Road Maps: The Complete Walkthrough

[Mendel]

This walkthrough details how to write a roadmap for this site. Before writing a roadmap, please read it carefully and follow all directions in order to ensure that your roadmap will be accepted.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to post them here. You can also contact one of the members of the Guide Team privately:

Mendel
lukey52
Wozamil
Terminator
Dark_Phantom_89
Dark_Raven666
Puzzler
stgermain

Do not post in this thread to inform us that you are writing a roadmap.

Issues with existing roadmaps should be reported here: Problems with a main site trophy guide / roadmap?

Table of Contents

1. Finding a Game That Needs a Roadmap
2. Playing the Game
3. Writing the Roadmap
4. Posting the Roadmap
5. Submission and Review
6. Future Maintenance
7. Frequently Asked Questions
8. Site Awards

-Thanks to mjc0961 and Method from x360a for the original format and some of the content of this walkthrough

Walkthrough Revised: November 22, 2012 by Mendel. Latest additions are bolded and red.

[Mendel]

Step 1: Finding a Game that needs a Roadmap

First of all, you need to find a game that needs a roadmap. Go here for a list of games that are missing roadmaps:

Games That Need Guides

If a game has a roadmap that you feel you can make significant improvements to, feel free to write a new one to challenge the existing roadmap.

The Guide Team will look at any roadmap properly submitted, but if you make a roadmap for a game that already has a roadmap and your improvements are minimal, then it will be rejected. In those cases you are better off contacting the author of the existing roadmap and asking to incorporate your tips.

Regarding DLC/PSN Roadmaps:
Be aware that for some DLC or PSN games, there may not be a need for a roadmap, particularly if there are only a few trophies. These will be addressed on a case by case basis. You may notice that some things that need a roadmap will not be listed in the "Games That Need Guides" link above. This is most likely because we have already decided a roadmap is not necessary. If have questions regarding this, please contact any member of the Guide Team.

Note that there must be an approved guide for the game loaded on the main site for us to accept a roadmap. We will not accept roadmaps if no accepted guide exists for the game.

Step 2: Playing the Game

In order for you to be able to make a roadmap for a game, you will need to have played through the majority of it, and unlocked most of the trophies. We don't want people making guesses or taking unreliable second hand information and putting it in road maps, so if you post a tip or walkthrough in a road map, it's best that you've tried it yourself first.

So, keeping that in mind:

1. Any game you are writing a road map for must be in your trophy profile. In order to prove that you have played and earned the trophies yourself, the Guide Team will check trophy cards or PSN profiles to make sure that you have played the game.

2. We reserve the right to reject a road map if you have the game, but have very few trophies in it, or none at all. The Guide Team requires that you have personally unlocked 50% and half of the game's trophies before posting a guide. See Step 4 for more information. *Changed 11/22/2012*

3. In most cases, the game needs to have been released before a road map can be written. If you have early access to a game and write a guide and road map for it, please make a note of that in the guide thread itself. Road maps based off of demos, betas, and most ports will be immediately closed. Early road maps written and based on older versions of a game will not be accepted, as it is too easy to simply copy/paste information found online, and it is impossible to guarantee that the two versions will be identical. *Changed 11/22/2012*

Step 3: Writing the Roadmap

The first part of writing a road map is using the proper format. A properly formatted roadmap has three parts: Overview, Introduction and Walkthrough. The Roadmap is not the Walkthrough portion; it is the whole picture. The term Roadmap should never come after the Introduction. If you have the word roadmap improperly placed in your guide you will be asked to correct it. Any roadmap that does not follow this format may be rejected, so please stick to it as much as possible. Some games warrant different roadmap structures, and we will accept those on a case-by-case basis.

1. Overview
The Overview is a detailed breakdown of a game's trophies, as well as any other vital information. Please make the information contained within the Overview as short and concise as possible. The introduction and your walkthrough are where you can elaborate. I have posted a sample below:

Overview:
-Estimated trophy difficulty: Based on a scale of 1-10
-Offline (breakdown) See example below
-Online (breakdown) See example below
-Approximate amount of time to /100%
-Minimum number of playthroughs needed
-Number of missable trophies
-Glitched trophies
-Does difficulty affect trophies?
-Do cheat codes disable trophies?

