This is a very good article: clearly focussed and executed. I had a slight
concern at the start that it was another "how I did my game" one - so
readily available elsewhere. However this one is well worth reading because
of the ambition/scale and success of the chosen setting.
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A couple of minor things struck me as reading and may be worth reworking:
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1/ the first paragraph ends with a very detailed set of steps for getting
up, each carefully coded for by the author. Not every IF game (rightly or
wrongly) implements its setting so thoroughly and it might be worth
rewording this to take out or lessen that basic assumption.
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2/ Re the comment in para 3 about few IF works based on real-life settings
this is true, but it might be worth noting that even those that do use
real-world settings often tend to use them in a looser more abstract way.
Examples that I thought of as I read this include All Roads' Venice (only
the Piazza and Doge's Palace are implemented in any kind of faithful
detail) and Sherlock's London (all those quick journeys around the city -
mentioned later in your article)