Difference between revisions of "Editing Rules"

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(Music Submission)
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** 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 to remove their intellectual property if they ask.
 
** 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 to remove their intellectual property 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.
 
** This rule can be ignored only if the music's copyright holder has given expressed permission to the VGMPF to showcase their music.
** Also, freeware games, or games in the public domain<!-- What the..?! There are '''no''' games in a public domain, because the most authors of it as still alive, and another died less then 70 years ago (the copyright law protect author during his life and 50 - 100 years after his death in the different conuntries)! But the first game was created in 1947. So there are only games under the licensions like GNU GPL and the games under the copyright. There are only music in a public domine, not games. I think, this moment needs some corrections.--> do not need a 10-year buffer.
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** Also, freeware games, or games in the '''public domain'''<!-- What the..?! There are '''no''' games in a public domain, because the most authors of it as still alive, and another died less then 70 years ago (the copyright law protect author during his life and 50 - 100 years after his death in the different conuntries)! But the first game was created in 1947. So there are only games under the licensions like GNU GPL and the games under the copyright. There are only music in a public domine, not games. I think, this moment needs some corrections.--> do not need a 10-year buffer.
 
* '''Songs MUST be recorded from the game'''
 
* '''Songs MUST be recorded from the game'''
 
** The VGMPF does not allow tracks from official soundtrack CDs, remixes, arrangements, etc.
 
** The VGMPF does not allow tracks from official soundtrack CDs, remixes, arrangements, etc.
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===Rips===
 
===Rips===
 
* See [[Editing Rules: Rips]].
 
* See [[Editing Rules: Rips]].
 
  
 
==Graphics==
 
==Graphics==

Revision as of 05:03, 20 October 2014

Home Page

  • News
    • News includes any topical posts about the videogame music industry. You can post when new official soundtracks have been released, when composers have been interviewed, when podcasts have been published, etc. New additions to the Wiki should be placed in the Latest Updates section. This list should be limited to 5 news updates. So, each time you add an update, delete the bottom one. You should also add a link to any relevant pages in the Wiki so the news item isn't lost as the stories cycle through.
  • Latest Soundtracks
    • This section is only for new 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. Limit this to 6 games.
  • Latest Updates
    • This section is to showcase major updates. Any major updates other than new soundtracks should be added here. This includes updated or re-recorded soundtracks, new composers or majorly updated composers, new formats or players, etc. Limit this list to 5.

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 to remove their intellectual property 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.
    • Also, freeware games, or games in the public domain do not need 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.

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

Albums

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

Companies

Composers

  • Games should be sorted by date unless the composer is not primarily a videogame music composer, in which case, games should be sorted by title. For example, Koji Kondo is primarily a videogame music composer, so his games should be sorted by date, but Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle was not a videogame music composer, so his contributions are sorted by title.

Formats

Icons

Use this template for making new format 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

  • 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

Platforms

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

Software

Songs

Title

The source of the song's title should be included if it has an official name. If no official title exists, use either "Game Location", "File Name", or "Game Title" for the origin and note that the title is unofficial. List any popular unofficial titles as well. For example, the Secret of Mana song Fear of the Heavens receives its official title from the USA soundtrack. However, before the USA release, a popular bootleg existed with the title "Angel's Fear".

Length

The length of the song should be the rip's length at a single play rounded to the nearest hundredth of a second. For example, the son Bionic Commando Theme is 1:03.92835 seconds long, but is rounded to 1:03.93. The length in the song page should not include the additional length of the loops or the fadeout (unless the fadeout is part of the original song). The recording of the Bionic Commando Theme, with the second loop and the fadeout is 2:19 long, but the song page lists it's length as 1:03.93.

Description

The description of the song should include the following:

  • A musical review of the song including which instruments are used and what musical genre the song can be assigned to. For songs made before instruments were possible, try to guess at what the composer was going for.
  • Where in the game this song can be heard.
  • How the song was ripped from the game, and its internal file name if applicable.
  • Any quotes from the composer about the song.
  • If the song has lyrics, include them.
  • Any sheet music or tabs that can be found should be included.
  • Links to orchestrated versions, covers, remixes, can be added as well.

Screenshot

Each song should have a screenshot from every major section of the game where the song is played. For example, if a song is played during the title screen, level 4, and level 7, there should be a screenshot of the title screen, and from levels 4 and 7. Limit spoilers unless it's unavoidable, for example, ending music.


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.