Guidelines:Files

The file policy of Megami Tensei Wiki outlines how files should be uploaded and treated on the wiki in various aspects.

Uploading

All files uploaded onto the wiki need to follow a set of guidelines. Of these, the most important are that all files must be relevant to the Megami Tensei franchise, follow the wiki's established naming format in file names, are appropriately sourced, and state its copyright license. Files also should only ever be uploaded if they are to be actively used on the wiki. The full guidelines are:

1. Before uploading anything, check to make sure that file is not already on the wiki. You can locate all presently uploaded files in the files category. You can also look for requested files in the pages needing images category or the wanted files list. New versions of a file should be uploaded on the original file's page to overwrite it, unless the old file needs to be superseded by another of a different file extension, in which case the new file would need to be uploaded separately.
2. All uploaded files must relate to the Megami Tensei franchise or for the wiki's usage.
   1. Files uploaded by users for personal use, such as user icons or logos, are not allowed.
   2. Fan-made content, such as fan art, are not allowed.
3. All files must follow the Code of Conduct.
   1. Files linking to pirated sources or other illegal websites are explicitly disallowed.
4. Files should only ever be uploaded onto the wiki if they are going to be actively used in the mainspace (where all the main content is). That is, the wiki will not host files for the sake of hosting them. A good rule of thumb is to first determine where a file can be used before uploading it. Files that are unused and have no obvious place on the wiki will be deleted.
5. Files that were altered using artificial intelligence (AI) are not allowed. This includes image files that were artificially upscaled. Using AI tools to 'enhance' files results in the loss of quality or distortion of details, which is antithetical to the preservation of the source file. Uploads that were altered or upscaled by AI will either be deleted or reverted to a past revision. It is far better to upload a low resolution or low quality file than one that has been altered by AI.
   1. The sole exception are assets that were officially AI upscaled or altered, such as the case with the 2023 re-release of Persona 3 Portable. Screenshots of this version are acceptable for illustrative purposes.

New versions of a file cannot overwrite another if they have different file extensions, i.e. a png cannot replace a gif already uploaded. This would otherwise require uploading the new file separately and marking the superseded file for deletion. For that reason, it is strongly recommended to upload all image files as pngs unless animated (where animated gifs would be preferred).

File Extensions

A file name extension is the suffix in a computer file that indicates the file's characteristics or intentions. For examples: .png, .gif, .wav, etc. The following are permitted file extensions on the wiki:

• Image files: png, gif, jpg, jpeg, svg, ico
• Audio files: wav, ogg, oga, flac, opus, webm, mp3, midi, mid, mpg, mpeg
• Video files: ogv, webm, mpg, mpeg

While all of these are permissible file extensions for upload, certain types are greatly preferred over others. For image files, pngs, gifs (particularly for animated images), and svgs (particularly for logos) are all preferred over jpgs.

Audio and video files should only ever be uploaded for short, demonstrative purposes, and audio files must not exceed 30 seconds in length (see File Types for more information).

File Naming

Megami Tensei Wiki has an established naming format for uploaded files, designed to keep files across the wiki consistently easy to find and link to. This naming format typically follows this basic order:

File:(Media abbreviation) (Subject) (File type).file extension

For example, for a sprite of High Pixie from the game Shin Megami Tensei II, the file's name would be formatted as: File:SMT2 High Pixie Sprite.png. The components of the file name can be broken up as:

Component	Description
Media abbreviation	This would be the wiki's established abbreviation of the media title that the file is from or relevant to. For examples: SMT2, P3, DSRK1. If a file is not related to one particular media, then instead of a media abbreviation, the file name's first component should specify the series or franchise. This should name the series or franchise outright without abbreviations, i.e. "Persona Series", "Megami Tensei Franchise".
Subject	The name of the subject in the file, such as the character, demon, location, etc, or otherwise a short descriptor about it. For named subjects, this would be the subject's official name or otherwise named after their article title if they have none. A file title can have multiple subject components if appropriate. For example: "Protagonist Portrait" would be two subjects, indicating that it is specifically a portrait of the protagonist. If the file's media abbreviation and file type already covers this (such as a video game's cover), then there is no need to add a subject component.
File type	This indicates what kind of file it is and how it should be categorized. There is a standard set of file types intended for certain kinds of files. I.e. Cover if the file is a game cover, Artwork if the file is official artwork, etc. The file type in the file's name and file type parameter in the FileInfo summary should be the same.
File extension	The file's extension, such as .png, .gif, etc. This would be the same extension as the source file and cannot be changed during upload.

