Codex Gamicus:Manual of Style

This page is to help users become familiar with page creation and style.

Style Notes

Do Not Personalize

At Codex Gamicus, we uphold the highest possible quality of writing we can achieve. As such take these things into consideration:

• Use few if at all, "to be" verbs (am, are, was, were, be, being, to be).
• Do not use contractions (don't, won't, shouldn't, etc.).
• Do not use first person and second person personal pronouns (I, we, you, etc.). Only in certain cases of subpages may these pronouns be used.
• Instead of saying "__one" "person" etc., say "the player".
• Use "their/them" over using "s/he" or "him/her".
• Use full numbers rather than numerical displays (i.e. use "twenty-one" rather than "21"). The only exception to this are dates.
• Years in prose should be treated as religion-neutral; "1000 A.D." should be represented as "1000 CE" or "1000 C.E.". "C.E." stands for "Common Era", and relates to the start of what Christianity considers the years after the birth of Jesus Christ. Likewise, "4000 BC" should be represented as "4000 BCE" or "4000 B.C.E."; "B.C.E." stands for "Before Common Era", and refers to the period of what Christianity considers the years before the birth of Jesus Christ. However, we do not change names of video games, so Anno 1602 A.D. would continue to use this system, the main body of the article would use the alternative.

Italicize Game Titles

Whenever a game title appears in regular text, it should be italicized, and on the first use, linked. On the wiki, simply place two apostrophes on each side of the game name to accomplish this.

''Game Title''

If the game's title is being linked, put the apostrophes *outside* the brackets, as such.

''[[Game Title]]''

Note that if you using the game title as a parameter to a template, such as this example:

{{Navigation | name = Juiced}}

You must not italicize the title, as it will cause the resulting link to go to a non-existent page.

Creating a Game Info page

This section will lead you through creating your first game information page.

Infoboxes

First, add an infobox. Go to the GameInfobox template and copy and paste the section where it says "Copy and paste". Add this to the top of your new page. The infobox template page contains detailed descriptions of each field; fill in as much information as you can.

Once you have done this, you can later use the links on the bottom of the infobox if you have cheats, codes, walkthroughs, credits, or soundtrack information. Those should be used where possible; the main articles are intended for more encyclopedic information, such as descriptions of the gameplay, history of the development, controversies surrounding the game, and the like, not for GameFAQs type information.

Type

This doesn't usually need to be filled out; it will default to Video Game. In general, this will only need to be entered for the following:

• DLC
• Soundtracks (though this may change soon)
• Expansion Packs
• Standalone Expansion Packs
• Demos
• Non-video games (such as Board games)

Release dates

When the infobox is added and you fill in the release date(s), you should enter the information as follows. Assume an example date of November 8, 2005. The text should use Template:Release:

{{Release|2005|November|8}}

The template also supports regions. For example, if the title was released in North America, it would look like this:

{{Release|2005|November|8|NA}}

If the month and/or year is missing, the data can be omitted, but if the year is used, the format of the template must not change, and would look like this:

{{Release|2005|||NA}}

The fifth option is support for platforms, which automatically displays the platform(s) above the date. The template would look something like this:

{{Release|2005|November|8|NA|Genesis}}

Template:Release automatically supports the linking of the year in the format of [[2005 in video gaming|2005]].

The release dates themselves are entered with multiple variables; na_rel, for example, covers North American releases, which are normally treated as a blanket release date for the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as these are the countries governed by the ESRB voluntary video game rating board. The United States also has it's own solitary variable, us_rel, as does Mexico, mx_rel.

eu_rel governs Europe, specifically the European Union, and typically covers countries that are covered by the PEGI rating system.

jp_rel governs Japanese releases, and covers games assigned an EOCS or CERO rating.

au_rel governs Australian releases, and covers games assigned an OFLCA or ACB rating.

de_rel governs German releases, and covers games assigned a USK rating.

uk_rel governs British releases, and covers games assigned a BBFC rating.

ga_rel governs Irish releases, and covers games assigned an IFCO rating.

nz_rel governs New Zealand releases, and covers games assigned an OFLCZA rating.

sk_rel governs South Korean releases, and covers games assigned a KMRB rating.

br_rel governs Brazilian releases, and covers games assigned a DJCTQ rating.

There are other countries covered, such as France (fr_rel), India (id_rel), Indonesia (in_rel), the Netherlands (nl_rel), Spain (es_rel), and Vietnam (vi_rel).

