Strategy Guide Template

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Please do not alter anything on this template page.

The components on this page are part of the newer standard format and we hope you adhere to it when making a page for your game.

You can either create a guide for a single game or multiple games that run on the same engine and that the same information can mostly be applied to. Just follow these instructions. If you find the instructions difficult to follow, you can also just start a new guide by copying an existing one (for example, Thief 2) that follows the new format that has a front page and a separate page for each category and another page for tricks and glitches.

1) Open a new tab. Copy in this page's address. Replace the last part with whatever your game is called, substituting underscores for spaces. E.g. /Baldur's_Gate_II:_Shadows_of_Amn. If it's a game series, add _(series) after the name. If multiple games exist with the same name, disambiguate with _(year of release) or _(platform version[s]).

2) Hit enter to try to navigate to the new address. The system will tell you the page does not exist. Click where it says "edit this page".

3) Come back to the template and select "edit" from the top. Do the same on the new page and copy-paste all of this text in from the edit field, which makes sure it contains the otherwise invisible elements. Save the new page to create it. Close the template page. Now you can safely do edits in your newly-started guide.

4) Underneath here there are two category tags in double angled brackets. These will be invisible on the page but they're used to include your game in the big list. Leave the "games" tag as it is but replace the word "systems" with whatever system versions your guide applies to.

  • Use only the following abbreviations and separate them with slashes: 2600/360/3DS/Arcade/DC/DS/GB/GBA/GBC/GC/Gen/Jag/MSX/N64/NES/NG/PC/PS1/PS2/PS3/PS4/PSP/Sat/SCD/SMS/SNES/Switch/TG16/Wii/WiiU/Xbone/Xbox.
  • All PC systems (e.g. Amiga) are labeled "PC".
  • If there's a system not listed above, ask: chances are it's either combined into something else or ignored because no runs are done on it (or it's just been released).
  • The order of the tags doesn't matter.

5) If the game has a game page on SDA already (i.e. a published run exists), leave in the following line replacing the link with the correct URL. Otherwise leave in the reminder to do so when the page has been created. The reminder contains instructions on how to do it later.

SDAlogo runner.png This game has a run page on SDA!

TODO: add game page link when it exists. (edit page to see format here)

6) Search the SDA Forum for a thread or threads pertaining to your game[s]. If there is a thread, add a link to it below. Otherwise feel free to start one even if you don't mean to post anything important in it right now. Just name the thread whatever the game is called. You may also link other relevant forums and such. HINT: Your search will be easier if you limit it to Search Thread Titles in the search bar.

SDA Forum Thread

Categories

7) All information that relates to running a particular category should be split off onto a page of its own. You should include a list of links to those pages in this section. Here is an example:

YGH 2 Any % SS

The first part has to include the name of your game first as spelled in the URL, then a slash, then the category name. This is followed by a | sign, after which you put the part that is visible on the page. You don't have to create every possible category page straight away, but here are some possibilities:

YGH 2 Any% SS - description
YGH 2 Any% segmented - description
YGH 2 Any% SS w/ major skips and resets - description
YGH 2 Low% ILs - description
YGH 2 100% segmented w/ deaths - description

Explain in full what the requirements or restrictions of each category are as necessary. You can replace where it says "description" after the links above, or write a longer paragraph separately for complex definitions. If you're not sure what categories SDA might be interested in, check out the rules page or ask about it in the game's main thread. You may include other categories in the guide too, but clearly mark them "non-SDA" to avoid confusion.

The category-specific pages themselves are created the same way you created your main wiki page. The category pages don't have a standard format but try to make them easy to follow.

Additional Information

8) This section should contain a link to a sub-page that has all the information about the game's workings that doesn't relate to how to run any particular category. You may also create other sub-pages as you see fit. Here are some suggestions:

Game Mechanics and Techniques
Additional Resources - Links to other helpful resources.

9) Click the "Preview" tab above (or "show preview" below) to check that you've done everything correctly.

At this point we would like to point out the editing help page (link also given in the navigation menu on the left). It has tips on how to edit in tables etc. into the game mechanics page and other such pages. NB: The KB has a bug where if you leave a page you're editing unattended for a long time, it may say something about "losing your session data" when you click save page. You simply have to try saving again and it should work.

10) Once done with everything else, delete all the instructions given in italics leaving in everything else and choose "publish" from the top right (or "save page" down the bottom). If the system says something about losing the session data, this is something that happens if you've been in edit mode for a long time. Just try saving it again and it should work.

Thank you for your contribution to the science of speedrunning!

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