User talk:Snesmaster

Welcome to StrategyWiki!
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First Warning
Hello Snesmaster. I noticed that your first two contributions to this site were to add external links to maps. While we generally prefer that all image data be stored locally, given the considerable size of those maps and the general lack of anything sufficient to replace the links with (for the time being), this is understandable. However, starting a page with the apparent intention of providing little more than an offsite link to maps is not encouraged. You didn't even take the time to complete the infobox, or provide a description for the game. In the future, please refrain from such activity, and consider contributing more positively to the site with actual content. Thank you very much. Procyon 20:41, 8 November 2006 (CST)


 * It's no problem, I understand that you're new. We just want to make sure that people who join the site are interested in contributing and not simply in promoting their (or other people's) external web site.  I realize that was not your intention, but on the outset, that's how it appeared.  Additionally, if you would like to leave a message for someone, please leave it on their Talk page, and not directly on their user page.  Thanks again.  Procyon 16:33, 9 November 2006 (CST)

Second and final warning
I'm nearly out of patience with you. You were warned once, and you proceeded to ignore it. So let me be clear: If you provide an external link to another site one more time, you will be permanently banned from editing on this site. It's not even a question of motive or intention. You are the only user who systematically adds external links to guides instead of adding one thing that's constructive to what currently exists on this site. You clearly do not agree with the function and purpose of this site. This is not wikipedia, we do not link externally unless the site being linked to provides some form of information that is well outside the scope of StrategyWiki (trivia, technical support, official homepages, etc.) If you want to provide external links like that, do it on Wikipedia where it will be appreciated.

Now as a courtesy, rather than completely removing your link from the site, I have placed it in the discussion page for the time being. If you can not demonstrate that you can contribute constructively to the site like so many other users do day after day, then you will not be permitted to continue editing. The choice is yours. Personally, I hope you choose to contribute. Procyon 18:48, 21 February 2007 (CST)
 * I noticed you added these links earlier and they were removed. If you believe that your edits should be here, you should begin a discussion before making the edits once again (which you did at Talk:The Legend of Zelda.  What you ended up indirectly locating is that we don't have a written policy on External links.  Please make sure to voice your opinions at the discussion. -- Prod (Talk) 21:31, 21 February 2007 (CST)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl collaboration
Hey Snesmaster, would you like to help out with the Super Smash Bros. Brawl guide when the game comes out. We're working on making it a large collaboration and would be enthusiastic if you could lend support. Check out this community issues section to learn more and put your name here to volunteer. If you know anybody else that would be willing to volunteer, please put a message on their talk page. --Ryan SchmidtTalk - Contribs 18:18, 22 February 2007 (CST)


 * Thanks for the offer to help out on this game. I'm more into the classic NES and SNES games and I don't own a Wii yet.  I will probably get one at somepoint but I have not gotten around to it yet.  Snesmaster

Super Mario Kart Maps
When I was going through the game to see if we even needed the link, I found that we don't have maps for a few of the stages. Why don't you upload the maps we are missing? I believe we are missing: Donut Plains 3, Ghost Valley 3, Choco Island 1, Choco Island 2, Koopa Beach 1, Koopa Beach 2, Vanilla Lake 1, Vanilla Lake 2, and Rainbow Road. I don't mind keeping the external link (but I'm not an admin, so my opinion doesn't really matter), but I think it would be better for the readers if they had the maps on the site itself as well. --Ryan SchmidtTalk - Contribs 16:52, 23 February 2007 (CST)
 * Actually, if you read what people are suggesting to you, we would actually prefer it if you went to the particular stage in question, and directly linked to your maps from that part of the page, instead of having one External Link at the bottom of the cover page, where it does little good. It would make a lot more sense if you add to the end of each stage: "For a full blown map of this stage click here" where here links to one of your maps. Procyon 17:04, 23 February 2007 (CST)
 * Additionally we might want to add a tiny link to the TOC of each level (a.k.a. small tags, parentheses, maybe a dash to separate them). --Notmyhandle 20:57, 23 February 2007 (CST)


 * My knowlege of how to make edits to Strategy Wiki is limited. I know how to edit text, but I have not done much beyond that.  I just uploaded a small view of Choco Island 1.  However I'm not sure how to link it to a new page.  I mainly enjoy making the maps.  I will glady supply them as a resouce.  So if you or anyone else would like to use any images from my website feel free.  I hope this helps.  Snesmaster --21:22, 23 February 2007 (CST)
 * See Guide; btw, you should brush up on HTML as well (you have a site, so you probably know at least a little, all HTML tags work). --Notmyhandle 21:34, 23 February 2007 (CST)

I've started the page for you. Just click the edit link to see how it's done. -- Prod (Talk) 00:24, 24 February 2007 (CST)


 * I uploaded some maps and inserted them into the Super Mario Kart page. Let me know how it looks and if I should do the rest of them in the same way.  Snesmaster

Image categorisation
I see you've been uploading a few images lately. When doing so, could you please make sure to categorise them using the correct image categories? The image policy is viewable here, and contains all the information you'll need to categorise future uploads. --DrBob (Talk) 07:53, 24 February 2007 (CST)


