🗃 IFWiki -- New games database announcement

General IF Community Resources
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(This post was jointly written by the IFWiki Advisors group.)

Following on from our Event, Software and Architecture databases, IFWiki has now added a Games database!

This is all part of our vision of IFWiki being a site that can provide articles about games – about their historical context, their significance to the IF Community, and what makes them interesting – alongside game data that is easy to add and easy to search. We have a new form to make entering game details more convenient. We’ve automated various tasks that used to be done by hand. And when you enter a game’s IFDB link, we can now automatically fetch that game’s cover art, rating information, play time, and more from IFDB. We hope the new database, along with IFWiki’s many cross references (to publishers, authors, computing platforms, interpreters, and different ports and translations of a game) and links (to game files, articles, reviews, hints, walkthroughs, solutions, maps, and various IF websites) will help you find the information you need about interactive fiction!

The big changes from the user’s perspective are:

  • We have a new data entry form at Form:Game.

    • Adding a game page is 100x easier than before. There’s no need to remember and use wikitext templates.
    • Instructions that used to be in various style guide documents have been incorporated into the form.

  • There are multiple uses for the new database.

    • It allows data to be stored and updated in one place, but queried and displayed in many.
    • The infobox and pages contain more information, for example, ratings data supplied by IFDB, award information taken automatically from our Event database, and mutual cross-references between games.
    • The database can be searched or browsed at Game search and Browse games respectively.
    • Categorisation of game pages is now automatic.
    • References to games can now be generated automatically, rather than being typed each time, for example, {{game citation|The Dreamhold}} displays as The Dreamhold (Andrew Plotkin; 2004; Inform 6; Z-code).

  • Guidelines for game articles are now more flexible. We’d like to encourage people to tailor the headings and contents of the article to reflect whatever is interesting about the game, and whatever makes it significant to the community. The Galatea page at Wikipedia could be possible inspiration when writing your own material.

  • Translations of games, as well as ports of games by different authors, will each have their own game pages, and will be cross-linked.

We used a script to extract information from 3,500+ of the existing game pages, and went out of our way to retain all information and keep the game pages looking as familiar as possible – Infobox on the top right, Main article content, followed by Versions, and Links, for example, at Le butin du Capitaine Verdeterre, or Lost Pig, or Suspended.

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Here are some FAQs from IFWiki:New games database announcement - IFWiki.

The questions answered are:

  • Why do we have game pages on IFWiki?
  • What game information do we have?
  • What are the advantages of databases over wikitext alone?
  • How does IFWiki interact with and link to other websites?
  • Do I need to enter all of these game details when I’m adding a game to IFWiki’s database?
  • Are you aiming to include as many games in the database as possible? If not, which ones are a priority?
  • What other databases does IFWiki have?
  • How can I help?
Full text

FAQ

Why do we have game pages on IFWiki?

IFWiki, in its pages about IF history, theory, and people, mentions games. A page about a given person in the IF Community, for example, may list that person’s interviews, events that person has run, and articles that person has written, but also that person’s games. And when games are mentioned on IFWiki, it’s helpful to have game pages to link to – game pages that, in turn, link back to other IFWiki pages.

IFWiki’s game pages can include articles that describe a game’s significance to the community, and can include images to accompany the article.

What game information do we have?

In addition to the kinds of game details you might expect – publication date, author, and so on – IFWiki’s database also makes it possible to add translators, porters, testers, artists, musicians, development companies, publishers, and other “people” and “company” roles for a game. It’s also possible to directly add a game’s format (for example, Z-code or Glulx), not just its authoring system, and to record its interaction style (parser, choice, parser-choice hybrid, etc.). You can even add the location of a game (outer space, underwater, etc.) and information about any graphics or sound.

In addition, some games of historical interest have complicated version histories. Different ports of a game may have different publishers, different people involved, and so on. Some people in the IF Community are interested in researching and documenting this, and IFWiki allows tracking individual versions.

What are the advantages of databases over wikitext alone?

In the past, adding a game page had a steep learning curve and required a time investment. You needed to use templates, and wiki markup, and you’d need to learn where things were supposed to go and how they were supposed to be formatted. But now, game details can be added using a form, similar to the way you’d add game details on IFDB, and this makes it much easier.

When you enter information into the form, game details can automatically be formatted correctly and displayed in the information box. And categories will now be added automatically in the background, so that we won’t need to add them manually.

When the game details are in a database, they can automatically be displayed on multiple pages. For example, if a game wins first place in a competition, and that award information is added to an event page, that same award information will now also automatically be displayed on the game page as well. If you are referring to a game in an article, you no longer need to type the author, the year of publication, and so on – you can just type {{game citation|Lost Pig}} to display Lost Pig (Admiral Jota; 2007; Inform 6; Z-code). We plan in future to display information from the Game database within pages about people and companies, automating game listings on those pages.

Much like you can search and browse the software database using filters, you can do the same with game details at Game search and Browse games.

How does IFWiki interact with and link to other websites?

Once we add an IFDB link to a game page, IFWiki can check IFDB for data and show suggested values for some fields (for example, author), as well as displaying cover art, a play online link, rating information, and estimated play time from IFDB.

IFDB automatically checks IFWiki for pages that correspond to a game, but the old way of doing it required manually updating IFID pages at IFWiki, and many games do not have IFID pages. With the new database, IFDB will be able to check IFWiki’s database directly.

IFWiki has special database fields for external links to IFDB (reviews and ratings), CASA (solutions) and IF Archive (hosting), plus a generic text area for as many links as are relevant to a game.

Do I need to enter all of these game details when I’m adding a game to IFWiki’s database?

No. Form fields for tracking multiple releases of a game, for example, are there for the people who want to use them. No one is required to use them. Just enter what you know, and others can fill in the gaps.

Are you aiming to include as many games in the database as possible? If not, which ones are a priority?

We are providing the tools so that people who want to add game information and write articles about IF can do that. We would rather people fill in lots of detail for fewer games than the opposite, but let’s see what happens. It might be that games of historical or community significance will be more likely to get game pages and articles, but ultimately, what happens will depend on the people who decide to edit the wiki. People like you. :slight_smile:

What other databases does IFWiki have?

We have an Events database (see the calendar on the Main Page), a Software database (see, for example, the Recommended interpreters page), and an Architecture database. We’ve seen editing activity at the wiki increase as databases have been added, and we hope the Games database will increase activity, too!

How can I help?

Add new game pages to the wiki at Form:Game, edit existing game pages, and let us know if you have ideas for improvement.

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