[Guide] How to make a proper readme

Armadillo of Doom

Group Founder, Lover of Pie
aa
Oct 25, 2007
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With all of the various prefab contests and mapping collabs, I thought it would be a good idea to make a general faq. The 'readme' is a simple text file that contains specific information about the map. It can be packed into a .bz2 or as part of the map file. Writing one will take at most a couple minutes.

1. Name
Simply calling your file 'readme' is generally a bad idea. It is easily ignored and/or over-written. Instead, use 'Mapname Readme'. Not 'prefix_mapname', just the noun. Also, you generally log changes w/in the file, but changing the name to match the version number is up to you.

2. Format And Content
Now the heart of the matter. The readme is not a complex affair. You could do something like this, and it will be just fine;

prefix_mapname (Mapname)
Author: Person Name
Contact: Email Address
Summary: Mapname is a *gametype here* map with *specific mechanics like number of stages and/or control points*, set in the *environment*. *Optional statement of map objectives and/or how to win.*.

Features: custom explosion
new textures
multiple flag paths
etc.

Change Log:
a1; thing 1
thing 2
a2; thing 1
thing 2

Change Log Alternate:
a1; Brief summary, rather than specific bullet points
a2; Same thing.

Credits: Huge thanks to *community, specific people, etc.*
Name 1- contribution
Name 2- contribution

Obviously you can make the readme however you wish, but the aforementioned items are usually a good idea. You might wish to include a download link as well. If nothing else, make sure you properly quote an author's name if you are using his work in some fashion. Your readme can be longer or shorter, but I think you get the basic idea :)