User talk:Onderduiker

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Hello Onderduiker! Welcome to StrategyWiki. Thank you for your contributions. If you have any questions, just contact a sysop through their talk page or post on the staff lounge, and they'd be happy to help. If you need help editing, check the StrategyWiki Guide or visit the IRC channel to chat, we're usually around. On the other hand, if you have ideas for StrategyWiki, bring them up on the forums. To keep up-to-date with the goings on of the wiki, consider adding the noticeboard to your watchlist.

Please remember to sign your name when leaving comments on talk pages by clicking or using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. Feel free to delete this message from your talk page if you like, or keep it for reference. Happy editing! — Procyon 17:16, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Attributes

Great job on KOTOR/Attributes. You really revamped the page. Thank you for your work. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 22:38, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Colors

Try not to add font colors, particularly where black would be suitable. We will probably remove the font tags eventually, since it is usually seen as an unnecessary addition. Also, it may look good in one skin but not another. I'm telling you this so you don't end up working really hard at making things look a certain way, because it will probably change. At least, that's been my experience here over the past couple of years. I'm also telling you this because I was into colors for a while, too, before I was disappointed by the community's stance. I hope you understand. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 22:42, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

No problem, I've already removed the font tags from the four pages to which I've contributed so far.

For future reference, would something like this be acceptable? I'll concentrate on adding content first, but my intent was to highlight text transcribed from description windows in the game itself (which look something like this).

Onderduiker (talk) 19:03, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

If you're attempting to mimic the game's exact presentation, that's fine, as long as it's clearly legible. While not a huge concern, it is nice to be thoughtful of any potential color combination that people with color blindness might have a hard time seeing (although, usually they can enable browser settings that minimize the issue.) Also, you don't necessarily need to use a table cell to accomplish that. You can also use a CSS style span. Procyon 22:57, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

I've used Vischeck, and that particular combination is okay. Since I'm thinking of transcribing description text for attributes, feats, Force powers, items and quests, I'll most likely create and use a template at some point so that if there are any issues, they can be dealt with more quickly and easily. Onderduiker (talk) 15:55, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

If you want to try, I would use Template:kotorcolor or something game specific. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 16:07, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you for putting so much effort into the KOTOR guide! --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 20:18, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! Hopefully I'll get everything including the walkthrough done by the end of next year (time and motivation permitting). Onderduiker (talk) 21:02, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

Unused Images

Hello, can you check on Special:UnusedFiles if the 11 images for Kotor are needed or not. If yes, then please add them on pages where they belongs to and if not, then add {{delete|"Unused" or put another Reason here.}} to it? Thank you for your Help. Paco (talk) 14:06, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

I've now used four of those images, and the remaining seven are marked for deletion since they won't be used. Onderduiker (talk) 21:02, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks again for your help. ^^ Paco (talk) 09:09, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

Template parameters

If you want a parameter to be optional/invisible, just put {{{parameter|}}} (notice the pipe before the closing brackets). If you want additional formatting to be invisible (bold, a table row, etc., let me know and I will show you how to use the #if function. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 16:33, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Sorry for not responding sooner, but I've been thinking about how to proceed. I won't create any new templates or edit the existing ones yet, because I want to proceed with the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic walkthrough until I've worked out what I'm going to need them for. Most likely I'll need to complete the Search for Bastila up to the point where I must first use Awareness and Demolitions (Lower City Apartments, I think).

It may be a while before I get back to template design, though, as it's occurred to me that most (if not) all of the explanatory dialog could and should be moved to the relevant page in the Getting Started section (making the question a link to that page or section), and I might as well revise and complete that section (excluding Mini games) before returning to the walkthrough.

I can see how the #if function will be useful and I'm interested in learning how to use it, but bear with me. Onderduiker (talk) 23:19, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

No problem! I am just watching your progress. To flesh out walkthroughs, just use the default style of {{sidebar}} for any important/optional notes. Great work by the way. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:19, 29 October 2013 (UTC)

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Game naming

Wikipedia isn't always the best location for finding the right name for a guide. They tend to follow their own naming conventions and it's not always the same as the name proposed by the developers/publishers. The general guideline we follow is "find what the developers intended, and go with that name." This is sometimes different from Wikipedia. Some of these major guide renames, I have a bot that can handle lots of the parts, so please let me know where you think this guide should finally end up. -- Prod (talk) 17:14, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

I added a colon after Star Wars because its predecessor was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its successor (?) is Star Wars: The Old Republic (and this seems to be common practice with Star Wars games more generally); I replaced the later colon with a dash because I'm not sure there can be more than one colon in a title, and when I look at the program under All Programs on my Start bar, it's titled Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords (colon(s?) omitted since this is an invalid character for a file name).

Obsidian Entertainment is inconclusive: STAR WARS®: Knights of the Old Republic™ II - The Sith Lords is how it's named in the front page announcement that it's now on Steam, whereas the Games drop down menu and subsequent forum use Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. The manual uses Star Wars® Knights of the Old Republic® II: The Sith Lords, but bold and italics can't be specified for wiki page titles.

I'm inclined to keep it as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords, not least because I've already renamed the other pages and links. It could be shortened to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, but it's commonly referred to by the abbreviation TSL and The Sith Lords is on the box artwork and in the manual (among other things). -- Onderduiker (talk) 18:05, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

This page seems to have the names of lots of the games as stated by LucasArts, and they don't seem to be that consistent between games ("Star Wars® Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords"). Here's Obsidian's page near the bottom states "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords". I've seen a few games with multiple colons. I don't know if there's a style issue with multiple colons one way or the other, but we should stick to what the developers say. Personally, I think Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is the most commonly used title, and seems to be what they intended for the name. I can take care of cleaning up the names, links, and categories, as I have a few scripts that help with that. I just want to make sure we agree first.

On a separate style note, all titles are supposed to be italics, and we could make the headings italics just for the title. However, I think that would just look awkward, and be much harder to maintain across the whole site. -- Prod (talk) 18:47, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

More generally there's inconsistent use of multiple colons, colons and dashes, and possibly omitted colons in Star Wars titles, but I agree that for this particular game the most common and official title appears to be Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: The Sith Lords. Apologies for creating extra work (particularly since this was the old title), but it's better this gets sorted out now rather than after I've started creating more pages while adding content. -- Onderduiker (talk) 19:13, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Torchlight

Hi Onderduiker! I'm glad you put Torchlight in your sights. I really enjoyed that game and Runic Games is one of my favorite gaming companies (I got to meet the development team once), so I hope that you can help put the final touches on the guide. It could really use some good Destroyer, Vanquisher, and a new Alchemist build, but I'm not asking for anything really. I just wanted to reach out to you to let you know I am rooting for you (I know you will improve it)! Ahah. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 06:52, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the encouragement! Although I've already completed Torchlight by muddling through with all three classes on Normal, I won't consider it finished until I've done so on Very Hard with the minimum number of characters required to maximize the skills and spells used: I expect that to be at least three per class, focusing on different skill trees, weapon configurations, attributes and so on. As such I've been familiarizing myself with the console and TorchEd so I can investigate how things work, as well as gathering information from other sources before proceeding with both the game and this wiki.

