Building in Storyline 360: Branching Scenario

Shout out to Tim for another fun tutorial. I want to build more of these, and also learn how to incorporate AI, but y’know… One step at a time.

This conversation is inspired by the content of a previous post found here. In sum, I planned the original conversation in Twine, then handed it over to the developer to build in SL. I have shortened the conversation just a bit, but the essence is still there.

I’m happier with the design of this interaction. In my previous post, I talked about losing my design mojo, but with the internet, no one has an excuse for a bad color palette. I like the trifecta, even though their clothing stands out. And as you’ll see, I used the same colors for emphasis and in the layers.

Added the header and ‘logo’ for a more professional look. Tim has a great video on how to make your own icons in PPT (among other insanely awesome features) here — HIGHLY recommended.

One of the stylistic and engagement elements he added was changing the face of the Partner according to our replies. I’d say this was the trickiest aspect just because I was attempting to do it the same way he was. Essentially, once you answer, you’re taken to the corresponding layer — correct or incorrect — and since his character was a build-your-own-char, he could leave the face blank and replace and switch out faces as needed on those layers. I chose Articulate characters, so I had to crop different faces or, now that I think about it, replace the whole character with the same pose but different expression. It’s tricky because you don’t want the char or their head or face to be shifting back and forth with each slide or layer. I mostly got it right, but need to figure out a better way than what I was doing.

With these layers, I also learned about hiding and showing elements in the base layer. In that way, I could show what they chose and then the feedback on it. No need to keep copying and pasting.

Here’s a not-so-great reply and its feedback. You can see his face change to the disgruntled one and the arrow says “Again” as in, you’re about to try this conversation again; go back to the beginning.

You might be wondering about the font, and I am too. Haha! I just wanted something a little more playful/conversational. In the future, I’d like to figure out a better way to display the feedback? It doesn’t stand out the way I think it should. Or maybe that’s plenty? Let me know in the comments.

I had fun putting this together and look forward to learning more ways to build scenarios.