Congratulations on developing your IF platform! I wish you the best of luck.
I have a standard piece of advice that I share with developers of new IF authoring systems.
Most people choose an IF platform by playing a great game and saying, “I really like this game, and I would like to make another game just like it. How did the author(s) make it?”
So, when IF platforms successfully take off, they require an admirable story (not just a technology demo) to attract new authors. Historically, the first “admirable” story for each now-successful IF platform was typically either written by the platform authors themselves, or directly funded by them. (Twine’s first admirable story by Anna Anthropy is the only exception I’m aware of.) Admirers don’t seem to directly care about any of the details of the system, except that if it’s too hard for them to learn the system and finish a game, that’s a major factor in achieving true popularity.
I think you’ll either need to write something great or hire a great writer (preferably paid in advance) to launch your platform effectively.
Writing the first good game yourself is also important because there are already competitive choice-based IF platforms out there, including Twine, Ink, Adventuron, and our platform, ChoiceScript.
Your platform is also in competition with authors who just want to write their own platform, like you did. Developing a work of choice-based IF is often a novice programmer’s second program, literally right after “hello world.” It’s one of the recommended projects in JavaScript for Kids for Dummies. (Chapter 16: Choose Your Own Adventure)
All in all, your website looks great, and I believe you can build the community you want to build if you’re willing to put in the work/money required to write a great game.
I think you’re exactly right. That’s the journey I went through. I played Choice of Zombies and Zombie Exodus and got hooked. I played many more and then naturally started using ChoiceScript to write my own story.
I’ve been pretty busy with writing the code for Storyfall but it sounds like I need to start switching gears to writing a full-length story of my own.
Nice. In that case, I think one of the biggest steps to getting more people to use your platform will be to come up with some kind of Twine import functionality, or possibly one for another popular story format. Most people really don’t have the time to learn a new IF tool.
I’ve spent the last few weeks doing just that! I was in the process of rewriting a very old, very large game in ChoiceScript but decided to switch to Ink after seeing the Atrament game engine in action. To get working (though not very elegant) Ink code out of ChoiceScript is a simple matter of making seven or eight find-and-replaces. A clever person could easily write a Python script to do it. But the ChoiceScript version was never completed or released, so there’s no conflict. I have quite a history of rewriting old games in different systems, but I’m probably unusual in this respect. But I generally trade up - swapping a simpler system for one that is more sophisticated or feature-rich.
Thanks for looking into it! I’m going to research the topic more, I’ve found conflicting information. Some sources say that even if I indirectly facilitate the sale and don’t directly touch the money (besides the fee) I’m still liable. I’ll try to get a proper answer to this.