PATTERN LANGUAGE FOR GAME DESIGN

How to enter a game

How to use the Pattern Library website, Part 7

This article explains how to enter games into the Games Reference on the Pattern Language for Game Design website.

Compared to entering patterns, entering games is very easy. While it is possible to enter a lot of detailed information on a game, each piece you can enter is simple and self-explanatory. The most important thing to know is that the more information you can enter about a game the better. Other users will be looking at your game entry to try to understand this game you have used as an example in a pattern, and other users writing patterns may also link to this game as an example of their patterns.

Registered users can add new games to the games reference as needed to use as examples in their patterns.

All of the information you see in the Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey example can be easily entered!

Game Name — Make sure you use the full name of the game. For example, ‘The Legend of Zelda’ not just ‘Zelda.’ Or ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ not just ‘Breath of the Wild.’ Also, check on the spelling of the game name, you will be amazed at how many games use non-standard spellings!

Game Description — Give a clear full description of the game. Avoid detailing the plot of the game and focus on a high-level description. Avoid copyright violations and DO NOT just use the promotional copy from the games website, or copy the first paragraph from the Wikipedia entry!

Game Image—Select an iconic image from the game. This is an academic not-for-profit site and fair use should apply to screenshots you use of a game. However, any image you enter will be automatically credited and linked back to it the image source, so respect copyrighted images.

Game Trailer—Enter the code from a youtube link in this field. For example, the bold section of this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZpHzBKCqU.

Gameplay Video— As with the Gameplay Trailer this field takes the code from a youtube link. It is preferable to use a longer if not full walkthrough here and to find a no-commentary video.

In the following sections, you click the blue outlined ‘Add…’ button to open an add block for that piece of content, for example, click ‘Add Available Link’ to open the entry block and add a link to the ‘Available Through’ section.

You can add as many of each of these sections as you would like, however you must fill out each entry before adding the next.

I think that the text entry prompts are clear so I will just present those:

The release type from the drop-down and the year will appear on the game’s reference page, the release name and notes will appear in the information (i) mouseover.

The next four sections are slightly more complicated. Many Developers, Publishers, Game Types, and Platforms have already been entered into the site. When you want to add any of these to a game always first check to see if the one you want to add has already been created for a different game. To do that you should click on the ‘Add…’ button. For instance, click ‘Add Developer to Game’ to see a drop-down of all the developers already available. These fields are autocompleting so you can start to type in the field to filter the dropdown.

You can add as many of each of these items as you would like, that is to say, that if a game has two developers you can add both of them. You must select an item from the drop-down before you add another item of that type. The add button will be disabled until you do.

If you can not find the Developer, Publisher, Game Type, or Platform in the drop-down list you may then decide to enter it into the site. To enter a new item you click the ‘Enter New…’ button. This will open a block allowing you to enter the information for that item. For each of these four items, the long description will appear in the information (i) mouseover.

After you enter a new item you still have to add it to your game! The new item will be added to the top of the ‘Add…’ drop-down for your convenience.

Add multiple game types to fully describe the game you are entering. For instance, you might add the Digital, Single-Player, Multi-Player, and FPS types if you were creating an entry for Doom.

As above, you should add an entry here for each platform that the game has been released on. It should be relatively uncommon to need to add new platforms. But if you are entering a game on an obscure legacy platform or a new console generation comes along you can!

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• CRC Press
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Below you will see links to other articles talking about how to use other features of the site:

• Welcome/What is the Pattern Library
• How to use the Pattern Library to view and find patterns
• How to use the Game Reference to find and learn about games
• How to Register an account and fill out a profile/join/manage groups
• How to create a pattern
• Pattern and Link Confidence
• How to request help
• What’s Next?
• Pattern Library Usage Agreement