User:Billy Mitchell/sandbox/Infobox image draft

Infoboxes use images to represent a given subject.

Definitions

An infobox is a panel at the top right of an article which summarizes key facts about the article's subject. It will usually include at least one image.

An active image, set via {{Media}}'s active parameter, is the default tab on article load. In the case that an infobox has only one image, the only image is the active image.

The SEO image is what image accompanies an article in social media embeds and in the search function on the mobile website. Usually, it is identical to the active image. If an infobox uses an image directly without the {{Media}} template in the image, imagepage, or imagecover parameter, that image will be the SEO image by default. On occasion, a page may have multiple {{Media}} instances; this is usually on location pages due to image and imagemap both supporting {{Media}}, but on occasion a page may have multiple, separate infoboxes. In such case, set the SEO image manually with the infobox's seoimage parameter; if a page has multiple infoboxes, set it on the bottom-most infobox.

Most topics

What to include and what not to include

Usually, only one image should be included per piece of media, unless the image is art for a different platform for the game in question, or if the image represents a different "form" of the article's subject. Examples of "forms" include the angelic and demonic versions of Lucifer, the humanoid and fly versions of Beelzebub, and the citizen and Phantom Thief outfits for playable characters from Persona 5. Seasonal, Malice, etc. variants from live service games are not to be included in the infobox; however, Manifestation Series (art based on sprite designs) from Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2 are acceptable.

Images containing spoilers are to be excluded (see Guidelines:Spoilers), unless the entire page is marked with {{Spoilers}} and it is otherwise unavoidable.

Generally, only artwork should be included. This has several qualifiers and exceptions, however, which are detailed in the following sections.

Artwork

Artwork and illustrations from non-game media are not to be included, unless they meet at least one of the following criteria:

• The art has been used to represent the subject in subsequent video game appearances,
• The image avoids spoilers present in the main game's artwork and is by the same artist as the main game's artwork, or
• The subject originated in a non-video game piece of media; examples include Akemi Nakajima, Shin Kanzato, and Ai Kurogami, or
• The art represents a sprite design which has no other art and is by the subject's original designer/the game's original artist.

Censored versions or slight edits of existing artwork already included in the infobox are not to be included, with the exception of art from Revelations: Persona.

Later digital recolors of preexisting art (often featuring new digital shading, etc.) are not to be included unless they meet at least one of the following criteria:

• They are from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner, Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, or the original release of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment,
• They are used to represent the subject in Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2,
• They represent a unique design not represented by any of the other images (e.g. being a different color rather than just being shading or saturation), or
• The art it was recolored from is not otherwise present in the infobox.

Note: The purpose of limiting variant/censored versions and digital recolors of artwork is to reduce the amount of very similar images present in the infobox. Such images are still to be included in the gallery.

In the case that an art piece for a demon has been used later on to represent a different demon, it may be used for the second demon's page, but it must have a qualifier in the tab label and caption in {{Media}}; for example, Chemosh's art from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner may be included in Moloch's infobox, but its tab label should be assigned as DeSum-Chemosh.

Concept art should be included only if it meets all of the following criteria:

• There is no proper finished artwork for that specific piece of media,
• The design in the concept art matches the final work,
• A sprite, model, etc. from the same work does not better represent the subject (see below), and
• The art illustrates something about the subject (e.g. a unique design) not otherwise illustrated by any other images in the infobox.

Non-artwork images

Sprites, model/render images, and graphics (including character portraits) are not to be included unless at least one of the following criteria is fulfilled:

• There would be no images at all otherwise included in the infobox,
• The subject is an item or equipment,
• They are character renders for a game which primarily uses 3D model renders in marketing rather than 2D illustrations, or
• All of the following:
  • The subject is a demon or character,
  • They originate from Shin Megami Tensei II, Shin Megami Tensei if..., or the Raidou games,
  • They represent a unique design not found in artwork, and there is no artwork for any version of the same game, and
  • The design is not shared with other subjects via palette swaps or otherwise minor edits.

If character portraits are being used in the infobox, and if the portrait from a remastered version of a game is visually identical to the original version aside from resolution, cropping, color grading, it is only necessary to include the remastered version's. (Note: need to come up with some excuse for Soul Hackers since the portraits were all entirely redrawn by Doi but look extremely similar)

Screenshots may be used if at least one of the following criteria is fulfilled:

• The subject is a skill,
• There are no other images available for the subject—either using the screenshot as a placeholder or if a screenshot is the only possible representative image (such as if the subject appears only in pre-rendered cutscenes or in a television series and has no standalone art)—or
• A unique design from a character's first media appearance is found only in a pre-rendered cutscene.

