Build Your Branching Scenario Course Coming Soon

Interested in learning how to create a branching scenario from start to finish? Check out this upcoming branching scenario course.

I’m currently working on a course on how to build a branching scenario. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and it’s finally coming together. It’s a blended course, with a combination of live virtual training, reading, and weekly practice activities. In the course, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step process to create a branching scenario from start to finish. This will pull together content from my blog and past presentations, as well as new content and activities that will only be available in the course.

Build Your Branching Scenario

Branching scenario course outline

This outline is subject to change, but this is my plan so far. For the assignment, you will have the choice of either creating a branching scenario for your current work or to create a portfolio sample based on a suggested topic.

1. Plan Your Branching Scenario

  • Intro
  • What kinds of problems are a good fit for branching scenarios?
  • Questions to ask SMEs
  • Objectives
  • Ideal path
  • Mistakes
  • Consequences
  • Activity: Interview your SME or research needed information

2. Design Your Scenario Overview

  • Story concept
  • Characters
  • Challenge
  • Context
  • Consequences
  • Activity: Write your scenario overview

3. Draft Your First Decision

  • How to use Twine for drafting scenarios
  • Activity: Draft your first decision point and its consequences

4. Plot Your Branching Structure

  • Branching structures
  • Branch and bottleneck
  • Cut scenes
  • Ideal path
  • Opportunities to correct mistakes
  • Activity: Plot the overall structure for your branching scenario

5. Write Your Scenario

  • Expanding from outline to full scenario
  • Writing dialog
  • Ways to provide feedback
  • Activity: Write your full scenario, play test your prototype

6. Develop Your Scenario

  • Twine formatting
  • How much multimedia do you need?
  • Multimedia options
  • Pros and cons of different tools
  • Activity: Format your scenario in Twine and add images or start developing in another tool

7. Enhance Your Scenario

  • Scoring
  • Adaptive feedback
  • Meters or other feedback
  • Activity: Finish building your scenario

8. Review and Refine Your Scenario

  • Gathering feedback
  • Publishing
  • Revising scenarios
  • Continuing the community
  • Activity: Share and review your scenario with other participants, revise and improve your scenario

What’s next?

Right now, I’m building the website for the course. (You can get a sneak peek now, but you can see that the site has a lot of lorem ipsum and is missing a lot of critical information.) Enrollment will open as soon as I get a few more things up on the website.

The first cohort of this course will likely run from January to February. For this first time teaching it, I expect some things will be a little rough. Therefore, enrollment will be half price this first time. My long term plan is to run this 2-3 times per year, with all participants joining an ongoing community for support.

While I develop and teach this course, I’ll write more about what I learn through this process.

Sign up for the wait list

If you’re already on my blog email list, you’ll be notified the course is ready. However, if you aren’t subscribed, please sign up for the wait list to be notified as soon as enrollment.

Questions?

What questions do you have about this branching scenario course? Let me know with a comment or email.

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