Interactive narrative branch checker
Story branches contain unreachable scenes and contradictory choices. Combine deterministic path checks with narrative context.
01The offer
For writers creating branching fiction, turn author-owned scripts and declared branching rules into branch logic and continuity report. Address this specific problem: story branches contain unreachable scenes and contradictory choices. The aim: combine deterministic path checks with narrative context. The pilot tests whether that benefit holds up against reviewer effort and real operating costs.
- For
- Writers creating branching fiction
- Takes in
- Author-owned scripts and declared branching rules
- Delivers
- Branch logic and continuity report
- Message
- Combine deterministic path checks with narrative context. Demonstrate the result with review one short branching story for writers creating branching fiction. Use a concrete before-and-after example without promising unmeasured savings.
- Lead magnet
- Review one short branching story
02How it works
- Parse scene links
- Detect unreachable nodes
- Flag dead ends
- Compare state conditions
- Draft continuity questions
- Export path reports
Workflow
The buyer creates a project, supplies author-owned scripts and declared branching rules, and confirms scope and access. The working sequence is: 1. Parse scene links. 2. Detect unreachable nodes. 3. Flag dead ends. 4. Compare state conditions. 5. Draft continuity questions. 6. Export path reports. Users correct extracted facts, resolve flagged uncertainties and approve the final branch logic and continuity report before use. Retain source links and a version history for the next cycle.
AI and people
Explain graph defects and suggest context-aware questions. Keep model suggestions separate from verified facts. Link factual outputs to authorized input evidence and show missing information explicitly. Use deterministic checks for counts, dates, identifiers and arithmetic where applicable. A designated reviewer validates consequential outputs and signs off the delivered result.
Screens
Key screens: Story graph, Path findings, Revision queue. Open on a review queue ordered by reviewer-selected priorities. Show each finding beside the original evidence and applicable rule. Provide accept, dismiss and needs-information controls with reasons. A separate report view summarizes confirmed findings and unresolved items, not raw AI flags. Open with story graph; move into path findings for the detailed task; finish in revision queue for review and handoff. Show the source record, uncertainty and approval status beside each proposed output.
Admin
Versioned review criteria, evidence links, reviewer decisions, disagreement handling, correction assignments, recheck status and exportable review history. Include organization-scoped access, named project owners, review queues, usage limits, export history and retention settings. Never reuse private customer material for other accounts without permission.
03Market gap
Alternatives buyers use today
Manual reviewers, checklists, generic scanning tools and specialist audit services. Position this concept around combine deterministic path checks with narrative context. Compare it against the customer's current process on the same representative task. This is proposed differentiation; no exhaustive competitor study or uniqueness claim has been established.
Where this wins
A domain-specific review rubric and rights-cleared examples of confirmed defects, false alarms and reviewer reasoning. For this concept, accumulate permissioned examples and reviewer corrections around combine deterministic path checks with narrative context. The durable asset is reliable task-specific execution and trusted customer configuration, not access to a general-purpose AI model.
04Why now
Writers teams are adopting AI for exactly this kind of repeatable work, and the cost of language and vision models has dropped far enough that a narrow, reviewed workflow pays back quickly. The buyer already feels the problem: story branches contain unreachable scenes and contradictory choices.
05Proof & signals
Channels where buyers gather: Interactive fiction communities and game writing groups. Metrics that prove it works: Confirmed path defects and review time.
Paid pilot
Agree the acceptance criteria, input limits and reviewer responsibilities before starting. Run review one short branching story and deliver branch logic and continuity report. Compare confirmed path defects and review time with the buyer's current process on comparable cases; include corrections, missed issues and reviewer time. Seek payment and repeat use. Stop or revise the scope if data access, accuracy or unit economics fail.
06Execution plan
MVP
Costed pilot: One script format; narrative judgment stays with the author. Start with one buyer organization and a bounded set of representative inputs. Implement the first two modules: parse scene links; detect unreachable nodes. Support the third task through an assisted review queue: flag dead ends. Handle the remaining required functions manually until validated. Include input upload, source references, user correction, a reviewer approval step and export of branch logic and continuity report. Authentication, account isolation, deletion controls and basic operational logging are included. Specialized production certification, live write integrations and broader rollout are not included unless explicitly stated.
First 30 days
Week 1: interview five prospective buyers from writers creating branching fiction and inspect how they handle story branches contain unreachable scenes and contradictory choices. Week 2: prepare review one short branching story using authorized or synthetic material. Week 3: share the demonstration through interactive fiction communities and game writing groups and seek one bounded paid pilot. Week 4: measure confirmed path defects and review time, review delivery effort and ask for a repeat purchase. This is a validation schedule, not a promise that the full product can be built in thirty days.
After the pilot
After paying customers repeatedly accept branch logic and continuity report, automate compare state conditions; draft continuity questions; export path reports. Add one tested read integration, reusable customer configuration and scheduled repeat delivery. Increase supported formats or teams only when evaluation cases and reviewer capacity cover the new scope. One script format; narrative judgment stays with the author.
Retention
Build repeat use around branch logic and continuity report. Save approved configurations and review decisions with permission, revisit unresolved exceptions and show progress on confirmed path defects and review time. Offer a recurring volume allowance after repeat demand; expand to adjacent tasks only when the buyer asks and delivery quality remains acceptable.
Integrations
Author-owned manuscripts, authorized interviews and permitted research sources. Source repositories, task trackers and report exports. Keep findings as review proposals until authorized owners accept the resulting actions. Begin with uploads and exports of author-owned scripts and declared branching rules. Any named system or connector is a candidate requiring current access and compatibility checks; no live connection is included by default.
07Investment and running costs
| Phase | Scope | Time | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | One buyer segment, one recurring use case; first modules: parse scene links; detect unreachable nodes. Manual review in the loop. | 3 days | $16,000 |
| Paid pilot | Accounts, roles, review states, audit trail and the first integration, hardened for two to three paying pilot customers. | 4 days | $14,500 |
| Full product | Self-serve onboarding, billing, monitoring and the wider integration set. | 7 days | $19,500 |
| Total | $50,000 | ||
| Running | Hosting | AI usage | Total a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| MVP and paid pilot (about 3 customers) | $30–$60 | $80–$160 | $110–$220 |
| Full product (about 50 customers) | $110–$210 | $880–$1,750 | $990–$1,960 |
Revenue model to test
Test USD 500-2,000 for a defined audit sample and report. Offer recurring review priced by reviewed items and specialist hours. Software-only access can follow a reliable reviewed service. All prices require validation. For this buyer, package the first sale around review one short branching story and the defined branch logic and continuity report. Record actual review effort before offering a recurring allowance. The commercial pilot fee is distinct from the platform development budget.
Cost drivers
Document or media processing, model evaluation, expert review, false-positive handling, rechecks and customer-specific rubric calibration. Initial validation additionally budgets for test scripts and narrative designer review. Track model usage, storage, reviewer minutes, exception handling and customer support per accepted deliverable.
Safeguards
Preserve author voice, source attribution, quotation accuracy and usage permissions. Authors approve substantive changes and publication scope. One script format; narrative judgment stays with the author. Require appropriate access and publication approval. Preserve source material, label AI drafts and make corrections traceable. Measure false positives and missed cases alongside speed.
Take it further
Newly authored additional batch of 210 concepts, dated 2026-09-22, for later import. Checked against the existing 413 catalog for exact title and ID duplication, with editorial review of overlap. Demand, differentiation, pricing, build hours, setup costs and integration feasibility are unvalidated planning hypotheses. Category inspiration links are inherited taxonomy references, not evidence that these concepts were covered there.