Hello there! I'm new around here, but when I saw this software I was amazed at how simple and easy to use it was and decided to give a shot at writing an Interactive Novel for iPhone and Android on it. I've started work on it, but I'm wondering how to achieve the following.

Effectively what I'm hoping to achieve is something akin to the old Gamebooks that were sold in the 90s and 80s, in that you had a page list but also an inventory of sorts. I want to keep it as simple but also as interactive as possible, and implement some puzzles along the way.

The first problem I have is the Inventory system itself, I know that Quest can have Inventories operating within it but I chose the Gamebook option for 5.2 as my option since I did not want to have the player/reader type "look at" and other verbs to progress the plot. Instead I want to have some sort of side bar or another window that opens up displaying the items in the inventory, clicking on the name of the item uses it for that page and thus take you towards a new page or throw out a failure condition (can't use that here/there's no point to doing that etc). Gamebook mode doesn't have an easy interface with inventories, is there anything I can toggle to allow for that inventory system to be allowed and how would I start about having a context sensitive item usage system? (If page number = 5 & item used = tome then goto page number = x)

Another problem I'm having at the moment is having Pages return to the page previous to them. For example, the reader in the story I'm currently working on has a letter from their Teacher which I want them to be able to read in multiple rooms (hence the inventory requirement above), however when they finish reading it I want to return them to the previous page they were last on (so if they are in the corridor, they return to that page, if they're in the library, they return to that page, etc). Is this pretty simple to achieve?

Third question is unrelated to Quest as a development platform but more on the process of publishing a Gamebook / Text Adventure on iOS and Android. I know Android has a Marketplace which is pretty easy to submit an App onto and iOS has a week of reviewing but I was wondering if there are other things I have to worry about in specific (licensing, credits, etc). I don't own an iPhone or an Android product so I'm unsure as to how the software plays out on them or the average pricing is for them especially since I'm hoping to go down the route more of Penny Dreadfuls/Half-Penny Marvels and selling these Stories by the Chapter ($1 or $0.5 per chapter). Is there also an average page count that would be a suggested size for these installments? I'm approaching it from a more traditional standpoint of narrative in "2nd person" format-y style (you do X, you feel X, etc) but having detailed descriptions of the scenario and setting and ambiance, so I was thinking along the lines of 50 to 80 pages (considering the nature of Gamebooks and the aforementioned context-inventory) a few pages will end up being functionally pointless for a part.

Final question is again back to the Quest system, from what I've read the thing is really flexible, potentially through custom scripts and whatnot you could do things with the system that weren't considered previously. As a result of that, is it possible have interactive puzzles ala Myst? (Graphical renderings you can point/click on to alter and change?) A basic example of this would be a towers of Hanoi clone or a "Take the King" Chess puzzle. These aren't too essential for the project I have in mind but it would be really cool to try these out after I get more familiar with the system, I just wonder how difficult it would be.

Thanks for reading this! I'm really looking forward to getting further in this project. I'm pretty sure a few of these questions are eyeball-roll inducing and I have a lot of learning to do before I can get something really good out, but I really do want to get cracking on some fun writing and such, and any assistance on understanding this software would be really helpful! I'll be sure to update with project reports and whatnot on the Developer's sub-forum when I get to certain milestones within the project. Happy writing!

Sounds like you're describing something more like a text adventure in the first place? You can use hyperlinks in text adventures, even turn off the command bar, so maybe that's the more flexible option for you? You'd get the inventory functionality, and wouldn't need to worry about "going back" after a turn.

Can't really answer the iOS/Android market questions very specifically as it's a bit unknown at the moment, as we've only put out one app so far and that was free. I've not looked into integrating in-app purchases yet either, which would be required for a pay-per-chapter model. I doubt you'd be able to sell a 50-80 page gamebook for any money, honestly - maybe better to put it out as a freebie to build up a following perhaps, then maybe people will pay for your next game.

Point and click puzzles would be possible with some custom HTML and JavaScript, so definitely an option to look into when you're more comfortable with the system. I can certainly help out with this kind of thing if you get that far