Author Topic: HELP/Submitting  (Read 22352 times)

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Offline Smokey_

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HELP/Submitting
« on: January 17, 2010, 10:02:43 am »
I'm new here and have looked everywhere for hints as to how is the submitting procedure and found none. I've done a couple of maps (about 20) for a SNES game and I'd appreciate any help so I can post them on this site. Thanks

Offline Peardian

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Re: HELP/Submitting
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2010, 11:01:07 am »
There's a button that reads "Contribute" on the lefthand side, just below the link to the forums. ;)


Welcome to the community. I look forward to seeing your maps.
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Offline Revned

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Re: HELP/Submitting
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2010, 11:41:49 am »
Welcome! Basically you just email the maps to Jon, the site owner.

Offline JonLeung

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Re: HELP/Submitting
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2010, 07:47:14 pm »
Indeed.  Your submissions are now up as of now, Smokey_.  Thanks for contributing.

Contributing is as simple as emailing them to me, then usually waiting for the next weekend to see them up.  If the maps are too big to send in an email, there are alternatives, like using ImageShack or SendSpace or anything like that and then sending me the appropriate link.  When sending multiple maps in an email, it's nice to have them .ZIPped or .RARed up.

Now while I think I have a pretty good near-encyclopedic knowledge of certain game consoles' libraries (or at least the Nintendo ones), there are still a good number of games I haven't heard of at all, let alone know the details of them.  It helps to send me a title screenshot and copyright info screenshot if it's a game that isn't featured on VGMaps.com yet.  If the order of the maps isn't logical, providing a listing would save me the trouble of going to GameFAQs.  When in doubt, assume I haven't played the game, so provide any info you think would be helpful.

Take a few extra seconds to confirm the names of the areas you've mapped - is it spelled this way or that, and is it a "stage" or is it an "area" or is it a "level"?  It would speed up the posting of maps if contributors named every map with the full name of the game at the beginning of it.  Take a look at any map name on the site to get an idea.  Or, hey, here's an example: "SuperMarioBros3-World8-Bowser'sCastle.png" - see how it has the full title and full area name?  No spaces or periods or any other characters that are generally discouraged for filenames, but other than that, it's straightforward.  Imagine your map is in a folder with a bunch of other maps (which it actually is), so it should be readily identifiable by the filename alone.  Look, I'm going to rename it anyway, so save me the time and name it correctly yourself, which would be faster anyway since you're already familiar with the game.

I'm also going to be running your maps through PNGGauntlet (a shell for PNGOut) to optimize the filesize.  You could do it yourself, though, to make maps smaller and therefore easier to send.  Don't go putting your name or anything like that in the image's metadata (if you don't know what that is, don't worry about it), since PNGGauntlet scrapes all that out.  It's good practice in any case to put your name on the maps themselves (even if I sometimes haven't >_>).

I'm not going to get into the details on how maps should be made (this topic is about contributing, after all), but don't send me JPEGs (.JPGs) without good reason.  In short, JPEGs use compression that wreak havoc on pixel art, so just don't.  Resaving a .JPG into a .PNG won't solve the problem, either.

Don't send me maps that you didn't make yourself.  Don't act like a go-between if you want someone to send their maps to me.  You can tell the original mapper to contact me, and then they can tell me themselves if they want their maps on VGMaps.com.  Don't try to pass off maps as your own if they're not.  And finally, don't send in scans from strategy guides.

I'm not sure what else I could say at this time.  But due to the amount of time it takes to update, some of the guidelines may become stricter rules in the future.  I'm not likely to turn down submissions, but don't be surprised if I start calling people out on not having the title of the game in their filename or something.  :P
« Last Edit: January 17, 2010, 07:52:02 pm by JonLeung »

Offline Revned

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Re: HELP/Submitting
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2010, 08:42:02 pm »
Jon, you should put that summary on the main site. I remember when I first submitted maps I was worried I'd do something wrong and tried to follow the simple guidelines you used to have. Other people might not realize how relaxed the submission "system" is.

Offline Smokey_

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Re: HELP/Submitting
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2010, 08:50:24 am »
Thanks for the help guys. I clicked the 'Contribute' link but the email window didn't convince me, so I thought there had to be another way to submit them. But thanks for the explanation. Now I'm aware that submitting here is so simple.

I was wondering also if you guys have a limit as to how many 'empty gaps' (depending on their size) you guys tolerate. These are the little 'black spaces' that can result due to the areas' layout when you're mapping the game. A few maps I made have them (Deserts). Some are easy to fix, but others are pretty much impossible to work with. Thanks!

EDIT: I knew I forgot something. Here are the maps:

https://www.vgmaps.com/Atlas/SuperNES/index.htm#AddamsFamilyValues
« Last Edit: January 18, 2010, 08:57:14 am by Smokey_ »

Offline Maxim

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Re: HELP/Submitting
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2010, 10:00:43 am »
"Black spaces" can be viewed either as a challenge to your creativity (make up something to go there),or a challenge to your mapping/hacking skills (make the game "camera" go there somehow, e.g. a "walk through walls" cheat), or as a perfectly valid thing to leave blank.

Offline JonLeung

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Re: HELP/Submitting
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2010, 08:08:32 am »
Oh, and if the name that you want to be credited by is different from the name in your email address, you should mention your name somewhere in your email, like in the signature.

Don't just assume, even if you send me maps regularly, that I'm necessarily going to know or remember who you are when you send in maps without your name on it.

Though I suppose your name could be on the maps too, not a bad idea.  That's your own choice, but one way or another, make it somewhat clear who you are.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2010, 08:10:39 am by JonLeung »