User talk:Poppy Appletree

Welcome to StrategyWiki!

Hello Poppy Appletree! Welcome to StrategyWiki. Thank you for your contributions. If you have any questions, just contact a sysop through their talk page or post on the staff lounge, and they'd be happy to help. If you need help editing, check the StrategyWiki Guide or ask a sysop, we're usually around. On the other hand, if you have ideas for StrategyWiki, bring them up on the forums. To keep up-to-date with the goings on of the wiki, consider adding the noticeboard to your watchlist.

Please remember to sign your name when leaving comments on talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. Feel free to delete this message from your talk page if you like, or keep it for reference. Happy editing! — Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 00:04, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Patrolling edits and Ecco

Hi Poppy! I will definitely get around to your edits soon. I have about five days worth of edits to look at. We call this process "patrolling" (it is a function of MediaWiki), which is reserved for admins. Are you familiar with wikis? --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:26, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Since you asked so nicely, I am taking a look now. If I add additional sections to this talk page, it is to reduce the time I spend talking about different subjects. I.e. preload buttons are used to make new page setups fast and simple so I don't have to add the necessary templates we require for different page types. Oh - I removed the "Cold Water" header from the page because the title of the page is cold water. If you can come up with a sub-section, like a save point, boss fight, or significant area that would make sense - those are great places for headers. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

I could never get far in Ecco - the first level baffles me. I have access to it via the Genesis collection on Xbox 360, which is an emulated version of the original. I see that the 3DS has different graphics. I wonder if there are other differences. If you can, note all of the menus and options on the start page, and controls on the controls page. Thanks for your help! --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:43, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

I'm duplicating this here so you get notified. Yeah that sounds about right. Wherever there is a significant gate, a header makes sense to break up the text. These spaces make it way easier to read through a guide. Also, after 3 headers are present on a page, the table of contents will appear, which is a handy tool I assume you have used before to skip down to the part of the page you want to be at. Can you take screenshots with the 3DS? That would be really helpful, too. Note that since you will be the first author for Ecco, and it will be from the 3DS' perspective, later on Genesis players may add in the pertinent information for that version. It is difficult to keep version differences noted, but it is important so we will do our best. At some point a version differences page may be helpful to point out the major nuances. Minor details in the walkthrough can often be noted with {{sidebar}} if you know how to use templates. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 01:09, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

So screenshots are part of fair use. Also, no video game company has ever attacked someone/sent a cease and desist for using screenshots. Sites like GameFAQs and RPGGamer.com have had them online for like 15+ years. For the most part, we serve to help video game companies by providing advertisements to them in the form of information about the game. Our free guides are especially beneficial for indie games who would never have a published guide (like Prima does for big titles). Anyways, don't worry about uploading them here. The more the better!

If you can take Eccolocation screenshots, those maps are beneficial, especially if you take the picture when you are at the spot that you are talking about in the guide. That way people can find where they need to go. As far as maps are concerned, I make my maps by piecing together 20+ screenshots. It is a really slow process, so I only do it on my favorite games. The other way is to use software extraction tools. These are extremely technical and difficult. I am a computer guy, and I have a lot of trouble figuring it out. Snesmaster (talk · contribs) is a pro at it, but hasn't made any new maps in a while (or been active here). His websites are really useful and he has been a great addition to this wiki. You can check out his NES and SNES maps out, here: http://www.snesmaps.com/ --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 16:07, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

You can make adjustments to the table of contents at Ecco the Dolphin/Table of Contents (or click the Table of Contents link from the Header Nav at the top of each page). If you need a page renamed, put {{rename|reason}} at the top and an admin will take care of it. For the scrolling level, the best final revision would be to have a full map of the whole thing, with each enemy/danger marked on it, and a text description to go along with it. Basically, just list the dangers in order as best you can. Or, a general strategy for dangers that may occur and how to evade them. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:08, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

Good job on categorizing the image correctly! However, you misspelled Ecco as "Echo". There is already Category:Ecco the Dolphin images (the box art on the front page is in that category, too). Is the game spelled "Echo" on the 3DS? --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:14, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

When it comes to writing walkthroughs for auto-scrolling levels, focus on the highlights, or the moments when the player is in more danger than usual. Maps aren't entirely necessary, but screenshots are very helpful. Check out the Gradius and Life Force guides for examples of guides about scrolling shooters. Procyon 22:22, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

When all else fails, you can supplement the material with a youtube video of a successful playthrough of the level. We use {{YouTube}} to add a sidebar for that. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:18, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

Preload buttons

The preload buttons.

