Difference between revisions of "Editing Rules"

Revision as of 13:35, 24 February 2015

Home Page

• News
  • Everyone is encouraged to post in the News section. Acceptable posts include anything related to the videogame music industry. You can post when new official soundtracks have been released, when composers have been interviewed, when podcasts have been published, when interesting remixes have some out, etc. This list should be limited to 5 news updates. So, each time you add an update, delete the bottom one. If possible, add a link to any relevant pages in the Wiki so the news item isn't lost as the stories cycle through. New additions to the Wiki should be placed in the Latest Updates section.
• Latest Soundtracks
  • This section is for newly recorded soundtracks. Each time a new recording has been uploaded, add a picture of the game's box with the title below. If the game doesn't have a box, you may use the VGMPF album art, or a screenshot. This section should contain 6 games.
• Latest Updates
  • This section showcases major Wiki updates including updated or re-recorded soundtracks, and any other new or majorly updated pages. Limit this list to 8.

Music Submission

Games

• All games must be at least 10-years-old
  • The majority of videogame soundtracks are still owned by their respective copyright holders, and a decade-long buffer will help alleviate legal issues. We will comply with all copyright holders and remove their intellectual property as soon as possible if they ask.
  • This rule can be ignored only if the music's copyright holder has given expressed permission to the VGMPF to showcase their music.
  • Games that are not covered under copyright (freeware, GPL, or public domain) do not require a 10-year buffer.
• Songs MUST be recorded from the game
  • The VGMPF does not allow tracks from official soundtrack CDs, remixes, arrangements, etc.

Audio Format

• Music MUST be recorded into Ogg Vorbis format
  • For a full explanation, see the Vorbis Tutorial.
  • Songs should be encoded with a quality level of 4 ( -q4 ).
  • It is recommended that you keep your original recordings in FLAC format in order to have a lossless master file to work with.
• Strive for the most accurate sound
  • Because this site is meant to preserve videogame music as a historic media, all music should be recorded using the software that offers sound quality most accurate to the original.
• Update the file's meta data
  • Meta data gives listeners important information about the track.
  • It also lets you use the Make List program to quickly generate the Wiki code.

Track Layout

• Use the following naming convention for Ogg files
  • "Track - Game Title - Platform - Song Title.ogg" The track should be two digits with leading zeroes, and the platform is all caps.
  • For example: "05 - Chrono Trigger - SNES - Green Memories.ogg"
  • For games that support multiple hardware outputs, add a disc number to the file name and put the highest-quality output first.
  • For example:
    • 102 - Ultima 6 - DOS - Ultima Theme.ogg (Roland MT-32 recording)
    • 202 - Ultima 6 - DOS - Ultima Theme.ogg (AdLib recording)
    • 302 - Ultima 6 - DOS - Ultima Theme.ogg (Creative Music System recording)
• Timing is important
  • In order to offer a nice listening length, music that is looped in a game should be recorded with two loops (one full play through, and then one full loop) and then a fade out of the first ten seconds of the third loop. However, if a single loop is over 2 minutes long, then don't bother with the second loop, just have a ten second fade out when the second loop starts. This will keep songs at a tolerable length.

Recordings

Rips

• See Editing Rules: Rips.

Graphics

• Screenshots must be in PNG format at the same resolution of the game in native mode (do not use scalers, anti-aliasing, color enhancement, etc.). Temporary screenshots in JPG can be added, but they should be edited and given the "Needs Pixel Perfect Screenshot" category.
• Box scans must be in JPG format. Large scans that are clean from watermarks are preferred. If a box is low-quality or has a watermark, you should give it a "Needs Cleaner Box Art" category.

VGMPF Album Art

• VGMPF Album Art

Albums

• If the album contains music from more than one game, include a "Game" column in the track list table.

Companies

• See Editing Rules: Companies

Formats

Icons

• Format icons must use the existing template (the dog-eared sheet with a graphic and extension letters at the bottom).
• Icons must be in PNG format with a transparent background.
• The font used is Verdana, 12pt, bold.
• The extension text must be 3 pixels from the bottom and centered horizontally.
• The icon graphic should be related the format in some way:
  • If the format was used by a particular company, use their logo, like Origin's M format.
  • If the format is used to store a console's audio format, use a console-related graphic, like the NSF format for Nintendo games and the USF format for Nintendo 64 games.
  • If the format was only used in a single game, use a graphic from the game, like God of Thunder's GOT format.
  • For generic formats, just try to use a graphic that is fitting to the format, like the HMI format or the RAW format.
• You can download icon templates for Adobe Photoshop (PSD), GIMP (XCF), Corel Photo-Paint (CDR), and standard PNG.

Games

Each format should have a Games section to list which games utilize the format and give samples of how the format sounds. The list should be sorted by release date to showcase the changing quality of the format. For formats with high numbers of games like MIDI, list no more than 20 games. To decide which games should be included in the list, take into account these points:

• The first game to use the format should always be included.
• So should the last game (for obsolete formats).
• Games that were particularly influential (with high ratings on MobyGames).
• Those with particularly impressive soundtracks (this is subjective, so make sure the community agrees).

Games

• The game description should be brief detailing the style of game play and the plot.
• The music descriptions should detail the genres covered, the software/hardware used to make the music, game-specific composer information, and any special information about the music itself. Detailed information should be put into the individual song pages.
• The rip description should include the method used for extracting the music from the game's data files and the player used to record the soundtrack.
• The first screenshot should always be the title screen.
• Remaining screenshots should cover different sections of early game play including menus, dialog, action, etc. Try to avoid spoilers and limit yourself to 6 screenshots on the game page. Additional screenshots can be used on the individual song pages when they get made.
• Audio credits should be listed as they appear in the game, where applicable. Real names should be added when an alias is used by a composer.
• Release information should display the full publication name found at mobygames.com (e.g., Nintendo should be listed as "Nintendo, Co., Ltd." or "Nintendo of America, Inc.", not just "Nintendo")
• Accurate release dates can be obtained from gamefaqs.com

People

• See Editing Rules: People

Platforms

• Each platform should begin with a brief description of the hardware, with primary focus on the audio capabilities.

Software

• See Editing Rules: Software

Songs

• See Editing Rules: Songs

Series

• See Editing Rules: Series

Date Format

The VGMPF uses the ISO 8601 standard for date layouts. That is YYYY-MM-DD, numbers have leading zeroes and they're separated by hyphens. So, the American format of July 15, 2013 should look like, 2013-07-15. In the past, the date hasn't had a specific format, so editors are encouraged to update any old formats.

Dates In Tables

When dates are displayed in a table, such as a composer's gameography or a chronological list on a series page, use the following rules:

• Less precise dates should be listed after precise dates. For example: 1991-05-06, 1991-09-20, 1991-09-??, 1991-??-??.
• Games released on the same date should be alphabetically sorted by title unless a game is known to have been released before another.
• These rules should only be broken when a game is known to have been released before another despite their missing precision. When games are sorted outside of the expected order above, make a note in the Discussion page to explain why.