Conversation Patterns
A pattern is the kind of conversation an AI segment is. It decides what the character tries to do, what the player has to do, which fields you fill in and how the segment can end. You choose it when you add the segment.
| Pattern | The character… | The player passes when… | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatekeeper | lets the player through once they show they understand something. | they have shown every required criterion in their own words. | checking understanding before a reward, a door, the next scene. |
| Teach me | does not understand something, and the player explains it. | their explanation has everything the criteria ask for. | learning by explaining; "explain it to a child". |
| Riddle keeper | poses a riddle and gives hints. | they give the answer. | riddles, puzzles, passwords with a story around them. |
| Witness | knows things, and tells each clue only when asked the right question. | they have learned the clues you require. | investigations, interviews, mysteries. |
| Guide | talks about what it knows. Nothing is checked. | the conversation comes to an end. | a local who tells stories, a helper who answers questions. |
| Presenter | presents a topic in a few turns, answers questions, and sends the player on. | the presentation ends (every end is Passed). | an exhibit, a team, an event, the rules of the next activity. |
Every pattern has the fields described in AI Segments: the character, the opening line, the Guidance, the Knowledge, the facts about the player, the lines without AI and the exits.
The Gatekeeper, Guide and Riddle keeper have been calibrated on real conversations. Teach me, Witness and Presenter are newer: try them well in the sandbox before players meet them.
Gatekeeper
The character lets the player through after the player shows they understand a concept. It asks, listens and steers, gives hints when the player is stuck, and never says the answer itself.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Concept | What the player is supposed to understand, e.g. photosynthesis. |
| Criteria | At least one. What the player must show, each judged on the player's own words; mark the essential ones Required. |
Passed when every required criterion has been shown; Passed with help if hints (or chips that do not count as the player's own words) were needed. Once a criterion has been shown it stays shown, so the player can build their answer over several messages.
Example. The lighthouse keeper. Concept: why ships need the lighthouse. Criteria: (1, required) the light warns ships of the rocks at night; (2) each lighthouse flashes its own pattern so sailors know where they are.
Teach Me
The roles flip: the character does not understand something and the player explains it. The character asks naive questions and never explains it itself.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| What the player explains | e.g. why the lighthouse goes dark at dawn. |
| Criteria | What a complete explanation contains. Each is judged on the player's own words; agreeing with the character does not count. |
| What the character wrongly believes at the start (optional) | e.g. the lamp gets tired in the morning (at most 300 characters). The character believes it until the player corrects it; correcting it is required, like a criterion. |
Riddle Keeper
The character poses a riddle: the opening line is the riddle. The answer is never told to the character, so it cannot give it away; the game checks the answer. Wrong guesses are counted and release your hints.
How is the answer judged?
| Mode | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Exact | The answer is a word or a name; the game checks it. Nothing is left to a language model. |
| Meaning | The answer can be said in many ways. Your examples are checked first; anything else is judged by the language model, and the game guards its verdict (it must quote the player's words). |
| Choice | The player picks one of a few options; the game checks the pick. |
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Accepted answers (Exact) / Right answers (examples) (Meaning) | Any of these, written in the player's message as whole words, solves the riddle. Accents, capitals and the final sigma do not matter. |
| Also accept other forms, greeklish, small typos and numbers | On by default: τον χάρτη, χάρτες, xartis, χρατης for χάρτης; επτά or seven for 7. Answers of up to three letters are always exact. |
| Notes for the judge (Meaning) | Told to the model that judges, never to the character. Say what is close but not enough, e.g. «μολύβι» alone is not enough: it must be what is inside it. |
| Options (Choice) | 2 to 5 options, offered as buttons from the start, in this order. Mark the right one. |
| The player may also type (Choice) | Off: only the options (and Leave). On: the player may also ask or write the answer, and your suggested replies are added after the options. |
| Hints, in order | One is released for each wrong guess and each time the player asks for a hint. The character says it in its own words and adds nothing. Solving after a hint is Passed with help. |
| Wrong guesses allowed | 1 to 10 (default 3). When they run out, the segment ends through Out of guesses. |
Under the answers, Try an answer shows what the game would make of a message, e.g. "✓ Accepted by the game", "→ The game does not recognise it: the language model judges it", or "✗ Not accepted: a wrong guess". It costs nothing.
Do not write the answer or the hints in the Knowledge or the Guidance: the character is told those. And if you let the character write suggested replies, they may contain the solution.
Witness
The character knows things the player has to find out, and tells each clue only when the player asks the right question. A clue is never told to the character before the player asks for it, so it cannot give it away.
For each clue:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| What it is about (may be hinted) | where he was that night |
| What the character tells (secret until the player asks) | I was mending nets on the north pier until midnight. |
| The question that unlocks it (optional) | Asks where the character was on the night of the fire. Empty: asking about its topic is enough. |
| Required | Whether passing needs it. |
| Condition (optional) | The clue exists only for a player for whom the condition holds; otherwise it is for every player. |
Up to 10 clues. One clue is told per message, in this order. After a few turns without a new clue, the character hints at the topic of one still untold.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| What the conversation is about (optional) | e.g. the night of the 1922 harbour fire. |
| Clues needed (optional) | Passed needs every required clue, and at least this many when set. |
| End on its own once the clues needed are told | On: the segment closes as soon as the last clue needed is told. Off: the player decides when to leave. |
Leaving without the clues needed is Gave up; running out of turns is Out of turns. The clues the player learned are recorded, so you can use them later (see Outcomes in the Game Plot).
Guide
The character talks with the player about what it knows. Nothing is checked: it ends as Passed when the player leaves, and through Out of turns or Off topic otherwise.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| What the character can talk about (optional) | e.g. the history of the village school. |
| Knowledge | This is what it talks about. It says it does not know anything else. |
| Guidance | Where it should lead the player, e.g. lead the player to the old well first, then to the chapel. |
Presenter
The character presents a topic, a team, an exhibition or an event in a few turns, answers the player's questions, and always ends by sending the player to the target you declare. The game runs the agenda: it gives the character one item per turn (or two), checks that each was said, and makes sure the required ones are said, if needed briefly at the end. Every end is Passed.
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| What the character presents | e.g. the "Ships of the Aegean" exhibition. |
| What the character presents, in order | 1 to 8 agenda items, e.g. twelve ship models from the Bronze Age to 1900. Mark the ones that must be said Required. |
| Where the player is sent at the end | e.g. Go to Hall B, on the first floor, to see the exhibition. What makes it happen in the game (a scene, a notification) goes on the Passed exit. |
| Agenda items per turn | 1 or 2. |
| Continue button | e.g. Συνέχισε. The character speaks only after the player: Continue moves the presentation on (no AI judging needed). |
| Ready button (optional) | e.g. Είμαι έτοιμος! Shown once every required item has been presented, and ends the presentation. Leave always ends it too. |
The player can type a question at any point; the character answers it from its knowledge and goes on with the agenda.