Setup:
1. Create a separate folder inside your ZC folder on the hard drive. This makes organization much easier.
2. This is merely a sub-note of #1. Copy and paste the ZC files, (zelda.exe, etc.) .. Well, actually, copy the ZIP files they came from, the .exe files that unzip the files to the designated folder. Copy THOSE, along with that the ZC Support Archive. Unzip all those, and make your own zelda station directly for that quest alone. This also means that any screenshots of bugs that you make, (F12) will end up in that folder.
Snapping Photos:
3. When you play the quest, if you see a bug that you have to report, or something which seems out of the ordinary, press F12 to take a screenshot of the scene. If you had followed steps 1 and 2, the file SHOULD have popped up in that same folder, and is easily recognizable.
File Organization:
4. Organizing your bug reports can be a big hassle, but you'll see the results when they're all done. First of all, get a program like IRFanview. If you have an average computer, (I have a PII 300 MHZ PC, and it works quite well.) the image should load quickly, and it'll save you quite a bit of hassle.
5. (This point isn't so much as a step, as an explanation of step #6.) When organizing your files, you should probably classify them in terms of what kind of error they are. This has two major advantages. It separates them into the kind of bugs which need to be fixed, and which don't need to be fixed. There are a few kinds of bugs that there are to report. I'll explain each below.
- MAJOR - Impedes the player's progress severely. These are the most important bugs.
- Minor - Similar to the above, but the player can finish the game even with those in.
- Graphic - When there's something which doesn't look right, such as a grass edge on a stairs, in a desert.
- Layer - If you can walk under something that you're not supposed to be able to. Also applies to graphic errors on layers.
- Scrolling - If you scroll to the next screen, and you get stuck in a wall.
- Text / String - There's something wrong with the text, or a spelling or grammar error.
- Undercombo - Fairly self explanatory. Any undercombo that isn't what it's expected to be.
- Warp - A tile or side warp that doesnt' lead to where it's supposed to be, or doesn't do anything at all.
- Walkability - This area is unwalkable for some reason. This probably has to do with layers, but they're 2 separate things.
- Combo - The wrong kind of combo is used, or there's a strange type of combo there for no real reason.
7. If you wanted to be really nice to the quest author, you would crop out the image to remove the stat bar (life, magic, keys, etc.) on top of every screen. This isn't at all necessary though.
8. Zip up the file, and put it up somewhere to store, like http://filespace.brentdax.com or www.freewebz.com to keep. Then, either PM the file to the quest author, or put the file where the quest author tells you to.
If I missed anything, or you have a suggestion, feel free to add it here.