However, in terms of my priorities Torchlight comes behind Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and a Diablo II wiki to which I also contribute, so I'm unlikely to do anything significant unless I finish or feel like taking a break from those two. Admittedly I've already played Diablo II to death so that's the one that least motivates me (that wiki's in danger of becoming a personal example of the sunk cost fallacy) and it's another ARPG (so it could make sense to alternate), but I'm planning to play through KotOR 2-4 times (all combinations of alignment and sex, although two may suffice for walkthrough purposes). Onderduiker (talk) 18:51, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

I'm a big fan of D2, too. I played it a lot, but was never the best at it (my two highest characters were like 76 and 81). I used to use bnet's arreat summit pages for their weapon database all the time. Were you working at http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Main_Page ? --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 20:02, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

I've made a few contributions to that wiki, but for the past few years I've been working (albeit more and more sporadically) on the Diablo II section of the Amazon Basin wiki. Onderduiker (talk) 18:17, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

Reorganization

One thing I'm considering with Torchlight is creating separate pages for each skill tree (added detail and screenshots may make the class pages excessively long otherwise), then adding core build outlines to the class pages (for example, caster (Arcane), summoner (Lore) and fighter (Battle) builds for the Alchemist) rather than having separate Builds pages. However, I've noticed Diablo II also has Class and Builds pages, so I was wondering if doing so would be counter to any established format for ARPGs. Onderduiker (talk) 18:17, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

No, we don't have a precedent here. Sub-pages sound good. Just put them in the table of contents under a {{h3| }} heading (I can help with that). --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:57, 28 March 2014 (UTC)

Before	After
Classes Alchemist (builds) Destroyer (builds) Vanquisher (builds)	Classes Alchemist Arcane Lore Battle Destroyer Berserker Titan Spectral Vanquisher Marksman Rogue Arbiter

So this is what I have in mind. I'd probably create a fourth ToC column just for Classes, and the builds pages would be deleted after their current content was cut and pasted to the class pages (and subject to expansion and revision at a later date).

Alternatively, is there a way to merge the class and builds pages, or at least their histories (depending on how important it is to keep records of who contributed what)? Onderduiker (talk) 18:09, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

It is possible to merge histories, but a lot of work. I can just move the builds page to the first skill tree section and then if you move any content to the other sections you just say "sub-paged to <page name>" in the summary. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 05:25, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

That's a much better idea, and I can move pages myself (and flag resulting redirects for deletion once nothing links). I'll return to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic from tomorrow (I'll complete Jedi training on Dantooine before working out templates and revising existing pages), but I can reorganize Torchlight tonight and do bits and pieces when I take a break from other projects. Thanks! Onderduiker (talk) 21:46, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

Image naming

Looking at Torchlight images, there are 67 images prefixed TL (all Achievements) and another 18 prefixed Torchlight (and one template): should one set be renamed for consistency, or isn't this an issue as long as they're properly categorized? For future uploads (and templates), should TL or Torchlight be used? Given that there's now Torchlight II, TL and TL2 could be used (again, I'm assuming any other games abbreviated to TL wouldn't be an issue as long as they're properly categorized).

Incidentally, is there any reason why there's both an Achievements page and an Obtaining achievements page? If not, I'll 'merge' them (move one to create the Quests page to preserve its history, then cut and paste content). Onderduiker (talk) 17:18, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Filename patterns do not need to be unified except for those used with templates (and templates can be customized to be inclusive of more than one filename pattern). At this point, I don't think that applies to any of the torchlight images. Our image name policy can be found here. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 17:27, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

In the future I'll prefix all images and templates with TL, and rename existing ones when I next edit any page which uses them. I'll be doing some reorganizing of the Table of Contents and 'merging' and renaming some pages over the next few days, but once I've established the framework for future work I probably won't do any significant work on this guide for a while. Thanks! Onderduiker (talk) 18:50, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

That's ok. It is pretty good in its current form. Not 100% complete, but usable. Plus, the game is pretty easy so a guide isn't really in demand. Remember to mark redirected moved pages for deletion, or uncheck the box to leave a redirect when moving a subpage, as we do not allow sub-page redirects. Also, since the builds pages no longer exist, don't you think they should be re-added? Or, a builds section added to each class page? --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 19:37, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

I remember seeing Torchlight in the Most Popular or Most Wanted list on the Main Page a while back; however, since Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is currently 9. on the Most Wanted list, I'll be focusing on that for the foreseeable future (I've compiled all remaining Taris pages except the last, Davik's Estate, I just need to get them formatted and uploaded).

You and Paco have already deleted the redirects created by my recent moves bar the most recent, Obtaining achievements, which I've just moved to Achievements; thanks to both of you, and I'll edit the Achievements page and check links before leaving Torchlight alone, for now.

The class pages each have a Builds section already, containing all content cut and pasted from the defunct builds pages (check histories of the Arcane, Berserker and Marksman pages to verify). They could certainly stand to be expanded, but nothing's been lost. Onderduiker (talk) 22:37, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

KOTOR/Skills diff review

Can you take a look at this diff, and the one before it, and confirm that it is correct or an acceptable change? Thanks. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 16:26, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

The formulae have been expressed differently rather than corrected by those edits. However, the additional character generation formulae would only apply to mods, and where necessary to clarify I've added square brackets to indicate rounding down, and round ones to indicate order of operations (previously I indicated this by lack of spaces, so for example at level 20, [level+3 / 2] = [23/2] = 11, whereas [20+3] / 2 = 11.5 and [level + 3/2] = [20+1.5] = 21). The changes to the level up formulae make it clear that they share a common factor with those at character generation, which is actually better. Onderduiker (talk) 22:26, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

---

Could you please review these changes? They seem like pointless changes to me that just make the formulas more complicated looking without making any difference to the calculations. -- Prod (talk) 22:19, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

Sorry for the late response: the changes use the actual values in the skillpointbase column of classes.2da (2, 4, 6 or 8) but I agree this is a case of technically correct not being the best kind of correct, and I've rolled back the edits. Onderduiker (talk) 19:36, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

Corrupted images

I am reporting the upload issue to Prod (talk · contribs). Can you upload the files somewhere online and then send me the URL? E.g. if you have .png, go to tinypng.com and upload it there so it will be compressed, then send it to me. I know one is a .jpg so you'll have to find a different method for that one. I want to see if it occurs again under similar conditions. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:05, 12 June 2014 (UTC)

I've uploaded both images to Photobucket and linked to them below: they display properly there and on my own computer. Both are derived from screenshots taken using the PRTSC key, which were saved as TarGA (.tga) images by the game before being exported to a .png and a .jpg image respectively using GIMP.

