Moderating guidelines for IBM PC and other systems
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Revision as of 13:45, 12 May 2018
Moderating guidelines for IBM PC and other systems
Adding new submissions
Title
Consistency is king. Look in the database if the game was added before and look on google and places like mobygames.com and ogdb.eu to ensure that the title is correct. If it's a rare or one of a kind disc and you're not sure about the title, ask for scans or pictures before adding it. Also pay attention to capitalization of articles and link words (e.g. in, for, the, over). If you're not sure about capitalization, do a search in the database for similar titles. Extra reference: http://datomatic.no-intro.org/stuff/The%20Official%20No-Intro%20Convention%20(20071030).zip . Also check for double spaces and for ! or ? followed by : or -. There are some standardized ways of writing certain words. For instance, 'Vs' becomes "vs.", CD-Rom becomes "CD-ROM", etc.
Foreign title
Here you put any alternative titles for when the ingame title is different from the box title. Use common sense for determining which title goes in which of the fields.
Disc number/letter
Only fill this field if there is really a number or letter on the disc.
Disc title
Only fill this field when the disc has an extra title, e.g. "Install Disc". This field should also be filled for bonus discs that have the game title (= Title field) on the disc as well as a disc title, e.g. "Bonus DVD".
Category
If a game seems to be a bundled with a magazine, but the disc contents are a single game without any branding, then the category should be "Games".
Region
For IBM PC, if you're not sure about the region, the ringcode can help indicate the region. By searching in the database like this: http://redump.org/discs/ringcode/ll21/ or on google, you should be able to figure out the correct region. Sometimes, games are bought in different countries than their actual region. For instance, if a ringcode has "Made in Canada" and the UPC is Canadian, but the game was bought in Europe, then the region is still (Canada). UK vs. Europe is still an ongoing debate. It's best to put (Europe) region when there is any indication that a seemingly UK region disc was also released in other European countries. Use of the (World) region should be avoided, except when you really have matching dumps from different region discs, e.g. Australia + USA.
Language
When a disc has multiple games, each with different languages, then only the language that is shared by all the games should be added in the language field. In such cases, all the languages for each game can be added in the Contents field, the same way as how they are added to filenames. For discs that only contain manuals, it's OK to add the manual languages.
Serial
Here you add any meaningful serials that can help identify the disc / release. Some serials can be small and unnoticeable, so be sure to check the disc thoroughly for them.
Ring
You should be familiar enough with this field already. Just be sure to always replace any double spaces and <TAB> with a real TAB character (easy shortcut = ALT+009). Different logo's are added in a standardized manner, e.g. SONOPRESS, Sono press, NIMBUS, MASTERED BY NIMBUS, sonopress arvato, Sony DADC, DADC Austria. Be sure to include any middle dots, periods, and other relevant characters, e.g. ·MASTERED BY NIMBUS· / -MASTERED BY NIMBUS- . If a disc has 2 layers, then it should be easy to tell which one comes first. Usually it has "L0" as part of the main ringcode. The Mastering SID Code is almost always in the form "IFPI L****". If the IFPI code has spaces, there's no real point in including them. Some discs have the Mastering SID Code as part of the main ringcode, without IFPI, e.g. L384. Those ringcodes are moved to the Mastering SID Code field. Try to look for obvious typo's, e.g. IFPI codes that have letters instead of numbers, but there can be exceptions, e.g. http://redump.org/discs/ringcode/4O01/. If there's any doubt about the validity of the submitted ringcodes, don't hesitate to ask the dumper for a scan/picture and/or do a db or google search for the IFPI code.
Barcode
Check the barcode by googling for it (without the spaces) or check for its validity using a website like https://www.gs1.org/services/check-digit-calculator . If there are multiple barcodes, e.g. on the jewel case and the big box, then separate them by a comma. Only put the barcodes in this field, so no extra text like "(Box)". If the barcode is missing, it is often possible determine the barcode, by looking at the serial or even the ringcode. Especially for US discs, the serial often contains a part of the barcode. For example, http://redump.org/disc/44613/ has "25309" in the serial and the ringcode. It matches the second part (= product code) of the barcode.
Errors count (edccchk v1.26)
Contrary to how the field is named, it's better to use CDmage to check for errors, especially for PSX (Multitrack No-EDC) and SecuROM discs that should have 1 error, but give no error or just a warning in edccchk.
