A scenario is a description of a series of interactions between a player and a virtual character for one-to-one communication skills training, where at each step the player is faced with a choice between statements. In this paper, we analyse the characteristics of scenarios and provide a classification to represent such scenarios. The analysis is performed through a literature review and by comparing virtual learning environments for scenario based training. Using this analysis we specify requirements for describing communication scenarios related to their: structure (linear, branching, interleaving), properties (static information stored per scenario like situation, background, which virtual character to show), and parameters (characteristics of a scenario that can be modified per statement like a score on a learning goal and an emotional effect in a virtual character). We define a schema for representing such communication scenarios and present an authoring tool to create a scenario.

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Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement: https://www.ou.nl/taverne-agreement

Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal.If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the "Taverne" license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement: https://www.ou.nl/taverne-agreement

Many serious games employ a scripted dialogue for player interaction with a virtual character. In our serious game for one-to-one communication skills training, Communicate, a scenario author develops a structured, scripted scenario as a sequence of interactions between a player and a virtual character. A player is often a student learning communication skills and a virtual character represents a person that a player talks to, e.g. a patient. A player gets a score on her performance after playing a scenario. Scoring is an important aspect of a scenario. As scenarios get more complex, assigning scores in a scenario also gets more complex, and the risk of an incorrect design increases. To determine what kind of challenges scenario authors experience when assigning scores in a scenario, we conduct a structured interview study with a focus group of scenario authors who use Communicate. Based on these challenges, this paper introduces the concept of scenario smells, and investigates how we can support scenario authors in detecting and addressing such scenario smells. A scenario smell is a symptom of a scenario that couldbe an indicator of an error or incorrect design in the scenario. We develop a tool that supports a scenario author by identifying scenario smells in a scenario in Communicate. Scenario authors evaluate the tool and find most of the scenario smells useful.

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