User:PHOEniX 05

Curation Tutorial

This page serves as a basic introduction to curating works to be added to the archive. To modify or add assets to works that are already present in the archive, refer to the Content Patches page.

Before starting on a curation, it is highly recommend to read through How Flashpoint Works, in order to get an idea of what you're dealing with.

The First Steps

To curate works from the internet, you'll need:

• Flashpoint Infinity, versions 12 and above.
• A modern web browser, such as Chrome or Firefox which have a built in Network monitor that you can use to find and grab individual SWFs, and sometimes multi-asset titles with low amounts of resources.
• cURLsDownloader, found as a component in the Extras section of the Flashpoint Infinity Installer (or, if Flashpoint is already installed, accessed by going to your Flashpoint directory and open "Manager\FlashpointManager.exe")

Note: If you're using Flashpoint Core, do know that it is severely outdated, and the curation components of Core have already been integrated with Flashpoint Infinity; it is highly advised to use newer versions of Infinity to curate.

The Basics of Curating

Despite the length of this tutorial making it seem quite a formidable process, the essence of curating is simple-

• Check whether the work is not allowed, or has already been curated, be it directly in the archive, or in the submission queue; if not,

• Make a curation for the work in the Curate tab

• Grab the files of the work (usually done via cURLsDownloader/MAD4FP, which will be discussed in detail)
• Add metadata (i.e, info) about the work, like the source and developer
• Submit the exported curation to the Flashpoint Submission System

Preliminary Checking

Not Accepted Curations

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.)
• 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.
  • While not emulation, fan remakes/conversions of Nintendo projects like Full Screen Mario are too risky to add if they were taken down by Nintendo. Not all remakes/conversions are risky though, if you are unsure just ask in #curators.
• Videos embedded in SWF files:
  • If the SWF has nothing on it other than it requiring a separate FLV to run the SWF file properly (and if the FLV works perfectly fine on VLC), then it won't be allowed on Flashpoint and it should rather be uploaded through Archive.org
  • If it uses any Flash elements like ui, special effects, loop etc., it can be curated.
  • 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.
• Animations using the HTML5 platform have to include animated components and make use of HTML5-specific tags, CSS, and/or Javascript.
• Games/animations with cub, shotacon or lolicon content.

• The following are not allowed at developer request:
  • Any game from XForm Games that is not already in the database
  • Windows 93
  • Dragon Ball Devolution, and other games from www.txori.com
  • Any game developed by Nitrome
  • Flash Flash Revolution
  • Any game developed by Farrago Fiction
  • Any game/animation developed by Anonymous-Frog
  • Non-classic versions of Cookie Clicker
  • Any game developed by snowmanmedia
  • Captain Imposter / Successor / Jameson + The Dawn Star by Farbs. These are still available for sale on Steam. The latter is on the beta branch.

It should go without saying that blatantly illegal games/animations are not allowed, either.

Duplicates

Duplicates, usually referred to as dupes, are submissions that are the same as another curation, either present in the archive already, or in the submission queue, as described previously. Dupes in the submission system will get rejected, and as a result, it is strongly advised to check if the curation you're planning to make hasn't already been curated.

Here's how you check for dupes-

• Look it up in Flashpoint Infinity. While the majority of curations will be works that users find missing in the archive, it is likely that it could have been mistyped, or the title of the work in the archive was worded a bit differently. Looking up via tags can be helpful in this regard, as they are more standardized.
• Check the FPFSS queue. Before you click on it, know that you'll have to log in through Discord to be able to access it (this is also the same site where we'll submit curations!)