Comments
Put any meaningful comments here that can help identify the game or the version in case this should be unclear. Things like supported OS are imho not meaningful, except
when it's a "PC/Mac Hybrid" disc.
There are a lot of standardized codes for this field and also the contents field that should be memorized and listed somewhere as a reference.
E.g. [T:ISN] is internal serial for PSX/PS2 discs, [T:ISBN] is ISBN, etc.
When an IBM PC discs has a non-standard Track02 pregap like 01:74, 02:01 or 03:00, it's best to put a comment about this, because older dumping methods messed up here:
02:01 pregap with 1 scrambled data sector = "Track02 pregap contains 1 scrambled data sector."
03:00 pregap with 75 scramble data sectors = "First 75 sectors of Track 2 contain scrambled data."
01:74 pregap with an empty audio sector in the last Track01 sector (= error count 1) = "Last sector of Track 1 contains audio silence."
It can also happen that 2 discs have identical dumps, but different cuesheets. When one of the discs has "CATALOG 0000000000000" and the other disc doesn't,
this should be mentioned in the comments, e.g.: "-22 offset disc: No MCN".
Contents
Here you can put the contents, in case a disc contains multiple games. Be sure to include language tags and also version tags when relevant. As mentioned in the comments section, there are standardized field that should be used. For instance, [T:PD] = Playable Demo's and [T:V] = Videos:. Games: is not standardized for some reason ([T:G] = Genre). It's also possible to just put something like "Heretic Shareware v1.0" in this field without using [T:PD], as long as it's not too messy.
Version
The version number is added here without a v in front of it. For PC titles, try to find the actual game version. It can be hidden in different places, in a readme, ingame, in the exe properties, in "Programs and Features" or sometimes it's even hidden inside the .EXE and can only found by looking for it with a hex editor. If a game has separate patches included on the disc, then mention those in Contents, e.g. Patch v1.2. But in the Version field you fill the version that's installed by default.
Version (datfile)
The version number is added here WITH a v in front of it. Only fill this field when there are different versions of the same game and a version tag is needed to avoid dupe filenames. "Demo" is added to version (datfile) when the Title fields contains game titles and the category and edition are also Demo.
Console specific notes
PSX revisions are marked as v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 etc. by order of their release. For newer consoles, the version number is retrieved from the disc or ringcode. For some other systems, such as Saturn, letters in the ringcode can be used to specify the revision, e.g. (Rev B).
IBM PC specific notes
For IBM PC, "Xplosiv" and "Sold Out Software" are added to version (datfile) for said editions, because these discs have modified (branded) autoruns and setups. If the edition is "Covermount" for a particular country, then it's usually best to also put it in the version (datfile), otherwise the filename would suggest that it's an original release. If the PVD indicates that a game was released 6 months or longer after the game is supposed to be released, then you're most likely dealing with a Rerelease. These are marked as (Rerelease). In case of multiple rereleases in the DB with different PVD's, add the PVD date, e.g. entering "Rerelease) (20040604" gives the filename (Rerelease) (20040604). When 2 releases have very minor differences (e.g. different audio tracks or a different data track length but otherwise the same data / PVD), then one of them is marked (Alt). The disc that is determined to be a later release (which is sometimes indicated by a higher number in the main ringcode), is the one that gets the (Alt). There are also cases where a game has a new release that is very short after the original release, and some game files are updated, but where the game version is the same or unknown. In such cases, the newer version should be marked as (Rev 1).
Edition
Also here, consistency is king. If the "Other editions/releases" field is filled, maybe because the game is an OEM release or was bundled with something, then determine a consistent naming by looking for examples in the database: http://redump.org/discs/system/pc/sort/edition/?page=6 . When the edition is a combination of a game edition and the release edition, put a ":" in between, e.g.: "Collector's Edition: Greatest Hits" or "Game of the Year Edition: BestSeller Series" For demo discs or coverdiscs that don't have a game title in the Title field, it's best to put no edition, not even Original. If a game seems to be a bundled with a magazine, but the cover and discs contents only contain a particular game, then the edition should be "Covermount"
Title vs. edition
For console titles, any special edition usually goes in the title, unless the disc contains the same data as the normal edition, in which case edition = edition. For PC titles, when the edition is a Game of the Year edition that has some patches included, but is essentially the same game, the edition should be put not in the Title, but in the edition and also in the Version (datfile) field. When the release is a a bundle of different titles on one disc, for example the base game and one or more add-ons (that were also released commercially), then the edition also goes into the Title field.