Additional info can be added to the Overview as new line items, but we ask that you please restrict them to things that are vital and crucial to getting platinum / 100%. Below are some examples of line items that could be added:

-Special peripherals or multiple controllers needed?
-Online Pass required?
-Monthly subscription needed? / Suggested subscription length

Add them at your discretion, but be aware that we may ask you to remove line items that aren't necessary.

Here is a detailed explanation of each required bullet in the Overview:

• Trophy Difficulty: As of now, the trophy difficulty rating must be comprised of the average of the Platinum Difficulty polls for each game. We have found that the average score of these threads is the most accurate way of gauging a game's trophy difficulty, rather than one individual's opinion. Please do not estimate the difficulty if there aren't enough votes. If possible, provide a link to the difficulty poll next to the number given.
• Offline/Online Trophies: This is where a breakdown of the game's trophies will be listed, divided into online and offline trophies. In each case, give the number of offline or online trophies, followed by a breakdown of the number of bronze, silver and gold trophies. For example: Offline trophies: 47 (38, 8, 1) Online trophies: 3 (1, 1, 1)
• Approximate Time to /100%: This is supposed to be a rough estimate of how many hours it should take the average person to fully complete the game. This shouldn't necessarily be based on how long it took you to complete the game, instead, create an estimate that contains both the time it would take a skilled player, as well as a beginner. Additionally, if a game requires some outside skill, like Rock Band 2 with the drum trophies, make sure that your estimated time reflects that.
• Minimum Number of Playthroughs Needed: This is where you would indicate if there are stacking trophies, or if you will need to complete the game multiple times for multiple difficulties, or for unavoidable missable trophies.
• Missable Trophies: A trophy is only considered missable if once you complete a section of a game, you are unable to go back and get the trophy without restarting the game. If you can go back to get a trophy using Chapter Select or something similar, it is not missable.
• Glitched Trophies: Before you include a trophy here as being glitched, please confirm it in a separate thread first. We have had instances in the past where people have listed glitched trophies, when it was their console that had created the error, and thereby provided false information.
• Difficulty Trophies: If certain trophies are disabled based on the difficulty played, please note them here.
• Cheat Codes: Fairly straightforward, if you can use cheat codes to achieve trophies, indicate that here. Most of the time, codes will disable trophies, but there are a few games that allow this. Make sure you have confirmed that cheat codes don't disable trophies before posting it here.

Ad Hoc Trophies: Ad Hoc trophies are a new feature for Vita games, and they require you to have close proximity with another Vita user who has the same game. Since this will not be possible for everyone, we ask that you include this in any Overview for Vita games, either alongside missable trophies, or considered as a peripheral for completing a game's trophies. *New 11/22/2012*


2. Introduction
This is where you will elaborate on your Overview, elaborating on any potentially missable trophies, glitches, and giving an explanation for why multiple playthroughs may be required. The introduction is to give members an idea of what to expect when attempting to complete a game. It is not an advertisement for the game or a recap of a franchise's storyline. Videos, reviews or what's written on the back of the game's box are not appropriate here, and keep images or any superfluous material to a minimum. A game's controls should only be posted in certain, complicated cases, like certain fighting games. The road map is intended to help unlock trophies, not teach people how to play the game. *Changed 11/22/2012*

If you have excessive unnecessary information or have a discouraging attitude in your Introduction (e.g. "If you don't want to spend 100 hours on a game, please leave now, this game is not for you") the Guide Team may ask you to remove it. Roadmaps and guides are supposed to be neutral in tone and helpful to all users, regardless of whether you or anyone else liked the game.

Do not copy and paste information on games from other sources and put a link to the source. The introduction should be written by you only. There is no need for copied information.

[Mendel]

Writing the Roadmap (cont)

3. Walkthrough
Here you will lay out your method for completing the game as quickly and easily as possible. When writing your Walkthrough, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that the roadmap is as helpful and easy to follow as possible.

