Information on Walkthroughs

WIKI STYLE
The walkthroughs on TrueSteamAchievements are wiki style. This means that multiple users have the potential to work on one walkthrough. Whilst this is the case, each walkthrough can only have one "Owner". Any other users that worked on the Walkthrough are labeled as either "Editors" or “Contributors”. Upon publication of a walkthrough, the person who contributed the most to the walkthrough's success will be labeled as the owner, as determined by the Walkthrough Team. After initial publication the owner status still has the possibility of being changed.

The point of the wiki style is to try to create a single quality walkthrough for each game, instead of multiple walkthroughs. You can check the following link for a list of Published and In-Progress Walkthroughs:
Walkthroughs

OVERSEER(S)
Once the Walkthrough is declared finished by the Owner/Editor(s), the Walkthrough Team will check over the walkthrough. This is to ensure a that there is a decent amount of quality, and so that the walkthroughs are actually usable. Unfortunately, this means that there may be some time before a walkthrough is published. On the other hand, this guarantees that they are of a high quality.

We try to have a turnaround of about 10 days from when writers declare their walkthroughs ready to be looked over and publication. The time is due to us needing to make sure everything is in order. Obviously there are exceptions; some walkthroughs are published quickly, whilst others can take much longer.

FORMAT
Walkthroughs are meant to be efficient methods for going through a game to obtain all of the achievements. We are not looking for a group of solutions posted together.

Walkthrough Overview
This page is a summary/overview of the walkthrough. It should be relatively short and only mention the basics of what you should accomplish in each playthrough and/or the order the achievements should be tackled.

We encourage owners to write some kind of roadmap. As both managers and overseers, we will make sure that the following is included:
- Estimated difficulty (easy, medium, hard - maybe even a rating)
- Count of offline/single player achievements
- Count of online/multiplayer (and/or co-op) achievements
- Approximate time to complete all achievements
- Minimum number of playthroughs
- Number of missable achievements
- Buggy/Unobtainable/Discontinued achievements
- [IF APPLICABLE] If cheats disable achievements (think about games like Assassin's Creed or GTA)

Obviously, we want to avoid bullet point walkthroughs, so all should be included in full proper sentences.

General hints and tips
This page will contain just that; general hints and tips. Here, you can also give warnings for missable achievements, hints and tips on how to get better at the game, add cheat codes (if applicable), etc.

Story Walkthrough
This page and any further pages will contain the actual walkthrough. Note that sometimes this page may be named differently. Depending on the type of game, these pages may also be set up differently. Put simply, the walkthrough should contain all of the achievements in a logical order, with sufficient details on how to unlock them. We are not looking for a bunch of solutions posted together.

Copyright / Notes on intellectual property
Walkthroughs must follow the same rules listed for solutions:
Solution Guidelines

In almost all cases, we prefer that you ask for permission to use someone else’s content, as well as an attempt made to differentiate your product from theirs. Of course, originality is always best if possible. All messages with permissions from the owner should be forwarded to your assigned overseer, and thirtysmooth.

If you cannot get permissions, we cannot use it on the site.

You cannot copy achievement solution texts even if you get permission. All written content must be original. This is the one thing that must be individualistic to our site. As mentioned below, lists are free of this rule. Do not link to other users’ solutions on TSA.

When published, user-submitted walkthroughs remain the property of their respective owners. However, TSA reserves the right to edit or remove any written content related to the walkthroughs which are deemed misleading, inaccurate or inappropriate.

We would prefer no external links to other sites. Exceptions are granted on exceptional cases.

IMAGES & VIDEOS
Feel free to include images and videos if you want. To insert a YouTube video, simply post the URL. Video credit is strongly encouraged, but not enforced.

To insert images, you may also simply post the URL. Alternatively, you can upload images using the ‘Add Images’ box on the right side of the screen when editing. If the image is small, it will sometimes be "auto-fitted". In these instances, hosting them on an image-upload site is recommended.

If you want to borrow an image or a video that isn't from YouTube, you must get permission from the creator. If they deny your request, you're out of luck. If they require that you credit them, make sure to do that. You need permission from BOTH the website that is hosting it and the original creator (if they are different). If it is hosted on more than one site, you only need permission from the creator. This message should be forwarded to thirtysmooth.

LISTS
Item lists are hard to differentiate in product. If someone has done the work for you in a relatively menial task, you can use it; but we'd prefer if you got permission. Large lists, such as a list of all items in a game and their locations, must have permission.

It should also be noted that if there is an achievement relating to Collectibles in a game, then an effort must be made to either submit a comprehensive list of the locations of these collectibles (either alongside the story, or as a separate list), or submit videos/images showing these collectibles.

WRITING A WALKTHROUGH

Volunteering
If you want to volunteer to write a walkthrough, please post in this thread:
Volunteer to Write a Walkthrough

If you want to know which walkthroughs are already published or being worked on already, please check this page:
Walkthroughs

Achievements
Please use the achievement links in your walkthrough. To do this, either select it in the dropdown box when editing a walkthrough page, (this will make more sense once you have access) or copy and paste the url.

All walkthroughs must include all achievements in the main game; DLC achievements are optional (but highly recommended).

Adding/Deleting/Renaming Pages
As the owner of a walkthrough, you have been given access to all of these by clicking the "Add page" button on the management page. As an editor however, you will need to contact your assigned overseer or the Walkthrough Manager (thirtysmooth) so we can fix it as soon as possible.

In addition, you can also set the numbers we use for "estimated completion time" and "number of playthroughs required" by going through this tab. These are required for publication.

GENERAL QUESTIONS
One of our most frequently asked questions is: "Is there a time limit?". The simple answer is "no, but". The assigned overseer will be checking in with you about once every month. If we do not see significant progress within thirty (30) days, you will receive a PM from your overseer first and if no replies are received within a week, the Walkthrough Manager will send you another message. Failure to produce any progress afterward this will cause the removal of the walkthrough, unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

In order to avoid any unnecessary abandoned walkthroughs (where the owner simply stops work on any given walkthrough), only one (1) in-progress walkthrough is allowed to by owned by a user at any given time. In addition to this, you may only allowed to be classed as an Editor on two (2) walkthroughs that are in-progress. There is no limit to the number of published walkthroughs you own or edit.

QUALITY
It is important to note that there is a reason that our walkthroughs can take a while to be published. We always aim to create a high-quality product. If the walkthrough that is created is not up to our standards, we will work with you to improve it. If it isn't up to the standards of the Walkthrough Manager, it will not be published.

This is not meant to be a way to deter those interested, but merely meant as a means to be fully informative so you know exactly where we stand. Keep in mind this scenario almost never happens. That said, we haven't played all of the games out there, so we can't verify every bit of information. That's why our walkthroughs are wiki style; so that they can constantly be improved!

Thanks for your interest in improving TrueAchievements, it's seriously appreciated by the site as a whole.

thirty