cheers!

What you're making sounds closest to VNs by MoaCube, Cinders and the upcoming Solstice. The art in Cinders is way better than in any other VN or text adventure I've tried.

Maybe it would be worth a shot to check them out and ask what engine they're using.

I think I have that in a groupees bundle actually.

Edit: and by this link I'm guessing they use gamemaker
http://moacube.com/resources/

There's some more here on how they do it. And I agree that Cinders and Solstice (I've pre-ordered it so I have access to a preview version) are definitely some of the highest quality VNs around. The artwork in these games and the way it all comes together is just stunning.

Sorry, somehow missed your post (I blame either a lack of coffee at the time of reading it or a lack of GOGbear population control). Cheers!
Turns out I do have cinders and havent bothered to d/l it - yet!
Just played through the banner saga though - while not a text adventure, I did like its delivery and immersion into the story through some similar formatting so also food for thought.

Oh, no problem! It doesn't really give that much more information but I figured every bit might be useful. Cinders is quite beautiful and I admire the attempts the game makes at making your choices matter. For instance, there's a tracking system that assigns a personality to Cinders based on your choices, which in turn influences her behavior. The story is not always perfect but I found the experience to be enjoyable anyway, and I think Solstice might turn out to be even better.

You're right, the Banner Saga is very well executed and I really enjoyed that one, so that's not a bad role model at all.

but it did convince me to que up the d/l of cinders! ;D

I haven't read the thread thoroughly, but I think Choice of Games' ChoiceScript might suit your needs.

But the Choice of Games games don't have pictures, so high quality art might not be an option there. It might be possible to add in images but the fact that their own games don't really do that probably says something about the engine.

EDIT: And they don't seem to have music/audio capabilities either.

Just been playing through Banner Saga too and thinking how much it was like a virtual novel (but with added tactical rpg goodness)
The dev team are apparently quite approachable (if you wanted to ask some questions about their methods) and seem to have used Adobe AIR (not entirely sure whether that's just a language or an engine/library) and inklewriter for the story bits. There's also a mod maker / editor packaged with the game (although I couldn't get it to open the actual files at first try, will have to look into it further) which might be worth playing with for some ideas...

Guess I didn't thoroughly read the OP either, then. Sorry. :S

Well, I'm still open to suggestions of available games in the genre - both good and bad.

Just remember - its less visual novel than illustrated interactive fiction (much like the difference between graphic novel and a regular novel featuring illustrations).

Not sure if it was mentioned yet and you may already be aware of it, but Cypher: Cyberpunk Text Adventure sounds sort of like what you may be going for. It was apparently built in Unity after the two brothers that made the game together tried a couple other avenues, according to the Wikipedia entry: Here's a link to the full article from which the Wikipedia info was referenced:
http://pixelsforbreakfast.net/2012/11/cypher-the-cabrera-brothers-wanted-to-tell-a-story/

I think it'd be awesome if what you end up making includes a text parser or perhaps even a voice parser interface, but it does seem to be a more difficult development path and one that might be harder to mass market currently as opposed to the more widely expected touch/point&click stuff.

aaahhh, the sweetness of NDA..... ;)

Well, you should take a look at Tin Man Games production (available on PC and Android) for their gamebook adventures collection as it's text-heavy with some illustrations. Basically, the games are simpel UI with text zones and attached pics :o)
http://tinmangames.com.au/blog/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=5535188108711816438

You can also get some UI and design inspiration from old games (needless to say you'll have to update the graphics ^o^)
Circuit's Edge on DOS
https://youtu.be/HLtQx-HWHgU
Perry Mason on Apple2
https://youtu.be/vJEVCedu8BM

From those 3 exemples, I maintain my Twine recommandation for having a good prototype flow chat of your game. Technically, GameMaker or Unity can do the job. Also, you should serialize all texts (in xml, txt, whatever) instead of "hardcoding" them so it will be easier if the client wants to do a translation later on.

well that wasnt on my radar - but certainly is now.
Looks like it belongs on here.
I can't say anything about that, I am not here.

*hits you with patented hypnotron stick and sinks back into shadows

I'll have a look at those, cheers. Yeah I was trying to remember the thing you suggested for prototyping in a meeting the other night - but had NO internet to check it. :D