Using Describers to simplify ScriptEase
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Abstract
A high level of programming knowledge is needed in order to script a video game. This prevents video game design from being accessible to non-programmers. ScriptEase is a tool that was designed to solve this problem. While ScriptEase has been shown to be accessible to 10th grade English students there remains areas for further simplification. This thesis focuses on changing the way authors set options within ScriptEase by introducing a new technique called Describers. Describers allow authors to adapt plain English sentences to provide a description of each option. A user study was conducted that compared Describers against the original technique of using definitions. The participants were able to complete significantly more statements and showed a preference for the Describer. Simplifications such as the Describers will lower the entrance bar for an author. The underlying structure of the Describer can be used to simplify creating conditional statements.