File:KotOR Model Rancor.png

This image was cropped, copied and pasted from the screenshot; the next one had part of another screenshot copied and pasted over it.

File:KotOR Screenshot Black Vulkar Base.jpg

I may try uploading a couple of screenshots that were simply exported to a .jpg image when I upload the first draft for the Black Vulkar Base (Garage) page later. I uploaded earlier screenshots with no problem, although I remember there being an issue with at least one of the skill tree images I uploaded for Torchlight. Onderduiker (talk) 20:12, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

I downloaded the images from photobucket and re-uploaded them. They look fine. See File:KotOR Screenshot Black Vulkar Base.jpg and File:KotOR Model Rancor.png. Make sure GIMP is up to date. Maybe photobucket converted the images and stripped bad code or changed it around. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 21:04, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Did you just use MultiUpload or just Special:Upload? -- Prod (talk) 22:58, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

I've updated from GIMP 2.8.4 to 2.8.10 and successfully uploaded two screenshots saved afterwards for the pending page: hopefully this wasn't coincidental, and apologies for the extra work. I also moved the two files linked above to their original names (there was already one existing link), and updated those links so the redirects can be deleted. Onderduiker (talk) 23:44, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

Prod: I only ever use Special:Upload. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 00:43, 14 June 2014 (UTC)

I know you are afflicted by the same issue, but to get around it can you upload to say photobucket again so I can get it on here safely (in regards to the hangar image)? --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 00:27, 14 August 2014 (UTC)

Okay, after successfully uploading another image I tried this one again and it was also successful, so no need for this anymore; thanks for offering.

This may be a separate issue, but I've also noticed that occasionally when I preview or save a page it doesn't display or save all of it and I have to try again. This is probably due to their size (I've experienced it with another wiki), and when I get templates sorted out it should help reduce them. At least I've more or less finished Taris, and I'm now on Dantooine... Onderduiker (talk) 22:12, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

I think it is mainly due to your own connection - between your location and SW's server. I have never experienced half-pages. It is always all or nothing. Also, I deleted File:KotOR Screenshot Woorwill's Home.jpg for you. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 18:00, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

The half-pages aren't a big issue: I copy all text before saving or previewing, check a new page after saving to make sure it's all there, and check Recent changes after editing an existing page to make sure nothing's been lost. Editing sections rather than whole pages also seems to avoid this issue.

Thanks for deleting that file; I'll upload it again shortly. Could you also delete File:KotOR Screenshot Hall of the Chieftain.jpg? Aside from the corrupted lower third, I've taken a better shot so I'd be uploading a new version anyway. Onderduiker (talk) 21:00, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

Done. --18:49, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

KotOR templates

I'm finally working on templates for the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic walkthrough (I've made some notes on this talk page). I've already used the {{#if:}} function successfully in the KotOR/Header template, but I'm having an issue using the {{#switch:}} function in the KotOR/Power template. At present, this template only allows 5 of 44 Force power icons to be selected (it will be expanded once the markup is correct):

Fixed! 15

However, while the icons are displayed (and {{#if:}} functions allow size to be altered and a Difficulty Class value to be added if necessary), their captions and links to the relevant section of the Force powers page are not ( {{KotOR/Power|Cure}} should result in , as seen in the Jolee section of the Party page). I have a nasty suspicion that this is because the function is currently used as follows:

[[File:KotOR Force power {{#switch:{{{1}}}|Cure = Cure.png|Cure|link=Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Force powers#Cure|...}}

From what I've read so far, I suspect the pipes (|) are terminating the function early and thus it needs to be used as follows:

[[File:KotOR Force power {{#switch:{{{1}}}|Cure = Cure|...}}.png|{{#switch:{{{1}}}|Cure = Cure|...}}|link=Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Force powers#{{#switch:{{{1}}}|Cure = Cure|...}}

I need to know the correct markup before I expand, and whether the number of checks may cause problems (44 (*3?) Force powers for this template, but I'll be creating similar templates for 100 feats and 100+ items) which require multiple templates to solve (for example, separate templates for light side (14), universal (16) and dark side (14) powers). Onderduiker (talk) 18:42, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

I would suggest skipping shortening the power names, get rid of the switch, and just use them directly in the template.

[[File:KotOR Force power {{{1|}}}.png|{{{1}}}|link=Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Force powers#{{{1|}}}|...}}

It also helps make things clearer when editing the page and templates. -- Prod (talk) 01:30, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! That's much simpler, although an optional second parameter is necessary for the link since there isn't one for every Force power (just the first in each line). I've updated the KotOR/Power template accordingly (and corrected the markup above to display the icons correctly).

I may have overcomplicated things as I was also thinking about the KotOR/Feat template: while most follow the same pattern as Force powers, Armor and Weapon Proficiencies (and Weapon Focuses and Specializations) do not. For example, the following was necessary for an Armor Proficiency: Light icon:

[[File:KotOR Feat Armor Proficiency Light.png|Armor Proficiency: Light|link=Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Feats#Armor Proficiency|24px]]

However, if the colon is omitted from the caption then it need be no more complicated than the KotOR/Power template:

Item file name, caption and link text are normally identical, although a second parameter is needed for the page in the link. I've created the KotOR/Item template accordingly. However, the file names for all Lightsabers, Double-Bladed Lightsabers and Short Lightsabers need to include a crystal color. I think the simplest way to do this is with an optional third parameter and {{#if:}} function, so this is what I've done:

I've also recently created the KotOR/Screenshot, KotOR/Header, KotOR/Mine and KotOR/Lock templates, all of which seem to work as intended and documented. I'll update the Templates section of the walkthrough talk page as I go, so people can keep track of progress. Onderduiker (talk) 18:53, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

Keeping track of KotOR templates

Rather than make a category, I recommend adding a list at the top of the talk page of the main page of KotOR. This is helpful for the next editor that comes along. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 00:09, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Sorry I'm slow, I just reviewed this diff. Looks like you're already doing that! Great work as usual. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 15:28, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! Sorry for the delayed response, but I've been sidetracked playing and investigating classic Diablo II. However, May the Fourth has just come and gone, it's now three years since I made my first contribution to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and I've not worked on the two outstanding templates in almost a month, so it's time to get back to it.

