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CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide
ClarkAldrich WebCourseworks,anationaleLearningdevelopment firm,andClarkAldrich,arenownedsimulation designerandauthor,havepartneredtodesignand producegamesandsimulations.Thiswhitepaper outlinessomeoftheprocessesweusetocraft learninggamesandsimulations. 1 Content2010ClarkAldrichReprintDesignWebCourseworksLtd.S . C O M WWW.WEBCOURSEWORK

CreatingSeriousGamesand Simulations:AQuick&DirtyGuide

March2010

CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide

Inthiswhitepaper:
Learnhowtocraftasimulationorlearninggamefroma combinationofexplicitandtacitknowledge. Chunkoutthedesignanddevelopmentprocessand estimatetimeandcomplexity. Learnhowtoleveragegoodgamedesigntoimproveyour simulationorlearninggame. Whatfollowsismethodologyandidentifiedbestpracticesto produceasim.Letusfirstlookataframeworktogetyou throughthedesignprocessinfourpredictablesteps.

CollectingExplicit Knowledge:An ExampleofStep1 Outputfrom Composting

Step1.CollectExplicitKnowledge
Thefirststepindesigningasimistocollectalloftheexplicit knowledge,muchofwhichwillalreadybedocumented:top downpatternssuchasestablishedanalysis,bestpractices,and rules. Inthissteptraditionaleducationalcontentandlinearmaterial, suchascoursesandcurricula,books,reports,famousor inspirationalquotes,rules,andpoliciesareveryhelpful.They alsoservetosetascaleforwhatthesimwillandwillnotcover.

Step2.IdentifyTacitKnowledge
Thesecondstep,afterallofthetraditionalrulesandanalysisare collected,isadauntingone:asbestyoucan,uncoverthe expertstacitknowledge. Whatistacitknowledge?Itisallofthetinyrelationshipsthatan expertunderstands,butoftenhastroubleputtingintowords.It isexperiencebasedknowledgetriggeredbycertainkey situations.Thesearesituationsthattheexperthasexperienced somanytimesthatheorsheknowswhatactionstotaketo achievethedesiredresults,evenifheorshecouldnotput wordstowhen,where,orwhytheactionswork. Whereexplicitknowledgeistopdown,gainedthroughformal studyofcurriculaandrules,tacitknowledgeisbottomup, gainedthroughexperienceandexperimentation.Howdoesa managerknowwhentopullbackfrompressuringanemployee, awriterknowwhentoseparatealongsentenceintotwo 2 Content2010ClarkAldrichReprintDesignWebCourseworksLtd.

Explicitknowledgeis topdownpatternssuch asestablishedanalysis, bestpractices,and rules.Ifyouwere buildingasimulation aboutcomposting,you wouldcollectallofthe commonadvice establishedbyexperts suchas: Don'tthrowindairy ormeat Turnyourpileevery fewweeks Mixingrass clippingstokeep thenitrogenatthe rightlevelsoit doesn'tsmell Andpeople composttoreduce theirimpacton landfillsand improvetheirland

CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide sentences,oracookknowwhentosauttheonionsfor30 moreseconds?Thisistacitknowledge. Tacitknowledgefallsintothesimulationframeworkofactions, systems,andresults.(SeeTheCompleteGuidetoSimulations andSeriousGamesforanindepthdiscussion.)

IdentifyingTacit Knowledge:AnExample ofStep2Outputfrom Composting

Actions:putdifferentkinds offoodincompost,turn compost,shoveloutand spreadcompost,putin otherorganicmatter,cover pile,buybarrels,use mixingtools,siftcompost, throwoutfoodasgarbage, designcompostarea. Systems:rainwashes throughcompost,food breaksdownwithaeration inaboutamonth,food breaksdownwithout aerationinaboutayear, garbagecostsmoneyper poundtoputinalandfill, exposedvegetableswill mildlyattractcritters, earthwormscanaerate dirt. Results:richsoil,rotting smell,lessgarbagesentto landfills,yellowjackets, greatvegetables,critters.