 * Thanks for the tip, I added the map category for the maps I uploaded. Snesmaster
 * Good job. The maps look nice! :-) --DrBob (Talk) 08:51, 24 February 2007 (CST)

A request for maps
Hello Snesmaster. I have a question for you. Would you have any interest in capturing stage maps for the Gyromite guide that I'm about to start? There is currently no known resource for this (although I'm sure there's very little demand as well), so SW would be the first. Please let me know if you're interested. Procyon 15:03, 26 February 2007 (CST)


 * That game brings back lots of great memories. Back in the day the first Nintendo System I got was the Deluxe Set that came with Gyromite and Duck Hunt.  I am currently working on making maps for F-Zero on the SNES, however I could take a break on that and do some for Gyromite.  That is one of the games I have thought about mapping.  I have just not gotten to it yet.  Once I get some I will place a link to them on the Gyromite page you are working on.  Then you can upload the maps you want from my map site, and place them in the Gyromite page where you would like them to appear. --Snesmaster 16:29, 26 February 2007 (CST)


 * Thanks Snesmaster. I saw your original response when you posted it here, I troll the recently changed list frequently.  Yeah, if you decide to do maps for the game, let me know.  I pretty much only need something that's the size of the Super Mario Bros. maps, like the ones found here.  They're reduced by 50% with Cubic Interpolation.  But if you just want to make raw images for your site, I'll resize them and upload them here for the guide.  Thanks again.  Procyon 16:25, 27 February 2007 (CST)


 * Kewl, thanks for letting me know you saw the response here. I still have a lot to learn about wiki sites.  I was not sure if I needed to post the reply in your area or if you would know when I replied in mine.  I have a program that lets me do a batch resize.  So I can give you ones at 50% size.  There will be 40 maps for the Normal Mode, and I think 25 maps for the sleep walking mode.  What is the best way for me to get the maps to you when I am done?  I have already started and have mapped out the first 32 levels in Normal Mode.  Once I get the entire normal mode done I will upload those to my website.  Can you do me a favor and place a note on the strategy wiki page with the maps that if they want they can view the full sized maps at my site?  --Snesmaster 17:17, 27 February 2007 (CST)


 * I saved out the first map from Photoshop. As a PNG it is 4 KB in file size.  If I reduce the size by 50% it comes out at 12 KB, because it does anti-aliasing and creates more colors in the image.  The normal size is pretty small it is 384 x 240 at full size.  I will go ahead and upload that one and place it in the SW site for Gyromite.  That way you can see what you have to work with and let me know if you want the rest of the levels in the same format.  Let me know if you have any comments on it.  --Snesmaster 18:48, 27 February 2007 (CST)

Thank you for the Excitebike map link
Hi Snesmaster. Just wanted to thank you for the link to the Excitebike maps. I know that's not my usual M.O., but honestly, I didn't really want to cover each of those tracks in detail. The link to your map provides readers with a way to look at the track layouts without requiring that we put that information into the guide. Some games are worth delving into, and some games just don't merit the work, and I felt Excitebike was one of them. So your link is a welcome addition. I may have some more requests for you in the future. I'll be sure to let you know what game I'm thinking about doing. Take care. Procyon 21:35, 20 March 2007 (CDT)

Moved your link beneath the map.
Hi Snesmaster. I thought the link to your flash map would look more official if it was place directly beneath the map itself. Take a look at it, and if you liked it better the way that you had it, feel free to revert it to your original layout. Just thought it would seem a little more prominent by being right under the map, but it's your call. Procyon (Talk) 20:57, 11 April 2007 (CDT)


 * Looks like a good change to me. Thanks.  --Snesmaster 21:02, 11 April 2007 (CDT)

ActRaiser
Could you upload your ActRaiser maps? They would be quite useful for the guide, thanks. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 21:34, 25 April 2007 (CDT)


 * I added the maps to the ActRaiser page. Feel free to reorganize them to fit into the page the way you would like them to appear.  Also you may modify the images to better fit the guide if needed. --Snesmaster 17:04, 26 April 2007 (CDT)

External links (redux)
I believe the consensus of this very old discusssion was that you would either upload your maps to SW or we would link to the individual maps in their proper places in the guide. However, you've recently added links to your site in External links sections on the main pages of a few guides, even though it's been pointed out that they do little good there. Additionally, the link was completely unnecessary on the Super Mario Bros. page, as the guide already contains images for the all the levels.

Nothing has changed since two years ago. We still want to have all the information on SW itself, and barring that we would love to use links to your website appropriately. This latest batch of edits from you really just appears to be self-promotion on your part, as you didn't even try to incorporate individual links on the guide pages and there was no reason for the Super Mario Bros. one. I can only reiterate what has been previously said to you: you make excellent maps that we would be happy to host and use in the guides. By all means credit yourself and give links to your site in your upload summary, so that everyone will know who contributed the wonderful images. However, we are not a link dumping ground to drum up hits for your website.