I may move the Templates and Images sections from the Talk:Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Walkthrough page to the Talk:Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic page, since neither are exclusive to the walkthrough. Once I've created the two remaining templates, I'll post in the staff lounge: they'll all be used extensively, and similar or identical templates will be used for its sequel (and possibly similar games like Dragon Age: Origins in the future) so I want to be sure there are no issues before I start using them. Onderduiker (talk) 23:08, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

Sounds good. Your dialogue templates are perfect for this type of game. My only issue is that I used Dragon Age wiki a ton when I was playing through Origins (I only got 75% of the way done; I will re-visit it some time, but I am stuck trying to make some relationship events occur). Looking through all of the dialogue possibilities, I really liked the simplistic trees made from bullets. I'm not sure how to visualize a dialogue template that could offer the same ease of use. That said, the best walkthrough will be one that will offer players of any type a successful path through the game. If that means omitting parts of the dialogue where insignificant choices are, then maybe we should do that. I wonder if we could add a parameter to {{KotOR/Dialog}} to have sub-dialogue entries (e.g. if you choose option 1, the second dialogue box would be, say, indented and then show all of the options available after that; and so forth). Or we could have the entire tree in the middle of the walkthrough, but collapsible... Hmmm. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 23:31, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

I've completed all origin stories for Dragon Age: Origins but only one character has made it to Lothering, so I don't know if dialog is more complicated than that of KotOR. However, KotOR dialog is often a lot more straightforward than the number of options suggests: it often loops back on itself (returning to the same options minus the one just chosen, so these options can be listed in sequence), or mutually-exclusive options converge after only a brief separation (or none at all: different options often lead to exactly the same response). So dialog is often a lot more linear than it first appears... although an example of a more complicated dialog can be found on the HK-47 page (that for Yavin Station is also a bit of a pain to unravel, which is why I haven't uploaded it yet).

I'm still planning to upload all dialog but hide that which is optional or lacking meaningful choices in collapsible tables with the {{KotOR/Hide}} template, since one of the reasons to replay a game like this is to discover things previously missed (for example, party interactions or comments added to specific dialogs, like Bastila and Carth arguing or HK-47... being HK-47). However, if existing or future pages are still too long after using the new templates, I may start leaving out less significant dialogs (anyone who's really interested can always look at the files themselves, although I've found just because it's in the files doesn't mean it's in the game). Onderduiker (talk) 14:53, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

DragonAge dialogue can loop, but in some cases an option can be omitted, replaced, or an additional one added (there are no limitations). Some dialogues have 10+ screens of options (perhaps 'depth' is a good word to use for the metric here, as in "this dialogue has a depth of 5"). --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 00:17, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

That does seem more complicated than KotOR. If the dialog is presented in a table, could row anchors be used to allow links to options accessible from multiple points in a dialog? I don't think I'd use this extensively in KotOR, but it might be useful to skip large sections of optional dialog when identifying the quickest path through it (if you suffered from short-term memory loss, you could get caught in an infinite loop with some dialogs).

It could be years before I did any work on Dragon Age: Origins myself, if then: since I got it for free, I don't feel the same compulsion to play and then document it as I do with games for which I paid (and I'm loath to work on another RPG of any kind until I've finished work on my current ones). The same applies to Torchlight, although I've played it more extensively and already worked on its guide (so I might feel compelled to finish it, although I'm likely to work on Diablo II first). Onderduiker (talk) 23:30, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

I am not too keen on full dialogue documentation here. If we can omit the entries that don't matter to events in the game, or relationship bonuses, or achievements, then I think we can streamline the guide(s). If we have to have them, there are a few ways of doing it. One way is to show each menu (level of depth) in a group, with a number, then say "Go to menu 3", etc. and players can just click on each menu group. Tree-style works decently with bullets. I stay away from RPG guides for the most part, except for Chrono Trigger. --Notmyhandle (talk • contribs) 19:34, 12 May 2015 (UTC)

Party template

In {{KotORII/Party}}, what is |- {{ {{{CU}}} }} supposed to do? -- Prod (talk) 21:25, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

It changes the row's background color to indicate if a skill is a class skill or a cross-class skill: for Computer Use (CU), entering |CU=yes results in {{yes}} (green) while CU=no results in {{no}} (red). Onderduiker (talk) 23:20, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

Template:KotOR/Header

Hi Onderduiker. All of the templates you have been making for KotOR have been really cool, but the Header template slipped my notice. Would you object if I asked you not to use it? There are certain conventions that we want to keep standard across the entire site, and the three navs (Header, Footer, and Continue) are included in that. Also, it's vitally important that you add </noinclude> to the end of your documentation. Otherwise that noinclude tag will get carried across to all of the text following the template. Thanks very much. Procyon 20:54, 20 October 2015 (UTC)

I've removed the Header Nav template from the KotOR/Header template, and added it separately to all the pages on which I've used it: can KotOR/Header still be used to standardize the presentation of the map or screenshot and table of contents at the head of the page? I've recently learned about image maps and I'm planning to use them instead of map images, so I might need to modify KotOR/Header or create KotOR/Map anyway...

I'm added </noinclude> to the end of KotOR/Header, and I'll do likewise for remaining templates tomorrow later today: I hadn't noticed any issues myself otherwise I would have corrected this sooner, but I'm aware that lack of closing tags can cause problems with other browsers or devices, so sorry about that. Onderduiker (talk) 23:22, 20 October 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, you can totally keep KotOR/Header, it's a great idea. Just didn't want to confuse more novice editors with the lack of the Header_Nav. I appreciate everything you did. You wouldn't notice the lack of a /noinclude tag unless you tried to transclude one of your existing pages into another page. The missing close tag would cause the content on that page to be not-included as well. So it's an easy miss. Also extremely unlikely to happen, but you never know. Procyon 01:48, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

I've just finished checking and fortunately the only other templates that were missing a /noinclude tag were KotOR/Screenshot and the four older templates. Onderduiker (talk) 18:53, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks very much Onderduiker, I appreciate it. You are easily among the top five skilled contributors to this site. Any chance you are going to bring some of that template love and organization to other guides? I'm just curious, your work inspires me. Procyon 02:26, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! Ideally I'd complete guides for every game on my user page, but more realistically I'd complete most of those listed under Current, and Pending: if I had a five year plan, it would be to complete the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series (2 RPGs), the Star Wars: Dark Forces series (5 F- or TPSs), and Diablo II and Torchlight (2 ARPGs).

I'm likely to avoid any remaining RPGs on my list as based on past experience they can take months, if not years, of consistent effort and play to make them comprehensive, whereas an FPS like Medal of Honor: Allied Assault or action games like Grand Theft Auto 2 and Syndicate should only take a month or two. Onderduiker (talk) 19:07, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

Awesome work on KotOR

I literally created an account just to express my awe at your comprehensive revamp of the Knights of the Old Republic guide. I have been longing for a complete table of all the dialogue options possible for that game (and other MMORPG with multiple dialogue options), and I assumed that no one would ever spend the arduous time to complete such a monumental task. I'm a Wookieepedian, and I'm currently revamping articles for KotOR on that site; I hadn't realized so many of them have lied in such a poor state after all these years. Of course, to ensure that my edits are as thorough and accurate as possible, I would have to go through the process of reloading the game again and again to try different dialogue options. I was particularly anxious about missing the interesting interjections your companions make during certain conversations with NPCs, but you caught those too! I was just blown away. I thought no one would ever go through that effort to provide all that, not to mention stick through it to the end, and I think it would ease my own work on Wookieepedia from now on. I was also impressed that you could even provide all the in-depth stats on every last enemy, including exact levels, what equipment they're coded as wearing (which can be different from their model), etc.. I don't think this information is normally retrievable. How did you manage that?

