Curation Format
Contents
Barred Games
These are games/animations not allowed in Flashpoint for any reason. You can make an effort to get them working in Flashpoint if you want, but you may not request or submit them.
- Games/animations that are still on sale, we will not distribute currently paid content. (Don't forget that some games start in web browsers for free then get paid versions later, the web browser version would be allowed in Flashpoint in this case; be sure to check the history before you archive.)
- Games that require a server and have zero single player content. The amount of work it takes to preserve these is too high relative to what else we can be working on.
- Any outright emulation of a commercial game (Such as a swf of Contra which contains the Contra ROM image). Ports of games are absolutely fine, but games that are a ROM wrapped in an emulator are not allowed unless they contain only non-commercial games and/or allow you to load your own.
- Videos embedded in SWF files. If it plays perfectly fine in VLC Media Player, it doesn't belong in Flashpoint; please upload it to the Internet Archive instead.
- This means that your curation can't be only a video embedded in a SWF. Games, animations and websites that use video are allowed, and you should include the video files and/or SWFs containing video in the curation.
- Games/animations with cub, shotacon or lolicon content
- Any game from XForm Games (At their request)
- Windows 93 (At their request)
- Dragon Ball Devolution and other games from www.txori.com (At their request)
- Any game developed by Nitrome (At their request)
- Flash Flash Revolution (At their request)
- Any game developed by Farrago Fiction (At their request)
- Any game/animation developed by Anonymous-Frog (At their request)
- Cookie Clicker (At their request)
It should go without saying that blatantly illegal games/animations are not allowed, either.
Testing
You'll want Flashpoint Core to help test games in a copy of Flashpoint that you can afford to break. You can find it in #downloads on the Discord.
All games should be tested in Flashpoint, if not Core then at least the full version. Just opening the game in the flash projector is not enough of a test.
SWFs
All SWFs need to be placed inside a 'content' folder, then arranged in the same way that they would be placed in Flashpoint proper from the htdocs folder - the best practice is to try and recreate the same structure that the game had on the internet. For example, if an SWF was hosted at 'http://uploads.ungrounded.net/59000/59593_alien_booya202c.swf' you would do the folders in the first example in the example image below. If that is not available or not working for some reason, a secondary format is acceptable - a domain folder, a folder with the game's name, then the game SWF/files, displayed as the second example.
The domain folder should never be localflash after 5.1.
Examples
This is assuming you've already tested the game with Flashpoint Core. Don't forget the folder with the game's name!
Logo
Logos must be in PNG format, and have the entire title of a game, or something that is representative of the game. To be named 'logo.png' in all cases.
Recommended tools include Snipping Tool and Paint, both included in Windows 10 by default. You're free to use other tools, just remember, always use PNG.
Examples
Bad example. Crop it down to just the logo.
Good example. Logo is sufficiently cropped.
Good example. Can show off a bit of the artists work, but no menu options or other things to get in the way.
Good example. If no title is available, a decent shot of the focal point of the game will do instead.
Screenshot
Screenshots must be in PNG format, and have a credible 'action shot' of the game (no menus or obvious tutorials). To be named 'ss.png' in all cases.
Recommended tools include Snipping Tool and Paint, both included in Windows 10 by default. You're free to use other tools, just remember, always use PNG.
Examples
Bad example. Don't show obvious tutorials.
Bad example. Don't show menus, unless the entire point of the game is menus. Work your way to a battle in an RPG or strategy game.
Good example. Shows some action. Dying is sometimes unavoidable - don't feel bad if the screenshot is otherwise good.
Great example. Shows a lot of action and what the game's big draw is.
Metadata
The metadata must be included in a file named 'meta.txt', and contain all of the fields in the following examples.
Example
List of Metadata Required
You need to add the field, but you can leave it blank if the field is not applicable (unknown developer, no series, no notes, etc.)
- Title: The name of the game, in full. If the game's been hacked, add (Hacked) onto the end of the title.
- Series: The series the game is in. FLASH SERIES ONLY - don't put "Danny Phantom" if the game is a Danny Phantom game, only if there is a very specific series for that game in Flash.
- Developer: The name of the developer, or developers. Separate multiple developers with the , symbol.
- Publisher: The site that published (released/branded) the game.
- Play Mode: One of the following, but up to three per game is possible:
- Single Player: A solo experience from start to finish.
- Cooperative: Like "Single Player", but with others being in the journey of finishing the game from start to finish.
- Multiplayer: Playing against someone else or multiple players in session on who wins
- Status: One of the following:
- Not Working: The game doesn't work.
- Playable: Fully playable from beginning to end.
- Playable (Partial): The game is playable but incomplete/unfinishable.
- Extreme: Whether or not the game should be hidden when asked because of thoroughly extreme content not appropriate for younger people.
- Genre:
- See Genres.
- Source: The website you retrieved the game from. Both a full URL and simply the name of the website (with the .com/etc at the end) are acceptable.
- Launch Command: The line "Application Command-Line Parameters" inside Flashpoint. This is case-sensitive.
- Notes: Anything that will appear between the metadata and before the screenshots in LaunchBox's Details interface.
- Author Notes: This line will only be seen in the autocuration tool. Great for if you want to warn someone off adding the game in the traditional way.
A Good meta.txt
Title: Alien Hominid Series: Developer: The Behemoth Publisher: Status: Playable Extreme: No Genre: Shooter Source: Newgrounds.com Launch Command: http://uploads.ungrounded.net/59000/59593_alien_booya202c.swf Notes: Author Notes: Thanks for your work!
Blank meta.txt
Title: Series: Developer: Publisher: Status: Playable Extreme: No Genre: Source: Launch Command: Notes: Author Notes:
Packing it up
All of these files should now be packed into a single .ZIP file and submitted through the proper channels on the Discord server:
- #flash-game-submissions Flash games only.
- #other-game-submissions Non-flash games only.
- #animation-submissions Animations only.
You may choose to upload your .ZIP using Discord's built in uploading service or provide a link from an external filehost. If you have multiple curations you would like to submit you are also welcome to upload them as a single file for convenience.
