06-08-2018, 11:30 AM
Hey guys,
I'm trying to think of a better title for this, but this will do for now. Basically, I'd like to make a list of the major sections we have on the site within each game and their hierarchy. This will also tackle some of the exceptions and will make it easier for submitters to know what section they should list things under. Plus, it will help us organize a bit better.
Not every game will have all of these sections. In fact, most won't.
1. Playable Characters
Let's start with an easy one. This is where the playable characters of the game go. Even if there is only one character, we can label it "Characters" just for uniformity. I was on a kick a few years back and put "Character(s)" for grammar purposes, but it looks dumb, so I'll be changing these back as I find them.
-Depending on genre, this section could also be called "Racers," "Fighters," or something else.
-In some games (Fire Emblem, for example), hero and enemy units may look identical, but with a palette swap. In these rare cases, we can list all of the sheets under a single section called "Units."
2. Non-Playable Characters
This is more in the RPGs and maybe in some Platformers. We should spell out the phrase, because "NPCs" just looks bad on the big banner.
3. Enemies & Bosses
These can be included together, unless there are 1) Several of each (Think Castlevania. Those games have several enemies and several bosses), or enough overlap that combining them makes sense (Like Beat-em-Ups. Those games reuse bosses as normal enemies at points. Splitting Enemies from Bosses in this case can get messy.) If they're split up, Enemies should always be listed before Bosses.
This is where things get messy.
4. Stages & Backgrounds
This can be split up, depending on the layer you're ripping. Let's use Donkey Kong Country 2 as an example.
![[Image: z4Lz6cn.png]](https://i.imgur.com/z4Lz6cn.png)
The red section is the Stage. The stage is anything the player interacts with, like platforms or the ground, or clouds.
The yellow section is the Background. It consists of images that the player does not interact with that are "behind" the physical stage. This could be a single static image, or layer of parallax.
The blue section is rarely used, but is the Foreground. Anything that the player does not interact with, but is positioned "in front" of the stage.
All of these elements could generally be put on a single sheet, but if backgrounds and foregrounds are large and varied enough, they could get their own dedicated sections.
Platformers - Stages, for the most part. We may also have a section for Background and Foregrounds for parallax effects (Ex. Donkey Kong Country)
Fighting Games - Stages (Ex. Mortal Kombat)
Racing Games - Tracks (Ex. Super Mario Kart)
RPGs - There may be separate sections depending on battle transitions, game size, etc. For the most part, it will be called "Maps," but we could also see "Battle Backgrounds." (Ex. Final Fantasy 4)
5. Tile Sets
Tile Sets are just background tiles, but not as intuitive to use. Naturally they'd be right next to the regular Backgrounds section.
6. Special Effects
Some games use all kinds of complicated Special Effects. These are mostly RPGs. Earthbound is a good example of a game with a big special effects section.
7. Cutscenes
Some games, like Metroid Fusion or Phantasy Star can have several cinematic cutscenes. This is a rare section for pixelated games, but some do exist! We could theoretically put things like "Introduction" and "Ending" is this section if there are multiple components for each.
8. (Sub Games)
The name of this section will vary depending on the game. For Sonic 3, it is called "2-Player Competition." In Mario and Luigi (3DS), it is called "Minion Mode." This keeps the main game from becoming cluttered with unnecessary sheets.
9. Miscellaneous
Everything else. This, in most cases, will be the last section on any given page. This is where "Introduction" and "Items" and "HUD," etc. go. This is also where a single "Special Effects" would go if there aren't enough sheets for a whole section. The general idea is that if the Miscellaneous section is too big, there are probably ways to make the page look cleaner.
10. Unused Content
Things that didn't make it into the final game. They're not a part of the accessible game, so they get their own section.
For a good example, look at Chrono Trigger.
NOTES:
Compilations
Some games, such as "Mario All-Stars" or "Mega Man: The Wily Wars" are actually several games in one cartridge. In these cases, we should split the games into their own sections. A single section would be too enormous to navigate.