TacitKnowledgeA:Actions
Anexpertstacitknowledgeincludesactions.Examplesof actionsare:yell,beg,putpegAingrooveB,investmoney,run. Touncovertheseactions,herearethebiggestquestionstoask: Whatactionswillanexpertconsidertaking? Whatnonoptimalactionsmightanonexperttake? Cantheactionsbedefinedveryspecifically,downto exactquotesorlevelsofmagnitude? Thesimshouldpresentthelearnerwithoptions:boththetarget actionsthatanexpertwoulddo,andincorrectactionsthata nonexpertmighttake.Learninghappenswhenthelearner startstocorrelatetheactionstosystemsandresults. Forexample,imaginewewerecreatingasimaroundenduser computersecurity.Someoftheactionsavailablewhenauser getsaforwardedemailare: Followanembeddedlinktoawebsite Openanattachment Forwardtheemailtoafriend Installasuggestedprogram Trytofigureoutiftheemailislegitimate Deletetheemail ReporttheemailtotheirmanagerorITdepartment Asyoumightguess,thelasttwoactionsarethetargetactions thatanexpertwouldtake. Importantly,asimdesignermayhavetouncoverthecontextin whichthetargetactionsaredone.Forourendusercomputer securityexample,mostpeoplewouldrecognizethetarget actionwhentheoptionsarepresentedoutofcontext.However, peoplefacethesesituationsinverydifferentcontexts:while theyarefocusingondoingtheirjob,managingtheirpersonal 3 Content2010ClarkAldrichReprintDesignWebCourseworksLtd.

CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide life,orentertainingthemselvesandrelaxing.Theselifeactions mighthavetobeworkedintoanyfinalsetofactionsavailablein thesim.

TacitKnowledgeB:Results
Thesecondcategoryoftacitknowledgeonwhichweneedto focusisresults.Forresultsweaskwhatsuccessandfailureare. Issuccessallornothing,suchastheaccomplishmentofa mission?Oraretherethreeorfourthingsthatapersonistrying tobalanceandgrow?Or,issuccessinthesim(aswellasfrom thesim)theabilitytoconsistentlyapplyanincreasinglycomplex setofcompetencies? Again,welookatbothtargetsandcontexts.Thetargetresult forcomputersecuritymightbeasmoothITenvironment,as opposedtoamassivevirusinfection.Butthecontextualresults arejustasimportant.Forexample,peopleneedasmoothIT environmentwithinthelargercontextoftheirjobs,andforthat reasonneveropeninganyattachmentsisnotaviableoption, eventhoughitwouldbethesafestwayoftoensuringasmooth ITenvironment. Forothercommonsimulations,beinganethicalpersonora greatleaderalsohappensonlyincontext.Wewantthetarget resultstooccurincontext. Identifyingtheresultsoffailureismoreinteresting,more important,andmorecounterintuitiveformostinstructional designersthanidentifyingsuccess. Whatarethevarioustypesoffailureonecanexperience Whatarethesituationsthatleadtothesefailures? Whataretheimmediatewrongthingstodo? Whatarelongtermfailures? Anygivenusershouldnotseemostfailurestatesthathavebeen created.Theonetheydoseewillbetargetedtotheirindividual weaknessandshouldalignwithreallife.

TheOrderofDevelopment Matters(ALot):the ProblemwithStartingwith Step2sTacitKnowledge

Whileeachofthethreesteps shouldinformtheothersteps, theorderisimportant.Ifyou putStepThreebeforeStep Two,youwillgetdramatically oppositeeffects. StartingwithStepTwooften occurswhenaresearcheror subjectmatterexpertstartsan effort.Identifyingthelittle relationships(situated knowledge)withouttheframing ofthebestpractices(explicit knowledge)isastaggeringly complexactivity.Itsatiatesthe purists,butittakeshuge amountsoftimeand overwhelmsallbutthemost intrepid.Stakeholderswhoare notintimatelyinvolvedwiththe projectaremystifiedbythis process. Projectsthatstarthereseldom seethelightofday.Evenifthey dosurvive,thereismuch wastedeffort.

TacitKnowledgeC:Systems
Thefinalsetofrelationshipsintacitknowledgeissystems. Systemsarewhatgetbetweenactionsanddesiredresults.Ifthe 4 Content2010ClarkAldrichReprintDesignWebCourseworksLtd.

CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide collectionofallsetsoftinyrelationshipsisaniceberg,the systemsarethepartoftheicebergthatisunderwateroftena hugehiddenmass. Herearetwoquickexamples: Inchess,aplayerwantstousethepiecespermitted actionstoachievetheresultofcheckmatingtheother playersking.However,thesystemsofrulesand positionsandtheactivitiesofanopponentontheboard needtobenavigatedandovercome. Inleadership,wemaywanttobuildagreatteam,but therulesofaccomplishment,personalegos,motivation, andrewardneedtobenavigated. Somequestionsmightbe:arethereprocessesormazesthat havetobefollowed?Arethereopponentsthatarestrivingto keepthepersonfrombeingsuccessful?Aretherecycles, balancingloops,orfeedbackloops?Aretheredelays?Arethere mathematicalrelationships?Aretherehiddenprocessesthat othersarefollowing?