Protection
Write it as e.g. "SafeDisc *.***", so without a v in front of the version. For StarForce, the version is best checked with sfhelper.exe. The version number should exclude any leading zeroes between the dots, e.g. "StarForce 3.03.033.006" > "StarForce 3.3.33.6". If the protection field is empty, but you suspect that there is a protection, ask the dumper to double check the game executables with Protection ID. Also look on google for the game title + gamecopyworld or something similar to try and find more info about the protection. Only accept dumps after you're sure that they are dumped correctly, and that all the error sectors have been correctly replaced with 0x55. Identifying the protection can be difficult, but sometimes the barcode/publisher of a game can be used to help determine the protection.
Some notes on the different IBM protections
SecuROM: For CD's, the SecuROM subchannel data should be included and complete. It can be 216 (SecuROM OLD), 90 (SecuROM 3), 11 or 99 (SecuROM NEW) sectors of data, depending on the version.
Discs that have missing or incomplete SecuROM data should be redumped. Without = http://redump.org/discs/securom/0/, with (or incomplete) = http://redump.org/discs/securom/1/ .
Use this search with a keyword to find discs with certain protections: http://redump.org/discs/quicksearch/lock/protection/only (here the keyword is 'lock').
CD Lock: Games published by Eidos, e.g. http://redump.org/disc/31615/. There are 4 tracks with the last track being a 16:05-18:05 length data track. These discs are supported by DIC.
CodeLock / CodeLok / CopyLok: Games published by Gathering of Developers and CDV. These discs cannot be dumped correctly with DIC / Plextor drives (the error count is too high, usually
multiplied with 3, so a disc with 750 error sectors gets 2250 with a Plextor. There is no solution for this issue yet, so use CloneCD with a non-Plextor drive to dump the data track.
There are also certain patterns to check for in Excel on a list of the error sector numbers, that can help determine if the dump is correct.
LaserLock: These discs also can't be dumped by DIC. Only reentrant and myself (Jackal) were able to dump them correctly, using Optiarc drives, special tools and many read retries.
A typical LaserLock disc has 12 error ranges that are 78 or 81 sectors long. The error ranges are put in the comments, like here: http://redump.org/disc/43106/.
Unnamed CD.IDX protection: This protection is found on European discs published by Funsoft / THQ, with a barcode that usually starts with 4 005209.
The error count is usually different for each disc and there should be a large dummy file on the disc (often with the filename CD.IDX, hence the name).
They can be dumped with DIC and the /sf parameter, as long as it's detected correctly and the error sectors are filled with 0x55.
Status
A disc should only get a green status when there are multiple dumps from different discs. So if a disc is dumped, sold to another dumper and then dumped again, the other dumper can be added but the status remains blue.
Dumpers
The dumper that is selected here is the person who actually dumped the disc.
Periodic checks that can be done
If you want to see all the discs in the database, you can use a link like this: http://redump.org/list/miss/Jackal/.
Check for:
- Double spaces
- "! -"
- "? -"
Sort by the disc pages by version or serial to look for missing serials/versions for console systems.
Invalid barcodes
Download the datfile: http://redump.org/barcodes
Use the text import wizard in Excel, Delimited with Semicolon. The first column are the disc id's, e.g. 51805 = http://redump.org/disc/51805/.
Use text to columns, delimited with a comma, to split all the barcodes for each row into different columns.
Move all the barcodes in the different columns to a single row (this takes some excel handiness). Remove any T's, spaces and special characters.
UPC's should have 11 digits and EAN 12. If a number in the excel sheet has 10 digits or less, then you probably have to add leading zeroes. Format the cells as custom with 00000000000.
Use a website like www.eancheck.com to enter all the barcodes. if you find erroneous ones, look up the corresponding disc id in the excel sheet or .dat and determine the correct one.
In some cases, EAN numbers have extra numbers behind them. This is correct for magazine titles. These numbers should be omitted from the check.
If you find an erroneous barcode, but the barcode field is locked, then ask the admins to fix it.
It should be possible to make this check scripted/automated, or to build a validation check into the forms.
Bad dumps
Especially for IBM PC discs with mastering errors and protections, bad dumps can happen despite all precautions, so it's good to scan for bad dumps regularly. Reentrant coded a tool that can detect bad dumps and he reports his findings in the forum.