This is Not a Trophy Guide
You will have a fully fleshed out guide to refer to, so avoid going into too much detail for any particular trophy. Instead, provide detail for the best method(s) possible for achieving the platinum. Is there a certain order you should play through the game's levels? Are there items or weapons you should go out of your way to get? Can you use Chapter Select to skip between levels, and if so, when is the best time to do it? Post anything you think is relevant to beating the game as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The Step Structure
Please structure the Walkthrough in definitive steps. A step can be a particular playthrough, or a focus on online trophies only, etc. Occasionally a game is structured in such a way that specific steps are not necessary, and the Guide Team will deal with these as needed. Just make sure to structure the Walkthrough in the most logical way. Here is an example of a Walkthrough:

Step 1: 1st Playthrough
-descriptions of what to focus on for 1st playthrough

Step 2: 2nd Playthrough
-description of 2nd playthrough, noticeable differences between the 1st and 2nd playthrough, etc.

Step 3: Cleanup run
-describes the best method of unlocking any remaining offline trophies, i.e. collectables, weapon kills, etc.

Step 4: Online trophies
-best method of attaining the online trophies: can they be boosted, which modes to play, provide link to boosting thread

Write Clearly and Concisely
Clarity in your post is as important in a roadmap as it is in a guide. Assume that your reader has never played your game and be as descriptive as you can.

The Guide Team understands that English isn't everyone's first language, but in order for a roadmap to be used on the site, it needs to be written as if you were writing an essay for an English class. If you struggle with grammar, punctuation or spelling, type up your roadmap in Microsoft Word first and run spell check, or get someone to read through your roadmap first before submitting it. Grammar is something we're particularly militant about, and it's a crappy reason to have someone else's roadmap picked over yours.

Overall Formatting

There are a few formatting things that we ask you adhere to:

• Please stick to the default font for the forums: Veranda, Size 2, default color. Black text is allowed, but please refrain from using any other color as it will affect readability on the both the forums and the main site. You can bold or italicize a few things for emphasis, but keep it minimal. Excessive and unnecessary formatting will be removed.
• When you reference another trophy, please either bold the name of the trophy or surround it in quotes.
• Avoid unnecessary formatting like text alignment (left, right, center) or text color. Too many formatting tags create spacing issues when editing or copying the roadmap to the main site.

*NEW* If you're planning on writing your first trophy guide, or you want to cut down on some of tedious aspects of guide writing, MMDE has created a trophy guide template, which you can find here: trophy guide template. Please keep in mind that you will still need to double check your work to make sure that all of the guide information is correct before submitting your guide.

Step 4: Posting the Roadmap

When the roadmap is nearly complete, feel free to post it in the specific game's main forum.

Before you post anything, though, please be aware of the following:

1. Do not post a roadmap thread with minimal explanations and a "work in progress" tag. These will most likely be closed. You need to write the roadmap first, prior to posting it. Do not ask people for info on trophies – we will assume you don't know how to get them and that you're not qualified to write a roadmap for the game.

2. Do not throw up a quick roadmap on the day of release in order to be the first with a roadmap or to "reserve" it. We can tell when you do this, and we will generally close these if no substantial progress on the roadmap is made within 24 hours. If there is no guide for the game we definitely won't allow it to stay open for very long.

3. Do not post a guide written by someone else, including those found on our sister site. We do not allow guides that you haven't written yourself to be copied from other sites under any circumstances. The guide will be automatically deleted and you may be infracted for it.

4. Make sure nothing in your guide can be mistaken for plagiarism. Any guide that is posted on the site will be compared to other guides on this site, as well as guides on other sites. Sometimes lists of requirements or locations can be very similar between multiple guides, but every author should have a method, in their own words, for unlocking trophies. Any similarities will be investigated, and confirmed cases of plagiarism can result in being banned from writing guides to being banned from the site entirely. Posting material from published game guides is also considered plagiarism. *Changed 11/22/2012*

5. Do not ask the Guide Team to post it for you or to tutor you on the text editor. You need to be able to write the roadmap and post it properly on your own. There are plenty of resources and FAQs on the site that can help you, if you take the time to seek them out.