Editions

At Codex Gamicus, we cover special editions of games separately, as they tend to have different release dates, and where possible, a video game article should have one singular date for a location/platform Semantic MediaWiki property. A full list of supported editions can be found at Template:GameEditionSwitch.

Ratings

If a game has been assigned a rating by a content rating body, it should be included in the infobox under the rating variable. Please make sure that it follows the standard system, so that ratings display correctly

You can see all of the ratings we support in one place in the RatingSwitch template. For example, for an ESRB rating of E, your text should be as follows.

ESRB-E

Similarly, for a PEGI rating of 12+, the text should appear like so:

PEGI-12+

The rating images are automatically generated, and these link back to the central page for the parent rating organization or content rating system.

Languages

We want to ensure that readers, particularly readers that hail from non-English speaking nations, understand what languages a video game supports. To this end we have the interface, fullaudio and subtitles variables. interface refers to the languages available for the User Interface or Menu System within a game. fullaudio refers to the languages available for spoken audio, while subtitles refer to the languages available for subtitles for spoken audio. These functions support an Array, where multiple inputs are accepted, separated by a comma (,).

Platforms

The system that a video game runs on is referred to here as a platform, and it uses the platforms variable. Like Languages, it supports an array for multiple inputs. We treat operating systems as different platforms; we use "Microsoft Windows", "DOS", "Mac OS", "Mac OS X", and "GNU/Linux" over the catch-all "PC" platform. dplatforms refers to Digital Platforms, such as Steam, Origin, GOG.com, PlayStation Store, the Xbox Games Store, and the Windows Marketplace, where game are available to download from, often for multiple physical systems.

For open-source projects, we also use cplatforms, which stands for Compiled Platforms. These are platforms for which the code can be compiled for the video game to run on, but are not offered as official project releases.

The canplat variable is used for platforms that were planned for a release, but ultimately cancelled.

Input

This is for the "input" devices that are acceptable for the game in question; this also uses an array that accepts multiple inputs separated by a comma (,). For a list of what is supported, please see Template:InputSwitch.

Licenses

Video games, especially open-source ones, can be released under a License, which governs what can be done with the game and/or it's source code. Many commercial games are released under the terms of what is called an End User License Agreement, which dictates a set of legal terms a player must agree to in order to run the software.

Open-source video games (including mods) may be released under an open-source license or equivalent, such as the MIT License or the GNU General Public License. Games may also be released as Freeware, and it is not uncommon for games to have been released as Shareware in the earlier days of gaming.

Features

Features is a wide-ranging system of description for the content type(s) offered by a game or video game. It uses an array, and accepts multiple inputs separated by a comma (,). In general, it is used to describe features such as single-player, multi-player or co-op, and in general shares the same description system as Steam, with a number of additions; it supports Achievements, Trophies, Cloud Saving and more. A complete list can be found at Template:FeaturesSwitch.

VR

VR or, Virtual Reality, is a rapidly-expanding genre of games, and following Steam's lead in showing VR features, the main infobox has been updated to follow suit, under the variables headsets, playarea, vrinput, and vrnotes. Options for the first three can be found at the bottom of Template:FeaturesSwitch, while vrnotes allows plain text.

Sections

After the infobox, briefly describe the game, its' significant aspects, primary release dates, developer(s), publisher(s), and major systems for which it was released. Below this, go into more detail with sections. Some section ideas to consider:

1. Storyline: If there is a great deal of information, make it a separate article.
2. Gameplay: Elements of gameplay and unique features/selling points should be explained here.
3. Praise/Criticism/Controversy: General idea of how well the game was received, both by critics and consumers. If there was controversy about the game or a particular feature, go into detail.
4. Development: Major events during the development of the game. If the publisher originally attached to the project closed up shop, and the developer had to scramble to find a new one, that would be noteworthy.
5. Reception: A list of aggregate and review scores that the game gathered from critics and aggregate websites, as well as general reception remarks.
6. Similar Games: List a handful of games with similar gameplay styles. (As long as you have provided a genre or genres in the infobox, readers will easily be able to link to similar games, so this section does not need to be overly long.)
7. External links: Link to trailers, demo(s), art, pre-release material, the official site(s) for the game, and the like. Digital store page links are also acceptable (using appropriate templates, such as 'Template:Steam, Template:Origin or Template:GOG, as are links to social media pages for developers and publishers.
8. References: If you used any <ref> tags within the article, make sure you create a References section. The only thing the section should contain is the Reflist template call - {{Reflist}} - as this will automatically create a list of references from your tags. (See also References.)