File names are case-sensitive and links to them will become red links if the file name is not exactly spelled or capitalized as the uploaded file. For that reason, it is strongly recommended that each component be capitalized in a certain way:

• Media abbreviations should be spelled exactly as they are outlined in the wiki's list of abbreviations. E.g. SMT1, P5, DeSum, DeSu, etc.
• The first letter in the subject and file type components should be capitalized. E.g. Battle Screenshot.
• The file extension should not be capitalized. I.e. .png and not .PNG.

Files should also have spaces between each component, avoiding the use of camel case (LikeThis). Similarly, the use of hyphens (Like-This) should also be avoided and are only to be used if a subject has hyphens in their name. Numbers can be used only if two or more files have the same file naming and depict the same subject in different aspects (e.g. Battle Screenshot 1, Battle Screenshot 2). However, this should ideally be avoided wherever possible in favor of more descriptive naming.

When uploading a source file, you can change a file's name just before uploading it onto the wiki. This is highly encouraged and recommended, as it will save time spent on having to rename the file and update its links.

Media With Shared Titles

For files related to media that have an identical title and/or abbreviation with other media, which is often the case with TV and manga adaptations of video games, the original media release should take file naming priority while subsequent adaptations should have their media type specified.

For example, files related to the Persona 4 manga should have this titling:

P4 Manga (subject) (file type).(file extension)

Files related to the original Persona 4 video game do not need to specify the media type, as the video game would be the original media that adaptations are based off of.

Appropriate media type naming in files are: Drama, Manga, Movie, Novel, OVA, TV Series (including televised anime and live-action series), and Stage.

Country and Version

At times, certain files may also require additional components in their name to indicate the source media's version or country of release. This would be ordered as:

File:(Media abbreviation) (Version) (Subject) (File type) (Country).file extension

Component	Description
Version	If the file is from a specific release or version of a media, such as a re-release of a game for a certain platform, then this should be indicated immediately after the media abbreviation. For platform releases, this would be an abbreviation of the platform itself. I.e. FC (Famicom), SFC (Super Famicom), PS, PS2, GBC, GBA, etc.
Country	If the file is related to a specific country or region release, such as a cover or logo in a particular country, then this should be indicated by the country's or region's ISO 3166 country code immediately after the file type. I.e. JP, US, KR, etc.

File Types

As stated above, the file type indicates the file's medium and should be added as the last component in its name. The wiki has a set of standardized file types that should be used in file names. These are:

File Type	Description
Artwork	For official artwork produced by Atlus or related companies. This includes character artwork, key artwork, promotional artwork, and conceptual or unused artwork. Conceptual artwork should be titled as "Concept Artwork" in the file name.
Audio	For audio files from the Megami Tensei franchise, namely music samples and certain sound clips. Audio samples must be no more than 30 seconds in length and are only to be uploaded if they are to be actively used in the mainspace, particularly for demonstrative or referential purposes. Audio files that do not meet this criteria will be deleted from the wiki.
Card	For images or scans of playing or trading cards. If the card has a designated number, include this prior to Card. Example: "067 Card.png".
Cover	The front or back cover of a media release. This includes video game covers, book and manga covers, video and DVD covers, soundtrack and other audio recording covers, etc.
Graphic	For 2D, non-pixel graphics that were ripped from a video game or other interactive medium. This file type primarily applies to character portraits, backgrounds, and other ripped graphics that are not pixelated; see Sprite for other kinds of ripped graphics.
Icon	A miscellaneous file type mainly intended for various graphic icons, including game interface icons for use on the wiki.
Illustration	For original page illustrations in books and manga. Manga illustrations should preferably only be of a single panel and with text edited out.
Logo	For logos of media, a company, official event, merchandise line, etc.
Map	For illustrative maps of an area in a piece of media, such as a map of a dungeon from a video game. These should ideally be taken from official media, such as a screenshot or ripped graphic from a game, or an official spread.
Merchandise	For images of official Megami Tensei-related merchandise, including official images and photographs taken by users.
Models	For cropped 3D models of in-game characters, Demons, items, and other subjects that are not official renders, i.e. a cropped screenshot of a model taken by a contributor.
Photo	For photographs specifically related to the Megami Tensei franchise. This includes publicly released photographs of staff involved with the franchise, promotional events, and materials. For merchandise-related photographs, use Merchandise instead.
Render	For officially rendered 2D or 3D images produced by Atlus or related companies in place of artwork. This can include official 3D renders of locations, characters, and Demons, as well as 2D images that have been specially framed or superimposed a particular way (such as the Demon artwork in Devil Summoner: Akuma Zensho).
Screenshot	For screenshots taken from a video game or an animated or televised work. This also includes animated gifs of screen footage.
Sprite	For 2D, pixelated bitmap graphics that were ripped from a video game. Files that have "Sprite" in their file name have nearest neighbor enabled, allowing sprites to be upscaled on the wiki without loss of quality. For that reason, the Sprite file type should only be used for pixel graphics. For non-pixel graphics, use Graphic instead.

