How can i contribute? What type of help is needed?

[EviLEd]

I'm sure the number 1 answer is either money or HDD space. Not out of the question but what other type of help is needed? Even if it's just "grunt" work. I admire what you guys do and i would like to help. I briefly searched the forum and the website but didn't find the answer i was looking for.

[PandMonium]

Hi EviLEd,

Money is always good but we don't need much currently, in fact we have never received any (afaik)
There are a few ways to help out, anyone can contribute if they want to, i guess we should have a FAQ / guide about it in the website or forum.

It depends on your time, will and what you like to do.
- dump: If you have old software (discs, disks, tapes) you might want to dump them to help verify current sets (toseciso) and add new ones (in non iso also)
- rename: You might want to start renaming some stuff, pick some system that you like and is stopped and start checking dats to fix current mistakes and add new sets.
- verify stuff: We are currently verifying the content of our flags to check for valid/invalid things like publishers and scene groups, this has stopped for a bit but is something we really need/want to do.
- anything else: well anything you might find useful for us, you can simply contribute with reports of wrong named sets you find out across dats or give suggestions and so on.

Being valued and supported by the community is already something great so you're helping anyway

[EviLEd]

You could say i have a lot of free at my job....usually. I am thinking that renaming and verifying is right up my alley. I think i need to read more of your documents to find out where i could start. Unless you want to suggest something to start with.

[PandMonium]

I don't rename myself but maybe for a start picking something you might like may be a good idea.
Renaming new stuff (adding sets) is also a bit tedious because most of the "common" software is already in and although many unrenamed sets exist, most of them will probably be alternate versions, hacks or bad dumps i suppose. A different case might happen with some really weird and obscure systems but you will probably need a lot more knowledge about the systems and emulators many time sucks or don't "exist" yet. That way, the current work is more focused in fixing/verifying our current dats/sets cleaning many errors.
Still, there are a few systems in our database that are very incomplete but i don't know who is working on them (Atari 2600 comes to mind, when i entered the project the dat was being redone but the work stopped and we now have an half done dat). There is also some work to do, reorganizing existent dats, eliminating the "Various" dats and putting their sets in the right place (Applications, Games, ...).

Anyway it is not always easy to start working in it, my suggestion would be for you to read the naming convention and ask anything you need until you understand it correctly, after that you might ask one of the current renamers (TKaos, Cassiel and others) and maybe they need some help that will guide your start.

IMHO, after reading and understanding the TNC, a nice way to start that would help us a bit and also be less tedious / more fun, would be verifying our dats and adding information to what we have now, this is mainly done by checking which publishers, groups, persons, etc. are valid and which are not. So they may be fixed later. Unfortunately this work depends on some "tools" that are currently not available but i will bring them back sooner or later (free time needed )

[TKaos]

I'd say work on Gameboy or Gameboy Color DATs, those are the ones that are actually well known systems but have really few files in TOSEC, would really like if someone helps with those.

[EviLEd]

Looks like the TNC is the place to start.....but since you mention 2600, i might attack that. I know this will be a big project by itself. But i work with a guy that is a Atari guru and will be a value resource.

[TKaos]

If you want to work on Atari 2600 you should get in contact with Aral since he is doing some work on those DATs.

[PandMonium]

Yes, i forgot Aral is working on Atari 2600 But you can always talk with him or just pick one of the other systems, they might not be that much incomplete but they need some work for sure (fix errors, add new sets, rename all the ZZZ-UNK and so on).

Anyway you already have a starting point, the tnc Somewhere in the forum you will also find lists of the used/valid values for most of the flags described in TNC.

[Cassiel]

If your interested in Atari 2600 (but since Aral is working on that particular system), then how about Atari 5200 or 7800?

I know these two have been abandoned for years. I cleaned them up a bit awhile ago (sorted out some of the publishers and incorrect flags) but to be honest, the whole lot could do with being verified properly, and I know there are lots of images that can be added too (I have a pile I can share with you). These DATs are also big enough for you to get a feel for renaming/verifying, but not too big to have you running for the hills!

Or if you’re feeling more ambitious, the Tangerine Oric-1 DATs are a good choice too. With these there’s also the added value of being able to split them up properly into ‘Games, ‘Applications’ etc since they’re currently all lumped in together under ‘Various’ (we try to avoid ‘Various’ DATs whenever possible now, it’s a very old bad practice). And again, I have literally thousands of images I can share with you if you want to get stuck in adding some new files.

I’ll reply to your PM with some pointers on getting started when I get home tonight…….