(This post will be updated)
I'm trying to think of a better title for this, but this will do for now. Basically, I'd like to make a list of the major sections we have on the site within each game and their hierarchy. This will also tackle some of the exceptions and will make it easier for submitters to know what section they should list things under. Plus, it will help us organize a bit better.
Not every game will have all of these sections. In fact, most won't.
1. Playable Characters
Let's start with an easy one. This is where the playable characters of the game go. Even if there is only one character, we can label it "Characters" just for uniformity. I was on a kick a few years back and put "Character(s)" for grammar purposes, but it looks dumb, so I'll be changing these back as I find them.
-Depending on genre, this section could also be called "Racers," "Fighters," or something else.
-In some games (Fire Emblem, for example), hero and enemy units may look identical, but with a palette swap. In these rare cases, we can list all of the sheets under a single section called "Units."
2. Non-Playable Characters
This is more in the RPGs and maybe in some Platformers. We should spell out the phrase, because "NPCs" just looks bad on the big banner.
3. Enemies & Bosses
These can be included together, unless there are 1) Several of each (Think Castlevania. Those games have several enemies and several bosses), or enough overlap that combining them makes sense (Like Beat-em-Ups. Those games reuse bosses as normal enemies at points. Splitting Enemies from Bosses in this case can get messy.) If they're split up, Enemies should always be listed before Bosses.
This is where things get messy.
4. Stages & Backgrounds
This can be split up, depending on the layer you're ripping. Let's use Donkey Kong Country 2 as an example.
The red section is the Stage. The stage is anything the player interacts with, like platforms or the ground, or clouds.
The yellow section is the Background. It consists of images that the player does not interact with that are "behind" the physical stage. This could be a single static image, or layer of parallax.
The blue section is rarely used, but is the Foreground. Anything that the player does not interact with, but is positioned "in front" of the stage.
All of these elements could generally be put on a single sheet, but if backgrounds and foregrounds are large and varied enough, they could get their own dedicated sections.
Platformers - Stages, for the most part. We may also have a section for Background and Foregrounds for parallax effects (Ex. Donkey Kong Country)
Fighting Games - Stages (Ex. Mortal Kombat)
Racing Games - Tracks (Ex. Super Mario Kart)
RPGs - There may be separate sections depending on battle transitions, game size, etc. For the most part, it will be called "Maps," but we could also see "Battle Backgrounds." (Ex. Final Fantasy 4)
5. Tile Sets
Tile Sets are just background tiles, but not as intuitive to use. Naturally they'd be right next to the regular Backgrounds section.
6. Special Effects
Some games use all kinds of complicated Special Effects. These are mostly RPGs. Earthbound is a good example of a game with a big special effects section.
7. Cutscenes
Some games, like Metroid Fusion or Phantasy Star can have several cinematic cutscenes. This is a rare section for pixelated games, but some do exist! We could theoretically put things like "Introduction" and "Ending" is this section if there are multiple components for each.
8. (Sub Games)
The name of this section will vary depending on the game. For Sonic 3, it is called "2-Player Competition." In Mario and Luigi (3DS), it is called "Minion Mode." This keeps the main game from becoming cluttered with unnecessary sheets.
9. Miscellaneous
Everything else. This, in most cases, will be the last section on any given page. This is where "Introduction" and "Items" and "HUD," etc. go. This is also where a single "Special Effects" would go if there aren't enough sheets for a whole section. The general idea is that if the Miscellaneous section is too big, there are probably ways to make the page look cleaner.
10. Unused Content
Things that didn't make it into the final game. They're not a part of the accessible game, so they get their own section.
For a good example, look at Chrono Trigger.
NOTES:
Compilations
Some games, such as "Mario All-Stars" or "Mega Man: The Wily Wars" are actually several games in one cartridge. In these cases, we should split the games into their own sections. A single section would be too enormous to navigate.
(This post will be updated)