6.Please be aware that the road map you write may not be selected by the Guide Team. Even if you meet all of the above requirements, another road map may be selected over yours, resulting in your thread being locked and your hard work not being used by the site. When dealing with multiple guides and road maps, the GT looks at everything, right down to the number of spelling and grammar errors, when selecting a guide. Guide writing is very competitive on this site, and this can be very disappointing for people, so please be aware of this fact before going to the trouble of writing a guide. If you ever have questions regarding why your guide wasn't selected, you are welcome to contact the GT. They may be able to provide some information which will improve any future guide you write. *Changed 11/22/2012*

[Mendel]

Step 5: Submission and Review

1. Submit the Roadmap. Once your roadmap is complete, and you've made sure all of the above steps have been followed, you will need to create a new thread in the Submit forum, with the name of the roadmap as its title. In the thread post, put a link to your roadmap. Do not post the actual roadmap in the Submit forum. Note: your thread will disappear once created; don't worry, it's still there, but only staff will be able to see it.

If the roadmap is part of a guide submission, there is no need to call it out or submit it separately, we will review it as part of the overall guide submission.

2. Wait for the Guide Team to Review Your Submission. Once submitted, it will be added to the list of roadmaps waiting to be looked at by the Guide Team. Submissions are reviewed in the order they are submitted and it could take up to two weeks for us to get to it, depending on the volume of recent submissions.

There is no need to PM a Guide Team member asking them to look at your roadmap once it has been submitted. There is no problem asking a Guide Team member to look at a roadmap for help before you submit it, but once you have submitted it, it's implied that the Guide Team will look at it.

3. Review / Revision. After we review it, we will contact you with suggestions or requested changes. Please do not take offense at any suggestions we may make – our intention is to make sure your roadmap is the best and most helpful it can be. We may also ask to edit the roadmap from a grammar, spelling or punctuation standpoint, but will never change your specific content without your consent.

If, for whatever reason, you are unable or unwilling to make any necessary adjustments, your roadmap will not be added or stickied, and any subsequent roadmap that comes along could potentially replace yours. So be sure to make any adjustments as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Also, please do not ignore PMs from the Guide Team regarding submissions. Be professional and respond to them, even if it's to tell us that you want to withdraw your roadmap from consideration. If you don't respond, we will assume you no longer have any desire to support your roadmap in the future, and we will automatically reject and lock it.

4. Acceptance. Once accepted, your roadmap will be stuck and loaded onto the main site. Do not PM staff members asking them to sticky your roadmap; it will only be done when we have accepted the roadmap. A roadmap will appear on the front page the moment we load it.

5. Multiple Submissions for the Same Game. We only choose one roadmap for a game. It may be that your chosen game has multiple roadmap submissions. Once a roadmap has been chosen by the Guide Team, all other open or submitted roadmap will be locked and you will not be contacted about it. This is also the case for roadmaps that are submitted to challenge the current main site roadmap – we will allow it to remain open while you work on it, but if after submission we do not feel that it is good enough to replace an existing roadmap, it will be locked.

If you post a roadmap intended as a challenge and neglect to finish or submit it in a reasonable amount of time, we will lock it.

Once again, please do not take a locked thread personally. This is part of the process and if you've read this walkthrough, you should know what to expect.

If the author of a locked roadmap would like to work on his roadmap for resubmission, they should contact a Guide Team member and the thread will be unlocked. You will need to update the unlocked roadmap in a reasonable amount of time, or it will just be closed again.

Step 6: Future Maintenance

Updating a Roadmap. After a roadmap has been accepted and loaded onto the main site, you may find that you need to make an update to your roadmap. If you need to, feel free to make your updates, but please notify the Guide Team as well, as they will need to update the version of the roadmap that exists on the main site. The main site versions do not automatically update, so it's crucial that you notify us, otherwise they will be out of sync. You can post your corrections/updates within this thread: Updates Needed on a Main Site Trophy Guide or Roadmap? Let us know here.

Community Issues and Monitoring. Sometimes the community brings up issues and questions about accepted roadmap. While not required, we hope that all authors will keep track of activity in their guide/roadmap threads, and respond and update their roadmap as necessary. We suggest subscribing to your guide/roadmap thread to ensure that you get notified about questions or concerns. Please don't neglect your roadmap.

