Ive been a game designer for most of my life and ever since I can remember I have wanted to be one. My brother and I have been developing a multimedia idea for a long time now and plan to start developing a game for it as well as draw a graphic novel. However with our current funds and staff we feel that the scope of the project is a bit too large for our current abilities, when it comes to talent, money, and know-how.

So as an Idea I proposed was to somehow break up the project into smaller pieces. Mainly, I thought of making it in an episodic manner. It would be a "normal" game and not point-and-click adventure like TellTale. So my question today is what types of developmental tools would one need to make an episodic game like this? What engines work best with this type of thing? What pitfalls and challenges should I look out for? How can you market the game and its episodes? How does one keep user data throughout the episodes?

I liken what I wish for to be more like Hitman or maybe Xenosaga. If anyone has worked or knows a lot about developing episodic games, I would appreciate the help!