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View Full Version : How to ask us to find your forgotten game


Tracker
22-12-2012, 08:32 PM
Welcome to the Forgotten Games Bureau, friend!

If you're here, you're probably trying to remember a game you played about two or three decades ago but can't recall it unfortunately. We're trying to help you. Read on friend.

ATTENTION: If you can not see the images in this tutorial properly, visit this (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=29393) (http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=29393) link to an advertisement-free version of the forums, which is the same as the other version.

First of all, if you haven't done it yet, you need to register on Abandonia. It is free. Follow the steps below:

1. Register on Abandonia.com

Click on the registration link on the main page:

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/7092/registration1i.png

Fill the form:

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/1337/registration2.png

2. Login and scroll down to the FGB:

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2267/fgbs.png

3. Click new topic:

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/2845/fgb1.png

4. Write your post:

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4162/fgb3.png

IMPORTANT! ONLY ONE GAME PER THREAD! ONLY ASK ABOUT ONE GAME AT A TIME PLEASE!

Your post should include the following details:

When did you play the game?
- 2000s, '90s, '80s, '70s...?

What computer did it run on?
- IBM and compatibles: Pentium III or IV, Pentium I or II, 486DX?
- Non-standard platforms: Amiga, Commodore, Atari, Apple, Spectrum?
- Rare: FM Towns, BBC Micro, ENIAC?

What operating system did the computer run?
- Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows 3.1?
- DOS?
- Amiga OS?

What were the graphics like?
- 4 colour CGA, 16 colour EGA, 256 colour VGA, SVGA, SXGA?
- 2D, 3D, 2D with 3D videos, 3D with 2D backgrounds?

What was the music like?
- PC Beeper, 8 bit, MIDI, CD Audio?

Were there speech?

What was the gameplay like?
- FPS, CRPG, RTS, TBS, Platformer, Arcade, Puzzle, Adventure...?

Which perspective were you given there?
- Side-scrolling, Top-down, First Person, Third Person, or other?

You can see a fine example of an excellent post written by our long time member Frodo:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3913/fgb5.png

She gave the thread an interesting title, it gives us a lot of information already, titles like "Help me find this game!" or "Forgotten FPS game" along with "I need help!" are useless. It is clear as vodka that you are looking for help, why else would you post in this forum, to spam everything? :p

You can see she wrote her memories more or less corresponding to the list given above, she tells us it was about five years ago on a PC, and it was a Point 'n' Click adventure game, resembling Fate of Atlantis by LucasArts, but with colourful graphics. She also described some of the gameplay, not to mention that the game had voice acting.

It might unfortunately turn out there's no one in this world anymore who has seen that game except her, but she told us everything she knew, and there's nothing more and nothing less you can do to help us find your game.

A few examples of terrible thread titles:

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5001/fgb2.png

An example of a post containing the information with useless formatting:

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/513/terriblepost1.png

Be sure to separate different details with at least enters!

By formatting the text to be easily parsible and by keeping it rather short you can make users more likely to read it, nobody on Earth has time to read your CV or a novel about your game, just keep it strictly factual.

How to answer the questions about forgotten games
This one seems to be an issue too unfortunately. Whenever you're suggesting a game as the possible candidate make sure you link some screenshots as well. You could even embed the image in your post as long as it's not larger than 320x240 to avoid your post taking up the entire screen. If you can't find any pictures of screenshots, then link to any website that has valuable information about the game. Make sure the link you post conforms to the forums policy: No warez, No oldwarez, No torrent, No filesharing site, No advertisement, No porn, No racist material, and generally, if it's not about the game in question, your post will be unacceptible.

Well, that's all for now, I hope my tutorial was useful to you, if you have anything to add, let me know, and I'll update this post.

RRS
22-12-2012, 08:44 PM
Good idea with this guide. I once did very short one for MobyGames forum (http://www.mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,5/dgm,167795/).

I'd change the thread title to something obvious for newbies, say: "how to ask us to find your forgotten game".

Tracker
22-12-2012, 08:51 PM
Sounds better actually, I'll ask a mod to change it, and I plan on adding examples of games that correspond to some of the specifications.

Tracker
16-02-2013, 09:49 AM
I have updated the tutorial with new information, please read it all again, because it contains important changes!

dosraider
16-02-2013, 11:39 AM
What computer did it run on?
......... ENIAC?
:D

StaaViinsZ
03-09-2013, 08:13 AM
LOL I looked at the "Similar Threads" section under this article...

Similar Threads:

/Forgotten Game...

Forgotten Game...

Title forgotten - RPG Game like Mad Max

Forgotten game...

Forgotten Old Game!/

No, really. They must have no shame. :mhh:

http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/98439344@N05/9659678493/

RRS
27-02-2014, 10:26 PM
Looks like MobyGames opened a similar section on their forums:
http://www.mobygames.com/forums/dga,3/dgb,11/