StrategyWiki:Staff lounge/2006/November

Wikibooks VfD heads up
Someone apparently got permission from nintendo magazine to upload their stuff onto wikibooks... it's on VfD now (I nominated it). I think the guy is actually typing the stuff in by hand, so I was hoping you folks might be willing to host his efforts. SB johnny 18:26, 2 November 2006 (CST)


 * Er... could you perhaps provide a link to the content? Thanks, Procyon 19:01, 2 November 2006 (CST)
 * Here's the link. If he actually got permission, that would be cool :D. I've got a few of them lying around somewhere, and some character recognition would probably do wonders..if we're allowed. -- Prod (Talk) 19:36, 2 November 2006 (CST)
 * OK, but I would rather see the content applied as it pertains to each particular game, not as a page-by-page magazine. In other words, rather than having Super Mario Bros. 2 be presented as Issue 1 page 6 through whatever, it should simply be part of the Super Mario Bros. 2 guide.  I guess I'll contact him. Procyon 19:52, 2 November 2006 (CST)
 * Currently the suggestion is to move it to wikisource. If we could use their images or information in general throughout the guides, that would be a huge benefit. -- Prod (Talk) 20:41, 2 November 2006 (CST)
 * Oh, here's a link to the author. -- Prod (Talk) 20:04, 2 November 2006 (CST)
 * Got it. Thanks Prod.  Procyon 20:08, 2 November 2006 (CST)
 * NP. -- Prod (Talk) 20:41, 2 November 2006 (CST)

Redirects
I'm working on a guide for Advance wars, and I need to know how to do a redirect so that I can link the names such as mech to the right name, Advance_Wars:Dual_Strike without turning a word like mech into that long annoying link. --Navy White 15:42, 3 November 2006 (CST)


 * I'm not quite certain I understand what you mean exactly, but if I'm following you right, it sounds like what you mean to type is mech, which would result in the word mech that links to the AW:DS article. Anything that appears after the pipe replaces the name of the link.  Let me know if this is what you were looking for or not.  Procyon 16:00, 3 November 2006 (CST)
 * He's referring to this diff. To set up a redirect, simply use the code #REDIRECT somewhere. However, it's better not to set up redirects at places like mech and infantry.  If more than one guide tries to use the same location (plenty of game's have mech's in them) it becomes a mess.  Just stick with the long names (look through some of the Dominions 3 pages for examples of really long names :P). -- Prod (Talk) 16:24, 3 November 2006 (CST)
 * You can also use relative names. For instance to link to Advance Wars: Dual Strike/COs you can just use ../COs to go up a level in the subpage hierarchy. You can also reach a subpage easily by entering /Page here/, which displays as typed (except without the slashes of course).

~

Questions regarding expansions and patches
Zero Hour is an example of an official expansion pack (to C&C Generals) that can be considered a game on its own (unlike The Sims expansions). It adds four new campaigns, 9 new playable factions, a tremendous amount of new units and weapons and several modifications to the original units, and is launched from a new window. My question is: does Zero Hour get its own article or is it put under the Generals article? Also, if gameplay has been heavily affected by a patch, as is the case with both Generals and Zero Hour, should the information provided be as of the latest patch or the original release?-- JYM 08:22, 15 November 2006 (CST)


 * Hi JYM. This topic has been a matter of discussion lately.  If you truly feel that this expansion pack is so distinct from the parent program that it expands upon, and you truly feel that it deserves its own page, then as the guide's starting author, you can go ahead and start it up as it's own guide.  However, if there is any reason to believe that a majority of the information about the expansion is addressed in the parent guide, what we would ideally like to do is create a section in the parent guide for expansions, while at the same time creating a main page for the expansion title that redirects to the parent guide's expansion page, and also properly categorizes the expansion so that it shows up as a distinct title in the category pages.  Ultimately, you as an authority on the subject can make that call, and from what you described above, it does sound as though this expansion merely uses the C&C engine to present a whole new game, so I would probably go the first route that I suggested and start a brand new guide.  Good luck!  Procyon 09:08, 15 November 2006 (CST)
 * Even non-standalone expansions or versions can be handled separately--see The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest; most of its pages are from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In the case of patches it really depends. If the patch is mandatory (e.g. Halo 2) then there's little reason to cover the old versions, but if the patch was optional and made enough changes that some players stick with the old method separate pages could be used for the affected content (e.g. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Cube recipes). But as Procyon said it's really down to the editors themselves to judge how connected they are. GarrettTalk 13:41, 15 November 2006 (CST)
 * I would say, use both :P. If it's a big "patch"/expansion then have the info under it's own page (such as StarCraft: Brood War) and have a shortcut at StarCraft/Brood War to the actual expansion.  If it's a small one, have StarCraft: Brood War redirect to StarCraft/Brood War.  This way, if the guide for the expansion grows, you can move it to it's own page with minimal cleanup required. -- Prod (Talk) 21:20, 15 November 2006 (CST)


 * It seems that Zero Hour deserves to be set in its own article. Thanks for your help, guys; I'll get started on ZH when I'm done with the Generals article. As for the patches, I'll cover the current versions of both games, but I'll make a note that the guides are written for the latest version (1.8 and 1.4). Eventually I'll throw in a list of severe balancing changes that were made over time with each game.--JYM 08:20, 17 November 2006 (CST)