The file type used in the file's name should also be added to the Fileinfo summary under "type=". This will automatically categorize the file in the appropriate file type category.

Examples

Below are some examples of files and how they would be named on the wiki.

File Type	Image	Name Format	Notes
Artwork		SMT4 Flynn Artwork.png	As this is artwork of the character, the name Flynn was added to the file name as the subject.
Cover		SMTSJ Cover US.png	As this is a cover from the North American release, the country code "US" was added to the file name. Since the SMTSJ abbreviation and Cover file type already indicate what this file is about, the middle subject component is unneeded.
Cover of a particular version		P2IS PS Cover.png	As this is a cover from the original PlayStation release, the platform's abbreviation "PS" was added to the file name.
Logo		File:P2IS PSP Logo US.png
Screenshot		P3R Battle Screenshot.png	This screenshot depicts a battle, and as such is the subject.
Sprite		SMT2 High Pixie Sprite.png

File Info

When uploading, all files need to have their information filled in the summary's File Info template. The Source and License parameters are the most important and must be filled.

Parameter	Usage	Notes
summary=	A short summary of the file	This should be a short, descriptive summary about the file, such as stating the subject, the type of file, and what media it is from.
type=	The file's type	This indicates what kind of file it is and automatically categorizes it in its respective category. This should match a category in the file type list.
source=	The file's source	This would be a link to the webpage the file was retrieved from, or the username of the person who retrieved it themselves. This is a required parameter.
artists=	The file's artists, if applicable	A comma-separated list of the artists (including colorists, lineartists, inkers, etc.) who contributed to a particular piece of artwork, for example: Kazuma Kaneko, Shigenori Soejima. This field is required for artwork and illustration files; however, the word "Unknown" can be used in place of an unknown author.
media=	The file's associated media	This should state the title's established abbreviation, which will automatically create a link to the media's page if it is a game. If not, the mediatype= parameter should be filled in. If a file is not associated with a specific piece of media, ignore this parameter.
mediatype=	The type of media that a file is associated with.	If the media related to a file is a video game, this should be left blank; otherwise, it should be specified in the same manner as the Link template.
version=	The version a file is associated with	Used for when a file is from a video game that has important differences depending on which version of the game it is; for example, an updated or censored sprite in a port of a title. To input a version, use the relevant Platform abbreviation in the media abbreviations listing.
reused=	Additional games that a video game file was used in	A comma-separated list of abbreviations for games that a file was reused in, for example: P5R, POA.
licensing=	The file's copyright license	This is a required parameter.
trademark=	The file's trademark(s)	Used when additional legal information is required for a file.
subject=	The file's subject(s)	This acts as a notes section about the file beyond the scope of the above fields.

Source

All uploaded files must be provided with a source. If the file was retrieved from a website or another web source, this would be a linked URL to the webpage where the file was originally found. Files that are sourced directly from the user uploading or redistributing them, such as their own screenshots or image scans, should have the source link to their own user page on the wiki, formatted as [[User:Username]]. Likewise, if a file is sourced from someone else who has an account on this wiki, the source would link to their user page.

If a file was uploaded without its source being attributed, the uploader will be asked for its source. In the event that a file's original source cannot be found, it may accordingly be replaced by another upload or deleted.

Files that are edited, such as making an image's background transparent, should still retain the original source. In general, the only time a source needs to be changed is if a new uploaded version of a file was retrieved from an entirely different source.

Inappropriate Sources

While a file's source should generally always be attributed, links to pirated files or websites with illegal downloads are explicitly disallowed. This also extends to direct links to archive sites or drives, press kit downloads, unofficial streams, and scanlations. In the event that a file has an inappropriate source, the file will either be outright deleted off the wiki or its sourcing changed with the offending revisions deleted, depending on the severity. A warning or penalty will also be issued to the uploader based on this severity.

Instead of turning to pirated sources for files, consider using more reputable sources, such as a blog, a news report, a sprite database, or even from another wiki if necessary.

Licensing

All uploaded files must state the license they are associated with. The current available license options are:

• Copyright
• Public Domain
• GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL)
• CC BY-SA
• CC BY-NC-SA

If a file is from or related to a piece of media, its license would fall under Copyright. If the file falls under a specific copyleft license, that specific license should be provided. If the file is an original upload to the website, it should be licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

New Versions

New versions of a file can be uploaded over the original by going to that file's page (by clicking on its thumbnail or searching File:File's name.extension) and clicking on "Upload a new version of this file" under File History. This is required over uploading a new file separately, unless the new file in question has a different file extension that would necessitate uploading separately and superseding the old file.

As with new uploads, new versions must also follow a set of guidelines.

