Help:Contents/Prerelease Rules & Guidelines

This is a sub-page of Help:Contents.

TCRF's prerelease pages document the course of a game's development, and highlight the many changes a title goes through from the time of its conception until its retail release. We strive to be a reliable resource in this regard, providing factual, non-speculative, and well-sourced information that doesn't stray unannounced into rumour or fan speculation.

Prerelease pages examine non-interactive media - magazine previews, promotional screenshots and videos, concept art, and so on - that showcase early versions of games with different content that isn't found within the final game at all, unused or not.

• Games With Prerelease Pages: These games have existing prerelease pages for you to add to.
• Prerelease Content to Expand: This page features a list of information, categorized by game, that has yet to be added to a prerelease page. Some games listed here don't have prerelease pages yet.

Page Setup

1. Prerelease pages don't require bobs or title screen images. These are already covered on the main page for the game in question.
2. Start your article with a {{prerelease}} tag and a general summarizing description of the game's development.
3. Make the first section of the article a development timeline that serves as a chronological overview of the game's development from conception to release.
   • Example: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Prerelease Page - Development Timeline
4. Decide on an organizational structure for your page.
   • Example 1: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Prerelease Page - Organized by Category
   • Example 2: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Prerelease Page - Organized Chronologically
5. Make the last section of the article a reference section.
   • Example: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Prerelease Page

What information can I add?

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!

Add This Stuff

1. Content that is not present in released or leaked versions of the game.

   • Example: Characters, levels, items, objects, cutscenes, audio, text, textures, menus, control schemes, and aspects of gameplay that were later deleted or changed (example).

2. Evidence of debug functions removed from the released or leaked versions of the game.

   • Example: Debug menus, debug functions, level selects.

3. Information about the various changes a game went through during its development.

   • Example: Information sourced from interviews with the game's developers.

4. Multimedia released by a developer or other members of the staff on their social media or in other places.

   • Examples: An artist releasing on their Twitter profile concept art about a released game (example), an animator publishing a YouTube video depicting an animation completely absent from the final game (example), or sprite sheets as JPEG/PNG images published on the developer's personal website.
   • Exception: If the actual untouched raw internal files that were used during the game's development were published, this is Development material instead, in this case you are looking at the wrong set of rules.

Don't Add This Stuff

1. Prerelease articles on newly-released games that don't have a mainspace article yet.

   • Until a game is hacked, there's no way to know if material shown in prerelease footage is still in the final game's files. This information determines whether content is documented on a Prerelease page, or the main article for a game.
   • Example: If Game Name doesn't exist on the wiki, Prerelease:Game Name shouldn't either.
   • Exception: Old games that have been found to have no content worthy for mainspace articles.

2. Content still present in leaked or released versions of the game.

   • This information is already documented on Prototype pages and main articles.
   • Exception: Content that is present but unused in available prototypes or released versions (thereby illustrating that a given asset was used at one point in development), or which is used in a different way than it is in a prototype or released version (such as a voice line being heard in a different context).

3. Content sourced from released raw internal developer material

   • Such information is Development material instead, in this case you are looking at the wrong set of rules. With raw internal developer material we mean, for example, game graphics published as CAD files that were created during the development of a game, not JPEG/PNG images of them that a developer published on their personal website. They have to be converted to a suitable format to be put on a wiki page, of course, but they don't belong in Prerelease.

4. Information about unreleased ROM images for prototypes

   • This includes hoarded prototypes.
   • Exception: Videos or images from someone involved with the game's development (Example).

5. Information about unreleased games or ports

   • We don't document unreleased, unleaked, un-anything games where only prerelease content exists.

Prerelease Images

General Guidelines

Please read the general rules and guidelines about uploading images before noting the specific additions and exceptions laid out here.

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.
   • 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.
2. DO NOT convert a JPG format prerelease image into a PNG. Upload the original JPG file unmodified.
   • Additionally: If the only available image appears to be a PNG converted from JPG or low quality video, make a note of this in the image description.
3. Only add one illustrative screenshot per altered or deleted aspect, unless you are documenting changed or deleted level layouts.
   • For Example: There is no need to archive every existing image of a deleted character.
4. Cropping borders is OK, but don't crop content out of screenshots.
5. When possible, provide the original source for the screenshot using {{source}} tags.
   • For Example: A particular article on IGN, or a particular issue of Official PlayStation Magazine

Prerelease Videos

To learn about uploading videos, and formatting videos on a page, see the Video rules and guidelines.

Who owns the information?

Please see the Ownership of Information page.