I just had this idea: since we want more screenshots for the Sega Retro Wiki, but not everyone has an account (or wants to create one), why not have a topic here to coordinate our efforts? In this way, screenshots can be uploaded here, with two additional benefits (one of them is that we can filter out screenshots made by people who don't know how to use pngout). If this is a bad idea, feel free to trash this topic. If this is a good idea, feel free to post screenshots in this topic and/or tell people if you're planning to take screenshots of a game to avoid duplicate work. If this is a great idea, feel free to sticky this topic. For example, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade has no screenshots as of now, so I made them, one per level (I did want to make ones for the bosses, too, but I went with what the wiki page wanted). What do you think?
Oh yes any engagement is good (though it will always be faster to upload straight to the wiki). There's also our screenshot guide, which will almost certainly be out of date, but whatever. p.s. I moved away from pngout years ago and onto PNGGauntlet. I mean it's basically pngout with a GUI, but on rare occasions the other two compression algorithms do a slightly better job.
Speaking of compression, we have something called pngpress hosted on the CDN. While it's nowhere as user-friendly as PNGGauntlet, is there any notable difference between the two in how they get the job done? As for the screenshot guide, there's still plenty work to be done with it to bring it up to date, but over time I have added a few more methods to it (and warn against using ZSNES, because it doesn't render screenshots correctly).
Last night I was trying to replicate what you did for Indiana Jones for Ecco the Dolphin games - I have screenshots of all levels. Unfortunately in haste to upload screenshots the server's decided I am spam - so I had to wait before submitting. However some issues still remain, 12 hours later whenever I try to edit: Ecco the Dolphin (segaretro.org) I get the message: ***Contains contacts. Message Appears to be spam*** I don't get what the contain contacts error is. Either way - in the interim more screenshots uploaded but not on the game page: https://segaretro.org/File:EccoGenesisScreenshot6_Ridge_Water.png https://segaretro.org/File:EccoGenesisScreenshot7_Open_Ocean.png https://segaretro.org/File:EccoGenesisScreenshot8 Ice Zone.png File:EccoGenesisScreenshot9 Hard Water.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot10 Cold Water.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot13 The Marble Sea.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot14 The Library.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot15 Deep City.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot16 City of Forever.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot17 Jurassic Beach.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot18 Pteranodon Pond.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot19 Origin Beach.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot20 Trilobyte Circle.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot21 Dark Water.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot22 The Tube.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot23 Welcome to the Machine.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot24 The Last Fight.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshot24 The Stomach.png - Sega Retro (needs adding to the level list as a Japanese version only level) Edit (see below) for the additional comparisons page (Ecco the Dolphin/Comparisons - Sega Retro) would be worth commenting on japanese / rest of world differences. First sign that things are going to be different is in the starting area: USA: File:EccoGenesisScreenshotEcco the Dolphin USA, Europe Startgame.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshotEcco the Dolphin USA, Europe Password.png - Sega Retro Japan: File:EccoGenesisScreenshotEcco the Dolphin Japan Startgame.png - Sega Retro File:EccoGenesisScreenshotEcco the Dolphin Japan Password.png - Sega Retro Edit 2: And Defender of the Future has its own levels: A Friend Remembers - YouTube (segaretro.org) https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_1_Aquamarine_Bay.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_2_Perils.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_3_Trial_Without_Error.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_4_Four_Ways.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_5_Passage.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_6_Pathways.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_7_Up_and_Down.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_8_Roaring_Forces.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_9_Atlantis_Lost.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_10_Shrine_of_Controversy.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_11_Master.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_12_Process.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_13_Blades.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_14_Perpetual.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_15_Obscure.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_16_Sleeping.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_17_Anguish.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_18_Entrapment.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_19_Caverns_of_Hope.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_20_Lair_of_Evil.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_21_Powers_of_Levitation.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_22_Hanging_Waters.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_23_Fire.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_24_Abyss.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_25_Mutaclone.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_26_Chance.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_27_Hatchery.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_28_Seeds.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_29_Transfiguration.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_30_Heart_of_Foe.jpg https://segaretro.org/File:EccoDOTFDC_Bonus_Dolphin_World_Championship.jpg EDIT: Have stopped - just realised they are all jpg not pngs - this is the file format that was output by the dreamcast capture software when screenshotting. Is it okay to convert them to png or do I need to find a way to get the screenshot to output in lossless format first of all? (EDIT AGAIN: Just seen not to do that. Well - they are what they are) Which I can't append to the page - and I can't upload any more (2 submissions seems to be my limit before I got the following message: *** Forbidden. You sent forms too often. Please wait a few minutes. *** Fortunately 2 other users have appended the additions I was trying to make but - would be a lot quicker to finish what I started. They also helped fix the filenames of my first 3 screenshots as I only figured out how to properly name them around screenshot 4. However - any advice? Because if spam filter kicks in after 2 uploads seems would be quicker to send all screenshots here? EDIT: Looks like it was my attempts to edit the ecco page that caused the spam blockout because I've just been able to add 10 screenshots sequentially... hmmm
As I've said in the Sonic Retro Discord, the spam errors are a known issue that occurs with new users. Not sure why it does that, but it may clear up after some time being a user on Sega Retro. Also, converting JPEGs into PNGs is generally a bad idea as it doesn't change image quality in any way and only inflates the file size of the resultant PNGs. If the capture software is unable to output PNGs, you may need to find another method of taking screenshots, such as using an emulator with accurate graphical emulation and settings.
