The simulation editor, explained

A simulation in Cesura is an AI role-play: your learner has a realistic conversation with an AI character and, when they finish, receives feedback on how they did. You build and control every part of that experience in the simulation editor.

This guide is the map. It covers how to open the editor, what the on-screen controls do, and the four groups of settings you will work with. The rest of this series walks through each group in detail.

Opening the editor

You create and edit simulations from the Library.

• New Simulation — start with the AI builder (Prof Cesura), which interviews you and builds the simulation for you. This is the recommended way to create a simulation.
• New Simulation (Manual) — build from a blank editor yourself. If you choose this, Cesura first offers Create with AI Instead?; click Continue Manually to open the blank editor.
• Edit an existing simulation — click any simulation in the Library. If you have edit rights it opens in the editor; otherwise it opens read-only. A simulation's card also has Run, Share and Edit buttons, and its menu offers options such as Duplicate, Create Testing Space and Delete.

How the editor is laid out

The editor has two parts:

• A settings panel down the side that lists every page, grouped into four sections.
• The main area, which shows the page you have selected so you can edit it.

Click any page in the side panel to jump to it. A few pages show a number in brackets next to their name — a live count of items you have added:

• Activity steps (n) — number of steps on the activity timeline (before and after the simulation)
• Feedback Report (n) — number of feedback criteria
• Documents (n) — number of attached reference documents

The toolbar

Across the top of the editor you will find these actions:

• Run — launch the finished simulation exactly as a learner would see it.
• Testing Space — try the simulation in a private testing space before you share it.
• Share — add the simulation to a space (group) so learners can access it.
• Version history (the clock icon) — view earlier versions and restore one if needed.
• Cancel — leave the editor.
• Save — save your changes. While you have unsaved edits this button reads Save; once everything is saved it becomes Close.

Note: Run, Testing Space and Share stay disabled until your changes are saved — hover over them and you will see "Save or discard your changes first." If you try to leave with unsaved edits, Cesura asks "You have unsaved changes. Are you sure you want to leave?" and offers Cancel, Discard changes, and Save.

The four sections

The side panel groups every page into four sections. Here is what each one is for. The rest of this series covers each in depth.

• General — the basics: the simulation's name, topic, language, image and purpose, plus who can access it and how learner data is handled. Pages: General Info, Access & Privacy, and Translations (once the simulation is saved).
• Simulation Display — everything the learner experiences, in the order they meet it. Pages: Delivery Mode, Activity steps, Briefing, Simulation Chat, Realtime Guide, Debrief, Report Display, Feedback Chat Intro, and PDF Export.
• Simulation Instructions — what you teach the AI: the character it plays and how hard it is to persuade, the scenario, supporting theory, and reference documents. Pages: Persona, Scenario, Theory, and Documents.
• Feedback Instructions — how Cesura assesses the learner: your scoring criteria and the Feedback Chat. Pages: Feedback Report and Feedback Chat.

Some pages lock controls when the simulation has a purpose. A locked control is greyed out and says why — see Choose a simulation's purpose.

A fifth section, Technical Definition, holds the AI model settings. Only Cesura administrators see it.

Saving and publishing

Once a simulation is saved, a Translations page also appears under General, where you can offer the activity in another language — see Translate a simulation into another language.

Click Save to store your work at any time (a name is required before you can save). When you are happy, use Testing Space to preview it yourself, then Share to make it available to learners. Nothing is shown to learners until you share it.

In this series

1. The simulation editor, explained (you are here)
2. Create a simulation with AI
3. General settings
4. Simulation Display
5. Simulation Instructions
6. Feedback Instructions
7. The debrief
8. Formatting content with Markdown
9. Best practices & troubleshooting
10. Set up a simulation as an exam
11. Enable & configure the Realtime Guide