TheOrderofDevelopment Matters(ALot):the ProblemwithStartingwith Step3sToolkitandGenre

Startingwiththeidentification ofthegenreorengine(Step Three)andfillingintheblanksis acommonworstpractice.I oftenseethiswhenavendor hasaprebuiltenginetheyare usingforanewproject.The resultsarequick(weeksinstead ofmonths),costeffective,and efficient.Thecourseisspitout ontime. Theonlyproblemisthatthe contentisflat.Designersendup reskinningratherthanteaching anythingofnote.Twoorthree differentprograms,ostensibly coveringdifferenttopics, startingfromthesameengine, alllookthesame.More importantly,theybasically teachthesamething.Weare seeingthisinabundancewith simsinSecondLife. Fromabusinessperspective, thismakessenseforthemthe vendorsinternalcost,time frame,unpredictability,and qualityoftalentneededarefive totentimesgreateriftheyare creatinganewengineinstead ofusinganoldone.Butitcan resultinasubstandardor forcedstudentexperience.

FindingTinyRelationships
Manyoftheserelationshipsaresosimplethatitfeelsabsurdto evencapturetheminadocument,buttheirpowercomesfrom theirrigor,volume,andintegration.Youhavetobeadetective here:grillsubjectmatterexperts,listentopodcasts,watch videos,andgenerallyobtainasmuchinformationaspossible.

Step3.FindtheClosestExistingSimulationorGame
Wehavealreadyidentifiedthehighlevelrules(explicit knowledge)andthemoundsoftinyrelationships(tacit knowledge).Now,findanexistingtoolset,gameorsimgenre,or microcosmthatcomesclosetotheframeworkorspiritofsome orallofwhatyouwanttoaccomplish.Ifatallpossibledothis stepafterStepsOneandTwo(seesidebar),insteadofmaking thecommonmistakeofdoingitfirst.

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CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide

Borrowanestablishedformatifpossible
Ifanengineexists,suchasSecondLifeorAdventuremaker,figure outhowtouseit.Thiscansavemorethan80%ofthe developmenttime.Regardless,usethegameplayandleveldesign conventions.Inmanycases,youwillalsodrawmodelsfromother genresaswell,glommingthemtogether.Eventhenarrowest toolsetallowsforimportinggreatideas. Therearetimeswhentherearenoappropriategamesorsims,let alonetoolsets.Inthesecases,findoneperfectexampleor microcosmthatcanserveasthemodelfortheinteraction.

Synchronizationof Content:AnExampleof Step4fromComposting

Mygoalisathriving ecosystem,soImight borrowfromanexisting modelthatcreatesa thrivingecosystem: SimCity,forexample,or RollerCoasterTycoon.I mightusequalityoflife, cost,andenvironmental impactassomecore metricstheplayertriesto optimize.Imightcreatea housearea,acompost area,agardenarea,anda garbagearea,andhave peoplebeabletomove stuffbetweenthefour. Finally,movingawayfrom thesegenres,Imightzoom inandallowpeopleto createandmodifytheir owncompostingstructure.

Step4.Synchronize
Now,atstagefour,wehavetobringeverythingtogether.Usethe topdownrulesinStepOnetoorganizethetinyrelationshipsin StepTwo,andthenusethegenrefromstepThreetoframe everything.Workfromthesethreecornerstothemiddle. Ultimately,allthreeshouldconverge,evenifthereisfearatfirst thattheywon't.

ReconcilingBroadRulesandTinyRelationships
Duringthisprocess,westartseeingplentyofplaceswherethe broadrulesfromStepOneandthetinyrelationshipsfromStep Twodonotnecessaryalign. Oneexampleiswhenyouaregivenalistofdifferentpossible successfulapproacheswithsuperficialillustrativeexamples.For example,theoldtrainingmightread: Toinfluencesomeone,aleadercantellapersonwhatto do,buttheleadercanalsobribe,threaten,appealtotheir senseofpurpose,askthemasafavor,ormakealogical caseforarequest.Toillustrate:consideradocumented casewhereaCFOwasaskedtopostponeherretirement, andthenewCEOwassuccessfulbecauseheappealedto herloyaltytothecompany. ThismaybeasufficientforaPowerPointslide,butlike philosophy,itbegsmorequestionsthanitanswersforasim designer.Thingsthatneedtobereconciledinclude: 6 Content2010ClarkAldrichReprintDesignWebCourseworksLtd.

CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide Whydidtheexpert(theCEO)usethatapproach?Wasthathisfavoriteinfluence strategy?HadthatworkedbeforewiththeCFO?Wastheresomecontextualor systematictellthatcluedhimintothisapproach? DidtheCEOconsidertwoorthreedifferentapproaches,andwhatwerethecriteriathat wonout? DidtheCEOswitchapproachesmidstream,andifso,why? Atahigherlevel,isthereacommonunderlyingmodeloftacitknowledgethatalignsmostof theidentifiedapproaches?Whensiftingthroughthebodyoflinearcontent,youwillfindmany situationswhereexpertsofferdifferentandcontradictoryadvice. Aclassiccontradictoryconstruct:Areyouturningtheothercheek(good)orareyouappeasing (bad)?Aswiththeabovesituation,agoalistofindcommonmechanicsthatallowforboth.

OtherStepsintheSynchronizationProcess
Asoneclosesinonafinaldesign,sometoughquestionshavetobeanswered. Howbroadlycantheidentifiedactionsbeabstracted?Recallforamomentourlistofactions fromthecomputersecurityexample: Followanembeddedlinktoawebsite Openanattachment Forwardtheemailtoafriend Installasuggestedprogram Trytofigureoutiftheemailislegitimate Deletetheemail ReporttheemailtotheirmanagerorITdepartment

Alloftheseactionscanbegenerallyabstractedintothreecoreactions:actingontheincoming request,probingtherequest,orrejectingtherequest. Thisiscritical,asmostsimsworkbestinrealtime,wherethecomputerdoesnotwaitforthe student.Ideallyafewactionsareappliedrepeatedly,indifferentordersandwithsensitivityto timing.Abstractingactionscanincreasetheapplicabilityofthesimtowidergroups. Anothertypeofproblemwehavetoanswer:howdoesthesimrespondtolittlefailures?Being inappropriatelyaggressivetoasubordinate,forexample,isabadideainaleadershipsim.But doesitstopthewholesim?Inreallife,plentyofsuccessfulpeoplehavelittleslips.Arelittle failurescumulative?JumpingaheadtoStepThreeforamoment,arcadegamesoftenhada threelivesmodel.Isthatappropriate? Attheendoftheprocess,youmayhaveafewoutlierrulesfromStepOnethatfalloutsideof thesystemandleveldesignsthatyouhavecreated.Theserulesmaystillneedtobeincludedto 7 Content2010ClarkAldrichReprintDesignWebCourseworksLtd.

CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide satisfyyoursponsors.Hopefullythisisminimal,butyoumight conveythiscontentthroughtraditionalpedagogicaltechnique suchasslidesorpopups.Youknowyouhavedoneagoodjob whenallthreeperspectivessupporteachotherratherthan grindagainsteachother.Oftenyouwillgainuniqueand industryvaluedperspectivesthroughthisprocess.

CreatingStrategicandFirst PersonPerspective

TheThreeTrimestersofaSeriousGame DevelopmentProcess
Ofcourse,thedesignprocesshastofitintoalargerserious gamedevelopmentprocess.Iwillnowzoomoutabitandlook attherestoftheprocess.

HowlongdoesittaketocreateaSeriousGame?
Beforewedigin,letstalkabitaboutendtoendtimeframes. Therearetwosides.Onthisside,themosteffectivesimsofthe nextfiveyearswillbesingleplayer,willbeAdobeFlashbased, willtakeaboutonetotwohoursofstudenttime,andwilltake aboutninemonthstocreatefromscratch Ontheotherside,mostcorporationswantsomethingdelivered withinaboutthreemonthsofsigningacontract.Thesetwo realitiesarenotincompatible,thankfully.Ifyouhaveto,youcan getsomethingoutthedoorinweeksbymanipulatingsome significant,cumulativemodifiers.Herearekeymodifiersthat candecreaseandincreasetheninemonthdevelopmenttime:

Themosteffectivesimsusetwo ormoreparallelandmutually reinforcingperspectives.This approachisconsistentwith generationsofcomputergames andflightsimulators.These havetraditionallyfeatureda firstpersonperspectiveanda strategicperspective.Thepro typicalexampleisofadriving game,wherethescreenisused toshowtheworldfromthe driversperspectivelookingout atthehighwayandother nearbycars,whilealsoshowing atopdownperspectiveonthe entiretrackwithall competitors.Playersmade decisionsbasedonboth perspectivessimultaneously. Thefirstpersonperspective presentstheactualdecisions thatthestudentwillseeand makeintherealworld.This ofteninvolvesinterpersonal conversations.Thestrategic perspectivepresentsthebig pictureandinvolvesa visualizationofasystemand interactionsofteninvisiblein therealworld.

