Clark Aldrich goes over the costs for simulations — which can vary quite a bit:
Branching story:Simulation in which students make a series of decisions via a multiple choice interface to progress through and impact an event.
- Custom short (Less than 10 minutes): 30K
- Custom medium (Between 10 minutes and 30 minutes): 100K
- Custom long (Between 30 minutes and 2 hours): 500K
- Off the shelf short (per user): $30
- Off the shelf medium (per user): $100
- Off the shelf long (per user): $500
Simulation in which students typically try to impact critical metrics by allocating resources along competing categories and getting feedback of their decisions through graphs and charts.
- Custom short (Less than 1 hour): 30K+
- Custom medium (Between 1 hour and 4 hours): 100K+
- Custom long (Between 4 and 8 hours): 500K+
- Off the shelf short (per user): $30*
- Off the shelf medium (per user): $100*
- Off the shelf long (per user): $500*
+ plus cost of facilitation, * including cost of facilitation
Small, easy-to-access game built to be simple and addictive, which often focuses on mastering an action and can provide awareness of more complicated issues.
- Custom short (5 minutes): 10K
- Custom medium (10 minutes): 15K
- Custom long (30 minutes): 40K
- Off the shelf short (per user): n/a
- Off the shelf medium (per user): n/a
- Off the shelf long (per user): n/a
Virtual product or virtual lab:
A series of challenges/puzzles to be solved using on-screen representations of real-world objects and software.
- Custom short (30 minutes): 30K
- Custom medium (1 hour): 75K
- Custom long (4 hours): 150K
- Off the shelf short (per user): $10
- Off the shelf medium (per user): $30
- Off the shelf long (per user): $100
Real-time, often 3D sims that encourages participants to repeat actions in high fidelity situations until the skills become natural in the real-world counterpart
- Custom short (1 hour): 100K+
- Custom medium (5 hours): 500K+
- Custom long (20 hours): 1000K+
- Off the shelf short (per user): $100*
- Off the shelf medium (per user): $400*
- Off the shelf long (per user): $1000*
+ plus cost of facilitation, * including cost of facilitation
Increasing Cost
Here are some items that typically and significantly increase costs:
- full motion video (many instead use comics / illustrations)
- advanced graphics
- calibrating units, maps, processes, and other parts of relevant systems
- creating a new Genre
- having a totally self-paced/asynchronous deployment
- customizing or building software instead of configuring or using off-the-shelf
- distance deployed multiplayer
- building a complex game
Note: All genre links include examples of the genre in [brackets]. Go to mini games and launch a few [examples].
He also shares an exasperating example of trying to sell a simulation project to a corporate training person:
Training Person: I can’t do simulations. They are too expensive.Me: Not necessarily. There are many simple models. There are branching stories, virtual products, interactive spreadsheets, game based models, just to name a few.
Training Person: And are these more effective in achieving learning goals?
Me: Yes. They have very impressive long term productivity benefits.
Training Person: Those are great. But how about multiplayer ? Do you have any examples of multiplayer?
Me: OK. Here they are.
Training Person: Those are cool. But you have any with better scoring and coaching built in as well?
Me: Sure. Here are a few other examples.
Training Person: Animations and advanced graphics are really important to me. Do you have any examples of sims also with really great, smooth animation?
Me: Yup, I have a few right here.
Training Person: Our corporate colors are blue and red? Is it possible to customize it?
Me: Yes.
Training Person: Wow, that is so fantastic. That really blow me away. It’s too bad, really.
Me: What is?
Training Person: I can’t do simulations. They are too expensive.