Side-note, Redros is coded as a Jedi Guardian? Sol Pacificus (talk) 05:49, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, I'm glad it helps! However, I use KotOR Tool to view the dialog files: I still verify each dialog's structure and existence in the game, but this makes it much quicker and easier (it also helps that dialog isn't as complicated as it appears, with many loops and branches leading to the same destinations). I still need to revise Taris and complete Dantooine and party dialog, particularly the romances and some banter between specific party members: I'll get on with this shortly.

KotOR Tool also allows me to view enemy stats and equipment, although once again I verify as much as possible using the Feedback screen: this has proved necessary since I've discovered some enemies are granted bonuses depending on your character level, a couple of others are multi-class (like the Sith Governor on Taris), and some encounters use generic enemies rather than those specific to an area. Although I've included all grenades, action feats and Force powers, often I haven't been able to verify that they're actually used (better safe than sorry, although many ranged attackers in particular may be a lot less formidable than expected based on this guide).

I've verified that Redros is indeed a Jedi Guardian, as are a few other unexpected enemies (usually low level); then you have the Sith Elite Warriors that spawn with Calo Nord on Korriban, one of whom is technically a Combat Droid while the other has Wookiee Toughness... and although enemies are granted defense bonus class feats, they are not granted other class feats and only receive them if selected for them: this means enemy Jedi Guardians, Sentinels and Consulars may not have Force Jump, Immunity or Focus respectively, while enemy Scouts, Scoundrels and Droids may not have Implant and Uncanny Dodge, Sneak Attack or Droid Upgrade Class respectively (due to the lack of the last, some droids are unable to equip their items). Conversely, there are some enemies that receive class feats for other classes... Onderduiker (talk) 19:45, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

Anon edit on KotOR guide

Hey there, I was hoping you could help distinguish if this diff is legit and if so, how it should be implemented. It's alright if you're busy, I just figured you'd know best. ^_^' --Wario^Talk 02:17, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

It's legitimate, although it's just the beginning of Suvam Tan's dialog and it needs to be properly formatted: I can do that if the editor keeps adding dialog but doesn't format it (the dialog is optional and its structure is quite complicated, which is why I've procrastinated about adding it myself). Onderduiker (talk) 23:31, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

Oh, so it's unfinished? Can it be formatted as is? If not, I'm not really sure how to proceed because it's kind of an eyesore. Maybe archive it in the talk page in case anyone wants to do anything with that info in the future? --Wario^Talk 17:25, 31 December 2017 (UTC)

I've formatted it, but it requires a lot more work to complete (sub-sections and row anchors will be needed). I'm pretty sure the anonymous editor transcribed the dialog from the game rather than copying and pasting from the dialog file, so once (s)he realizes how complicated it is I don't expect it to be completed. However, it's high time I got this guide to stage 4, so if it remains incomplete then I'll have another go at it myself in the next few months. Onderduiker (talk) 12:54, 1 January 2018 (UTC)

Promotion

Hi Onderduiker. I know that I offered you adminship in the past, and you declined because you didn't necessarily want the added responsibility, but I went ahead and promoted you today for several reasons and one selfish one. Your guide work is outstanding, and your minor edits to other guides are of equal quality. I've never objected to any change that you've made. The selfish reason is because as a non-admin, all of your edits were flagged for patrol, and you make a lot of edits, so this will save me from needing to mark every one of them as patrolled. Honestly, you're one of our very best contributors. So congratulations, and you are under no obligations to fulfill any of the administrator responsibilities beyond whatever you are comfortable working on. Thanks again for all of your help and your hard work. Procyon 20:53, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

Thanks! At the very least, I'll be able to tidy up after myself when moving and deleting pages so no one else has to do so. I've taken a look at the Admin guide and I'll see what else I can do to help when I don't feel like working on guides, but still want to do something useful. Onderduiker (talk) 22:00, 24 April 2018 (UTC)

Knights of the old republic II walkthrough

Hi there Onderduiker, I was looking to help work on the Kotor II guide, but I was wondering how you were able to acquire stats for the enemies? As that is the biggest hurdle I have found. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Xassainx (talk • contribs) .

I use KotOR Tool to look at character templates: for example, I've recently been working on the Docks, so I'm looking in Kotor II > RIMS > Modules > 303NAR_s.rim > Blueprint, Character, and double-clicking on droid_maint001.utc (3699) opens the template for the Cleaning Droid in the Creature Editor.

However, that's only part of it: enemies are normally in a Multiplier Set (found on the Creature Editor's Advanced Tab), which determines what bonuses they receive as your level increases, as explained on the Autobalance page.

My plan is to list stats for levels you can expect to be if you complete the walkthrough in the order presented, and I double-check by testing in game in case there's anything I missed or don't understand, looking at the Combat section of the Journal's Messages Log. Vitality of organic characters can be approximated quite easily using the Force power Kill (multiply damage inflicted every 2 seconds by 6), and for droids you can record damage of attacks, Force powers and grenades until they're almost killed. In both cases, unarmed attacks with 3 Strength should normally inflict 1 damage if you use KSE (KotOR Savegame Editor) to remove any other damage (like that added by Unarmed Specialist feats) to measure exactly how much damage is inflicted to kill. Onderduiker (talk) 23:58, 12 February 2020 (UTC)

Hey again! I just got the KotOR tool working for kotor II, and had two questions. I saw that The Restored Content Mod as a page, how do you intend to use that? and is there a way I can contact you outside of your talk page? (just as an easier way to convey information about stats and such of enemies and helping you with the walk through as a whole) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Xassainx (talk • contribs) .

You can sign your comments by ending them with three tildes (~~~), and timestamp them by adding a fourth (~~~~).

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords/Restored Content Mod will include a download link and a summary of what it does. Since it cannot be installed on Xbox, I plan to complete the guide for the unmodified game first and then, if I remain motivated, add restored content to the walkthrough while making sure it's clearly identified as such.