Reviewing Older Roadmaps. The Guide Team occasionally reviews older roadmaps and may edit/revise them to ensure that they up to current site standards. We will always contact the author about any issues first and work with them to get the roadmap properly updated. If an author has been banned from the site, we reserve the right to modify and revise the roadmap as necessary to fit the needs of the community.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I add general game tips to my roadmap?
A: Yes, though depending on the amount of tips and placement, we may or may not load them to the main site. One option is to put tips in a separate post and add a link to them in the roadmap so that it can be accessed from the main site version. If in doubt, ask a Guide Team member.

Q: How do I add a picture to my roadmap?
A: There are several different options:

-If the picture is on your computer, either add it to an image hosting site or upload it through your PS3T profile, and then use the IMG tag in the toolbar to add the link and post the picture.

-If the picture is on another website, right-click on it and click on Copy Image Location, and then use the IMG tag in the toolbar above to post the location and post the picture.

-You can host the picture in a personal PS3T photo album, and many users have done this in the past - but please note that people who are not signed into the site will not see those images (they won't even load). So we do not recommend you do that, especially not for images critical to a trophy.

Q: How do I add a video to my roadmap?
A: You shouldn't have videos in your roadmap. They should be under the requisite trophy in the guide.

Q: Can I link to a collectible guide or walkthrough on a different site?
A: In most cases, yes, though we would prefer you right your own version for this site. If you have doubts, contact the Guide Team.

Q: What if I don't want my roadmap on the site anymore? Can you remove it after it's been accepted and loaded to the main site?
A: You are free to remove your roadmap from the forums, but generally, no, we won't remove a roadmap from the main site pages. When you post a roadmap in the forums you are giving consent for us to display it on other areas of the site. Essentially it's a non-exclusive license for displaying the roadmap, per the site's Terms of Service. You still have complete ownership of the roadmap and can post it on other sites, but removing roadmaps defeats the purpose of this site, which is to build up content for the entire user base, and it also affects its continuity.

If you have concerns about this policy, please contact an Admin: How to Contact the Staff.

[Mendel]

Site Awards

Games with platinum get 1 full roadmap credit. Games without platinums get 1/3 of a roadmap credit. Roadmaps for DLC can also get 1/3 of a credit at the discretion of the Guide Team, depending on the content. Many DLC guides have no need for a roadmap, may have little substance or may just be absorbed by the existing core game roadmap.

So in the case of a PSN or DLC roadmap, you will need to write 3 to earn a full road map credit.

If your guide is replaced with a challenging one, you will not lose the credit for the displaced roadmap.

We do allow co-authoring of roadmaps. The limit to the amount of guide writers that can work on a roadmap and receive credit is 2.

Site awards are given out for the number of roadmap credits you have. Here are the awards:

Bronze Roadmap Submitter: You have earned at least 3 roadmap credits.

Silver Roadmap Submitter: You have earned at least 6 roadmap credits.

Gold Roadmap Submitter: You have earned at least 10 roadmap credits.

Platinum Roadmap Submitter: You have earned at least 25 roadmap credits.

[Rockets88]

Nice work again mendel, thanks

[parker]

Thanks Mendel. Was a good read, I'll keep this in mind next time I create a guide and map.

[FARAZ_1994]

Originally Posted by Rockets88

Nice work again mendel, thanks

Agreed.

(limit fail)

[Mendel]

In response to a deleted comment, if others feel that I haven't been descriptive enough in terms of what the actual walkthrough should contain, I would be more than happy to try to expand it, but I think I gave enough of a guideline in terms of what we are and aren't looking for.

[Moose_PS3T]

Good, but here's what I would add in the walkthrough section for details:

Give detailed names to steps. Just "Playthorugh one" or Online Boosting may not be enough. Something like "Hard Playthrough while focusing on Collectables" is much better.

Give a few links to different maps the guide team feels are exmplirary. Same in guides thread.

Add in that if you have a section on missable trophies, glitched trophies, or cheat codes, to add them in before the first step.

Say to use the list BB Code function when naming collectables. This is a good way to really point that step out and give a nice proffesional look to the guide.

If I think of more I'll post or pm you.