Help:Contents/Prerelease Rules & Guidelines

Prerelease pages are meant to document the changes a game went through during development. They catalogue the differences between the early, unreleased versions of a game, and its final version. Check out the Content to Expand section for ideas on what needs to be covered.

Add This Stuff

 * 1) Content that is not present in released or leaked versions of the game.
 * 2) * Example: Characters, levels, items, objects, cutscenes, audio, text, textures, menus, control schemes, and aspects of gameplay that were later deleted or changed.
 * 3) Evidence of debug functions removed from the released or leaked versions of the game.
 * 4) * Example: Debug menus, debug functions, level selects.
 * 5) Information about the various changes a game went through during its development.
 * 6) * Example: Information sourced from interviews with the game's developers.

Don't Add This Stuff

 * 1) Prerelease articles on newly-released games that don't have a mainspace article yet.
 * 2) * Example: If New Game doesn't exist on the wiki, Prerelease:New Game shouldn't either. This is because, until the game is hacked, we have no way of knowing if the material shown in the prerelease footage is still contained within the final game's files. This determines whether it should be documented on the Prerelease page or the main game page.
 * 3) Multiple screenshots or videos depicting the same thing.
 * 4) * Unless you are documenting changed or deleted level layouts, only one screenshot or video clip is needed to illustrate something that was changed or deleted. Choose wisely.
 * 5) Content still present in leaked or released versions of the game.
 * 6) * This information is already documented on Prototype and main game pages.
 * 7) Fan games and hacks.
 * 8) * Please don't add information about amateur games and hacks created by you or others. If you're not sure, ask an admin.
 * 9) User-generated content.
 * 10) * TCRF is not a place to advertise your own content. This includes videos and sites not directly related to the material covered here.

Grammar/Spelling
Endeavor to use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation at all times. Some mistakes are forgivable, especially if English is not your first language, but please do your best to check over your writing before you save the page!

If you're terrible at spelling and grammar, try pasting the text you write into a word processor or an online spellchecker like SpellCheckPlus before submitting it to TCRF. It will help you fix it up!

Speculation
Avoid speculation in Prerelease articles. Ensure that there is ample evidence for your assertions.

"Alpha" & "Beta"
The terms "alpha" and "beta" are often misused, so we discourage their use on the wiki. Please use "early", "unused", or "prerelease" instead.

Other Rules
Except for the rules about what to add and what to avoid that are specific to Prerelease pages, TCRF's regular rules and guidelines also apply. Don't forget to read them, too!

General Guidelines

 * 1) When choosing which image to add to the article, always pick the the highest quality image available, preferably one without watermarks or other alterations.
 * 2) * Tip: Use a search engine with a reverse image function to help you find the best-quality version of a picture. TinEye and Google Image Search are both capable of this. To reverse image search with Google, follow the instructions here, then click "search by image" and "all sizes" if multiple results turn up.
 * 3) Only add one illustrative screenshot per altered or deleted aspect, unless you are documenting changed or deleted level layouts.
 * 4) * For Example: There is no need to archive every existing image of a deleted character.
 * 5) Cropping borders is OK, but don't crop content out of screenshots.
 * 6) When possible, provide the original source for the screenshot using    tags.
 * 7) * For Example: A particular article on IGN, or a particular issue of Official Playstation Magazine

Uploading Prerelease Images
Before you start:


 * 1) If you're uploading large or high-color PNGs, optimize them using lossless compression before uploading to reduce their size.
 * 2) * Try using PNGCRUSH or IrfanView (via the PNGOUT plugin).
 * 3) Use descriptive filenames.
 * 4) * Include an abbreviation for the game's title. This helps make files easier to identify, and prevents future filename conflicts.
 * 5) ** Example: A Super Mario Bros. 2 screenshot should be called SMB2-deleted_level.png, not deleted_level.png.

In order to upload:


 * 1) Click "Upload file" under the Toolbox heading on the left sidebar.
 * 2) * You can also click here.
 * 3) Choose a filename and enter it into the Destination Filename box.
 * 4) * Example: OoT-Redead.png
 * 5) Write a description of what you're uploading in the Summary box.
 * 6) * Example: "An early design for the Ocarina of Time."
 * 7) Tag the image appropriately in the Summary box.
 * 8) * Use the tag for magazine scans, the  tag for concept art, and the  tag for everything else.
 * 9) * Example:,  ,

Once you've uploaded a file, it will appear on its own page. Here you can see the file name, the date it was uploaded on, who uploaded it, and which articles link to it.

Due to image caching, when uploading a new version of an image, you may need to refresh the page once or twice afterwards in order for it to appear properly.

Formatting Images
You can learn about formatting images on a page here.

General Guidelines

 * 1) Make sure the video is necessary.
 * 2) * Only use a video if a screenshot wouldn't suffice.
 * 3) When choosing which videos to add to the article, always pick the the highest quality video available, preferably one without watermarks, added music, or other alterations.
 * 4) Wherever possible, ensure that the primary focus of the video is the information in question.
 * 5) Only add one illustrative video per altered or deleted aspect.
 * 6) * For Example: There is no need to archive every existing video showing a deleted item.
 * 7) When possible, provide the original source for the video using    tags.
 * 8) * For Example: An game advertisement shown in movie theatres in 1997, or a particular episode of G4TV
 * 9) Provide a text summary of what is in the video.
 * 10) * Remember to indicate what the viewer should be watching for.
 * 11) If you come across a dead video link, replace or remove it.

Uploading & Formatting Prerelease Videos
To learn about uploading videos, and formatting videos on a page, see here.

Who owns the information?
All content taken directly from video games is copyright its original or current owners and included here under the fair use clause of US copyright law, for the purposes of scholarship and research.


 * Information contributed to the wiki by its users is published under the Creative Commons Attribution Unported 3.0 (cc-by) license. This means that TCRF's contributors continue to own the copyright on their work, but have offered others the opportunity to share and adapt their content for any purpose. In return, the authors must be attributed for their work.

It is important to note that TCRF is a community-based wiki. Anyone can write, fix, change, or contribute to articles. Don't be surprised when other users edit an article you've written to improve its accuracy and clarity, fix grammar, spelling, or formatting issues, or add more information.

If you want to start work on a Prerelease article, but you aren't ready for other people to edit it, you can put it on a sub-page. Visit User Sub-Pages for more information.