Talk:Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords/Walkthrough would probably be the best place for guide- and walkthrough-specific discussion, and it could help anyone else who wants to contribute (there have been a couple of others so far). Once you create that page, I can add it to my watchlist. Onderduiker (talk) 17:05, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

Also, we have the discord set up if you guys want real-time interaction (link in sidebar). -- Prod (talk) 17:16, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

You may want to turn off the ToC on this page with the code __NOTOC__ , since it appears to cover all the same information. -- Prod (talk) 00:00, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

For the sake of (eventual) consistency with other pages with no summary tables, or those that may include many more items (only 15 or so of each armor, but almost 30 Jedi robes and armor, and 40 implants), I've moved any summary tables to end of page with a link in the introduction (like those for the first game). Onderduiker (talk) 23:49, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

For {{floatingtoc}}, the |left parameter is default, so you don't need to specify it. -- Prod (talk) 19:59, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

KOTOR II - Values in your walkthrough

Hey Onderduiker! I was just wondering how you are able to determine the numbers of how many light side- or dark side points you gain from decisions, as well as the requirements in a skill to select a response in a few conversations? Did you find this in the files, if so, can you recommend a program to view the files? I'm not very skilled in programming but I'd like to think that i am able to read the general information.

Thanks for your help! Lucania (talk) 18:03, 4 October 2020 (UTC)

First I use Kotor Tool to view dialog files. Most dialog can be found under Kotor II > ERFs > Modules, in the relevant _dlg.erf folder for a module: you can check the character blueprints in the corresponding _s.rim folder (Kotor II > RIMs > Modules) to confirm which dialog they use (Conversation field at the bottom of the Basics tab when the Creature Editor opens after double-clicking on a character blueprint .utc file). Dialog for characters that aren't restricted to a particular module (like your party) can be found under Kotor II > BIFs > dialogs.bif > Dialog.

When you double-click a dialog file the Conversation Editor opens, and you can expand all dialog nodes. You start on the Node Scripts tab by default, and if a line results in an alignment shift then this is normally indicated in the Script to run for this node field:

Points	1	2	4	6
Light script	a_givelight	a_lightsml	a_lightmed	?
Dark script	a_givedark	a_darksml	a_darkmed	?

However, some alignment shifts result from other scripts running, and I check with KotOR SaveGame Editor and cheats when I become aware of these: I save game before dialog but after setting alignment to neutral (open the console and type addlightside or adddarkside, then adddarkside 50 or addlightside 50 respectively), then save another game after dialog and exit to check how much the GoodEvil value has changed from 50 for that save game.

I do something similar for attribute and skill checks: save game, then use console cheats to set attributes and skill ranks until successful (I usually increase by 5 until success, then load game and increase by 1 until success). These are also indicated by entries in the Scripts to run for this node field, and I'm aware of a few attribute and skill checks that aren't made explicit by the dialog itself (not prefixed by an attribute or skill in square brackets, or mislabeled). Onderduiker (talk) 19:15, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

I saw your change. You might want to put a comment directly in the text so if someone edits <!-- they'll see the comment -->. -- Prod (talk) 17:37, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

KotOR guide completion

I saw that the KotOR guide is only ranked at CS3. What is missing to get it to CS4? -- Prod (talk) 21:34, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Getting Started

Most pages should really have more introductory text and screenshots of the interface. The Getting Started page itself is a bit of a stub.

Walkthrough

Maps. I can upload screenshots of the map screens now, which would be better than nothing but not that useful until I edit them to include more information (at the very least number the map notes to correspond to the relevant sections of the table of contents alongside, although I'd need to revise walkthrough pages to make sure map notes are always the titles of sections and not sub-sections: 1, 2, 3, 4 and not 1.1, etc.).

The Walkthrough page itself also needs some work, to give an overview of how information is presented in the walkthrough.

Appendices

Force and Melee pages need to be created to include details of how to build Force users and melee characters, and the Ranged page needs revising (marked for needing cleanup and containing drivel).

I'm currently more focused on KotORII, for which I'd like to complete the walkthrough, getting it to stage 3 before getting both games to stage 4 (hopefully by the end of next year). Onderduiker (talk) 16:37, 29 December 2020 (UTC)

Ports, remasters, and re-releases

Can you please weigh in on StrategyWiki:Staff lounge#Ports, remasters, and re-releases? -- Prod (talk) 01:10, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Unordered lists

I saw you put line breaks between each line in the bulleted list in this change. Please try to avoid this, as it puts each line in a separate list (<ul>), potentially making styling more difficult in the future. No need to go back and change anything, but just for future updates. -- Prod (talk) 00:38, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

Screenshots

I'd suggest splitting it into two templates. Having a 3rd optional parameter for the second game is probably harder to understand. You could alternatively hide that parameter through the second template if you want to keep things consistent. -- Prod (talk) 00:47, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean by hiding that parameter through the second template, but I've been thinking about this recently and I agree that there should be separate templates for each game. Incidentally, I'd already done the same thing as {{KotOR/Screenshot}} with {{KotOR/Description}}, although I've only used the latter on KotORII pages so far.

I've been using some KotOR templates while completing the KotORII walkthrough as a stopgap, but they should use different icons (although otherwise only the prefix differs) have different links (when {{s}} or [[../ won't work) and possibly background colour (KotORII icons and interface are turquoise while KotOR's are green and blue).

A couple of KotOR templates ({{KotOR/Hide}} and {{KotOR/Source}}) can be used for either game with no difference in usage: is this okay, or should I create KotORII versions as well? Onderduiker (talk) 11:14, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

{{KotORII/Screenshot}} could have the contents be {{KotOR/Screenshot|{{{1|}}}|{{{2|}}}|II}}, that way any changes to the formatting in one template will apply to both. For {{KotOR/Hide}}, you could use the same one for both games, or you could create {{KotORII/Hide}} with contents #REDIRECT [[Template:KotOR/Hide]], whichever you prefer. -- Prod (talk) 23:33, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

Thanks! I hadn't thought of using transclusion and redirects like that. So this allows any redesign common to both guides to affect both templates while only editing one, clarifies documentation by removing any comment(s) affecting usage for one game but not the other, and editors (including me) don't have to remember which KotOR templates are common to both guides.