Let me or anyone know if you'd like to upload your images like you've done in the past on several guides, or if you need help linking to the individual maps from within the guide. I'll wait to remove the links you've put up, as I'm sure others will want to comment now that this old issue has come up again. - najzere T 17:21, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Sorry about that, Super Mario Bros. Has map chunks for the game but not complete maps.  How would you suggest integrating the complete maps onto this site?  The same case for Castlevania, Castlevania II.  I removed the links for SMB, and the two Castlevania games since they have map chunks.  However I think some players would enjoy being able to get full maps for those games.


 * The Gauntlet Maps are small enough I can upload the maps directly to the Walkthru pages.


 * However for games like Metal Gear, Metroid and some others where most of the maps are extremely huge, I think the external links work best. - Snesmaster 19:36, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * As you say, for smaller images uploading is preferred. How large of a map are we talking about? SW can handle pretty big files, and we have the scrolling map template to help with viewing them on the page. For instance, the map found here is 2,303 × 1,288 pixels, and 140 KB and we have images like this one that is 1.61 MB. If uploading is unmanageable, I'd have to assume we're talking about an image of more than just one area, so linking to it from individual pages may not be useful. In that case there are a few places we could put the link: in an External links section on the main page, as a link on the Walkthrough page or in a separate Appendix page. I don't think anyone is against linking to your site, we just want to exhaust all the other avenues of getting the image into our own hands before that happens. If enough people weigh in here or on one of the guide talk pages, we can apply any consensus to all the guides, otherwise we'll have to bring it up in the Staff Lounge. - najzere T 20:19, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * The Metroid map is: 7680px × 7200px, I think that is one of the biggest maps. The Spy Hunter ones I made are 30000 px high.  That is the largest the version of photoshop I have would allow.  I posted one map up for Gauntlet, and am waiting to see if the current format is good before I do the rest of them.  Snesmaster 20:41, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Hey Rick! Glad to see you around. After you compile the maps, the best way to use them is to label them (using numbers) and discuss key points in the walkthrough. For world maps (like Final Fantasy style), this isn't really necessary; however labels are very nice for pointing out locations and for these maps, the labels don't need to be explained. So, if you want to let others do the writing, contributors like myself will end up modifying your submissions to improve the guides. Oh and if you're taking requests, I'm in need of maps for Batman Returns (NES). -- 23:09, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * I have not played Batman Returns before so I'm not sure how big of a game that is and what would be involved in mapping it. I will get back to you once I have time to check out the game.  Do you want just a simple Background only map, or do you want the map to include sprites?


 * I just checked out the Batman Returns game and it should be fairly easy to map. I will upload some later today for you to check out.  Snesmaster 16:51, 22 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Here are some maps I just finished creating for Batman Returns. Let me know if these work for you and I will do the rest of them when I get a chance. Snesmaster 18:41, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Note: Stage 2-2 Part 4 is exactly the same as Stage 2-2 Part 2, that is why I did not upload an image for it.

Thanks a lot buddy! How do you do it so quickly?! Grabbing sprites isn't a problem for me, so don't worry about that. I just need the maps so I can mark them to show where enemy encounters and secrets are. -- 04:01, 23 April 2009 (UTC)


 * The levels are fairly short and I used a code for invincibility to help me get through the game quicker to map it. It took around 3 or 4 hours to do the above maps and the 3-1 maps I just finished took a little over an hour. Snesmaster 14:27, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Note: Stage 3-1 Part 2 is the same as parts 4 and 6.



Mapping (unrelated to previous discussion)
What sort of process do you use to map games? Do you just play through the game, taking screenshots along the way and then just throw them all together in Photoshop?-- Duke Ruckley Talk 17:51, 22 April 2009 (UTC)


 * That method works for some games. Other games I use Name Table Viewers to get extra graphics that aren't displayed in the game (Or to capture larger areas at once).  I also use an emulator where I can turn off the sprites layer and just capture the backgrounds first, then later I will go back and add in the sprites if desired as well as labels and tips.  The SNES games are more complicated to map because they have multiple layers.  For them I have to capture each layer separately and then piece it all together in Photoshop as well as manipulating some layers so they cover the whole map.  That is due to a small background scrolling at a slower speed then the foreground.  For the NES I use the FCEUX emulator.  For the SNES I use the ZSNES emulator along with a program called vSNES that lets me better capture the layers from Save State Files from the game being mapped.  Snesmaster 18:25, 22 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Ah, thanks! I'm considering trying it out myself, but I'm not sure I'll have the patience to do too many of them.-- Duke  Ruckley Talk 18:27, 22 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Good luck on that. Let me know if you have any questions along the way. Snesmaster 18:33, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Multiple edits
Hi, could you make all the edits to the page at one time instead of separate ones just to add an image? This has two benefits: it keeps the page history cleaner and it prevents the admin from having to patrol a series of tiny edits individually. The "Edit" tab at the top of the page will give you access to the entire page's wikitext, and you can use the "Show preview" button below the edit text box to make sure everything's how you want it before saving. Thanks, that will save a lot of time for us! - najzere T 19:01, 22 April 2009 (UTC)


 * That also saves time for me, thanks, I thought I had to go in each section to do it. Since World 2 did not exist yet, I did all that in one edit. Snesmaster 19:13, 22 April 2009 (UTC)