In the Gruescript thread, I wrote out my advice for folks starting a new IF engine:
Looks like you’ve done #2 on this list, but not #1 or #3.
Elaborating on #3, as Hanon said, “graphics” aren’t the critical thing here, it’s how easy it is for a total novice to get started, a novice who doesn’t (yet) know how to use a coding text editor or use the command line.
The problem with “You can implement your game in any text editor” is that newbies are forced to decide between complex professional text editors like Visual Studio Code (“before you write your first line of code, download and install VS Code and learn how to use it”) or very simple editors like Notepad that won’t help them with managing indentation, flagging errors, etc. etc.
(When I launched ChoiceScript, authors frequently asked me, “Can I write ChoiceScript in Microsoft Word?”)
And that brings me to the next problem with not having a tool: most IF authors aren’t familiar with using the command line to do their work. Even launching a command prompt and using cd to navigate to a folder containing their work requires learning. “Before you can run your YAML game for the first time, you’ll have to learn how to cd and run a command from the command line…”
That’s why I recommend building a system where authors can develop on mobile web. Like Gruescript or Twine, you should be able to click on something and start working right there in the browser, without downloading anything.
But that isn’t my top recommendation by any means. My top recommendation, by far, is #1, to build an admirable game yourself. 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?”
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.
#1 is way more important than #3. ChoiceScript didn’t have a tool for its first few years; we just wrote the games ourselves. Eventually a volunteer stepped up to write the ChoiceScript IDE, for which we’re extremely grateful.