I'm working on the first column of the KotORII walkthrough, so I'll create most KotORII templates as redirects until I get to finding and uploading KotORII icons: most likely, I'll be prompted to do this when I create a completely new template {{KotORII/Influence}}, which will be first used when I create the Harbinger - Command Deck page (hopefully in the next few weeks, and getting the guide to stage 3 by midyear). Onderduiker (talk) 13:04, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

KotOR characters stats

Hi. I am administrator of russian wiki about KotOR and SWTOR games. I am interested - how do you get information about character stats in KotOR 1 and 2? Thacos (talk) 03:07, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

I use KotOR Tool to look at character templates, and double-check in game using the Combat and Feedback sections of the Messages log: there's more detail in the Knights of the old republic II walkthrough section of this talk page, where someone else asked the same a few years ago (although there's no autobalance in the first game, some characters receive bonuses depending on your experience level). Onderduiker (talk) 12:50, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

wikigta

I feel the number of links to wikigta is really high. Would it be possible to consolidate some of the links into an "external links" section on each page or something? -- Prod (talk) 00:12, 8 October 2023 (UTC)

I've consolidated external links in a separate section on all pages that contain them. WikiGTA and Fandom already have GTA2 more or less covered, but I feel obliged to work on our guide since I made it appear more complete than it is by creating all the Walkthrough pages, with just dialog so far. I think I can make my own maps (including Bonus Stages, and possibly multiplayer), but it'll take a bit of effort and I'll only work on it when taking a break from other projects. Onderduiker (talk) 23:09, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

Wikigta seem like a great resource, just didn't want us to promote them too hard. Looks much better, thanks! -- Prod (talk) 00:11, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

{{SWJKDF2/Mission}}

I would suggest keeping the description outside the table. This way it shows up as a description for google to display in search results. -- Prod (talk) 01:39, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

Is "The" part of the level names? If so the pages should probably be renamed to match the official names. Are the level numbers actually mentioned in-game? If not the ToC numbering is probably enough. I assume the yellow text is from in-game, but it probably needs a darker background to be more easily read. Is the red text also from in-game? -- Prod (talk) 22:13, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

The name on the loading screen for each mission starts with its number and sometimes includes "The" (for example, 2 - The Lost Disk) in yellowish text, with the description below in reddish text, both the actual colors used in the game: however, the letters are darker around the edges so I'll see if using those colors improves the name readability without introducing a background color.

If I rename pages to match the loading screens, should I also include names displayed in all caps (7 - YUN - The Dark Youth, 14 - MAW - The Revenge, 16 - SARISS - Jedi Battleground, 20 - BOC - The Crude, and 21 - JEREC - The Force Within)? Onderduiker (talk) 23:16, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

Taking a look at this video, I think the all caps words are part of the titles, so would be valid to keep. It could be argued that we should keep the level numbers in the page names as well. If you want to outline the letters, take a look at text-shadow css. -- Prod (talk) 02:46, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

I'm inclined to leave page names alone for now, for ease of possible linkage elsewhere in the guide(s). For example, compare:

• There are two Kell Dragons in the [[../Valley of the Jedi/]].
• There are two Kell Dragons in [[../The Valley of the Jedi/]].
• There are two Kell Dragons in the [[../The Valley of the Jedi|Valley of the Jedi]].
• There are two Kell Dragons in the [[../19 - The Valley of the Jedi|Valley of the Jedi]].

All caps are also normally interpreted as shouting, and names could be mistaken for acronyms (particularly YUN, MAW and BOC), but I'll keep the exact loading screen mission names on the pages themselves.

I've darkened the mission names for {{SWJKDF2/Mission}} and {{SWJKMotS/Mission}}, and I think they're now readable enough, but I'll keep text-shadow css in mind in case I do something similar for any games that use even lighter colors. Onderduiker (talk) 20:57, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

I feel the accuracy of the titles is more important than ease of linking. As you've done so far, dropping the numbers, and using sentence/title case for the uppercase stuff is probably better, but we shouldn't drop words from the title.

Also, horizontal rules are generally not recommended, wikipedia:MOS:HR has very little about it, but there should be an alternate layout method we could use. -- Prod (talk) 22:07, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

I don't know how consistent I've been, but I think you're right about not omitting words from Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II page names since these are often prefixed by numbers (for example, 2 - The Lost Disk): I'd still omit numbers from page names, but keep numbered lists in the Table of Contents and use the {{Footer Nav}} here parameter. Omission doesn't affect Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, although in both cases I'll think about how to edit the templates to remove horizontal rules.

I've used the Agent Menu for Star Wars: Dark Forces mission names because anything else seems unworkable (for example, Secret Base vs... Prologue Mission I The Death Star Plans Operation Skyhook: Phase 2). However, I'll edit the Executor and Arc Hammer ToC and Walkthrough links. Onderduiker (talk) 12:39, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

Multi upload

In case you're unaware, there's a multiple upload gadget available from your preferences which lets you upload many files from Special:Upload at the same time, all with the same description. -- Prod (talk) 23:44, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Star Wars: Starfighter

I created a table for showing the goals on Star Wars: Starfighter/Naboo Proving Grounds. If you think it's ok, I can turn it into a template. -- Prod (talk) 17:39, 26 July 2024 (UTC)

Yes, that looks fine. Thanks! Onderduiker (talk) 17:49, 26 July 2024 (UTC)

Implemented. Should that first sentence go above or below the goals? Could I leave it to you to use in the remainder of the guide? -- Prod (talk) 04:04, 27 July 2024 (UTC)

The first sentence is part of the mission selection screen, shown separately before mission name, goals and bonus goals, so it should always go first. I've added {{Star Wars: Starfighter/Mission}} to the Walkthrough and five existing mission pages. Thanks! Onderduiker (talk) 22:15, 27 July 2024 (UTC)

StarCraft

I'd prefer to avoid changing names for pages of guides that are as old and linked to as StarCraft even if the new names might be a bit better. It's too big a risk to losing traffic and incoming links. -- Prod (talk) 23:01, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

Also, the missions are numbered, though they don't have the "species" prefix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO4ZInk47A4 -- Prod (talk) 23:38, 1 August 2024 (UTC)

Apologies for not consulting, particularly as I hadn't considered SEO or external links. Is the issue the lack or redirects (in which case I can make them), or should I revert or move existing walkthrough pages back to their original names?

In any case, I think the current more succinct appearance of the Table of Contents and Footer Navs should remain, with the ToC a numbered list of mission names. For example:

# [[StarCraft/Terran mission 6: Norad II|Norad II]]

{{Footer Nav|game=StarCraft|here=Terran Episode I 6. Norad II|prevpage=Terran mission 5: Revolution|prevname=Revolution|nextpage=Terran mission 7: The Trump Card|nextname=The Trump Card}}

Missions are numbered when you select starting mission from a list (6. Norad II), but not in the bottom left corner of the screen shown before the briefing ("Norad II"). However, I have no problem with the ToC lists being numbered: thanks!

Buildings have been renamed structures because that is the name of the tab on the Victory screen at the end of a mission (Overview, Units, Structures and Resources). I've checked other entries in the Warcraft and StarCraft series, and the only remaining issue is that StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty mentions structures, not buildings.

Finally, I recently downloaded and played StarCraft, and it's New Gettysburg, not New Gettysberg, both when you select starting mission from a list (9. New Gettysburg) and on the screen before the briefing ("New Gettysburg"). I'm aware that older screenshots and videos list 9. New Gettysberg, but this typo has since been patched and I'd imagine most players now use this digital download rather than physical media. Onderduiker (talk) 16:50, 2 August 2024 (UTC)

In the end, the changes are definitely correct, so it's hard to defend the old names.

