PikminFanon:Community guide

=Table of Contents=

=Welcome!=

Welcome to Pikmin Fanon! As a new user you might be confused, scared, or even lonesome. This page will help you to get acquainted with the site known as Pikmin Fanon.

What is a "Wiki"?
A "Wiki" is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit (so long as they follow the rules and regulations of the wiki). Pikmin Fanon is run by a computer program known as MediaWiki. Wikipedia and the other member wikis of NIWA also run on various versions of MediaWiki. Thus, the language for formatting pages on all of these wikis is identical for the most part and can be interchanged between wikis. Much of the syntax used on wikis is unique to the MediaWiki, with the exception of CSS, which the software will also support. Forum codes based off of BBC and most HTML codes will not work.

I don't know how to edit pages!
If you don't know how to edit pages, you'll have trouble putting your Fan Game ideas on this wiki. Fret not because there's an app Help Page for that!

What is Pikmin Fanon?
Pikmin Fanon is the website you are on, but it is also Fanon Relating to Pikmin. So what is fanon? "Fanon" is a term coined in by the general society on the Internet. The actual word is a portmanteau of the two words "Fan" and "Canon". Fanon is, in our case, basically made-up creations that relate in some form to Pikmin. So, on this website, we make up the concepts of Pikmin video games, even though we tend to go much further than the probable. An example of such extremes would be the Buildup Trilogy, a combination of three games and its superior, Pikmin: Ultimate Doom.

How do I talk to people?
This community is all about collaboration, and so with that comes the need to communicate. Here on Pikmin Fanon, it's fairly simple. To tell something to a certain user, go to their User Page. To find a user page, one can click on a user's name on the Recent Changes List. From there you can find the link to the User Talk Page usually located on the top right corner next to the User Page Link. Then, you need to locate the "+" on the same row of links relating to that said user. This will take you to an empty box with a smaller empty box above it labeled "Subject/Headline". To make a title for the message, type the title in the smaller box. Then type the comment you wish to make in the larger box below. To end a message you need to type three Tidles making your signature appear therefore allowing the user to know who sent the message. This works with all Talk Pages, which can be found above the article's title. Talk pages only deal with the content of the article, if you wish to converse about it's topic use the Forums.

I want to make a Fan Game!
If you want to make a fan game, please read this section for details and help on your game's general layout.
 * 1) Prior to starting, It is a good idea to look around at other people's games to see the widely accepted layouts. Looking through the Buildup Trilogy is a good starting idea because those games were tuned to perfection. It is the only guaranteed 'perfect layout', but looking at the rest of the games should give you good ideas as well.
 * 2) Once you have acquainted yourself with some games on the site, you should begin thinking of ideas for the game. What does the game feature? What is the storyline? What twists to the Pikmin series will it add? And more specifically, what are the enemies in the game? All of these questions and more should be taken into account before your idea will be ready for a game format.
 * 3) After the basic ideas for the game are collected, It is time to work on a title. Remember, you make the game's article as if it was real, so you need to patch up any inconsistencies in your game's ideas. Try to make the title relevant to the subject of the game. "Dinosaurs in Candyland with Pikmin" is not a good name for a game dealing with two dinosaurs in the entire story and no candy, and quite frankly, the name is bad. It is unoriginal, but using "Pikmin: _______" is the commonly used structure of the Pikmin Fan Games' titles.
 * 4) When the title is in your mind along with the ideas, it is time to create the article. The Game Infobox should be put first in the article unless you already have a Game Banner. If you have a game banner made specifically for your new game, put it first before the Infobox and the article's content. If you don't have a banner skip that and later you can ask for one. (preferably make one) Then you need to write the beginning paragraph of the article starting below the Infobox's syntax. It should start with something like this: Your game name here is a ________ (what genre) that was developed by ________ and produced by _______.
 * 5) What follows should be reasons that make the game unique and miscellaneous info. Note that the sentence above is recommended for the article because without it, there is no introduction.
 * 6) After, you should keep cleaning up and improving the content of your game. A basic structure of a Pikmin Fanon game should consist of the following:
 * 7) A Piklopedia-like enemy page
 * 8) A Treasure Hoard-like collectibles and/or treasure page (ship parts if relevant)
 * 9) Areas
 * 10) New Pikmin (two usually is a balanced amount)
 * 11) Possibly new captains
 * 12) A storyline
 * 13) The game modes featured
 * 14) And any other bit of information, like trivia or developer's notes.
 * 15) Your game will be successful if you continue to correct grammar, spelling and continuity errors. You need to also continue to use in-depth details and layout the storyline in such a way that users will enjoy reading it. Also, using the new enemy page layout for your articles on the enemies of your game is a good practice and users will tend to accept your game better.

Links

 * A detailed guide for making Pikmin Fanon
 * An example of the new enemy page layout