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CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide

DevtimeDecreasers

DevtimeIncreasers
+60% + 100% Multiplayerinadditiontosingle player 3D,clientinstalledGameLike CreateTotallyNewGenre: +30% Completelynewgenre

25%

Singleplayerinsteadofmultiplayer

70%

Lightweight,browserbasedmechanics ReuseEstablishedApproach:

60%

Completeadherencetoanexisting genre

50%

Enginealreadyexists

+20%

Flexibleandreusablearchitecture

Thetimeforaseriousgameusuallyfallsintothreetrimesters:create,code,andcalibrate.The abovetimemodifierstendtoimpactallthreetrimestersevenly.Now,letslookatthethree trimestersinsomedetail,includingkeyrolesandresponsibilities,andkeepingmindthatthe threetrimesterstendtooverlap.

SimDevelopmentTrimesterOne:Create
Inthefirsttrimester,thesimisdesignedusingsomeofthetechniquesdiscussedabove.The goalistoproduceagreatdesigndocument,between30and50pageslong.Theleaddesigner divesdeepintothecontent,oftenbecominganexpert. Alsointhistrimesterthelearningobjectivesandrequirementsareformalized,oftenusing peopleintheroleofaclientliaisonandprogramsponsor.Thelookandfeelisnaileddown, hopefullywiththeworkofagoodgraphicdesigner.Anytechnicaldecisions,includingmedia, authoringenvironments,engines,andenduserrequirements,areestablished.Stepsalsohave tobetakentosetupTrimesterTwo.

SimDevelopmentTrimesterTwo:Code
Inthesecondtrimester,twoorthreeprogrammers/codersprogramthematerialinthedesign document.Theyproducemuchofthecoresimengineitself.Theyprovidelinkstothefluid content,suchasgraphicfiles,videos,soundfiles,text,andentireleveldesignsandsimflow, usingindustrystandardmediaandXMLs.Theprogramsponsor,leaddesigner,graphicdesigner, andclientliaisonareperipherallyinvolved;makingdecisionsandhelpingfleshoutthe numerouspartsofthesimenginethatneedrefining.Neartheendofthisprocess,thelead

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CreatingSeriousGamesandSimulations:AQuickandDirtyGuide designerbeginsinputtingasmuchofthefinalcontentaspossible.About70%oftheproject budgetisspentinthisstage.

SimDevelopmentTrimesterThree:Calibrate
Inthefinaltrimester,theleaddesignerfinishesinputtingcontentintotheengine,andthe entirepackageisputinfrontoftargetaudiencesbytheprogramsponsor.The programmers/codersneedtobeavailabletomakecoreenginechanges,butevenmoresothe leaddesignerandclientliaisonhavetorefinethefluidcontent.Finally,therecanbeintegration workwiththeLMSordatabase.

FinalThoughts
Thingshaveneverseemedharderforthosetaskedwithdevelopingtheskillsetsof organizations.Theyhavetodelivercontentandsometimesentirecurriculawithcoachingand certification.Theyhavetodosowithminimalcostsindevelopmentanddeliverydollars, studenttime,andstudentdisruption. Thegoodnewsisthatsimulationsandseriousgamescaninstructmoreinlesstimeandatless cost.Themostsuccessfulorganizationswilleitherhaveaninternalsimdevelopmentcapability orpartnerwithanexternalvendorthatdoes.Ihopefollowingthesestepsandprocessesmakes theimplementationabiteasierandmorepredictable.

AboutClarkAldrich:
ClarkAldrichdesignsandbuildseducationalsimulationsforawiderangeofcorporate, academic,government,andmilitaryclients.Heisalsotheauthoroffourbooks,includinghis mostrecentTheCompleteGuidetoSimulationsandSeriousGames.Hisblogisat http://clarkaldrich.blogspot.com,andhecanbereachedatclark.aldrich@gmail.com.

AboutWebCourseworks:
WithofficesinWashington,D.C.andMadison,WI,WebCourseworksdesignsanddevelops customFlashbasedlearninggamesandsimulationsforcorporatetraining,K16education,and nonprofitoutreach.WebCourseworkshasalsoenteredtheassociationLMSmarketwitha hostedlearningmanagementsolutioncalledCoursestage.Visitwww.webcourseworks.com orwww.coursestage.comformoreinformation.

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