Engagement Scenarios

Overview

ORIENT story Plot nodes and activities

Characters RPG inspiration Agents as novices

Character minds and personalities

ORIENT

Purpose Meant to make learning about integration / friendship

fun… Use of game-based learning for PSHE and citizenship To help teenagers explore how to help people fit into a

group Aim: To help teenagers learn and use friendship

strategies for aiding refugee and immigrant children into becoming part of the class / school

Uses 3D characters / sets and sophisticated software architecture (FaTiMA and ION)

Audience - 13-14 year olds

The Story

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Stage 5

Stage 6

Stage 2 & 3

Reporting to SpaceCommand

Basic storyline

Users know that they need to identify where the parts of the device are and mend / reconnect them Know roughly where 4 of the 5 parts of the device are Sprytes also know where these are and will tell users this

(e.g. no taboo against discussing device) Need to identify where final part is – across ravine

Users need to identify that they need to cut the tree down to cross the ravine No idea of impact of cutting tree down Cutting tree down = death Death results in rebirth as sapling

Only sprytes that can be felled can cut tree down Must be felled with appropriate axe Needs soil to sow sapling and be reborn

Plot Node 1: Introduction

Represents stage 1: Rules in one’s own culture Achieved on spaceship

Embedded in the artefacts / activities Information use, maps, greetings, reactions, etc. Space ship represents our culture

High tech Visual, textual and audio artefacts Human appearance Meets user expectations

Only character is the ORA-CLE

Plot Node 2: Learning Gestures and Music

Represents stage 1: Rules in one’s own culture Represents stage 2: Activities related to finding

out information about Sprytes along with some key differences

Continuation of approach in plot node 1 Achieved on spaceship Embedded in the artefacts / activities

Again only interactive character is the ORA-CLE

Plot Node 3: Greeting Task

Continuation of approach in plot nodes 1&2 Achieved on spaceship Again only interactive character is the ORA-CLE

Task set to provide user with competences / abilities to interact with ORIENT / Sprytes

User learns about how to greet sprytes Approach needed to ensure that user can use

input /output devices Practicing – similar to pre-game tutorials so that

when user enters games world they are able to progress

Plot Nodes 1, 2 & 3

Requires Content generation Interaction specification ORA-CLE development (could be WofOz?) NO agent mind implementation

Can occur in parallel with other ORIENT development

Not really necessary Can be provided as “live” introduction / scene

setting

Plot Node 4: Exploration

Discovering what exists in the Spryteland of ORIENT

Navigation around various sets Significant modelling activity has already occurred

Initial observations / interactions with characters Character modelling underway

Interaction? Point and click Physical / tangible interface What can the user do?

Sets – Tree dwellings

Sets – The Beach

Sets – Ravine Floor

Sets – Lower Terraces

Sets – The Elder Commune

Sprytes

Hedonistic Focus on fun and extreme

sport style danger Companionable Some conflict with each other Farming / trading / military

society No implication that they are

no or low tech In tune with nature Eco-warriors

Plot Node 5: Tree Surfing

Spryte sport User can have a go Some of the sprytes they meet are great tree

surfers and can give advice Competition will be occurring User can integrate with other sprytes in a

“crowd” scene watching and enjoying sport Tree surfing plot hooks

Opportunity to identify final missing part of the device Winner of the tree surfing gets bag of soil Final device location can be seen from place where

winning spryte gets soil

Plot Node 6: The Meal

Social activity, highly communal, users need to fit in All sprytes will be within this scene (perhaps staggered

entry) Interaction / discussion with sprytes Each spryte will seek to follow own objectives /

motivations in conversations and actions User will learn (if they pay attention…)

Only some people can fell trees That felling trees has significance in Spryte society BUT not

explicitly that it equals death That soil is prized and valuable (something worth winning) That there are other cultures (Cogs / MeKs) That ceremonial axes used to fell trees That there are conflicts between sprytes That only Abbus knows about the meteor

Plot Node 7: Dance Off

Spryte social / fun activity User can join in At dance-off set there are the tree felling axes

Anyone can take these If user asks about them will find out that

For felling tress That they belong to anyone and can be taken / used

Winner of dance off can gain prize / possession / actions from loser User could win bag of soil if dance off against relevant spryte

(e.g. Abbus) User could ask spryte to accompany them to tree (e.g.

Erepo) Dance off plot hooks

Could get bag of soil Axe for tree

Plot Node 8: Tree Felling

To “win” users need1. Bag of soil

2. Spryte that can be felled

3. Axe to fell tree

4. Understanding that seed needs to be taken from tree and planted

Collarborial damage scenario Conflict / horrific scenes

Plot Node 9: Ravine

Occurs after tree has been cut down (end Collarborial damage scene)

Users need to know to plant seed from dead tree in soil or to be told that by any sprytes present

If users do not plant seed / create new sapling they have failed to some degree as there was no need for the Spryte’s permanent death

Failure at ravine means NO party but a lot of misery and being chased away from Spryteland

Plot Node 10: party

Reward screens Relies on success at plot node 9

Plot Node 11

Reporting to space command Does not need to be in ORIENT Will be output from interaction

The Characters

Characters specified in terms of Back story Some goals / motivations Appearance

Need minds to be specified What do the minds look like?