Redirects don't generally provide as much SEO as a direct link, so having the pages stay the same is preferable. However, as you point out, the mission names don't have anything beyond the title, so these new names are the most accurate, and I agree that they should stay. I've already set up all the page redirects that were moved so please validate that I didn't miss anything. The buildings pages didn't get much traffic themselves, so no concerns at all on those ones. Out of the top 10 traffic pages in the StarCraft guide, only the T10 and Z8 missions were moved, so hopefully shouldn't be too big an impact overall.

Regarding New Gettysb(e|u)rg, it does look like they've updated all instances of it to the "new" spelling. I think we should just set up redirects for the alternate spellings, and maybe mention something about it on the page so both get picked up by google.

Thanks for noticing these discrepancies. I got a bit worried seeing the changes at first, but in the end it should be a net benefit.

If there's anything you want to discuss, feel free to reach out to me over email or Discord. -- Prod (talk) 18:39, 2 August 2024 (UTC) Prod (talk) 18:39, 2 August 2024 (UTC)

I've updated StarCraft's Footer Navs, and I'll do likewise for StarCraft: Brood War later this weekend, editing New Gettysburg and checking that all redirects are present and correct before downing tools. Both guides are already at stage 3, so although they still require a lot of work with proper use of templates and consistent presentation, I'll stop until I'm ready to give them exclusive focus (more or less). Most likely I'll work on the Warcraft series first at some point, so it could take a while. Thanks for your help! Onderduiker (talk) 22:54, 2 August 2024 (UTC)

Star Wars opening crawl

I've been thinking about the placement of the opening crawls. I feel it actually might work better on the /Walkthrough page. The main page can cover a paragraph "this is what the game is about" like our other guides; and the opening crawl goes on the Walkthrough page to start off the game. What do you think? -- Prod (talk) 21:20, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

If it's for game consistency, then even based on a quick look at Let's Play videos of the small sample of Star Wars games in my library (or to whose guides I've contributed), it varies:

Game	Opening crawl	Proposed page
Star Wars: X-Wing	Before menu	Main game page
Star Wars: TIE Fighter	Before menu	Main game page
Star Wars: Starfighter	After Play	Walkthrough
Star Wars: Dark Forces	Before Agent Menu	Main game page
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II	Before Players	Main game page
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith	Before Players	Main game page
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast	After New Game	Walkthrough
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy	After New and Load	Walkthrough
Star Wars: Republic Commando	None	Walkthrough
Star Wars: Battlefront II	?	?
Star Wars: Force Commander (not owned or played)	Before Main Menu	Main game page
Star Wars: Empire at War	After Play	Walkthrough
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic	After Character generation	Walkthrough
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords	After character generation	Walkthrough

If it's for StrategyWiki consistency, then the Walkthrough page is likely the best place for the opening crawl, since almost every game has shown it by then unless it's skipped (and Republic Commando and Battlefront II(?) don't even have them, for some reason). Onderduiker (talk) 12:20, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

I'm surprised it's so inconsistent in the games. But yes, priority would be StrategyWiki guide consistency. We stick to a paragraph on the "main" guide page about what the game is about as an editorial description. And then on the walkthrough page it "starts" the story/walkthrough. -- Prod (talk) 20:01, 5 August 2024 (UTC)

Only 13 pages link to Template:Star Wars/Opening crawl, so over the next week or so I'll move it to the Walkthrough page and remove it from revised main game pages. Creating it has the added advantage of upgrading any guide to at least stage 1. Onderduiker (talk) 23:03, 6 August 2024 (UTC)

I've moved the 13 existing opening crawls to Walkthrough pages, and used it 17 more times for The Old Republic (8), X-Wing Tours (3), Jedi Outcast and Academy (2), and The Force Unleashed II, Rebellion, Empire at War and its expansion (4). I've also revised all main game pages, including Yoda Stories after adding box artwork for it and The Force Unleashed II, Rebellion and Force Commander. Thanks for cleaning up after me!

I'm unlikely to look for and add opening crawls to other Star Wars games, but I haven't been able to find any for Squadrons, Yoda Stories, Jedi: Fallen Order, Galactic Battlegrounds, Republic Commando and Battlefront II. Onderduiker (talk) 21:34, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

There isn't one for Star Wars: Squadrons. I already transcribed the intro cutscenes and endings for the campaigns, which is as close as it gets. Arrow (talk) 14:09, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

File pages

You don't need to add the Summary heading at the top. Just fill in the {{File}} template. -- Prod (talk) 23:04, 26 September 2024 (UTC)

table-layout: fixed

Be careful with table-layout: fixed on very wide tables. I noticed that for tables with a lot of columns/content, it doesn't always stretch optimally. The controls pages seem ok, but I'm not sure how well some of the more content-heavy tables you're working on look.

I'm not sure if you need to change anything, but you may want to take a quick check on how they look. Most browsers have a mobile simulation mode. -- Prod (talk) 18:17, 20 October 2024 (UTC) Prod (talk) 18:17, 20 October 2024 (UTC)

Can you link to an example that doesn't stretch optimally? I've clicked on Mobile View at the bottom of the page and looked at my contributions today, but so far the only thing I've found was due to a coding error, now corrected (some tables on the Pazaak page are close, but don't actually use table-layout:fixed, and there may be some dialog that could use it, but doesn't).

I've just finished revising the KotOR Walkthrough and Mini games pages (mainly due to changes in {{KotOR/NPC}} and {{KotOR/Alignment}}), but I'll also look at Mobile View when I revise its Party pages, and with future StrategyWiki contributions. Onderduiker (talk) 22:46, 20 October 2024 (UTC)

The one which caught my eye was Return to Castle Wolfenstein/Walkthrough -- Prod (talk) 22:55, 20 October 2024 (UTC)

I've looked at its Mobile view on laptop and the only issue I see is the lack of an ad in the top-right corner, requiring {{-}} to prevent {{floatingtoc}} overlapping the first section. However, I used colspan=2 to double the width of the first column, and this might render differently on an actual mobile device, or using a different resolution, operating system or browser (I use a laptop with 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 and Firefox).

I don't think I've done that anywhere else, but I'll keep it in mind. I've also started using {{controlstable}} (and {{desc}}) when creating or revising Controls pages, which I think defaults to fixed table layout unless you specify column width(s).

Before I forget, style=table-layout:fixed also doesn't seem to work properly with notwide when using {{prettytable}} (on the very rare occasions I've tried to use it, and just used width instead). Onderduiker (talk) 17:45, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

On firefox, you can see what it looks like with a mobile resolution. Select Tools -> Web Developer -> Responsive Design Mode and then from the dropdown menu select your device model/resolution.  Ctrl + Shift + M  also works.

You're correct about controlstable, it may need to be changed to different css. Here's details on why fixed doesn't work with notwide: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/table-layout#fixed -- Prod (talk) 23:17, 21 October 2024 (UTC)