scene node.
- Penalties subtract - credits when the user arrives at a Warning node.
- Bonuses and Penalties can also be overridden at the node or choice level (in the node editor).
- If the credits reach 0, the user will receive a message that you define and will have the option to restart.
Did you know points can be customized for each choice or overridden on each node?
- Choice level: Points are applied when the user selects the choice.
- Node level: Points are applied when the user arrives on the node.
This gives you the flexibility to connect many choices to a single Warning node while have a different penalty for each choice, even though they all lead to the same Warning node. This allows you to easily reuse any of the nodes.
Configuration Options
Create the configuration for you that focuses on outcomes and impact. Show decisions have consequences.
Credit Prefix:
The credit prefix is the word or symbol that comes before the credit number.
- Try “$” for “$”5.00 or leave it blank.
- Does the game use money? Use “$” in the prefix.
Suffix:
The credit suffix is the word or symbol that comes after the credit number. This field can be blank.
- Is the goal scenario to make the fewest possible decisions to get to the end?
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- Use points for 5 points, or strokes, credits, choices, decisions, moves, choices, invaders or anything else or leave it blank.
- Try % and 100 for 100%
Credit Start:
This is the number of units the user starts the scenario with. It can be a whole number or a decimal like 5 or 5.31.
- Input 0, 0.00, or any positive number.
- Try: 0, 100, 250, or 15.79
- Start the scenario with $250 where the player spends money for each decision.
Bonus:
Add credits when the user arrives at a Scene node.
- Reward users with a bonus that adds value to the user’s credits for choices that link to Scene nodes. e.g. +$25 is added to the user's credits. Pro tip: You can also override this bonus at the choice level.
Penalty:
Subtract credits when the user arrives at a Warning node.
- Global penalty that subtracts value from the user's credits for choices that link to Warning nodes. e.g. the cost of a choice is to subtract $25 from the user’s credits. Pro tip: You can also override this global penalty at the choice level.
Credit title:
This is the title that is displayed when the credits reach 0.
Credit Message:
The message is displayed when the user runs out of credits. TryUse emojis and encourage your users to retry the scenario.
Example Configuration for Money allowance of $250
Goal: Make good decisions, finish before running out of money.
Setup: Start the user with $250 and charge them $15 for each choice. You can override the
Sample Configuration:
- Put “$” in the Prefix field.
- Leave the Suffix blank.
- Put “250” in the Credit Start field.
- The users will see $250.
- Leave the Bonus blank.
- Put 15 in the Penalty field.
Alternatively set the Penalty on the Choice: 6. Leave the Penalty field blank. 7. Set the Penalty at the Choice level
Tip! You can override the $15 penalty at the node level.
Example Configuration for Lifeforce 100%
Goal: Make good decisions, finish before running out of money.
Setup: Start the user with 100% of life and penalize them 10% of their Lifeforce for landing on a Warning node. You can override th
Sample Configuration:
- Put “Lifeforce” in the Prefix field.
- Put "%" the Suffix blank.
- Put “100” in the Credit Start field.
- The users will see Lifeforce 100%.
- Leave the Bonus blank.
- Put 10 in the Penalty field.
How are bonuses and penalties are applied?
Given the following settings:
- Suffix = Points
- Starting credits = 1000
- Penalty = 50 points
- Bonus = 100 Points
The user will begin the scenario with 1,000 Points.
Settings
- 50 points will be subtracted when the user lands on a Warning node, unless you have a different penalty configured.
- 100 points will be added each time the user lands on a Scene node or Hint node.
Trouble shooting point calculations
Why might more or less than the global setting?
- Did you override bonuses penalties at the node level?
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Did you add a bonus or penalty on a choice?
- This is configured on the choice in the scene node
- Choice points are applied when the user selects the choice.
- A bonus or penalty at the choice level is applied in addition to the node bonus or penalty.
For example if you are subtracting 50 points at the choice and this choice routes the user to the Warning node "Verbal escalation 2" which is configured to override the global penalty to subtract 500 points. 1. 50 points is deducted for the selection of the choice 2. 500 points is deducted when the user arrived on the Warning node. 3. 550 points are deducted in total.
The choice "Quit your crying" subtracts 50 points for the choice which routes the user to the Warning node that does not override the point penalty, so the default global penalty configured in the settings deducts 50 more points.
Timer Settings
Boost engagement by creating a race against the clock. Simulate the feeling of real-world pressure by limiting the time.
The feeling of stress can significantly change someone's decisions. Limiting the scenario time creates pressure on the user to make decisions faster to complete the learning scenario.
How does the timer work?
- Set your start time in minutes.
- Bonuses add credits when the user arrives at a Scene node.
- Penalties subtract credits when the user arrives at a Warning node.
- Bonuses and Penalties can also be overridden at the node or choice level (in the node editor).
- If the credits reach 0, the user will receive a message that you define and will have the option to restart.
Timer Configuration Options
Create the configuration that focuses on outcomes and impact. Show decisions have consequences.
If the clock reaches 0:00, the scenario will end, but the user will have the option to restart.
Total maze time (minutes)
Limits the overall time in minutes. Pausing the timer You can pause the timer in the Hint node, so when the user lands on the hint node the time will be paused.
- Mazetec records how long the timer is paused.
- See Analytics for more details.
Bonus:
Add seconds to the clock time when the user arrives at a Scene node.
- Example: +25 seconds is added to the user's available time as it counts down.
- Override this bonus at the choice level for any decision.
Penalty:
Subtracts seconds from the clock time when the user arrives at a Warning nodes.
- Example: -25 seconds the cost of a choice is to subtract $25 from the user’s credits.
- Override this global penalty at the choice level for any decision
Timeout title:
The title that is displayed if when clock reaches 0:00.
Timeout Message:
The message that is displayed when the user runs out of time. -Tip: Use emojis and encourage your users to retry the scenario.
Tips
- Link poor decision to the warning node when they make a poor decision, as in a real life poor decision often wastes time and adds pressure.
- Use emojis and encourage your users to retry the scenario.
Configuring Experiences
Limited pressure**
Add limited pressure to your scenario by enabling the timer and limiting the overall scenario time.
Medium pressure
Limiting the overall scenario time, but also add penalties and bonuses. Penalties are applied when the user lands on warning nodes.
Maximum pressure
Create a high pressure situation by starting the user 1 minute. Only add time for correct decisions and subtract time for poor decisions by setting the Penalty to 15 seconds and Bonus to 5 seconds. This creates a sensation that the learner is always on the verge of running out of time and reveals true gut reactions, because learners will choose the most familiar choice.
Benefit to learning
Research on State Dependence tells us that people who train under simulated pressure perform better in the real world under pressure than those who did not train under stress. Evidence presented in the literature shows that pressure can be simulated by limiting and manipulating the available time the learner has to complete the activity. Therefore, it can be postulated that limiting the time a learner has to navigate a scenario and evoking feelings of pressure and stress during training will increase the decision error rate. In addition, with the possibility of a learner choosing a fatal decision in a time-limited scenario, the learner may also fail if he or she does not reach a successful finish node before the time runs out.