Talk:Missions

Mission Page Layout
At the moment there are two layouts for mission pages. There are those for the San Andreas mission, such as Reuniting the Families and those on the LCS & VCS missions, such as Taken For A Ride. Which one of the two should be used? A-Dust 16:25, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks for bringing this up - Consistency is very important. Missions should be laid out like Taken For A Ride, with the mission infobox, plot/summary/outline, transcript and other information (eg rewards, requirements). But you can use ===subheadings=== in the plot/outline like on Reuniting the Families - the more detail in this section the better, and remember to use lots of links. The reason for the different layouts is mainly the merge - Gboyers (?) 17:43, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Whilst on the issue of consistency, how should list pages be used? There are some that just list pages and others that give a description of the subject matter. Also, should the infoboxes be used in character articles? There is already a character template on the Wikia articles. A-Dust 17:54, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Depends on the list. If it's a small list then you can give a little description, if it's long then you could categorise it, and if its not a very helpful list (just random names that people don't understand) then you could tabulate it with images and/or descriptions. As for Template:Character being used on character pages, I'm not sure. On missions and game pages its useful to get a large number of small important bits of information across quickly. But there isn't much it can do on a character's page. Perhaps it could be used as a basic outline of the minimum information to include on a character page (so you know what to write about), but I don't see any advantage of using the infobox. More important right now is merging the clashes - Gboyers (?) 13:38, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Walkthroughs on Mission pages
Has there been a discussion on whether walkthroughs should be included in the mission's pages? It is my belief that a reader looking for a mission will most likely be looking for help with completing the mission. I understand the "encyclopedic" opinion, but I feel that it is more important to include what the readers are likely to be looking for than to ensure that the pages are strictly "encyclopedic." --GuildKnightTalk2me 02:56, 22 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I can't remember if this was publicly discussed, but I remember coming to an agreement that individual mission pages should have and introduction, infobox and brief outline of the mission, then link to /Walkthrough which would have a step-by-step walkthrough. The reasoning for that is the walkthroughs can be very long, and could have lots of images, and even maps, and all that wouldn't easily fit on a single page along with the other content. Also, we could have multiple walkthroughs from different perspectives, or simply written by different people. I agree we definitely DO need walkthroughs, but they don't need to be on the same page - Gboyers talk 08:51, 22 May 2008 (UTC)


 * OK, then. I just don't foresee a situation where the walkthrough would be so long that it would hinder loading of the page.  I agree that the mission pages should include the introduction, infobox, and brief outline, but it just seems counter-intuitive to not have the mission walkthrough on the mission page as well.  Anyway, that's just my two cents.  --GuildKnightTalk2me 02:47, 23 May 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't mean the page would be slow to load, I mean it would just be too long to read, and too hard to find any specific information on. Think of a page as long as Missions in GTA San Andreas/old compared with Missions in GTA San Andreas now. The latter is more useful, even though it has less information, because it only contains the information it needs, and the full details are available on the individual pages. With individual mission pages, something about the size of In The Beginning (GTA SA) is fine. But a page like End of the Line isn't very easy to use, and would look a lot better if the full walkthrough was moved onto a separate page, and you could split it up into all its different elements, add images and maps of the route the firetruck goes etc. Also, if there is more than one walkthrough, they should be on separate pages. You may also have a transcription of a long cutscene (such as at the start of GTA IV). I agree that most of the time it is fine on the same page, but if it gets much longer than In The Beginning (GTA SA) you'll want to start splitting it off - Gboyers talk 11:33, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Images on mission pages
Does anyone think it would enhance the quality/aesthetics of the mission articles to add some relevant images, perhaps of the locations, people, items, etc. involved therein? EganioTalk 01:54, 22 June 2008 (UTC)


 * It always does. It's always encouraged, for everything. Bear in mind we have thousands of images, many of them could be tied to pages, and some could be used for missions. Would be awesome if the step-by-step walkthroughs also had accompanying images of difficult-to-find pickups, or maps of where bad-guys were located etc. Would be good to make a good example of how it should be done Gboyers talk 03:12, 22 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Step-by-step walkthroughs? Are we including those on the mission pages?  I thought the consensus was to leave those out.  Are they located elsewhere?  I would love to contribute to the walkthroughs...EganioTalk 04:17, 22 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Nobody has ever said we shouldn't do walkthroughs. We absolutely need to do them. I said that long walkthroughs should be moved to a sub-page (eg First Date/Walkthrough), and we could also have multiple walkthroughs (on subpages) expressed in different ways (or just written by different people). But they are a big asset, and a big reason for people to visit the wiki. Images make them infinitely more useful too. Gboyers talk 12:54, 22 June 2008 (UTC)


 * OK, got it. I'm on it! :-) EganioTalk 19:41, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Mission Page Layout (detailed)
I want to write a more detailed layout based on this example, this example, and several others written by A-Dust.


 * Infobox

All storyline missions should have at least an information box. The main purpose of that is to summarize every necessary thing into one location, mainly the header and rewards sections. Check the infobox template on the source.


 * Header

(Name of mission in between three apostrophes) is a mission (link "mission" to the appropriate main mission page) in (name and link of game) given to protagonist (name and link of protagonist) by (job description/relations of boos if applicable) (name and link of boss) from (location/place of given mission if applicable, include linked district/neighborhood and city). It is unlocked by the mission(s) (name and link of mission(s) that unlocks this mission) and (other requirements if applicable).

Example: Pursuit Farce is a mission in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars given to protagonist Huang Lee by his uncle and Lee Family head Kenny Lee from his restaurant Cerveza Heights, Dukes, Liberty City. It is unlocked by the mission Yu Jian and reading an e-mail sent by Kenny.


 * Plot

I want to use "plot" instead of "mission" for the section because the entire article is a mission article. If anyone disagree, please reply. This section should include a summary of what happened in the mission typed in a third person narrative as if you are reading an encyclopedia or a novel.


 * Walkthrough

This section should have a walkthrough on how to pass the mission. Different versions of walkthroughs are allowed. If the walkthrough is waay too long or has pictures, create a link in the page editor by typing /walkthrough, preview the page, click on the created link, and write the walkthrough there.

Example: See /walkthrough for details on how to complete the mission.


 * Transcript/Script

This section should have the transcript from the mission (or script in missions without spoken words). I came up with collapsible text by doing this (just copy and paste, no need to view source):

Gboyers mentioned that this wouldn't work when JavaScript is disabled so if the transcript is too long, place it in the subpage /transcript using the same technique as the walkthrough.


 * Reward(s)

The reward for completing this mission is (cash/respect/drugs) and (other stuff if applicable, like safehouses and stuff). The mission(s) (name and link of the unlocked mission(s)) is/are unlocked.


 * External link(s)

Place external links like video walkthroughs/demonstrations here.


 * Category

ALL missions should be in the "Missions" category as discussed here. Then categorize the mission in the appropriate categories.


 * Final notes

All this is meant to standardize all mission pages so that it's informative and so that it looks good to the eyes. Most importantly is to look at the example links for examples. If there are any objections/improvements/suggestions, please reply.

Spaceeinstein 02:14, 13 July 2009 (UTC)