Okay, awake and have had a cup of tea now so here we go.
First of all, planning is nice. Planning is cool. Also, planning a massive tree in advance as a first thing sets you up for failure. (In my experience, people are different so…)
1 - First, what I would do is to work on the trunk of the tree. A single, solid path, that leads you through the game from start to finish. You need to know what each chapter is about, and why it’s there and how it leads into the next chapter. Think of it as a book in this stage. Why? I’ll tell you in a little.
2 - Then you need to focus on your character and stats. I think of it like three kinds of stats:
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Visual stats that rarely are used but show up in the character screen (appearance, gender, things for show or certain moments) as well as other oddities. Here you can go wide and wild, it helps with immersion.
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Flavor stats that you either have or don’t. These are used with the true/false code. Either you can sing, or you can’t. Either you have criminal connections or you don’t. Numbers don’t matter here, it’s a simple yes/no check. These stats are great, and you can have a lot of them. They are easy to use and helps with character building, while not overwhelming you in code. If you can transform a % stat into one of these and don’t feel like you’re losing anything, do.
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Main stats. These are the % stats, the things you level up. In a first game, I would advice you to stick to maybe four or five (not including relationship stats with other characters). They can be opposed personality stats, power stats, weapon skills or whatever the core of your game is. Just don’t go too wide, make sure that each and every one of them have a use.
So why go narrow with % stats? Because you need to use them. People are going to see % stats as important, and work to raise them. If there is one that gets used a lot more than the others, people that invested in the others will feel annoyed and like there is only one viable character build. The more gamey your interactive fiction is, the more conscious you need to be of this. Fewer stats are easier to deal with.
3 - Now start writing. Yep, that’s what I said. You need to write the first chapter now, because until you do you have no idea how to handle branching. As you sit down and write, focus on the minor branching first. That’s the one where a choice meanders out for a different paragraph, then goes back again. Like different paths in a discussion, or the different paths in a fight scene. It is all contained in the same scene, but it makes the scene different depending on your choices/stats.
As you write your first chapter (which will be the hardest, and most linear because of stat setting and character creation) keep your mind open for those little moments of ‘what if?’. That is where your first mid branches will happen, the ones that goes to different scenes but still end up at the same chapter end. What if you stormed out after the argument with your mum instead of making up? What if you ran when your village was attacked instead of staying to fight? Note down those what-ifs, if you feel the inspiration, write them right away, if not, make notes that you want a tiny branch here.
Trust me, you are going to have these ideas as the game progresses, and they will be a lot more grounded in what you’re writing if you go on your instinct rather than pre-plan it.
Another thing, you will go back and rewrite/fix a lot of the start once you’ve reached the end, no need to make it perfect. Just make it good enough and move on.
4 - After two or three chapters, now you sit back down and think about major branches. By now you have a feel for the character, a feel for the stats, and a feel for the work that goes into each choice. Now, if you want to, you can start thinking about those big branches. That being said, I would advice having many that makes the game go in completely different directions. Especially for a first game, I would save major branching to nearing the end. Think palm tree and not oak. The consequences gets easier to handle, and you can focus on making a coherent, immersive story with well-rounded choices.
5 - Final stat balance. Don’t overthink this, if you are publishing a wip on here, and playtesting, there will be a lot of people pointing out your issues for you. Go easy, fairmath has its drawbacks, but it saves you a lot of thinking. If you plan to have many small increases/decreases that’s a good way to go. If you have milestone chunks, then keep a running tally of the max and min stats people can have. It will help.
Any specific questions, feel free to ask!