Submission Guidelines

So, have you gotten interested in making and posting Surviv.io concepts on this wiki (or maybe you've already got something ready and want to check whether it's alright to post), but don't know where to start or have a few questions about the approval system as a whole? Don't worry, all the information you need should be in this page (if it isn't, message one of the admins/bureaucrats about this).

## Getting Started

Before we get to any specifics, there are a few questions you must ask yourself before getting started on building your concept. They apply for every category and are useful for getting an outline of what your project will be and if it will be worthwhile.

* Is it **Surviv.io-related**?

If not, I am not sure what you are doing here or in this wiki at all. Hopefully you won't ever have to ask yourself this question.

* Does it **borrow anything from other media**?

This is mostly to make sure it is **original**. **Making references** to other types of media is OK, but make sure they aren't straight copies or too similar from the source material. **Taking inspiration** from other concepts is also allowed, but **blatant copies** or rewrites with minimal changes are considered **plagiarism** and **will NOT be allowed in this wiki**. As an addition, **add credit** to anything you borrow from and anything that had part in your concept at the end of the page.

* Is it too **outlandish** or **nonsensical**?

Your concept actually needs to make sense for it to be understood and analyzed by other people. Straying away from reality is alright, as long as it's not excessive and works in favor of gameplay or lore. Avoid simplifications if not needed and make sure it is cohesive and coherent with Surviv.io's setting.

If English is not your native language and/or you can't speak it well, consult someone else to help you fix mistakes and correct your grammar. Avoid machine translations as they have many errors and can hurt the understanding of the reader very easily.

Again, make sure it follows all other rules of the wiki before posting it.

## Formatting

To make your concept's page look nice and not confusing to navigate, it is recommended to do some basic formatting. Want to include art and stats for your weapon? Use the weapon infobox. Want to separate different sections? Use the heading & sub heading text formats. Want to include multiple images showing your concept in action? Use the gallery template and add them.

Overall, this isn't too hard to get right. As long as it has the bare minimum and is not too confusing or ugly, anything can work. You can even go above and beyond if you have the knowledge, and if you aren't familiar with this at all, ask someone else for help with formatting. It never hurts to!

## General Tips

This section is about general information that you should consider when concepting your weapon, building or gamemode. You should make sure that the finished product at least follows the following tips section in general, as otherwise there is very little chance of it being approved.

### Weapons

#### Art

If you observe and analyze the currently in-game art (excluding the most recent ones made by Kongregate and the oldest ones), you will notice a pattern and art style used for weapons of all kind, such as guns, throwables and melee weapons. It is important to make sure your art is of **quality** and **follows that style** well enough to fit the aesthetic of Surviv.io as a whole. More info can be found on the Community Guide.

* Make sure to use a **right-facing**, **high quality** reference with **little to no tilt angle**, at least when possible.
* Use a **vector graphics editor** software, such as Inkscape or Google Drawings.
* Use **thick**, **#323232** lines for outlining a gun's main parts. For details, use lines of either the same thickness or less.
* **Split** the gun at the **main split points** (examples include: stock, magazine, barrel, handguard, slide (pistols), sights, hammer). Sniper rifles are the exception, most of the time.
* **Fill the barrel** with #323232 as well, unless it looks weird (for example, with shotguns).
* ***DON'T create a weapon using parts from other in-game weapons, or recolor melee weapons excessively.***
* Use **light grey (#7e7e7e)** for **small details**, which can't be ignored but also look strange when filled with dark grey or outlined and filled with white.
* **World images** use **normal #000000 black** and don't have too much detail in general.
* **Melee weapons** also use **#000000 black** and typically also use **gradient**s. (Again, those are very general tips. Look into the Art Guide for more information).

#### Stats

Weapons also have stats that are carefully tailored (in most cases, at least) to make sure that the gun in question is not overpowered or underpowered for its gameplay niche (more on this later) and is not generic or clashes too much with another gun. In short, its stats make sure the gun is **balanced** and **unique**.

For building stats, you should use this sheet as a reference. Also follow the tips below:

* Make sure your weapon isn't **overpowered** or **underpowered**.
* **Insert stats** **properly** **and** **accordingly**. Make sure they are coherent with your weapon's type.
* For values such as fire rate, ammo type, weapon type and others, **research your weapon** somewhere in the internet to obtain references.
* Have your weapon fill an unique **gameplay niche**, or fill a gameplay niche that isn't yet too saturated.
	+ A **gameplay niche** is the position of a gun in the gameplay field and what role it plays on the game as a whole. For example, the FAMAS's role is being a relatively powerful burst-firing gun for the middle stages of the game that falls off in utility as it goes on and people get better equipment. Thus, the FAMAS's gameplay niche can be classified as "**mid-game burst assault rifle**".
* **Avoid adding extreme stats**. For example, having a gun with extremely low fire delay can cause lag due to the amount of projectiles being spawned.

#### Miscellaneous

This section will contain other info that doesn't fit well in the previous sections or is unique.