Subpages

Codex Gamicus organizes Cheats, Codes, Walkthroughs, Credits, Soundtrack information, and more, as sub-pages. For example, to find the soundtrack listing for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, you would go to Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights/Soundtrack. When you add an infobox to a page, you will see links at the bottom of it for these five sub-pages, plus others. Click on one to start the page. See Help:Credits for credits details

Once you are editing the sub-page, the first thing to do is add navigation. Copy the template below and paste it at the top of the new page:

{{Navigation| name = GameName}}

Replace "GameName" with the title of the game; it only needs to be added if the name of the game is different to the article name. In the example above, it would be Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights. (As noted above, this is one of the places where you must not italicize the game name.). In this particular instance, we would leave it blank, so the navigation template would normally display like this:

{{Navigation}}

You can then proceed to add information to the page.

Codes

These are purely designed for codes that cannot be input with standard play in a video game, such as Action Replay or Gameshark.

Cheats

These are designed to house cheats that can be entered during normal play. Cheats also covers console cheats (including debug modes) and passwords.

Format

Because cheats can vary from system to system use the highest header function (=Atari=) to separate them.

Do not delete false cheats

We want to collect false cheats under a ===False Cheats=== section so that the player does not attempt cheats that do not work.

Credits

These would represent the people that helped develop the game.

Soundtrack

This represents soundtrack information for the game. If a soundtrack already has an article in the main Wiki namespace, the link on the infobox may redirect to that article instead.

Walkthrough

Format

Walkthroughs should use a Navigation system similar to what is found at Final Fantasy VII/Walkthrough. This allows for a linear, structured approach to a walkthrough

Use of personal pronouns

In walkthroughs it is acceptable to use the personal pronoun "you", but usually not "I". This is due to the fact that the walkthrough is speaking to the player, not you (the writer) speaking to the player. The only exception is when suggesting things to the player if the player has multiple options.

Series Template

If the game is part of a series, there may be a series template which can be added to easily show links to other games from that series. For example, if your new article was about SSX Tricky, you could add the SSX template like so:

{{SSX}}

You can find all of the series for which we have templates listed at Useful Templates (Games). Note that when adding a template, it will appear exactly where you place it within the page. Typically series templates go at the bottom of a page, above any category tags, but below the last section.

Categories

Categories are handed automatically by Template:GameInfobox.

Long Storyline Transcriptions

If you're writing out the entire plot for a game, and it's really long, it's best to make it a new article, and have a short summary in its place on the game's title page. Then, link to the new article at the top. For examples, compare Breath of Fire II's story section as it links to Breath of Fire II/Storyline. Wikipedia does this quite often too, particularly for linking articles on a nation with articles on their history. It should look like this in the code:

:''Main Article: [[Game Title Storyline]]''

Game Title takes place in 1000 C.E., where it follows the path the brave, shining knight named Bardalon!  
He awakes in his humble, peaceful kingdom under attack by aliens from the planet Quarshk.  
With his legendary sword, The Pain-Giver, Bardalon ventures out into strange lands 
to collect the 9 magic gems that will give him the power to stop evil, once and for all!

It should be noted that any section that requires excessive scrolling could probably be made into its' own page, and the article text on the main game page reduced to an overview.

Stubs

The definition of a stub is not set in stone, but if a page contains minimal actual information, it is probably a stub. It is primarily used to refer to incomplete articles.

If your article is a stub, place the following template on it:

{{Stub}}

This adds the article to the Stub category and places a note on it that it is an incomplete article. There are also stub templates that cover specific game series; see Game stub templates for those.

Disambiguation

Disambiguation allows a common word to direct the reader to several different topics that share the same name. For example, see FPS. In that case, the main article is a disambiguation article, linking to other pages. Another example is Zelda, where the main article is about the character Zelda, but there is a notice at the top linking to a disambiguation page where other uses of the word are noted.

The template for a disambiguation notice is

{{disambig}}

It should be placed at the bottom of a disambiguation page, after the clarified links.

Fair use

If you use a copyrighted image or other resource, but believe it to fall under fair use (see link for details), use the following template:

{{Fair use}}

It should be placed near the bottom of the page, above a stub template and any categories.

Characters

Place the CharacterInfobox template at the top of the page and fill out as much information as you can. Then proceed to write an article with additional information about the character.