Active image

The active image should be what "best" represents the subject. This may be difficult to determine, but the following are some basic guidelines:

• Designs/pieces of art that have been reused many times (with a bias towards recent appearances and towards the Shin Megami Tensei series) are preferred over ones that have only been featured sparingly.
• More generic designs are preferred over designs that are especially tied to a specific game (e.g. Doppelganger's designs in some games being based on the game's protagonist).
• If two designs seem equally prominent across the franchise, later appearances are preferred over earlier appearances.
• Art from "mainline" installments within a series are preferred over art from spinoff installments.
• Art from remakes and remasters are preferred over art from the original work unless:
  • The original design/artwork is more prominent in subsequent media,
  • The remake/remaster artwork is deemed less representative of the subject,
  • The remake/remaster uses a 3D render rather than a drawn illustration, or
  • The remake/remaster in question is one of the following:
    • the Game Boy Color versions of Last Bible and Last Bible II,
    • the PSP versions of Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment,
    • the 3DS version of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers,
    • Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux, or
    • Persona 5 Royal.
• Earlier art is preferred over Persona 5: The Phantom X artwork, unless the demon in question received a prominent redesign (as defined in the first bullet point) in earlier titles that had no art made of it until The Phantom X.
• For demons, designs from other series are preferred over designs from the Devil Children series.
• For characters, if the subject has more prominence in a certain piece of media, such as being a playable character or being prominent in the storyline, then the image from that work is preferred over another image.

Locations

Locations may use whatever image is deemed most appropriate, which can be screenshots, artwork, graphics, etc. It may use multiple images with {{Media}} for purposes such as showing both the exterior and interior, or for different versions of the same location (such as before and after a major event in the game's story).

The imagemap field is for maps of the interior floors, etc. If it uses {{Media}}, then the seoimage field should be manually set to the active image of the image field (using the file name without the File: prefix).

Pieces of media

The imagecover field is used for the main image that represents a piece of media. This usually corresponds to the cover of the piece of media, though it may not necessarily be a literal cover should the item not have been distributed physically.

Back covers should be excluded and left to the gallery.

A logo may be optionally included in the infobox using the imagelogo field. In the case multiple logos exist for the subject, it should be the logo from the original release if it differs from a re-release's logo. Note that imagelogo does not support tabs or captions with {{Media}}.

Only one regional or language variant of a cover or logo should be included, with the North American/English ones being prioritized. Exceptions are made according to Guidelines:Canon; namely, the Japanese cover and logo are preferred over the localized ones for representing the PlayStation release of Megami Ibunroku Persona (Revelations: Persona), the Game Boy Color release of Last Bible (Revelations: The Demon Slayer), and Jack Bros..

Games

For video games with physical releases on multiple consoles, the game covers for all platform versions that physically released should be included in the infobox. They should be sorted by the game's release date based on console. The tabs for simultaneous multi-platform releases should be ordered based on Guidelines:Media Order. (Note: Currently media order doesn't specify console order, but I would add that if this proposal passes; it would match the abbreviation table)

The active image should be the original platform's cover. For games which released on multiple platforms at the same time, the active image should be the one which the game has been most associated with in marketing; for example, this would be Nintendo Switch for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance, as it was announced during a Nintendo Direct. If this is unable to be determined, the first image in the infobox should be the active image.

For digital-only releases, the game's Steam Library artwork (or equivalent), application icon, or title screen can be used, prioritized in that order, except for re-releases of games by G-Mode, in which case the title screen is prioritized over the Steam Library artwork.

Alternate releases on the same console are not to be included in the infobox, unless such a release has its own media abbreviation. These include:

• Budget releases under labels such as "the Best", "PSone Books", "Greatest Hits", "Platinum Hits", or "ATLUS BEST Collection",
• Alternate cover art exclusive to a specific store,
• Multi-game bundles such as the Shin Megami Tensei IV and Shin Megami Tensei IV FINAL Double Hero Pack, and
• Collector's editions, special editions, and the like.

Books

For books with dust jackets, both the dust jacket cover and the cover without the dust jacket may be included. If there is a later reprint with different cover art, it can be included in the infobox. The active image should be the original release's cover; the dust jacket is prioritized over the cover without the dust jacket.

For works released in multiple volumes, include only the Volume 1 cover in the infobox. Images of other volumes are reserved for {{Vol}} and/or the gallery.