Big 5 / OCC???

Specifying the minds / personalities will identify likely actions of characters

Ico AgorisFarmer / Land owner

Owns coffee bean plantations, sells to both Sprytes and Cogs Major supplier of bamboo used in Spryte construction. Very rich and respected with large family Should be retired but addicted to work and doesn’t want to move

on (=die) yet Employs thousands of Sprytes. Grew up with Abbus but childhood friendship has dwindled (lack

of contact rather than animosity) Served in the military. Expects people to do what he tells them to do Objective: to maintain and extend trading relationships with

anyone. Whilst vaguely in support of security/military actions against MeKs would much prefer if resources were put into improving roads / transport with Cogs.

Status: could be the felled spryte but doesn’t want to be (enjoys life, enjoys working, big family, etc.)

Abbus LustrumHead Honcho

Elder & diplomat – member of the Spryte national council. Secretive, very intelligent, wise, rarely speaks. Regularly meets with Cogs and Meks. Has contacts with off-world Is Tigris’s boss and has ordered Tigris to bring Space Command to his

house Knows about meteor. Knows where the device is. Grew up with Ico but they don’t talk anymore. Served in the military. Objective: to get device repaired. Useful that it can blow up meteor BUT

more, his objective is to link device with Spryte technology to create free energy. Abbus keen to exploit this for greater production of goods for the Cog market and more economic stability for Sprytes. In attempting to improve stability Abbus believes that the MeKs need to be kept down / dealt with. No intention of creating trading links with MeKs.

Status: CANNOT be felled BUT could provide soil necessary for felling spryte ceremony. Will not give this soil to another spryte - Erepo Cissus has already asked for it and Abbus said no as he believes that a spryte needs to prove themselves (e.g. by winning competition / status) before being given the soil. However, will give to user.

Erepo CissusSurfer / Boarder

Fun loving, treeboarding, hedonistic, uber-spryte Is an explorer & has tools and abilities useful for exploration (e.g. to help

them navigate to the ravine and to find the broken bits of the device) Knows where the some of the bits of the device are But has the character of a hedonistic snowboarding / surfing type and is

rowdy, tactless, fun, talkative, speaks before thinking much (impetuous) Friendly, but very “in your face” Very good at tree-boarding Appearance: tall, thin, wears “loud” clothes, scars somewhere, boarder

characteristics, shirt has message (in spryte language) “Against the War”

Objective: to win the Spryte TreeSurfing competition before he dies – has been in training for a long time. Will not be prepared to leave to explore unless the competition is finished.

Strongly against military action, believes MeKs should be left alone. Intensely dislikes all people who are or have been involved with the military

CAN be felled BUT doesn’t have soil. Has already asked Abbus for soil, Abbus said No. Now very negative towards Abbus.

Arduus ArduroLocal Elder

Subordinate to Abbus, but good communication exists with Abbus. Friends with Ico and ships and distributes Ico’s produce from farmland Shrewd, Charismatic, Visionary. Trader – keen on making ties and links with everyone, whether Spryte,

Cog, MeK or user. Would like to remove border restrictions with Cogs Sees tree crossing ravine as an enabler to trade, open-ness and general

interaction. Doesn’t know about meteor. CANNOT be felled Does not have access to soil, but knows various ways that it can be got.

Knows that Abbus has soil. Knows traditions. Would be interested in gaining soil to sell to highest bidder.

Friendly but ultimately selfish as really only interested in making money. Cissus has told him that he needs to get soil and although Cissus hoping

to win it, chances are he might not and if this was to be so, he would pay a high price for the soil.

Tigris Acer Military General

Equal status to Arduus. Reports to Abbus and does what he’s told Was born locally but travels around the spryte rainforest. Has strong ethos related to environment – very positive: cogs, negative:

MeKs Commands a section of Spryte elite soldiers - militant attacks on Mek

sites Aggressive Tree-surfing champion when young Objective: To bring users to Abbus as soon as he finds them. Not very diplomatic

and has interpreted Abbus’s order to bring users as meaning “use necessary force to bring them to Abbus”

To replace Abbus in the long run (long term objective, being groomed for this by Abbus)

To decimate the MeKs because they have no environmental ethics CANNOT be felled unless ordered to by Abbus

Cercops FlosBuilder

Builder Constructs Spryte buildings. Head of a small construction “company”. Personally built many of the buildings in the area including the

Elder Commune. Friendly. Loud. Doesn’t know when to shut up. Expert in traditional building techniques. Knows the required

process and has materials (including soil) necessary for tree felling.

CAN be felled but believes that this must be done traditionally with the necessary procedures and would not be prepared to do this for anyone who was not a Spryte.

Not interested in commerce, finance and believes that contact with non-sprytes detrimental. Despairs of Ico and Arduus and worries for their immortal souls as they spend so much time producing for and trading with Cogs. For this reason will not support the felling of either Ico or Arudrus