1. A new version should only be uploaded if that version improves the present file in some way. This includes higher quality or higher resolution uploads, cropping, blank backgrounds made transparent, and other such revisions.
   1. If a new version is deemed to be in worse or loss of quality compared to the original, the file will be reverted back to the previous version.
2. The new version must retain the file's specified license. I.e. if a file's license is stated to be Copyright and a new version is uploaded, its license would still be Copyright.
3. Unless the new version was retrieved from an entirely different source, such as another website, the source would also stay the same. This is true even if the file was edited; the source would thereby indicate the source file.
   1. Uploading an identical version of a file merely to change its source is considered advertising and a violation.

When uploading a new version, be sure to also specify what changed in the changes summary, especially if the change would be hard to see or detect.

An archive of all uploaded versions are recorded in the File History. If a new uploaded version of a file is deemed unsatisfactory or in violation of the Code of Conduct, the file may be reverted to an older version. If necessary, an administrator can remove archived versions of files.

Superseding

While new versions should always be uploaded over the original file, at times an older file may need to be superseded by an entirely new upload. This mainly happens if a file has been superseded by another of a different file extension, as new versions of a file cannot be uploaded over the original if their file extensions do not match. Superseded files will be deleted off the wiki while the new file takes its place.

Certain criteria has to be met for a file to be superseded:

1. Image files that are gifs or jpgs can be superseded by pngs and svgs, as these are much higher quality than the former files and, in the case of pngs, are commonly used. Svgs can supersede pngs, mainly for logos.
   1. The exception are animated gifs, which are generally preferred over animated pngs due to some browsers not supporting them.
2. The new file must be of equal or greater quality to the original file to supersede it. For instance, if a high resolution image was uploaded as a jpg, but the new png file is much smaller in resolution, then it would not be satisfactory enough to supersede the original file.
3. If the same file has been saved as or converted to another file extension, such as a jpg converted to a png, it can supersede the original upload. This is encouraged for jpgs uploaded onto the wiki. The original image source must still be kept.

Files that have been superseded should be marked for deletion using Template:Delete with the file parameter enabled, {{Delete|file=y|reason=|date=}}.

Be sure to also update the old file's links on the wiki to the new file. Pages using the old file are listed under the File Usage section on the file's page. A list of pages can also be found in "What links here" under Tools in the wiki's sidebar.

File Quality

Files that are considered to be in poor quality include:

• Images in blurry or lossy quality (common with jpgs).
• Images with noticeably faded or highly saturated colors that do not match the original's color.
• Images in very small resolutions.
• Screenshots that were not taken in their native resolutions, i.e. stretched or upscaled screenshots, photographs of a TV or gaming console screen, etc.
• Screenshots where a protagonist or other nameable character is given an unofficial name or title, i.e. a protagonist named after a player.
• Images that were altered or artificially upscaled with AI processing. These will be outright deleted or reverted to a past revision accordingly.
  • The exception are content that were artificially altered/upscaled by Atlus or Sega, such as the case with the 2023 re-release of Persona 3 Portable.

With the exception of AI altered images, there is no hard rule against uploading a file whose quality is deemed poor, especially if a better quality file cannot be found or retrieved. However, higher quality images will still always be preferred and take precedence where possible. If a file is deemed to be in poor quality, it should be marked with Template:Quality to request a higher quality upload. Files marked with this template are added to the poor quality files category.

Specific File Guidelines

Images

Screenshots

Screenshots should always be taken in the native resolution of that particular media.

• Video game screenshots: If a video game does not have a particular resolution cap, such as a PC game, the image should still be in its original intended aspect ratio, such as 4:3 or 16:9. Emulators can only be used for screenshots if they are known to display an accurate resolution cap to the original hardware.
  • For screenshots taken on Nintendo Switch hardware, it is recommended to take them while in docked mode, which are in higher quality than in handheld mode.
  • The custom name used by characters should reflect whatever is the default name given in the respective game, if that is available. Otherwise, it should reflect their naming on the wiki (i.e. Protagonist, Hero, etc). Names shown in screenshots should not be personally identifiable to the user that uploaded them.

• Film screenshots: Screenshots of films, such as televised series, OVAs, and movies, should not have any subtitles present.

Book and Manga Scans

Out of respect to copyright holders, uploading page scans of an entire book or manga is not allowed and may result in penalties to the user. Cropped panels of a manga page focusing on characters or certain events can be uploaded for illustrative purposes; these should have all text edited out of any speech bubbles present. Sound effect text may be retained, particularly if removing them would significantly alter the artwork.

Audio

Out of respect to copyright holders, copyrighted music tracks must not exceed 30 seconds in length, and should only be uploaded if they are being actively used in the mainspace (where the wiki's main content pages are kept). Uploading entire soundtracks is a major violation of this policy and may result in penalties to the user.