JPEG screenshots will get dumped here so we're able to keep track of them. It's not a great format for image capture because of its lossy nature, but there's an argument that not-good screenshots are better than no screenshots at all. It's a balancing act.
Question time! I took screenshots of that Indiana Jones game because its wiki page had placeholders and I followed that lead, but what should I do if a wiki page doesn't seem to want screenshots in the first place? I just completed a playthrough of Micro Machines, but its wiki page doesn't have any placeholders I can follow. This will need a broader answer, but in the mean time, do we want Micro Machines screenshots? One per level? One per terrain type? One of the character selection screen? One of the ending? I need directions. Sega Retro feels a bit too formalised when it comes to wiki pages, I prefer the smspower approach, e.g. "upload as many screenshots as you want".
Upload as many screenshots as you want - anything interesting is good (and in Micro Machines' case, we'll be wanting to do comparisons with all the different versions). If there aren't templates and tables to house them, add the templates and tables The only reason there might not be screenshots already is because it's a time consuming process that nobody's got around to doing. The original priority was to make sure games were represented, but we're past that now.
What I meant is, Indiana Jones had five of those black placeholders which say "if you have a screenshot of this, please upload it" (or something similar), so I went with that, and even then I said that I would have liked to take more screenshots (of the bosses for example), but I only went with what the page wanted. Micro Machines has none of those black placeholders, so I would need to improvise. Then again, that's what this topic is for, I'll probably dump some screenshots here later today, at least to get some feedback.
Those are just there to give clues (and encouragement) - every page wants more content, even if it doesn't explicitly say. Even 12 years down the line Sega Retro is very experimental - the idea is to document everything, and if that requires 3248230842309847230 screenshots, fair enough - better to have too much than too little. Again, a lot of the pages are little more than "XXX IS A GAME" because people haven't gotten around to writing anything more detailed. I would guess (and it really is just a guess, as often you don't know what's best until you experiment) that for Micro Machines, we probably want screenshots for every event. And character details (though I've never checked to see if the only defining trait between the AI players is "some move faster"). And any and all differences between the versions. And maps. And any hidden stuff - everything, really.
You can copy/paste the template for the screen shots from another page that has them and edit it. It supports up to four screen shots per row if you add screenshot2, screenshot3, and screenshot4 parameters. It's definitely nice to do boss fights or multiple screen shots per stage if the stage has multiple parts or is visually varied. I would say include whatever you think is necessary to convey what the game is like and how it's played. For example, on the Silpheed page, I did two screen shots per stage because they're kind of long, plus the boss fight. I also added a couple of cinematic shots (one to show the villain, another to show the player's ship) for flavor and a shot of the Weapon Select screen because it looks cool and because I think it's helpful for understanding how the weapon system works. I think some genres, such as platformers, shooters, and beat-'em-ups, are easier to do because they break down easily into stages. Other genres, like racers, puzzle games, RPGs, and sports games, require more judgment about what to include. For Micro Machines, I would say that a character selection screen would be nice to illustrate that the game has multiple selectable characters and to show some of the game's art style and a shot from each level or track, but I haven't played the game and don't know exactly how it works.
Very well, help yourselves. I made some new screenshots for Indiana Jones (bosses, world map, ending), and some screenshots for Micro Machines (one per type of vehicle, plus a few other relevant ones).
