Contributing to the Game Names Editor can be a daunting and frustrating experience. This how-to aims to ease the burden of editing the GNE by explaining what each field is and how to properly add information to it.
Getting started
First, you should familiarize yourself with the layout of the page. Each game entry will have the game ID number, the name of the game as displayed on SubmitMovie, the information column, a link to the page for that game, and links to edit different parts of the entry.
Now that you have a feel for the layout of the page, let's go over each part and how it should look:
The Layout
ID #
This is how the site code recognizes a game. Presumably, it can only be accessed by site code developers.
Name
This is how humans recognize a game. The full title of the game, including the platform it runs on, is listed here.
Data
Most of the information displayed here mirrors what is shown in the "Information" and "Related games" tabs of a Game Information page. You can edit these fields by clicking the Info and Relations links. The exception is the Search key, which cannot be edited by most users.
Info
This contains a link to the game's Game Information page, where all of your changes will appear. If the game has a published movie, the link will open to the "Current publications" tab by default. Otherwise, it will open to the "Information" tab.
Edit
The Info link allows you to edit everything with an existing field in the Data column (except Search key) as well as the system the game runs on.
The Relations link allows you to specify games that are related to the game you're editing as well as group games together.
Editing the Entries
Info
The System is the platform the game runs on. Usually, this is already correct. If it is not, remember that the consoles in the list are in no specific order and it may take some time to find the correct one.
The Goodtools name is the name of the game as verified by the GoodTools suite. Usually, this name can also be found by performing an Internet search for the game ROM and taking note of the filename displayed. The name should be entered without any special symbols or file extensions.
The Display name should be the full title of the game, with no abbreviations or nicknames. For example, this game would be titled Super Mario Bros., not SMB or Mario. If you don't know the full title of a game, you should be able to find it on the game's publication or submission page.
The Abbreviation field should be filled in with the most commonly used abbreviation for the game. For example, Mega Man 2 is often abbreviated "MM2" by both gamers and TASers.
The Resource page field should contain a link to the GameResources page for the game, if one exists. When adding this, remember to remove the "tasvideos.org" as well as the ".html". For example, for this page, you would just type "GameResources/N64/MarioKart64".
The Youtube tags allow people to find YouTube encodes of TASes for the game through YouTube's search feature. Include the game name as a whole or in separate parts if it is fairly long, as well as a popular abbreviation if it is notable enough that potential viewers might use it to search for a TAS. Tags should be separated with a single comma and no extra spaces.
When you are done, press the Save button to save your changes.
Relations
Relations is where you add games that relate to the game you're editing:
Hack of | Use this to specify what the game you're editing is a hack of. |
Hack | Use this to acknowledge an existing hack of the game you're editing. |
Another platform | Use this to note a very similar version of the game on another platform. |
Related | Use this to acknowledge a game that is related to the game you're editing, but not identical.[1] |
Multirun | Use this to acknowledge a multirun that includes the game you're editing. |
Multirun of | Use this to specify games that the multirun entry you're editing includes. |
(No relation) | Use this if you accidentally added a game and want to erase your mistake. |
The Link both ways checkbox will also add the opposite of the selected option to the game you're specifying. For example, when editing Super Mario Bros. and adding "Air 2 (Hack)", the checkbox will add the corresponding "Super Mario Bros. (Hack of)" to Air 2's Relations page as well. This can save time and minimize the occurrence of forgetting to set the other game's Relation.
Groups is where you add games of a series to a group.
You can select an existing group from the drop-down menu and click the Add button to add the game you're editing to the group. If the group name is incorrect, you can rename it by selecting the group, typing a new name in the second field, and clicking the Rename button.
You can also select "(New entry)" as the group name, write out a name for the group in the second field, and click Add. Before you do this, be sure that there is more than one game in the series in the database so the group is not useless. Groups cannot be erased once they are created, though you can always rename the mistake to the name of another game series.
There is no Save button here, so you can either go back in your browser or click the "Back to main level" link to return to the GNE.
Game Description
On each Game Information page, you can add a description for the game by opening the Description tab and clicking the Edit button. Briefly explain the story and game mechanics, and make sure it is easy to understand. This process is similar to writing movie descriptions.
[1] The GB version of Battletoads, for example, has the same gameplay as the NES version, but different levels. Therefore, it gets this specification instead of "Another platform".