* Insert some real-life **background** for your weapon, or if it's fictional, information that ties in with the lore.
* Showing images of **how it works in-game** or **world images** is also benefitial to your concept, but not ultimately necessary.
* **Sounds**, although not necessary, can be used to improve a concept's quality.
* **Animations** are also useful.

### Buildings and Obstacles

#### Art

Just like it is for weapons, buildings, obstacles and such also have a **consistent art style** that you should follow when making art for them. Thankfully however, there are already many resources you can use which you can find at the creator kit Google Drive folder. However, there are still a few things you need to pay attention to when designing your building and/or obstacles of any kind:

* Just like weapons, make sure your lines are **thick** enough. Compare it to official art if unsure.
* For floors and roofs, it's useful to **add a simple pattern texture** like planks or bricks. Also divide each section of the roof using lines and give them different shades of color.
* The creator kit resources are in the **.png format**. Ideally, you want .**svg**s, but there is currently no easy-to-use archive of Surviv.io .svgs available. That being said, you can still use John's data scraper to obtain obstacle and building .svgs (and .pngs too!).
* When designing bunker logos and such, **don't make overly complex designs**. Aim to replicate the basic template other bunker logos use.
* When designing obstacles, make them **simple** but still **cohesive** so that anybody can tell what it is at a glance.

#### Layout and Content

Layout and content are the stats of a building/location, and they, too, are tailored specifically to also make sure a building or crate isn't **overpowered**, **underpowered** and also fits a unique **gameplay niche**. The layout is also constructed in order to make the structure **interesting to navigate**. Below are a few tips you should consider when thinking up a layout and content for your building:

* Try to **include more than one exit** for house-size buildings and beyond. For bunkers, **create multiple pathways** depending on their size and importance.
* Take your building's **gameplay niche** into account when creating your building or location.
	+ Locations and buildings generally only belong to two gameplay niches: **major** and **minor** **points of interest (PoIs)**. A **major PoI** contains a high amount of loot and equipment and generally also unique weapons and/or crates that attract many players, while **minor PoIs** contain average loot and exist generally to provide players nearby starting gear. Make sure that there aren't too many major PoIs in relation to minor PoIs.

* Don't cluster too much loot in a single building, or in a small area. Make sure your building is big enough for the amount of loot you plan to place there.
* For crates, don't include too much loot in a single crate.

## Submitting Your Concept

So, after reading all of that, you've went, put a lot of effort into your creation and are planning to post here. Before you do, there are a few things you need to take into account before submitting your concept.

First, you need to make sure it is **complete**. A complete concept has:

* For guns:
	+ Loot image;
	+ Statistics;
	+ Where it can be obtained.
* For buildings:
	+ Where it can be found;
	+ Images displaying every floor/level, including the roof;
	+ Any unique loot or crates.
* For gamemodes:
	+ Description of the gamemode's charateristics, content, unique mechanics and lore.
	+ Additionally, include art and links for any new guns or buildings added.

If any of those are missing, your concept will be considered **incomplete** and **will not be reviewed**. You can post incomplete concepts here, but make sure to add the **notice for incomplete** concepts at the start of the page. You can see it below.

Incomplete concepts will also be **deleted** after two weeks of inactivity or no meaningful changes.

Once you've made sure your concept has all that's needed and you are ready to submit it for approval, add the **template for complete but still pending analysis notice** (which can also be seen below),

and wait for it to be approved by an administrator. They will then notify you in your message wall.

### Ranking System

To decide whether your concept is approved or not, the reviewer will take **certain factors** into consideration and decide whether your concept is good enough. Those factors include, but are not limited to:

* Quality of art;
* Spelling and grammar;
* Gameplay importance;
* Statistics and/or building layout;
* Whether any extra features have been added or not.

The concept will then be ranked with a **score** from 1 to 10. Concepts with a score **at** or **higher than 6** will be **approved** while scores **below 6** will be **rejected**. Please note that concepts with just the bare minimum done at a acceptable level are considered **6/10** concepts, so it is recommended to polish your concept as much as possible to make your chances of approval higher.

Approved concepts will receive the template below at the start of the page and will also be **featured in the main page**, for extra visibility.

Edits made to approved concepts must be **notified** to an admin, and if the changes are major, the concept will be **rescored** and changes will then be made accordingly. Remember that even if your concept has been approved, it doesn't hurt to make a few edits and shoot for the highest score you can get!

Rejected concepts, on the other hand, will receive the template below at the start of the page.

They can still be **rescored** and even **approved**, but only after meaningful changes have been made. You can then add the "pending analysis" template to the start of the page (remove the rejected template first). **Abusing** this feature to resubmit concepts with no or little changes for approval may cause you to be **punished**. Just like incomplete concepts, rejected concepts with **no changes after two weeks** will be **deleted**.

*Even if your concept is rejected, don't give up! Improvements come from persistence. Good luck on your future projects!*