In order to keep pages on the wiki neat and uniform, we employ certain formatting and templates to help us accomplish this. When creating a new page, please use one of the preload buttons located above the edit text box (e.g. click on "Guide page" to add {{Header Nav}} to the top and {{Footer Nav}} to the bottom), which will insert the needed templates and formatting for you. These templates are very handy because they include the templates that are required for each page type. If you are unsure about how to use them, or what pages to use them on, please let me know. Thanks for keeping the wiki organized! — Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:40, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Category:3D Classics

If you are able to look it up on your 3DS, can you add the remaining list of games to this page? I've added the ones we have so far. Thanks! --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:37, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

You can note these naming differences on the category page and each individual game. Try to be specific. E.g., the in-game title may not be adjusted, but for marketing purposes they may have come up with this alternate name, which is fine to include, but be clear about how they present it. You probably won't be able to tell until you buy the game(s) yourself. It appears too confusing, and there are not enough references to know without looking at it hands-on. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 19:15, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

Also, we can add alternate images/logos to an artwork section on the main page, like I did with Ecco's 3DS e-shop logo. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 19:15, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

Alternate strategies

It's much easier if you just add your method to the page at the bottom with a section header to separate it from the original work. Then an admin such as myself can review the work and possibly integrate it into a single solution. It is not uncommon to end up with one or two alternate strategies. If I were to go through and add my own way it would be completely different (I usually challenge myself to beat Mega Man games with just the Buster, excluding boss weapon immunities).

So, the alternate strategy could either be like:

Alternate strategy

Alt text.

Sometimes, if we are inside several headers, it looks better to just use:

Alternate strategy

Alt text

--Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 02:10, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Feel free to add more information to pages where it is missing. We try to avoid duplicate information on pages, but boss weaknesses and how much damage each attack does is extremely important. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 02:11, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

You're free to add strategies to any page that you like. Whole-sale rewrites of a page are generally discouraged unless:

• A: The page was a stub, and the information provided was skeletal at best or
• B: You plan to incorporate what was already said in your rewrite so that the gist of the original information is not lost.

The idea behind not fully spelling out each boss' weakness until absolutely necessary is an attempt to keep the guide spoiler-free. Obviously, a walkthrough is full of spoilers, but my philosophy was to try not to ruin the fun of discovering the boss' weakness through the reader's own efforts. Obviously, the information is present if you click "Show" on the spoiler box below the boss description. But some players like to figure it out on their own and I didn't want to spoil that for them.

Lastly, when rewriting any of the strategies, be aware of the fact that every player plays differently, and that you're writing for a general audience. If your strategies are very intricate, try to make the information consumable to the average reader. Beyond that, you're good to go. Procyon 03:23, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

I think you replied to the wrong person... but I'll read what you had to say on NMH's page. Procyon 03:59, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Well, I'm not sure why you think it's too difficult to avoid Ice Man's attacks, all you have to do is jump over the low flying shots, the other two will go right over Mega Man's head. But by all means, please introduce your strategies to the page. I don't feel that any of the strategies present are by any means useless. They weren't helpful to you, but they may still be helpful to others. Some players like a brute-force method, while others prefer to minimize damage, etc. Since StrategyWiki is all about collaboration, anything that you can add to the page will make it more suitable for players of all types, than just those who might find the strategies I presented useful. In other words, there's no one right answer. Don't be afraid to edit the pages. That's what this site is here for. Procyon 04:12, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

This is the whole reason alternate strategies exist. Your opinion is that your strategy is best. Each person will value the following differently: behaviors/motions/paths used, special powers used, and amount of time spent. Each strategy is valid, regardless of your opinion. There is no single strategy that makes others worthless or invalid. There are minimalist strategies, general strategies, challenge strategies, speed run strategies, etc. They can all coexist on the same page with the proper formatting. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 06:46, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Ah, I see. This is more of an issue with duplicate info. Your strategy, given the circumstances, sounds like a good way to re-write that section (I am now looking at the two pages: Wiley Fortress 4 and Ice Man). However, to make sure we don't lose effective information, we will reference the boss sections (on their respective level pages) and make sure the skill-based info is written and preserved there. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 17:14, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Uploading pictures without writing a guide

Hey, I saw your new comment on NMH's page, and I'm awake, so I figured I'd respond to this as well. It's generally not a good idea to simply upload screenshots if you're not taking ownership of placing them somewhere in a guide. If you don't do the write up for the guide, these images are likely to become "lost" or labelled as images with no home, which we typically try to cleanup or delete. If you see someone writing a guide for the game, and want to contribute and insert those images, by all means, please do so. But if you just want to upload the files for them to hang around until someone needs them, chances are they won't get used the way you intended them to. Procyon 04:18, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

That said, we can put that picture on the "Items" page (all Zelda games have an equipment/items page). --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 06:46, 20 January 2014 (UTC)