Interactive Mysteries in PowerPoint

These slides will introduce you to the tools youneed to use in PowerPoint or any similar software(eg OpenOffice Presenter) in order to create a simple, branching, adventure-style narrative.

NOTE: As I wasn't sure what version ofsoftware you would be using, I've done thisin PowerPoint2000 – essentially the same as2003/XP – but some of the dialog boxes have

a slightly different appearance.

Before You Begin

PLAN AHEAD!

Storyboard your ideas out.

Write location descriptions out on index cards.

Lay your cards out on a larger board/card.

Stick them down with blue tack.

Draw lines on the board to show how your locations are linked.

Adding Slides

I prefer not to start with a totally blank template.

A title allows me to easily select the slide I want later.

Bullet points show up in your outline and can be revealed in turn for effect.

A First Slide

An introductory slide sets the scene, and

can then link to a slide that is part of the

story's plot.

Creating Action Buttons

I usually choose the custombutton, as I can then add some suitable text to it.

HINT!You can copy/paste

these buttons once you have made them

Hyperlinks on Buttons

The action youchoose (can be

changed via action settings later) isto hyperlink to another slide.You may needto scroll down

to find it

Choosing a slide

Now you can see why giving each slide adifferent title is a good idea. Or add a unique

graphic that you can clearly see in the preview...

Adding text

A right click on a button brings up its own menu.Very easy to add text or change its settings from here

Kiosk Applications

You don't want to have someone accidentally click on a different part of the screen and progress to another slide.

So, from the Slideshow menu, choose the set-up optionthat allows you to present your slides as a kiosk application.

HINT: Make sure your pages are all interlinked – otherwisea user may meet a dead end...