Talk: Format and Style Manual

Quests data

Hello,

Since I'm more of a hacker (the good side of it) type of editor, I like data to be well split into fields. This allows scripts to run smoothly and to produce things like The Grand List of Quests easily, and other things like is suggest on my user page. The current way the data is formatted for the template is all right, IMO. Any change is welcomed, as long as it could be sperated into fields like it is right now. Changing the fields is not a big deal either. Hunter789 20:12, May 23, 2011 (UTC)

I added a description of the fields on the talk page of the quest template so that people can see how its laid out. StudyingDragon 03:13, May 24, 2011 (UTC)

New Template:Questpage field suggestion: Quest item

Adding this new field could allow the inclusion quest item data directly on the quest page instead of having it as a separate page (quest item data would still be in its own page).

I'll try and come up with an example of what could be done.

Hunter789 20:16, May 23, 2011 (UTC)

Here is a real rough of what I had in mind. Page design will have to be updated (right now it looks like crap), but this way, there would be no need to go on the quest item page, because it'll be already available.! What do you think? (The data will only be edited in one place.) Hunter789 21:54, May 24, 2011 (UTC)

Way to avoid data re-typing for NPCs and Locations

Currently, quest data is repeated on NPCs and Locations pages:

e.g. The following structure:

• Category:Quests by NPC - Adventure Guide Firia
  • Chain of Pain
  • City of Arrogance

With a page Adventure Guide Firia which links to both the same pages that are included in the previous category. Now, if a page is added to or removed from the category, or if a page is renamed, the change is not refelected right away, and the change has to be made by hand after checking the Special:WhatLinksHere page.

I found that the {{#categorytree}} parser function could be used to include the content from the category. So instead of writing by hand the list of quests started by talking to Adventure Guide Firia, one could simply write that to obtain the equivalent result. This would greatly improve data reliability.

e.g.: the parser function with parameters {{#categorytree:Quests by NPC - Adventure Guide Firia|mode=pages|hideroot}} would produce the following:

Chain of Pain

City of Arrogance

Documentation: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:CategoryTree

Obsolete information

Since Rappelz is an always evolving game, some features that were existing in an epic might not be available in a more recent epic. For instance, it was previously possible to open a Shop anywhere in the game, and Epic VI made it impossible (only allowed in Flea Market).

Now, it would be nice to have a guideline on what should be kept in articles. Should we keep the information about how it was before and how it is now, or should we only keep what's currently true?

IMHO, having obsolete information is 1) not necessary 2) harder to maintain and 3) may confuse new players. I'm however aware that old players may like to feel nostalgic in seeing what was there before.

So I'd suggest to move content of the article that relates to obsolete features in a History section on the same page. This way the page is completely up to date, with the old information still available.

I like the idea of a History section. So far if I've left information on previous versions its in the explanation/description sections of the page. StudyingDragon 04:36, May 25, 2011 (UTC)

Images entry suggestion

Here is a suggestion of instruction to add to the manual. Please post your comments below so I can update the entry suggestion.

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Images submitted to the wiki to be displayed on articles must respect these criteria:

• Be of a png file type.
  • png format uses a lossless data compression so they are of a better quality than jpg or gif.
• Use a meaningful name
  • Use spaces.
  • Use in-game full names.
  • If it's an icon, end the name by icon, e.g. Betrayal of Belief icon.png
  • If it's an in-game screenshot, end the name by screenshot, e.g. Monocle screenshot.png
  • If it's a screenshot of a costume, the name should follow this rule: [Costume name] [Race] [male or female] [optional back/front] [screenshot].png (respecting the letter casing). E.g. Betrayal of Belief Deva female screenshot.png.
  • If it's a screenshot of a pet, the name should follow this rule: [Pet name] Evo [evo number] screenshot.png. E.g. Cerberus Evo 2 screenshot.png.
  • If it's a screenshot of a staged pet, the name should follow this rule: [Pet name] Evo [evo number] Staged screenshot.png. E.g. Cerberus Evo 2 Staged screenshot.png.

Tips for getting a good image

• Avoid un-necessary elements.
  • In-game, Crtl+H is your friend: it allows you to hide UI graphics so you can take a real nice picture.
  • Avoid as much as you can taking screenshots of character names in order to avoid hacking.
  • Focus on what you want to show. If you want to take a screenshot of a salamander which is standing by AH broker in flea market, you might not be able to take a clear shot, so better wait for a better occasion.
  • Crop your image to what you want to show: it gives better results.
• If you want to take a screenshot of a pet, try to show 2 to 3 sides of it so the viewers can have a good idea of what it looks like (make sure you see, for instance, the front and the side of the pet, or the front, the side and the top if you can).
• Print Screen or Alt+Print Screen.
  • Print Screen is bound to taking a screenshot in-game (in Rappelz), which is supposed to output a screenshot in your Rappelz installation directory. (Supposed because sometimes it doesn't (bug)). This feature is not your friend because the image produced is 1) a jpg (remember, lossy format) 2) of poor quality 3) named generically and sequentially like rappelz_screen00000007.JPG. What's bad about the name is that it does not describe well what's on the image, and it might be overwritten by another user.
  • Image editing programs are your other friends: You can use Print Screen or Alt+Print Screen and then go to your favorite image editing program (Adobe Photoshop, The Gimp, Windows Paint) and paste the image there to make the perfect picture. Windows Paint (as far as Windows XP) is able to save files as png, so even if you don't have another image editing tool, Windows Paint can get a good job done.
• Ask for help! If you need help for anything, ask an admin on their talk page, they'll be glad to help, as they all want perfect images :)

Conclusion

This said, you're free to upload anything that is meant to be posted on your personal user page, as long as it does not offend anyone ;).

What happens when Print Screen is pressed?

Basically, Windows detects that the Print Screen key is hit on your keyboard, then it does two things

1. It makes a copy of what is currently on the screen and saves it you the clipboard of your computer (the cloud where data is saved when you hit Copy or use Crtl+C in your programs). It doesn't save it anywhere else, so the only way to retrieve it is use the Paste or Crtl+V in any program that supports pasting images. It does not alter the image in any way (no compression).
2. It sends the key to the current running program, in this case Rappelz.
   1. Rappelz makes a copy of what's currently displayed in the game window, just like Windows does
   2. Rappelz compresses the image to make it smaller on your HDD.
   3. Rappelz saves the compressed image on your HDD.

This is why an image editing tool is required to make the best screenshots of Rappelz.

Difference between Print Screen and Alt+Print Screen

Print Screen takes a screenshot of everything that is displayed on your monitor(s). Alt+Print Screen only takes a screenshot of the currently selected program window. Rappelz should produce the same image in it's installation directory in either case.

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Hunter789 20:12, August 22, 2011 (UTC)

Just a note, I use Printscreen only and open up Paint and paste there, no need to press Alt as well. The downside is a jpeg copy is also sent to the Rappelz file. StudyingDragon 17:22, August 23, 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, ok, the bad thing is not Print Screen, you're right, it's using the jpg that Rappelz outputs in the game directory. Alt+Print Screen also produces a jpg in the Rappelz directory. Updating content! Hunter789 18:50, August 23, 2011 (UTC)